Martin Luther Reflection

With indulgences, evil people may be able to buy indulgences and believe themselves to be forgiven, while poor people may not afford indulgences and believe they are cursed with sin, despite their behavior. Bishops are more obligated to selling indulgences, while their sole purpose should be to prevent men from teaching their personal dreams. Indulgences were a way for the rich to become more wealthy, while the poor may be swapping the purchase of necessities for the purchase of indulgences, believing this would save them and their loved ones from condemnation. Luther stated both that “Christians are to be taught that he who gives to the poor or lends to the needy does a better deed than he who buys indulgences,” and that “Christians are to be taught that he who sees a needy man and passes him by, yet gives money for indulgences, does not buy papal indulgences but God’s wrath.” Luther emphasized that good people were better than people who sought to purchase indulgences. In many of his thesis, Luther affirmed that indulgences are not neccessary for forgiveness and that forgiveness is not granted with the purchase of indulgences. He shares his fear that those who buy indulgences would neglect to repent and fear God. These people would be convicted. As for the dead, Luther believed that your debts were erased. Those in Purgatory needed to find love, and this would reduce their sins and punishments. Luther also disapproved of priests who “act ignorantly

Martin Luther is best known for the Protestant Reformation, and boldly spoke out against the practice of the church selling indulgences. He was not shy about speaking out about his unhappiness with the church. Luther was respected by the peasant people of Germany and saw firsthand how the church was taking money from them for what they claimed was forgiveness of God. Martin wrote and posted many Theses on the door of the Wittenburg church, which resulted in debate and religious upheaval. This was Luther’s way of protesting the church’s abuse of indulgences in exchange for money. As seen in the movie he wanted to let the peasant people know they were being treated unfairly by the Catholic Church, and that it was not necessary to pay for blessings or repentance of their

In document seven, Martin Luther criticizes the pope and the Church for their use of indulgences. Luther claims that people are falsely being forgiven for their sins with the use of money. He thinks this is teaching the false doctrine of money being more important than ethics. People should be forgiven by God, not by money, and should do so through helping the needy instead of buying the indulgences.

Bainton, Roland H. Here I Stand: A life of Martin Luther. Third Printing Hardback March 2011. Peabody: Hendrickson Publishers Marketing, LLC, 1950.

It's the 1960's; American society is being torn asunder by civil unrest involving the struggle for equality at home and an inhumane war in Vietnam. In the midst of such turbulence, Martin Luther King Junior argues that American involvement in the war in Vietnam is unjust. He poignantly examines the thesis using appeals to ethos logos and pathos.

In paragraphs 12-14 King uses a combination of rhetorical strategies to argue the urgency for changing current segregation laws. Kings selective use of imagery, parallel structure, and metaphors helps bring out the emotions of the eight clergymen, making them feel sympathy and understand Martin Luther King Jr.s point of view.

The sale of indulgences was not saving any souls rather yet it was condemning them. The true way to clear away the sin is to as God for forgiveness and repent of the sin committed. Luther objected to the sale of indulgences for many reason. First of all the Pope does not have the power to relive someone from a sin, only God can. Second paying your way out of guilt does not save you in the eyes of God, true repent does. Third many crimes were being committed nonchalant due to buying indulgence. Lastly, the Pope was the making money out of selling indulgence yet not giving back to its people. Rather they

Martin Luther changes his attitude between 1517 to 1535 is because now he has more popularity that he has grown more confidence to debate the Catholic Church ideals. Martin was a German monk who believed in God and didn’t argue with the Catholic Church ideas. The main idea Martin disagreed with the Catholic Church for was when they started to sell indulgences to people, to raise money, and to buy art. Martins Luther voiced his concerns that were his 95 Theses. For example, he states that he “has so much boldness that [he has] dared to think of [writing] a letter to someone of [the Pope’s] sublimity…. [he] [grieves] over the wholly false impressions which people have conceived from [Indulgences]” (Document A). This demonstrates that Martin

