At the year 1524, Martin Luther, a significant figure in the Reformation and the founder of Lutheranism, had just finished hiding in Frederick the Wise’s Saxony castle after the Edict of Worms declared that he was an “outlaw” of the Holy Roman Empire. Luther’s action that led up to this event was the publication of the 95 Theses in 1517, which denounced indulgences and attacked the corruption of the papacy. Luther was able to remain hidden due to the extreme decentralization of the Holy Roman Empire. Emperor Charles V could not devote much of his attention to Luther, as he was controlling Spain, The Holy Roman Empire, and the New World.
Throughout the centuries The Roman Catholic Church has come under attack by staunch opponents of its teachings and practices. Martin Luther a German theology professor and monk was one such opponent. Martin Luther forever changed religious history by writing and publishing the Ninety-Five Theses. Three core topics of the Ninety-Five Theses were selling indulgences to finance the building of Saint Peter’s Basilica was wrong, the salvation is through faith and God’s grace, and finally purchasing indulgences gives people a false sense of security. Of all the abuses of the Roman Catholic Church most offensive to Martin Luther was the selling of indulgences.
Martin Luther a man whose religious faith determined his outcome in life to become a monk after almost getting struck by lightning. Luther later became a professor at the University of Wittenberg and while he read the bible he discovered faith was the key to salvation. Which were not the ideas the priests spread. Which then lead Martin to doubt the legitimacy of indulces. The protestant reformation began with Martin Luther pinning the 95 Theses to the church doors, he supported it throughout by refusing to change his beliefs, and it ended with the creation of a new doctrine.
The professor from ASU wrote the article “At 500, Protestant Reformation still influencing our world” which talks about how the Martin Luther Document has altered how people perceive religion and the future. This was the argument that the author made. The author talks about Martin Luther’s “95 Theses” document. Martin Luther spoke in this document about how the church had indoctrinated the people.
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.
On October 31, 1517 and Martin Luther wrote the ninety-five theses. The ninety-five theses are “ A list of propositions for an academic disputation written in 1517 by Martin Luther, professor of moral theology at the University of wittenberg”. As a member of the Catholic Church I had a bad reaction with Martin Luther becue of the many times he said the Catholic Church was wrong. He only believed in his own ideas, he believed in many thing that the Catholic Church didn’t. He believed that all you needed to go to heaven was faith alone.
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
People were unhappy with the way the clergy were treating their people and it was clear that corruption was throughout the Catholic church. The state of the Catholic church, while significant, was simply a backdrop for Martin Luther in his early life. Ironically, he was on the side of the Catholic church in his early life; he was “a university professor of theology and a member of the Catholic clergy,” (Dutton, 390). This close integration with the church made it surprising that he was the one to lead a religious reformation. However, it was his knowledge of scripture that made his message so
Theses to be sold. These 95 Theses were posted by Luther on the front of church doors and it talked about the 95 things he did not like about the church. As more of these copies were sold, more and more people heard what Luther had to say, and he gained followers. Soon after, Luther created his own branch of Christianity, which protestantism through the name of Luther.
Instead, Luther went for the roots of the theological aspect of the church. He claimed that the church was not teaching the correct materials and that he was. In his book “95 Theses,” Martin Luther attacked the theory of the selling of indulgences, stating that only God had control of souls in Purgatory, and no human figure himself. It was Luther’s statement about how scripture and faith were the only assets needed to attain Heaven that really put the church authority over the edge. He was not planning on breaking from the church with thus statement, but the pope had enough and finally decided to excommunicate his from the church
Martin Luther, a German priest, theologian, and professor In 1517 pre protestant reformation saw the growing issues with the Catholic power in Wittenberg Germany. Martin Luther posted the 95 Theses on the church door to debate the teachings and punishments of the Catholic church. He states the corruption of the church. .Martin Luther's 95 Theses is a huge turning point in history because it paved the way for the protestant reformation.
The ninety-five Theses were written by Martin Luther. He didn’t like the way the church was. He thought that they were getting over on the people. For instance they had you pay for someone else’s sins.
The impact of the Protestant Reformation influenced America's world view of freedom,government, and rights. In the 16th century, the Protestant Reformation began when Martin Luther, a professor of Theology wrote "95 Theses" against the Catholic church The doctrine of his theses was founded on the belief that the Bible is the religious authority and that Salvation is obtainable by faith, not by works. Rawls states that:
By questioning the sale of indulgences and arguing that the pope does not have complete authority over forgiveness of sins and, to a larger extent, salvation, Luther established a precedent for the word of the Church to be called into question rather than it having absolute authority. Given that Luther opens his 95 Theses with “out of love and concern for the truth,” it is clear that his intentions are not necessarily to completely undermine the authority of the Catholic Church, but rather to open a dialogue between the Catholic Church and its faithful on what is actually true in regards to God. The collective judgment of the Catholic community, particularly those who did not have positions of power in the Church, would then have a much greater effect on the direction in which the Catholic Church took than it would have before Luther’s 95 Theses.
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.
