Martin Luther: A Brief History/impact on Western CiviliationEssay Preview: Martin Luther: A Brief History/impact on Western CiviliationReport this essayMartin Luther: A Brief History/Impact on Western CiviliationMartin Luther was a man with a purpose. Born in 1483 in Eisleben, Martin Luther was a German Monk who started one of the greatest religious revolutions in the history of the Western world. Before discussing the impact of his revolution on the modern world, we must first establish some background information about the man and the Roman Catholic Church.
Martin Luther lived a tough childhood where he did not enjoy the customary joys that children have. In fact, on numerous counts, he was beat by his parents until, “the blood flowed.” (Ganns, 1910) On top of his parents, in his earliest school-days, he would be punished at least fifteen times in the mornings. “It was this harshness and severity of the life I led that forced me subsequently to run away to a monastery and become a monk.” (Ganns, 1910) This phase of his life is most likely one the founding reasons why Martin Luther, later in life, was so disgusted with the pain and suffering he saw in the lives of ordinary people. It would be one of his main motivations to change what was wrong.
Entering the Augustinian monastery after completing studies and receiving a bachelor’s and master’s at the University of Erfurt in 1505 (second among seventeen applicants), Luther lived a tranquil, happy life where his heart was at rest and his mind was undisturbed. Little did he know his life was soon to change into one of the greatest lives, ever lived.
The Roman Catholic Church, whose center was located in Rome, manifested all over Europe. It went beyond “geographic, racial, linguistic, and national boundaries.” (Perry, 2008) It was, in a way, like a disease that spread all over Europe, influencing every aspect of life, from society to culture. What Martin Luther slowly discovered on his mission to Rome was that in result of its expansion, the Church’s focus on wealth and power seemed to “take precedence over its commitment to the search of holiness in this world and salvation in the next.” (Perry, 2008)
Martin Luther wanted to change the church. He viewed God as a “wrathful judge who expected sinners to earn their own righteousness.” (Pelikan, 1980) Thus began the Lutheran revolt. It began with a simple public attack on indulgences. Few people at the scene would suspect that Martin would eventually divide Europe between religious boundaries. The start of Lutheranism included believing in your personal faith, instead of following the rules and regulations of the church. Martin taught the people that they were the ones whose actions decided their fate, not the words of the Roman Church, and definitely not indulgences. Martin believed that everyone should be able to read the bible and interpret it their own way. He didn’t believe that the people needed a clergy to translate the bible and be the mediator between them and God. Martin,
The Lutheran community was divided into large groups and had a long and wide relationship with the church. The Lutherans would always tell Lutheran leaders that one should have peace. Everyone in a church was expected to adhere to the principles of the church – that all should have full love, equality, love, love and unity, always with peace and love. The church was never free to impose its own dogma and doctrines onto the flock that it was expected to obey.
In many countries, the church was organized around a “segregation council” rather than the “clerical council.” When there were more than 100 Lutheran congregations, it was expected that the council would be small, and its members would do their part to ensure that a Christian would have the best chance of living in harmony with the natural world. The same rule was being applied in many other nations in the West. This system was used by the most powerful nations of the world – the United States, the United Kingdom, and much of the rest of the world.
The Lutherans’ belief that the church was not free to dictate everything, from the interpretation of the Bible to the interpretation of the law, was to cause the church to be the most feared of all religions.
The Lutherans advocated a “policymakers council” with church leaders and members in power. They also advocated a separation of church and state – a separation of church and state. The Lutherans were very passionate about ensuring that all citizens had a church to share their life with. The church should operate as an effective community group and could function at its optimum level. In reality, many of the Lutherans were opposed to this new system. The only way to ensure that the church was not able to dictate things was to establish a separation of church and state. A church formed in this way was not free from the influence of the Church. The Lutheran church had a very high regard towards their doctrine, but it was not so high that it could tolerate a separation of church and state. That was the reason that Lutherans opposed separation of church and state at the end of the day.
As an example of this point, the Lutherans’ goal was to establish a community of people to represent Lutheran values. This meant that the people on the Lutherans’ board would vote on things that were Lutheran and would be considered to be important to Lutherans. (Schnitzer & Co., 1986, p. 5; See also: C. F. Miller, The Lutheran Land of Freedom: A Lutheran Tradition, Second Edition and A Commentary on the Lutheran Life, p. 30 and p. 32.)
In the following way, the Lutherans created an “official” body called the Lutherans’ Reformation Reformed Church. Within this church were a number of religious leaders and other official ministers.
During the Reformation Reformation, Lutherans often used their office as their public minister as a public service. However, the church did not always perform this function as well. Lutherans often did make public service announcements for meetings, but this information didn’t always help everyone to understand the gospel in its entirety, it was limited for a religious person or person with special religious needs. Even the most sensitive religious persons couldn