Martin Luther The Father of the Reformation PDF

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Alfonso 1 Diamante Rosa Alfonso WOH 1023 Professor Herman 6 October 2019 Martin Luther: The Father of the Reformation Martin Luther was practically the father of the Reformation. Luther, born in Eisleben, Germany to two peasants, Luther had to become a universal man, being a monk, a priest, and a professor[ CITATION Bio19 \l 1033 ]. Martin Luther had first set his eyes on becoming a lawyer, but after a life-altering event in which he was caught in a terrible thunderstorm, Luther promised God he would become a monk if he survived. After he had overcome this storm, Luther did just that, he became a monk[ CITATION Bio19 \l 1033 ]. After attending a meeting with the Catholic priests, Luther realized that the life of monk was not for him. Thus, Luther enrolled in the University of Wittenberg and received a doctorate, becoming a professor of theology[ CITATION Bio19 \l 1033 ]. After many of his lectures, Luther realized that there were many different ways in which he could interpret the bible. One of this instances was with the words, “the righteousness of God” and “the righteous shall live by faith” in which Luther had previously understood as a form of ‘wrath’ from God, now he saw that it can also mean that as long as you had a relationship with God, he would allow those into paradise[ CITATION Her19 \l 1033 ]. This led Luther to the path that would eventually wind him to the Reformation.

Alfonso 2 After learning of the indulgences that were being sold by the church and realizing that the money that the people poured into “getting into heaven” was all for the benefit of the church, Luther became enraged[ CITATION Bio19 \l 1033 ]. Livid, Luther crafted up the Ninety-Five Thesis and nailed it to the chapel’s door of the university he attended. This document was what spiked the Reformation[ CITATION Bio19 \l 1033 ]. The Ninety-Five Thesis had five major effects over the course of the Reformation: The first effect was that the power of the church and pope was weakened[ CITATION Her191 \l 1033 ]. No longer could the pope make delve in foreign affairs, in fact that was promptly ended. The second effect was that literacy and education increased. Back then, people did not have readily access to the bible and many could not read[ CITATION Her191 \l 1033 ]. After the Ninety-Five Thesis, the people began to have more access to literature and even the bible itself. The third effect is that Northern Europe became protestant, while Southern Europe remained Catholic, which caused many conflicts between the two to arise[ CITATION Her191 \l 1033 ]. Then there was fourth effect, which is that religion and politics became hopelessly intertwined[ CITATION Her191 \l 1033 ]. This now leads to the fifth and final effect that the Ninety-Five Thesis had, which was that religious wars broke out, lasting over one hundred years[ CITATION Her191 \l 1033 ]. The church did not bow down to the new predicament that it found itself in. On the contrary, they retaliated. In December 10, 1520, Martin Luther received a letter of excommunication from the church, which he promptly burned and continued with his doings[ CITATION Bio19 \l 1033 ]. This led to Luther being summoned in March of 1521 to what is known as the Diet of the Worms. There, King Charles IV demanded that Luther recant his beliefs, to which Luther refused[ CITATION Her191 \l 1033 ]. According to Martin Luther’s

Alfonso 3 biography, “On May 8, 1521, the council released the Edict of Worms, banning Luther’s writings and declaring him a “convicted heretic.” This made him a condemned and wanted man. Friends helped him hide out at the Wartburg Castle”[ CITATION Bio19 \l 1033 ]. Luther was now regarded as a traitor and forced into hiding. There, Luther began working on translating the bible into the vernacular, which in his case was the German language, in order for everyone to have access to the bible. As mentioned previously, the Reformation Movement, powered by Luther’s Ninety-Five Thesis has many effects on the quotidian life of the people. The Reformation caused the individual to decide who to follow—should they follow the church that has fed them lies, or Luther who came to change everyone’s views? This split of the individual’s views led to many issues, which eventually boiled down to the First Religious War[ CITATION Her191 \l 1033 ]. This first war occurred right after Luther’s death, when the Catholics attacked Luther’s followers (which eventually became Lutherans). This war lasted from 1547-1555 and ceased after the Peace of Augsburg was established[ CITATION Her191 \l 1033 ]. This peace treaty had three major effects: there were now two legal religions in the Holy Roman Empire—Catholic and Lutheran; each local prince was allowed to choose what religion his territory would follow; people could move to another location if they decided that they wanted to follow a different religion from the one that was accepted in their territory[ CITATION Her191 \l 1033 ]. The final point is the seed for religious toleration. Despite not being complete, it was the first step towards something better. Martin Luther established himself as the father of the Reformation movement with this elaborate Ninety-Five Thesis. The document became the flame that lit up the path to the Reformation and provided changes to the quotidian life. Luther fought for his beliefs and stood

Alfonso 4 his ground when he was faced by the church and king during the Diet of the Worms. Luther’s revolutionary thinking allowed him to change the lives of many and stop the church from taking advantage of the poor through indulgences. His teachings and actions had many effects, such as power of the church and pope weakening, literacy and education increasing, Northern Europe becoming protestant while Southern Europe remained Catholic, Religion and politics becoming intertwined, and finally the religious wars that broke out that lasted over one hundred years and forever changed the lives of many. Without Martin Luther, many of the listed effects would not have happened and perhaps, people would still be under the control of the Catholic church to this day. One thing is certain, Luther’s Ninety-Five Thesis lit up the spark of the Reformation and changed the way that people viewed God and religion for years to come. Overall, Martin Luther was a man that was ahead of his time. His beliefs planted the seed for religious tolerance and acceptance and still impacts the lives of many to this day.

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Works Cited Biography. 9 September 2019. A&E Television Networks, LLC. Accessed 6 October 2019. . Herman, Mark. ""Luther and the Ninety-Five Theses"." n.d. Accessed 6 October 2019. —. ""The Reformaton"." Class Notes. n.d. Accessed 6 October 2019....