Martin Luther

In the sixteenth century the Christian religion began to change. The conflicting idea of salvation was the key ingredient in the separation of the Roman Catholic Church in Rome. Martin Luther and his followers began to believe in a different form of salvation. During this time, several other groups, like Martin Luther’s, separated from the Roman Catholic Church. This is what is now known in history as the Reformation Period. It has been debated that if the Roman Catholic Church had acted earlier the reformation may have never happened. The split today is between Catholic and Protestant denominations. The reformation started with groups leaving the Roman Catholic Church and ended with the Catholics reforming themselves. However, it was too late.

One of the most influential people in history is Martin Luther. Martin Luther was a monk and taught the Roman Catholic ways. While being a monk, Martin Luther disagreed with some of the practices and beliefs of the Roman Catholic Church and those objections fueled his fight to change the Catholic traditions.

The fundamental issue that Martin Luther argued was the salvation of humans. Martin Luther believed that all humans were sinners and not righteous; human effort could n

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Luther used scripture as a tool in his arguments, but it also hurt him because in the Roman Catholic Church scripture was a main part of the their beliefs and could also help them debate against Luther. Martin Luther also liked to use the writing of Paul to the Romans and other scriptures as a part of his argument. They could do that through human works and effort. The faith Jesus showed during his life and death is the proof Martin needed to say that it was Jesus’ faith that made him rise on the third day and join God in heaven.

The Roman Catholics believed in the ideal of scripture and tradition. Human works and effort were the keys to salvation and to receiving indulgence from the Lord. One of his arguing points is that salvation involves the inner soul and outer works would not affect the inner man. Those who died and had yet to have enough merit or indulgence to pass into heaven went to the Purgatory until they received enough merit through prayer or indulgence from the church to pass on. The Roman Catholic Church set up sacraments to gain merit and repay debts to God. After the debate between Luther and the Roman Catholic Church erupted in the sixteenth century, the church split into Catholic and Protestant and that is how it is today. Jesus also died for our sins and so human works that erase sin would not be true in the eyes of the Lord. The Council of Trent was established in 1545 and lasted until 1563.

The Council of Trent stated a strong belief in original sin and justification as the two main articles of salvation. The seven sacraments in “The Creed” were: baptism, confirmation, Eucharist, penance, extreme unction, holy orders, and matrimony. In contrast, Luther and his people believed that faith alone would get you to heaven and indulgence was a corrupt system the Romans used to add revenue to the church.

Approximate Word count = 1001
Approximate Pages = 4 (250 words per page double spaced)

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