Essay on Comparing Martin Luther and Jean Calvin

The 95 theses are a list of things that is wrong with the Catholic Church. The Ninety-Five theses questioned the Catholic Church’s practice of selling indulgences. Luther argued that Christian were being falsely told that they could obtain absolution for souls by buying indulgences. The 95 Theses, which would later become the foundation of the Protestant Reformation, were written in a remarkably humble and academic tone. Luther criticized the pope, extreme wealth of the church, and indulgences in the 95 theses. Luther realized that only faith, not

At the beginning of the sixteenth century the church was promptly losing respect due to the corruption and simony within the church. However when Johann Tetzel began to sell indulgences, many felt that the church had reached rock bottom. Due to this sale of indulgences, Martin Luther issued his 95 Theses which sparked a religious reformation movement that spread throughout Europe. During the reformation, religious, political, and social aspects were associated with the changes in the church, significantly affecting Europe.

Peter’s Basilica. Then on October 31, 1517 it is speculated that Martin Luther nailed the 95 Theses on the front doors of a university door. The reason for the massive spreading of the 95 Theses is because of the printing press. The printing press quickly spread the document throughout Germany. This was the start of what is known as the German Reformation. Martin Luther was eventually excommunicated from the Roman Catholic Church. Luther would always refuse to take back what he has said in his documents against the Roman Catholic Church. At the Edict of Worms, Martin Luther was declared a heretic and made him a wanted man. Martin Luther is one of the most important figures of the medieval Europe. This may be another reason the 95 Theses and other doctrines spread so well throughout Europe. The Roman Catholic Church was ringing Martin Luther’s names all throughout the public’s ears. The old saying “any publicity is good publicity” applies in this situation. People could see that Martin Luther was onto something. The 95 Theses were put into vernacular so that anyone could read them for their selves. He gave a voice to many people that would never have a voice and spoke out against the corruptions of the Roman Catholic Church. He gave way to reform throughout the church. Martin Luther and the 95 Theses also gave way to his own form of religion called Lutheranism.

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.

The Protestant Reformation began during the Renaissance time period, it was the attempt to reform the Roman Catholic church. It led to the creation of Protestant churches. This reformation began after multiple church leaders started demanding individuals to supply them with such large quantities of goods, food, and money that individuals did not have much left to provide to their own family. Several believed if they did not contribute and present the church with what they asked, they would be denied entrance to heaven once they passed away. People saw how the church thrived while those who contributed were ravenous and penniless. Martin Luther, a monk, noticed several inaccuracies between what the Roman Catholic Church practiced and the Bible as he studied the Bible. He decided to speak out by creating the 95 Theses, and nailing it on the entrance of a catholic church. Protestants who had similar view as Luther’s began Luther-ism. John Calvin, had very similar views as Luther and was even inspired by him to reform the Catholic Church as well. I most admire Martin Luther because of how he spoke up and protested against the Roman Catholic church when he knew it could put him in danger, but I am most similar to John Calvin because of how he believes in predestination and how faith is revealed by living a righteous life.

The protestant Reformation was a significant event in Christianity. It took place over the years of 1517 to the year of 1648. The Protestant Reformation was a 16th century movement that occurred throughout Europe. The Protestant Reformation was the event of a significant figure challenging the Roman Catholic Church, there teachings and religious way. There were earlier protests about the certain ways and aspects of the Roman Catholic Church but it wasn’t until a monk called Martin Luther that these became successful and led to major changes. Also Martin Luther challenged some of the techniques that were being used to extort money off people, an example of this is the sales of indulgences. This then lead to the end of the dominant figure of

In the early sixteenth century, the Protestant Reformation was started by Martin Luther. Martin Luther was not happy with the Catholic Church and wanted a reformation. What really angered Luther was the selling of indulgences. “Indulgences” was sold whenever a relative of a person died. If the person that died did not live a good life, that meant a relative could go to the church and could pay to have the their relative’s purgatory cut short. Luther was not happy with these practices. Luther strongly believed that one lived a life of humility in order to receive God’s grace. He was so angered that on October 31, 1517, he sent a list of “Ninety - Five Theses” to his church superiors. The Ninety - Five These were statements that were meant to defend and to dispute the abuse of indulgences. Luther hammered his theses to the door of the Castle Church in Wittenburg.

On October 31, 1517, when monk Martin Luther nailed The 95 Theses to the door of a cathedral in Wittenberg, Germany, he had no idea that he was sparking the Protestant Reformation (Greengrass 44-45). These 95 theses consisted of Luther’s complaints and disagreements with and regarding the Catholic Church, particularly on the use of indulgences – a “remission of temporal penalties for sin” sold to individuals seeking salvation (Greengrass 6, 44). The indulgences were claimed to lessen the time an individual’s soul spent in purgatory, commissioned by the Pope of the time, Leo X, and in collaboration with various bishops and archbishops (Linder 22). When Luther nailed his theses to the door, they quickly spread, spurning uproar. First, the theses were sent to Archbishop Albrecht, the superior of an indulgence-selling monk that parishioners of Luther had come into contact with. Then, the document (originally published in Latin) was translated to German and spread throughout the Holy Roman Empire. Luther verbalized many common complaints in his theses and became a sort of hero. The ability of the printing press enabled Luther’s theses to widely circulate as he was thrust into public eye and began the path of Reformation (Linder 23-24).

