Before the Reformation, medieval Christians all worshipped under the same universal idea of Christendom. The catholic faith had existed for centuries (since 325 C.E. Constantinople, Council of Nicaea) without opposition to it legitimacy, but at the turn of 1500s new ideas on Christian belief erupted all over Europe causing a split between the Church. Christianity prior to the reformation was a part of the worshippers’ everyday life. Their home, work, and social lives were oriented around the Church, yet many 16th century Christians before the Reformation did not fully understand why. Most 16th century Christians were not educated enough to understand the mandatory sermons and mass services that were preached in the medieval church because these services were in Latin. Only the upper echelon of society were sophisticated enough to understand sermon. This upper crust included the clergy, nun, monks, monarchs, nobles, and the patricians which made up a small portion of the medieval population. The clergy consisted of the Pope (Top), Cardinals (princes of the church and electors of the pope), Bishop (overseers of the dioceses), and Priest (lowest and served at each parish). The clergy were the intermediaries between the laity and God and their most important job was to ensure proper following of the sacraments .
The seven sacraments were the backbone of the medieval Church and were one of the many beliefs that cause the split among the reformers and the clergy. Many of the reformers came from the clergy. One such reformer, would later form the Lutheran church, his name was Martin Luther (1483-1546 C.E.). Luther became a reluctant radical during the Reformation, when he issued his 95 Theses (one of Luther’s disputations in 1517) as...
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...m what they lacked in the Catholic Church, the knowledge of what made them Christians. Just as the Word of God is a guide to mankind, Luther guided 16th century Germans to the true Christian path with his many revolutionary reforms.
Works Cited
Brendler, Gerhard. Martin Luther: Theology and Revolution. New York: Oxford, 1991
Catechism. “Book of Concord.” Accessed April 22, 2014. http://bookofconcord.org/lc-2-preface.php
Loewenich, Walther. Martin Luther: The Man and His Work. Minneapolis: Augsburg, 1986
Luther, Martin. "The German Mass and Order of Divine Service, January 1526." The German Mass and Order of Divine Service, January 1526. Hanover.edu, n.d. Web. 06 Mar. 2014. .
Mullett, Micheal. Martin Luther. New York: Routledge, 2004
Wandel, Lee. The Reformation: Towards a New History. New York: Cambridge, 2011
Martin Luther desired to reform the Church because he believed that it was corrupt and wanted to be seen as the gateway to Heaven. In Luther’s eyes, the Roman Catholic Church was teaching the wrong things and showing bad behavior. Because of this, Martin Luther, being a conscientious friar and professor of theology, did not feel secure in the idea of salvation. The Church was teaching that salvation came through faith AND good works while Luther concluded
Because of all of these issues, the German monk Martin Luther criticized the church and its nepotism and corruption. His first objection was to Johann Tetzel von Wittenberg, who was offering the sale of indulgences to help rebuild St. Peter Cathedral in Rome, so he pos...
...17 “Martin Luther” confronted the Catholic Church’s practice of selling indulgences. He placed notices on church doors exposing the corrupted practices. He lived believed good works alone could not earn salvation. The Reformation spread throughout northern Europe. The Catholic Church had no choice but to respond to the Protestant Reformation and they did so in the late 1530s through Spanish reformer “Loyola.” He formed a new religion order, he was the founder of the Society of Jesus, known as the Jesuits, and they became the strength of the Catholic Church. This was known as the Counter Reformation.
Martin Luther couldn 't help contradicting parts of Roman Catholic religious practices, particularly the offer of indulgences, religious disgrace, and the prominence on salvation through benevolent acts. He made a move by posting and dispersing his 95 theses and left a big mark on religious development, which created a branch of human faith, and later encouraging change in the Roman Catholic Church. Martin Luther was in charge of the separation of the Catholic Church. He was a mediator in the sixteenth century of a craving across the board of the reestablishment and change of the Catholic Church. He started the Protestant change, which was a continuation of the medieval religious study. Martin Luther’s 95 theses opened the door to a religious reform. He made it possible for other rulers to believe that two religions could coexist.
Many Catholic churches were practicing the wrong things. Luther wrote the ninety-five theses to share how he felt about the Catholic churches. This was one of the things that caused the Protestant Reformation. People who joined this religion were known as “Lutherans.” They would used popular items, such as pamphlets, to spread the message of Lutheranism. Luther taught that you just needed faith in God and Jesus alone. Lutherans baptized people to clean them of their sins and to have everlasting life. Lutheranism is one of the largest today.
Luther, a pastor and professor at the University of Wittenberg, deplored the entanglement of God’s free gift of grace in a complex system of indulgences and good works. In his Ninety-five Theses, he attacked the indulgence system, insisting that the pope had no authority over purgatory and that the doctrine of the merits of the saints had no foundation in the gospel. Here lay the key to Luther’s concerns for the ethical and theological reform of the church: Scripture alone is authoritative (sola sciptura) and justification is by faith (sola fide), not by works. While he did not intend to break with the Catholic church, a confrontation with the papacy was not long in coming. In 1521 Luther was excommunicated; what began as an internal reform movement had become a fracture in western
During Luther’s early life he faced a severe inner crisis. When he sinned he looked for comfort in confession and followed the penance, the fasting, prayer and observances that the church directed him. But, he found no peace of mind and worried about his salvation. But reading St. Paul’s letters he came to believe that salvation came though faith in Christ. Faith is a free gift, he discovered, it cannot be earned. His studies led him to a conclusion that, “Christ was the only mediator between God and a man and that forgiveness of sin and salvation are given by god’s grace alone” (Martin Luther, 01). Historians agree that, “this approach to theology led to a clash between Luther and the Church officials, precipitating the dramatic events of Reformation”.
