Martin Luther as a Reformist - Essay Example

People were being taught that they could buy freedom from sin and God's punishment. After being excommunicated from the Catholic Church, he started the protestant movement which led to protestant churches throughout the globe. This paper attempts to describe Martin Luther and his contribution to reforms that led to protestant churches.

Before his engagement in reforms, Luther served as a philosophy student at the University of Erfurt and became a professor in 1508 after having been ordained as a priest in 1507. He further engaged in higher studies of theology and in 1517 he opposed what he discovered as the hypocrisy of priests in the Catholic Church (Somervill, 27). Through expanded study and research of theology and understanding of the bible, Luther came to realize that Christians should not be deceived by church leaders and that they can buy salvation or forgiveness of sins. His idea of justification of faith came from the bible and knowledge based on his theological study and he justified the fact that salvation was given by God through His grace that led to faith in Jesus Christ (Hendrix, 56).

His original idea of Christianity was not compatible with church theology because church theology involved deceptive gospel. He was opposed to such issues as teaching people that their deeds could earn them eternal life. The church theology was also based on the authority of the pope and he challenged this authority by claiming that the only divine source of knowledge was the Bible and was given by God (Bainton, 47).

Martin Luther started the protestant reformation after being irritated by the sale of indulgences within the Catholic Church and confronted Johann Tetzel who was a salesman with ninety-five theses. He posted the theses at the main door of Castle Church based in Wittenburg and theses contained such issues as the hypocrisy of church leaders especially concerning the sale of indulgences to the masses. He was later asked to retract his writings by the Pope and Holy Roman Empire where he refused and was excommunicated from the church and he started the protestant movement (Hopper, 72).

The factors which were involved in the protestant movement were mainly based on the translation of the bible and the fact that other protestant reforms had also started. The translation of the bible led to the easier spread of the gospel in various places. These facts led to success in the reforms of the church and Luther is considered successful in his determination to transform the church as the protestant church has grown over the years (Lugioyo, 10).

In conclusion, Martin Luther played a significant role in reforming the church. He opposed the activities of the Catholic priests and the pope and he was excommunicated from the church. He was successful in his role to transform the church.