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Protestant Reformation and its influence
Protestant Reformation and its influence
Protestant reformation esay
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The document “The Ninety-Five Theses” was the disputations on the power and the efficacy of indulgences coming from The Church of Rome, which actually became the Roman Catholic Church. The list of disputes that were written by Martin Luther in 1517, set into a revolution. Luther was a monk, and also a priest. He went on to study the Holy Bible with caution, and he created his own thoughts on how things should function compared to The Roman Catholic Church. The pope ran the Catholic Church and he had had the duties of deciding what the church could do and what they could not do. The pope believed in buying indulgences, which also led the church to believe that buying indulgences was the correct thing to do.
Indulgences were believed to have limited the amount of time that could have been spent the purgatory. On the contrary, Martin Luther believed that indulgences were a deceitful assurance of faith, and
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there was no way to truly purchase your way into Heaven. Nevertheless, Luther while knowing his limits chose to challenge existing beliefs of the people. With Luther’s beliefs being based solely on faith alone, he wanted others to believe the same as well. When Luther decided to establish this organization that took on the name of Protestantism. While doing this, he gained many followers to assist himself while creating the document that was known as “The Ninety-Five Theses.” Luther wrote this thesis that was posted on the church doors for anyone partaking in the Protestant Reformation.
He sought the responsiveness of the pope assuming that he was the leader for what was going on. The document that he wrote says that he wrote it out of love and distress for what he knew was the truth. Luther had came up with ninety-five ideas that proved that the Catholic Church had been wrong in their beliefs. One of Luther’s main ideas that stood out to me is number thirty-six that says, “Any Christian whatsoever, who is truly repentant, enjoys plenary remission from penalty and guilt, and this is given him without letters of indulgences.” Along with this idea, number seventy-five that states, “It is foolish to think that papal indulgences have so much power that they can absolve a man even if he has done the impossible and violated the Mother of God.” When you violate God himself and lack faith, there is no entering the Kingdom of Heaven, and this is what these two statements explain to us, as well as the entire document that Luther has
written. Luther despises the pope as it is, but when he comes up with this theory he can only just laugh at him. Number eighty-six in Luther’s Theses states, “Again: Since the pope’s income today is larger than that of the wealthiest man, why does he not build this one church of St. Peter with his own money, rather than with the money of indigent believers?” Luther believes that the pope should make wiser decisions with his paid income, and should always give the church back more than he does now. “The pope himself cannot remit guilt, but only declare and confirm that it has been remitted by God; or, at most, he can remit it in cases reserved to this discretion. Except for these cases, the guilt remains untouched.” Luther states this in his document in number six directly towards the pope. Knowing that the pope is the leader of the church, he obviously strongly disagrees with him and he doesn’t care to continue throw the pope under the bus, because his Luther believes that the pope’s beliefs are completely wrong and irrelevant. Luther continues his thoughts about the Bible and how services should actually be directed, compared to reality of the Roman Catholic Church. Continuing on through Luther’s document and the subject of indulgences, he ostensibly continues to make points to the people hoping to change their minds about what they think, and what the pope has taught them which Luther thinks is wrong. Luther of course continued to spread his beliefs, and shared his document, The Ninety-Five Theses,” all around the world. As the Roman Catholic Church found this out, of course it caused conflict between them and Luther. He was later kicked out of the church, but with pride continued to share his beliefs with the people. His document, The Ninety-Five Theses, meant a lot to him, and he just knew what the pope thought and had been preaching to the church was not right, and it could not be what the people believed for the rest of their lives. Luther had a great argument, and he continued to share his beliefs with no shame, even if he was kicked out of the Roman Catholic Church. In conclusion, I believe that Martin Luther’s beliefs on indulgences was a complete turn around in faith for not only the church, but also a turn around for the religious groups around the world that Luther spoke to about his document. People could obviously create and believe their own religious views, no matter what the pope, or Luther, or anyone for that matter said, but by reading this document I feel that most people wanted to believe Luther over believing the pope. Throughout this document, I have realized that Luther believed that faith was through God, and yourself, and you cannot “pay off” your sins. Ever sine Luther created this document, The Ninety-Five Theses, views on religion have changed tremendously, and created something completely new for faith inside and outside of the Roman Catholic Church. There might have been a select few that agreed with the pope longingly, but Luther shared his beliefs, and made most people and the church believe his reasons, which were a much better scenario.
