22 Sep 2022

121

Martin Luther as a Reformist Leader

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Academic level: College

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Martin Luther was a theology professor, priest, monk, compose, and a seminal figure in Protestant Reformation. During his priesthood, Luther rejected various teachings and practices of the Roman Catholic Church. Particularly, Luther disputed the issue of indulgence, where punishment for sins would be reduced. Luther wrote the Ninety-five Theses describing the acceptable practices that were to be considered. Due to his stance on his reforms, Luther was excommunicated and condemned as an outlaw. However, that did not keep him from following his path as a religious leader. Martin Luther was a leader during the Protestant Revolution, guided by the idea of reformatting the Church through personal life motivations.   

Martin Luther was guided by his long-life values about religion to join the Protestant Revolution. Luther believed that there were different ways in which divinity could be revealed. Such actions included salvation, good deed, and God’s grace. However, the authority and office of the Pope taught that the Bible was the only way in which divinity revealed knowledge. The Pope opposed the concept of sacerdotalism, which required all baptized Christians to be part of a holy priesthood. Luther believed in upholding the original teachings, such as having specific priests to mediate between God and human beings. As a religious leader, Luther felt that all baptized Christians being part of the priesthood interfered with the real duties of a priest and a leader; he had to condemn the acts.       

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Luther took advantage of the changes that were taking place in the Roman Catholic Church and introduced the Lutherans concept and the Ninety-five Theses. The Lutherans were the wider teaching presented by Luther aimed at introducing reforms the Church and the Government was expected to implement to the Church. Luther indicated that individuals who professed Christ were to use only two terms, Christian and Evangelical. The Ninety-five Theses was a list authored in 1517, showing the propositions Luther held for an academic disputation of the changes happening in the Church. In his teachings, Luther insisted on the importance of salvation and that it would be received only as a gift through God’s grace. To reach a greater group to support his ideology, Luther translated the Bible to the German vernacular language instead of Latin. The event has a significant impact on German culture and the Church. It led to the development of the German language standard version by adding various principles to translation art. The step taken by Luther influenced writing The Tyndale Bible, an English version. Luther composed Hymns, which led to the development of the singing culture in Protestant churches.      

Martin Luther was a firm decision-maker, which he illustrated by implementing them in his own life to prompt change. In the early Church, the Catholic priest was not allowed to marry. The idea was one among many which Luther wanted to reform. He did so by marrying Katharina von Bora, a former nun , setting an example of clerical marriage. The concept allowed the Protestant clergy to marry. Luther stood by his reformist ideas despite how much they were rejected by religious and political leaders. In 1520,  Pope Leo X  demanded Luther renounce his writings, which he refused. It led to his excommunication at the Diet of Worms in 1521 by the Pope, and Holy Roman Emperor condemned Luther as an outlaw. Even during his death, Luther stuck to his decision to reform the Church and died an outlaw.     

Luther, as a reformist leader, was motivated by his personal life as a monk, priest, and theology professor. He challenged the Pope and roman emperor without fear of being excommunicated, which happened when Luther refused to denounce his change proposals. As a leader, Luther's effects were primarily seen through Bible translation and hymn compositions, which changed the German culture and Church. 

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StudyBounty. (2023, September 16). Martin Luther as a Reformist Leader.
https://studybounty.com/martin-luther-as-a-reformist-leader-essay

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