Lutheran And Protestantism Essay, Research Paper

Germany

Lutheran and Protestantism

In 1517, an Augustinian friar named Martin Luther succeeded in single handedly challenging many otherwise generally accepted views of religion in Europe. With little more in mind than issuing a challenge in the form of a debate to anyone who believed in the system of Indulgences presented by Tetzel, Luther managed to provoke a long in the making revolt against the Catholic Church. Indulgences were a type of fundraiser of the Church?s that consisted of a man named Tetzel offering the rich an opportunity to buy their way into heaven and even buy their dead loved ones? redemption. Luther?s Ninety-five Theses (his written out argument) which he posted on a church door in Wittenburg became a symbol of the general symbol of the discontent in Germany with the Church and the overall situation of things. The unexpected popularity of his Ninety-five Theses inspired Luther to take the issue even further and make use of the printing press to produce pamphlets challenging the Church despite the Church?s attempts to persuade him to revoke his former words. Brought before the Diet of Worms, Luther maintained his controversial views and was judged and outlaw but managed to escape the law with the help of friends and continue his writing and through it convert many, called Lutherans, to his views. Though not his intent, in time this led to a revolt of the peasants in 1524, spurned by his teachings. The peasants were easily crushed and control still belonged to the princes. Many cities converted to Lutheran, but those that stayed Catholic tried to force the others back to their way of thinking and when the Lutherans protested they became ?Protestants? and the name became one to describe anyone who broke away from Catholicism. Resulting from all this, many new churches were formed and the Catholic Church is no longer the only one in all of Western Europe as it had been for 1000 years.