As you stated in the prompt, Martin Luther, a German monk and theology teacher, completely transformed Europe by starting the reformation. The textbook states, “These movements deepened existing divisions among peoples, rulers, and states while opening up new divisions and points of contention” (Coffin, Stacey and Cole). The textbook then goes on to claim, “The result was a profound transformation of the religious, social, and political landscape that affected the lives of everyone in Europe – and everyone in the new European colonies, then and now” (Coffin, Stacey and Cole). The reformation would have an influential impact on both the New World, and eventually, the United States.
According to the textbook the reformation was “initially intended as a call for another phase in the Church’s long history of internal reforms” however, “Luther’s teachings would instead launch a religious revolution that would splinter western Christendom into variety of Protestant (“dissenting”) faiths, while prompting the Church of Rome to re-affirm its status as the only true Catholic (“universal”) faith through a parallel revolution” (Coffin, Stacey and Cole). Among the major impacts the reformation had on the New World was most prominently the “Scandal of Indulgences.” This idea opposed Luther’s teachings and was considered provoking and “a scandalous abuse of spiritual power” (Coffin, Stacey and Cole). In direct opposition of Luther’s argument, the textbook claims, “a Dominican friar named Tetzel was deliberately giving people the impression that an indulgence was an automatic ticket to Heaven for oneself or one’s loved ones in Purgatory” (Coffin, Stacey and Cole). In response to this idea people are saved by the purchase of grace rather than sav...
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... the church. Along with these movements came drastic changes. According to the textbook, to further emphasize that those who served the Church had no supernatural authority, he insisted on calling them ‘ministers’ or ‘pastors’ rather than priests” (Coffin, Stacey and Cole). The textbook also claims, “he also proposed to abolish the entire ecclesiastical hierarchy from popes to bishops on down” thus, “finally, on the principle that no spiritual distinction existed between clergy and laity, Luther argued that ministers could and should marry” (Coffin, Stacey and Cole). Luther proved his belief in this argument, when he married his wife, Katharina von Bora, one of a dozen nuns he had helped escape from a Cistercian convent.
Works Cited
Coffin, Judith, et al. Western Civilization: Their History & Their Culture Seventeeth Edition. London: W.W. Norton & Company, 2011.
All of Europe used to be united under one religion, Catholicism. Europe started inching away from Catholicism during the 13th - 15th centuries. The church leaders started to only think about money and the power they held, instead of the real reason they were supposed to be there, God. This caused an uprising of people who no longer wanted to be a part of the Catholic church, nicknamed Protestants because they protested the ways of the catholic church. The Protestant Reformation was caused by corruption in the church, Martin Luther and John Calvin’s ideas, and the clergy and their preachings.
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
He was the man that formed the base of the Protestant Reformation. Luther knew he had to take action on this convictions immediately. So on behalf of the rebellion against indulgences and other Catholic doctrine, Luther created a “ Disputation on the Power and Efficacy of Indulgences” or more commonly known as “The 95 Theses.” The 95 Theses were a list of topics to discuss and propose the idea of indulgences. Or as some people would say to protest the sale of the indulgences of the Roman Catholic Church. The main seller of these indulgences was a man named John Tetzel who had promised the Christians that by paying they were “instantly” saved from sin. Legend says that on October 31, 1517, Martin Luther’s 95 Theses were nailed onto the doors of the Wittenberg Castle Church. Luther knew that this revolt was not violent, but was only intended to educate
Perry, Marvin, et al. Western Civilization: Ideas, Politics and Society. 4th ed. Vol. I. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company, 1992.
3. Jackson J. Spielvogel. Western Civilization Third Edition, A Brief History volume 1: to 1715. 2005 Belmont CA. Wadsworth Publishing
Coffin, Judith G., and Robert C. Stacey. "CHAPTER 18 PAGES 668-669." Western Civilizations: Their History & Their Culture. 16TH ed. Vol. 2. New York, NY: W. W. Norton &, 2008. N. pag. Print.
Coffin, Judith G, et al. Western Civilizations: Their History & Their Culture. 17th ed. New York: W. W. Norton & Co, 2011. Print.
