Martin Luther

Mia Cavilia
12/5/12
Western Civilization
Martin Luther Paper
Professor Maher

Martin Luther had many core and new ideas that he brought forward during his time. Three main fundamental ideas that he focused on included an emphasis on the importance of the bible, that people are saved by the grace of God through faith and that all members of the church are equal. Martin Luther’s fundamentals were largely based on reforming the church from the circus it had became back to based upon faith and religion.
A major idea of Martin Luther happened to be that the entire faith of Christianity should be based on the Bible itself. Luther said that the Bible alone should be the guide to leading a Christian life. He became the first major leader to openly reject and oppose the Pope. He also said that German-Christians in no way were required by law of the Bible to follow the Pope in Italy. Luther openly taught that the Bible alone should be used as doctrine for all Christian people to follow. He saw the Bible as if God himself had written it through divine intervention of the real contributing authors and prophets. Martin Luther revered and believed in the Bible above all other Christian teachings and writings. He wanted all people to read the Bible themselves. Some thing he did to make this dream more possible was he had the Bible published a German translation of the New Testament in the year 1522. He later in the year of 1534 completed his translation of the Old Testament. This was when the entire translation was finally completed and published as well. His thoughts on the importance of the Bible became a crucial component to his reformation. He said the Bible and the Bible alone must establish the Church’s teachings and preaching’s. In all of his major practices he always saw the bible as beyond crucial the structure of Christianity.
Another very important fundamental teaching and idea of Martin Luther was that Christians will be saved by grace through faith in God, and that Grace alone. The idea was that Christians would not be allowed to spend eternity with God through the selling or buying of indulgences. They also wouldn’t be allowed in heaven by the viewing or touching of ancient relics or saint statues. A person could only be granted salvation from God. This contradicted the Catholic Church of the time. It went against their practices of selling indulgences and making people pay money to touch and see relics. In a quote from Martin Luther in the year 1517 he stated, “ We are saved by grace alone, through faith in Christ alone, According to scripture alone”. Luther was a strict believer that the way to salvation was through practicing and following strict guidelines and being devote to God. He taught that it was Gods decision whether or not a person deserved and stood worthy of salvation and it was not based on the person’s life necessarily. His writings suggest that perfect faith in God will result in good works. For example a person of good faith will do good works of God but a person who does good works does not have to have faith and hence won’t receive eternal salvation.
A component to the ideas of Luther that cannot be overlooked is the fundamental idea that the clergy and laity did not play a different role in the church than the congregation. This fundamental idea showed that the laity had no real power to meditate to God for the people. He saw each person as able to be able to speech with God and receive forgiveness from themselves. This differed greatly from the Catholic Church’s belief. The Catholic Church during Martin Luther’s time believed that one could only be forgiven with the mediation of a clergy member and could only reach God with one of them as mediator. Martin Luther wrote ‘To the Christian Nobility of the German Nation’. In this text he explained three main points concerning the leaders of the Church at that time. He explained that in baptism we all become priests. By saying this he greatly diminished and undermined the importance of priests to the Catholic Church by seeming them as no different than a member of the laity. He also in the text disputes the Church’s stance that it is solely the job of the Pope to interpret, confirm or deny any scripture. Lastly he says that all people of the Church should have the power to call a council if they see a problem that must be addressed rather than just the Pope being given that luxury. Martin Luther’s belief that the clergy held no more power than any other member of the Church was one he held very strongly and committedly to.
Luther saw Christianity in Rome as a circus and took it upon himself to make changes to restore Christianity. He brought about the fundamental ideas that the Bible must be followed very strictly, that a person receives salvation based on their faith in God, that all people of the Church coexist as equals in God’s eyes.