Preview

Luther's Views On The Causes Of The Revolutionary War

Good Essays
Open Document
Open Document
520 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
Luther's Views On The Causes Of The Revolutionary War
1. The Rebel war occurred under its own momentum. Luther may have incited anger among the peasants due to his postings on the Ninety-Five Theses, and in 1520 To the Christian Nobility of the German Nation. But this anger began to take on its own shape as the peasants found their own voice and drastically deviated from Luther’s ideology. (Pg. 77, 110)
2. Luther did not support the rebellion and continually condemned the peasants harshly for their actions against the state. Luther claimed that insurrection is not something that God tolerates because man solely becomes judge, jury, and executioner. (Pg. 58)
3. Luther is not to blame for the Peasants’ War, but rather it is the temporal state who should be held responsible. The temporal state exploited and oppressed the peasants in order to fuel their own greed and desire for more wealth. Furthermore, they continue to suppress the gospel which is of great concern to Luther. Oppression causes riots. (Pg. 107, 131)
4.
…show more content…
Luther’s beliefs do not coincide with late rebel ideology, especially when war breaks out. He condemns them for their heinous actions against the temporal state, and even goes as far to claim that the Twelve Articles are unfit demands of those in their social class. Luther preaches spiritual equality, not social equality. (Pg. 112, 132)
5. In his, An Open Letter on the Harsh Book Against the Peasants, Luther openly supports the Lords and Nobles despite their suppression of the Gospel because he believes they are within their rights to quell the rebels by use of force because they are the “Sword of God.” (Pg. 52,

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Good Essays

    The result was full-scale war, the so-called “Peasant Revolts” that resulted in the bloody defeat of thousands of peasants. Although Luther condemned the violence and brutality of the Peasant Revolts, social unrest and ideological warfare…

    • 227 Words
    • 1 Page
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Religion has been seen to cause rebellion throughout history due to individual views and the willingness to fight for those views. Leading up to the peasants’ war, there are many stepping stones that made war in the era inevitable. The first major problem was the differences in upper and lower class Germany before and during the reformation, these differences are the first and most important issue that started the religious violence and uprising in Germany. Next Martin Luther, somewhat subconsciously, gave the people a reason to fight with his reformation ideas and drove the peasants’ war. Luther never would say which side he believed in but took full advantage of the war.…

    • 1000 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Popular revolts were a common occurrence in the 14th century. Driven by famine and plague, the peasants of Europe were driven to breaking the law to live. Hoping for a better life as well as a desire for wealth and status, they were always brutally suppressed by their cruel nobles. Of all the possible causes to this final effort to survive, a increasing gap between the poor and the wealthy, external causes, as well as inflation fueled the peasants to these revolts.…

    • 460 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    This was the social and political part of life. However, Luther represented his thesis based on the spiritual and secular terms. Nevertheless, the peasants interpreted the scripture and started to related it to their whole life and also the society areas that needed reformation. For instant, the peasants had to pay the highest amount taxes, also had to pay for the water to the landlords, peasants were not allowed to hunt and cut wood directly from the woods. Peasant had to pay the landlords for almost every right they wanted. This arose the development of the peasant’s war, the reformed Message had stared to spread towards the countryside. With the benefit of the printing press the message reach out to the educated clergy. On the other hand, the eighty percent of the peasants population was uneducated, the message was read out in assemblies, market places and painted materials. The peasants started to question all types of authorities and charger towards the nobles and royalty for equal society and political rights. Peasants established their demand with the help of varies rebels. For instant, the twelve articles, violence and Thomas Muntzer letters to…

    • 1325 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    If salvation is even partially credited to an individual’s choices or good works than the glory of god is stripped away. Luther states that salvation can only be attained through the intervention of god, not one’s acceptance of faith, and if salvation is not attained it is due to the intervention of the devil, and not once rejection of faith. If Luther were to suppose freewill existed, he would argue its very existence negates the omnipotence of the…

    • 891 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Throughout this psalm Luther continually says things like “be still,” “let us be quite,” “But he who waits for God will endure,” “remain in the land, go on dwelling where you are,” and “just do your part, go on working and making a living” (LW 14:227,212). Luther at one point says that, “Committing our way to God does not mean that we do nothing, It means that though the hypocrites may denounce, ridicule, slander, or frustrate what we do, we must not give in to them or quite, but keep right on with it, letting them have their stubbornness and entrusting the whole cause to God, who will make it come out right on both sides” (LW 14:213). There is an active persistence that Luther is perpetuating here. I find some real comfort in these words because there is some real conviction and power here in the face of a harsh reality. Just a few pages to the right Luther mentioned John Hus and the footnote includes, “The pope burned John Hus and many other saints, only recently Leonhard Kaiser and many others” (LW 14: 88). There is no doubt that Luther understands this path to have great…

