How Did Martin Luther Change Over Time

Life in Europe changed dramatically in the sixteenth century. The church was extremely powerful and central to all parts of the lives of Europeans, but the events that took place during this new reformation would challenge that. Once the church was challenged, change was almost immediate. What once was a unifying force split, and although a period of violence and unrest followed, it was a major turning point in history sparked by Martin Luther and the posting of his 95 Theses. Martin Luther was born in 1483 during the time of the Renaissance when there was a growing attitude of rejecting medieval values and a turn towards education, humanism, and other more classical values (Class Lecture, 2/22/16). Luther eventually went to study law where he had a conversion experience and set off to become an Augustinian monk. He applied humanist skills of philology and textual criticism to his study of scriptures. He had problems with
Since anyone could read the Bible now, people had many different interpretations, which they believed were the one true way to salvation or the “right” way to live a Christian life. Three of the new forms of Protestantism were even more radical than Lutheranism: Zwinglianism, Calvinism, and Anabaptism. Ulrich Zwingli was a former catholic priest turned reformer. While he held many of the same values and beliefs as Luther such as scriptural authority and priesthood of all believers, he completely rejected transubstantiation and the Eucharist saying that it confers no grace at all. John Calvin was a French born legal scholar who converted in 1533. France was catholic and he fled to Geneva where his ideas spread. He synthesized protestant ideas, focusing on sovereignty of God, election, predestination, Godly behavior, and Sabbath laws (Class Lecture, 3/2/16). Anabaptists were members of the Zwingli circle who challenged the idea of infant baptism and medieval ideas of spiritual policy (Class Lecture,