Introduction
When taking a step back and looking at the world history, it becomes evident that faith and religion have always been some of the major precedents to international conflicts, hate crime, and social metamorphoses. Thus, the notion of religion is understandably confusing in the social context. While some people perceive faith as salvation and guidance, others tend to impose religion on other people through violence and manipulation.
The latter is now frequently associated with the existence of the church as a religious institution presenting a rather controversial interpretation of religious dogmas. A prime example of such a representation, the introduction of indulgence by the Catholic church, has become a major cause of Reformation. In order to obtain a better perspective of the issue, it is of paramount importance to dwell on the biography of one of the most notorious figures behind the Reformation, Martin Luther. The paper will focus on some of the major milestones of Luther’s biography, carving the path towards the creation of his modern image.
Early Ages
Martin Luther is considered to be one of the most controversial yet significant figures in the history of the Catholic Church. A son of a copper miner, Luther was born on November 10, 1483, in Eisleben, but the new family decided to move to Mansfeld, where Martin’s father had the opportunity to become a town councilor (Hillerbrand par. 2). Young man’s path to theology and religion was not straightforward, as it was not Martin’s initial intention to pursue the study of faith and church. Having graduated from a Magdeburg school and, subsequently, the University of Erfurt, Martin Luther obtained a master’s degree in arts (Hillerbrand par. 3). However, when faced with a choice of further occupation, the young man favored law over medicine and theology, following his father’s advice.
Less than six weeks later, a severe natural disaster taking place near his village made Luther promise himself to become a monk in case of survival. As a result, in 1505, the doors of the monastery in Erfurt were opened before Martin Luther (“BBC – History – Historic Figures: Martin Luther (1483-1546)” par. 2). For the next two years, Martin had been finding comfort in his humble life of a monk who lives by order of the monastery. However, in 1507, realizing the true motivation of his theological path, Martin Luther decided to pursue an academic degree in theology.
Theology and 95 Theses
The year 1507 may be rightfully considered a pivotal moment in Martin Luther’s life, as he decided to devote the whole life to the examination and evaluation of religion and the Catholic Church. Starting his journey in Erfurt, Martin was later transferred to the Augustinian monastery in Wittenberg in order to come back later in 1509 (Hillerbrand par. 7). However, his further studies were suddenly interrupted by the need to go to Rome in the role of the observant Augustinian monastery representative. Although the overall journey did not result in success, it served as a catalyst in terms of Martin’s reconsideration of the church as an establishment and Rome as spiritual capital.
In order to understand the context of Catholicism in the 16th century, it is important to mention that the church overwent a series of modifications, including the widespread use of indulgencies. The term stands for a document ratified by the Catholic church claiming that a person who paid for indulgence had made up for the committed sins (Duggan par. 2). After receiving his doctorate degree in 1512, Martin Luther had the ability to teach theology.
Although the details of his studies remain unknown, some sources claim that Martin Luther offered a number of courses on biblical books while publishing scholarly works himself (“Martin Luther and the 95 Theses” par. 5). Thus, by the time Martin Luther had achieved a certain level of authority in the theological community, he was able to address some of his views on the functioning of the Catholic Church.
In 1517, a Dominican Frier named Johann Tetzel began to spread the ideas of indulgence to the worshippers in Germany. Soon after finding out about the precedent, Martin Luther addressed Tetzel’s superiors in a letter containing 95 Theses (Hillerbrand par. 12). Apart from asking the superiors to stop Tetzel’s agenda, Luther shared a copy of the work with a few friends, but the discussion of its content soon extended to the broad public.
If to consider briefly, 95 Theses consisted of some reflections on the current state of affairs in the Catholic church from a purely academic point of view. Still, the wording of the content was provocative enough to make Martin Luther a radical opponent of the church (“Martin Luther and the 95 Theses” par. 8). The central idea behind the work was Luther’s statement that salvation could only be achieved through faith, and human material efforts had nothing to do with Catholicism and Christianity as a whole. Moreover, the text included rather resonant comments on the Pope’s lifestyle, material wealth, and attitude towards humble Catholics.
In a matter of days, the message was passed on to Rome, where the Pope made a decision to summon the man to an assembly of imperial diet in order to him to justify his radical opinion. Prior to the appearance before the diet, Catholic Church tried to condemn 95 Theses and proclaimed them as contradictory to the primary religious dogmas (“Martin Luther and the 95 Theses” par. 11). Such a radical response to an academic reflection unquestionably undermined people’s relationship with the church and made them look deeper into the theses. However, it was not until 1521 that the general public divided into the supporters of Martin Luther and the Catholic Church.
Thus, in 1521, Luther appeared at the Diet of Worms and refused to admit that his statements were inappropriate and contradictory to Catholicism (“Martin Luther and the 95 Theses” par. 12). As a result, the imperial diet made a decision to excommunicate Martin from the Catholic Church and burn all the copies of his works. Accused of being heretical, Luther had been hiding from the public for over a year.
Protestantism and Martin Luther
Having considered some of the major milestones of Martin Luther’s biography, it may be concluded that he played one of the most significant roles in the creation of Protestantism as a major branch of today’s Catholic Church. The first wave of the branch, Lutheranism, was named after Martin, whereas the other denominations slightly modified the ideas outlined in 95 Theses. Still, the historical image of the man who commenced an all-European revolution remains highly controversial when analyzing his later thoughts on other issues, such as some anti-Semitism ideas representation. Moreover, while making a significant contribution to the reconsideration of the church as a religious establishment, Martin Luther struggled with being related to the social movements that failed to interpret his ideas properly.
Works Cited
“BBC – History – Historic Figures: Martin Luther (1483-1546).” BBC. Web.
Duggan, Lawrence G. “Indulgence. Roman Catholicism.” Encyclopædia Britannica. Web.
Hillerbrand, Hans J. “Martin Luther.” Encyclopædia Britannica. 2021. Web.
“Martin Luther and the 95 Theses.” History. 2019. Web.