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Similarities Between Martin Luther And The 95 Theses

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Similarities Between Martin Luther And The 95 Theses
Did you know that Martin Luther was an adept reformer at using the power of the press to spread his ideas? Between 1518 and 1525, Luther published more works than the next most productive 17 reformers combined (History.com Staff. “The Reformation”). Martin Luther was a German monk who questioned the Catholic Church’s beliefs, leading to the Protestant Reformation (History.com Staff. “Martin Luther and the 95 Theses”). The Protestant Reformation was a religious, political, intellectual, and cultural upheaval that shaped the Catholic Europe (History.com Staff. “The Reformation”). His teachings said that the Bible is the source of religious authority and that salvation is reached through faith and not by good deeds. These beliefs are what shaped …show more content…
He feared that the Roman Catholic Church had become too corrupt to provide people with the guidance they needed to obtain their salvation. Luther thought that individuals could seek salvation on their own, instead of relying on priests. “To organize his thinking, he composed a list of statements and questions that became known as the “95 Theses”.” Then, on October 31, 1517, he attempted to start a debate by posting his 95 questions on the door of the Wittenberg University cathedral. In November of 1517, someone distributed these theses without his permission, which caused a commotion throughout the Catholic Church. Luther got condemned by the Pope at the time, but it only made Luther more defiant. He wrote more theses explaining his viewpoints on the church. “They explained his theory of salvation, his theory of the church, and his theory of the role of the state in church reform.” His writings then made him the philosophical leader of the Protestant Reformation. This increased the pressure on him to take back his words. He was found guilty at a trial by the Holy Roman Emperor, which also made him the Reformation’s honest leader as well ("Martin Luther, Against the Sale of

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