The Pros And Cons Of The Protestant Reformation

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).

The beginning of the Protestant Reformation is often marked by one man’s appeal for change. Therefore, the life of Martin Luther is a thought-provoking subject not only for the scholar, but also for those curious about the history behind Lutheranism. Consequently, Roland H. Bainton has written Here I Stand: A Life of Martin Luther. Selling over a million copies, it was first published by Abingdon-Cokesbury in 1950, which awarded it a prize of $7,500.00. Bainton, an ordained minister, was a member of the faculty at the Yale Divinity School for 42 years. He is recognized as an authority on the

The Protestant Reformation was an important part of the history of Europe. In the various articles, videos, and passages that were required to be read, we looked at different aspects of the Protestant Reformation and how this affected Europe and the people during that time period. Because of Martin Luther’s ambition and courage to create opposition to the Catholic church, it sparked a revolution within the population of the different countries under the rule of the Roman Empire. In the following paragraphs, the importance and analysis about the Protestant Reformation are explained from readings and videos discussed in this class.

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

November 9th 1518, Pope Leo X announced that Luther's writings conflicted with the church and then in July 1520, issued a papal bull saying Luther's Propositions were heretical and gave him 120 days to recant in Rome. Luther refused. Later in January 3rd, 1521 Pope excommunicated Luther from the Catholic Church. This was also the year he returned to Wittenberg, here the reform movement had grown and it was no longer a theological cause, it was now political. With other leaders stepping up to lead the rebellion known as Peasants' War, which moved across Germany. His writing caused the church to fractionalize, hence sparking the Protestant Reformation. Central teachings on the bible being the central source of religious authority shaped the core of Protestantism, as well as how salvation can be reached not through deeds but through faith. As you can see Luther is a controversial figure as he has taken on radical positions such as the pronouncement against dews and his writings led to religious reform and

The protestant reformation happened at the moment that it did because the Catholic Church was very a powerful force in Europe. It controlled people lives both spiritually and temporally. The church had so much power that it maintained political control over a large portion of Italy. The fact that the church held so much control over countries and governments became a point of contention among European countries such as the Holy Roman Empire, Italian city-states outside of Rome, England, France and Spain. The power of the rulers of these areas had greatly increased in the 14th century and they were eager to take the chances offered by a Reformation to weaken the grip of the Catholic Church in Europe and also to develop their own powers across the European continent. For quite some time the Catholic Church had been an institution rampant with internal struggles. Such as the Avignon Papacy from 1309 to 1377 when seven popes opted to live in Avignon, France and not reside in Rome which was and is the traditional home of the Papacy. The Pope and other high ranking church officials often lived opulent lifestyles rather than a more austere lifestyle that should befit a spiritual leader. Many church leaders and Popes maintained political powers. They led armies, waged wars and made many political decisions. Church offices were sold, and many Popes and bishops practiced nepotism to fill church offices. With all of these worldly issues for the Pope

There was an argument between two great scholars, Robert Kolb and Hans Kung on whether Martin Luther’s reform improved the lives of European Christians. Kolb agreed that martin Luther made a positive impact on European Christians and he concluded that Luther was a prophetic hero, teacher and that Luther brought change and hope to the people. Kung on the other hand believes that Luther was a great orchestrator of change in the Christian church but also an indirect instigator of the violence and oppression that erupted among the people. In other words Luther had some positive effects but left more negative consequences on the people. This essay’s main focus is to identify which argument appears to be more convincing and persuasive but for

Heiko Oberman’s book, Luther: Man between God and the Devil, explores Martin Luther’s life, theology and legacy. Oberman does not simply focus on Luther’s actions and behaviors as a Reformer, nor does he evaluate Luther from a purely Protestant or Catholic point of view. Instead, the book examines Luther’s continual battle with the Devil. In order to truly understand Luther, it is important “to grasp the man in his totality-with head and heart” (Oberman, 1989, xix). Luther is not merely a monk, professor, heretic or a reformer, but he was a man who 's spiritual struggle with the Devil deeply affected his life, as well as the Church.

The greatest aspect of Martin Luther’s legacy was his reformation of the Roman Catholic Church. At the time, the Church played an essential part in society and had more power than the state, unlike today. Reforming the Church would have been a

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.

When I think of the Protestant Reformation, the first thing that comes to mind is the

This is because of Bainton’s passionate account of Luther’s life, character, and theology, which makes the book a delight to read for any audience. It can be enjoyed by both scholars and non-scholars due to its strong historical base and ease with which it can be read. The purpose of the book is both to provide another historical perspective on Martin Luther and increase interest in Luther and the basis of the Reformation, which transformed the Church, Europe, and the

So disillusioned with Catholicism, he would go on to nail his thesis to the door of, All Saints ' Church in Wittenberg, detailing ‘Ninety-Five Theses’ he put up for discussion, within two months, these proposals had spread across most of developed Europe. Luther’s Protestantism was primarily concerned with the authority of the Bible over, the authority of the established ‘Church’, and its ‘father’ on earth, the ‘Pope’. If Protestantism had a main objective it was to elevate the words of the ‘Bible’ over the occasion of the ‘Mass’ and, for the worshipper to have more of an individual relationship with God and to remove the intercedent and abuses of the Church and its clergy.

“We could keep on arguing for a hundred years and it wouldn’t get us anywhere! Until you can get rid of my verse I will not admit defeat.” (Documents on the Continental Reformation, p.97) When people are liberated with the power to think for themselves and own their own ideas, differences in opinion will occur. When we look at the Protestant Reformation we will see that key individuals such as Martin Luther and Ulrich Zwingli, even though they are protesting similar things, develop differences upon the way, especially in the way they interpret Scripture. These differences, in any movement, will ultimately affect the outcome and the development of the Protestant movement that started in 1517 with Luther. This essay aims to examine these differences between Luther and Zwingli and find out how the Protestant movement was affected by their differing opinions. Firstly, Luther and Zwingli’s reformations will be observed individually and what they each stood for and then we will discuss their major differences and the influence they had on the Protestant movement.

The attendant effects of Martin Luther’s reformation in the early period of the sixteenth century occasioned by his posting of the 95 theses that raised objections to some of the then prevalent practices of the Roman Catholic Church eventually led to a significant breakaway from the church of a relatively more liberal Christian sect known as the “Protestant”. It is worthy of note however that the Roman Catholic Church tried albeit unsuccessfully to placate the breakaway by instituting a “counter-Reformation” but this only achieved a cleansing of the church internally without achieving much in its most important mandate to prevent the protestant breakaway. Consequently, Europe was enmeshed in bloody religious war largely between forces loyal to the papacy in Rome and those who sympathized with the runaway protestant movement. As a result, the Roman Catholic Church invariably began to lose its pole position in the scheme of things in an already divided Europe.