Martin Luther. Martin Luther was a German theologian who disagreed with many views of the pope and the catholic church. Today we credit him with how different denominations within the Christian faith came to be. However, not many dive into what Luther actually believed, most decide that his beliefs were simply the same as what modern Protestants think, as he was the cause of the Protestant Reformation.
Luther believed that the human will is corrupt and that man’s good works mean nothing. He thought that a just man lives by faith, and faith alone is what ultimately gets you to heaven. Luther believed and preached this because he believed most Christians believed heaven was a cookie to be earned by good deeds, and because of this, no Christian man did his good deeds out of the pure genuine kindness of his heart, but out of the corrupt belief that he would be rewarded and that’s the only reason to do good deeds.
Martin Luther had many differing beliefs from the Catholic faith, and made very public displays of it. One notable display was the image of sinful people being a dunghill covered by the snow of the Lord’s cloak. He used this somewhat crude and offensive imagery to explain his belief that no one will ever be without their sin, stating that Catholics believe the dunghill that is your sins is transformed into the snow. This was not the first or the last time Luther would purposefully use crude language to separate him from the church.
Luther also believed that the Bible alone is the rule of belief for the Christian. This contrasted with the Catholic belief that scripture and tradition was the rule of belief. Catholic people view that reason and tradition that came from reason is just as important to follow as the Bible. For instance, the Bible never mentions Purgatory, that is a Catholic belief that came from reason, and is now a traditional belief among Catholics. On the other hand, Luther did not believe in such things as Purgatory, because the Bible didn’t say so. This is also why Luther did not believe in indulgences, he believed that this was a monopolization on the part of the Popes.
In the modern day this is actually a pretty risky concept, because every Christian says “Oh I just do what the Bible says” But there are a million different interpretations of the Bible. This doesn’t just mean translations, although some translations do have different interpretations on the meaning of certain things, but the difference between metaphor and history. What part of the Bible is meant to be taken literally is now up for debate. Which is why this caused so many breaks into a long list of different denominations.
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