Martin Luther's Christianity: A Global History

The basic doctrine of salvation served as the basis for debate between the different sects of Christianity for centuries. Even now, the idea of faith versus works is heavily discussed and disputed in churches all over the world. Between the 1500s and 1600s, though, with the rise of indulgences and the Reformation, the idea of salvation became one of the main focal points of controversy between the Protestants and the Catholics. The Protestants, primarily because of Martin Luther, argued against the selling of indulgences and instead believed salvation was a result of a faith in God; the Catholics, however, argued against this ideology by claiming salvation occurred via a faith in God, as well as an active effort on the believer’s part. In simple

Indulgences, which were “documents certifying the forgiveness of temporary punishments in purgatory still owed to God after a sin is forgiven,” were sold in churches and were used to help the establishment or Pope raise money for new churches that were being constructed, such as St. Peter’s Church, which still stands today. However, indulgences, for a long period of time, were controversial and were heavily criticized for being scams and holding no religious weight, especially by men like Erasmus. Despite this criticism, though, the sale of indulgences didn’t falter. Catholics, more than any others, believed indulgences saved their bodies and souls from purgatory and used them as a means of salvation when a sin was committed. They firmly alleged that indulgences could be bought and used to save not only their bodies and souls, but the bodies and souls of their family and friends, as well. Within Johann Tetzel’s instructions on how to sell indulgences, he described how these papers could “rescue

Protestants during this time and after saw salvation as “following Christ their Head through penalties, death, and hell,” which demonstrated how Christians should be resolute in their faith in God and not feel the need to weakly beg for forgiveness by paying for indulgences or spending time in confession. This mentality during the 1500s and 1600s, though, eventually led to Luther being put on trial for heresy due to his unpopular nature and lack of support from Christians outside of Protestantism. Roman Catholics such as Emperor Charles V saw Luther’s statements and viewpoints as heretical and sacrilegious, as they assumed that human beings lacked free will and caused a great deal of controversy in the Christian community. Luther’s mentality that salvation came only from “the divine grace through faith that liberated Christians from the law, ritual, and works” and the love that “bound [Christians] to serve the good of others” consequently went against the notion of human free will; because works of love could only result from a love and faith in God, the argument was made that humans didn’t actually possess