Religious Authority In Martin Luther's 95 Theses

Analytical paper Martin Luther’s contribution to reformation thought Luther came to reject several teachings and practices of the Roman Catholic Church. He strongly disputed the Catholic view on indulgences that freedom from God 's punishment for sin could be purchased with money. Luther proposed an academic discussion of the practice and efficacy of indulgences in his Ninety-five Theses of 1517. His refusal to renounce all of his writings at the demand of Pope Leo X in 1520 and the Holy Roman Emperor Charles V at the Diet of Worms in 1521 resulted in his excommunication by the Pope and condemnation as an outlaw by the Emperor.

The Anabaptists emphatically rejected the concept of individual predestination (unconditional election). Here, they left completely from the other Protestants of their day, particularly Luther and Zwingli. Holiness of Life The Anabaptists also stressed sanctification. They considered the Lutheran and Reformed doctrine of justification by faith alone to be inadequate in that it did not emphasize the reality of regeneration, or new birth.

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

Mark Jones analyzes Antinomianism with comparing to Reformed Theology. The main theological error of Antinomian’s thinking is that they put too much stress upon the doctrine of justification; furthermore, they interpret the rest of doctrines in Christianity from a biased perspective of justification. They even argue that good works are not significant for Christians because God does not see the sins of His children and does not anger to His children; therefore, the law is not important for Antinomians after the first coming of Christ. Regarding these problematic understanding, Jones suggests a solution for Antinomianism, that is concentrating on the real meaning of Christology; in other words, to rediscover and redefine the person and work

‘Dynamism’ is the medieval view that God is the driving, animating force within all matter. However in the modern day, dynamism is an almost nonexistent view of God and the world. Religion and the soul are now matters of faith and faith only, not the matters of reality. This view of Christianity was built upon a major progression in human thinking - individualism. For a good part of human history (especially the medieval times), people counted on authority and tradition to decide their beliefs, views, and morals; Religion being a hugely-focused on truth in society.

1. The Reformation Position In spite of the common core of Augustinian belief in salvation by grace alone, Roman Catholics and Protestants have strong disagreement over the doctrine of Justification. Catholics believe in the necessity of faith for justification, but Protestants believe in the exclusivity of faith. In fact, the heartcry of the Reformers was “justification by faith alone".

In the discussion with the Pharisees about divorce (Cf., Deut 24:1), instead of arguing about what is liable or about the juridical motivations, the Lord places the issue directly at the level of creation. His answer is a fundamental resolution, not a casuistic solution: “what God has joined together, let no one separate” (v. 9). Christ knows very well the pro-divorce praxis of his time and he rejects it. The principle which he refers to is not to be understood as temporal moment in the history of salvation; on the contrary it is to be taken as the original authentic will of the Creator. The unbreakable unity of marriage reflects its genuine meaning which, in fact, calls back to creation itself: a marriage acknowledged in this way becomes a means of salvation for the partners.

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. Protesting against the doctrines of the Church of Rome, members of the new and very different religion became known as Protestants. (Possibly with the emphasis on the 2nd syllable originally, though we now stress the first syllable.) Meanwhile in England, there was an added historical ingredient to go into the mix.

Both movements focused on the individual’s salvation and disputed the hierarchy of the Catholic Church (10). Humanists focused more on an individual’s ability to reach excellence and less on other truths found in Christianity, such as sin (6). They felt the Protestant Reformers focused too much on religious issues, so their movement emphasized human potential (10). The Reformation continued to grow however, as the townspeople witnessed for themselves the behavior of bishops in their own cities (11). It was obvious that many bishops enjoyed their privileged power within the clerical offices, rather than people’s spiritual wellness (11).

Indeed, some profession said that religion is completely different from the morality. However, the religion always require a high morality. Even the thoughts are restricted by the values of church and bible, not just the behaviors. Comparing with the nowadays community, the values of catholic church seems too traditional. in this global changing atmosphere that different issues such as same-sex marriage start to be respected and accepted, the catholic church resist on the opposition stand.

No doubt the preceding notion was unwelcome to both Catholics and Protestants. For Catholics the source of knowledge is the divine revelation rather than human endeavor. Although the "five ways" of proving the existence of God proposed by St. Thomas Aquinas are rational approaches, all five arguments are based on divine manifestation. Under Anselm 's premise that faith precedes reason, knowledge is a supernatural gift of grace and truth is all that God has revealed because he has revealed it.

Ever since the Protestant Reformation started in sixteenth century Germany, Europe was arguably no longer the same. The revival of Biblical theology had led to Western Christendom splitting into various denominations of the Christian faith, with Protestant sects and other Orthodox Churches. Despite the Church of Rome still holding remarkable power and influence through its Papal States and the Holy Roman Empire, the Pope could no longer be considered as the sole religious authority in Europe. Contrary to popular opinion, this revolution cannot be solely credited to Martin Luther and his theological writings, but rather to a chain of events that had, was and will happen during the century. The transformations in Europe instead was key to the

His 95 theses which propounded two central beliefs that the Bible is the central religious authority and that humans may reach salvation only by their faith and not by their deed was to spark the Protestant Reformation. Although these ideas had been advanced before, Martin Luther codified them at them at the moment in history ripe for religious reformation. The Catholic Church was ever after divided and the Protestantism that soon emerged was shaped by the Luther’s ideas. Luther’s writings changed the course of religious and cultural history in the West. His revolutionary ideas served as the catalyst for the eventual breaking away from the Catholic Church.

He stated himself that “not what kind of church i believed in -for that should only be important to me -but what kind of america i believe in.” Just because he was catholic did not mean he had to do anything a specific way. Many people might of thought that just because he had a religion he had to put it first but to him the country was more important. “At that time, many Protestants questioned whether Kennedy’s Roman Catholic faith would allow him to make decisions of vital importance to the country independent of the Vatican. ”(Mckenzie 2). He believed in an America where the separation of church and state is absolute.

Luther Legacy pg 35) helped to replace the authority of the Church. His reason was always the bible and reason, that your salvation was yours and not that of the clergy. Traditional authority began to change, the imagination of people became more radical and there was a call to initiate reform in the Church. However, popes refused to concede anything that could weaken the power of Rome.