Monday, September 30, 2013
THO Reformation Reading
In the reading we had tonight in THO, Martin Luther splits Christianity into different sections of belief with the reformation. This all starts with his 95 theses which he posts on the door of the church. My question is, what about the ideas and concepts of indulgences finally drove Martin Luther over the edge with disgust of the church and caused him to start the reformation, and how does this reflect the church at the time?
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
I believe what really bothered Luther was when the poor German peasant asked him if he thought the indulgences they payed for would provide salvation for their sins. Luther obviously did not believe this was the true way to seek salvation as he thought that salvation was only achievable through the mercy of God. Luther knew that the church was simply using this scheme as a way to gain wealth to invest in their projects. Which he was not a supporter of due to the fact that it stole money from poor citizens who simply wished to appease God and lessen their suffering. This demonstrates the perversion and corruptness within the church, as they did not truly care for the people or serving God, but merely their own private affairs and welfare.
ReplyDeleteThe Renaissance in general was a time of worldliness and transformation of the church in to a secular place. Patronage of the arts, worldly popes, and princes made the Renaissance what it was, a time when the human being became the focus of the people. Martin Luther is almost like Savonarola's second coming. He, like Savonarola, hated art in the church as it demanded more attention of the people than God himself. Leo X, another very worldly pope, was the last straw for Martin Luther as the Medicean pope sold places in Paradiso for money. This doctrine was utterly backwards and unacceptable to Martin Luther as in the bible it stated that the first (in terms of wealth) will be last and the last will be first. The sale of spots in heaven, or indulgences, conflicted with the bible as it put the last (in terms of faith) in first and the poor believers in the back. What drove Martin Luther insane was Tetzle, a indulgence preacher.
ReplyDeleteI agree with David. I think that Luther snapped because the poor German peasants were giving every penny they had to the church. This was made worse by the church, because instead of spending money on charity, it spend on ostentatious art and architecture. In Luther's mind, these were lavish indulgences, and they were bad in the eyes of God, so there was no reason for the church to be taking money from the poor
ReplyDelete