Ap Euro Martin Luther Conservative or Revolutionary Essay

Martin Luther was one of the greatest monastics, priests, and theological teachers of Ger some, along with being the symbol of the Protestant Reformation. He did not start kill so phantasmal however. 1 day he was caught in a frightening and dangerous storm. He prayed to God begging not to be killed, and vowed to become a monk if he survived. He did live, upholding his word to the lord, and united a monastery. He joined an Augustinian friary in 1505, where he suffered from anfechtung, or spiritual anxiety. He never knew if he was doing enough good flora to carry out salvation and gain ravish to the kingdom of heaven, as it was believed by the Catholic religion that it took good works along with faith in order to enter. To take his mind off of his phantasmal worries, he was recommended to a teaching post at the University of Wittenberg. There, he taught theology and was quite popular among his students. Luther suffered from constant constipation, so he often successions read the bible bit on the toilet.One day while doing this a certain passage from the epistle of St. Paul to the roman types the just sh all(prenominal) live by faith, which led to Luthers core belief of sola fide, or faith alone. through and through this belief, Luther believed that the totally thing needed to achieve salvation was to live by faith alone, which challenged the Roman Catholic performs theology that both faith and good works were necessary. Luther divided his beliefs with the people of the Holy Roman Empire, demanding change to the way theology was astray taught. He agreed with separate of the current teachings and was buttoned-up, wishinging to keep separate of the religion the same. He unplowed the sacraments, however reduced the amount of them from 7 to 2. He was excessively similar many an(prenominal) Roman Catholic religious figures, anti-Semitic. Lutheranism, as his religion came to be called, became more submissive to the fix as well. However Luther als o had many regenerationary ideas, which infuriated those of the RCC. In response to the policy-making worrys, he wished to do away with the process of indulgences, which were no more than pieces of paper in his look as works had slide fastener to do with salvation. His nailing of the 95 Theses highly angered the church authorities, as it went against everything they taught and believe. However in his response to the affectionate problem of the tiddlers Revolt, he told the princes to crush those who rebelled, as social revolution was not his intention. After careful evaluation, Martin Luther has proven to be both a subversive as well as a conservative. Luther proved himself age and again of his revolutionary approach to religion. His best example of this was the 95 Theses. Johann Tetzel, a German Roman Catholic priest, was selling an expensive indulgence as a fund-raising idea of Pope Leo X to finance the structure of St. Peters basilica. When one of Luthers parishioners c ame to confession, he presented an indulgence he had paid for, claiming he no longer had to repent of his sins, since the document promised to forgive all his sins. Luther was outraged, and wrote up the Ninety-Five Theses, protesting the sale of indulgences, which he proceeded to nail to the door of whole Saints church building in Wittenberg Germany.He did this on a major Catholic holiday, All Saints Day, which struck at the core of the Catholic religion. The most turgid, challenging, and well cognise was Theses 86 which read Why does the pope, whose wealthiness today is greater than the wealth of the richest Crassus, build the basilica of Saint Peter with the money of poor believers or else than with his admit money? He said indulgences did not do what the church said it did because salvation was granted by sola fide. The ideas in the Ninety-Five Theses quick spread throughout Europe via the moveable type printing press. other time Luther engaged in revolutionary actions w as at The Disputation at Leipzig. He was invited to participate in the Church-sponsored debate, as the Church wanted a dialogue concerning Luthers challenges to Catholic doctrine and practices. RCC leading at Leipzig stated that Luthers ideas were wrong because the pope and Church traditions could not be wrong. Luther thus shocked everyone, denying the authority of the pope and church councils. He declared that the only authority on matters of faith for Christians was the Bible. He said that sola scriptura, or leger alone, determined the belief of Christians, not the teachings of the Pope. Upon the conclusion of the meeting at Leipzig, Luther was menace with a papal bull of excommunication, which he burned in protest. Luther also showed revolutionary idea at the Diet of Worms. He was called to attend by Charles V, the recently elected Holy Roman Emperor. At the assembly, Luther was asked if he had written the Ninety-Five Theses, The Address to the Christian Nobility, The Babylo nian Captivity of the Church, and