Martin Luther Takes A Stand Analysis

Through “The Ninety-Five Theses,” Luther specifies the flaws of these indulgences that had been issued by the Church. Within the first few arguments Luther mentions how the pope does not have any power to remit the guilt of a sinner directly but only through God and his representative, a priest. In Luther’s fifth argument he stated, “The pope has neither the will nor power to remit any penalties beyond those imposed either at his own discretion or by canon law.” Luther then follows up with his sixth argument, “the pope himself cannot remit guilt, but only declare and confirm that it has been remitted by God… expect for these cases, the guilt remains untouched,” followed by the seventh where he does mention how it is only through a priest that God can remit guilt upon the sinner. Luther accordingly proceeds to involve the penitential canons of Christianity to validate his thoughts of the power of indulgences to make known that dead equals dead, the church has no more power over the spirit, “death puts an end to all the claims of the church; even the dying are already dead to the canon laws, and are no longer bound by them.”

Luther the German Patriot and Founding Father Martin Luther is the “founding father” of Christianity, he started the Protestant Reformation. He was motivated by his fear of God and going to hell. Becoming a monk and giving up his legal carrier led him to his own enlightenment by reading the Book of Romans in the Bible. While he was trying to find his own salvation, he strongly disagreed with the corruption of the Catholic church. He realized that he can justify his own faith so as others.

“Be a sinner and sin strongly, but more strongly have faith and rejoice in Christ.” Martin Luther was a man who knew that no man could be perfect. Luther dedicated his life to studying and practicing Christianity. Martin Luther believed that no man or church had the authority to judge or save a person from sin and that the duty fell to God, and God alone. Luther’s teachings were staunchly against the concept of indulgences created by the Roman Catholic Church to make money and support the church.

As a background, Martin Luther had a compelling opposition against the church, and is called the father of Protestantism, fundamentally changing the Christian world through his force of will and new ideas. The way of life that he praised was to just read the scripture and to do away with relics. To interpret, was he meant is that, a personal reading of the Scriptures, and the faith of the individual, not the religious rituals, can effect a Christian’s salvation. He believed that the key to salvation had nothing to do with indulgences, which the public were brainwashed into thinking. If Martin would have not defied the church, different types of Christian nomination would have not

I got 95 problems and the Church is 1 In history class, we were learning about Martin Luther’s 95 Theses’s so I decided to look into it further.

An indulgence was a donation to the church that came with a promise from the pope to reduce a sinner’s time in purgatory. Seeing his parishioners handing over money they did not have, did not sit well with Luther. All for a paper that he believed to be pointless. So he replied with the 95 Theses against indulgences and then placed them to the church door for all to see on October 31, 1517. This led to a number of debates with other men of the strong opinion, during this time Luther 's positions became increasingly harsh.

Many of the clergymen, the Pope included, were involved in things that were sins in Luther’s eyes - affairs, gambling, and acts of violence. However, Luther began his steps towards change when he arrived in the Vatican and witnessed a friar named Johann Tetzel convincing peasants to buy indulgences from him. An indulgence was a piece of paper that guaranteed the owner a sure passage to heaven. Luther was appalled and shocked to discover that the Church was selling these indulgences and that the Pope was allowing it! Luther believed that to get to heaven, you needed faith, not some piece of paper that you bought from a friar.

Martin Luther believed that salvation wasn’t reached by the traditions that Church taught to follow but by “Faith alone,grace alone, Scripture alone” a saying that is used to summarize his ideal. What triggered his will to speak out about his new understanding was when Pope Leo X authorized the selling of indulgences, a document that if purchased will shorten the amount of time one spends in the purgatory. Other factors of anticlericalism were also important in the start of his protest against the Catholic Church, but the sale of indulgences that was even conducted in his hometown made it clear to him that Church does not care about the poor or the people in general but rather wants to advance its grip in power. For the above reasons, Luther believed that a change in the customs of the Catholic Church must take place. However English monarch Henry VIII had individual reasons for such an inspired fight for the separation from the church.

Martin Luther and John Calvin considered the church to be corrupt due to the fact that one could purchase indulgences. They believe that you have to earn God’s forgiveness. This was only one of the many reason that The Protestant Reformation took place. Martin Luther

In his 95 Theses, Luther asserts that “those who preach indulgences are in error” (Luther, Thesis 21) and that the pope does not have “the power to remit any penalties beyond those imposed at his own discretion or by

Luther’s doctrine eliminated the inequality between the clergy and the laity and people of higher and lower classes and allowed for anyone to participate in religious practices regardless of their social and economic status. This resulted in a moving away from what had been a traditional social and political structure and a moving towardsmore modern ideas that allowed everyone an equal opportunity to participate in a variety of political issues. In hindsight we see that the disagreements that rose up between people and the church left behind several benefits as European society continued to move

The money being raised from the indulgences was to help build St. Peter 's Basilica in Rome. Tetzel told the people the purchase of the indulgences would save them and guarantee them to heaven. After seeing this, Luther wrote a list of 95 Theses, a list of arguments against indulgences. The complaints were nailed to the door of the Wittenberg cathedral. Luther’s main complaints were first, there were no basis for indulgences in the Bible, second, they had no authority to free souls from purgatory, and third, Christians could only be saved from

Luther states his purpose by pointing out that he should “warn the Christians to be on their guard against [Jews].” He urges Christians to stand up against Jews. In the last part, Luther offers seven draconian proposals on what should be done with the Jews, who do not want to convert to Christianity: their synagogues and schools should be burned; their houses should “also be razed and destroyed”; “their prayer books and Talmudic writings” should be taken from them; their rabbis should “be forbidden to teach henceforth on pain of loss of life and limb”; “safe-conduct on the highways be abolished completely for the Jews”; “usury be prohibited to them, and all cash and treasure of silver and gold be taken from them”; they should be subjected to harsh labor. Dean Bell also states that Luther’s attitude toward the Jews seemed to become more radical after 1538, and particularly so in his last work, On the Jews and Their Lies. It may sound shocking by Luther’s vulgar blast if this book is only taken into account, and one may think that Luther is a brutal and cruel anti-Jews.

Martin Luther had many different beliefs than that of the Roman Catholic Church and the church did not, however, respond well to them. Luther first attacked the selling of indulgences because the put and unnecessary strain on the people not to mention he thought it to be a sin. The Roman Catholic Church did not favor this one because that is how the received most of their money for building things. He believed that you could go to heaven by faith alone. This, however, was not a principle of the Roman Catholic church believes once you are saved you go to heaven.

These ideas prompted many Catholics into finally correcting the church themselves and seeking Reformation. Martin Luther became the leading figure of the Reformation because he had openly challenged the authority of the Pope and attacked the practice of indulgences in his “Ninety-Five Theses” letter. Several other prominent Theologians such as John Calvin and Huldrych Zwingli seized upon Luther’s beliefs and Reformation swept across 16th century Europe, leading eventually to