As a result, Luther burned the letter and other papal documents. Then in 1521, Luther was asked to attend the Diet of Worms, where he would recant what he had written. Once again, he refused. He was strong to his beliefs. Unlike Henry VIII, Luther was not selfish in reforming the Church. For instance, the peasants were one of Luther’s major supporters. They had a list of demands that Luther would try to resolve. He initially backed them up but in 1525 when they turned to violence in a revolt, he exhorted the nobles to slaughter them. Luther could have had all of those supporters who admired him, but instead, he had them slaughtered. Although he could have had the support, he believed violence was not the answer. No matter how many supporters he could have has, his beliefs were always put first. Overall, Martin Luther wanted to reform the Church to create a more simple Christian life as it was in the
The practice of selling indulgences became under attack from a monk named Martin Luther in the early 1500’s. Indulgences were used as a means by many church officials to add to their wealth and prestige. By buying an indulgence, one was released for all sin and acceptance into Heaven guaranteed. Luther argued that no one needed to buy admission into Heaven. He believed that people could obtain salvation thru their faith and actions alone. The authority of the Pope was also challenged by Luther believing that religious matters needed to be resolved through the words of the Bible and not an individual’s decision. All of this was set down in Luther’s 95 Thesis that he posted on the Church door in Wittenberg, Germany ("The Reformation Video").
Luther had a change in his philosophy of how God deals with sinners. Luther believe red that God just sat in Heaven and just passed judgment on sinners. In (Psalm 22: 1-8 AMP) the scriptures talk about God delivering the saints versus just being a God who only judges the people that he condemns for their sins. Luther revolved against the Pope once he realized that the Pope did not have the power to control the final resting place in Purgatory or in Hell. Bainton makes a great point, for the saints by pointing out that the forgiveness of Christ outweighs the indulgences of the Pope. In the end Luther’s theology change featured embracing God’s word from scripture, versus relying on his relationships with religious leader such as the
He was the man that formed the base of the Protestant Reformation. Luther knew he had to take action on this convictions immediately. So on behalf of the rebellion against indulgences and other Catholic doctrine, Luther created a “ Disputation on the Power and Efficacy of Indulgences” or more commonly known as “The 95 Theses.” The 95 Theses were a list of topics to discuss and propose the idea of indulgences. Or as some people would say to protest the sale of the indulgences of the Roman Catholic Church. The main seller of these indulgences was a man named John Tetzel who had promised the Christians that by paying they were “instantly” saved from sin. Legend says that on October 31, 1517, Martin Luther’s 95 Theses were nailed onto the doors of the Wittenberg Castle Church. Luther knew that this revolt was not violent, but was only intended to educate
Luther’s Church would later be called Lutheran and opposed the authority of the Roman Church. This brings up the meaning behind Luther’s sermon in 1512. Luther’s anger and bias enraged him so much that nothing that the Roman Church did was good and the Roman Church needed to be destroyed. This is a far cry from a controversy on indulgences. Luther’s intent is seen clearly in his sermon when he says, “You say your Psalter, you pray your rosary, , you pray all kinds of other prayers, and say a lot of words; you say Mass, you kneel before the alter, you read confessions, you go mumbling and maundering; and all the while you think you are free from sin.” (Discovering,
Martin Luther was not fond of the practices the Roman Catholic church of indulgences. Indulgences are a practice where worshippers would pay their priest which granted remission for their sins (“Indulgences."). This practice became increasingly corrupt. In the 95 Theses, Luther, became prominent in the Protestant Reformation due to its humble and academic tone (A&E Television Networks, LLC.). For example, in the second theses he states, “The word cannot be properly understood as referring to the sacrament of penance, i.e. confession and satisfaction, as administered by the clergy.” This means that only god can give salvation, not a priest. He is questioning why we must pay to re...
Martin Luther’s view on indulgences appears in many of his writings including Luther’s 95 Theses and The Statement of Grievances. Martin Luther believes that the Papacy should not have a role in collecting taxes, indulgences, or any ways of drawing income from the German nation. On number twenty-three in the Letter to the Christian Nobility of the German Nation, Luther states “The brotherhoods, and for that matter, indulgences, letters of indulgences, and everything of that kind, should be snuffed out and brought to an end”. Martin Luther wants the German nation to get rid of indulgences since the indulgence sellings can harm the integrity of the church. Indulgences were not new to the German nation during the 16th century. Indulgences have been around for three centuries prior to 1520 even before Martin Luther’s Letter to the Christian Nobility of the German Nation was published. With indulgences, the German nation pays for their sins to be forgiven. The church makes most of its profits from the public by selling these indulgences. In Carter Lindberg’s The European Reformation, Carter Lindberg states “An indulgence, then, drew on the treasure of the church to pay off the debt of the penitent sinner who would otherwise be obligated to pay off the penance by works of satisfaction either in life or in purgatory”. For example, in
Martin Luther was a friar very devoted to the Church but after analyzing all these aspects he decided to do something about it. On October 31, 1517 he attached to the door of Wittenberg Castle a list of 95 theses or propositions on indulgences. These theses criticized papal policies and were objections about he church put on hold for discussion.
