Martin Luther's Influence On The Catholic Church
Many people consider Martin Luther’s ideas revolutionary, but they were really just the tipping point. Before Luther, many people and events attacked the Catholic Church and it’s credibility. The most influential of these people and events were John Wycliffe, Jan Hus, and the Black Death. John Wycliffe was the first major critic of the ideology of the Catholic Church. His ideas would later influence both Jan Hus and Martin Luther himself. Wycliffe attacked the church with three separate ideas and actions. First, Wycliffe believed that “Men exercised dominion straight from God and that if they were in a state of mortal sin, then their dominion was in appearance only. The righteous alone could properly have dominion, even if they were not free
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Among these was the spread of the Black Plague. It went by many names such as the Black Death, the Bubonic Plague, and the Pneumonic Plague, but it was all the same. It had many social and economic effects, but a major one was its impact on the church, or rather, the people’s belief in it. Originally, the lay people believed the Plague had been sent by God to punish people for their sins. According to an article by Brown University’s Leonard Courie, “Faith in religion decreased after the plague, both because of the death of so many of the clergy and because of the failure of prayer to prevent sickness and death” (Courie). Despite much prayer, over a third of Europe died as a result of the Black Death. Feasibly, belief in the Catholic Church and God both declined. Another reason behind the decline of the Catholic Church due to the Black Plague was the loss of clergy members. “Over half of the clergy members died as a result of the Bubonic Plague” (Courie). Over time, the church was able to replace these clergy members, but the immediate effect was that in communities, there was no one to calm the people’s fears or administer the masses each week. Understandably, the lay people began to turn their backs on the church. The Black Plague planted the seed of doubt in the lay people’s minds and caused them to question the validity of the Catholic Church. This shows Martin Luther’s ideas were a matter of fateful timing because the Black Death had already begun to turn so many of the seemingly faithful lay people against the Catholic
Among these was the spread of the Black Plague. It went by many names such as the Black Death, the Bubonic Plague, and the Pneumonic Plague, but it was all the same. It had many social and economic effects, but a major one was its impact on the church, or rather, the people’s belief in it. Originally, the lay people believed the Plague had been sent by God to punish people for their sins. According to an article by Brown University’s Leonard Courie, “Faith in religion decreased after the plague, both because of the death of so many of the clergy and because of the failure of prayer to prevent sickness and death” (Courie). Despite much prayer, over a third of Europe died as a result of the Black Death. Feasibly, belief in the Catholic Church and God both declined. Another reason behind the decline of the Catholic Church due to the Black Plague was the loss of clergy members. “Over half of the clergy members died as a result of the Bubonic Plague” (Courie). Over time, the church was able to replace these clergy members, but the immediate effect was that in communities, there was no one to calm the people’s fears or administer the masses each week. Understandably, the lay people began to turn their backs on the church. The Black Plague planted the seed of doubt in the lay people’s minds and caused them to question the validity of the Catholic Church. This shows Martin Luther’s ideas were a matter of fateful timing because the Black Death had already begun to turn so many of the seemingly faithful lay people against the Catholic