The Sixteenth Century : An Era Of Extreme Turmoil And Change Within The Catholic Church

Martin Luther is known as the man who fought the Catholic church. The man who exposed the church of committing unjust practices. The man who kick started the protestant reformation. The man who founded the Lutheran church. Martin Luther was many things, but he was not the man who planned to destroy Catholicism. The Reformation changed the religious climate in Europe by introducing ideas that were the basis of the modern-day Lutheranism.

The reformation was a drastic event in the early modern period that launched Europe into a massive conflict of widespread violence, through both political and religious factors. The political scene had remained very much the same before the beginning of the reformation in 1517, with many philosophers sharing similar ideas on how to handle the issues of sovereignty and private property. Religion was a long debated factor before the reformation however was brought inadvertently to the forefront of most political works in the early years of the Protestant Reformation. This event completely changed the way in which philosophers constructed their political discourse as seen with More and Martin Luther, who although despite being placed on

The Catholic Church during the early 16th Century was rooted throughout Europe. The Church influenced every country and its respective monarchs through the Church’s wealth and power. The Catholic Church placed a tight hold on the general populace with individuals who went against the Church being branded as heretics and excommunicated. The wealth and power of the Church eventually caused the quality of the clergy to deteriorate. Priests became corrupt and subjected to their physical desires. They frequented taverns, gambled and kept mistresses. The reputation of the clergy were horrid as the general populace was relieved that “their priest [kept] a mistress” because it “[secured] their wives from seduction” The knowledge of the clergy degenerated as well as they were no longer required to learn and teach the Holy Scriptures because the Church dictated their actions. The pinnacle of the Church’s corruption was the sale of indulgences. An indulgence was the “extra-sacramental remission of the temporal punishment” sold by priests as a temporary relief from sins. The indulgences were then sold to the general populace for money as the monetization of a priest’s services. Johannes Tetzel was a prominent preacher of indulgences who relied on the money from the sales to subsidize the rebuilding of St. Peter’s basilica in Rome. The corrupt sales did not go unnoticed as Martin Luther, in an effort to stop the corruption of the Church, posted the 95 Theses on the door of a Castle

Martin Luther played a vital role in the start of the Reformation, his actions from 1517 allowed people to start forming their own opinions on religion and the church. Between 1517 and 1522 Martin Luther wa pivotal in the course of the Reformation. On the 31st October 1517 Martin Luther nailed the 95 Theses on a door of All Saint’s Church in Wittenburg, provoked by indulgences sold by John Tetzel in villages around Germany; he was selling to relatives of people who had died. This money was needed in order to pay back debts to the Fugger bank for buying Albrecht of Brandenburg third bishopric and to build St Peter’s Church. This Theses was addressed to Pope Leo

The Ninety-Five Theses were written by Martin Luther in 1517. At the time of writing, Luther had devoted his life to Jesus Christ, and had become a monk. In his Theses, he expressed the idea that someone must be completely willing to commit penance in order for it to be legitimate, and Luther gave several reasons why he was critical of the sale of indulgences. He challenged the authority of the pope and other powerful positions of the church multiple times throughout his writings. Martin Luther’s Ninety-Five Theses writing was very important in igniting the Protestant Reformation.

Vast ideas generated by people transformed our society to be the way it is today. In the 1500’s God was the center focus of life. Along with this, the pope had all the political power. Most people did not know that the church only cared about its power and money and not about the religion itself. A man named Martin Luther noticed what was happening in the church and decided to act on this problem. Luther created the 95 theses and posted it outside of church doors on October 31, 1517. The 95 theses is a list of rules against the church, showing everyone the truth of the church’s ways. An example of one of the rules was, “Christians are to be taught that they buying of indulgences is a matter of free choice, not commanded.” Indulgences were tickets to heaven sold by church officials. People would pay money to get a piece of paper “granting” them access to heaven. According to Martin Luther's, 95 theses, the indulgences do not have to be bought to go to heaven. Luther is showing that the

On October 31, 1517, a plump, young professor & Augustinian monk named Martin Luther (1483-1546) tacked/nailed a list of 95 complaints about the Catholic Church on the doors of the Wittenberg Cathedral. Written in Latin, the complaints were mostly attacking the doctrine of indulgences. Indulgences were forgiveness of punishment for sins, usually obtained either through good works or prayers along with the payment of an appropriate sum of money. The complaints are mostly known as the 95 theses. This event would trigger the Reformation.