An indulgence is not: permission to commit sin, a pardon of future sin, the forgiveness of the guilt of sin, or an exemption from any law or duty (Kent). The concept of indulgences is based on the medieval Catholic doctrine that sinners must not only repent their sins to an ordained priest, who then granted absolution, but a penance was also required to make amends for the sin (Jordan 1). Even after sins have been forgiven, sinners still owe some form or recompense for the sins they have committed (Brown 123). The church declared certain good works, such as: certain kinds or prayer, fasting, giving alms, and making pilgrimages equivalent to doing so many days of public penance (Cantor 240). Indulgences can be gained for one’s self or for others, especially for those who had died and were in purgatory awaiting liberation from the punishment due to their sins (Brown 39). Purgatory is a realm where those ...
People started to see the logic in his words and they started to break away from the Catholic church and in the process starting the protestant reformation. In his theses Luther believed that Faith not good deeds could save a person. People were convinced when they were told that if they pay so much money that their loved ones would be able to get out of purgatory and make it to heaven. Indulgences such as this was one of the major things that made Martin Luther so angry and adamant of writing his 95 theses because he wanted to see a change in the Catholic
In 1517, when reformist Martin Luther wrote an indictment of the abuses of the Roman Catholic Church called the 95 Theses, he appealed to many people across Europe. In his indictment he greatly criticized and addressed the selling of indulgences above all. At first, a person would have to do “work of satisfaction” like fasting, prayer, almsgiving, retreats and pilgrimages in return for an indulgence. But when the empire was in need of money to fight off the Ottoman Empire and rebuild St. Peter’s in Rome, the pope allowed indulgences to be sold for money where he would receive half the proceeds and the other half would go to funding. This is when Luther was even more angered by the selling of indulgences since he already believed that salvation could not be obtained by man’s own effort, but more the fact that man would be saved only if God willed it. It was that event that prompted the German monk to post his ideas and beliefs as the 95 Theses and address the abuse of selling indulgences in it.
68). Unhappy with the teachings and actions of the Roman Catholic Church, Martin Luther, John Calvin, Ulrich Zwingli, and other reformers sought to reform the Roman Catholic Church. The selling of indulgences by the Roman Catholic Church fueled Luther’s movement towards the Protestant Reformation; eventually publishing his ninety-five theses to reveal the wrongdoings of the Roman Catholic Church. Even though Martin Luther was charged as a heresy because of his actions, he continued his belief in “...that humans cannot achieve salvation by good deeds or through the intervention of earthly authority in the form of the church. Salvation …can only come from faith”
Indulgences were from the beginning of the Protestant Reformation a target of attacks by Martin Luther and all other Protestant theologians. Eventually the Catholic Counter-Reformation curbed the excesses, but indulgences continue to play a role in modern Catholic religious life. Reforms in the 20th century largely abolished the quantification of indulgences, which had been expressed in terms of days or years. These days or years were meant to represent the equivalent of time spent in penance, although it was widely taken to mean time spent in Purgatory. The reforms also greatly reduced the number of indulgences granted for visiting particular churches and other
Luther turned against the university and began to write the 95 Theses, which question the Catholic Church’s practice of selling indulgences. Martin Luther nailed them on the door at Wittenburg Castle Church. This spread like wildfire, all across Europe as pamphlets were being printed one after another. Just like in the movie Luther, The pope did not agree with Martin’s writings and called him to the Diet of Worms to discuss the writings that he had written. At the Diet of Worms, Luther refused to recant his writings before the Holy Roman Emperor Charles V of Germany. Martin states in front of the catholic church, “Unless I am convicted by scripture and plain reason.. I will not recant. My conscious is captive to the word of God” (Luther). Luther stood for what he believed and he did not care if anyone did not agree with his writings. Martin states at the beginning of the 95 theses, “Out of love for the truth and the desire to bring it to light, the following propositions will be discussed at Wittenberg, under the presidency of the Reverend Father Martin Luther, Master of Arts and of Sacred Theology, and Lecturer in Ordinary on the same at that place. Wherefore he requests that those who are unable to be present and debate orally with us, may do so by letter” (Luther, 95 Theses). This scene in the movie is described true to what history tells us. It is one of the
They were simply a proposal from a earnest university professor, he discusses the theology of indulgences, in the light of the errors and abuses that have grown over the centuries. The dealing of the holy trade had grown into scandal. Luther wanted to oppose that all the additions and perversions of indulgences, that were harmful to human salvation and infected in everyday practice of the church. Medieval people were a very dread of the period of punishment in