Martin Luther's Reformation Research Paper

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).

His ideas sparked the Reformation by first making the actual emperor, Charles V, outraged, “Emperor Charles was outraged at Luther’s audacity and gave his opinion that a single friar who goes counter to all Christianity for a thousand years must be wrong” (Spielvogel). Luther’s beliefs provoked many high authority leaders because what Luther was addressing to the public was the hard core truth that the Bible wanted them to know. They feared that Luther would make the people want to rebel against the church because they would finally know that they were being told a lie. Indeed, Luther did not want them to rebel in a physical way, but in a spiritual way. He wanted them to start to

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.

The first step of the Protestant Reformation was carried out by a monk called Martin Luther to adjust the unfairness of the Catholic Church. He believed that the Christian faith was a simple religion, misrepresented on account of inadequate papal authority. Like the Roman Empire the Church had broadened its territorial domain and bureaucratic function. The moral authority of the church was corrupted because of its tainted clerical practices. In his Ninety-Five Theses, Martin mainly targeted the doctrine of indulgences. Also, Luther argued that the relationship between man and God is nurtured by individual faith and subject to no greater authority than the Bible and the person should actively participate in his/her faith. Thus Luther

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.

The church had a very productive way of earning money which included indulgences, threatening, and deception. According to many references, priests would threaten people that they would not get into heaven. If one did not give 10% of their income to the church and did not pay their indulgences, then it was said one would either go to hell or spend basic eternity in purgatory. When people discovered the priests were using the money for their own benefits they became unhappy. Also, another reason people grew uncomfortable with the church is because they made it seen like the only way people could have contact with God was from the church itself and by following all of their rules and regulations. Most people felt that this was unnecessary and that they should not have to pay to be in contact with God. Therefore, there is no doubt that people developed a growing discomfort with the church before the Protestant

Martin Luther was arguably one of the most important figures in the entire history of Christianity. If the creation of the Lutheran Church was not enough of an accomplishment, he can also be credited with orchestrating the division of the Catholic and Protestant churches. Even as a young Augustinian Monk Martin Luther was convinced the Catholic Church had lost its way. He obsessed over his purity and relationship with God, and strongly believed the Catholic Church had lost its way over the selling of “Indulgences”. Essentially, how the Church misinterpreted and taught the concepts of sin relative to temporal and eternal punishment. He was destined to confront the Catholic Church which he did and ultimately led to the separation events that are still highly relevant to this day. This was the primary driver for the first phase of his rebellion. The second was his German translation of the New Testament, which he used to both teach anyone to read and learn the holy book.

Martin Luther posted his theses in an act of making religion based on faith and to have the bible available to all not just the priest. Luther believed religion was based on individual experience and that whoever wanted to practice it should be allowed to. He went against the Church’s beliefs as they stated that the bible has always been in Latin therefore shall remain like that. Luther rejected their ideas and made it his goal to get the bible made available

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 was born In Germany 1483, November 10th in Eisleben, Saxony, in modern southeast Germany. He began his education in Mansfield. As he grew older till the age of 14 he moved to Magdeburg to continue his studies and education. In 1498 he returned to his home town to Eisleben and enrolled in another school and studied grammar, rhetoric and logic. 1501 Martin Luther entered the University of Erfurt and received a degree of the arts and looked towards being a lawyer later on to his future. In July 1505, Luther had a life-changing experience that set him on a new course. Caught in a horrific thunderstorm where he feared for his life, Luther cried out to St. Anne, the patron saint of miners, “Save me, St. Anne, and I’ll become a monk!”

Luther felt like that was not the sort of thing that should be for sale. His response; he wrote 95 Thesis against the Catholic Church and nailed them to the church door for everyone to see. This led to be increasingly radical, starting from a statement that Christians are only saved through faith and the grace of God, Luther also argued the church and the pope make errors all the time. Luther denied the Catholic Church had any spiritual powers and Christians didn’t need priests to receive the grace of

For this paper i will be talking about a very special man by the name of Martin Luther. What makes this man so special you may be asking right about now. Well he was the only man that had enough free time to translated the roman translation of the bible into his own language which was german. He also stood up for what he believed was right and eventually changed christianity and europe.

He didn’t believe that people should have to pay their way to get into heaven. Indulgences were people who had to pay for a piece of paper that said that they were forgiven of their sins and that they would be able to go up into heaven. People were also able to buy indulgences for those who had died. This was around when Luther wrote his 95 Thesis. He nailed the 95 Thesis to the door of the Church so that everyone would be able to read what he had to say. He wanted to make sure that he got his voice heard and that the Church would start doing things

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,