Martin Luther was a German priest and professor of theology at Wittenberg University. He was also the author of the 95 Theses. The 95 Theses was written shortly after visiting Rome in 1510. While on his visit he became disgusted by the behavior of the Church and officials in regards to the sale of indulgences.

This fundamental difference from the Catholic dogma that one could buy salvation to Luther’s new ideas as way to Heaven began to transform many people’s beliefs. Supporters of Luther adopted the concept of faith and knowledge of God as a way to repent their sins, and eventually, it reshaped the Christian culture. As Luther personally struggled to be a “perfect” monk, he discovered that faith in the gospel was the only way to be “made righteous by God”(roper 78). In response to his distress for his laity’s desire to buy indulgences, Luther wrote the “95 Theses on the Power of Indulgences.” He knew he was attacking the pope and the values of the church, but records show that he felt “...not fully in control of his actions, but handed over responsibility to a higher power”(84 roper). Cleary, Luther felt a spiritual connection with God and indulgences were in direct opposition to faith. His revolutionary claims in the “95 Theses on the Power of Indulgences” caused a conflict that would eventually be known as the Protestant Reformation.

Luther was against these indulgences and came up with 95 theses to help reform the church. By creating these 95 theses Luther was rebelling against the Catholic church. He was just to rebel because the church wasn’t treating the followers equally. Those who were more wealthy had a higher probability of gaining an indulgence so it wasn’t fair to the poor followers of Catholicism. Moreover, Martin Luther was justified to rebel against the church because they were going against the basic human right in which states everyone has a right to

When Martin Luther wrote the “Ninety-Five Theses on the Power and Efficacy of Indulgences” in 1517, he was making a bold and unprecedented move: challenging the Catholic Church. As a German Catholic priest himself, Luther was not afraid to condemn the Catholic Church, even publicly, which is how he displayed the original copy of the theses. Luther’s issue with the church wasn’t personal but was instead based on what he saw as violation of the religious morals and teachings of God. For example, he highly disapproved the church’s several claims of salvation and forgiveness on earth. The ninety-five theses acted as Luther’s tool of protest against the church and also acted as enlightenment to the masses. Publication of the theses is also often noted as the spark that initiated the Protestant Reformation after centuries of religious tension buildup. Luther’s overall disapproval was “against the corruption” and dishonesty of the church (Bishop, p.1). In the theses, Luther outlined what and how he believed the Catholic Church was doing wrong and how it should be corrected. He argues against the church’s abuse of power and the way it took advantage of its members. What the ninety-five theses did was outline two major points: the selling and buying of indulgences as well as the issue of purgatory regarding to God, the Catholic Church and the Pope.

Who is Martin Luther? Martin Luther was a young monk who is especially known for his 95 theses, and rebellion against the Catholic teachings. This paper will list his varieties of accomplishments, and his many hardships, most of which he overcame. Throughout his lifetime, he made many enemies, but acquired quite a few friends.

In 1517, Luther wrote the “95 Theses” to express ninety-five things that he disliked about the Catholic Church. The first two theses tell that God wants believers to seek repentance and faith alone, and deeds will not lead to salvation. It also includes the practice of asking payments, called indulgences, for the forgiving of sins. Luther thought that indulgences were sold by the church to refurbish the church in Rome. Luther's writings were intended to divide the Catholic Church and the Protestant Reformation. The theses were not for the public to read, but yet Luther pinned his 95 theses to the Castle Church door for later discussion.

From the article Martin Luther: His Journey to Truth and the Authority of Scripture, “On October 31, 1517, Luther decided to post his 95 Theses on the door of the Wittenburg Church to engage the university professors in an open dispute over several premiere teachings of the Church, mainly surrounding the sale of indulgences and corrupt practices of Church officials”.

Martin Luther was arguably the most influential Christian leader. He was the monk in the Holy Roman Empire what shook the entire Christian world. Luther paved the way to start questioning the churches practices which eventually led to the Protestant Reformation. His views on Christianity appealed to the common people who didn’t have access to a Bible to study on their own. This was a threat to the Roman Catholic Church and caused a large commotion and outrage through the land. Western Europe went through a series of religious, social, and political changes during the sixteenth-century thanks to the German monk, Martin Luther.