Luther Vs Machiavelli

Both the great Machiavelli and courageous Luther were influenced by the renaissance Humanist movement. A Humanist is someone with an outlook or system of thought attaching prime importance to humans rather than divine or supernatural matters and the abstract. Humanist beliefs stress the potential value and goodness of human beings, emphasize common human needs, and seek solely rational ways of solving human problems. Machiavelli was an intelligent man that was a known Italian Renaissance historian, politician, diplomat, philosopher, humanist, and writer. Martin Luther was a German professor of theology, composer, priest, monk and a prominent figure in the Protestant Reformation. In Machiavelli’s “The Prince” and Luther’s “On Christian Liberty”, both figureheads show that they drew much influence and ideas from the Humanist movement, but also explain how they differ from the values, beliefs, and methods of the Humanist in their writings.

In machiavelli’s “The Prince”, machiavelli argues that,“At this point one may note that men must be either pampered or annihilated. They avenge light offenses; they cannot avenge severe ones; hence, the harm one does to a man must be such as to obviate any fear of revenge” (Machiavelli 30). Humanist believe and stress stress the potential value and goodness of human beings, but machiavelli states that really men can be very selfish in politics and must do what is necessary to survive, even to be kill and be feared. Luther also preached against Humanist teachings, since he is a christian. This is present in, “One thing, and only one thing, is necessary for Christian life, righteousness, and freedom. That one thing is the most holy Word of God, the gospel of Christ.” Humanist believe in human importance over a divine source, making luther’s reasonings for his arguments anti humanist and gives all the glory of matters to