Compare And Contrast Erasmus And Luther

Through different inspirations, the Protestant Reformation and Age of Enlightenment sought to change the stagnant traditions of European thinking in the 15th and 16th centuries. Began by German priest named Martin Luther in 1517, he was one of the first people to publicly call out the Catholic Church and their bargaining of indulgences by pasting the 95 Theses on the door of the Wittenberg church for everyone to see. The 95 Theses was a short list of the 95 flaws of the Catholic Church revolving around the use of their indulgences. Luther believed that people should not be scammed by the church and pay for fake indulgences for salvation, but rather come to a new understanding of salvation that came through faith alone. The other change of tradition was not getting your source of beliefs from the Catholic Church, but solely the Bible, which was a

The Protestant Reformation was a pivotal time of European history that occurred during the 16th century. The Protestant Reformation was comprised of people called “reformers” that challenged papal authority and questioned the Catholic Church’s ability to define Christian practice (“The Reformation”). The Protestant Reformation was revolutionary due to the fact that the reformers preached against everything the Catholic Church had been teaching. Some famous reformers are John Calvin and Martin Luther. However, Martin Luther-- to some--- is named the most successful and influential reformer of the 16th century. Martin Luther was tremendously effective and influential due to how resourceful he was, and his teachings spread across Europe swiftly.

A major 16th century movement initially aimed at reforming the beliefs and practices of the Roman Catholic Church, the Reformation was begun by a German monk named Martin Luther who challenge the Catholic Church’s doctrine by posting his 95 Theses on a church door. He did this because he was appalled that the church was selling indulgences, which were written letters that assured people’s salvation, in order to build a new Basilica in Rome under Pope Leo X. Martin Luther argued that the Bible, not the pope, was the central means to discern God’s word and was the only thing capable of giving salvation.

14. ’05 Compare and contrast the motives and actions of Martin Luther in the German states and King Henry VIII in England in bringing about religious change during the Reformation.

The Reformation of the Christian faith caused a major change within the Church and was a major 16th century European movement aimed initially at reforming the beliefs and practices of the Roman Catholic Church. The Reformation ended the unity imposed by medieval Christianity and, in the eyes of many historians, signaled the beginning of the modern era. The Protestantism Reformation was also the schism within Western Christianity initiated by Martin Luther, John Calvin, and other early Protestant Reformers. The Reformation caused a change in the attaining of salvation; salvation was no longer achieved through the community, but through individualism. In this essay, I argue that after the Reformation, salvation was achieved through individualism

Based on the evidence of Erasmus and More, one can conclude that Martin Luther was not a pioneer for the Reformation. Some of the key differences about Erasmus and More’s calls for reformation compared to Luther’s reformation are to wake the church up, church go back to morality and Virtue.

The Protestant Reformation, throughout the middle ages, had a truly impactful effect in Europe and the Roman Catholic Church. Before the reformation, all Christians in Europe were primarily Roman Catholic; for it had dominated European civilization. Along with the priest, who provided people with forgiveness of sins, marriage, baptizing and other important duties, the Catholic Church was the “caretaker of the soul” and also owned one third of all the land in Europe. Evidently, the Catholic Church was quite powerful and had great say in a European Christian’s daily living.

Luther also believed that an individual conscience had the right to decide what was right instead of believing everything the church said (Luther at the Diet of Worms). Before whatever the church said was absolutely true, but Protestant beliefs state otherwise. Thus, Protestant beliefs changed Europe drastically in religious aspects compared to the catholic orthodox Europe before the Reformation. Similarly, Protestants opposed authority, because Luther encouraged the idea that all are equal in God's eyes and people are a priesthood of believers, as well as the concept of only the bible was the religious truth. Therefore, since all were equally close to god the Pope and clergy could not be especially close to God and since they were human to the Church could make mistakes. Furthermore, since the bible was the only religious truth what the Church announced was not what God said. Hence, Protestants did not agree with the clergy and papacy making them opposed to

Calvin v.s. Luther The 1500s was the beginning of the reformation of the Catholic Church due John Calvin and Martin Luther. Through their interpretations of the Bible, they came to very different conclusions as to how the church should change. Martin Luther was a German monk and professor of theology who wrote the 95 Theses in 1517. Born in France, John Calvin trained as a priest and lawyer, and in 1536 he published a book about how to organize and run a Protestant church.

Martin Luther was born in Germany in 1483. An influential figure in Western Christianity, he started the Protestant Reformation in 16th century as he nailed his 95 Theses to the Wittenberg Castle in Germany. Luther’s Theses included his objections against practices of Catholic church such as indulgences for absolving sins.

Renaissance was the period of great changes and was characterized by a revision of many concepts. The churches during the renaissance was being questioned by many scholars and one of the greatest scholar of this period Desiderius Erasmus, a Christian humanist and the second scholar was a monk from Germany named Martin Luther. The scholar Desiderius Erasmus was a dedicated Christian and advocated reforms within the church and spread the idea of pacifism. He questioned the church in many ideas and stated that people should live their own life and not always thinking about being saved.

From 1517 to now, Erasmus and Luther’s relationship has been one of “great interest and speculation to men of letters, theologians, bishops, and princes” (Packer and Johnston 25). The two men represent two different theological and ethical outlooks, in terms of discussing God and man (Rupp 13). According to Rupp, Erasmus’ views originate from a more traditional, scholastic perspective, while Luther’s do not (14). Erasmus argues against the idea that man plays no active part in securing his own salvation, because he feels that every man at least has the freedom of choice (15). Luther, on the other hand, argues that the human being has no will of its own. In his eyes, freedom belongs to God and God alone (16). How may we understand the conflict between Erasmus and Luther? In this paper, I argue that Luther and Erasmus could not, and still do not, agree about the role of Christian faith and the freedom of Christians making their own decisions because in reality, neither man knows to what extent an individual can be certain about, in one specific topic. They disagree on the location of where the authority of truth actually lies. They disagree first in their viewpoints, second in their actions, and third in their writings. The arguments in their works intended to admonish one another, which consequently leads to the birth of their continuing argument over the freedom of the will.

Because Erasmus was opened to all new ideas, he maintained a balanced approach on Protestant Reformation, neither siding with Protestants nor Catholics. Before Luther became known in the Holy Roman Empire, Erasmus preached that the truest link to Jesus was through the scriptures. He did not want Christians to obey the clergy blindly, but he wanted them to know why they were Christians. I believe as Cardinal Medwick, that even though Erasmus laid the foundations for Luther's Reformation, he did not break with the Church because he would not sacrifice his belief for changes in doctrine and practice.

1516 was a major year for Erasmus. He prepared to release copies of the New Testament in Latin and Greek versions. By translating the New Testament into Greek and Latin, it presented a new reasonable and logical idea of the Christian doctrine. This raised questions that would later on impact the Reformation greatly. Erasmus used the theoretical methods invented by Italian humanists to help his understanding and to help others further understand the New Testament and the Church. His ideas and discoveries set the

His work inspired people like Martin Luther to change society. Let’s delve into the life of this satire author. Desiderius Erasmus was born October 27, 1466 as the illegitimate son of a priest. As a youth he attended varies Catholic boarding schools and was ordained as an Augustinian Monk in 1492. After traveling to Paris to work and study he decided to take a different approach to life and became an independent scholar.