Many will state "Luther began the Reformation as a religious reformer and ended it as a religious revolutionary." The essence of this statement is that although Martin Luther began as a reformer of the Roman Catholic Church, he soon would become the individual to strike the religious revolution. To know the true validity of this statement it is key to understand the difference between a reformer and a revolutionist. In the case of the Reformation, a reformer is an individual that intends to rebuild an already standing institution. As for a revolutionary, they tend to seek quick action and rebuild from entirely new. By analyzing Martin Luther and his steps towards reformation, the validity of this statement will unfold.

This fundamental difference from the Catholic dogma that one could buy salvation to Luther’s new ideas as way to Heaven began to transform many people’s beliefs. Supporters of Luther adopted the concept of faith and knowledge of God as a way to repent their sins, and eventually, it reshaped the Christian culture. As Luther personally struggled to be a “perfect” monk, he discovered that faith in the gospel was the only way to be “made righteous by God”(roper 78). In response to his distress for his laity’s desire to buy indulgences, Luther wrote the “95 Theses on the Power of Indulgences.” He knew he was attacking the pope and the values of the church, but records show that he felt “...not fully in control of his actions, but handed over responsibility to a higher power”(84 roper). Cleary, Luther felt a spiritual connection with God and indulgences were in direct opposition to faith. His revolutionary claims in the “95 Theses on the Power of Indulgences” caused a conflict that would eventually be known as the Protestant Reformation.

Martin Luther was a Monk, Priest and Theologian born in late 1483 in the German town of Eisleben. His father owned a copper mine and had always wished for his son to go into civil service. When Luther was seventeen he arrived at the University of Erfurt. By 1502, Luther had already received his bachelor’s degree and by 1505 he had a Master’s degree. The same year, while returning to University, he was caught in a tremendous thunderstorm. A lightening bolt struck near him and terrified, he cried out, "Help, St. Anne! I'll become a monk!”. Luther lived, and keeping to his promise, he dropped out of university and entered the monastery.

Martin Luther and John Calvin as Religious Leaders of the Reformation Martin Luther became an Augustinian Monk in 1505. He spent two years studying Scripture before being ordained as a priest. In 1510, Luther was sent to Rome and was shocked by the spiritual laxity. After finishing his theological doctorate, he became a professor at Wittenberg, in 1515, Luther became the district vicar. Luther began to develop his own theology and in 1516 he felt compelled to protest the dispensation of indulgences.

Archbishop Albert needed someone to sell indulgences for him, so he hired Dominican friar John Tetzel. Tetzel made this into a business and even began to heavily advertise the sale of indulgences. He came up with catchy slogans to lure people into buying them. He even came up with a chart price to persuade people to buy the "best" or most expensive indulgences. Luther did not agree with this because people no longer saw the need for repentance and felt they could buy away their sins. He was greatly troubled that people were buying into these advertising gimmicks. Since, at the time, the church did not have an official doctrine on indulgences, Luther decided this entitled him to discuss the subject critically. In doing so Luther wrote Archbishop Albert a letter on the subject and enclosed in Latin "Ninety-five Theses on the Power of Indulgences." He argued indulgences made people believe repentance was not important, it downplayed the importance of charity in Christian life, and it competed with the preaching of the Gospel. (Boehmer, 198) Once Luther died, his disciple Philipp Melanchthon reported that the theses were also posted on the door of the church at Wittenberg Castle on October 31, 1517, although not all modern scholars are completely convinced this ever took place. (Erikson, 142) By December of 1517, the theses had all been translated to German and were read throughout the empire.

Martin Luther and John Calvin were both leaders in the Protestant Reformation. Martin Luther was a monk, or priest, in the Augustinian friars’ order and his ideals were that Catholicism were corrupting the New Testament beliefs and people were saved by faith alone not by buying their way into heaven. John Calvin studied law “but in 1533 he experienced a religious crisis, as a result of which he converted from Catholicism to Protestantism. Calvin believed that God had specifically selected him to reform the church” (McKay et al., 2015, pg. 448). “The cornerstone of Calvin’s theology was his belief in the absolute sovereignty and omnipotence of God and the total weakness of humanity” (McKay et al., 2015, pg. 448).

Martin Luther (November 10, 1483 - February 18, 1546) was a Christian theologian, Augustinian monk, professor, pastor, and church reformer whose teachings inspired the Lutheran Reformation and deeply influenced the doctrines of Protestant and other Christian traditions. Luther began the Protestant Reformation with the publication of his Ninety-Five Theses on October 31, 1517. In this publication, he attacked the Church's sale of indulgences. He advocated a theology that rested on God's gracious activity in Jesus Christ, rather than in human works. Nearly all Protestants trace their history back to Luther in one way or another. Luther's relationship to philosophy is complex and should not be judged only by his famous