How Did Martin Luther Contribute To The Reform

The reformation happened in the sixteenth century because of various reasons and circumstances. The role of Martin Luther can be considered as the breakthrough in the sense that he challenged the contemporary religious practice and contributed for the initiation of socio-cultural, religious as well as political rebel. “Martin Luther (1483-1546), a German monk and teacher of theology, who set off the chain reaction we know as the reformation” (Coffin et al, 400). Martin Luther’s quest for justice became an inspiration to millions of people. Redefinition of religion, role of women and role of popes was significant in the process of reformation. There were some beliefs in the Lutheran faith that differed substantially from Catholicism. It gained mass support with the spread of Bible and Luther’s Ninety-five Theses to the general public. The corrupt nature of the papacy was also one of the reason. Renaissance evoked people to think
beyond their traditional thinking, which eventually questioned the traditional Catholic Christian church. Similarly, the nationalism moment and media revolution also contributed for the reformation. The conflict between different churches to become a dominant church also contributed this process. Furthermore, people were prohibited from practicing the religion because of their so called immoral belief, which, eventually, provoked them for the reformation. There had been couple of attempts for the reformation. In my opinion, those attempts were very substantial for the development of reformation in the sixteenth century. Despite the attempt, the nature of the society, the control of power and the literacy level of the public was not ready enough for the process of reformation.
“The most basic of Renaissance intellectual ideals is summarized in the term humanism.
This was a program of study that aimed to replace the scholastic emphasis on logic and metaphysics with the study of language, literature, rhetoric, history, and ethics” (Coffin et al, 375). On the other hand, the rise of town, growth of capitalism and birth of democracy had contributed variously from the middle age for the reformation process. Similarly, the fragmentation of Germany into 300 states also facilitated to make voices against the corruption of the church without fearing about the central powerful government. Now, they could print the Protestant books and distribute to the public, which was very significant at that time. Likewise, Pope Leo X was desperate for money to complete the magnificent St. Peter’s cathedral in Rome, which contributed to justify the common people about the nature of the church and motivate them for the process of reformation. The hope of peasants, towns and princes and the nationalist glorified the reformation
process.