martin luther and Birth of Protestantism

Martin Luther 's, a Catholic monk, problem with the Latin Church is he believed they weren’t true Christians and were doing things unbiblical. Luther believed getting into Heaven was that the only way to get into Heaven was through to have faith and love in God. He also believed a process the Catholica would use called purchasing indulgences. Indulgences was paying a fee to get yourself or a loved one out of purgatory and into heaven but it really was basically a fundraiser. Luther believed it took money from the poor who needed it needlessly.

Luther’s time in the monastery was spent trying to win God’s favor and forgiveness for his sins. Luther often self mutilated himself in his desperate attempts for forgiveness (Martin Luther’s Ninety-Five Theses). Eventually, throughout his study and personal practice Luther concluded that God forgave those who asked and worked for it (Martin Luther’s Ninety-Five Theses). Luther’s insights and study of God allowed him to think critically about the practices of the Roman Catholic Church. It was at this time that Luther started to criticize the Church’s actions.

Luther took his religious vocation very seriously and spent much of his time reading the bible, which lead him to question the Roman Catholic Church. He realized man was at a disadvantage because our weaknesses force us to be burdened with sin. He said humans could not earn salvation by doing good deeds or performing holy acts instead we can earn it with faith in Jesus alone. Believing this, Luther was influenced to write the ninety-five theses along with him strongly opposing the sale of indulgences which are documents freeing sinners of punishment after death. After posting up the ninety-five theses on the castle churches door on October 31st, 1517, Luther sent a copy of the theses and an explanation to the Arch Bishop.

In Europe at the beginning of the 16th century, the Roman Catholic Church had become extremely powerful, but many felt that it had also become internally corrupt. In essence, many believed that the Renaissance popes were fraudulent because they no longer practiced Christianity due to the extravagant lives they were living. In the beginning of the 1500’s, educated Europeans began calling for a reformation, a change in the Church’s ways of teaching and practicing Christianity. Martin Luther, specifically, was highly influential in igniting the Protestant Reformation by challenging long-standing church traditions as well as new church policies. The Protestant Reformation was begun by Martin Luther, a German monk and Catholic friar.

They thought that the temporal power had no jurisdiction over the spiritual power. Secondly, the only person who could interpret the Scriptures was the Pope. Therefore, he decided what was right and what was wron... ... middle of paper ... ...nd your books, you have truly denied God." (Luther, How far Temporal Authority Extends, p.29) Faith was a free act that no one could force because it came from within. The Protestant Reformation appealed to many including political rulers, princes and those living in towns who were tired of paying papal dues and taxes to Rome.

Luther further concluded that until man stops trying to achieve God's favor through his own achievements he cannot truly understand God's grace. Luther also had the idea that one did not need a priest to talk to God, he believed that one could pray and repent without the help of anyone else. This was the idea for which Luther became famous. In 1517, Luther was involved in a controversy which involved indulgences. Indulgences were the idea that a person could donate money to a worthy cause in exchange for forgiveness of their sins.

Luther thought indulgences had no real base in the bible. An indulgence was thought to be a lessining of time a soul had to spend in purgatory. The Church also got greedy.The Church started increasing fees for things like baptisms, and weddings. Some people may be wondering, why did the Church need so m... ... middle of paper ... ...everything I did involving the Roman Catholic Church was great, not everyone agreed with me. One person who didn't agree with me was Pope Leo X.

Protestant Reformation The practices of The Catholic Church during the sixteenth century caused a monk named Martin Luther to question The Church’s ways. Luther watched as families suffered physically, emotionally and economically by the hands of The Church. Luther saw no basis for The Church to charge people for their sins or prevent them from learning to read The Bible themselves. He watched as the money built up The Palace, yet tore apart the fundamental and spiritual reasons one goes to church in the first place. In an effort to change the practices of The Church, he wrote the 95 Thesis.

In his words, “Christians are to be taught that he who gives to the poor or lends to the needy does a better deed than he who buys indulgences.” This was a dominate practice in the church and they used the indulgences to make the Church extravagantly beautiful. Roman Catholicism and Protestantism have quite a few religious belief differences. A major difference is the Catholics believe that if you sin you can pay indulgences to the Church to help keep you out of purgatory. However, Luther did not agree with this, he believed, “salvation was by faith rather than by works and to denounce the Church’s practices of selling indulgences.” He did not think it was necessary for the pope, priests, saints or Mary to intervene and that everyone can have their own personal relationship with Christ. Martin Luther claims, “The bible is the sole authority for Christians.

They laid foundation for evolution in the church. Luther, who did not start wanting public attention but received because he said what he saw, this is a very important time for my religion because for you see a denouncement of Papal policies. For Luther did comment the Pope had his finger in the pie. I developed a great deal of admiration after my research on Luther I did for this class. Then finally, there is Marx who based his philosophy not on religion but on economics.