    • 544 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    In response, the German people of Wittenberg, Luther’s faithful followers, start a rebellion against the Catholic Church and its leadership. They reject to pay the indulgences to the Catholic Church and ignore its laws. These followers then proceed to attack Roman Catholic officials and the clergy. They burn down Catholic cathedrals and monasteries. As a reaction to this rebellion against the church, a huge massacre takes place in Germany. Martin Luther is really disappointed with the people of Wittenberg because of their violence and evil acts. This is a result of the people’s misinterpretation of Luther’s beliefs. Worse still, Luther mourns the bloodshed caused by both the rebellion and Charles…

    • 874 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Traditional approaches to the doctrine have divorced Luther’s political thought from the rest of his theology. This model proposes that Luther’s political ethics arrived haphazardly when demanded by the events of his historical and cultural setting. In contrast, recent scholarship on the doctrine sees Luther’s public and political theology tied to his doctrine of justification and righteousness. The two are intrinsically brought together and are developed alongside each other. It is my belief that Luther’s understanding of justification and righteousness created the inner tension of a man who is both righteous and sinner (simul iustus et peccator), which influenced all components of his theological approach, including his understanding of political ethics. Recognizing the broad influence of the doctrine of “Two Kingdoms” in Luther’s theology, this paper will explore the language of political ethics and authority in light of this doctrine by first giving historical analysis, then analyzing how his understanding of justification and righteousness implied social responsibility on the part of the Christian, and finally, looking at how this informs his understanding of God’s rule and reign on earth in the spiritual and the temporal realms, both in the Church and in the civic…

    • 407 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Expanding more specifically on the previous point, Luther specifically went against the whole church and Pope. The reason why Luther wrote his 95 Theses was to basically go against the church. Among the things he wrote, he said that the Pope was wrong on how he handled the church and he wasn’t saving people with indulgences (Luther, Martin). Not only is that but the branch of Christianity he started called Protestantism. That name speaks for itself. What was Luther protesting against? The Catholic Church. However, that’s not the only reason he was called a…

    • 975 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Film Review of Luther

    • 619 Words
    • 3 Pages

    Luther was very respected by the peasants because of his thoughts and honesty about the biblical text. Luther believed and saw first hand how other people of "God" were using indulgences to take the money of the religiously uneducated in return for what they claimed was forgiveness and less time spent in purgatory for either themselves or relatives. Luther was blamed for the deaths of many of the peasants because after he had disappeared they had began an uprising to follow what they thought were his beliefs and because of this many of them lost their lives (it was estimated in the film that between 50,000 and 100,000 peasants and knights died.) The peasants that fought and were slaughtered were fighting alongside one of Luther's friend's which had taken what Luther had said and used it to rally the peasants into an uprising even though Luther did not mean it the way that it was understood. Luther did not have much power outside the peasant population with exception to the few of his fellow clergymen which mainly only helped to hide and transport him. The majority of the clergymen seemed to be rather envious of Luther for being able to stand up for what he believed in even though this meant he was in…

    • 619 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    Martin Luther - a History

    • 1588 Words
    • 7 Pages

    Martin Luther was not the first man to try and inform the masses of the corruption that was forming within the Church. Hundreds of years prior to Luther and his 95 Theses, English philosopher John Wyclif objected against the power that the Church had gained due to the Petrine Doctrine as well as the amounting wealth clergy members had gained. He called for the Bible to be available to all who wanted to read the word of God, rather than just for the literate. While Wyclif gained many followers, after his death, they were stamped out as heretics by the English government. Because of government persecution and censorship, these ideas went underground. The question is then how was Luther successful when others had failed before him. This can be seen by examining the time period and the crises people faced.…

    • 1588 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    The various perspectives presented as the initial factors for starting the Peasants Wars’ and involving the Reformation generally connect to social, religious, and economic change in the sixteenth century. These sources are written by scholars in their own specialized area, some authors comparing a critiquing others works whereas others are just analyzing events. I enhanced my understanding of the topic by doing background research on smaller subtopics relating to the complaints and to the Peasants’ War, also by gaining a better basis understanding it allows you to have a better in-depth understand of the more complicated and situational events that happened throughout the…

    • 1060 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Martin Luther

    • 397 Words
    • 2 Pages

    Luther then became involved in the controversy surrounding the Peasants War (1524 - 1526), the leaders of which had used Luther's arguments to justify their revolt. He rejected their demands and upheld the right of the authorities to suppress the revolt, which lost him many supporters.…

    • 397 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Luther also wanted resistance to unjust…

    • 1081 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    From this chapter in history, the reformation, we can conclude that Martin Luther was not a perfect man, though he did try his best to please the god that he worshipped and devoted his life to. Even though his contributions to the reformation are now warmly regarded as very necessary actions in order to revolutionize our population into (what we consider) the correct state of mind, at the time his actions were seen as bizarre and idiotic. Many of the people around Luther saw his ideas in very dim light because they were not accustomed to them. The simple fact is that change terrifies people. They didn’t see how his deeds improved…

    • 577 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays