Secularization And Secularism

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).

In Martin Luther’s letter to Nicholas von Amsdorf, Luther states, “I am carrying out our intention to put together a few points on the matter of the reform of the Christian estate, to be laid before the Christian nobility of the German nation in the hope that God may help his church through the laity; since the clergy, to whom this task more properly belongs, have grown quite indifferent.” This sentence sets the tone and describes what Luther wants to address in his treatise. Luther is saying that he intends to address the problems within the church and bring attention to them. He is convinced the way to fix these problems is to give the task to people who are not a part of the clergy, like the German nobility.

Contrary to the Middle Ages, when the afterlife and glorifying God was the primary focus, the Renaissance concentrated increasingly on the present day, demonstrating a more secular philosophy. Humanism developed, making human beings, and not God, the center of attention. People not longer considered their lives solely as a preparation for the afterlife, but instead gave them actual value. The church's authority fused with that of the state, resulting in a monopolized power greatly influenced by religion. The rejection of the secular spirit of the Italian Renaissance can be seen in the varying art themes of the Reformation. The Reformation rejected the secular spirit that had developed during the Italian Renaissance and replaced it with a

The main ideology of Lutheranism is that salvation can be gained by three fundamental precepts: by faith, by grace and by scripture alone. Luther felt that Salvation could not be achieved through good works such as prayer or holy living: "Good works do not make a good man, but a good man does good works." (Luther, On Christian Liberty, p.9). Faith in God is created through the belief and love for Him; salvation would rise from it nonetheless. Luther felt that it was up to every individual to interpret the Scriptures and decide for himself what was good. This was a revolutionary concept, as previously it had been only the Pope who could interpret the Scriptures. Another concept of Lutheranism was that every believer could achieve priesthood. All men who had true faith had the opportunity to serve God and were equal in His eyes. "Among Christians there shall and can be no authority; rather all are alike subject to one another." (Luther, Part Two. How Far Temporal Authority Extends, p.31). Bishops and priests in the Lutheran church were not authoritative figures but simply serving an office.

Martin Luther’s Letter to the German nobility condemned many of the Catholic Churches practices that Martin Luther believed reflected a corrupt church and described his growing opposition to the pope. Martin Luther believed that the pope should not have any authority over the emperor unless it is for spiritual offices. He believed that the only time, out of religious situations, the pope should feel above the emperor is when he anoints and crowns him at the altar. Martin Luther also did not understand the point or agree with pilgrimages or supports the facts that priest were not allowed to marry. He believed that pilgrimages separated you from your family which you are suppose to protect, not leave and that by forbidding priest to marry you are going against God’s wishes. While Martin Luther does not agree with many of the Catholic Church’s practices, the purpose of this document is not to bring hate upon the pope and Catholic Church but rather bring light upon the early reformation and Luther’s new religious movement.

During the 1500’s a movement away from traditional Catholicism started to take hold. The most notable figure during this time was Martin Luther. He had ideals that, at the time, were extremely radical. As Gerald Strauss put it, “His doctrine of the two realms- the kingdom of Christ and the kingdom of the world, derived directly from Augustine – entailed the strictest segregation of things spiritual and things material” (22). He did not believe that the people of the church had any right to control the population at large. He believed that they were meant to be spiritual guides, not rulers, and that they wielded way too much control over the common people. One of the most radical things that he did, which was also the most influential

Before the start of the Renaissance, the Catholic Church influenced every aspect of society. The Renaissance and it’s ideals changed this. The Humanist movement opposed the Catholic Church’s involvement in the lives of the citizens. Humanists advocated for personal independence and individual expression, an idea that directly opposed the Catholic Church’s ideals. The Church believed that citizens should dedicate their lives to the service of God and by extension, the Church. The introduction of the idea that the Church does not control every aspect of society was revolutionary to Early Modern Western Civilization because it allowed people to pursue things that they had not been previously able to pursue because of the limitations the Catholic Church placed upon them. Although only the wealthy were able to dedicate all of their time to these pursuits, there were still significant advancements in art, literature, and science, all of which impacted Early Modern Western Civilization.

