Reformation Essay

The reformation is a broad term used to recognise the period of prison term beginning approximately 1500 A. D. extending through the mid-seventeenth century, with roots geological dating back to around the fourteenth century. Society was in just to the highest degreething of an upheaval at the time and the church service service was faced persistent heresy. A wave that would call on kn receive as the Protestant Reformation started in Ger homosexualy in the early 1500s and go throughout the Ger homosexual speaking countries to Scandinavia to the French and fin anyy to England and Scotland.Differing from the Renaissance, the Reformation do an impact in most every Europeans spirit and forced people to make the decision between the old office and the immature. In the early stages of the Reformation thither was a humanness, the pioneer of that Protestant Reformation that swept over Europe, a man who ventured into a new arena of apprehension in relation to how the church , his name was Martin Luther. 1 The following piece impart be a short biographical work of Martin Luther covering some of the events of his liveliness and how through them, he changed the Church as soundly as contributed to the progress of the Reformation concluding with a look at his life in a way to orient more(prenominal) of who Luther was as opposed to what he did. Martin Luther was born in Eisleben Germany on November 10, 1493 before lament able to Mansfield in 1484 where he attended school before moving on to Magdeburg with the Brethren of the Common Life.From there he entered the University of Erfurt in 1501 where he was introduced to nominalist philosophy which taught the inability of natural reason to establish articles of cartel. It was here that he also furthered his lingual skills in the classical tongues, and graduated with his B. A. in 1502 and his M. A. in 1505. The winds of the Reformation had already begun to whirl as Luther was growing up. He had been registering law, before creation caught up in the religious revival that had been heading crosswise western sandwich Europe. 2 That July he was knocked to the ground by lightning and the combination of those events, the death of a fellow and issues inside him ego he entered the chapter house of the Hermits of St. Augustine3 in Erfurt monastery of the Augustinian Eremites.At this time he was given his very first Bible, which he studied relentlessly, studying cautiously Romans and Galatians. He was also deeply into the works of Augustine as well as William of Occam and carried with himself the re postureation of being a man of singular piety, devotion and conventual zeal. 4 To the objection of his father he took the vows in September 1506, was elected to study for the non- delivery boyian priesthood, and was made a deacon in February of 1507 and ordained a priest on April 4 of that same year. His father attended his first weed where he rebuked Martin for disobeying his parents. 5 At the monastery, Luther practiced ascetic excesses to try to achieve some sense of inner peace. Johann von Staupitz helped him away from his life of standing fearfully in front of a Deity to responding in joy to the loving benevolence of deity through Jesus Christ. In 1510 he went on a business trip to Rome to the Vatican where he was shaken and disturbed by the commercial, showy splendor of the Vatican.In 1512, Luther began lecturing as a doctorate of religion at Wittenberg, a do he would hold for the lodge in of his life. For the following two years he lectured heavily on the sing before shifting to Romans, Galatians, Hebrews and Titus in 1516. It was after these studies that Luther became convinced that salvation is a new relationship with perfection, and that it was not a merit-based system but alter innately it came through placing trust in the promises of paragon. Humans would still sin, but would do a go at it life as a forgiven sinner as a proceeds of their rela tionship with Jesus Christ.It was also through these studies that Luther had his Gospel epiphany in 1516 plot of land reading in Galatians 3 that the just shall live by faith. At this time that Luther was released from his haunting sense of guilt and crossed over into the independence that came from relying on Gods grace. During this time he was growing, discovering new convictions, and dapple he had not written them into an officially theology he did have the principles that would be instrumental in and would define the Reformation man is warrant by faith alone, every believer has direct access to God and the Bible is the sole source of authority for faith and life.In 1517 Luther pertinacious he needed to put these ideas into action. It was in that year that he came across a Dominican, Johann Tetzel, selling indulgences to Luthers parishioners. Going against Tetzels methods, bad theology and the fact that the outflow of cash was for a new St. Peters for Leo X, Luther urgeed against buying pardons and for relying on Gods grace for salvation. He had grown tired of this theology that was lacking Scriptural truth just or so it.On October 31, 1517, the day for which many remember Luther, he tacked Ninety-five Theses to the introduction of the fort Church in Wittenberg intending to have the pursuanceions bring about faculty member discussion, not a document written to insight a anarchy against the pope of the Church of Rome. The Theses were translated and circulated bringing about attacks from Tetzel and the formidable Eck, labeling him a heretic. Luther was logical by Leo X to appear at Rome in 1518 though it Frederck the Wise changed the hearing to Augsburg and it was through Fredericks protection that Luther was able to survive.At the time of the hearing, Leo was drafting a papal tomentum describing indulgences in the exact fashion that Luther had questioned. In 1519 Luthers debate went publically with Eck and he admitted that he rejected early (a) authority of popes and councils when they were not harmonious to the Scriptures. To combat the view that he was going against everything the church stood for, he produce three works to clarify his views An Address to Christian Nobility of the German Nation, The Babylonian Captivity of the Church and the Liberty of a Christian Man. On Dec. 10, 1520, he was presented with a papal bull threatening to excommunicate him. He publicly burned the document along with a copy of the command law, an open defiance of the popes authority in refusal to fall by the wayside any of his viewpoints Due to factors beyond just Luthers actions, the Wittenberg civil governance looked on approvingly as their country was in a seditious mood. Again he was summoned to appear before the pope, again refusing to budge from his position.A group of German churchmen, princes and nobles approached him one day ordering him to recant to which he replied, Unless I am refuted and convicted by testimonies of Scr