Rachelle Alcantara

History 140

Martin Luther was a German Priest, who many believe started the protestant reformation. But before that in his earlier years Martin was born into the Holy Roman Empire and was baptized as a Catholic. Luther originally went to school to become a lawyer, but he hated it comparing his schooling to purgatory and hell. He dropped out of law school saying that law represented uncertainty. The things that really sparked his attention were philosophy and theology. Later, he fell away from philosophy and focused on theology which included a loving God, which was Luther’s main interest. Scriptures become increasingly important to him. Luther dedicated his lifestyle to the scriptures. He prayed, and fasted, and went to confessions often. He later became ordained and started his teachings as a priest at the University of Wittenberg.

Who is Martin?

Martin Luther disagreed strongly with the Catholics rules about selling indulgences. An indulgence was when the church would excuse someone from sinning by being paid off. The church offered various fees for different sins. This upset Martin Luther greatly because he felt that some church officials gave people the impression that they could buy their way into heaven. To express his growing concern of church corruption, Martin Luther wrote his famous 95 Theses. This list called for a complete makeover of the Christian church and stressed the following points:

- People could only win salvation by faith in God's forgiveness. The Church taught that faith, along with good works was needed for salvation.

- The Pope is a false authority. The bible was the one true authority.

- All people with faith in Christ were equal. People did not need priest and bishops to interpret the bible for them. They could read it themselves and make up their own minds.

What did Martin Luther believe in?

Martin Luther wrote his famous 95 Theses, which called for a full reform of the Christian Church.

On October 31, 1517, Martin Luther tacked his 95 Theses to the church door at Wittenberg, in Saxony, Germany.

Thanks to the printing press, Luther’s 95 Theses was reprinted throughout Germany, and soon he attracted many followers. Although he attracted followers, with followers came enemies. In 1520, the Pope excommunicated Martin Luther. Luther didn’t like this very much so in response he burned the papal decree in front of his students. In 1521, Holy Roman Emperor Charles V put Luther on trial, and had him declared an outlaw.

When Luther emerged from his exile ten months later, he found many of his theories had been put into practice.

What did Martin Luther do?

Martin Luther and the protesting princes inspired an entire generation of people to break away from the Catholic Church

Men like John Calvin and John Knox became outspoken critics of Catholicism, and brought Protestantism to other parts of Western Europe. King Henry VIII cleverly jumped on the protestant bandwagon, declaring himself head of the new Church of England. He then granted himself a very convenient divorce from his first wife, Catherine of Aragon.

Other groups, such as the Huguenots in France, and Anabaptists in the Netherlands would further divide the Christian religion. The Catholic Church scrambled to do damage control, by initializing what would become the Counter Reformation

Even though they tryied exceedingly hard they were not able to put an end to Protestantism. From Martin Luther on, the church became a divided place into different sects and would never again worship under the same roof.

What kind of effect did he have?