Luther's Chalcedonian Christology

However, his work became a famous piece of literature and created a new branch of Christianity. “He brought to the masses a belief that individuals of any class were commissioned to think about and understand the deepest questions for themselves, with the “freedom of a Christian” leading inevitably to a popular taste for, and later on insistence on political freedom as well” (Hillyer, 1). Luther believed that the Eucharistic bread and wine contained spiritually Christ’s “real presence” even though it did not physically change into the body and blood of

The beginning of the Protestant Reformation is often marked by one man’s appeal for change. Therefore, the life of Martin Luther is a thought-provoking subject not only for the scholar, but also for those curious about the history behind Lutheranism. Consequently, Roland H. Bainton has written Here I Stand: A Life of Martin Luther. Selling over a million copies, it was first published by Abingdon-Cokesbury in 1950, which awarded it a prize of $7,500.00. Bainton, an ordained minister, was a member of the faculty at the Yale Divinity School for 42 years. He is recognized as an authority on the

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

Bainton’s Here I Stand is a chronologically arranged biography of Martin Luther’s life which seeks to show his philosophy and ideas for the reform of the Catholic Church without seeking to perform psychoanalysis of the Reformer.

In this essay, I will attempt to assess the extent of Martin Luther's role in the Protestant reformation that took place at the beginning of the sixteenth century in Germany. Luther's name is synonymous with the religious Reformation of the sixteenth century, or the 'evangelical movement' as it is sometimes called, but the actual details of the Reformation itself are somewhat lesser known. Luther's role in the Reformation is well publicised, but his contribution to other areas of religious life is often forgotten. Luther reinvented the German language, making his sermons and later, the bible, accessible to thousands of German citizens,

Dutch Historian and Theologian, Heiko A. Oberman, composes a book titled, Luther: Man between God and the Devil. This book regards the origins of German Reformation forerunner Martin Luther. Although it is considered an actual biography of Luther’s life, it is more of a review of many noteworthy topics normally found in a traditional Luther memoir. Whilst many individuals may have read or studied the story of Martin Luther previously, Oberman's account of Luther’s life takes special care to highlight the thoughts of young Luther which enables the reader to see what may have shaped his thinking as an adult. Oberman embarks on a well-defined and truthfully written account of the major episodes of Luther’s life which took place from his birth

According to Shaw (1997), “Luther hoped to restore a love for biblical truth by putting the cross of Christ in the central position of Christian

He wrote the 95 theses challenging the wealth of the church, the way to salvation, the authority, and indulgences. Moreover, his four concepts of sola fide, sola scriptura, priesthood of all believers, and all work is sacred challenged the very structure of the religion that the church was built upon. His belief of only faith alone could save one from purgatory, which nullified the need for indulgences. He proves this by quoting the Book of Romans and the New Testament, which was the passage God made him point to. He was able to justify faith alone by proving if one believed in Jesus's messages one was saved, because believing one was saved only with works while not believing in God was not the way to salvation (Justification by Faith). Moreover, Luther believed anyone could interpret the scripture and only what is in scripture should be believed, which challenged the Pope's interpretation and made people less dependant on the church. The Priesthood of all believers challenged the Pope's immediate connection to God and argued that even Priests and the Pope were susceptible to mistakes (The interpretation of the Bible and the Nature of the Clergy). In contrary to the Roman Catholic Church he was adamant about the fact of all being equal in God's eyes, thus the clergy was equal to the laity and not deserving of special privileges. He also stated that the church was protecting itself with the three concepts of spiritual power stronger than temporal power, only the Pope could interpret Scripture, and only the Pope could summon a council (On Papal Power). This allowed the papacy to defend itself from outside attempts to reform it. The papacy argued temporal power was earthly and ever changing, but spiritual power dealt with the after life and was constant, resulting in the papacy seeing itself more powerful than temporal power. Luther