The Protestant Reformation was a major European movement in the 16th century that reformed the Catholic Church. The Reformation imposed in medieval Christianity, this was toward the beginning of the modern era. A German Augustinian by the name of Martin Luther King (1483-1546) put a document called the 95 thesis in a town called Wittenburg. HIs 95 thesis challenged some important Roman Catholic beliefs.
Luther uses harsh words to describe the popes and the bishops by calling them names such as “humbug”, “block head”, and “hypocrite”. According to Martin Luther’s Letter to the Christian Nobility of the German Nation, it states “He might well make a man into a hypocrite or a humbug, and block head, but never a Christian or spiritual man”. Martin Luther believes that the priests, bishops, and popes are not different from the Christian people. Martin Luther points out that Christians were baptized and read the Bible, so why do the popes receive so much authority and power than Christians. In the Letter to the Christian Nobility of the German Nation, Luther questions “Why are your life and limb, your property and honor, so cheap and mine not, inasmuch as we are all Christians and have the same baptism, the same faith, the same Spirit, and all the rest?”. Therefore, Martin Luther believes that the popes, bishops, and priests are given too much authority and power even though the popes, bishops, and priests do not possess that many special abilities. Martin Luther claims that everyone is a priest since the Christian people can interpret and read the Bible, carry the same faith and spirit, and were baptized just like the popes, priests, and bishops
The Protestant Reformation of the sixteenth century is one of the most complex movements in European history since the fall of the Roman Empire. The Reformation truly ends the Middle Ages and begins a new era in the history of Western Civilization. The Reformation ended the religious unity of Europe and ushered in 150 years of religious warfare. By the time the conflicts had ended, the political and social geography in the west had fundamentally changed. The Reformation would have been revolutionary enough of itself, but it coincided in time with the opening of the Western Hemisphere to the Europeans and the development of firearms as effective field weapons. It coincided, too, with the spread of Renaissance ideals from Italy and the first stirrings of the Scientific Revolution. Taken together, these developments transformed Europe.
Luther spent much of his life analyzing the Christian faith and scriptures, and in this way where it builds a strong vision of Christian facts that touches face, real injustices, cruelties, incongruities and inconsistencies, that he could not afford overlook, since those aberrations came from the very ecclesiastical authorities, of which indeed he was very disappointed. That is why its reforms sought to respond to a pressing need for the German society of the time, as it was when lacking Christian living.
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.
The Protestant Reformation was an event in history that forever changed the Catholic Church. The occurrence of the Protestant Reformation happened nearly five hundred years ago, and is still felt by the Church today. The influence of certain men such as Martin Luther, John Calvin, and Ulrich Zwingli, in breaking away from the Catholic Church, transformed it into a better, stronger community. Before the sixteenth century, the Catholic Church had lost its way since the time of Jesus Christ. Sacrilegious priests, money-sucking bishops, nepotism, pluralism, and the practice of indulgences are just a few of the many abuses of the Church at that time. Martin Luther attempted to solve these abuses by posting ninty-five theses that listed all of the abuses that he saw in the Church. This one document sparked a wave of people attacking the Catholic Church. The Protestant Reformation ended with the start of many new religions. One of the most significant of these new religions was Calvinism, which was started by a very influential man named John Clavin. Through his beliefs, his writings, and his introduction of a
...pes for the church were being destroyed, a good amount of culture was lost during this religious turmoil but a lot was also gained. The rise in literacy and people’s new found ability to think for themselves brought a whole new aspect to the world and it is said that Luther actually started the concept of freedom of speech. So once we get passed all the centuries of wars and religious turmoil it created, which still can cause issues today, the protestant reformation, led by the ideas of Martin Luther, really paved way for a better world. Where we have the freedom of speech as well as religion, we can speak to God whenever we would like and we no longer need to live in fear of the corrupted Catholic Church, we now put more emphasis on family life and respectability to married life. And to think all of this started just because Luther wanted to start a simple debate.
Spielvogel, Jackson J. Western Civilization. 8th ed. Vol. 1. Boston: Wadsworth, Cengage Learning, 2012. Print.