Martin Luther, the 95 Theses and the Birth of the Protestant Reformation
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When you ask a christian, what is your religion?
their answer probably will not be, I'm a christian
they are much more likely to say "I'm a baptist" or "Im a presbyterian" or "'I'm a unitarian"
In general most christians identify themselves with a certain denomination or sect of their religion
this variety is not unique to christianity
there are several denominations at islam, judaism, buddhism and all the other religions out there.
however, none can match christianity for sheer numbers
there are approximately 41000 different denominations of christianity
some of these denominations differ on fundamental notions
the greek non-orthodox church does not try to convert non believers
whereas evangelicals do little else
other denominations differ in terms of practice
compare the staid ceremony of anglicans to the tongue speaking spectacle of the charismatics
others are so similar only iniciates can discern one from the other
the only real difference between the Christian Church and the Church of Christ
is that the former uses musical instruments on their worship while the latter prefers to sing a capela
and yet with all of these differences
these denominations coexist peacefully
churches of various denominations can be found within walking distance of one another
with all these varieties living together in peace
it is easy to forget that a thousand years ago
there was just one sort of Christianity allowed in Western Europe
an that was the Roman Catholic Church
following the great east-west schism of 1050
which divided the orthodox east from the catholic west
the Roman Catholic Church held unchallenged sway over the hearts and minds of western Europe
although they might have spats from time to time and other country might elect its own Pope
but by naming a Pope, even those usurpers were still operating within the constraints of the Roman Catholic faith
they were just fighting over who would be at its head
no one who challenged the supremacy of the Roman Catholic Church was allowed to draw breath for long
anyone who wanted to start their own church or come up with their own take on Christianity
was labeled a heretic
their property was seized and they and their followers died in the most horrible manner available at the time
the dominance of the Roman Catholic Church remained unchalleged for nearly 500 years
then in 1517 shook the Catholic Church to its very foundations
his name was Martin Luther
Luther was not a rebel
he wasn't trying to destroy the Catholic Church or even start his own religion
all Luther was trying to do was stop the Church from engaging in some practices that he considered unchristian
Luther's problem was with the Church's practices of selling indulgences
an indulgence is a remission of punishment for sins
you can think of an indulgence as a "get out of hell free card"
the Church has been in the practice of granting indulgences in exchange for good work and acts of piety for centuries
ever since Pope Urban II offered indulgences to crusaders in 1095
Luther questioned whether the Church had the authority to grant such indulgences
he believed that the only true path to salvation laid in fail laid in faithfulness to Christ and his teaching
not through adherence to the ideologies and dogmas of the Catholic Church
yet Luther would probably have not made a fuss it there weren't for the fact that these "get out of hell free cards" weren't actually free
earlier that year, in 1517 Pope Leo X had made an unconventional move
Leo wanted to rebuild St Peter's basilica in Rome
but he didn't want to spend his own considerable wealth to do so
this is not surprising as Leo was a member of the wealthy Medicci banking family which dominated Florence
the man was more of a banker than a priest
Leo solution was to begin offering indulgences in exchange of donations for the Basilica's renovation
while these donations technically counted as pious works, Luther saw them as a simple payment
To Luther's eyes, the Church was essentially selling salvation
he witnessed poor peasants giving up their life savings to buy an indulgence for a dead relative in the hope of saving their love ones from the tortures of the purgatory
all the while the Church grew ever richer
this was too much for Luther
Luther had read the Bible, something most people of his age could not do since the only available translations of the Bible were in Latin and Greek
Luther saw nothing in the Bible that gave the church the right to charge people for their salvation
the church is supposed to be a spiritual sanctuary, not a marketplace
Luther said about writing 95 complaints with the Church's greedy behaviour
these complaints are now called the 95 theses
on october 31st 1517 Luther nailed his 95 theses to the door of the church in Wittenberg and sent copies to the higher authorities of the Catholic Church
