Martin Luther & the protestant revolution



Martin Luther & the protestant revolution

The protestant reformation was mainly an financial happening because the entire concept of restructuring the place of worship started with the validity of the sale of indulgences. Indulgences were solely for financial gain when it came to the church member Church. Because of this sale of indulgences Protestants and other anti-pope numbers such as Savonarola, Hus, Wycliffe, and Luther, began speaking out of the corruptions and misuses of the church. It it was for the sale of indulgences (purely economic) there would be no cause for the reformation.

The sale of indulgences went on for a long while. They were peddled everywhere. They were sold for several reasons, such as funding crusades, pope pocket money, feed the humanistic tastes of the pope. The people received salvation, were excused from all sin and future sin and guaranteed a seat in heaven. Basically a form of religious taxation, the church began raking in enormous amounts of money. The Catholic hierarchy alone owned 75% of all the money in France, and 50% of the wealth in Germany. Besides the sale of indulgences clergymen began selling titles, positions, offices, etc. to rake in even more money. The most famous peddler of indulgences was Archbishop Tetzel, who traveled from town to town, especially throughout Germany, (Wittenburg) though by this time the "special sale of indulgences" had gone under way. This indulgence gave you complete absolution from all sins, and treatment for future sins. That would definitely guarantee you a spot in heaven. The money from the sale of these indulgences was going to pay for the rebuilding of St. Peter's Basilica. He gained the attention of Martin Luther, the founder of the protestant revolution, and he attacked Tetzel, and challenged the sale of indulgences. Luther was angered at this. He dispatched up his 95 theses at Wittenberg Castle, in which he condemned the trading of indulgences. Part of his anger was that German cash was going to Rome. Thanks to the publishing press, the 95 theses were printed all over Germany. In Address to the Christian Nobility, he said that secular government had the right to reform the church. Now Luther wasn't stupid. To a degree he sucked up to the nobles because he knew that if the nobles went with him, which would mean that his ideas, and later his reformation would be successful, because it had support from the people with power.

In On the Babylonian Captivity of the place of worship, Luther attacked the sacraments. Finally in Liberty of a Christian Man, he strike it: salvation by belief alone. In answer Pope Leo X handed out a Bull (papal decree, not the other kind of bull...) and claimed that Luther recant. Luther took the Bull, went outside and publicly burned it, he no longer acknowledged papal administration, and the pope excommunicated him. In 1521 he went before the Diet of Worms, when inquired by Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor, who said:

"Do you or ...