"What we need in the United States is not division; what we need in the United States is not hatred; what we need in the United States is not violence or lawlessness, but love and wisdom, and compassion toward one another, and a feeling of justice towards those who still suffer within our country, whether they be white or whether they be black."1

Marin Luther, regardless of his intentions, is one of the most controversial men in all of Christian history. The growth of Martin Luther and essentially the whole Protestant Revolution begins by Luther walking in a storm and getting struck by lightning. At this time, he prays out to the saints in hopes that he will be saved; he promises them that if they save him, he will stop everything a become a monk. Luther is saved and does just that, he quit studying law and took his vows, and he began studying the bible as a monk. While studying the bible, Luther comes across a line in Romans 1:17 stating, “For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith for faith, as it is written, ‘The righteous shall live by faith.’” Luther’s interpretation of this is that no amount of pilgrimages, relics, or good deeds will save someone, what will save that person is his or her faith. At the same time that Luther comes to this conclusion, indulgences are being sold. An indulgence is a ticket to heaven which cleanses a person of all sins. A person pays for this certificate, which typically cost half a year’s earnings, and this will shorten the time in purgatory before going to heaven. The idea of what happened after death terrified some people so this gave those people a false sense of comfort.

This fundamental difference from the Catholic dogma that one could buy salvation to Luther’s new ideas as way to Heaven began to transform many people’s beliefs. Supporters of Luther adopted the concept of faith and knowledge of God as a way to repent their sins, and eventually, it reshaped the Christian culture. As Luther personally struggled to be a “perfect” monk, he discovered that faith in the gospel was the only way to be “made righteous by God”(roper 78). In response to his distress for his laity’s desire to buy indulgences, Luther wrote the “95 Theses on the Power of Indulgences.” He knew he was attacking the pope and the values of the church, but records show that he felt “...not fully in control of his actions, but handed over responsibility to a higher power”(84 roper). Cleary, Luther felt a spiritual connection with God and indulgences were in direct opposition to faith. His revolutionary claims in the “95 Theses on the Power of Indulgences” caused a conflict that would eventually be known as the Protestant Reformation.

Martin Luther wrestled over justification his whole life, it tore him apart and tore him away from the church. He set out to challenge the belief of the church at the time. He came to the opinion, from his study of the gospel and the early church, that justification comes from God’s gift of grace, that only must be accepted through faith.

Martin Luther's contribution to the Church could easily be dismissed because he is well known as anti-Semitic. In truth, he was, as most people are, more complicated than this. Luther is a wonderful example of the Grace of God using imperfect people. Luther is history's best proponent of justification by grace, yet some of his views did not always reflect God's love. God has not changed, He still chooses the average person to advance His kingdom. And why shouldn't He, we are all He's got!

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

Archbishop Albert needed someone to sell indulgences for him, so he hired Dominican friar John Tetzel. Tetzel made this into a business and even began to heavily advertise the sale of indulgences. He came up with catchy slogans to lure people into buying them. He even came up with a chart price to persuade people to buy the "best" or most expensive indulgences. Luther did not agree with this because people no longer saw the need for repentance and felt they could buy away their sins. He was greatly troubled that people were buying into these advertising gimmicks. Since, at the time, the church did not have an official doctrine on indulgences, Luther decided this entitled him to discuss the subject critically. In doing so Luther wrote Archbishop Albert a letter on the subject and enclosed in Latin "Ninety-five Theses on the Power of Indulgences." He argued indulgences made people believe repentance was not important, it downplayed the importance of charity in Christian life, and it competed with the preaching of the Gospel. (Boehmer, 198) Once Luther died, his disciple Philipp Melanchthon reported that the theses were also posted on the door of the church at Wittenberg Castle on October 31, 1517, although not all modern scholars are completely convinced this ever took place. (Erikson, 142) By December of 1517, the theses had all been translated to German and were read throughout the empire.