ipl-logo

How Did Martin Luther Influence On American Culture

928 Words4 Pages

Martin Luther and John Calvin's ideas had a significant influence on Europe's religious and cultural environment in the 16th century and beyond. In this essay, I will summarize their main new ideas and discuss a significant way in which they have affected human life and culture, citing past historical events and present-day consequences to support the claims.
One of the central figures of the Protestant Reformation was the German monk and theologian Martin Luther. Luther started to challenge Catholic Church policies, especially the practice of selling indulgences, which were thought to shorten a person's purgatory sentence. The Reformation was sparked when he infamously nailed his Ninety-Five Theses—a collection of complaints of the church—to …show more content…

For example, Luther believed that all believers were priests and rejected the idea of the sacraments. Although he may have believed that this is all he was doing, his beliefs had long lasting effects, including the growth of religious conflict. He was in fact, denying the existence of spiritual power. In doing this he, “asserted that the only human power was the temporal power – the power of the sword, the law, which became the universal power… (Jones 145).” This was a significant attack on the power of the Church and spiritual authority. Rejecting the sacraments causes a loss of ritual and tradition, which is essential to a strong foundation of faith. This also has devastating effects on the community. Rejecting the sacraments, an essential component of the faith, lead to the fragmentation of the religious community into separate Catholic and Protestant factions. This division was often accompanied by religious wars and acts of violence. For example, in 1524, peasants wanted to apply Luther’s abolishment of hierarchy to temporal power as well and attempted to revolt. Luther did not give his support and encouraged the princes to kill the peasants. The princes end up “killing over one hundred thousand peasants as they put down the rebellion (Jones 151).” The violence and conflict associated with the Protestant Reformation had a lasting impact on the religious and cultural landscape of Europe and set a precedent for future religious wars and acts of

Show More
Related
291 Words | 2 Pages

The Protestant Reformation was important in European History because with it came a Counter-Reformation. The Reformation revealed corruption in the Church, such as buying and selling salvation—indulgences—for profit, simony, and the overall battles for power and wealth (within the Church). Martin Luther and John Calvin were crusaders for the reformation and were able to share their ideas and beliefs effectively; they were then accepted/recognized by the people—the educated and uneducated, the middle class and nobility. Luther and Calvin’s beliefs allowed for other people to find a sense of freedom and individualism in religion.

Read More
1347 Words | 6 Pages

Luther’s radical new ideas regarding religion excited the peasants of the German states and his ideas stated in documents such as his 95 theses acted as a catalyst for the revolts that erupted in the lower class between the years 1524 and 1526. Peasants believed the cause of these revolts were the mistreatment they received from their lords and ruling princes. Their acts of revolution were largely based on new radical ideas surrounding religion, and some even saw it as God’s will. A third cause cited by the peasants was a need for their release from serfdom.

Read More
481 Words | 2 Pages

Luther believed that God’s justice does not require good works and religious rituals to receive salvation. (Cole and Symes 426) Luther believed, “Humans are saved by God’s grace alone, which God offers as an utterly underserved gift to those whom he has predestined for salvation. Because this grace comes to humans through the gift of faith, men and women are “justified” (i.e., made worthy of salvation) by faith alone. (Cole and Symes 426) Luther further believed, “Those whom God has justified through faith will manifest that fact by performing works of piety and charity; but such works are not what saves them.

Read More
880 Words | 4 Pages

He took the words of God, and made them his own, changing their meaning. After these sudden changes, Martin Luther said, “The main reason I fell out with the pope was this: the pope boasted that he was the head of the Church, and condemned all that would not be under his power and authority. He said, “..although Christ is the head of the Church, there must be a physical head of the Church upon earth.” (Document 5, Luther). As Luther said, this could not be tolerated.

Read More
528 Words | 3 Pages

Martin Luther then wrote the “95 Theses”, or “Disputation on the Power and Efficacy of Indulgences”. This list was nailed on the door of the Castle Church in Wittenberg, initiating the Protestant Reformation. However, Luther was not the only reformer. John Calvin agreed with Martin Luther, but believed that the church should be simple, removed of all icons, and also a stricter lifestyle.

Read More
753 Words | 4 Pages

In the early 1500s there were both economic and religious causes of German peasants revolts along with negative and positive responses to these rebellions. Germany in the early 1500s was fragmented by religion and social class. Revolts among the lower classes became relevant after the Renaissance, the posting of Martin Luther’s 95 theses in 1517, and after the Edict and Diet of Worms in 1521. Since the idea of humanism and the formation of the Protestant branch of religion, the peasants of Germany were dissatisfied with their religious and economic lives which led to revolts. As a result, several world leaders opinionated their different views which consisted of wether the rebellions in Germany were harmful or beneficial to the community.

