Martin Luther, Thomas Hobbes And John Locke

In the 17 and 18 the philosophers hoped they could discover new ways to understand and improve society.The four philosophers were John Locke,Voltaire, Adam Smith, and Mary Wollstonecraft each one of them were writing about different areas of human society, including government,religion,economy, and the social role of women.

By drawing assurance that faith frees from the law, Luther discusses God’s promises to “fulfill the law” through “believ[ing] in Christ” (Luther 2003). Similar to how good works do not justify righteousness, the law is not established through justification. On the contrary, the law does the opposite of justify; it is a prison to those who have not yet obtained grace. In this prison, humans tend to stay in the confinements of the cell in fear of the law; their obedience is inspired by fear. What kind of righteousness is expected to be obtained by only obeying in fear of punishment? Luther explains that those who strictly follow the law this way will eventually fail (Luther 2003). Yet, it is through faith in God that one can rely on His promises “to fulfill the law and not covet” (Luther 2003). However, Luther uses this concept to warn those who do not believe that they will not "fulfill all the works of the law" (Luther 2003). Through Christ, Luther corrected this misconception by believing that humans can be freed from the law only through a strong bond to faith.

Luther had a very strong belief that salvation comes from faith alone. All that is needed to be justified in front of God is to have faith. Michael M. Ramos writes “Martin Luther believed that salvation depends not on human effort or merit but only on the freely given grace of God, which is accepted in faith” (35). Luther believes that first God extends grace, which is the death of Jesus and the sending of the Holy Spirit. God reaches out to man and offers grace. The grace is not because humans deserve it from merit or human accomplishments. God extends grace because he is a righteous God. Now the only thing that humans must do to be justified

John Locke was a Western philosopher who first published writings regarding natural rights; he laid these rights out to be life, liberty and property. Locke was one of the many 17th century Enlightenment thinkers who influenced people all over Europe and America. Such American Patriots, who were influenced by Locke, used his ideas to stake their claim of independence from Britain. Thomas Jefferson, a Patriot and founding father of America, applied Locke’s ideas of natural rights in his writing of the American Declaration of Independence and his argument against British control of the colonies. One oppressed group in America, the blacks, petitioned Jefferson to use his new position of power in the American government to promote equality in society. Benjamin Banneker, an educated free black living in Maryland, wrote Thomas Jefferson a letter in response to Jefferson’s Notes On The State of Virginia in which Jefferson states his beliefs concerning slavery and race inequality. By elevating Jefferson’s status, manipulating Jefferson’s own arguments and highlighting his own accomplishments, Banneker’s letter helps refute Jefferson’s claims of black inferiority and justification of slavery.

The story “lord of the flies’’ by William Golding, the novel correlates to the philosophical views of John Locke and Thomas Hobbes. John Locke was an English philosopher that surmised man's natural moral compass would point towards good, Locke's philosophical writings stated “ that individuals in a state of nature would have stronger moral limits on their actions. Essentially, Locke thought that our human nature was characterized by reason and tolerance. People, Locke believed, were basically good’’ ( Locke and Hobbes Overview 2). John Locke thought if people were given no rules they would make a paradise, flourishing in law, order, and structure, Thomas Hobbes believed people were naturally cruel and chaotic, with a need of a strong ruler to make decisions. Hobbes stated, “Who felt that mankind was inherently evil and required a strong central authority to ward off this inclination toward an immoral behavior, Locke believed that human nature allowed men to be selfish’’( Locke and Hobbes Overview 2 ). Thomas Hobbes believed a strong iron-fisted ruler was needed for the safety and well being of a society. The ideals of man in a natural state, follow Thomas Hobbes philosophical view represented through Jack's brutish and monarch like attitude which lead to them living in a dystopian society.

By looking at the readings of Machiavelli, Hobbes, and Locke, there are a few distinctions between how the modern thinkers viewed politics versus the way the ancient thinkers believed politics should be. There are many topics both modern and ancient thinkers discuss in their writings, such as the purpose of politics, the science of politics, human nature, as well as the ideal regime. By doing so, these thinkers’ views on political topics such as these illuminate how they thought politics should work and who should be able to participate in the activity of politics.