In these Thesis’ Luther basically criticized the church’s wrongful practices and exposed the church’s corruption in order to bring about change in the church. Luther is quoted in Document 3 from his 95 thesis’ “Christian’s should be taught that he who gives to a poor man, or lends to a needy man, does better if he bought pardons.” Luther believed that actions, such as helping others did way more toward saving a person’s soul than buying a pardon did. He saw through the idea that one could by their way into heaven. He brought about new ideas such as God’s grace is the only way into heaven, not buying indulgences, or simply participating in church activities. His ideas eventually spread out all over Europe and his followers formed a group calling themselves Lutherans. This eventually became a protestant denomination, where Luther preached ideas, and his version of christianity. Also other reformist such as John Calvin had their own ideas, like predestination, and that everyone was full of sin until they were saved by christ. “We must resist the lust of the flesh, which, unless kept in order, overflows without measure.” (Document 6) Calvin believed that everyone was filled with this sinful “lust” that could not be kept in order without the power of christ. Calvin also started a sect of christianity nicknamed Calvinist after their leader. Both Luther and Calvin inspired others such as George Fox, who created quakerism, and Ulrich Zwingli who started anabaptism. Overall a huge force that drove the Protestant Reformation was reformers such as Martin Luther and John
James Kittelson’s biography on the life of Luther is thought provoking and informative. Kittelson does not have a concise thesis, but as it is a biography the central theme of Luther the Reformer is an insightful narrative of Martin Luther’s life from his birth in Eisleben until his death on February 18, 1546 in Eisleben. Kittelson thoroughly and with great detail and sources explains Luther’s mission to reform the catholic church. Luther the Reformer seeks to condense Luther’s life in a manner which is more easily read for those who do not know the reformer’s story well. Luther is portrayed not only as a theologian throughout the book, but as a person with struggles and connections throughout the Germanic region in which he lived. Luther’s theology is portrayed throughout the entirety of the book, and Kittelson approaches Luther’s theology by explaining Luther’s past. The inclusion of
Through combining the spiritual concerns of Martin Luther and ambitions of German monarchy, the Protestant Reformation was produced. Martin Luther, a German theologian, stirred up much controversy when he presented his 95 theses attacking abuses within the church in 1517 (Obelkevich 83). He set the stage for Protestant reform with the idea of Christianity lying in direct communication with God and not direct communication with the Pope. Lutheran reformers claimed the Bible rather than the church as the source of all religious authority. Considerably, many Lutheran followers would have stayed in the church if nonbiblical practices had been eliminated. In 1530, Lutherans and Reformed Christians confessed they could not compromise with Catholics or each other at the Diet of Augsburg (Aston 162).
Martin Luther is often noted as the most prolific of the Protestant reformist. . “Luther was also not a Church reformer in the strict sense of the term. He did not set out to attack monasticism or abuses in the life of the Church (Steinmetz 1979).” However, what became known as the Lutheran movement, sparked the protestant reformation. Also, his conviction of unethical practices of the Catholic Church is a renowned act of study across all discipli...
When Martin Luther nailed his 95 theses to the door of his local monastery in Wittenberg, Germany on October 31, 1517, Europe was plunged in political and social turmoil. With only a few notable exceptions, a wave of political unity and centralization swept across the Western world. Papal power was perhaps not at its height, yet its corruption and increasingly secular values could be seen from St. Peter's in Rome to John Tetzel in Germany. Furthermore, in the economically prospering towns and cities, the middle class was facing an increasing volatile political situation with the growing national monarchies. All of these factors were to only catalyze the reactionary religious movement which would begin to sweep across Europe by the 1520's. The Protestant Reformation, as it would soon be called, set back years of national centralization by strengthening the aristocracy and dividing countries and regions religiously. Moreover, the strict religious and ethical guidelines of the new Protestant sects forever changed the culture of cities and town across Northern Europe; thereby bringing drastic social reform along with widespread religious fervor. In the first half of the sixteenth century, however, these Protestant movements were only beginning to form, yet their impact has had a lasting effect on the politics of Europe and the rest of the world well in the 20th century.
Martin Luther’s Letter to the Christian Nobility of the German Nation was published in 1520. In the Letter to the Christian Nobility of the German Nation, Martin Luther claims that the Catholic
The Reformation was a decisive period in the history not only for the Catholic Church, but also for the entire world. The causes of this tumultuous point in history did not burst on the scene all at once, but slowly gained momentum like a boil that slowly festers through time before it finally bursts open. The Reformation of the Church was inevitable because of the abuses which the Church was suffering during this period. At the time of the Reformation, a segment of the Church had drifted away from its mission to bring Christ and salvation to the world. Throughout the Middle Ages, the Church had gradually become weaker because of abusive leadership, philosophical heresy, and a renewal of a form of the Pelagian heresy.
Luther started his education at a Latin school in Mansfield. There he received training in the Latin language and learned about the Ten Commandments, the Lord’s Prayer and morning and evening prayers. In 1497 Luther was sent to a school in Magdeburg run by the Brethren of the Common Life, a lay monastic group whose focus on personal piety had a lasting influence on him. In 1501 he enrolled at the University of Erfurt, the best University of the time in Germany. Luther took course in the liberal arts and received the baccalaureate degree in 1502. He obtained his master’s degree three years later. Since Luther graduated from the arts faculty he could chose to pursue graduate work in one of the three disciplines law, medicine, or theology. Due...