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Martin luther and the roman catholic church
Analysis of martin luther
Martin luther and the roman catholic church
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Martin Luther was a Catholic monk at the University of Wittenberg in Germany. Luther was unhappy with the practice of selling indulgences (a pardon releasing a sinner from performing a penalty in exchange for money), so, on October 31, 1517, he nailed his 95 Theses to the door of the Castle Church in Wittenberg. These Theses were intended to encourage discussion about indulgences, but, with the help of the printing press, Luther’s 95 Theses gave rise to the Protestant Reformation (Document B).
Theses, posted in 1517, criticized the sale of indulgences and called for a debate on issues of faith and authority within the Church. He emphasized the doctrine of justification by faith, rejecting the Catholic Church's teaching on the necessity of good works for salvation. Luther also advocated for the priesthood of all believers, asserting that all believers have direct access to God and the ability to interpret the Bible for
Martin Luther was an Augustinian monk who had a spiritual crisis. He deeply wanted to be a good person, but he saw that there was so much corruption in the church. He saw that the priests were doing many immoral things. The priests created something called indulgences where it was stated that anyone could be absolved of their sins by paying money. They would then make multiple offices and continue this scam so that they would get more money from people.
On October 31,1517 Martin luther wrote a document attacking the Catholic church of selling indulgences to absolve his sins. Luther's “disputation on the Power and Efficacy of Indulgences,” also known as 95 theses for academic disputation. The theses were a list of questions propositions for debate. The 95 theses were written in a humble tone. Martin wrote these theses and sent them enclosed in a letter to Albert of Brandenburg.
Martin Luther’s reasons for challenging the Catholic church changed after he translated the New Testament. Before the New Testament was translated (document A), Martin Luther had a very respectful tone displayed through his writing. In document A, Luther was bothered by the practice of indulgences, but continued in his letter to say that he was not blaming anyone. 18 years later in Document B, Luther had translated the New testament and realized that the Pope was misinterpreting the scriptures. He was then very disrespectful through his words and blamed the Pope for taking people’s money and by so believing that the person who paid for the indulgence was saved.
Martin Luther knew these were not the Christian way. Martin Luther wrote the 95 Theses - a list of grievances and general statements about Christianity directed at followers of the Catholic Church and the Church itself. Many of these statements related to the inability of humans to forgive sins, the fact that Christians should not fear Hell, but rather be confident that they have a place in Heaven and the realities of indulgences. (95 Theses, Martin Luther)
The quote, “If you want to change the world, pick up your pen and write.” was the driving force behind Martin Luther's motives to change the views and understanding of religion during his time. The Reformation; a colossal Time. Full of religious modifications and the Mondo of questions that circulated the objectification and slight Defiance of the European people.
Luther preached for salvation alone and not only by good works, just how it was taught in the roots of the early church. He only used the sacraments Eucharist and Baptism and his services were in the vernacular so people were able to understand the word of the Lord. After several problems arose such as selling indulgences and clergymen holding many office positions at once, Luther posted his Ninety-Five Theses on the door of the Wittenberg Church with a plethora of reforms to guide Christianity and the church back to its original, innocent roots of divine love for the word of the Lord. Luther made sure the church was to be made up of all believers and not just clergy.
The seeds of the reformation were planted well before Luther published his ninety-five theses in Wittenberg in 1517. The significant decline of the church driven by the rampant corruption in the fourteenth and fifteenth century laid the foundation of the reformation. This corruption led to early reformers including John Wycliffe and John Huss to openly question and challenge church doctrine. The final spark that ignited the reformation and Luther’s ninety-five theses involved the continued practice of selling indulgences by the church.
This work had great implications for reforming the sacraments of the Catholic church, specifically calling out which sacraments are instituted and backed by Scripture as well as those that the church used for personal gain. He initially supports three of the seven sacraments, the Eucharist, baptism, and penance. Although, he later withdraws penance as a sacrament because it has no sign attached, such as that which is in baptism and the Lord’s Supper. He backs his arguments with Scripture, his focus being that salvation is only possible through faith in Jesus Christ. He uses verses from the gospels as well as the epistles of the New Testament to emphasize this fact.
One of the two main reformers at the time was a Catholic priest named, Desiderius Erasmus who was from Rotterdam Holland and worked to reform the Roman Catholic Church. The other reformer from this time was Martin Luther, who was from Germany. With Luther’s concerns, there was a “practice of selling indulgences and the excessive veneration of saints and their relics, which he considered superstitious” (Stockstad & Cothren, p. 693). With Luther and others emphasizing individual faiths and referred to the Bible as religious authority, this had challenged the pope’s supremacy and made the Protestants want to break away from Rome. The increased literacy and use of the printing press was helpful to the reformers and it even allowed European scholars
Luther’s main objective was to get his point across to everyone and save the world, not reform it. Luther was in favor of the monarchy, order, and social classes controlling themselves. He also helped influence of Universities, and according to Marginal Revolution, “ Students studied theology as a means of getting degrees. Then after the students would look for occupations in regard to what their studying. Luther was able to help influence more people to study the word of god, and to have a better education by reading the scripture.
Luther wished to extend freedom, and looking back at the quote, "this faith cannot exist in connection with works." ( Martin Luther) As Luther put more importance on faith alone than works, he wanted to show people were able to reach salvation through faith, not just acts. (Weaver and Brakke 90). An example would be Luther translating scripture into German, making it available to people.
For Luther, salvation couldn’t be found in membership within any institution, bought or influenced by the hands of human beings. Rather, he saw it as a spiritual gift given to us from God. As a scholar from the University of Erfurt, Luther received a Master of Arts degree in grammar, rhetoric, logic and metaphysics his understanding as a priest was that grace was a gift that had been bought only on the cross by the death of Jesus of Nazareth. On the 31st day of October 31, 1517 Martin Luther nailed his ninety-five theses on the church door in Wittenberg, Germany in regard to Disputation on the Power and Efficacy of Indulgences. The Bishop of Rome, Leo X refuted the theses as dissident and demanded that Luther abjure all instructions which questioned the absolute authorization of the pontificate or be faced with exclusion.
Before Luther rebelled against Catholic practices, he has achieved many works
