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     Martin Luther is considered the father of the Protestant Reformation. He was a Monk and professor who after studying the scripture began to question the Catholic Church. On October 31, 1517 (Economist) Luther changed the world by posting his 95 grievances, fondly known as his “95 Theses”, on the University door. He concentrated on the sale of indulgences and the path to God, saying the church had no right to exclusively do it. He argued that people can interpret the Bible themselves. He also argued that countries should be able to interpret religion their way, rather than everyone following the Pope in Italy (Fiero). After the Theses was posted, plus the new invention of the printing press, people all over Europe were able to read this and spark the Reformation. Luther was charged with heresy and had to go to court, called the Diet of Worms, in 1921. The “95 Theses” should be preserved because this document not only shows that one man can change the world, but it is a vital document in religious history.
Leading up to Luther’s posting, there had been some arguments against the Church of Rome. In the Netherlands a new religious thought was being put into action called modern devotion (Fiero). Modern devotion spread throughout Northern Europe and sparked some questions on if the Church of Rome was the only path to God. At this time the Church of Rome was corrupt, and was selling indulgences saying it would get your family out of purgatory. Profits from the indulgences were going renovate churches and homes for the clergy. Many people, including Luther, were not happy with it anymore.
Because of the arguments against the Catholic Church, Luther was not the only reform minded person in Europe. Derek Wilson wrote a story for History Today called “The Luther Legacy” that talked about various effects over the years of the “95 Theses”. Wilson said, “He wanted to restore the church to its New Testament purity. In that desire he was at one with a large swathe of public opinion… (Wilson).” The Catholic Church had gotten so out of control that Kings wanted to take control back over their countries. Luther wanted to give this religious control to the Kings, rather than the Catholic Church controlling it. In fact, Wilson pointed out that, “…the German estates also presented a catalog of 102 ‘oppressive burdens and abuses imposed upon…the German Empire by the Holy See of Rome’ (Wilson).” They presented this Catalog at Luther’s heresy trial.
Like I have already mentioned, Luther was not the first Reformer, he was just the first one to get the backing needed to make it successful. Because of that, the “95 Theses” was very innovative for its time. “…he gave people permission to doubt everything the Catholic hierarchy taught, to judge it for themselves against the testimony of the bible (Wilson).” Before Luther, and even for a little while after, people who questioned the Catholic Church were persecuted by both the Church and their Country. Luther also gave instructions on how to use the testimony of the bible, “…he was saying that any man or woman possessed of the open Bible could be their own theologian (Wilson).” This idea was very terrifying to authority because as Wilson continues to point out, this idea challenged divine sanction in general (both Church and State) and left minds open for other forms of politics, like democracy. Michael Mullett describes this new position as, “…the doctrine of justification by faith alone (Mullett).”
As already discussed, Luther’s work scared authority figures; but regular citizens and scholars were inspired by his ideas. “Within a few years hundreds of untrained lay people were writing devotional and polemical books and pamphlets (Wilson).” He was actually responsible for a third of vernacular literature between the years 1520 and 1546, Wilson goes on to state. Luther is given the honor of starting the Protestant Reformation which may not have been his original purpose, but soon things started to spiral out of control. Another response of people at the time was violent riots. Wilson explains the situation, “…a widespread popular rising against secular princes by ordinary people some of whom drew socially radical conclusions from Luther’s teaching (Wilson).” These riots Luther quickly stood up against and said he didn’t support them. The most major response though, was the response of the Church of Rome. In 1521 Luther was brought before the Diet of Worms for heresy, the ruling was to excommunicate him from Germany.
Today, Luther is still coined as the man who began Protestantism. In the last hundred years though, there has been some interesting things associated with Luther. On one side he is still praised, Wilson said “Even our supposedly post-Christian age cannot write him out of the record (Wilson).” This was Wilson recognizing how important of a person Luther was to shaping the world we live in today. He is also still used today when Catholic issues arise again. For example, in 1999 the Catholic Church reemphasized the sale of indulgences. On the topic, Vitor Westhelle said, “At least these are recent signals…which invites us to take a new look at Luther’s quest for a merciful God (Westhelle).” The most interesting thought though, is people saying Luther is evil and influenced Hitler. In a Time magazine article from 1944, William Inge wrote a periodical that actually says Luther is worse than Hitler. He said, “If we wish to find a scapegoat on whose shoulders we may lay the miseries which Germany has brought upon the world…I am more and more conceived that the worst evil genius of that country is not Hitler…but Martin Luther (Time).” He goes on to wish that one day Luther’s influence won’t be in Germany anymore. In 2003, they made a movie called Luther about the posting of the Theses. According to the movies IMDB page, the movie begins when he becomes a monk and goes through his struggles with the church and through the actual trial after. I believe, and the movie shows, that people today are still impressed and interested in Luther’s work.


<p style="text-align: left">Personally I have a few different reactions to the work. Religiously I admire Luther for his strength to stand up against the Catholic Church. I grew up in a Baptist home, which is Protestant, so I have him to thank for that (Although I am sure someone else would’ve broken the ties if it were not Luther.). He knew what he believed and he stood up for it. Politically, I admire his guts. I feel like today people are afraid to speak out like he did; and then after speaking out still stand on their word even when they are being charged or persecuted for it.
A few years following the posting many reformers stepped up to follow in Luther’s footsteps. One of which was John Calvin, whose followers were called Calvinists. John Calvin wrote lots of books describing his views, one of which was called “The Institutes of the Christian Religion”. He finished the work in 1536; it started as a paper and ended up a 4 book series (Creator, Redeemer, Spirit, and the Church). He dedicated the book to the French King Francis 1, who was persecuting Protestants. “The French Protestants…may have been inclined to regard government as an enemy exclusively, not understanding in it its divinely ordained role (McKee).” According to McKee, Calvin was discussing the Apostles Creed, the Ten Commandments, and the Lord’s Prayer.
This work as a whole is just remarkably significant. As far as religious texts go, I would personally say this comes right after the Bible in importance. Future generations deserve to see what is possible if you stand up for yourself. Other times in history this has worked; Civil Rights, Women’s rights, the end of slavery, civil wars around the world. If you stand up for what you believe in, there are no limits to where it can take you; and that is what I believe future generations can learn from this work.
Martin Luther is one of the most well-known names in the history of the world. He single-handedly sparked the Protestant Reformation, he changed the Catholic Church, and he changed the way the whole world thought and taught religion. His “95 Theses” sparked huge controversy, but it brought awareness of the ridiculous-ness the Church of Rome was trying to pass as religion. Since then thousands of churches consider themselves Protestant, the Catholic Church has changed and is not as corrupt, and many people can attribute their right to speak their opinions to Martin Luther. His work is unmatched in religious and philosophical importance, and that is why it deserves to be preserved for future generations.</p>