the posting of the 95 theses is considered by many the beginning of the Protestant Reformation
however, it is important to remember that Luther was not trying to undermine the Church
he was just trying to making them stop making money of the business of salvation
Luther's 95 theses spread across Europe like wildfire
within two months they were being read in cities across the continent
the next year they were translated into german and printed on a massive scale
further fueling the controversy
Luther suddenly found himself at the center of the greates conflict of his age
the Pope was not happy, and having his scam with the indulgences exposed
he had Luther accused of heresy
a couple of years later, in 1520
the Pope wrote a letter to Luther
in which he banned any further distribution of Luther's 95 theses
and demanded that Luther recant his heresy or face excommunication or being cut off of the Church and its sacraments
this threat of excommunication was a big deal since pretty much everyone believed that the only way to get to heaven was to receive the sacraments of the Roman Catholic Church
since Luther did not think he needed the papacy to achieve salvation, he did not care if he was excommunicated
Luther publicly burned the Pope's letter and thereby broke all ties with the Roman Catholic Church
yet the Church was not done with Luther
the church decided to hand Luther over to the greatest secular authority in Germany
the holy Roman Empire
in 1521, Martin Luther was summoned to the Diet of Worms
a conference of both religious and secular leaders held in Worms, Germany
once again, Luther was commanded to recant his heresy
he refused
the upshot was that Luther was condemned
the Holy Roman Emperor Charles V published the Edict of Worms calling for Luther's immediate arrest
yet Luther's supporters would not let him be imprisoned
instead, they inspirited him away
and hid him in Wartburg castle
not content to hide on the sidelines
Luther made good use of his exile
he spent his year at Wartburg writing various letters and treatises attacking the Catholic Church
his greatest achievement of the time was his translation of the bible into german
Luther held the bible as the highest authority, higher even than the papacy
he realized that so long as people could not read the bible they will continue to fall for the lies and deceptions of Catholic ideology
Luther supporters smuggled his translation out and soon printing presses across Germany were cranking copies of Luther's Bible
the publication had the desired effect
all across Germany people started reading the bible and began challenging the authority of the Church
in fact things started getting a little out of hand
when Luther returned to Wartburg in 1522 he found the populace in nearly full scale revolt
the mob was being whipped up by a set of radical zealots known as the Zwickau Prophets
Luther draw these Zwickau out of Wartburg and settled down to reestablish law and order
he founded his own Lutheran Church in Wittenberg in 1526
meanwhile Zwickau spread across Germany burning churches, monasteries, bishop palaces and libraries
often in Luther's name
The Zwickau were determined to use Luther's treatmen by the Church
and state as a rallying point for their revolution
regardless of Luther's feelings on the matter
this uprising which became known as the Peasant's Revolt was but the beginning of about 5 centuries of nearly unending bloodshed
the Protestant Reformation swept across Europe spreading first to the Netherlands, then to France and England and soon all northern Europe was in the throes of religious warfare
as protestants spot catholics for the soul of Europe
to review
in 1517 Martin Luther published his 95 theses
in an attempt to stop the Roman Catholic Chruch to stop selling indulgences
or "get out of hell free cards"
Luther did not think the church had the authority to grant such indulgences
specially not for money
Luther believed that salvation could be achieve through faith alone
the church responded by labeling Luther a heretic, forbidding the reading or publication of his 95 theses
and threatening Luther with excommunication
Luther refused to recant his beliefs
the next year in 1521, Luther was summoned to appear at the Diet of Worms, where the leaders of the Holy Roman Empire would decide his fate
when Luther once again refused to recant his positions, the Holy Roman Emperor Charles V ordered his arrest
Luther supporters hid Luther in Wartburg castle where he completed the translation of the bible into German
as well as publishing a variety of treatises against the Church
by the time Luther returned from his exile
Germany was in the grip of a peasant revolt as peasants burned and destroy all things catholic
Luther calmed the revolt in his hometown of Wittenberg and established his own Lutheran Church in 1526