The Protestant Reformation

Martin Luther (1483-1546)

Salvation•Martin Luther was obsessed with the question of how an individual might be saved.

•Catholic Church stressed salvation through doing good works.

•Luther questioned if good works alone could guarantee salvation?

•Could an evil person who does good works reach salvation? Luther felt that a person needed to be good first before there could be any good works.

Indulgences•Practice by the Catholic Church that replaced the severe penances associated with reconciliation. The abuse of this practice led to the Church collecting funds in place of punishments for sinful acts. Initially these funds were used for social justice initiatives, eventually they were used for the Church’s own purposes- like rebuilding St. Peter’s Basilica in Rome.

Sale of Indulgences

Johan Tetzel

•Dominican Friar known for selling indulgences

•“As soon as the gold in the basin rings, the soul to heaven immediately springs!”

•Luther hated him.

The Ninety-Five Theses•Martin Luther pounded his ninety-five theses in protest to the practice of indulgences on the door of the Castle Church in Wittenburg.

Breach with the Papacy•In 1521 Pope Leo X excommunicated Martin Luther as a heretic because of his refusal to recant his 95 theses among other documents.

•Luther had challenged the authority of the pope and the notion that the pope was infallible. He claimed that an individual should have the right to a personal relationship with God and that the Church did not have any influence over individual salvation.

The Diet of Worms•Luther was ordered to attend a council in which he would be forced to recant his views in the town of Worms, Germany.

Luther’s Response

“Unless I am convinced by the testimony of the Scriptures or by clear reason (for I do not trust either in the pope or in councils alone, since it is well known that they have often erred and contradicted themselves), I am bound by the Scriptures I have quoted and my conscience is captive to the Word of God. I cannot and will not recant anything, since it is neither safe nor right to go against conscience. May God help me. Amen.”

•After the Diet of Worms Luther went into hiding despite the fact that it was ordered as criminal to assist him in any way.

•His protestant ideas spread among the peasant classes in Europe and fuelled a massive shift in social order.