Comparing and Contrasting two World Famous Political Theorists
Both leaders of their generations, Martin Luther and Niccolo Machiavelli were also religious and political icons. Through their theses, essays, and books they were able to successfully convey their views to the public. Martin Luther was a lawyer turned priest, who tried to open the eyes of the public to the general corruption of the Catholic Church. His 95 theses were the foundation of the Protestant Reformation, while Machiavelli used his skills as a writer, with The Prince, and other works, to bring to light the issues of politics. Known as the father of modern day politics, Machiavelli took his ideas public and changed government, as we know it. Both men were determined to break up the monopoly of knowledge and power that the Catholic Church held over the people. Through examination of Machiavelli's The Prince, and Martin Luther's Christian Liberty, their different views on the individual, God, and the state will be compared and contrasted to better understand their issues with the Catholic Church. Many people say that Martin Luther started the Protestant Reformation by nailing his 95 theses on the front gate of the Catholic Church. Some of these people also say that these theses were an attack on the Church.
Personal conflicts with God did not keep Luther from helping other people find their own peace with God. Through these two pan flits, both The Prince and Christian Liberty were able to open the eyes of the world. Mercenaries and auxiliaries are useless and dangerous. As an individual, Machiavelli felt that the most important quality in a true person it the value of his word. While moving his way up in the Church, Luther was able to see the corruption and deceptiveness that the Catholic Church had become involved in. He felt that through starvation he could cleanse himself of all the things God felt was impure. This was Luther's personal feeling about the relationship between man and God. Luther felt that if a person believed in God and had their own personal relationship with Him, then the Church had no right to condemn that person to Hell just because they could not pay the taxes or go to Church every Sunday. Both men were religious and political icons for their generation and ours. Both of these statements are false. His experiences as a monk and a priest were fulfilling to his Catholic enlightenment. "How praiseworthy it is for a prince to keep his word and to live by integrity and not by deceit everyone knows; nevertheless, one sees from the experience of our times that the princes who have accomplished great deeds are those who have cared little for keeping their promises and who have known how to manipulate the minds of men by shrewdness; and in the end they have surpasses those who laid their foundations upon loyalty. Machiavelli's view on the state and their ideals came down to the strength and slyness of a ruler.
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