Pros And Cons Of Martin Luther

Improved Essays
Martin Luther

Martin Luther once said, “the Word so greatly weakened the papacy that never a prince or emperor did such damage to it.” (BrainyQuote). Martin Luther said this statement about the Reformation which is a time period where a new branch of christianity was born. This reforming happenened because the Catholic Church was very corrupt and was more concerned about power than teaching about God. Martin Luther, a man who believed that the Catholic Church was corrupt, reformed the church and helped create a new branch of Christianity.

Martin Luther believed that the Catholic Church was corrupt. On October 31 1517 Martin Luther nailed the 95 Theses on the door of the Catholic Church in Wittenburg, Germany. The Theses were aimed at
…show more content…
The people that followed Martin Luther wanted to be able to read the Bible in their own language. Since the Bible was only in Latin, Luther had to translate it to German which he did in three months of hard work (Margerison). Translating the Bible into German was one of the steps in becoming completely independent from the Catholic Church. Martin Luther needed to make the Bible available to all people. Martin Luther translated the Bible in 1522 to German from Latin. Doing this he made the Bible available to the common people (McNeal). This greatly benefitted the community by having the Bible in the language most people knew. This lead to a great increase in literacy. After translating the Bible people who had not been previously taught how to read and write were learning how to do it. This helped create a new social class and more books were being written (Margerison). This was great for education and general life. The Bible being translated was a catalyst for a small educational boom. In 1522 Martin Luther translated the New Testament and in 1534 he translated the Old Testament. With the Bible finally easy for people to read Luther encouraged as many people as possible to read it. The effect of everyone reading the Bible was that previously uneducated people were reading and writing more and more books (Wilson). This was very good for the time as it lead to more books being written and more literacy among the lower class. The Bible being translated did more than just benefit

Related Documents

  • Great Essays

    1. What was the context of the Protestant Reformation? (3) At this point of history there was only one church in the West- Catholic church which was controlled by the pope. The church was corrupted and the pope and cardinal were living like kings.…

    • 1009 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Great Essays
  • Superior Essays

    A wise man once said, 'Great men write about history, greater men make history". This is statement has been prove time and time again throughout world history. Men like Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. made when he lead the Civil Rights Movement and helped African American secure their God given rights to be treated as equals. Mother Teresa is another great example of a person impacting history when she helped thousand who were on hard times. Another individual who left his mark on history are Martin Luther of Eisleben, Germany.…

    • 1541 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Improved Essays

    In 1517, Luther posted his 95 theses, which were based off his beliefs and learning of God through scripture. While there had likely been small Reformation acts going on for a while, Luther’s actions are believed to be what caused the start of the Reformation. However, it took many years before the changes occurred. Luther himself was exiled and hid in Wartburg. During this time, he translated the New Testament from Latin to German.…

    • 743 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Martin Luther was an influential leader during the Protestant Reformation. He confronted the Roman Catholic Church on their system of indulgences while everyone turned a blind eye. Constantly, Luther was called a liar, heretic, and an outlaw by the Catholic Church for his teachings that conflicted with the Roman Catholics’ religious orders and beliefs. However, he never stood down regardless of if he was to face death or excommunication. His theology would be the sole foundation of his teachings in regards to the Reformation.…

    • 1545 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Decent Essays

    The printing press gave Martin Luther the ability to spread his dissent to a great number of people throughout Europe. The Catholic Church resisted the production of bibles because they knew it would greatly diminish their…

    • 318 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Decent Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Martin Luther, a Christian monk, was a talented writer that published works criticizing the Roman church and sparked the Protestant Reformation in Europe . He attacked the sale of indulgences, with which he gained support from others who had also resented the church’s policies. His printed works, made using the printing press, condemning the church sparked debates throughout Europe about indulgences and other theological issues. Later on, Luther moved on to attacking the church for a large number of abuses and advocated for the closure of monasteries, the translation of the bible to respective languages, and an end to priestly authority. He believed that only the Bible was the only source of Christian religious authority, not the church hierarchy.…

