Luther's 95 Theses Analysis

In (Document C) it presents a map of the religion in Europe in 1560 and shows that Catholic was the dominant religion. Since the exploration of the printing press, people were able to read the Bible for themselves and interpret it the way they wanted to. Martin Luther was a Catholic priest of the time and was not satisfied with the church. In (Document B) it informs that “On October 31, 1517 he posted 95 Theses’ or criticism’ on the door of the Castle Church in Wittenberg Germany. One of his goals was to stir up debate about indulgences.” Thanks to the printing press the 95 Theses were spread Germany and Europe. “Luther’s protest triggered a movement called the Protestant Reformation and led to the Lutheran religion.”(Document

“Luther was in constant battles, largely unsuccessful, to control the forces both theological and cultural that he had unleashed. He argued not just against the pope’s hard-liners but against the Pope’s hard-liners as Erasmus who wanted to hold the church together” (Hillyer, 1). Martin Luther purpose for his 95 Theses was just to revolt against the Roman Catholic.

Martin Luther’s 95 Theses’ were posted on the door of the Castle Church in Wittenberg, Germany. “Because of the printing press, the 95 theses were known throughout Germany in two weeks and throughout Europe in a month.” (Document B). In harmony the printing press allowed many religious differences to spread causing the religious mix of Catholic and Protestant. “Luther’s protest triggered a movement called the Protestant Reformation and led to the Lutheran religion” (Document B). Between 1500 and 1560 England, Norway, Sweden, Denmark, most of Scotland and many small German states became mainly Protestant. The printing press made it possible for many religious beliefs to spread allowing for people to become more educated and form better opinions on

Before the printing press, Europeans got their religious information from the Church, as most people were either illiterate or too poor to afford the expensive Bibles. However, the printing press made Bibles accessible to the public. This changed people’s opinions on religion, as they now educated themselves without relying on the Church. Martin Luther, a Catholic priest, was discontent with the Church’s practices, specifically their indulgences, where they accepted payments in return for salvation in the afterlife. Luther outlined his criticisms in the 95 Theses, sparking the Protestant Reformation movement. Luther’s 95 Theses spread throughout Europe, including 300,000 copies published in early 1500s Germany utilizing the printing press, thus introducing the new Protestant religion to more people. Religious reformation is an example of the Renaissance worldview that states “an individual’s dreams and achievements are given new emphasis”. For instance, Luther established the new Protestant religion because his dreams were possible, as people praised individualism. The group mentality was no longer significant, specifically for religion as people began to extend from

Martin Luther, a prominent figure in the protestant reformation, who would eventually go on to found his own church and version of Christianity, would most likely not have gained nearly the traction he did if not for the invention of the printing press. The printing press was an unbiased and efficient method to mass produce information, ideas, tales and literature. When Martin Luther posted his 95 Thesis on the door of the church he could not possibly have expected someone to come along and copy his writing to later be printed out infinitely more people to see, his demands becoming a staple of the Protestant Reformation, starting with the denouncement of selling indulgences. Drawing information from document D of our Printing Press DBQ, a viable and useful source because it shows Martin Luther's views on indulgences, this source is credible because Martin was well informed (seeing as he presided as a monk in the Catholic Church for a time) and he was somewhat of an expert on the bible, observing that he studied the bible very thoroughly as a monk in the Catholic Church. The second part of the source is credible, seeing as it is a purely historical recording and the author does not have any clear vested interest in the recanting of the article. The document itself lists four of Luther's 95 thesis, which

The Reformation period was set during the 16th century and lasted until the 17th century. During the reformation, it was when people wanted to reform and break away from the Catholic church; due to their belief and sale of indulgence. Indulgence was a document that brought away your sins and god’s forgiveness. In the movie Luther, the main character started to questioned the idea of indulgence when he brought an indulgence from John the Baptist when he visited Rome. Afterward when he returned back to his town, John Tetzel persuades the people to buy an indulgence. Luther reformed from the idea of buying your sins and being forgiven by god. Therefore Luther wrote the 95 thesis that supported the Bible as the central religious authority and that

The 95 Theses In my essay I am going to be talking about Martin Luther. I’m going to talk about things like Martin’s background information, and answer questions like, what is the 95 Theses? Why did he write it?

With his new findings, this led Luther in challenging what the Catholic church enforced, such as the matter indulgences or the practice of confession. This influenced him in making his 95 theses which also addressed how the Catholic church is

Martin Luther was a German monk who had truly believed that the bible was the only source of religious authority and how salvation could only be achieved through faith of Jesus Christ. Believing his own different beliefs Luther had started the Protestant Reformation. The Protestant Reformation was a religious European reformation based on the corrupted Roman Catholic Church's unjust practices. Pope Leo X had started to sell indulgences. An indulgences was guaranteed salvation for whoever gave a donation to the church.

In class, we began conversing about Catholicism and Protestantism. We have already discussed the basics in class and we have learned much about it. The reformation started when Martin Luther wrote the 95 Theses. The 95 these were a list of complaints sent by Martin Luther towards the Catholic church. Martin Luther did not like the fact that the preacher could exchange money for allowance to go to heaven. Many people sadly believed them which made the Catholic Church rich and powerful. Martin Luther also had many more partners to help him with all his complaints because it would have not been easy at all for him to do it all by himself. He needed the help from Henry VII and John Calvin who were two men who were politic geniuses and thought of

The 95 Theses attacked the Church and its abuse of power. Luther had stated that the church rituals did not have the power to save ones soul and that both the church and Pope made errors frequently. Over the previous years, friars had spoken their opinions on the neglects of the Catholic Church, but were silenced because of the lack of communication. During the late 1400’s and early 1500’s, the printing press had come to be invented, creating a widespread communication. Because of this, Luther’s influence was able to be spread throughout Europe in different ways. Even though many people could not read during this time, other forms of his 95 Theses were depicted including pamphlets, posters, and even cartoons to show the errors of the Catholic Church. The most important factor of the Reformation was the translation of the Bible. Luther had translated the scripture of the bible from Latin to German, making it possible for more than just priests to be able to read the word of God. As the translation of the Bible reached millions of people all throughout Europe, new and different interpretations had erupted about what religious truth

Luther penned a document attacking the Catholic Church corrupt practice to absolve sin and this is how The 95 Theses was made.The 95 Theses written in 1517 were 95 things Martin Luther didn’t like about the church.The 95 Theses were quickly distributed throughout Germany and then made their way to Rome.The 95 Theses which later became Protestant Reformation were written in a remarkably humble and academic tone,accusing and questioning.

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).

As you all have probably seen by now, there is a heretic among us. He speaks words of sin against the word of god. He defies the holy bible and rebels against the pope. That is correct. This heretic is Martin Luther. He decides to criticize our church for something that we have not done! He speaks that we sell indulgences to people of higher status. That is false; Luther himself then decides to interpret the sacred book upon his own. This man has no such power to do this. Only our priests and holy men of the church can interpret what god truly meant for us to do. This heretic cannot possibly comprehend the meaning of god’s words. He also addresses our policies of cash in exchange for cleansing your sins. People must pay a price to show they

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.