Martin Luther's Influence On The Catholic Church

Throughout the past 50 years, the various means of inspiration for Martin Luther’s theology has changed and evolved in the eyes of historians.

Starting in the 1960s, Luther began to be credited with various contributions in the theological development of Christianity. Luther was not attempting to say anything new or revolutionary however, he was just trying to interpret the scripture in a way he thought was more accurate. The Reformation was never his primary intention, however the church's unwillingness to cooperate with Luther and hear his ideas forced Luther to begin breaking off. Luther had many new ideas that hadn’t really been seen before his time. For example, Luther believed that if something could not be proved through the scriptures, than it could not be used to bind people to certain ways. This would mean that certain ideas in the Catholic church such as the need to confess sins to a priest would not be necessary since nowhere in the scripture does it say that one must confess their sins to

a priest. Also noted is that while most of Luther’s theology was based on the cross, some of his ideas were influenced by Aristotelian thinking. This is surprising because many philosophers would not be popular amongst the church, as many of their ideas would seem to oppose the teachings of the church. Martin Luther, being a Catholic at the time, would most likely have not been in favour of these ideas, so drawing upon them for his theology is a surprising idea.
By the 1980s, more claims were made about Luther’s ideas and what influenced him in those ideas. An interesting claim from the 1980s is that humanists rejected Luther’s theology and the Reformation very decisively. The claim in the ‘60s that Luther’s ideas were slightly influenced by Aristotelian thinking would give the impression that humanists would accept Luther’s theology more than the theology of the church because Aristotle was among those whose philosophical ideas influenced the idea of Humanism. Also noted is that Luther’s ideas were not influenced by his relationship with his mother or father. This is also surprising because many have their thoughts influenced by their parents, so one would think that the case would be the same with Luther. Finally, it was said that Luther suffered from an anxiety neurosis that was in relation to his fixation on his father. This father fixation would undoubtedly have him view God in an even greater light, because God is viewed as the Heavenly Father.
In the 1990s some of the ideas on Luther’s theological inspiration changed from earlier in the century. One of the new thoughts was that Luther’s ideas were not actually influenced by humanism, nor Aristotle, but rather purely by his interpretations of the scripture. This statement is different than the one provided in the ‘60s that Luther’s ideas were influenced by Aristotelian thinking, however the notion that his ideas were not influenced by Aristotle nor humanism would help explain why humanists rejected many of Luther’s theological ideas. It was also said that many of Luther’s ideas came from his teacher, and that he was defending those ideas. This would suggest that many of Luther’s ideas were influenced by his teacher and may not have even been his own. This draws into question why it is that Luther would be willing to go so far for ideas that were not even originally his ideas.
The final major note from the ‘90s is that Luther’s view of God was influenced by his view of his father.

This statement would contradict the statement from ten years earlier that Luther’s parents had no real influence on his theological ideas. This shows a change in the way that historians view the works of Martin Luther, from having little to no paternal influence to his work having a fair amount of influence, specifically from his father. The statement also helps support the idea from the ‘80s that Martin Luther’s thinking was influenced by an anxiety he had that had him fixated on a father figure. Since his father did not approve of many of his decisions with the church, such as entering a cloister, it would make sense that Luther would have a longing for the approval of a father figure. That longing would also have an impact on how he views God, as he would more than likely believe that God was someone whom gave his approval and grace to anyone who called for

it.
In the 2000’s, more ideas of what inspired Luther’s theology emerged. One of these new ideas was that Luther had “insight into evil that allows him to understand the world realistically.” This insight into evil would give Luther a better of sin, and how the devil uses evils of the world in order to make us sin. This insight into evil, along with his interpretation of Psalms, also lead him to view the Roman papacy as the “embodiment of the Anti-Christ. Martin Luther also viewed the Jews as an embodiment of the Anti-Christ, something that would be used later on in history to commit vile acts. The second idea was that the Bible was actually at the heart of all of Luther’s theological ideas. Should this be accurate, it would give Luther’s ideas a very credible backbone. It makes sense that the primary source of all of Luther’s ideas would be the scriptures and the truth told in the Bible. It was the first source he would be able to turn to in order to find an error with what the church is proclaiming, and however Luther interpreted the Bible would give him the ultimate source and means of justifying his actions and beliefs.
Modern day historians have come up with ideas of Martin Luther’s inspiration for his theology that is very similar to the ideas from the past twenty years. One of the most notable is that Martin Luther’s preaching and interpretation of the books of Psalms is his main source of inspiration. The Book of Psalms helped Luther form many of his ideas, including that the Jews were enemies of Christians, something that would later on be used to help justify the killings of millions of innocent Jews. Luther’s primary focus on Psalms also helped him have most of his ideas in place when he decided to go through with reformation, as he lectured students for two to three hours a day on the matter. Since many of Luther’s ideas seemingly came from his interpretation of Psalms, he had a wide variety of options for what he based his theology off of.
At first, historians accredited Aristotle and philosophy as the source of inspiration for Martin Luther’s theology. By 1990, however, the focus began to become more on how his relationship with his parents and that his ideas were not influenced by Aristotelian thinking. Finally in modern times historians believe that the Bible and Martin Luther’s interpretations of Psalms were his main inspiration in his theology. Over the past 50 years historians have adjusted their view on what inspired Martin Luther’s theology from philosophical to biblical.