Martin Luther and the Reformation of the Catholic Church

It takes a lot of courage to oppose the norm and to try and change something that you know isn’t correct in society. It takes even more courage to do so when that group you are opposing controls most of Europe. Martin Luther realized that there were many things wrong with the Catholic Church so he devised a group of problems with it. This group of problems was known as the 95 Theses. These were 95 attacks on the Catholic Church.

Martin Luther created the 95 Theses as an attack on the Catholic Church

Martin Luther was a religious, cultural, and political revolutionary because he saw something that was very wrong with how people were living their lives and he had his mind set on changing it. Although Luther’s writings became very widespread and popular, he never intended on them to cause a storm to arise in Rome over them. The Catholic Church defined Luther’s work as “heresy” and burned many of his books. Even though heresy was punishable by death, Luther did not fear the church and dismissed their threats. As the Catholic Church continued to try and silence Luther, he became more and more convinced that he must spread the wrong-doings of the church. Even when Luther was threatened with excommunication from the Catholic Church, he continued to pursue this change.

Martin Luther can be considered the first propagandist. Even though Luther had many enemies in the church and throughout the Holy Roman Empire, he had one powerful friend. This friend was Frederick the Wise, ruler of Saxony. Frederick the Wise enjoyed Martin Luther’s recognition because he felt that it brought more recognition to Wittenberg and the university. He was proud of Luther and refused to turn him over when Charles V, Emperor of the Holy Roman Empire, demanded that he do so. Luther had gained an ally who had political power and would back him up in his opposition of the church. Frederick the Wise presented the idea that Martin Luther be able to explain his case. This allowed Luther to have more time criticizing the church and finding more that he wanted to change.

Wartburg is the castle where Frederick the Wise hid Martin Luther from the Holy Roman Empire

One of Luther’s attacks was on the system of sacraments. Luther found in the Bible that there were only two sacraments, Baptism and the Lords Supper. Luther was convinced that the other five sacraments had been created by the church and that they were unneeded. As the people of Europe realized that Luther was onto something they had figured out that they didn’t need all the excess of the Catholic Church in order to become righteous. One of the academics in the video described it as the church controlled the water pipes to your house but you figured out that you can dig a well. He stated that the people of Europe realized that they didn’t need all this extra stuff in order to become religious and holy. This was very risky of Luther because the Holy Roman Empire controlled most of Europe so for him to turn the people on it could cause an uprising.

Martin Luther nailing the 95 Theses to the church door

When Luther arrived at the Diet at Worms, he was greeted with cheers and praise. The consensus of the Diet at Worms was that Luther must recant all of his works. When the council voted on whether Luther must go to Rome and face charges for heresy, Frederick the Wise abstained his vote so that there wasn’t a unanimous vote.  Luther was sure that he would have been sent to Rome.

Luther had become one of the most influential figures in the reformation of the Catholic Church. He realized that they were not truly being holy and shouldn’t have been doing many of the things that they were. He went against the Holy Roman Empire, which controlled most of Europe, even when he was threatened with excommunication and possibly death. Martin Luther sacrificed his well being so that the people of Germany and Europe could have more religious freedom and not have to abide by all of the Catholic Church’s rules. 

Words: 662