Martin Luther and the Lutheran Reformation - Research Paper Example

?Table of contents Introduction……………………………………………………………………………………2 Martin Luther and Lutheran Reformation………………………………………………….….2 Martin Luther’s role as a religious reformer…………………………………………………..3 Individual faith v/s religious salvation…………………………………………………...……4 The believers and the Christian Church…………………………………………………….…6 Social impact of Lutheran Reformation……………………………………………………….7 Political impact of Lutheran Reformation……………………………………………………..8 Religious impact of Lutheran Reformation…………………………………………………....9 Cultural impact of Lutheran Reformation……………………………………………………10 Conclusion……………………………………………………………………………………11 Bibliography………………………………………………………………………………….12 Martin Luther and the Lutheran Reformation Martin Luther, the German monk, initiated reformatory ideas into the context of Christian faith in Europe. One can see that the Lutheran Reformation or Protestant Reformation provided ample importance to the concept of salvation and individual faith in god. On the other side, the Christian church considered that donating money to the Church as a proof of one’s faith can help one to attain salvation. These differences between the Christian Church and Lutheran ideas related to faith and salvation eventually led to Lutheran Reformation. To be specific, Martin Luther was not ready to agree with the concept of the sale of indulgences as the source of revenue to the Church. Instead, his aim was to inculcate innovation to Christian faith in Europe. Thesis statement: The Lutheran Reformation unveiled the difference between individual faith and religious salvation, it bridged the wide gap between the believers and the Christian Church, and it is important because it’s socio-political, religious and cultural impact unleashed the possibilities of individual faith in god, especially in Christianity. Martin Luther and Lutheran Reformation One can see that Martin Luther’s influence is not limited to the sphere of religious reformation because it extends to other fields like education, culture and literature. His deep knowledge in Latin was helpful to translate works in Latin to German language. Luther’s graduation and post-graduation were at the University of Erfurt. Later, he decided to study law, but lost interest in the same and joined a monastery in Erfurt. But he was not ready to give up his education and became a professor of Theology. John Scott makes clear that, “The one is, that his learning, genius, and capacity, were of the first magnitude: the other, that his life was without blemish.”1 While he was serving as a professor, he became interested in the idea of salvation and faith in Christianity. Besides, Luther made use of his acceptability as a professor to spread his ideas among the mass. Alister E. McGrath states that, “The Lutheran Reformation was initially an academic movement, concerned primarily with reforming the teaching of theology at the University of Wittenberg.”2 For instance, in the year 1517, Luther declared his opinion on the difference between salvation and faith in Christianity. The Lutheran interpretation of faith in God was entirely different from the interpretation of same by the Christian Church in Germany. This difference in interpretation of faith forced Luther to undergo excommunication from the Pope (say, in the year 1521) and disagreement from the Emperor Karl V. All these factors eventually led to the initiation of Lutheran Reformation as an attempt to reform the Protestant Church in Germany. Martin Luther’s role as a religious reformer Martin Luther’s role as a religious reformer is interconnected with his protest against the Church authorities. Besides, his attempt to end the influence of papacy over the believers eventually led to Protestant Reformation in Europe, especially in Germany. To be specific, Luther’s rebellion against the Christian Church was helpful to inculcate the spirit of reformation into the context of personal belief. Jackson J. Spielvogel states that, “To Luther, humans are saved not through their good works but through faith in the promises of God, made possible by the sacrifices of Jesus on the cross.”3 His role as a religious reformer weakened the influence of the Church among the believers. Earlier, the believers were forced to be under the influence of the Church. But Luther’s rebellion helped the believers to realize the importance of personal belief and faith in God. Earlier, the Church undertook the role of a mediator between the believer and the God. This helped the Church to exert much pressure upon the believer. But Luther’s attempt to reform the Christian Church helped the believers to be free from the authoritarian influence of the Church. Andrew Pettegree states that, “Theologically, he set the agenda for ecclesiastical debate for the middle decades of the sixteenth century.”4 Gradually, the influence of the priests and the pardoners among the people became weak and their authority upon religious matters became history. Within this context, Luther did not try to separate himself from the Church. Instead, he utilized his status within the Church as the medium to criticize corruption among the religious authorities. He was totally against the negative influence of the pardoners and Christian monks over religious matters. The formation of independent churches in Europe proves Martin Luther’s role as a religious reformer. Individual faith v/s religious salvation Martin Luther identified the importance of individual faith to attain salvation without the help of a mediator. During the time of Martin Luther, the Christian Church authorities in Europe proclaimed that donation to the Church can help one to attain salvation. This innovative method to collect money was helpful to the Church authorities to be rich and influential. On the other side, the believers became the victims to exploitation. To be specific, one can buy indulgences and can keep oneself away from sin. Luther’s attack on the sale of indulgences can be