Martin Luther's 95 Theses: An Analysis

In the modern age as a society we recognize multiple religions and their denominations, however if we search the past we may learn that during the 1500’s there was very little religious freedom. During this time religion was taken very seriously as can be expressed by the many publications of religious books, many pilgrimages, as well as an abundance of memberships to voluntary religion societies. It was also at this time that for anyone who was not a firm believer within Roman Catholicism was sentenced to death. The Catholic Church itself was beginning to appear very evil as it charged outrageous prices for weddings, baptisms and had begun to charge for the forgiveness of sins. In addition it was during this time that priests and people within …show more content…
The list consisted of 95 explanations of the opposition of the church and the belief that the church shouldn’t charge for many of the services they provided including indulgences. Luther wrote the theses and it was later distributed nationally through the printing press. With the theses at anyone’s disposal the church began to lose followers. The lower class were ignited with Luther’s writings and yearned to see economic change. With the church slowly changing their pricing this led to the need for money through a different source, which then led to the expansion in Spain. The church was able to spread the gospel of the lord while simotanously searching for silver and gold through colonization. Colonization due to The Reformation changed society in many ways as well. With colonization this meant that many diseases were being carried back and forth, which ultimately led to the small pox and other deadly infections. These deaths resulted in a decrease of population of the overall native population. The Reformation also lead to colonization with the New World and thus the Thirteen Colonies were born, giving a new beginning to many whose goal was religious …show more content…
The church felt it best in their need to create two main groups to help prevent the spread of Protestantism. One include the Jesuit Order which was founded by Ignatius of Loyola and they used education to stray from Protestantism by establishing many schools and universities to help educate on the word of the Lord. The second group was the Ursuline Order which was founded by Teresa of Avila and was established by the church to help educate young girls. The church focused on Catholicism education which resulted in many books being banned.
The Church also used inquistions to have some sort of order. This began with the Roman inquisition which was to quickly remove the heresy. Their tatcis included imprisonment, confiscation of properties and they often torutured their victims. However despite their efforts they were not successful in diminishment of the protestant churches or gaining their older members back.
The Protestant Reformation brought many changes, which included societal, economical, religious freedom and the face of the church. Had the Reformation not happened we might still be under The Roman Church and following religious orders rather than the democratic government we are under today. The amount of freedom we have today with the ability to express who we are as young men and women would not have been possible without the church being exclaimed for what they truly