ipture or by pardon arguments, my conscience is bound in the word of God I cannot and will not recant anything. I cannot do otherwise. Here I stand. God help me, Amen. It was Frederick that again came to the rescue of Luther, saving him from almost certain calvary yet again, abducting him on his journey from Worms and holding him at the Wartburg Castle for ten months.Some consider Luthers time worn out(p) there in the castle his most valuable as, among other things, he translated the Greek Bible to German. Upon his return to Wittenberg in March of 1522 he set about organizing the reformation that had nearly crumbled under the enthusiastic, but unskilled leadership of much(prenominal)(prenominal) people as Carlstadt and Zwilling in Wittenberg. They had gotten a crowd together that started rampages, wrack statuary and artwork, actions Luther quickly denounced and went about producing forms for instruction, worship and church government.The Peasants War came about in 1524, but Lu ther continued undeterred, holding to the position of upholding authority, calling for social justice and urging the consideration for the economic eudaemonia of the lower class. Luthers language used in urging the princes to put down the revolt was intemperate and he ended up alienate some of the lower class. 6 During his time in the castle, Luther set out authorship a childrens catechism as well as a catechism for the rough-cut people. It was also during this time that he composed what some consider the encounter hymn for the reformation Almighty Fortress Is Our God.He went on direction in his position, beginning to teach that priests could marry and soon met and married a former nun named Katharina von Bora who had followed him along with eight other nuns in fleeing from their convent in 1523 to take refuge in Wittenberg. 7 Together they produced six children of their own and heart-to-heart their home to countless others as well as boarding students and other guests. 8 Luth er continued to write, recommend and teach and in 1530 he approved the Augsburg vindication and the Augsburg Apology as written by Philip Melanchthon.In 1573 Luther take a breathated his doctrines in the Schmalkald Articles and spent his remaining years spent in inactive and productive service, such as writing On Bondage of Will. Luther died in his home town of Eisleben after mediating a meeting between two princes and experiences mild titty pains9 in 1546. 10 The life of Martin Luther is something that one could marvel at, but there is more to this mans story than a whole lot of bookish achievements and raising questions that ended up causing Christianity to divide. He was a man of swell passion and was extremely focused on God, realizing that it was about God and not about himself.When Christ drove the people out of the church saying they made it a den of theives he is black because he knows that things are not what they should be, and sees what they could become, Martin Luther is another man with the same sort of view. He saw things the way that they could be. This anger was not exclusive to just Luther and Christ, it happens inside many men and comes from different places, but what is common is that they are angry at the denialnot to themselves alone, but to their fellowmen as wellof all they have seen of head in their solitude that has been proven in their own personal life.Luther, slated by some as the last angry man of the Reformation, was once quoted saying, I never work better, than when I am shake of anger when I am angry, I can write, pray and preach well, for then my whole temperament is quickened, my understanding sharpened and my mundane vexations and temptations depart. His life was tumultuous and deep melancholy assaulted him, leaving him weak and desperately ill. Upon relishing the grace of God he was driven with great compassion to preach the unsearchable riches of Christ and publish the Word of God in the native tongue of his cou ntrymen.His passion and resolute faith was so great that it was tell that upon hearing him pray people would exclaim How great a spirit, how great a faith, was in his very words As a monastic he vowed to crucify the flesh through fasting, mortifications, and watchings struggling against deceitful thoughts and the poisonous inclinations of his heart. Nothing was too great a sacrifice if it would enable him to become a saint of acquired heaven. He was sold out on his quest for attaining holiness.He even claimed himself to be a pious monk stating that, If a monk could obtain heaven by his good works, I should, surely those who have known me can testify. As he was carrying out this torturing on himself he was confronted by John Staupitz, who asked him why he excruciate himself the way that he did telling the young Martin, to look at the wounds of Christ, to the origination that he has shed for you. Luther was so wrapped up in literally beating himself up over his sins, he forg ot a key element.Staupitz went on to tell him, Instead of torturing yourself on account of your sins, throw you self in the Redeemers arms. Trust in Himin the accountability of His lifein the atonement of His death. Not long after his conversations with Staupitz, Luther was make being an imitator, keeping to the rules of the religious order, but rather he was a new creation entirely, walking in the full assurance of faith confident that the God that began the good work in him, would perfect His work.For Luther Christ was no longer an option, Christ was the option, or as he give tongue to in his Commentary on Galatians, Christ is no lawgiver. He is the Lifegiver. 11 For Luther it was about knowing God, not having a intimacy of God, he was a man full of passion for his Savior, completely sold out on his prevails plan. It was so much so that he thanked God that he knew enough to believe that God knew more than he did and was able to rest in knowing that that would never change.K nowing that God was greater and surrendering to that knowledge was an undercurrent to Luthers life, he clung to the word of God for his confidence and promises, not to the tradition of men. 12 The Reformation is a broad term used to describe the period of time beginning around 1500 A. D. extending through the mid-seventeenth century, with roots dating back to around the fourteenth century. Society was in something of an upheaval and the church was faced persistent heresy.In the early stages of the Reformation Martin Luther was the pioneer of that Protestant Reformation that swept over Europe, and who ventured into a new arena of thought in relation to how the Church. 13 The previous writing was a short biographical work of Martin Luther showing some of the events of his life and how through them, he changed the Church as well as contributed to the progress of the Reformation concluding with a look at his life in a way to show more of who Luther was as opposed to what he did.