The movie Luther is set in the early 1500s of Europe, specifically Germany, and was directed by Eric Till. The movie is a biography of Martin Luther and it explores the three decades of his life that ultimately led him to start the Protestant Reformation. Some of the cast includes Joseph Fiennes, Alfred Molina, Jonathan Firth, Claire Cox, Peter Ustinov, and Bruno Ganz. It was released October 30, 2003 as an independent film that was funded to a limited extent by Thrivent Financial for Lutherans. The movie Luther exhibits political, economical, and social issues of the early 16th century that connects to current historical information of that time.
The film follows Martin Luther, who starts as a German monk, on a journey to understand his faith. After a trip to Rome he discovers corruption in the Church which leads him to challenge some of the Church’s beliefs by writing the 95 Theses. After refusing to recant his beliefs he is excommunicated from the Church which causes much chaos. Prince Fredrick saves Luther’s life by kidnapping him before others can and in return Luther dedicates the now translated German Bible to him. After more chaos and riots about Luther’s “disappearance” he marries Katherine von Bora and encourages the nobles to stand up to Charles V which works in his favor when the nobles are allowed to read their Augsburg Confession.
There are many political issues addressed in this movie starting with the authority of the Church being challenged by Luther. The authority of the Church is exemplified during the scene where the new pope is elected and is revealed to be Pope Leo X. Pope Leo X used his authority to excommunicate Luther because he kept complaining about the selling of indulgences and wrote his 95 Theses. Th...
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...istening to John Tetzel. The viewer can see them at almost every public gathering and see their reactions which reflect the reactions of the other poor people. The film also gave insight to the corruption in the Catholic Church. For example Luther saw a brother leaving with a prostitute. Also there was a scene where Cardinal Cajetan showed Aleander statues of the prior popes and told him of their real personalties, like how Pope Alexander VI had wives and mistresses even though it is against their religion for holy men to marry nevertheless cheat.
The movie Luther provides an exceptional visual biography of the life of Martin Luther. The political, economical, and social issues addressed in this movie pertain to the current and previous chapters discussed in class. The ideas of Luther challenged the Catholic religion and ultimately led to the Protestant Reformation.
Kittelson effectively composed the book and created the biography to be an interesting look into the life of Martin Luther. His successful usage of primary source documents and information compounded with his personal literary explanation of Luther’s journey toward reformation and peace with God. Kittelson’s book is not without humor either, he includes direct quotes and dialogue between Luther and Zwingli debating the Lord’s Supper. The insults and demonstrative behavior show Luther as he was, a reformer, who wished to convince others of the power of the gospel. This engaging study is both informative and engaging. Luther the Reformer is a good biography for anyone interested in Martin Luther’s life and interested in learning more about why his journey impacted not only the Roman church then, but the entirety of the Christian Church to this
Martin Luther, was “temperamental, peevish, egomaniacal, and argumentative” (Hooker, www.wsu.edu), but played a pivotal role in history. During Luther's time as a monk, the Catholic Church was selling indulgences. Luther took notice to the corruption and began to reason that men can only get their salvation through Jesus Christ, not the Pope or indulgences, let alone the Church itself. Luther began ...
First, before exploring Luther’s rejection of the peasant revolt, one must examine his explanation of Christian freedom. Written in 1520, The Freedom of a Christian proclaimed the new freedom to be found in salvation by faith alone. His doctrine liberated people from works but also from the laws of the Old Testament. Salvation was found in the promise of Go...
Martin Luther was born on November 10, 1483. He was a German monk, priest, professor, theologian and church reformer. His teaching helped to inspire the Reformation, and influenced the doctrines of the Lutheran and Protestant traditions, as well as the course of western civilization. Luther's works and writing helped bring the Middle Ages to a close, and brought about the Modern Era of western civilization. His translation of the Bible furthered the development of a standardized German language. Due to the development of the printing press, his teachings were widely read and influenced many reformers and thinkers. (Peterson 1)
No one can deny, after his Ninety-Five Theses, Martin Luther was on the road to serious reform, but he wasn't always on that track. He was born in 1483, the son of a coal miner and had a strong will from the beginning of his life (Mullett, 26). In his childhood, Luther was sometimes beaten up to 15 times in a morning while attending school. Martin Luther's father had first arranged for him to be a lawyer and began training him for this even at an early age, insisting that he learn Latin (Mullett, 29). In 1505, he received his master's degree and upon his fathers wishes he enrolled in law school at the University of Erfurt. That same year though, he would become derailed after a traumatic experience on his way home from school to his parent's house. As Martin Luther was walking home, he suddenly became trapped in a terrible lightning s...
