Martin Luther: Protestant Reformation

Intense criticism of the Catholic Church, and in particular of the Pope, resulted in a swell of reformist thought. The religious aspects of the Reformation were accompanied by ambitious political leaders who sought to manipulate the Reformation as a means through which to expand their power and influence. Arguably, the Reformation was initiated by Martin Luther’s ninety-five theses on a church door in Wittenberg, Germany, in the year 1517. These theses were highly controversial in their nature due to the questioning of Roman Catholic doctrine as well as a number of practices that had been followed by the church for centuries. As such, the Martin Luther, the once humble Augustinian monk from Germany, became a key historical figure of the Reformation.

Although King Henry VIII was a devout Catholic, his thirst for power, selfish motives, and desire for independence all contributed to the separation from the Catholic Church and forming the Church of England. King Henry VIII defended the Catholic Church during the beginning of his reign. He was very religious and attended mass as often as five times a day. He was openly against heretics, so when he publicly denounced Martin Luther, an influential Protestant, he gained the Church as an ally. Henry even went to such extreme lengths such as burning non-Latin bibles and torturing non-Catholics in order to gain affluence from the Church.

With disillusion rising a Protestant Reformation began. There were two major leaders that led the Protestant Reformation in Europe. The first was Martin Luther who wrote “95 Theses”, which were new religious beliefs, and nailed them to the door of the Wittenberg Castle Church. Eventually, he was outlawed and found refuge with Saxon princes, but his ideas continued to spread throughout Germany

John Wycliffe One of the most well-known and controversial Pre-Reformers was John Wycliffe. Known as “The Morning Star of the Reformation,” Wycliffe devoted much of his time to reform within the church and to developing logical philosophical arguments regarding church doctrine. He also was deeply involved in translating the Bible into the language of the common people. Although Wycliffe was an English priest who held four parishes

The Protestant Reformation was a religious revolution in Europe during sixteenth century. “The discovery that changed Luther’s life ultimately changed the course of church history and the history of Europe.” Martin Luther was the person who started the Reformation on October 31, 1517. This is when Martin Luther nailed his Ninety-Five Theses to the door of the Castle Church at Wittenburg, this publication attacked the Roman Catholic Church 's sale of indulgences. “Calvin made a powerful impact on the fundamental doctrines of Protestantism, and is widely credited as the most important figure in the second generation of the Protestant Reformation.” Huldrych Zwingli was greatly involved in the Swiss Reformation and William Tyndale translated the New Testament into the English language. Martin Luther was born on November 10, 1483, in Eisleben, Germany.

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

The Church in that time period was overrun with corruption and avarice, leading it to sacrifice its spiritual integrity for money. Plenary indulgences were being sold in order to pay for the luxuries desired by the clergy, the very men who had taken upon themselves vows of poverty in the service of God. Martin Luther sought a reform of the Catholic Church, and desired to bring it back to its original truths and teachings, but instead founded his own church, opening the door to the establishment of numerous denominations. Of these, Calvinism, centered mostly in France and the Low Countries, became increasingly popular. Calvinism adopted the Catholic Church’s opinions regarding the dignity of human labor.

Title: Living Under God’s Word Text: Nehemiah 8 Audience: Lecturers and seminary students In the year 1517, one major event that happened in the history of the church was the Protestant Reformation. One of the prominent figures that led this reformation was Martin Luther. He began by criticizing the practices of the Catholic Church which he thought were unbiblical. So his fight was basically to restore the Bible and its teachings into its proper place as he began to see that the church was degrading the Bible and placed it at the same par with the Church’s traditions, sometimes even lower than it. I think Luther was right when he argues that Scripture alone should be the authority of every Christian, not the Church’s traditions, not even

John Calvin, the French reformer, and theologian, made a powerful influence on the fundamental doctrines of Protestantism. His institutional and social patterns deeply influenced Protestantism. He is well known as Martin Luther 's successor as the preeminent Protestant theologian. He born in France on July 10, 1509, and died in Switzerland on May 27, 1564. His life & Education/Training: He was raised in a Roman Catholic family.

In a nutshell: The 3 R’s: Reformation, Royalty & Renaissance The first R: The Reformation The reformation of the Christian Church had a huge effect on history, causing a major schism and centuries of sectarian violence. In England and other countries many were to die for being the wrong religion. In the early 1500s in mainland Europe, a huge religious upheaval started in reaction to Roman Catholicism, the existing Christian church. Martin Luther, and many others wanted reform – hence the term Reformation. They sought a simpler kind of Christian worship, with the emphasis on the individual’s own conscience and direct relationship with God, without the intervention of the Virgin Mary and all the saints, never mind about the control of priests, cardinals and the Pope, who were seen as being too powerful, too wealthy and too corrupt.

The Old Order Amish began with Menno Simons, who was born in 1492 in the Netherlands. As a Roman Catholic priest, numerous expectations were laid upon him but Simons fled seperated from the church and established his own movement, the Mennonites. Simons believed in the seperation of church and state, adult baptism which was previously a crime, and refusal to bear arms or take oaths. The belief system that Simons operated under was called "Meidung," which is defined as the shunning or aviodance of excommunicated members. It was this belief that led to the estabalishing of the Amish.

Peter’s Basilica. Like his earlier peers that stood for a Church reformation, Martin Luther disagreed with the selling of indulgences and wrote the immediately popular 95 Theses, mainly attacking the misuse of German money and the Pope’s control over Purgatory. He argued that the letters Paul writes to the Greek Churches in the Book of Romans emphasised “the just shall live by faith” alone, instead of relying on financial transactions that would guarantee a person’s cleansing from sin. According to the New Testament, Jesus had came to Earth to die for all of humanity’s sins, and to put a monetary price to salvation would demean the significance and sacrifice He had done out of grace alone. Luther went on to question the Church, reasoning if Christian practices had came to be corrupted, then it was possible its teaching were as well.

His revolutionary ideas served as the catalyst for the eventual breaking away from the Catholic Church. The 95 theses was one of the first events in history that was profoundly affected by the printing press, which made the distributions of documents and ideas easier and more widespread. Luther posted the 95 theses on the door of the Catholic Church it sparked a theological

Sources from thee Pierpont Morgan Library New York/Art Resources NY. The following pamphlet being analysed was released during the same period Luther’s sermon was preached. As the expansion of the Reformation continued, visual propaganda was commonly used to spread the message. Due to the invention of the printing press, Lucas Cranach – a German Renaissance painter , was able to create a pamphlet to communicate the idea’s of the Reformation. This particular document displays pictures of the Pope vs. Jesus.

Prior to 1550, the European continent was dominated by Catholicism and had been for centuries. However, Protestantism first introduced by Martin Luther had begun to make inroads in the Holy Roman Empire and Nordic countries. Despite the growing popularity of these new religions, the majority of monarchs saw religious diversity as a weakness. Instead, most rulers pursued Religious uniformity to ensure political stability and strength. Examples of monarchs attempting to achieve religious university abound from Charles V in the Holy Roman Empire and Spain, to Rome, and to England.