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How Did Luther Influence The Catholic Church

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Martin Luther Thump, Thump, Thump. These hits of a hammer on a nail would change the course of Christianity and its influence on others for the rest of time. In the Middle Ages, the Catholic Church was an influential figure which dictated daily life and spread the teachings of Jesus Christ. With the power to control how people live, the Catholic Church eventually became corrupt. The Catholic Church’s flawed ideas on how people should prove themselves worthy of God’s protection eventually led to public disapproval. One man, named Martin Luther, had an idea to denounce the method of the Catholic Church that would influence the world and change Christianity forever. When the Catholic Church was first formed, its goals were to spread and to help people follow …show more content…

It achieved this goal by creating devout Christian followers who wanted to spread their newfound devotion to religion. While the church was first created to spread good, the church became increasingly corrupt during Martin Luther’s time. During the Middle Ages, the Catholic Church decided to teach that salvation was possible through works of righteousness that pleased God. While this statement does encourage acts of good, the church abused its meaning by proposing a new means of absolving oneself from sin. This new method was purchasing indulgences. Indulgences, for a sum of money, would exempt a person from the punishment of sin while appearing to please God. The selling of indulgences would also help fund the church. The idea of selling indulgences was received well by the churches and they began selling them immediately. The opposition of selling indulgences was seen in Germany where indulgences were promptly banned. Although indulgences were outlawed, churches still sold them

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