Compare And Contrast Martin Luther And Qin Dynasty

As Gandhi once said, “Be the change you wish to see in this world.” By trying to make a difference, one individual can make an extreme impact on society, as proved by Gandhi and global history. Both impacting leaders, the Reformation’s Martin Luther and the Qin Dynasty’s Shi Huang Di make decisions that change the course of global history. Luther and Qin both lived in a society filled with disunity and corruption, hence why both decided to make a change. In Qin Dynasty, Qin Shi Huang Di uses Legalist, harsh values to govern the country, in order to unite China. Fed up with the Roman Catholic Church’s corruption, Martin Luther decides to protest against the faith by writing the 95 Theses, later creating a new religion. From Luther’s nailing

The Church used the sale of indulgences, which promised a life out of purgatory, to pay for this. However, these indulgences were firstly given out for good deeds, but were later available in exchange for money. Many believed this was unfair, including Martin Luther, since they thought the sale of indulgences is a corrupt way to obtain money. Since he thought the Church was becoming more corrupt, Martin Luther decided to nail down a list of his criticism’s of the Roman Catholic Church, called the 95 Theses, to a church in Saxony. Not only did the 95 Theses include Luther’s challenging of the Church, but he also shares his own personal beliefs, such as achieving salvation through faith alone. As a result of his actions, much controversy sparked within Europe and around the world. Many people become inspired by his thoughts listed in the 95 Theses, challenge the Catholic Church’s beliefs, and begin the Protestant Reformation. As a result of this Protestant Reformation, a major turning point in the world began; another schism occurs to create a new religion of Protestantism. On the other hand, Martin Luther receives much backlash for nailing his 95 Theses to the church doors, such as being excommunicated by Pope Leo X and being declared a heretic by Holy Roman Emperor Charles V. Further, Luther directly

After the Zhou Dynasty falls due to famine, rebellion, etc., Qin Shi Huangdi claims the Mandate of Heaven, which is when a ruler claims that he has the divine right to rule, and rises to power. Once Shi Huangdi becomes the leader of China, he decided to make China’s political system Legalist, in order to gain absolute power. Since Legalism believes in ruling with a strict and harsh behavior, Huangdi impacts China and creates much change within the society. Shi Huangdi punished many people within his empire for various purposes, some including believing in non-Legalist values or disagreeing with Huangdi or the Qin Dynasty. As an example, Huangdi ordered for all historical records not from the Qin Dynasty to be burned, in order to maintain absolute authority and almost force people to agree with his rule. Shi Huangdi used extremely harsh punishments for these people who disobey him or the empire, like death. Due to this strictness, rebellion broke out quite often in the Qin Dynasty, since people were being negatively impacted by Huangdi’s rule. However, despite the cruelty Huangdi uses, he does create unity within his empire by his Legalist government. Huangdi also began construction of the Great Wall of China, which remains one of the biggest landmarks and feats of global history. Due to his extreme impact on society through unification and absolute control, the Qin Dynasty drastically