Compare And Contrast Martin Luther Was Both A Revolutionary And A Conservative

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Task: “Luther was both a revolutionary and a conservative.” Evaluate this statement with the respect to Luther’s responses to the political and social questions of his day. During the 16th century, the Catholic Church was seen as corrupt because of certain practices such as indulgences. This corruption, lead many people to stand up against the Church, and this began The Protestant Reformation. One of the most influential people of this time was Martin Luther. Martin Luther’s responses to political and social questions during this time were often either revolutionary or conservative. Luther’s criticism towards the church’s practice of indulgences, and promoting sola fide can be considered to be revolutionary. However, Luther’s siding with the princes of the Holy Roman Empire during the Peasants Revolt can be seen as conservative. Indeed, when you look at the responses of Luther towards much disputed questions during his lifetime you will see that he was both a conservative and revolutionary. One of the major religious disputes during The Protestant…show more content…
Luther’s views toward the sacraments were highly revolutionary compared to that of the Catholic Church. The Catholic Church had previously enabled seven sacraments that were required in order for a person to reach salvation. Luther established that the only sacraments that were needed were Baptism and Communion. Luther also disagreed with the Catholic belief of transubstantiation. Transubstantiation is the belief that the wine and bread present at the Communion physically became the blood and flesh of Christ. Luther supported the belief of consubstantiation which was the belief that the bread and wine at Communion was supposed to be symbolic of the blood and flesh of Christ. All in all, Martin Luther had a very revolutionary view toward the sacraments compared to that of the Catholic
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