Martin Luther and Lutheranism

Paper Summary:

This paper examines the impact that Martin Luther had on western Christendom. The paper first explains that, at the beginning of the sixteenth century, the church was clearly unstable and, because so, had lost the dedication and spirit among many individuals that resided in England, at that time. The paper then looks at how Martin Luther had a huge impact on England and how his approach to Christianity did not fit in with the traditional and moral teachings of the late medieval church. Thus, ultimately, Martin Luther separated himself from the church and destroyed the religious unity of western Christendom.

From the Paper:

"According to reporters, Luther posted his Ninety-Five Theses on the doors of the Castle Church in Wittenberg, Germany in October of 1517. When church officials had seemed to ignore Luther's call for reform, he then decided to circulate the papers throughout Germany in a continuation of defending his beliefs. The Ninety-Five Theses were quickly translated from Latin into German, printed, and widely copied; making the controversy one of the first in history to be aided by the printing press.6 Martin Luther's papers had been an extremely controversial issue for many years regarding Christianity and the Catholic Church. On June 15, 1520, the Pope had warned Luther to withdraw from his writings and take down his papers that were nailed to the Catholic Church doors or face the consequences of excommunication from his native country where he would be forced out to live somewhere elsewhere. Consequently, Luther refused and was then excommunicated on January 3, 1521. "

Sample of Sources Used:

• http://www.allsands.com/potluck2/whatislutheran_uzl_gn.htm "What is Lutheranism?" (Accessed: March 9, 2009.)
• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Ninety-Five_Theses "The Ninety-Five Theses." (Accessed: March 9, 2009.)
• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Martin_Luther#Final_years_and_death "Martin Luther." (Accessed: March 8, 2009.)
• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Martin_Luther#Justicifaction_by_faith "Martin Luther." (Accessed: March 7, 2009.)
• http://mr_sedivy.tripod.com/rena5.html "Martin Luther." (Accessed: March 8, 2009.)

More papers on Martin Luther and Lutheranism:

• Essay # 7893 : "Martin Luther and the General Council"
• Essay # 45793 : "Martin Luther"
• Argumentative Essay # 4850 : "Martin Luther's Resistance to the Catholic Church"

APA Citation:

MLA Citation: