Martin Luther's 95 Theses Analysis

Martin Luther was a German monk who devoted his life to Christ after a near-death experience. After studying and analyzing the bible Luther soon realized that the teachings of the Catholic Church were deceptive and were only taught to financially benefit the church. In response, Luther nailed his 95 theses on the door of the church in an effort to address the wrongfulness of the pope and the corrupt church officials. Luther’s theses helped create a positive impact by exposing the dishonesty of the Catholic Church and their indulgences, helping to create different branches of Christianity, and allowed people to think for themselves instead of relying on the Church. Martin Luther opposed indulgences because he believed people could get to Heaven through faith and not by paying money to the Catholic Church. Indulgences were tickets that were sold to people by the Catholic Church during the 16th century, to keep someone’s relative who had just passed away out of purgatory. In his 95 theses, Luther states,

They relied on the Church to teach them the ways of the Bible. Therefore, everyone had the same beliefs. Soon after Luther posted his 95 theses, they were spread throughout Germany by the use of the printing press. The printing press allowed for more people to read and have opinions about the scripture. Soon people began to realize that the Church had been using indulgences for financial needs. In result, many people decided to side with Luther on how faith is the only the way to get to Heaven and not by paying indulgences. People also began to branch into different groups based on how they percieved different topics. In conclusion, Martin Luther’s 95 theses acted as a positive impact on the Reformation. His theses exposed indulgences, led to different branches of Christianity, and allowed people to think freely. This was just the beginning of shaping how we view religion