preview

Martin Luther 95 Theses

Decent Essays

Religion has played an immense role in every society. The Roman Catholic church is the religion that has the most followers throughout the world. This branch of Christianity is more than just a way of living it is also a major political force. The church has been apart of important decisions and arrangement almost in every period in history. Many would assume that the church is trustworthy and pure but accusations against the church have changed history permanently. Martin Luther, a German monk, challenged the Roman Catholic church in the sixteenth century by creating a list of objections in opposition to the church. This list was named “Disputation on the Power and Efficacy of Indulgences”, more famously known as the “95 Theses”. The 95 Theses …show more content…

In the long run, Martin Luther actually achieved some success. “Before Luther died, the church’s own Council of Trent had begun its deliberations, which in effect led to acknowledgement that Luther had been right about the abuse of indulgences and other clerical corruptions” (Hillyer, 1). Followers and churches began to take Luther’s theological ideas about the church into consideration. “And after 500 years later, what became his signature theological doctrine, “justification by faith,” was largely affirmed by the Catholic church itself” (Hillyer, 1). The 95 Theses was not only making a massive impact on the Catholic church, but it was becoming into a political force. “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. 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

Get Access