Luther's Reformed Idea Of Christianity example essay topic

Martin Luther and the Reformation 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 born at Eisleben in Saxony. Since his father was a miner, it was a great distress on him to send Martin to school and then to the University of Erfurt. There is where he earned his master's degree at the young age of twenty-one.

(Erikson, 39) Although his father wished him to study law, Martin, after being terribly frightened in a thunderstorm, vowed to become a friar. In 1505, Luther entered the monastery of the Augustinian friars at Erfurt and was ordained a priest in 1507. (Erikson, 167) He eventually earned a doctorate of theology. From 1512 until his death in 1546, he served as a professor of the Scriptures at the new University of Wittenberg. Because of his Professorship, he had the authority to teach, which he frequently cited as justification for his reforming work.

(Erikson, 154) Even though Luther was a very conscientious friar, things such as his scrupulous observance of the religious routine, frequent confessions, and fasting only gave him temporary relief from anxieties about sin and his ability to meet God's demands. Because of these apprehensions, he began to doubt the value of the monastic life. The fact that the medieval church had long held that monastic life was a sure and certain road to salvation added to Luther's confusion. This led to his study of Saint Paul's letters. Over time, he began to understand the Pauline letters and the Christian doctrine as a whole.

Through these studies, Luther came up with a new belief that salvation comes not through external observances and penance but through a simple faith in Christ. Faith is the means by which God sends humanity his grace, and faith is a free gift that cannot be earned. Through this, Martin Luther discovered himself, God's work for him, and the centrality of faith in the Christian life. Martin Luther is known for bringing about the Reformation. The ecclesiastical jurisdiction of the archdiocese of Magdeburg is where The University of Wittenberg was located. The archbishop of Magdeburg, Albert, was also the administrator of Halberstadt and the archbishop of Mainz.

In order to hold all three offices simultaneously required papal dispensation. Because Pope Leo X wanted to complete the building of Saint Peter's Basilica, he did not have the funds for Albert to pay for additional Episcopal benefices. He allowed the Archbishop to borrow money from the bank in order to hire papal dispensation. To repay the debt, Pope Leo X then allowed Albert to sell indulgences. Wittenberg was in the political jurisdiction of Frederick of Saxony, one of the seven electors of the Holy Roman Empire. (Boehmer, 128) Frederick forbade the sale of indulgences within his territory, so the people of Wittenberg, including some of Luther's students, would cross the border from Saxony into Jutenborg in Thuringia to buy these indulgences.

According to Catholic theology, individuals who sin alienate themselves from God and his love. In order to be reconciled to God, the sinner must confess his or her sins to a priest and do the penance assigned. To receive the reconciliation, a person had to buy an indulgence. This would allow them to receive their earthly penance, since no one knows what God's ultimate punishment will be. The Catholic faith now has a doctrine to back the three principles of indulgences.

(Underwood, 345) First of all, God is merciful, but he is also just. Next, Christ and the saints, through their infinite virtue, established a "treasury of merits" on which the church, through its special relationship with Christ and the saints, can draw. Thirdly, the church has the authority to grant sinners the spiritual benefits of those merits. By the later middle Ages, people widely believed that an indulgence secured total remission of penalties for sin. Archbishop Albert needed someone to sell indulgences for him, so he hired Dominican friar John Tetzel. Tetzel made this into a business and even began to heavily advertise the sale of indulgences.

He came up with catchy slogans to lure people into buying them. He even came up with a chart price to persuade people to buy the "best" or most expensive indulgences. Luther did not agree with this because people no longer saw the need for repentance and felt they could buy away their sins. He was greatly troubled that people were buying into these advertising gimmicks. Since, at the time, the church did not have an official doctrine on indulgences, Luther decided this entitled him to discuss the subject critically. In doing so Luther wrote Archbishop Albert a letter on the subject and enclosed in Latin "Ninety-five Theses on the Power of Indulgences".

He argued indulgences made people believe repentance was not important, it downplayed the importance of charity in Christian life, and it competed with the preaching of the Gospel. (Boehmer, 198) Once Luther died, his disciple Philipp Melancthon reported that the theses were also posted on the door of the church at Wittenberg Castle on October 31, 1517, although not all modern scholars are completely convinced this ever took place. (Erikson, 142) By December of 1517, the theses had all been translated to German and were read throughout the empire. (Huizinga, 132) Luther did not believe that good works, such as purchasing indulgences could achieve salvation. A few of his theses challenged the power of the pope to grant indulgences and other criticized papal wealth. There was no biblical basis for indulgences, so Luther used this to as his fundamental argument.

