Martin Luther and Protestantism/Lutheranism.

1. CHAPTER 14: MARTIN LUTHER
AP European History
Magister Ricard

2. QUESTIONS TO CONSIDER
 How was the Reformation an historical
phenomenon?
 What kind of man was Martin Luther?
 What were his central ideas?
 Where can you see his debts to Christian
humanism?
 What was the Catholic Church objecting to?

3. WHAT IS THE REFORMATION?
 What exactly is a reformation?
 What exactly was this particular one trying to
reform and, why the big R for it?

4. LAYING THE GROUNDWORK
 It must be noted that there were many
“reformations” during the 16th century
 Protestant vs. Catholic is not a truly accurate
picture
 Protestants disagreed with one another as
sharply as they did with Catholics
 Protestantism became a general term used for
attempted reformations of the Catholic church

5. LAYING THE GROUNDWORK
 Protestant reformers did not see themselves
as anti-Catholic
 A reformation means to improve or make
better
 It was an attempt to improve the Catholic church
(not destroy it)

6. MARTIN LUTHER
 1483-1546
 Father was a miner,
attended university
 Joined Augustinians,
ordained a priest
 Rose in his ranking and
visited Rome
 Began teaching at
University of Wittenberg

7. MARTIN LUTHER
 At 22, he was lecturing on the ethics of
Aristotle using original Greek text
 His appointment at Wittenberg came only
three years later as Frederick made him
chair of philosophy
 He later translated Old and New Testaments
into German, using his dialect, which
became the new standard for German

8. MARTIN LUTHER
 Influenced by Christian humanism
 He disdained the idea of Scholasticism
 Accepted the criticisms of the church
 Deeply sensitive, prone to pessimism and
doubt
 Did not see himself as worthy in the eyes of
God

9. BASIC BELIEFS OF MARTIN LUTHER
 Salvation was achieved through faith alone
 Catholics believed in faith and good works
 Religious authority was within Bible, not
within the institution of the Church
 Every person could be his/her own priest
 The church community was every believer,
not just members of the clergy
 All occupations glorify God, not just
occupations of the church

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11. TETZEL AND LUTHER
 In 1516, Luther attacked the notions of
indulgences
 They underlined the problem of “good works” for
salvation
 One could simply buy his/her way into heaven
 This stance of Luther’s appealed to others
because it was sending money out of
Germany to Rome

12. NINETY FIVE THESES
 In 1517, Luther posts his Ninety Five Theses
 Not an act of defiance, rather an act of scholarly
debate
 He did happen to circulate German translations
 Humanists received the ideas warmly
 Disciplinary action from Church was soft

13. SEPARATION FROM ROME
 In 1519, while in a debate, Luther places
himself into a position which rejects authority
of popes and councils
 Openly begins to separate from Rome on
theological matters

14. THREE GREAT TREATISES OF LUTHER
 In 1520, he publishes three treatises
 Address to the German Nobility – called on
noblemen to reform the churches in their own
territories, stop paying tithes to church
 On the Babylonian Captivity of the Church –
criticized church imposing transubstantiation;
only baptism and Eucharist were valid
sacraments

15. THREE GREAT TREATISES OF LUTHER
 On the Freedom of a Christian Man – argued
that salvation was on faith and not connected
to good works

16. EXCOMMUNICATION
 Shortly after his publications, in 1520, Pope
Leo X excommunicates him
 Luther finds protection in Saxony, under
elector Frederick III
 At imperial Diet of Worms in 1521, Luther
refuses to recant
 Charles V labels him an outlaw

17. MARRIAGE
 In 1524, Luther marries Catherine von Bora
 Believes marriage demonstrates spiritual
equality of men and women
 Proper social hierarchy also a husband’s
authority and his wife’s obedience
 Catholics see marriage as a sacrament
 Protestants as a contract, allow for divorce

18. GERMAN PEASANTS’ WAR
 Martin Luther also worked hard to help prevent
radical reforms
 At once in support of the peasants, their protests got
out of hand and violent
 Luther supported the nobles right to pacify their
sovereigns with maximum force
 Against the Murderous, Thieving Hordes of the Peasants
 Maintained Scripture has nothing to do with earthly
justice
 More than 75,000 were killed in the German
Peasants’ War of 1525

19. THREE ALONES
 Established the three alones or onlys
 Sola fide – salvation is by faith alone
 Sola gratia – salvation depends on God’s
grace alone
 Sola scriptura – the Bible alone teaches and
is the authority in matters of religion

20. CONCLUSION
 Due to his widespread publishing and popularity,
Luther created a much more comprehensive
alternative to Roman Catholicism
 He translated sacred texts into German,
creating the standard voice for German writing
 He was protected politically and seen as a
German patriot
 Europe was still a Christian continent
 Only now it had broken away from the katholos
form into varying fragments