The Protestant Reformation

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The Protestant Reformation
Martin Luther (1483-1546)
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• 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.

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• 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 Churchs own purposes- like
  rebuilding St. Peters Basilica in Rome.

Sale of Indulgences
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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.

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• 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.

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• 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.

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• Luthers 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.