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Luther Challenges the Church - Coggle Diagram
Luther Challenges the Church
Martin Luther
Martin Luther’s parents wanted him to be a lawyer. Instead, he became a monk and a teacher. From 1512 until his death, he taught scripture at the University of Wittenberg in the German state of Saxony.
All he wanted was to be a good Christian, not to lead a religious revolution.
At the age of 21, Luther was caught in a terrible thunderstorm. Convinced he would die, he cried out, “Saint Anne, help me! I will become a monk.”
Even after entering the monastery, Luther felt fearful, lost, sinful, and rejected by God. He confessed his sins regularly, fasted, and did penance.
Even after entering the monastery, Luther felt fearful, lost, sinful, and rejected by God. He confessed his sins regularly, fasted, and did penance.
The 95 Theses
In 1517, Luther decided to take a public stand against the actions of a friar named Johann Tetzel.Tetzel was raising money to rebuild St. Peter’s Cathedral in Rome. He did this by selling indulgences.
An indulgence was a pardon. It released a sinner from performing the penalty that a priest imposed for sins. Indulgences were not supposed to affect God’s right to judge.
Unfortunately, Tetzel gave people the impression that by buying indulgences, they could buy their way into heaven.
Luther was troubled by Tetzel’s tactics. In response, he wrote 95 Theses, or formal statements, attacking the “pardon-merchants.”
On October 31, 1517, he posted these statements on the door of the castle church in Wittenberg and invited other scholars to debate him.
With the support of the printing press, Luther’s name and ideas soon were advertised to people and groups all over Germany. His actions began the Reformation, a movement for religious reform.
It led to the founding of Christian churches that did not accept the pope’s authority.
Luther’s Teachings
Soon Luther went beyond criticizing indulgences. He wanted full reform of the Church. His teachings rested on three main ideas
All Church teachings should be clearly based on the words of the Bible. Both the pope and Church traditions were false authorities.
People could receive salvation only by faith in God’s gift of forgiveness. The Church taught that faith and “good works” were needed for salvation.
All people with faith were equal. Therefore, people did not need priests to interpret the Bible for them.