Why Is Martin Luther Wrong

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).

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 the majority of Martin Luther’s ideas contradicted each other left and right, he had a few consistencies. Obviously his views of Sola Scriptura and consubstantiation did not drastically change, but there were some misleading topics that were disguised as inconsistencies. The major topic concerning this was his views towards peasants. It can be easily assumed that after being raised a peasant and supporting them, he immediately turned against them when they rebelled. However, this is deceiving. In 1519, Luther definitely supported the peasantry in his letter to the Prince. He saw them as one of his own and those who shall be “cherished forever,” but he did not mention anything related to what the peasants wanted that could help them. This implies that although Luther loved his people during his attacks against the Pope for the same reason as the peasants themselves, he still believed they should stay in their place (Doc6). Therefore, when the Peasant Rebellion broke out, it was completely justified for Luther to be upset with them. For that reason, it is actually a consistent idea of his that his people should not challenge authority because he had always supported peasants as long as they stayed in their place of oppression. Also due to this theory, it was relatively reasonable that he lashed out against the rebels in “Against the Murderous,

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

‘A World Lit Only By Fire’ highlights Martin Luther’s questioning and antagonizing of the church, becoming the leader and instigator of the reformation in addition to the unexpected creation of many different religious sects away from the Roman Catholic Church are all examples for how Martin Luther upset the religious

Not everyone; however, agreed with the ways of the Roman Catholic Church. The most important man in the reformation was Martin Luther: the man who started the whole reformation. Luther was a man who studied law but left that behind to become a monk in the church. He was so obsessed with being accepted by God and finding salvation. For that reason the pope sent him to the University of Wittenberg to study theology. There he began to study the Bible and realized that the Catholic Church, who had taken over Europe, had fallen away from the real teachings of Christ. Luther recognized Saint Paul’s teachings that stated “The just shall live by faith” in other words, salvation comes through faith,

Last of all, the biggest way that Luther affected the church, is the way he freed everyone from Catholicism. Luther did not say that Catholicism was evil, though he did enable it for others to study on their own, and he also made it so that they were not forced to be a Catholic, and they could be any religion that they chose. Now before Luther, pretty much everyone was forced to be a Catholic, so when the option of changing religions came up because of

Luther did not tolerate seeing his Church abuse the devout and poor by robbing them of their money merely to feed the papacy’s extravagance. He denounced the Church’s use of indulgences, and also spoke out against the papacy’s corrupt way of being. With his different feelings toward the Church, he inspired other men and was a spokesperson for all those who were victims, physically and monetarily, of the Catholic Church. Luther’s impact on history is even more importantly seen since he chose to attack the church. In his time, people rarely questioned the way things were. Since Luther targeted problems that the people suffered from, such as impoverishment due to indulgence money, and the papacy’s violence and corruption, he received the support of the people. Also, Luther’s attitude and fearlessness when dealing and talking about the church helped him achieve so much more than what any before him had. With his attack on the church, Luther also inspired and “accidentally” began the creation of his own church, which then spread to two churches, and later affecting all other additions to the religious

Thu-ba-lump. A single horse’s hooves hit against the dirt as he runs down the road. Thu-ba-lump. Thunder claps overhead. Thu-ba-lump. Lightning pierces the ground, startling the horse and throwing the rider from it. On his knees, frightened for his life, he calls out into the storm, “Help me, St. Anne! I will become a monk! (Christian History Magazine Staff, 2000)” While no one knows exactly what happened on this day, it was quite possibly one of the most life-changing days in Martin Luther’s life. For he escaped the storm unhurt, and as he had promised to God, he would join the monkhood (Harrison, 2002). Of course, his entry into the Church was just the beginning of a long journey that he was about to embark on in becoming one of the most influential men in history. Though living in sixteenth-century Germany, Martin Luther had one of the most significant influences upon the western world not only by arguing the Bible – not the Church – as the ultimate authority over people and that each believer a member of the priesthood, but also by challenging, and ultimately breaking, the crippling hold that the Church had on the people of his time.

Luther was adamant that the church must begin and end with the Word of God and that Jesus was the Word made flesh.2 Luther believed that Jesus Christ created the Bible and the church and therefore it was impossible for the church to create the Bible because it was the inspired Word of God.3  The Bible was the one and only authority of the Church and nothing else compared.  His beliefs lead him into conflict with the Catholics who believed that they had the authority over the church.  Out of this belief in the Word of God came all of His other theological teachings such as salvation by grace, the sacraments of the church, the law and the gospel, and the cross.4  His belief that he did not have to work for God’s approval but that it was given to him freely by grace and this was a starting point for all of his other views to really take shape. In so doing this he found a boldness to stand up for his beliefs and went down in history when he nailed the Ninety-Five Thesis to the door of the Church at Wittenburg.5 There was new technology taking place namely the invention of the printing press and the world was growing and moving forward.6

The ideas that Luther gave to the populace, broke the society and people began to undermine authority. A great example of that would be one of the first conflicts of the religious wars, the peasants’ revolt. The ideologies were reaching the monarchs and they were converting to Protestantism for personal gain, not for religious values. Supporting the movement, was perfect for them because they finally have some control over the church officials. The king of Sweden was one of the first who converted, he declared that the Lutheranism is the official religion of his country. This caused Charles V the Holy Roman Emperor to give the converted Lutherans an ultimatum, return to the Catholic faith or there will be dire consequences. This resulted in a military alliance called the Schmalkaldic League. The Holy Roman emperor ended up defeating the league, Catholic France ended up coming to the Lutherans rescue. Despite their difference in their religious views at the moment they have a common enemy and that was enough. Charles gave into the pressure and realized that his empire is too vast for him to rule alone. So he spilt his empire up and gave it to his brother Ferdinand and his son Philip II and they came to the conclusion to divide the population. This had a catalytic event later when the French attempts to take the divided

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

In class we have spent a lot of time learning and discussing Martin Luther’s life and the important role that he played in the protestant reformation. Martin Luther was someone who saw many issues throughout the Catholic Church. Martin Luther was a monk and scholar who was in Wittenburg. In 1517 Luther penned the 95 theses to the door of a catholic church this document attacked the Catholic Church’s corrupt practice of selling “indulgences” to absolve sin. He felt that religion should be more personal and that the bible should be translated into everyday language. His “95 Theses,” which had two central beliefs—that the Bible is the main religious authority and that humans should only be able to receive salvation by faith and not by their

     Another event needed to occur to ensure that Luther would be able to implement his plan: Charles V’s dilemma. Unsure of the support he had, given that his own prince supported the reformers and had the power to incite a rebellion, Charles decided to play it safe. Admittedly, the Crown could have destroyed the rebellion in its infancy, but it did not. The Church itself also had the power to deal with the rebels. A quote from Gustavson carefully clarifies the reasons that it could not. “After many centuries as the universal Church of Western Europe, it had undergone both a loss of

During the sixteenth century, new religious leaders emerged and began to question the Catholic Church’s monopolistic control over Europe. Reformers such as Martin Luther and King Henry VIII saw multifarious issues with the Catholic Church; furthermore, they fervently believed that a reform was vital. While Martin Luther of Germany and King Henry VII of England had completely different motives for reforming religion, the actions of both individuals had an immense impact on the state of the Catholic Church. Whereas Luther abominated indulgences and the unquestioning acceptance of the Pope’s ideas, King Henry VIII hoped to diminish the power of the Church after he was denied his request for an annulment. Irrefutably, both men had distinct motivations for reforming the place of worship.