Read More
737 Words | 3 Pages

Since Pope Leo X created indulgence system to finance the new St. Peter’s Basilica and Johann Tetzel collected the indulgences, he wrote the 95 Theses to indicate the pope’s abuses of power. He nailed this document to the church’s door in Wittenburg, Germany and expressed his opposition to the sale of indulgences. As Luther’s first public resistance to the papacy, this document argued that indulgences were sinful and did not grant salvation. The invention of the printing press spread his works and idea throughout Europe.

Read More
844 Words | 4 Pages

In 1520, Luther was excommunicated from the Catholic Church, and he and his followers – the majority of whom were peasants - became known as Protestants. Inspired by Luther and his ideas, the peasants revolted against their lords. Initially arising as a call for change and justice, the peasant revolt took a violent turn and brought to light the contrasting views and values of Christianity, which ultimately led to the destruction of a unified Catholic Church and Europe. Clergy supporting

Read More
385 Words | 2 Pages

Many reformers such as Martin Luther, John Wycliff, and John Calvin played prominent roles in sixteenth-century Europe; they helped to reform Catholic churches and change the Europeans’ ways of thinking. “The Reformation was a rejection of the secular spirit of the Italian Renaissance” is a true statement. The main goal of the religious reformation was to bring back the former beliefs and practices of the Roman Catholic Church, which were based off of the bible; this went against the Renaissance ideas. Martin Luther was one of the many important reformers in sixteenth century Europe. Luther helped to completely change the church systems by writing his 95 theses.

Read More
968 Words | 4 Pages

The Reformation is an era that is widely acknowledged as a major turning point marked by substantial change politically and religiously in Western Europe and the world. This change is primarily due to the influence of Martin Luther, a man who played a pivotal role through his writings. There were many reasons for the push for the Reformation, but the main causes were political and religious. The Church was a powerhouse because the clergy comprised the majority of those who could read, the majority of Europe and most of the world believed in Christianity, and the Pope was a figurehead who had the power of excommunication. Eventually, this power would start to afflict the Church, on the outside, the Church preached its teaching, thought to be

Read More
134 Words | 1 Pages

Martin Luther, a German professor and monk, made a large impact on society in the fifteen hundreds. His new ideas of Christianity changed the concept of how religion was viewed and practiced in the 16th century. Within his Ninety-five Theses, he questioned the authority of the Roman Catholic Church and brought to light the corruption surrounding the church while stating how Christianity should be practiced in different ways rather than what is being taught. It is important to understand his stances on religion to explain how different groups reacted to his ideas. While some parts of Europe accepted his ideologies into practice, others reject Luther for many different reasons.

Read More
1118 Words | 5 Pages

Reformists were upset by the ongoing rituals and practices that offered salvation and believed the authority of the church was abused, it was also an inappropriate system in regards to the feudal system much of Europe was still under. This system revealed the hearts of many church authorities and poisoned the people's faith in the shepherding of the church bishops, the serfs were the least among men and often left uncared for by the church. Key figures of the Reformation began arguing against the rigidity of the church and its abuse of power. Martin Luther was a key figure in the Reformation, he urged the church to turn back to Scripture as the ultimate authority, and he recognized through his own tortured journey for forgiveness that confessions, rituals, and other penance were in the name of fear and privilege, not love. He fought viciously for church reform and even nailed 95 statements of faith to the Castle Church in Wittenberg, resulting in his persecution.

Read More
576 Words | 3 Pages

This is not surprising; a majority of the Catholic world at this time believed in this misconception of God. Luther grows up with this misconception and begins studying theology and philosophy at the university of Erfurt (Ibid. 342). He intends to study law, but after two months chooses to become

Read More
939 Words | 4 Pages

Before Luther rebelled against Catholic practices, he has achieved many works

Read More
489 Words | 2 Pages

These ideas prompted many Catholics into finally correcting the church themselves and seeking Reformation. Martin Luther became the leading figure of the Reformation because he had openly challenged the authority of the Pope and attacked the practice of indulgences in his “Ninety-Five Theses” letter. Several other prominent Theologians such as John Calvin and Huldrych Zwingli seized upon Luther’s beliefs and Reformation swept across 16th century Europe, leading eventually to

Read More

More about How Did Martin Luther Influence On American Culture

Related Topics

Open Document