considered as an innovative step to protect individual faith. Besides, Luther argued that individual faith and religious salvation are interconnected. Richard Marius states that, “Faith, Luther always said, is an opus alienum, a work not one’s own, something done outside human power and within God’s dominion.”5 There is no need to have a mediator (say, the corrupted monks, pardoners etc) for the believer to attain salvation. Luther proclaimed that faith can help one to attain salvation and there is no need of good works to attain the same. Fred Kleiner opines that, “Martin Luther did not perceive salvation as something for which weak and sinful humans must constantly strive through good deeds performed under the watchful eye of a punitive God.”6 To be specific, Luther’s idea on religious salvation was based upon one’s faith towards the almighty. Besides, religious salvation cannot be earned by a believer. This argument was acceptable for the followers of Christianity in Germany because they were against the supremacy and exploitation of Rome over religious matters. From a different angle of view, the Roman Church provided importance to religious salvation through loyalty towards the Church, but Lutheranism provided importance to individual faith towards the God. The believers and the Christian Church During Luther’s time, the relationship between the believers and the Christian Church was undergoing rapid change because the people were forced to undergo exploitation. Besides, Lutheranism helped the poor to realize the importance of individual faith without agreeing with the religious and political authorities (Pope and the Emperor). During this time, the religious authorities exploited the believers and made use of the revenue to construct more churches. Moreover, most of the priests were corrupted and acted according to their will. The Emperor was helpless because the religious authority was totally vested upon the Pope. When Luther undertook the responsibility to reform Christianity, the Emperor and the princes in Germany supported him. On the other side, the believers considered that Luther’s attempt can help them to be free from the corrupted religious authorities. Luther argued that corrupted Church cannot help the followers to attain salvation. Besides, Luther visited Rome in the year 1510 and realized the fact that Pope Julius was the source of corruption. Eric W. Gritsch states that “Luther became famous on October 31, 1517, when he posted his ninety-five theses on the door of the Wittenberg Castle church to call for a debate on the indulgences abuse.”7 Luther’s 95 Theses, written in the year 1517 raised a number of questions against the supremacy of Christian Church authorities over religious matters. So, one can easily identify the fact that the believers considered Luther as their representative, who can save them from the exploitation of the religious authorities. On the other side, the Protestant Church considered Luther as a nuisance who consciously try to reduce the influence of the Church among the believers. Social impact of Lutheran Reformation The social impact of the Lutheran Reformation is interconnected with the condition of the European society, which was under the influence of authoritarian monarchs and despotic preachers. To be specific, the monarchs were against the preachers and the influence of Rome over the people. On the other side, the preachers were considered as the representatives of the Pope, and they exerted immense influence upon the people. But the Emperor of Germany was not ready to accept the authoritarian attitude of the Pope. So, one can see that the privileges enjoyed by the preachers and the Pope enraged the people and the monarchs in Europe. In this condition, Lutheran Reformation ignited the revolutionary spirit among the mass and the monarchs were forced to support the same. The people in the rural areas supported Luther’s initiative to reform Christianity because his ideas were acceptable and accessible to them. Robert Dean Linder opines that, “In the society, Luther established a new emphasis on marriage as primarily means of companionship that modeled godly living.”8 Besides, Luther made use of German dialect to popularize his ideas on salvation and faith. This deeply influenced the society because the dialect used by Luther was accessible to the mass. John C. Dwyer opines that, “Like other great men of history, Luther was an individual who felt the same hopes and fears as hundreds of thousands of men and women of his day, but he felt them far more deeply and he had an instinctive sense of how to give them voice.”9 On the other side, Luther initiated the construction of Protestant schools to provide proper education to children and to spread his ideas. All these factors eventually led to the growth and development of Lutheran Reformation to the wider context of religious development. Political impact of Lutheran Reformation During Lutheran Reformation, the German society faced an important problem, i.e. lack of a central authority. Some areas of Germany were under princes and other areas were under the Emperor of Germany. This eventually led to the exploitation of wealth by Rome because most of the states of Germany were deeply influenced by the religious authorities of Rome. As pointed out, the Emperor was not able to control the local powers in Germany. Besides, religion deeply influenced the political scenario of Germany. All these factors helped the religious authorities of Rome to exert immense pressure upon the political context of Germany. From a different angle of view, Luther ignited the spirit of nationalism among the people of Germany. Robert Kolb makes clear that, “Luther also reflected the structures of societal development at his time in his assigning government’s roles in education and social welfare.”10 One can see that the influence of Lutheranism helped the Germans to keep themselves away from the tax imposed by the Church authorities. So, Lutheran Reformation exerted much more