To counteract his argument, opponents replied that to deny the legality of indulgences was to deny the authority of the pope who had authorized them. Now people were severely torn as to where the authority laid in the Christian church. From 1518 to 1519, Luther studied the history of the papacy. Then in 1519, Luther, during a large public disputation with Catholic debater John Eck at Leipzig, denied both the authority of the pope and the infallibility of a general council. (Boehmer, 139) The response of the papacy was a letter condemning some of Luther's propositions, ordering that his books be burned, and giving him two months to recant or be excommunicated. To show his feelings on the matter, Luther publicly burned the letter.

The excommunication was supposed to take place on January 3, 1521, but now the papacy had yet another problem to deal with. Nine-tenths of Germany was with Luther and the other tenth were only interested in breaking up the court of Rome. (Boehmer, 148) With all of the tension, Charles V held his first diet at Worms and summoned Luther to appear before it. When ordered to recant, Luther replied: Unless I am convinced by the evidence of Scripture or by plain reason-for I do not accept the authority of the Pope or the councils alone, since it is established that they have often erred and contradicted themselves-I am bound by the Scriptures I have cited and my conscience is captive to the Word of God. I cannot and will not recant anything, for it is neither safe nor right to go against conscience.

God help me. Amen. (Boehmer, 142) Luther was declared and outlaw by Charles V after saying this. He was denied legal protection, but much to his avail Duke Frederick of Saxony protected him.

During this time, Ulrich Zwingli introduced the reformation to Switzerland. On January 1, 1519, Zwingli mounted the pulpit for the first time and announced that he would not be preaching the church's prescribed readings but would instead be reading from Erasmus's New Testament. (Huizinga, 39) Convinced that Christian life rested on the Scriptures, Zwingli went on to attack indulgences, the Mass, the institution of monasticism, and clerical celibacy. Zwingli continued to preach with the strong support of the people until his death. (Huizinga, 191) Luther worked out the basic theological tenets that became the articles of faith for his new church and eventually for all Protestant groups.

At the diet of Speyer in 1529, a group of reforming German princes came up with the word Protestant derived from the word protest because they were upset with the decisions of the Catholic majority. In the beginning the word, Protestant meant Lutheran, but as more groups began to reform, it became a general term that applied to all non-Catholic Christians. Lutheran Protestant thought was officially formulated in the Confession of Augsburg in 1530. (Underwood, 105) Some define Protestantism as a modification of Catholicism in which the Catholic formulation of questions remained the same, but a different answer was given to them. Luther provided four answers to those basic theological issues. His first answer was to salvation.

According to traditional Catholic, teaching salvation is attained through faith and good works. Luther said that salvation was only by faith. Whether a person is saved or not is strictly initiated by God. The second question was asking where religious authority resided. Luther's response was that authority rests in the Word of God, the Bible, and the interpretation is left up to the reader. He urged people to read the Scriptures and reflect on that reading.

The third question was about the church. Luther agreed with the Catholic teaching that the church consists of the entire community of Christian believers, but disagreed with the church being identified by the clergy. The last question was what was the highest form of Christian life. Luther disagreed that monastic life was superior over secular. He argued all vocations are equal and that every person should serve God based on their individual calling. (Boehmer, 192) The more Protestant thought developed, the more it began to differ from Roman Catholic belief in doctrine holds that there are seven sacraments, but Several other fundamental areas.

Roman Catholicism practices a clerical, hierarchical institution headed by the pope in Rome. Luther said the church should be a spiritual gathering of all believers, not fixed on any one person or place. Faith requires no institutional structure; therefore, Luther stressed the invisibility of the church. Catholic Luther could only justify three of them through Scripture-baptism, penance, and the Eucharist, or Lord's Supper. Another Catholic belief of transubstantiation, which is the bread and wine, actually becomes Christ's body and blood.

Luther defined consubstantiation, which is the belief that the bread and wine undergo a spiritual change, but are not transformed. Zwingli believed that the Lord's Supper is a memorial of the Last Supper, but no changes actually occur to the bread or wine. Luther's following began in 1521, every encounter he had with ecclesiastical or political authorities attracted attention. His message was spread all through Germany. By the time of his death, people of all social classes had become Lutheran. German towns were especially quick to jump on this new form or Christianity.

Until this time priests, monks, and nuns paid no taxes and were exempt from civic responsibilities, yet they frequently held large amounts of taxable land, but were not required to pay taxes on it. This was a great deal of lost revenue for the towns. Luther believed that no one should be exempt from these civic responsibilities. In addition, many of the townspeople complained of poor quality of church services. To make up for this many men of superior education began preacher ships. They were required to preach about a hundred sermons a year, lasting about forty-five minutes.

