He is famous for his 95 Theses, where he attacked the Catholic Church for selling indulgences and the corruption in the church. He believed that the indulgences were unfair because the lower social class could not afford them. He was then declared a heretic for his views on the Catholic Church. Luther later translated the New Testament from Greek to German allowing Germans to read the bible without having to know other languages. His ideas spread like wildfire to the population and forced the Catholic Church to bring reforms.
The pope can only remit sins or guilt by announcing that GOD has actually remitted the guilt. Luther saw as the major problem with the religious practices of his day the fact that Christians were buying pardons for their guilt and sins rather than seeking the penalties they deserved. He was afraid that the more pardons the Christians purchased the freer of penalty they would become and possibly commit more sins
Puritans and Pilgrims The Pilgrims derived from their leader and historian William Bradford. The puritans got their name because they wanted to purify the Church of England of all practices they considered "popish" i.e. Roman Catholic. They sought the removal of all images, veneration of the saints, sacramental practices, and the like. Their attempts failed and the Puritans soon became persecuted by the Church of England.
“Yet one cannot call it virtue to kill one's citizens, betray one's friends, to be without faith, without mercy, without religion; these modes can enable one to acquire an empire, but not glory.”(Machiavelli 35) “ God our Father hasmade all things depend on faith so that whoever has faith will have everything, and whoever does not have faith will have nothing.” (Luther 13) This quote truly shows how strongly Luther felt about faith and the connection to God with no middle man. He thought that the fact that the Catholic Church said you had to confess to a priest so they could talk to God for you was wrong and takes away from your faith. Machiavelli sees virtu as the traits necessary for a prince to acquire to be able to succesfully run a state. “ And above all a prince should contrive to give himself the fame of a great man and of an excellent talent in every action of his.” (Machiavelli 89) In Chapter XVIII “ Of Cruelty and Mercy, and Whether It Is Better to Be Loved Than Feared, or the Contrary” Machiavelli lists in his writing traits to be a succesfull Prince. He expresses how it is better to be feared rather than loved and to recognize the people around you and in
We see an example of one of Luther’s critical writings in Document 8. In this Document we see Luther take a strong anti Catholic stance and even go so far as to condemn the Pope. Document 9 also serves as another example and shows Luther’s being critical of the Churches officials and the need for priests by clamming “every baptized Christian is a priest already.” This last point struck a major cord with the peasants in Europe. Luther was telling them they could gain their own salvation by studying the bible for themselves. No longer would they need to be dependent on the Church.
The Black Death also led to a lack of Christian teachings with uneducated priests and clergy. Luther became aware that the Catholic Church teachings were not in accordance to the bible. He strongly opposed to the belief that salvation is achieved through good works, and he believed that the emphasis on rituals needed to be minimised. Luther was aware of all these issues and was determined to achieve reform and impact on the church. Luther’s 95 theses, which attacked the entire theology and structure of the Church, was nailed on the door of the church in Wittenberg.
Puritans saw themselves as the true church and religious freedom was not tolerated in the colonies. Those who settled at Massachusetts Bay lived by Calvinist beliefs. They had a strong work ethic, which led to the development of market economy. One of the challenges faced came from Roger Williams, which taught principles contrary to the belief system of the Puritans. He taught that the church and state should be separate, but as eventually banished.
Martin Luther saw this as a major issue as from a young age he excperinsed what it was like to be made to do soemthing. He was told to be a lawyer, Martin didn’t want to be a typical person he wanted to fix what he thought to be worng and change the catholic church for the better. A key moment in which martin decided his pinioon needed to be heard was when John Tetzel was empowered by the Pops tosell an indulgence to pay for restoartion He did this by wrting the 95 thesis and pinned it to the Wittenberg Castle church door. This took courage and guts the thesis was made up of qustions and arguments for debate. This thesis later became the foundation of the protestant reformation.
“Men, Women and Schools of thought love have reformed and/or revitalized the Christian Tradition” This statement remarkably reflects on Martin Luther’s impact on Christianity. Martin Luther generated significant effects on Christianity in his life time and in the present through institutional, theological and liturgical impacts. His influences has resulted in immense change in Christian denomination’s reforming and revitalizing their dynamic beliefs towards Christianity. Martin Luther’s disagreement with the Roman Catholic Church’s teaching of Selling Indulgences caused the different changes within Christianity and hugely impacted the foundation of the Protestant Reformation. He objected to the activities of the Church and attacked doctrines of indulgences and penance and published
Also this quote states, “Not an organizer or politician, he moved men by the power of a profoundly religious faith resulting in unshakable trust in God…” This shows us that Martin Luther didn’t persuade people by organizing meetings or telling the people of the city lies, he showed people the wrongs of the Catholic Church, which sparked a new religion. Also, Martin Luther’s actions began the Reformation. Once Luther nailed his 95 Thesis to the castle church in Wittenberg, his words were copied and printed, and they were known all over Germany. The Reformation led to the founding of Christian churches that did not accept the pope’s authority. Luther wanted to reform the Church.