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Martin Luther Religion

Decent Essays

1. Luther’s theology main premises had religious, political, and social implications. What were they?
Martin Luther became an inspiration to people from all sorts of social and political ranks. According to the textbook, “many peasants hoped that the new religion would free them from the exaction of their landlords; towns and princes thought it would allow them to consolidate their independence; nationalists thought it would liberate Germany from the demands of foreign popes bent on feathering their own nests in central Italy” (Cole & Symes, 2014, p. 425). Of course, martin strongly opposed the idea of buying indulgences in exchanges for god’s forgiveness. He believed that no matter how many good deeds a follower would commit, it would never …show more content…

It was comprised of various cities that practiced near independence. These cities were prosperous. Yet they did not conform to any country or authority. Therefore, when citizens from one of the cities decided to adopt Protestantism, there was nobody to stop them. Therefore, the fact that Switzerland was formed by independent cities contained the right catalyst for the rise of different sects of Protestantism. Cole and Symes (2014) stated that “although religious arrangements varied from city to city, three main forms of Protestantism emerged in Switzerland between 1520 to 1550: Zwinglianism, Anabaptism, and Calvinism” (434-435). Zwinglianism was the most moderate form of Protestantism in Switzerland. Its principles resembled those set by Martin Luther. However, Zwinglianists had a fundamental disagreement with the Lutheran faith concerning the theology of the Eucharist which prevented them from uniting on one common front. The Anabaptists were a sect that broke of the Zwinglianists because they did not agree upon the notion of baptism. The Anabaptists believed that followers should be baptized as adults not as infants. The Calvinism sect beliefs aligned with those of the Lutherans. However, Calvinism achieved a wider influence, was stricter, and forbad its followers from any sort of indulgence no matter how minor it was. I am not sure what sect of Protestantism I would follow if I happened to be a citizen of Switzerland in that era. All these sects look closely related. I might lean toward Zwinglianism as it was more moderate and accepting to changes (Textbook, p.

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