In Martin Luther’s letter to Pope Leo X, Luther expresses his deepest concerns for the doctrine and well-being of the Roman Catholic Church to the most powerful figure in Europe, being very careful not to insult the Pope himself. He addresses several issues that have arisen within the church, such as corrupt men who are in positions of leadership, people who are treating the Pope as though he is a God, and people convincing the Pope that he alone has the right to interpret scripture. Luther also proposes several solutions to the Church’s dilemma, beseeching the Pope to remain humble and not comply with those who attempt to worship Him, as well as asking that he not be convinced he is the only one capable of interpreting scripture. Above all else, Luther’s main purpose in writing to the Pope himself is to both clarify his misunderstood intentions to the Holy Catholic Church and to also earn the favor of Pope Leo in spite of his condemnation of the Church, both
Martin Luther was a former Priest/Monk and that saw some corruption in the Roman Catholic Church. Luther tried to bring his concerns to the Church in his writing of the “Ninety-five Theses on the Power of Indulgences.” When these question that Luther proposed to the Archbishop of Mainz went unsatisfactorily unanswered in 1517, Luther started defaming the Roman Church and pushed for the utter destruction of the Roman Church. What started out as an internal reform of Church’s discipline, turned into a war against the Roman Church for their total destruction. This was the intent of Luther’s sermon of 1521.
In this essay Martin Luther comments upon the role of good works in a Christian's life and the overall goal of a Christian in his or her walk. He writes seventeen different sections answering the critics of his teachings. I will summarize and address each one of these sections in the following essay.
At the beginning of the sixteenth century church theologian, Martin Luther, wrote the 95 Theses questioning the corruption of the Roman Catholic Church. In this essay I will discuss: the practices of the Roman Catholic Church Martin Luther wanted to reform, what Martin’s specific criticism of the pope was, and the current practices Pope Francis I is interested in refining in the Roman Catholic Church today.
The political organization and religion aspects during the 16th century influenced Protestant Reformation to occur in Germany. Martin Luther’s writings reflect on his views and perspectives of German politics and religion at the time. Martin Luther’s ideas in the Letter to the Christian Nobility of the German Nation and The Statement of Grievances mentions Martin Luther’s thoughts about how corrupt the church is, why the corruption in the church needs to end, and what Martin Luther’s ideas are to change the way of the church.
The human mind tends to have an immense fascination with things that are impossible to explain or comprehend or, in simpler terms, mysteries. Commonly, crime and detective television shows exploit the peoples’ enthrallment toward mysteries to captivate and maintain viewership. For example, the television show, Luther, is very complex and exciting show in that it approaches these mysteries in a unique way. Neil Cross, the writer of the show, employs the use of various traditional detective story devices, including but not limited to the presentation of a problem followed by the detective’s canny methods to the resolution of the problem. In the case of the television show Luther, the problem that is presented is the murder of Alice Morgan’s parents.
Thesis statement: Martin Luther was responsible for the break-up of the Catholic Church Martin Luther was a representative during the 16th century of a desire widespread of the renewal and reform of the Catholic Church. He launched the Protestant reform a continuation of the medieval religious search. From the Middle ages, the church faced many problems such as the Babylonian Captivity and the Great Schism that hurt the prestige of the church. Most of the clergy lived in great luxury while most people were poor and they set an immoral example. The clergy had low education and many of them didn’t attend their offices.
A reformation is often defined as the action of change for improvement. The Protestant Reformation is a movement that began in 1517, which split the unity of the Western Church; and later established Protestantism. The three main factors that impacted the reformation were political, sociological and theological. Martin Luther and John Calvin, two protestant Reformers who reformed Catholicism, strived to define salvation and impact the church as a whole. How do Martin Luther’s reforms compare to John Calvin’s through their struggle to define salvation, how people viewed them, and how the church was affected as a whole? Martin Luther and John Calvin both had a huge impact on the reformation and were both regarded with great respect; however, Martin Luther’s strive for salvation and the reformation of the church was more successful than Calvin’s.
Martin Luther’s (1483-1546) actions and teachings have had a profound influence on Christian faith. His crucial decision to go on a pilgrimage to Rome (1510) enabled him to witness and act against the objectionable corruption of the Catholic Church. Luther’s teachings developed through his work at Wittenburg University where his revolutionary theology evolved from the examination of the New Testament. On 31 October 1517 Martin Luther posted the controversial 95 Thesis, condemning the corruption of the Church and sharing his beliefs and ideas such as the 5 solas. Luther started a religious revolution that resulted in the formation of a new variant of Christianity that had changes to the expression of faith and key beliefs. This Protestant Church
The movie does a good job capturing the setting of Europe in the 16th century. The movie begins with a very famous part of Luther’s life, when Luther is traveling back to Eufort from visiting his family and is caught in a treacherous storm (Christian History: The Early Years). Luther is scared for his life and is trying to make it back to school safely, Luther cried out in fear, “Help me, St. Anna! I will become a monk” (Luther). This turned Luther’s life around, when he decided to switch paths and go to a monastery.