In the sixteenth century of Europe, religious reform and changes led people away from the Catholic Church. From Martin Luther’s exposition of the church’s corruption to King Henry VIII’s Act of Supremacy, these two religious figures broke away from the Catholic Church in favor of alternative religions. Their lives were heavily involved in their personal and political motives to change the church’s religious practices and beliefs. In the German states, Martin Luther realized that the priests were often unqualified, immoral, and corrupted. At first, he lack an assurance of religious salvation. Although he prayed and confessed his sins for hours, he realized that his afterlife was by justification by faith. This meant that our religious faith …show more content…
Since Pope Leo X created indulgence system to finance the new St. Peter’s Basilica and Johann Tetzel collected the indulgences, he wrote the 95 Theses to indicate the pope’s abuses of power. He nailed this document to the church’s door in Wittenburg, Germany and expressed his opposition to the sale of indulgences. As Luther’s first public resistance to the papacy, this document argued that indulgences were sinful and did not grant salvation. The invention of the printing press spread his works and idea throughout Europe. Eventually, his beliefs led to the creation of Lutheranism. Initially, Henry VIII was against reformation. He wrote the Defense of the Seven Sacraments in response to Luther’s actions against the church beliefs. Henry VIII’s beliefs changed after his first …show more content…
However, Henry VIII’s motive to break away from the church stemmed from his desire for a son and Luther’s motive stemmed from the church’s corruption. Although both their methods to bring about change during the reformation succeeded, their beliefs had consequences. Luther unintentionally spurred the ideas of the Peasant Wars, where the lower class wanted to dissolve the social hierarchy and hoped that he would support their actions. However, Luther refused to be associated with their rebellion and asked the princes to crush them. His actions led to the fragmentation of Germany and his support from the German princes. However, Henry VIII’s actions led to his three heirs, who helped transform the church; Edward VI wrote the first Book of Common Prayer that became the order for all services in the church of England, Mary Tudor decided to bring the nation back to Catholicism, and Elizabeth I inaugurated the beginning of religious stability in the Anglican Church. Although King Henry VIII changed the legality of the Church, he did not bring about revolutionary religious change in comparison to Martin Luther. Martin Luther’s writings caused the Protestant Reformation. His main ideas of the Bible being the primary source of religious authority and his justification through faith, shaped
Throughout the centuries The Roman Catholic Church has come under attack by staunch opponents of its teachings and practices. Martin Luther a German theology professor and monk was one such opponent. Martin Luther forever changed religious history by writing and publishing the Ninety-Five Theses. Three core topics of the Ninety-Five Theses were selling indulgences to finance the building of Saint Peter’s Basilica was wrong, the salvation is through faith and God’s grace, and finally purchasing indulgences gives people a false sense of security. Of all the abuses of the Roman Catholic Church most offensive to Martin Luther was the selling of indulgences.
It is under scrutiny whether Luther truly believed joining the lords and princes was the right course of action or if Luther sided with them simply because they were his only backers for his Reformation. After the Revolution was ended people started to create their own branching religions, creating their own rules for them and for the people who followed those religions. This meant that peasants could join these religions and be backed in their ideals
(Syllabus, 25). These two theses show the fraudulence that was occurring in the church, especially the Pope giving people “a key to heaven” if they were to purchase in indulgence. To sum up, Martin Luther helped spread the Protestant Reformation in order for a better and more fair, religious experience
Martin Luther and John Calvin's ideas had a significant influence on Europe's religious and cultural environment in the 16th century and beyond. In this essay, I will summarize their main new ideas and discuss a significant way in which they have affected human life and culture, citing past historical events and present-day consequences to support the claims. One of the central figures of the Protestant Reformation was the German monk and theologian Martin Luther. Luther started to challenge Catholic Church policies, especially the practice of selling indulgences, which were thought to shorten a person's purgatory sentence.
The opposition Luther took against the Church soon had an instant impact on peasants. Individuals began to form opinions on both political and religious fields, but they had failed to interpret the beliefs of Luther correctly.
After the death of his brother Arthur, came the reign of King Henry VIII.Under his rule various changes and events had passed but he is mostly known for starting the reformation in England. He abolished the established Roman Catholic and set up the Protestant, this set as a precedent and paved the way for other future religious reforms through the monarchs of England. Obviously changing a country’s entire religion can be fatal but can also be a necessary and positive change for a broken or corrupt religious system. Henry VIII’s concern for a male heir and desire for a new wife lead to the reformation in England and the reform of religions during Henry VIII's rule and the reign of his heirs. Henry VIII’s original purpose of dissolving the church
The Protestant Reformation resulted in changes throughout the Catholic church and Europe. The Reformation promoted the concept of an educated faith. Some of the most well known reformers like Martin Luther, John Calvin and Henry VIII challenged the pope’s authority and questioned the Catholic Church’s capability to explain Christianity. Martin Luther was a monk from Germany that believed that the Bible is the only reliable and valuable source of religious rule. Martin Luther took action by nailing his 95 Thesis onto the door of Schlosskirche which is the Castle Church in Wittenberg.
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
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.
The Middle Ages were the era of Reformation. The Renaissance, the Protestant Reformation, and the Catholic counter-reformation were all major reform movements that brought about much needed change. However, these three movements strongly disagreed with each other. Why did they disagree? Because they had different perspectives concerning Christianity and the church’s authority.
1517, Martin Luther posted a document directly striking the Catholic Church. Corrupt practice, selling “indulgences” to absolve sin, were something Mr. Luther thought was detrimental to the Bibles teachings. His “95 Theses” sparked a religious movement, the Protestant Reformation. I feel that Martin Luther was the main reason of this reform.
The time of reformations had begun before Martin Luther was born. Yet, Luther went on become the loudest voice of the Later Medieval Reformation. Martin Luther was born on November 11 of 1483. His family was of the middle class and understood that education was key to advancing through society. As such, Luther studied rigorously and in 1505 graduated with a Master 's degree from the University of Erfurt.
They did not like some catholic policies as well, they did not feel like people could pay to have their sins removed, and they felt the church was no longer teaching what God wanted. King Henry’s separation from the Catholic church was the start of the Protestant Reformation, where he forced people to convert to the Protestant religion by punishing them with jail, or even death if they resisted. (“The Book of Common
RELIGIOUS AND SOCIAL TENSIONS, 1523-36 The Late Middle Ages were in most of Europe characterised by social tensions. In many places, authorities were questioned – especially the rich and powerful Catholic Church. In 1521, Martin Luther – under the protection of a German prince – definitively split from the Pope and the Catholic Church. Luther, however, was only the tip of the iceberg, and several religious reform movements asserted themselves in Germany in these years.
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