This paper will address the churches political and religious practices that Luther disagreed with, the theses he posted on the church board, what he did to show his disagreement and gather support from the community and how he was able to challenge the church at the

Martin Luther faced many criticisms within the church. It was noticed that the popes were too concerned with worldly affairs rather than focusing on their church responsibilities and duties. Some had children, which were breaking the vows. Some popes in addition, were poorly educated. Without this proper education, they wouldn’t have a reliable source of knowledge and could

-The church was saying that you needed to be saved and you needed Catholic priest to be directly involved in your path to salvation. Luther put emphasis on an individual’s personal relationship with God through Jesus.

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

He wrote the 95 theses challenging the wealth of the church, the way to salvation, the authority, and indulgences. Moreover, his four concepts of sola fide, sola scriptura, priesthood of all believers, and all work is sacred challenged the very structure of the religion that the church was built upon. His belief of only faith alone could save one from purgatory, which nullified the need for indulgences. He proves this by quoting the Book of Romans and the New Testament, which was the passage God made him point to. He was able to justify faith alone by proving if one believed in Jesus's messages one was saved, because believing one was saved only with works while not believing in God was not the way to salvation (Justification by Faith). Moreover, Luther believed anyone could interpret the scripture and only what is in scripture should be believed, which challenged the Pope's interpretation and made people less dependant on the church. The Priesthood of all believers challenged the Pope's immediate connection to God and argued that even Priests and the Pope were susceptible to mistakes (The interpretation of the Bible and the Nature of the Clergy). In contrary to the Roman Catholic Church he was adamant about the fact of all being equal in God's eyes, thus the clergy was equal to the laity and not deserving of special privileges. He also stated that the church was protecting itself with the three concepts of spiritual power stronger than temporal power, only the Pope could interpret Scripture, and only the Pope could summon a council (On Papal Power). This allowed the papacy to defend itself from outside attempts to reform it. The papacy argued temporal power was earthly and ever changing, but spiritual power dealt with the after life and was constant, resulting in the papacy seeing itself more powerful than temporal power. Luther

Martin Luther had written 95 theses when all the public had still been forced to be in the Catholic Churches and could not choose a different religion or no religion at all. His 95 theses had been a list of 95 things that he had thought was what was wrong with the Catholic Churches and should be improved or just got rid of all together. One thing that Martin Luther had criticized on was the power that the Pope held which was way too much. He believed that the Pope had way too much of an impact on the public and their daily decisions. No matter how obscure it was, the public followed his words and orders. Another thing that Luther had disliked was the extreme wealth of the church. He believed that the church was getting way too much money from

He stressed how salvation by faith freed the soul but not the flesh. Instead, temporal power was separate from spiritual power: “This is not to say every Christian is placed over all things to have and control them by physical power…such power belongs to kings, princes and other men on earth.” Even early on, Luther made a clear definition of Christian freedom and its limits. While The Freedom of a Christian focused on the spiritual tenets of Lutheranism, in 1523 Luther clarified the role of temporal power in Concerning Governmental Authority wherein temporal power and spiritual power existed together, explaining that “Both must be permitted to remain; the one to produce righteousness, the other to bring external peace and prevent evil deeds.” Again Luther emphasized the separate spheres of the temporal and spiritual power. One of his many criticisms of the Catholic Church had been its attempt to control both spheres. These two works illustrate Luther had a conservative idea of social and political order.

What happens when people start to break away from the entity that bound an entire civilization together for over a thousand years? How does one go from unparalleled devotion to God to the exploration of what man could do? From absolute acceptance to intense scrutiny? Sheeple to independent thinkers? Like all revolutions preceding it, the Protestant Reformation did not happen overnight. Catholics had begun to lose faith in the once infallible Church ever since the Great Schism, when there were two popes, each declaring that the other was the antichrist. Two things in particular can be identified as the final catalyst: a new philosophy and simple disgust. The expanding influence of humanism and the corruption of the Catholic Church