Martin Luther's Views On The Protestant Reformation

In 1517 Marin Luther nailed his Ninety-Five Theses on the Wittenberg’s Castle Church’s door, that highlighted the corruption of the Catholic Church, especially the Pope . Using the printing press this document spread with a remarkable speed. It then sparked an entire change in Western Europe that was later called The Protestant Reformation. Consequently, it broke apart the historic Catholic Church and gave way for rulers to reform under a new religion. It impacted the not only the spiritual part of life at the time but also education and reshaped the family arrangement. (Ruler sentence + one last sentence)
One of Martin Luther’s main critiques against the Catholic Church was the belief that one could earn salvation by the good actions which …show more content…
In Martin’s lecture on Genesis he explains that when he was a boy, marriage was considered so infamous because of impious and impure celibacy that he thought he could not think about married life without sin; for all were convinced that if anyone wished to live a life holy and acceptable to God, he must never become a spouse but must live a celibate and take the vow of celibacy . He defied that by getting married to Katharina Von Bora a nun and in marrying each other both broke their spiritual vows. This act paved the way for married clergy to be not only included but at the front and center of the new churches in the Reformation. Although his own wife was a powerful leader in his family the Protestants upheld the view that the male was the head of the household, but the ideal holy woman was no longer the virginal nun but instead the married and obedient Protestant goodwife . In doing so sex was no longer something to abstain from unless convincement but celebrated if it was marital sex. Luther viewed women as more lustful than men and they were therefore encouraged to marry young to be kept in line by their husband. This created a rift though because on the other hand men were expected to marry older when they had reached a certain status therefore brothels and other legal ways for men to satisfy their craving until marriage were approved at the time. …show more content…
Since most Germans and central Europeans had no representation in Rome, they flocked to Luther’s religious movement with the idea of being liberated from a foreign pope. Luther encouraged German rulers to seize the Church’s wealth and in doing so they were able to regain full authority by appointing their own religious officials, stopping the payment of fees to Rome and limiting the jurisdiction of Church courts . In addition to being liberated from a foreign church an added bonus to supporting the Reformation was that Luther preached that one must obey even an ungodly king and tolerate it because life was about enduring suffering. A country who used this belief to their full advantage was England. In 1534 Henry VIII declared that he was the final authority over the Church when the current pope wouldn’t annul his marriage. Therefore, he dissolved England’s monasteries to confiscate their wealth and worked to place the Bible in the hands of the people . Although England continued to have Catholic traditions by the time of Queen Elizabeth it was no longer possible to be equally balanced between both religions due to her sister’s practice of executing heretics, Catholicism shrunk in follower’s in the country and gave way to the Protestant England we know