other works. Luther authentic the accusations and acknowledged that he had written them, and when asked to recant his ideas or suffer the consequences, he requested a night to think about his decision. When Luther returned the next day, he stood firm when asked if he would recant and proudly declared Here I stand, I can do no other. Luther was then declared a heretic and became a marked man.Troops of Frederick the Elector rescued Luther and took him to gumshoe hiding in Wartburg Castle, where he proceeded to translate the Bible into the vernacular, which was highly against the teachings of the church and very illegal. He also declared that monks and nuns were not obligated to uphold their vows. Luther not only acted revolutionarily towards political religious issues, but towards the social issues of the time as well. The most well known was the Peasants Revolt. Some religious leaders twisted and perverted Luthers ideas to benefit their own causes, with the most prominent being Thomas Mntzer. They wrote the Twelve Articles a petition of child demands and sent it to the Swabian League that called upon the Holy Roman Emperor to help the peasantry fill with economic and religious issues. When Charles V ignored the Twelve Articles, preachers led by Mntzer stirred the masses to revolt against the nobles. Luther believed the peasants were way out of line, as he was adamantly against mixing religious reformation with political and social revolution. He disassociated himself with Mntzer and the revolting peasants. He urged the princes to work together to carnage the swine, or the peasants. He argued that religious subjects must be subordinate to their sacrilegious authorities. Luther proved himself a revolutionary over and over through many acts throughout his religious life. Though Luther was a revolutionary, many of his actions also grade a conservative approach, wanting to keep some things the same or even go back to the way they used to be. An important gist Luther delivered was that good Christians owed obedience to established authority in laic matters. Lutheranism viewed the state with more respect than other religions did. Lutheranism was much more submissive to the state. He insisted that Christian liberty was an internal freedom, known only to God. Luther wanted the church teachings to go back to how they used to be, based on sola scriptura or intelligence alone, without the need of outside interpretation by the pope, bishops, abbots, etc. He was conservative in that he made many alliances with princes who liked his ideas, spreading them to their own kingdoms. He didnt side with armed rebellions, citing his name, against the nobility in regions of Germany, preferably he backed the nobility, telling them to work together to slaughter the swine. He did not want to do away with the sacraments, however he did want to reduce them from seven to two. This showed how he did not want to change all par ts of the Roman Catholic religion, only parts.Also, like most religious figures of the time Martin Luther was anti-Semitic. He wanted all the Jewish people to alter to Lutheranism, as he did not believe the Jewish religion was conciliate in its teachings and beliefs. He restricted the right of private judgement in matters involving conscience, but never denied it. A conservative in the way he did things, Luther was truly a great leader. Luther believed that the only thing needed to achieve salvation was to live by faith alone, which challenged the Roman Catholic Churchs theology that both faith and good works were necessary. Luther shared his beliefs with the people of the Holy Roman Empire, demanding change to the way theology was widely taught. He agreed with parts of the current teachings and was conservative, wanting to keep parts of the religion the same. He kept the sacraments, however reduced the amount of them from 7 to 2. An anti-Semitic, Luther displayed similarities wit h other religious officials. Lutheranism became more submissive to the state, as Luther believed that in worldly matters religion has to listen to authority. However Luther also had many revolutionary ideas, which mental disturbance those of the RCC as it went against the basics of Roman Catholic teachings. In response to the political problems, he wished to do away with the money robbery of the selling of indulgences, which were no more than pieces of paper in his eyes as works had nothing to do with salvation. His nailing of the 95 Theses made the power of the church authorities fluctuate, as it went against everything they taught their followers and everything they had been taught.. However in his response to the social problem of the Peasants Revolt, he told the princes to crush those who rebelled, as social revolution was not his intention. He meant to keep the matters of social or political problems separate from religious reform. After carefully evaluating his actions, Marti n Luther has proven to be both a revolutionary as well as a conservative on eight-fold occasions.