Protestant Reform and Martin Luther

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.

Reformers like Martin Luther, John Calvin and King Henry VIII challenged papal authority and questioned the Catholic Church’s ability to define Christian practice. (History.com Staff, 2009) Martin Luther was one of the most influential and controversial figures in the reformative movement. His actions fractured the Roman Catholic Church into new sects of Christianity and set in motion a reform within the Church. (Biography.com Editors) Additionally, today, John Calvin rests with distinct accreditation as the highest influential figurehead in the second generation of the Protestant Reformation. Henry VIII served as the connection between the Church of England and Rome and abandoning of the catholic doctrine would never been allowed. However, when it came to his son, Edward VI, obeying papal authority wasn’t his strongest quality, which led to the establishing Protestantism for England. Unsuccessful in her efforts, Mary fought for the reestablishment of Catholicism. To this day, English Church remains both Catholic and

On the 31st of October 1517 was the beginning of the reformation when Martin Luther Posted up his Ninety-Five Theses on the door of the Roman Catholic Church and published in Wittenberg, Germany. The Reformation Became the Basis for the founding of Protestantism, one of the three major branches of Christianity. Luther had far-reaching political, economic and social effects. But the main question is why Martin Luther was able to successfully challenge the church of its religious and political authority? After evaluating the main reasons why Luther had success challenging the church, it is to all appearances that the circumstances were in his favour and available to him during that time. To confirm this hypothesis, the three circumstances will be examined in order for it to be correct.

Martin Luther was a former Priest/Monk and that saw some corruption in the Roman Catholic Church. Luther tried to bring his concerns to the Church in his writing of the “Ninety-five Theses on the Power of Indulgences.” When these question that Luther proposed to the Archbishop of Mainz went unsatisfactorily unanswered in 1517, Luther started defaming the Roman Church and pushed for the utter destruction of the Roman Church. What started out as an internal reform of Church’s discipline, turned into a war against the Roman Church for their total destruction. This was the intent of Luther’s sermon of 1521.

Kittelson, James M. Luther the Reformer: The Story of the Man and His Career. Minneapolis: Fortress Press, 2003.

Early Modern Europe was a time of change, and one of the most dramatic changes was the reformation. Martin Luther, a scholarly monk, wanted the church to return to scripture and in so doing split Europe between Catholic and Protestants. During this time, Luther wrote two works: On the Freedom of a Christian in 1520, and The German Mass and Order of Divine Service in 1526. Through these documents, it is seen through Luther that many within Europe did not want change or to be tolerant and wanted unity for Europe so that everyone could obtain salvation for their souls. In the wake of the reformation and unity became impossible, Luther shows that Europe was forced to cope with religious change as well as start to adopt tolerance for different Christians.

The Protestant Reformation can be traced all the way back to 1517 when Martin Luther, a Catholic monk, nailed his 95 theses to the door of a Catholic Church in Wittenberg, Germany. After that, when the Catholic Church wanted to meet with Luther, instead of listening and cooperating, Martin Luther just left the church and started his own, Lutheranism. Before Martin Luther’s rebellion was over, Lutheranism had become the state religion of much of Germany, the Baltics, and Scandinavia.

In the early 1500's Martin Luther, a German priest, was believed to have started the uprising against the Roman Catholic Church's views, morals and structure which changed the way people viewed religion today. He questioned the morals of the Church and found great corruption within the members of the Church. Luther's attack on the sale of indulgences by the Church, amongst other issues, prompted many new Churches and religions to be formed. The Reformation, as it is commonly being known today, was an uprising against the Roman Catholic’s views, morals and structure of the Church by this man: Martin Luther. His conviction spread quickly which started Christianity and Protestantism around the world.

Luther, Zwingli, Calvin, and Henry VIII all challenged the Roman Catholic Church in their own ways, but all of them ended up breaking away from the church and forming their own churches or alliances. Overall, most of them, with the exception of Henry VIII, disagreed with the Catholic Church over its doctrines, such as those of indulgences and salvation. All of them ended up formed new religions that rivaled the Catholic Church, and Zwingli, Calvin, and Luther all published writings that stated their dissenting theological beliefs.

The Protestant Reformation of the Church turned the world upside down. John Calvin and Martin Luther paved the path for the revolutionary ideas of religion. Luther broke with the Catholic Church due to various reasons. However, he didn’t “leave” it was much more complicated than that. Luther was excommunicated by Catholics due to the fact that he didn’t recognize the pope as head of the Church. Next in the line of cast aways is king Henry VIII, who broke with the church as well. Henry wanted a divorce, but the pope wouldn’t grant him one due to a legitimate gun pointed to his head. Thusly, Henry took it upon himself to become head of the church and grant his own divorce using the Act of Supremacy. There still is a question lingering about these