Why was martin Luther important in history ?

8 Answers

• Martin Luther was a German theologian of the Christian religion and an Augustinian monk whose teachings inspired the Protestant Reformation and deeply influenced the doctrines of Protestant and other Christian traditions (a broad movement composed of many congregations and church bodies). His call to the Church to return to the teachings of the Bible resulted in the formation of new traditions within Christianity and his teachings undoubtedly impacted upon the Counter-Reformation in the Roman Catholic Church.

  Luther made contributions in fields beyond religion. His translation of the Bible helped to develop a standard version of the German language and added several principles to the art of translation. Luther’s hymns sparked the development of congregational singing in Christianity. His marriage on June 13, 1525 to Katharina von Bora began the tradition of clerical marriage within several Christian traditions.

  Luther’s first break with the papal hierarchy came in 1517, over the selling of indulgences. Luther hated the practice, since he believed that indulgences did nothing to save souls and only lined the pockets of the clergy. Because they also exonerated deeds not yet committed, they also encouraged sin.

  95 Theses

  The Disputation of Doctor Martin Luther on the Power and Efficacy of Indulgences, known as the 95 Theses, challenged the teachings of the Roman Catholic Church on the nature of penance, the authority of the pope and the usefulness of indulgences. They sparked a theological debate that would result in the birth of the Lutheran, Reformed, and Anabaptist traditions within Christianity.

  Luther’s action was in great part a response to the selling of indulgences by Johann Tetzel, a Dominican priest, commissioned by the Archbishop of Mainz and Pope Leo X. The purpose of this fundraising campaign was to finance the building of St. Peter’s Basilica in Rome. Even though Luther’s prince, Frederick the Wise, and the prince of the neighboring territory, Duke George of Saxony, forbade the sale in their lands, Luther’s parishioners traveled to purchase them. When these people came to confession, they presented the indulgence, claiming they no longer had to repent of their sins, since the document forgave all their sins.

  Traditionally, Luther posted the 95 Theses on the door of the Castle Church in Wittenberg, Germany, on October 31, 1517.

• Martin Luther Significance

• He had a meeting with a bishop I believe because he didnt like what Martin Luther was speaking out about. People thought that he would come out after the meeting declared to be executed, but instead he came out alive and better off than before. Him and the bishop both spoke German and this gave them an attatchment I guess. One of the reasons why he was extremely important was because he spoke German and Latin and was able to translate the Bible to German for the Holy Roman Empire. I could be wrong. I’m learning this in my class in school right now, but I think he was also important because he taught people to read and follow what was directly from the bible. Nothing different, but exactly as it says. (I could be wrong) Again I could be wrong, but I also believe he believed that anyone can go to heaven as long as they were good people even if they didnt believe. If you are looking for an answer to your homework I’m not garunteeing you my answer is correct, but I am speaking about what I think is correct, but could be mixing it up with like 20 other things i learned in class the other day.

  The whole part about the bishop and martin luther having the connection beacuse of the german language and how luther translated latin to german is true. i am sure on that.

  He also was caught in a really bad storm where his life was changed and prayed to God asking him to save him from death and that if he saves him he will become a priest, which is where it all began.

  Viel Glueck

• Well he led the Protestant Reformation in the 16th Century and formed the Lutheran Church and he was responsible for the division between Catholic and Protestant Churches, Martin Luther was one of the most influential people in history of Christianity.

• Luther was a lawyer who became a Roman Catholic monk after he nearly was struck by lightning in a thunderstorm. From his academical education he was able to read Latin. Because he wanted the common people to be able to understand the bible he translated it into German. During his translation he realized that many Roman Catholic teachings were not based on the word as written in the bible but were tools of the clerical to make people obedient and to exploit them. Especially the “Ablass” payments to the church in order to be forgiven all sins, poor people therefore having no chance to escape purgatory, was not found by Luther anywhere in the bible. That made him so furious that he wrote down 99 insulting accusations (he was a lawyer!) against the catholic church of which he nailed 95 on the church door of the Wittenberg Dome. The roman catholic church had the habit to openly “dispute” disaccords in so called church disputes. The first one Luther was invited to was in Constance at the “Bodensee”, in English: Lake Constance. Luther disputed against two bishops and the result was: undecided. He then was invited to dispute against the Pope in Rome himself but he was afraid that something unexpected could happen to him on his way to Rome. The Pope then declared Augsburg to be the place of the Second meeting. One of the highest Catholic bishops was sent into the box ring to dispute against Luther. One question the bishop had concerned the Catholic dogma of the infallibility of the Pope. Luther replied that Popes and Bishops also can make mistakes or commit errors. That was the signal for the Bishop to declare the dispute for not being possible to be solved because the violation of a dogma was not in accordance with church laws. From a protester Luther suddenly had become a “Protestant”. It is said that he jumped out of a window to avoid being arrested.

  Luther’a importance is that we still would live in the Middle Ages without him. Medieval oppression was based on deception of the common people by the mighty ruling classes. The system of the Catholic Church, the saints, popes, bishops and priests perfectly mirrored and supported the system of totalitarian monarchies, oppressing and exploiting people from the non clerical side. Everything was based on false stories of higher beings and divine orders. Life in general was perceived as temporary vale of tears, redemption coming with death and consecutive ascension into heaven. That of course only happened in case that the individual had not violated divine or profane orders or alternatively had paid enough cash to the church to be forgiven all sins. For the rest purgatory was waiting. People had no motivation to change anything in their life, no research, no development or exploration was benefitting their cause. Most of progress and research anyways was declared to be sin, developments or inventions, “human creations” amending the product of the Divine creation. Contradiction was impossible, the Pope being “infallible”- Contradiction was not only impossible but also severely punishable. Therefore no finger moved on the Western world into the direction of progress. The situation was deliberately designed to be frozen in time until eternity.

  That all changed with Martin Luther nailing a piece of paper on a church door.

• he sucks but gotta learn him

• cuz he was arrested for 100 times

• the civil rights movement??!?!?!?!?!!?!? wow look him up on Wikipedia or something