Luther the Reformer: The Story of the Man and His Career by James M. Kittelson is a biography of the famous German monk turned theologian and reformer, Martin Luther. This is one of the most influential men in history, and as a matter of fact, “In most big libraries, books by and about Martin Luther occupy more shelf room than those concerned with any other human being except Jesus of Nazareth” (Kittelson 9). This fame of Luther’s isn’t only postmortem, “This extraordinary interest in an extraordinary man reaches back almost half a millennium. Even in his own time Luther was a ‘media personality’ the first of such in three thousand years of human history” (Kittelson 9). Luther was a subject of great controversy in his own time, as well as in our, and it has only driven his name and message into the spotlight. No matter or what one aligns himself with, “People still find themselves taking sides on the question of Luther” (Kittelson 9). It is for this reason that James M. Kittelson wrote this survey. He tells us that “The primary purpose of this book is to tell the story of Martin Luther to readers who are not specialists in the field of Luther studies” (Kittelson 10). This book is a general overview of all aspects of Luther, not just a precise dissection of one aspect, which allows for “as faithful a picture as possible of the whole man” (Kittelson 11).

Therefore, a person’s faith in Jesus Christ justifies them, apart from whatever charitable deed they may do, became the defining concept of the Protestant Reformation as a whole, which included both Lutheranism and Calvinism (Duiker and Spielvogel 421). However, Luther was also quick to point out that the forgiveness offered to us through the atoning work of Jesus Christ does not negate the Law given to us, nor does it lessen “the gravity of our sin” (Gonzalez 51). Within his theology, Luther also asserted the supreme authority of the Word of God, held baptism and communion as the only two Biblical sacraments, and urged people to see God as He revealed Himself on the cross rather than emphasizing the characteristics most esteemed by human perceptions, such as His power, glory, and goodness (Gonzalez 48-50,

In this paper I have decided to write about Martin Luther. I will be focusing primarily on his beliefs and his refusal to recant what he believes in when he is brought before the Holy Roman Emperor. So often it is difficult to stand up for what you believe in, particularly when few or none at all share your same views or opinions. When Luther chose not to revoke what he believed to be true multiple times I admired and respected him. Not only did he choose not to revoke but also explained in full for each person to understand why he could not revoke his works.

Faith. This alone is all that is needed to be saved by Christ. Martin Luther interprets the Word of God in this way, while he was closely questioning the practices of the Roman Catholic Church during this time in history. The practices and customs that the Catholic Church had come to know at this time where authorized without and scriptural support, and Luther’s plan was to expose the Church’s flaws in hopes of a reform. Little did Martin Luther know, that this attempt to reform the church on the basis of “through faith alone”, would change the history of the Church forever.

Written in his theses was the debate and criticism of the Roman Catholic Church and the Pope. Luther concentrated upon the selling of indulgences, which are extra-sacrament remission of the temporal punishment due in God’s justice, to sin that has been forgiven, which remission is granted by the Church in the exercise of the power of the keys (Knight 1993, 2009) the indulgences replaced the severe penances of the early church. The theses also included the debate of doctrine policies about purgatory, judgment, devotion to Mary the Mother of Jesus, the intercession of and devotion to the saints and the authority of the Pope there are others that were not mention in this paper.

16th century England was predominantly Catholic. However, with new renaissance thought and an increase in literacy, people began to question the church, also referred to as Christian humanism. Martian Luther, a theologist became the most well-known figure in the protestant reformation. He set out to reform the church but when his attempts failed and he was excommunicated he created a new branch of Christianity known as Protestantism and later Lutherism. He wrote many articles arguing his position such as Freedom of a Christian and Marriage of Celibacy. In these articles, Luther expresses his beliefs about the spirit and flesh as it affects salvation and of marriage as a pure institution favored by God.

In Rome, cardinals saw Luther's theses as an attack on papal authority. In 1518, at a meeting of the Augustinian Order in Heidelberg, Luther set out his positions with even more precision. In the Heidelberg Disputation, we see the signs of a maturing in Luther's thought and new clarity surrounding his theological perspective—the Theology of the Cross.