Martin Luther

Can the Catholic Church be defeated? Martin Luther was summoned to appear before Emperor Charles of the Holy Roman Empire as well as the clergy to defend himself against the charge of heresy in Worms in 1521. Here was his moment, he knew he could not reform the Church but he could tell the truth. His truth was that he only believed God was before him and the Word of God was the only truth or law he had before him. Luther was excommunicated from the Catholic Church although it is very surprising to me that he was not put to death.

Lastly, Lutheranism did not view transubstantiation in the same way as with Catholicism. Though Lutheranism maintained the closest in practices of the Catholic Church, it was their abuses of those sacraments that swayed Luther to reform. His initial intention was not to d... ... middle of paper ... ...lief that Jesus Christ is the son of God and He died to atone for every man’s sins. The marked difference during reformation was doing away with the authority of The Roman Catholic Church. The Protestants did not have a Pope or Bishop as head of their church.

The Existence of Abuses in the Roman Catholic Church During the Age of Reformation people were greatly against the abuses that existed in the Roman Catholic Church. A couple of abuses that were greatly stressed were the selling of indulgences, simony, and nepotism. It was some of these same abuses that prompted German reformist Martin Luther to write his 95 Theses. And for the Council of Trent to later address them in a series of meetings. The most criticized abuse of the Roman Catholic Church was the selling of indulgences by the pope.

He stated that the church has no authority to pardon people’s sins and that the Pope had no authority over purgatory. Luther wrote 95 theses that attacked the Church for the sale of indulgences as he viewed it as a corrupt practice which was not relevant to divine forgiveness. He believed that the sale of indulgences increased sinning and gave false assurance keeping people from knowing God. Luther’s criticism of the indulgences led to drop in indulgence sales.3 The support that was given to Luther around his doctrine and ideas led to the split from the Catholic church leading to the reformation. John Calvin, another reformer whose view broke away from the catholic church and contributed to the reformation, viewed penance as unnecessary as he believed all sins,

Martin Luther believed that certain things the Catholic Church were teaching were not morally correct. He then went to preach a different religion called Protestantism; this caused a big problem between him and the pope. Roman Catholicism and Martin Luther’s Protestantism have moral differences, religious belief differences, and caused a lot of conflicts. Martin Luther realized morally that there was a lot wrong with the Catholic Church. For one thing, it was wrong that only the people high up in the church could read the scripture.

In response, Pope Leo X excommunicated Luther in 1521. The Catholic Church conflicted with the Protestant religion, because the Protestants sought an individual relationship with God. Through the contrasting ideas of the Church and Protestants, a major conflict between the two emerged. The church minister had spoken the Bible in Latin, where the congregation could not understand what the priest was saying. Furthermore, the Catholic Church started to sell indulgences during the Middle Ages.

Thesis statement: Martin Luther was responsible for the break-up of the Catholic Church Martin Luther was a representative during the 16th century of a desire widespread of the renewal and reform of the Catholic Church. He launched the Protestant reform a continuation of the medieval religious search. From the Middle ages, the church faced many problems such as the Babylonian Captivity and the Great Schism that hurt the prestige of the church. Most of the clergy lived in great luxury while most people were poor and they set an immoral example. The clergy had low education and many of them didn’t attend their offices.

Luther is outraged by this unjust practice, and he begins to go out and preach the truth and encourage reform by writing 95 Theses. When people read 95 Theses they were amazed, and the Catholic Church became threatened by him as more people started to follow him. The church continually tries to eliminate him and his teachings, but they only spread. Luther captures the struggle of one man vying for justice and reform. Luther exemplifies some of the political aspects present in life during the 16th century.

He was concerned to the point of obsession about sin and his search for salvation, and with help from his studies and desire for the truth; he became one of the biggest critics of the Catholic Church. Luther had many issues with the church, but his loathing for venality, the selling of things the church deems as taboo or illegal, and especially that of indulgences was what broke the camel’s back. These indulgences, which the church issued so, someone might be forgiven of their sins, was a considerable source of profits by as early as the 1400’s. Luther was vehemently against the trading of relics associated with Saint. He felt it encouraged superstition and pagan thoughts of magic, bringing them further from the true faith of the Christian beliefs.

The indulgence was offensive to Luther since it was misleading people into the thought that they didn’t need to confess their sins to god. Luther wrote 95 theses in Latin and posted them on the chapel door which refuted the selling of indulgences. The church was trying to silence Luther, but Luther became more convinced of himself against the church. Also, Luther produced many pamphlets against the church and hierarchy by printing press in 1520. As a result, Pope banished Luther from the