Compare and contrast Martin Luther to Galileo: why were they labeled heretics; what outcome did each face? Both Martin Luther and Galileo have gone down in history as great, influential men, whilst at the same time being labeled heretics. Galileo defied the Catholic Church, just like Martin Luther. Heresy by definition is “an accusation usually used to discuss violations of religious or traditional laws or codes, although it is used by some political extremists to refer to their opponents.” In other words, both Galileo and Martin Luther went against the Church, so in that sense they are similar, however their methods in how they opposed the Church are subject to great contrast. However one fact remains, both individuals went against the church by defying both it's legitimacy and power as well as it’s power, but as aforementioned, for very different purposes, but in both cases resulted in earning the title of heretic.
The man who first rebelled against the Catholic Church was a man named Martin Luther. He did this by creating the 95 Thesis. Thesis number 32 states that “Those who believe that, through letters of pardon indulgences, they are made sure of their own salvation, will be eternally damned along with their teachers”. The 95 Thesis were reasonable and fair to all of England, unlike the Catholic Churches new rules. Henry VIII thought of the idea to challenge the church from Martin Luther.
The Roman Catholic Church didn’t want people to use science to explain things in the universe because it went against what they believe God did. Just like for example, the Big Bang Theory. Even though the Big Band Theory did not come into effect until the twentieth century, it goes against what Christian’s believe because they are denying that God created the universe and instead are saying that it was created by a cataclysmic event out in space. And our galaxy was
They didn’t include the earth because this is when people thought that the Earth was the center of everything. This list of planets stayed the same until William Herschel discovered Uranus. Then Le Verrier discovered Neptune in 1846. Well since astronomers kept finding more and more planets they kept looking for them until they came across the 9th and final planet in 1930, Pluto. Background Information on Pluto Pluto was unlike all the other planets in many ways.
Luther’s first step was to attempt reform within the Catholic church was posting “The 95 Theses on the Power of Indulgences” on the door of the church of Wittenberg to directly protest the selling of indulgences. Condemning indulgences was, in fact, condemning the pope, and his authority to grant pardons to the Catholics. Opposing indulgences was not the end of opposing the pope, however, when the pope sent Luther a letter telling him to take back his words or be excommunicated, Luther burned the letter publicly. Eventually when Luther was excommunicated, he continued to spread his heretical ideas especially through his writings, some of which included “On Christian Liberty” which led the peasant class to believe Lutheranism would lift their oppression and “An Appeal to the Christian Nobility of the German Nation” which invited Christian princes to take over the wealth of the German monasteries. Luther needed the support of the masses to bring about his reform.
Chapter 27 summary It was expected that the influence which Luther left in England would remain, but King Henry VIII who reigned until his death in 1547, was a bitter enemy of the reformed faith. He had no love to the Protestant doctrine and worship. He had received permission from the pope to marry Catherine of Aragon after the death of her previous husband, Henry’s brother. But, his love for her decreased as she failed to give birth to a living son for the heir to the kingdom. Henry asked the Pope to declare that the papal permission given him to marry Catherine was contrary to the law of God and that he wasn’t truly married to her, but the pope wouldn’t give in.
Simony was the buying and selling of anything considered spiritual (Miller 15). He believed that the appointments of church leaders by kings, in this case Henry IV, was an act of simony because the men that the kings were closest to were granted offices. Pope Gregory VII felt that this was a heresy in the church and the ability to appoint men to high positions should be stripped of the kings and emperors powers. During the reform, the holiness of kings was more directly attacked by the reformers who insisted that kings were only men, like all men (Miller 5) which helped Gregory VII find a backing for his revolt against the
The religion of Christianity promoted enlightened people to question the ideology of their God and lean more towards a scientific method in order to look at the world around them. The church used superstition, threats of eternal damnation, and promises of heaven, to control masses of ignorant people in Europe, since the time of the crusades. It represented a wealthy capitalist organization, like a huge cooperation, exploiting the spiritual needs common to many humans especially at that time period. A great example of how Christianity stifled social change is the idea that the earth was the center of the solar system. Astronomers such as Galileo knew that the sun was the center rather than the earth, but the church suppressed new ideas and new information from reaching the people.
He believed the selling indulgences was wrong, and even the pope, Pope Leo X, did not have the authority to abolish sins through payments. Luther recognized that at this time, the Church was more focused on accumulating money than saving its people and spreading the word of Christ. Luther believed that only God has the ability to take away the sins of humanity. Martin Luther published his opinions in a document titled Ninety-Five Theses. The monk's writing spread quickly around Europe, and he soon posed a serious threat to the Catholic Church.
He developed the heicentric theory which stated that the sun was the centre of the universe thus questioning the belief of the majority and the Catholic Church that the earth was at the centre of the universe. Although he was publically mortified because his theory contradicted the Earth being Divine he soon received acclaim from his followers such as Galileo and was accepted all over the world. Copernicus who was considered to be mad had finally changed the face of science forever. This notion is also emexplified in the novel To kill a mocking bord by harper lee. The actions of the central character atticus finch shows that only a few have the courage to go against the widely accepted facts.