How important was Martin Luther in influencing the course of the Reformation?

Martin Luther’s contribution during the Reformation to the Christian religion was immense. The courage of the German theologian was unprecedented in the sixteenth century and sparked the opposition with the Roman Catholic Church and its way of worship. One example being that their notion that believers could get salvation through their deeds and not necessarily their faith and the grace of God. The nailing of the 95 theses on the door of the castle at Wittenberg was a pivotal act by Martin Luther directly shunning actions of the Catholic Church. In his theses, Martin Luther objected the power of the indulgences that the Catholic Church practiced and sold to sinners among other activities. Martin Luther, a native of Germany, was committed to the idea that salvation came from the grace of God and the faith of the individual seeking salvation rather than on the works of the individual as was believed and promoted by the Catholic Church.

Martin Luther started the Protestant Reformation when he nailed his 95 theses to the door of the Castle Church in Wittenberg, Germany on October 31, 1517. It contained a series of 95 complaints that the once monk had with the church. He was steadfast in his efforts to get the church to change. Even refusing to repeal his complaints when threatened with excommunication.

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.

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.

Although he absolutely opposed Martin Luther and the entire protestant reformation, his actions were crucial in the spread of the reformation. When Emperor Charles V agreed to a revival of the imperial Supreme Court and the council of regency and promised to consult with a diet of the empire on all major domestic affairs that affected the empire, he helped the development of the reformation by preventing unilateral imperial action against the Germans. Overwhelmed by all the land he controlled and the Habsburg wars he was involved in, Charles V was not able to stop Luther from reforming the church. He eventually gave up and signed the Peace of Augsburg on September 25, 1555. The Peace of Augsburg was the legalization of Catholicism and Lutheranism in the country of Germany. As a result to this peace treaty, the protestant reformation was spread throughout Germany and began to

The Archbishop then turned to Pope Leo X for advice, in doing so Pope Leo X didn’t want to cause trouble in Wittenburg due to political and other reasons. Pope Leo X sent senior member of the official church to then try and persuade Luther to drop is protests and complaints quitley without fuss, but Luthers next actions brought in various Catholic scholars to join the debate about the sale of indulgences. Luthers actions consisted of the making of pamplets and books. The first inventions of the printing press had a huge impact on the production rates at which Luthers books and pamphlets were being created. Once the increasing numbers of Martin Luthers books and pamphlets were being made this allowed him to distrubute it throughout germany. As the years carried on after the publicised 95 Theses was then followed by Martin Luther making new accusations/criticisms of the Roman Catholic Church. Mainly criticising the curruption of several individual popes. To help enforce and encourage the church reformation Martin Luther called upon local German rulers. The actions of Luther became too much for Pope Leo X and his accompainies causing them to excommunicate Martin Luther giving him only 60 days to apologize for his opinion and also the withdrawl of all his books and pamphlets. Martin Luther refused,

Martin Luther was a monk for a catholic church that was visiting Rome for the first time, but king Henry was a king that wanted to divorce his wife Catherine of Aragon. Martin Luther started to see what was wrong in their believe system in Rome, like the pope was riding through the city with golden armor and to guards right next to him, but King Henry excommunicated with the catholic church and created the Church Of England so than he cold Divorce his wife and marry Anne Boleyn. Martin Luther went to go see some holy relics that were used he started to realize that he had to pay to see the relics and there were on sale, after giving birth to a girl Anne Boleyn was executed with a french sword and on that same day got engaged

November 9th 1518, Pope Leo X announced that Luther's writings conflicted with the church and then in July 1520, issued a papal bull saying Luther's Propositions were heretical and gave him 120 days to recant in Rome. Luther refused. Later in January 3rd, 1521 Pope excommunicated Luther from the Catholic Church. This was also the year he returned to Wittenberg, here the reform movement had grown and it was no longer a theological cause, it was now political. With other leaders stepping up to lead the rebellion known as Peasants' War, which moved across Germany. His writing caused the church to fractionalize, hence sparking the Protestant Reformation. Central teachings on the bible being the central source of religious authority shaped the core of Protestantism, as well as how salvation can be reached not through deeds but through faith. As you can see Luther is a controversial figure as he has taken on radical positions such as the pronouncement against dews and his writings led to religious reform and

Martin Luther was a very important Christian figure of the Reformation. He began questioning the Roman Catholic Church and soon, he gained followers that split from Catholicism and began the Protestant tradition. Luther didn’t want to form a new church or go against the religious order of medieval Europe. He wanted to end the wrongs that were occurring in the churches and reform morals. (Historical Context)

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).

On October 31, 1517, a plump, young professor & Augustinian monk named Martin Luther (1483-1546) tacked/nailed a list of 95 complaints about the Catholic Church on the doors of the Wittenberg Cathedral. Written in Latin, the complaints were mostly attacking the doctrine of indulgences. Indulgences were forgiveness of punishment for sins, usually obtained either through good works or prayers along with the payment of an appropriate sum of money. The complaints are mostly known as the 95 theses. This event would trigger the Reformation.

In 1519, Luther moved to a more definitive break with the church. He continues to emphasize three beliefs: Faith brings salvation, bible is the authority, and priests are not needed- people can read the bible. Martin Luther started the Protestant Reformation and continued to support it. Martin Luther refused to recant his statements against the Catholic Church to Holy Roman Emperor Charles V. Due to that action, the Edict of Worms was issued which stated: Luther was a heretic and an outlaw, his writings were condemned, and his books and writings were to be burned. Luther’s supporters begin to grow. In 1522, Martin Luther returns to Wittenberg and Lutheranism begins, which was also the first protestant faith. The support of Lutheranism gained and continued to

Martin Luther was a very important person in history. Numerous people may have questions about his work, life, speech, etc. For example what did Martin Luther study? What sort of discrimination did he fight against? Or why was Luther awarded the 1964 Nobel Peace Prize? On August 28, 1963, Martin Luther delivered a speech which was his “ I Have A Dream” speech that he delivered to a massive group of civil rights marchers around the Lincoln Memorial located in Washington D.C. His speech still to this day is very important, meaningful, and shows people that you have the ability to do whatever you put your mind to. ( finish with transition and thesis)

A German Augustinian friar, Martin Luther launched the Protestant Reformation of the sixteenth century. Luther grew up the son of a miner, but he did not maintain that lifestyle for himself. He lived in a period that had a widespread desire for reformation of the Christian church and a yearning for salvation.

In January 1521, the pope excommunicated Luther. In March, he was summoned by Emperor Charles V to Worms to defend himself. During the Diet of Worms, Luther refused to recant