Martin Luther’s three major treaties were “attempts to persuade Pope Leo X and Roman Catholics that the theology of the Reformation was not a novelty in the faith, but a pure confession of the Word of God and consistent with the truth of the Holy Scriptures” Each one focused on various practices and beliefs of the Catholic Church that Martin Luther deemed were wrong. One of Martin Luther 's three major treatises, On A Freedom of a Christian, reprimands the widely held Christian belief that good works justified our salvation. Martin Luther had hoped that his writings would educate and remind the people and religious officials that salvation stems from our faith. Faith should not be categorized as a virtue but rather a trust in God in which one builds when they encounter the trials and temptations in life. Therefore, it is the Gospel, the word of God, that sets the Christian believer free. However, this new insight had led people to believe that both faith and good works is necessary for justification. Martin Luther wanted to separate the truth from the false teachings. Therefore, Martin Luther explains that although the Christian is freed good works are still compulsory because it’s function is to help Christians discipline themselves in order to better serve the needs of their neighbor as long as they have the faith first in order for their works to be considered good and pleasing to God.

Martin Luther and John Calvin as Religious Leaders of the Reformation Martin Luther became an Augustinian Monk in 1505. He spent two years studying Scripture before being ordained as a priest. In 1510, Luther was sent to Rome and was shocked by the spiritual laxity. After finishing his theological doctorate, he became a professor at Wittenberg, in 1515, Luther became the district vicar. Luther began to develop his own theology and in 1516 he felt compelled to protest the dispensation of indulgences.

One of the main reasons why human rights have been put in place is to protect the public life and public space of every individual being. One fundamental characteristic of human rights is that they are equal rights; they are aimed at providing protection to every person in an equal way. These rights have been entrenched through laws that are passed by states and international conventions. Human rights laws have evolved over time, and have been shaped by several factors, including philosophical theories in the past. This paper looks at the theories of two philosophers, Emmanuel Kant and John Stuart Mills, and how their teachings can be used to explain the sources of human rights. Kant’s moral philosophy is very direct in its

Martin Luther and John Calvin were both leaders in the Protestant Reformation. Martin Luther was a monk, or priest, in the Augustinian friars’ order and his ideals were that Catholicism were corrupting the New Testament beliefs and people were saved by faith alone not by buying their way into heaven. John Calvin studied law “but in 1533 he experienced a religious crisis, as a result of which he converted from Catholicism to Protestantism. Calvin believed that God had specifically selected him to reform the church” (McKay et al., 2015, pg. 448). “The cornerstone of Calvin’s theology was his belief in the absolute sovereignty and omnipotence of God and the total weakness of humanity” (McKay et al., 2015, pg. 448).

There are four main philosophers that set the basis for different styles of ethics. The four Philosophers that made a huge impact on us all are Aristotle, Thomas Aquinas, Immanuel Kant and John Stuart Mill. All four philosophers are very well known for their intelligence and work in the ethics community. Although all of the philosophers have the same goal of defining ethics and how we should behave in terms of the highest good for human beings they all do it in different ways in which they feel is the proper way. Throughout this paper I will be comparing each of the four main Philosophers that we learned about this semester to each other so that you can

The doctrine of human rights were created to protect every single human regardless of race, gender, sex, nationality, sexual orientation and other differences. It is based on human dignity and the belief that no one has the right to take this away from another human being. The doctrine states that every ‘man’ has inalienable rights of equality, but is this true? Are human rights universal? Whether human rights are universal has been debated for decades. There have been individuals and even countries that oppose the idea that human rights are for everybody. This argument shall be investigated in this essay, by: exploring definitions and history on human rights, debating on whether it is universal while providing examples and background

John Locke (1632-1704) and William Godwin (1756-1836) were both English philosophers. Locke and Godwin discuss their views on the origin, purpose as well as extent of authority of a government in their publications. Locke felt that government originated from a social contract and advocated governments which respected their citizens while Godwin saw any form of government as a form of evil thus he advocated self-government and believed that having no government was the ideal state but in the event of being under a government, minimal authority should be exercised. This essay discusses the difference in their views and I will pay attention to the extent of government authority.

Almost 240 years ago, the Declaration of Independence was written. When Thomas Jefferson wrote it he had many ideas about human rights that we as people still believe in today. Thomas Jefferson said, “ … These are Life Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness.” Human rights are rights that everyone has by virtue of being alive. Before human rights, there were natural rights which were related to the rights of men, but this did not always include women. Rights are used to represent individual and group requests to share political and economic power. The idea of natural rights is found in most ancient Greek and Roman literature and philosophy. Following natural rights history, the idea can be found even farther back in time, appearing in the

“All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights. They are endowed with reason and conscience and should act towards one another in a spirit of brotherhood.” These opening words of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights express a concept of man which underpins the framework of human rights embodied in the Universal Declaration and the two international covenants of Human Rights. Western political traditions is a concept that it derives from, is in harmony with moral and social teachings to be found in many other traditions and patterns of belief.