pressure upon the political scenario of Germany because it helped the believers to declare their political freedom. Besides, the neighbouring nations like France supported Lutheranism and this helped the same to spread to the other parts of Europe. But Lutheranism divided Germany into two because the Northern and central areas were under the influence of Lutheranism, and the Southern part of Germany was under the influence of Roman Catholicism. So, one can see that Lutheranism resulted in the political fragmentation of Germany. Religious impact of Lutheran Reformation The religious impact of Lutheran Reformation is most important because it transformed Christianity in Europe, especially in Germany. Luther’s deep knowledge in theology, literature, German language etc influenced Lutheran Reformation. Besides, the religious context of Europe was ready to accept the innovative ideas put forth by Luther. To be specific, privileges enjoyed by the representatives of the Pope created hatred among the people. But they were helpless to react against the corruption of the preachers and the priests. On the other side, Luther proclaimed independence from the influence of Pope and it eventually helped the followers of Luther to be free from the direct control of Rome. Luther made use of preaching as an innovative medium to communicate with his supporters and followers. Martin E. Marty makes clear that, “Nonetheless, with the backing of German-speaking princes, who resented Rome’s spiritual rule, and with growing numbers of ordinary believers who welcomed the biblical teachings of God’s free grace, the movement quickly spread.”11 But he did not try to revolt against the Roman Church. Instead, he tried to free the people from the influence of the Roman Church. From a different angle of view, Luther’s ideas on faith and salvation attracted the attention of the peasant community. This influence helped him to gain political support from the princes and the Emperor of Germany. All these factors helped him to fight against injustices within Christianity. The religious impact of Lutheran Reformation and Lutheranism is not limited to the context of Europe. Instead, the religious impact of Lutheranism extends to other continents. Cultural impact of Lutheran Reformation One can easily identify that the Roman Church deeply influenced the cultural scenario of Europe. Within this context, Germany was totally under the influence of pardoners and priests appointed as the representatives of Pope. The people of Germany were forced to undergo exploitation and to believe in superstitions related to salvation and individual belief. On the other side, the German culture, which deeply influenced the European history, began to deteriorate. The influence of Latin over the Church reduced the development of German language in religious matters. But Lutheranism provided ample importance to different dialects within German language. Luther’s visit to Rome helped him to realize the grass root level reason behind the cultural deterioration of Germany. For instance, the initiative undertaken by Luther by opening schools and other institutions can be considered as his attempt to regain the past glory of German culture. Frank C. Senn opines that, “To be sure, the Lutheran culture or way of life is informed by the Bible, confession of faith, symbolical writings, liturgical practices, and hands-on work in society that aims to improve the quality of human life created in the image of God.”12 One can see that literature is one of the important elements behind cultural growth and development. So, Luther’s works related to theology, especially Christianity, can be considered as his important contributions to German culture. But his ultimate aim was not influence the context of German culture because he aimed to help his followers to realize the real value of human life. In short, cultural impact of Lutheran Reformation was one of the byproducts of the religious aim of Lutheranism. Summing, Martin Luther’s influence on the believers of Christianity is important because he was aware of the difference between individual faith and salvation. His ideas on Christian belief are thought provoking and easy to understand for the mass. Besides, he made use of his influence among the believers to inculcate innovation into the context of Christian faith. Besides, Lutheran Reformation helped the believers to be free from the corrupted priests and from the direct influence of Roman Church. In short, Lutheran Reformation bridged the wide gap between the believers and the Christian Church in Europe. At the same time, the socio-political, religious and cultural impacts of Lutheran Reformation revolutionized the context of Protestant faith and eventually led to far reaching effects within the context of Christianity. Bibliography Dwyer, John C. Church history: twenty centuries of Catholic Christianity. New Jersey: Paulist Press, 1998. Gritsch, Eric W. Fortress introduction to Lutheranism. Minneapolis: Fortress Press, 1994. Kleiner, Fred. Gardner's art through the ages: a global history, Volume 2. Boston: Cengage Learning EMEA, 2008. Kolb, Robert. Martin Luther: confessor of the faith. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2009. Linder, Robert Dean. The Reformation Era. Westport: Greenwood Publishing Group, 2008. Marius, Richard. Martin Luther: the Christian between God and death. USA: Harvard University Press, 1999. McGrath, Alister E. Reformation Thought: An Introduction. West Sussex: John Wiley & Sons, 2012. Marty, Martin E. Lutheran questions, Lutheran answers: exploring Christian faith. Minneapolis: Augsburg Books, 2007. Pettegree, Andrew. The Reformation world. New York: Routledge, 2000. Scott, John. Luther and the Lutheran reformation. London: Oxford University, 1832. Spielvogel, Jackson J. Western Civilization, Volume 2: A Brief History: Since 1500. Belmont: Cengage Learning, 2007. Senn, Frank C. Lutheran Identity: A Classical Understanding. Minneapolis: Augsburg Fortress, 2008. Read More