Martin Luther's Fundamental Religious Problem

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).

Martin Luther started the Protestant Reformation when he nailed his 95 theses to the door of the Castle Church in Wittenberg, Germany on October 31, 1517. It contained a series of 95 complaints that the once monk had with the church. He was steadfast in his efforts to get the church to change. Even refusing to repeal his complaints when threatened with excommunication.

He did this because he felt that he would never earn his eternal salvation otherwise. He didn't feel that all of the prayer, studying and sacraments were enough and felt that he would never be able to satisfy such a judgmental God. After entering the religious life he later became a monk and entered the Augustinian monastery at Erfurt in July of 1505. While there, Luther became a well-known theologian and Biblical scholar. Luther took his religious vocation very seriously. This led him into a severe crisis in dealing with his religion. He wondered, "is it possible to reconcile the demands of God's law with mankind's inability to live up to that law?" Luther then turned to the New Testament book of Romans for answers. He realized that everyone is burdened by sin because it happens as a result of our weaknesses. He concluded that man could never earn his salvation by leading a blameless life or by performing Holy acts. Instead, man's salvation was a divine gift from God resulting from faith in Jesus, especially the saving power of His death and resurrection. This was known as the protestant doctrine of "justification by faith alone." The fact that Luther believed this led him into his first confrontation. The leader of the Catholic Church, Pope Leo X, was trying to raise money in order to build St. Peter's Basilica in Rome. In order to do this, the Pope offered the sale of indulgences, which were donations of money that would give

The earliest most famous Protestant reformer, Martin Luther went to the school of Erfurt to study law in 1501, but he quickly became more interested in theology. Luther was exposed to recent humanist writings and read extensively in classical Latin, Greek, and Hebrew. In 1505, he enrolled in an Augustinian monastery. He spent a decade educating and preaching and visited Rome. The Reformation was a religious uprising in Europe in the 16th century, prompted by dissatisfaction with the set Roman Catholic Church, which directed to the formulation of the Protestant branch of Christianity.

Martin Luther grew up in a home with very strict parents. As a result, Luther’s childhood was plagued with anxiety at home and at school. Because his father planned for him to become a lawyer, shortly after receiving a Master of Arts degree from Erfurt University he returned to the university to study law. Consequently, after a life threatening experience in a storm, Luther left the university and joined a monastery. In 1505, Luther became an Augustinian monk and subsequently became a priest in 1507. According to John Dillenberger, “Luther was extremely sensitive to the problem of how to become worthy to receive the grace of God rather than the damning consequences of His righteousness”.

Martin Luther, born in 1483, grew up in a devout Roman Catholic household, where the church stood at the center of his world. However, he suffered at the hand of his parents’ harsh criticism. His father had emerged from the feudal system into the new middle class as a successful Coppersmith. His desire was for his son to also climb the social ladder. To assist with his son’s success, Luther’s father was a fierce judge of the character of his son, and often punished him severely for his failures. From these experiences, Luther developed a low self-esteem and fear of failure, which encroached on every aspect of his life, including his theology.

Martin Luther was a German professor of theology at Wittensberg. He later left his studies to peruse monkhood. In doing this, Luther had a lot of time to think about his relationship with God and realize the flaws in the church. Luther disagreed with many teachings/ ideas of the Roman Church, which he than acted upon. He strongly disputed the idea that one can obtain freedom from God 's punishment for committing sin by purchasing an expensive piece of paper from the church called an Indulgence. He wrote all about the usefulness of indulgences in community in a very sarcastic tone in Theses Ninety-Five in 1517. Although demanded, Luther refused to rid of his writings at the request of Pope Charles V.

Luther’s fundamental religious problem was the assurance of salvation. Traditional beliefs of the church did not help him overcome this struggle and he

Luther’s fundamental religious problem was the idea that the church was making people feel that they had to buy or seek salvation through the church. The development started when Luther was younger he was struck by lightning and called out to the church and said that if his life was spared he would become a monk. Sure enough since his life was spared he did as he promised. He was still struggling to understand what he need to do to be blessed with “godliness” the church taught him that it was through good deeds for the church. He was then asked to teach at a University and even though he did not want to do it he did it anyway for his fear of not doing what the church said overwhelmed him. Luther’s fears vanished, however, when he read St. Paul’s letter to the Romans: “He who through

The printing press was a vital part of the Reformation,Renaissance ,and Age of exploration,without this writing tool these historical events wouldn't have literacy or technological advances when they did in that time period, which allow people able to read and learn how to read also reduces prices on books. The renaissance was the rebirth of europe in many of ways in which they had multiple achievements in science,art,and culture.then in the light of the reformation this shown how martin luther life have impact history as we know it with his 95 thesis to the pope and the church in the year of 1517.In addition to this was the age of exploration which many of empires wanted to have wealth which leaded to all the empires to sending their explorers like christof colombo,and others to find the quickest route to trade in the middle east to gain gold and assorted goods.

Luther's fundamental religious problem was that when he was a monk/priest at the time he had the motivation to attain salvation in the afterlife. However, despite the church-state and everyone around him would suggest that the monastic life was the best hope for someone to attain salvation. Yet, Luther still felt like he was not saved even though he was discipline well in the monastic life. So, he looked into studying the Bible and realized that people will not be saved through good works but instead they will be saved through faith alone in what God entrust for the people who follow him. Which was made from the crucifixion of Jesus.

Written in his theses was the debate and criticism of the Roman Catholic Church and the Pope. Luther concentrated upon the selling of indulgences, which are extra-sacrament remission of the temporal punishment due in God’s justice, to sin that has been forgiven, which remission is granted by the Church in the exercise of the power of the keys (Knight 1993, 2009) the indulgences replaced the severe penances of the early church. The theses also included the debate of doctrine policies about purgatory, judgment, devotion to Mary the Mother of Jesus, the intercession of and devotion to the saints and the authority of the Pope there are others that were not mention in this paper.

Martin Luther was eager to change the Roman Catholic Church since his beliefs clashed with the church’s practices. He proclaimed that salvation of the soul will come about because of the genuine confidence in God, not simply great deeds. Martin Luther also firmly hated the demonstration of conceding and offering indulgences since he felt that forgiveness came from that person and God.

A German Augustinian friar, Martin Luther launched the Protestant Reformation of the sixteenth century. Luther grew up the son of a miner, but he did not maintain that lifestyle for himself. He lived in a period that had a widespread desire for reformation of the Christian church and a yearning for salvation.

Martin Luther was responsible for the start of the Reformation. He was against many of the Catholic Church’s teachings and beliefs, especially the sale of indulgences. He believed the Roman Catholic Church was corrupt and should be reformed. His beliefs were based on three principles: Sola Fide, Sola scriptura and Sola gratia. He believed that salvation should come from faith rather than from doing good deeds and that religious truth could be obtained by reading the Bible. He believed that humans are able to educate themselves and gain knowledge. At the time, the sale of indulgences was a common practice. On the 31st of October 1517, Martin Luther nailed a document,