9 I. INTRODUCTION As a believers and followers of Jesus Christ it is crucial to know the history of Christianity and of one of his most important actors, Martin Luther. Roland H. Bainton’s book, is an amazing biography of Luther were he clearly explains his personal life and theology vision in one of the most crucial moments in the history of Christianity. The first portion of this book in centered in Luther's days as a monk, his crisis of faith, and his break from Rome that caused the start of the Reformation period. The central part of the book deals with the conflict with Rome, and particularly what it was referred as to “The Diet of Worms”.
He was able to utilize the previous autocrats’ work as a springboard for his reign to complete the act of emancipating the serfs. Other motives for emancipation stemmed from the religious ideologies held by Alexander II. Striving for a “common good”, Christian charity, and equality were all factors that contributed to Alexander II’s push to emancipate the serfs. Religious ideology permeates the language used by Alexander II in his emancipation edict and speeches. This use of language reflects the deeply held religious convictions that he held and used as inspiration for many of his decisions.
In the early 16th century, the Protestant Reformation divided the unity of the Roman Catholic Church. The Reformation movement began in Germany led by Martin Luther. His speeches and writings were passed on all over Europe with the help of the printing press. It started in response to the rising sense of corruption in the church. For instance, “the sale of indulgences for the benefit of the church of Rome specifically for the rebuilding of St. Peters Cathedral provoked harsh criticism, especially by those who saw the luxuries of the papacy as a betrayal of apostolic ideals ” (Fiero 119).
The First Crusade and the idea of crusading by Jonathan Riley-Smith- I find this book so far to be a good read and chapter 1:Pope Urbans Message to very useful in helping me write my paper. This chapter discusses focuses on pope Urban and his sermons to the people. The chapter gives reasons on why the Crusade was called and how the church legitimized the crusade through his sermons. Also goes into the goals of the crusades that were mentioned over and over again by the Popes Sermons. The Pilgrimage Tradition and the Holy War Before the First Crusade James A. Brundage- I will be using this article to help connect holy wars and their justification with Pope Urban’s justification of war.
The following important division occurred in the 16th century with the Protestant Reformation. Those who remained faithful to Roman Catholicism believed that the central regulation of doctrine by church leaders was necessary to prevent confusion and division within the church and corruption of its beliefs. Most of these branches agree on the basic belief of the faith regarding Jesus, salvation by his death, the oneness of God, and the existence of heaven and hell. They differ however in different important points which caused the division among Christianity. The Roman Catholic branch of Christianity is governed by a hierarchy with the pope at the top and then the bishops and priests follow.
These included his understanding of what individuals need to attain Salvation and his 95 Thesis. Through these beliefs, Luther consequently impacted Christianity in many ways. Some of which include the widespread questioning of Catholic Church, the birth of a new Christian visitant – Protestantism, the development of Protestant denomination: Lutheran, Calvinist – Baptists, Church of England etc., and the Counter Reformation. One of the ways in which Martin Luther was a catalyst for the Reformation of the Christian Church was his understanding of salvation. During the 1500’s, the Catholic Church was in a state of nepotistic and was shrouded in corruption and wrongdoing.
Between 1528 and 1533 he experienced “sudden conversion” and grasped Protestantism. He described his experience as: “God subdued my soul to docility by a sudden conversion”. In 1536, his fist edition of his book entitled “Institutes of the Christian Religion” was published. It was in this book that he put his ideas about what people should believe when searching for answers about religion. This belief system was called Calvinism.
1. Which was a major result of the Protestant Reformation? a) new Christian denominations emerged b) religious teachings were no longer allowed in the universities c) the Crusades were organized d) the power of the Pope was strengthened 2. Martin Luther’s Ninety-Five Theses were a call for a) religious revolt against the German princes b) reforms within the Roman Catholic Church c) greater papal authority d) Crusades to spread Christianity 3. Who did Luther think had too much power? a) the King b) the Nobles c) the Pope d) the Knights 4.
Barnes in Cooke, Barnes & Roberts (2003) writes that “sacraments take us out of ordinary or profane life to discover the drama or beauty of the divine” (p77) and thus experience Jesus. To understand the changes in sacramental theology and how it is impacted by Jesus’ presence, it important to examine the history of the church, it’s scriptures and the development of its traditions as these form the basis of the belief held by the Church and it’s followers (Boersma, 2011) . In the beginnings of our sacramental theology it was easy for believers to witness Jesus inthe sacraments. He participated in the lives of the community. He was “the sacrament of God.”(De Gidio, 1994,) The gospels and parables show how he led both his disciples and community by his example.
In the 1960’s the traditional Christian Church was going through massive change. Society was dealing from post WW2 feminism, Vietnam War, civil rights, teenager and hippy culture, sexual liberation and a rejection of traditional sources of authority, for example church teachings. Martin Luther King’s legacy in the 1960’s set the scene for a revolution in civil rights and sexual freedom and therefore challenging the traditional legalist approach. This radical change in society underlies Situation Ethics which was part of a general move for people to have greater autonomy and freedom. The concept of situation ethics was first introduced by Fletcher in 1966, in his book ‘Situation Ethics’, expressing his beliefs against antinomian and legalism approaches.