Protestant Reform and Martin Luther

The Catholic Church’s corruption during the late Middle Ages further enabled church reforms due to the ever-increasing view of the loss of credibility within the church by both the laity and clergy. Thus implementing the ideas of reform. Martin Luther is considered the father of the reformation where he instigated the challenging for the church, papal authority, and changed how the people were allowed to worship. Carlstadt and Zwingli, much like Luther, practiced Evangelical traditions, however, they expanded further than Luther in regards to doctrine and practice. John Calvin on the other hand challenged some of the Evangelical and Reformed Traditions by various religious changes politically and socially.

Through the eras of the Middle Ages, many Protestants demanded to have a personal relationship with God without the influence of the Catholic Church. The Protestants started to think for themselves as a religion, and Martin Luther first paved the way. Martin Luther first visited Wittenberg, Germany, and made a list of complaints that he had with the Catholic Church. A short while after, he published his list of complaints to the door of a German church, and they were called the Ninety-Five Theses. In response, Pope Leo X excommunicated Luther in 1521.

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.

It was centered around two central beliefs that the Bible should be and is the central religious authority and that humans may reach salvation only faith and not by works. Martin Luther has had these feelings about these practices for awhile but chose the 95 Theses to start his religious reformation. Resulting from that, this started the division of the Catholic Church, and Luther’s ideas created the religion of Protestantism later resulting in Lutheranism. The 95 Theses and his other writings changed religious and cultural history in the Western hemisphere. His refusal to renounce all of his writings at the demand of Pope Leo X in 1520 and the Holy Roman Emperor Charles V at the Diet of Worms in 1521 resulted in his excommunication by the Pope.

In 1521, Luther was excommunicated by Pope Leo X. Luther was then ordered to appear before a council which demanded that he retract his teachings. Luther intern stated that unless he was inspired to do so by scripture he would not "since it is neither safe nor right to go against conscience." Possible the most important contribution of Luther to society was his translation of the Bible into German. This made it possible for those who were not fluent in Greek to study the Word of God. Luther also wrote another influential work, Small Catechism of 1529, which was also known as the layman's Bible.

The sixteenth-century Protestant Reformation was inspired by Martin Luther. Martin Luther is a reformer and also a priest and professor of theology who, after studying the Bible led him to challenge the Roman Catholic Church. Martin Luther along with a few followers argued that religious leaders were not following the traditions of the Bible and Christian faith; for that reason, should be judged. This argument between Martin Luther and the Roman Catholic Church changed the tone in Catholic Europe. Martin Luther was determined to distinguish the difference between Protestant denominations and Roman Catholicism.

Martin Luther claims, “The bible is the sole authority for Christians. All of this infuriated the Catholic Church and made them excommunicate Luther from the Church. They claimed, “He committed heresy against the Church which could be punished by death.” Although Luther was under the impression he was in the right that does not mean this did not cause a lot of conflicts not only between himself and the Roman Catholic Church, but also for the Western European Culture in general.

The Church, however, did not agree with what he said, and they definately didn't appreciate his critisim.They tried to get Martin to recant on what he wrote, but Martin, who was seeking peace with God, would not recant. Martin believed that his message should be heard, and it was. The reason Martin Luther wrote the Ninety-fives Theses is because the Church was no longer doing everything through God's word. Like selling indulgences. Luther thought indulgences had no real base in the bible.

There were reasons; reformers, both inside and outside of the church, sought changes in both doctrine and practice not easily absorbed. Luther’s key reason for posting the theses was to protest the church for indulgences. Luther did not think it was honorable that the church made people pay money for getting their sins forgiven. The church reasserted the Pope’s infallibility, Priest, Nuns, painting, relics, stained glasses, statues, sacraments, and the Holy Mary, however, the church did not reassert the cost of money for having sins forgiven. The Catholics counter argument for Martin Luther’s argument about Sola Scriptura and Sola Fide was that everyone needs the scriptures and needs faith but alone one cannot reach salvation because people need to act on God's word and act on their faith; actions speak louder than words.

They were viewed as ... ... middle of paper ... ...ng many others in Germany and abroad. People realized that Luther clarified the hidden facets of their faith by questioning the authority of the Pope. The Catholic Church suppressed certain facts. A public discussion of these facts would undermine the authority of the church, which promised a change in church, and other areas. Though some historians, like C. Haigh have argued that, "…The English people had not turned against their church and there was no widespread yearning for reform.