    • 228 Words
    • 1 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Martin Luther, he was one important aspect portraying to the Roman Catholic Church Reformation. Luther was born in Germany in 1483. He was a man who tried to live as the church instructed but he still felt he was a sinner and that God would punish him. His fear lead him to believe that people could be saved only if they believed in Christ. Resulting Luther questioned the idea that salvation could be given only through good works.…

    • 449 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Superior Essays

    The 1500s were a time of confusion and also clarification. With so many strict religious practices thriving during these years, many people were left with ideas that their ignorance towards the understanding of what the bible preached and reasons for certain theories, would all contribute towards the idea that they were not true and faithful Christians. Martin Luther was a person who was able to prove many of these opinions wrong and inform people that certain teachings of the church don’t have to be present in someone’s christian practices to connect closer with god. In both the Babylonian Captivity of the Church, and the Small Catechism, Luther provides examples of the ways an ordinary person can improve their relationship with God while…

    • 1710 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Superior Essays

    Martin Luther Thesis

    • 1585 Words
    • 7 Pages

    Martin Luther is arguably one of the most important reformers in Church history because he was the catalyst to many of the reformations. Luther also has an interestingly dramatic attitude in the way he dealt with life situations. The Catholic Church has been through many ups and downs, but when Luther was called to be a monk the Catholic Church was failing in many ways to be the bride of Christ. When Luther became a monk he began to see the problems with the Catholic Church and wanted to see the Church redeemed from its sinful state. This eventually led to the Ninety-five Thesis, which was a list of reformations to issues Luther found with the state of the Catholic Church.…

    • 1585 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Martin Luther had conflicting theology with the Catholic Church. He believed that you couldn 't earn salvation through good work but through faith alone. He states that humans are weak and sinful creatures who aren’t able to reach salvation on their own. Luther also believed that the Bible was the only source of religious authority which differed from the Catholic idea that philosophy and scholars had religious authority as well. Since Martin Luther felt so strongly about these topics he distributed a document called “Ninety Five Theses” which criticized the Catholic Church and their teachings.…

    • 800 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    The Bible was and still is seen as a way to express God’s love for his people and many people believe God will answer their prayers like expressed in the letter “we intend and expect by God’s favor to succeed.” With the invention of the printing press the bible became easier, faster, and cheaper to produce making it accessible to the ordinary people. The accessibility also promoted the reading of the Bible, which helped with high literacy rates. This helped Martin Luther argument that all…

    • 874 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    The printing press helped many copies of Luther’s 95 theses spread throughout Germany. The Pope told Luther to disavow his 95 theses. He refused, which caused the church to respond…

    • 638 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    The actions and ways of Martin Luther made a huge impact and influenced on the Catholic Church today in many ways. Martin Luther was behind the protestant reformation as he was the one who wrote the 95 thesis which questioned the way in which the church ran. Luther was also accountable for translating the bible from Latin to English. Without Martin Luther’s work people back then wouldn’t have realised the corruption and the political conflict at that time in the church. The contributions Martin Luther had to the church will be discussed throughout the following essay.…

    • 811 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Superior Essays

    He had intended for it to cause debate and have the church make some reforms. “By 1518, many scholars believe that Luther had reached a new understanding of the Christian Salvation.” It eventually turned him into a heretic to the church and he was excommunicated. Luther’s two main points were that the Bible is the central religious authority and that humans may reach salvation only by their faith and not by their deeds. He said…

    • 1511 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Improved Essays

    When assembling an argument, one must consider both sides. In the case of the argument for reform within the Roman Catholic Church, Martin Luther provided a profoundly heretical response for his time. Known as the individual who sparked the ecclesiastical reformation, otherwise known as the Protestant Reformation, Luther was able to clearly state his arguments for eliminating the power that the Spiritual estate seemingly had over the temporal state. Throughout To the Christian Nobility of the German Nation, Luther portrays the three walls as the Roman Catholic Church’s attempt to delay transformation within the Christendom. Luther displays a great deal of worry for the future of the Church, concerning their distinct confinement behind the dominating walls of the Roman Church.…

    • 331 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Improved Essays