These men quickly jumped on Protestantism because they could become Protestant leaders. Peasants were quickly attracted to Lutheranism because Luther himself was a peasant. The people felt they could relate to him and his message. They respected his defiance of the church and were inspired by his words. "A Christian man is the most free lord of all and subject to none". (Boehmer, 99) These words in particular were of inspiration to the people because it gave them hope.

They did not have to feel as though they were prisoners to their work, but they were free in the eyes of God. German peasants had been known to revolt in previous history, so when the economic situation began to worsen and crops began failing between 1523 and 1524 the situation became very unstable. In 1525 representatives of the peasants met to draw up the Twelve Articles, which expressed their grievances. They complained that the lords had seized their common lands and they were being forced to pay unreasonable taxes. The peasants believed their demands conformed to Scripture and cited Luther as a theologian who could prove that they did.

Since Luther wanted to prevent a rebellion, he initially sided with the peasants. He warned though that nothing justified the use of armed defense. He also maintained that Scripture had nothing to do with earthly justice or material gain. (Brown, 149) Massive revolts broke out near the Swiss border and peasants's hours came directly from Luther's words such as "God's righteousness" and the "Word of God". Expecting Luther's support, the peasants were greatly dismayed when he no longer would come to their rescue. Luther meant "freedom" in the sense of freedom from the Roman church; he did not mean opposition to legally established secular powers.

He meant that this gave them freedom to obey God's Word. When a person sins they lose their freedom and break their relationship with God. Firmly convinced that rebellion hastens the ending of civilized society, Luther wrote a tract against the peasants. The revolt was quickly crushed and an estimated seventy-five thousand peasants were killed. (Brown, 162) Luther believed everyone was subject to the higher power and God was the only power. Anyone who resists these powers is resisting God and will not receive eternal life.

Lutheranism exalted the state and subordinated the church to the state. The revolt of the peasants actually backfired for the most part and the lay rulers' authority was actually strengthened. Some of the enclosed fields, meadows, and forest were returned to the peasants for common use. Scholars have accredited Luther's resounding success to the invention of the printing press. This provided quick and widespread distribution of Luther's teaching and ideas.

The fact that Luther had such a wide range of verbal expression, people have compared him to Shakespeare. He had a wonderful memory and seemed to be able to always know the exact thing to say even when put under intense pressure. Language was Luther's weapon to change the world. Nearly every type of person was attracted to Luther's reformed idea of Christianity. His ideas were simpler and more personal. It was much more spiritual like that of the early Christian church.

Luther stressed more of a relationship with God rather than long drawn-out ceremonies, which often became monotonous. Many people were searching for these reforms. It was important for people to remember God's Word. One of the easiest ways to do this was through hymns, psalms, and Luther's two catechisms. Reformers knew that rhyme, meter, and melodies could forcefully impress minds and affect how people remember the Word. Luther's Larger Catechism was filled with short sermons on the main articles of faith, and the Shorter Catechism gave concise explanations of doctrine in question-and-answer form.

Both Catechisms emphasized the significance of the Ten Commandments, the Lord's Prayer, and the Apostle's Creed, and the sacraments for the believing Christian. The Catechisms were originally intended for pastors, they became known by everyone studying the faith. (Erikson, 182) Women in particular were especially intrigued by this reformation. Luther's message was that all vocations have equal merit and God gave dignity to those who performed ordinary, routine, domestic tasks. Reformers stressed that the home was the domain of the wife and a Christian home was a place of love and warmth. Schools were established where both boys and girls could study the Bible.

Luther also emphasized marriage as a cure for clerical concupiscence. Protestantism therefore proved attractive to many women who had been held as priest's concubines and mistresses. Now they could become legitimate wives. Luther himself eventually married a woman, Katharine von Bora, an ex-nun.

He believed that marriage was a woman's career; they were to care for the children, the kitchen and the church. He also had the highest respect, next to God, of his wife who was patient, an efficient manager, and a good mother. (Boehmer, 284) Martin Luther had the ideal Protestant family. He lived by his morals and was in a very happy marriage. He can personally be accredited to one of the most substantial reformations known to date. Single handed ly he changed history and the way of life for millions of people all over the world.

Without his desire to change the Roman church, life as it is would have been significantly different. The Roman church could have gained tremendous power and control altering society.

Bibliography

Boehmer, Heinrich. Martin Luther: Road to Reformation. Meridian Books New York, 1960.
Brown, Robert McAfee. The Ecumenical Revolution. Doubleday &Company, Inc, 1967.
Erikson, Erik H. Young Man Luther. W.W. Norton & Company Inc, 1962.
Huizinga, Johan. Erasmus and the Age of Reformation. Harper Torch books, 1957.
Underwood, Kenneth. Protestant & Catholic. The Beacon Press, 1961.