The Early Reformation by Martin Luther. Religion Essay Example

There is a difference between new princedoms and the hereditary forms of leadership. The latter was much easier to rule and administer. The Catholic Church demonstrates a model of the hereditary form of leadership, and it will be difficult to establish reforms because those who benefitted from the old era will object to the reforms. A leader must use whatever means necessary to achieve their goal. As such, Martin you are the leader of the new reforms that will be established in the church. A leader needs to be strong to maintain stability and power for the benefit of the larger population rather than for personal gain. In the new princedoms, it is better to be widely feared than to be widely loved. It is the responsibility of the ruler to oversee the state, and, to do so, the king would need ultimate obedience from his people (McKay 12). Although fear is a better ingredient in leadership than being loved, once people love you as their leader you have their allegiance, which is better than having a completely concrete wall for defense.

Is your time best spent reading someone else’s essay? Get a 100% original essay FROM A CERTIFIED WRITER!

Save 25%

Martin Luther, I believe that the end justifies the means. Pope Leo Xs decision to sell indulgences to raise funds to construct a new cathedral in Rome should not be entirely rebuked. It is justified because the proceeds obtained from the sale of the indulgences are used for a good course. As the leader of the church, the Pope does what he deems best for the prosperity of the church.

Martin, the opposition that you have brought up in the Catholic Church is dangerous. Your questioning of grant of forgiveness through the selling of indulgences might cause splits in the church. There is a need to be prepared to defend the truth to the people. The prince from each province push for or disallow the marketing of indulgences in their province. Initially, it did not affect you, but your parishioners have begun to purchase them in their travels as evidence of forgiveness of their sins. You have taken this as an abomination to all your beliefs. According to your understanding of the Scriptures, forgiveness is a gift from God, and should not be purchased.

The debate that you have opened by pasting the Ninety-five Theses on the entrance of Wittenberg Castle Church is an open sign of the impending revolt that will arise. By so doing, you have openly invited the church to debate publicly on the issues indicated in the proposals. You approached the church to end the selling of the indulgences, but they did not respond to your call. You have spoken for a wider group that were uncomfortable with the selling of the indulgences but remained silent. The theses that you have distributed privately have widely spread, and this matter will explode into a great revolution (Luther 16).

The theses have questioned the limits of the popes authority (Hans 185). You have challenged the authority of the person above you in power. As I put in my writing, The Prince there is an occasional need for the methodical use of power or deceit to exterminate those that challenge the authority of the Prince. You have questioned whether the Pope can forgive sins; instead, you argue that the dying are freed from their earthly punishments by their deaths rather than the churchs impression that they can be freed by buying indulgencies. You argue that death frees those who die, hence they cannot be subjected to punishments for the sins they did while on earth. Moreover, you also claim that every Christian has the right to forgiveness of sins, by the act of Gods mercy, solely without the need of the letters that they are given to show for their pardon. The theses also outline instructions to Christians that buying indulgences cannot be compared to doing works of mercy or assisting the poor and the needy (Luther 3). Those that have been given the power to pardon and sell the letters sometimes persuade Christians to give what they cannot afford. This is an exploitation of the Christians, whatever any prince does; it should be for the advancement of the people as a whole and not for the individual gain. Christians have a responsibility to provide for their families first and then give to the needy if they can afford and not waste their possessions buying the indulgences. You have questioned on the richness of the Pope that exceeds the richness of all Christians, but he cannot use his money to build the new cathedral rather than the sale of the indulgences.

Luther, you have become the voice of some unsatisfied Catholic Christians that had questions but dared not raise them (Juhasz 79). For you to succeed, you need to have the majority of the public to support you. Many wonder whether the church holds the keys to heaven, as it seems to claim. As expected, once the church received your theses, they have been silent, and the Pope ordered the vicar-general to ban the monks to speak to silence the growing discontent among the Christians without drawing attention to the church. You were summoned by the Pope to appear in Rome before him. In return, Rome gave out a papal bull requiring Christians from across the world to recognize the authority and power of the Pope to provide the indulgences. After a year of unsuccessful negotiations, the Pope issued an attack on you to withdraw some 41 theological errors from your theses. You set your copy of the issue to flames to show that you were greatly discontented by the church's response. This was viewed by the church as a direct attack on the popes authority, and you were excommunicated from the church. You were banished from the church, and you were made to attend the Diet of Worms. Your literature is to be banned, and you were declared an outlaw, and your death has been sanctioned.

Your writings have started a reformation revolt across Germany. There has been a civil disorder, which has made you come out of hiding to deliver sermons for the Christians to trust God to bring the reforms they so crave for. The Christians that are revolting for reforms trust you to lead them well. Currently, the Catholic Church has authority and power over religion as well as the irreligious leaders of the empire. You need to contain the masses that believe in you that the unrests are peaceful and do not lead to any violence.

Works Cited

Hans J. Hillerbrand, The Protestant Reformation (New York: Harper and Row, 1968), pp. 184185.

Juhasz, Gergely. "Martin Luther: Visionary Reformer." Reformation21.1 (2016): 79-81. Web.

Luther, Martin, and William R. Russell. Martin Luther's Basic Theological Writings. Minneapolis: Fortress, 2012. Print.

Luther, Martin, and Kurt Aland. Martin Luther's 95 Theses, with the Pertinent Documents from the History of the Reformation. Saint Louis: Concordia Pub. House, 1967. Print.

McKay, John P., Clare Haru Crowston, Merry E. Wiesner, and Joe Perry. Understanding Western Society: A History. Boston: Bedford/St. Martin's, 2015. Print.