Why Martin Luther Was Disillusioned with the Church of Rome free essay sample

ThesesIn this essay the intent is to point out the reason to why Martin Luther was disappointed with the methods and intention of the Roman Church, his entrance into monastery work. How his Catholic upbringing contributed, his 95 theses on the issue of indulgences, his exile and the work the reformation did to improve the situation, the way the Diet of Worms treated Martin Luther, the way he priests of Rome disregarded Luther’s work, the monastic life he lived before making his breakthrough in his own life. Martin Luther had two powerful influences in his upbringing. One was his parent’s and teacher’s punishments were because of his love and fear of God. Luther’s father was ambitious for his son; he made Luther take courses that pointed toward Luther becoming a lawyer. Because of the severity of home and school Luther decided to run away to a monastery and probably become a monk. We will write a custom essay sample on Why Martin Luther Was Disillusioned with the Church of Rome or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page The second influence on Luther’s upbringing was his education, Luther went to a series of schools his father picked for him, but Luther decided the University of Erfurt was where he would learn about philosophy. Luther was so taken up with the University’s study of the Bible that he dropped his study of law and entered a monastery of Augustinian friars. It is thought that Luther chose to become a monk because of a near death occurrence, or the death of a very good friend. Luther ended up taking monastic vows to cope with pervasive senses of personal sinfulness and fear of an all-mighty, powerful and righteous God. Luther tried praying, fasting, but it didn’t cure his anxiety. The more Luther tried to do for God; he just became more aware of his sinful nature. Luther’s supervisor, Johann Von Staupitz, told Luther to study the mystics, to surrender to the love of God. Luther decided to have self-examination, he found what he felt for God was not love but hatred, his spiritual crisis then made him commit blasphemy, which was, to him, an unpardonable sin. Luther’s supervisor took a bold step to advise Luther to study for a doctor’s degree. The reason was for Luther to begin preaching and assume the chair of Bible at the recently established University of Wittenberg. Staupitz reasoned to Luther saying, â€Å"By serving others, you might best address your problems. Luther’s disappointment with the Church of Rome came he visited Rome and saw priests selling indulgences (remission of sin) to hundreds of people. The issue of the indulgences troubled him to the point that he prepared a DISPUTATION AGAINST SCHOLASTIC THEOLOGY in the form of 97 theses, which he used to attack the idea that believers could be justified bef ore God on their works. Luther then made another set, but of 95 theses which had way more impact than the previous. The reason for the new set was to attack the selling of indulgences. This then created the PROTESTANT REFORMATION. Luther’s disillusionment grew, when he was dismissed as a, â€Å"Drunken German,† by Pope Leo X. Luther then traveled to Heidelberg in disguise because he was told the Pope had planned to assassinate him on his trip. Luther was well-received and this emboldened him to ask about the primacy of the Roman Church and their power of excommunication. Luther was ordered to appear in Rome to face charges of heresy, which were proceeded to Germany through the intervention of Fredrick the Wise. There Luther was asked to recant his 95 theses, but with his commitment to God, he refused to recant. Luther was excommunicated from the Church of Rome for prefacing the freedom of a Christian and blasting the Roman curia as pestilent, hateful and corrupt. Luther’s sentiments were designed to promote conciliation, but did not have any effect. It was the responsibility of civil authorities to exact the ecclesiastical condemnation. However, because Luther had ignited a movement, and because Charles V was not willing to alienate the Germans, and Fredrick him got a proper hearing, it was agreed that Luther was to be summoned to appear before the Emperor and German Reichstag under the safe protection of the imperial safe-conduct. Luther appeared before the Diet of Worms, Luther was presented with a table with copies of the theses he wrote. Johann Eck, assistant to the Archbishop of Trier, once again asked Luther to recant, but this time to recant the content in the theses. When Luther was asked again the next day, he entered a lengthy differentiation among his work, which discussed evangelical topics. Luther was then pressed to recant their content, but still refused, saying, †Unless I am convinced by scripture and plain reason, I do not accept the authority of Popes and Councils, for they have contradicted themselves. Luther was seized on his return trip by masked horsemen, sent by Fredrick the Wise to be taken to Wartburg Castle and to be held their in exile for a year. During his absence, leadership fell to Philip Melanchthon. While in exile Luther took the chance to translate the New Testament to German. Even while there Luther still gave advice to friends and allies by letter. Luther supported the changes taking place by the reform. His tract, concerning monastic vows took position that there was no scriptural foundation for monastic vows. The exile built his disappointment with the Roman Church. My summary about Martin Luther is that Martin Luther was a great man who loved the Lord with a strong conviction and dedication to helping the community who were being continuously being lied to, to see God in a totally different perspective and light. I think Martin Luther did the right thing writing the theses, he corrected a mistake that had been going on for centuries. He was humble never encouraged violence even in the reformation, and always relied on the scripture of the Lord to help him through the trials that he was going through with the Roman Church. Bibliography 1. WWW. Wikipedia. org 2. WWW. Wikipedia. org 3. WWW. Wikipedia. org