HY 106 Lecture Notes - Lecture 12: Michael Servetus, Anabaptism, France 4
1. Martin Luther and the Birth of Protestantism
1. Introduction
1. German Augustinian friar, Martin Luther launched the Protestant
Reformation
2. Luther of the sixteenth century articulated the widespread desire for
reform of the Christian church and a deep yearning for salvation
2. Lutherās Early Years
1. Martin Luther was born at Eisleben in Saxony and attended the
university of Erfurt
2. Luther became a friar but had terrible anxieties about sin and worried
continually about his salvation, and later believed salvation comes
through simple faith in Christ
3. The Ninety-five Theses
1. The twenty-seven-year-old archbishop of Magdeburg, Albert, was also
the administrator of the see of Halberstadt and had been appointed
archbishop of Mainz to hold these offices at the same time required
papal dispensation
2. Pope Leo X needing money to continue construction of Saint Peterās
Basilica, collected money from Archbishop Albert who had borrowed
money from the Fuggers and Leo X authorized Archbishop Albert to sell
indulgences in Germany to repay
1. Indulgence: in order to be reconciled to God, the sinner must
confess his or her sins to a priest and do the penance assigned
2. Doctrine of indulgence: God is merciful, but just, Christ and the
saints establish ed a ītreasury of merits,ī which they can draw, and
third, the church has the authority to grant sinners the spiritual
benefits of those merits
3. Later, people believed that an indulgence secured total remission
penalties of sin
3. Archbishop Albert hired Dominican friar John Tetzel to sell the
indulgences and soon men and women could buy indulgences not only
for themselves but also for deceased parents, relatives, or friends
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4. Luther, on the eve of All Saintsā Day, October 31, 1517, attached to the
door of the church at Wittenberg Castle a list of ninety-five theses
(propositions) on indulgences
1. Luther firmly rejected the notion that salvation could be achieved by
indulgences and some of the theses challenged the popeās power to
grant such indulgences and others criticized the papal wealth
2. The theses were soon translated, printed, and read throughout the
empire and when Luther was questioned, he rested his fundamental
argument on the principle that there was no biblical basis for
indulgences
3. In 1519, he publicly challenged the authority of the Pope and the
church council and the papacy responded by giving him two months
or be excommunicated
4. Holy Roman Emperor Charles V declared him an outlaw of the
empire and denied legal protection, but the Duke Frederick of
Saxony protected him
4. Protestant Thought
1. Between 1520 and 1530, Luther worked out the basic theological tenets
that became the articles of faith for his new church and for all the
Protestant groups
1. Protestant derives from the protest drawn up by a small group of
reforming German princes at the Diet of Speyer in 1529
2. Protestant first meant īLutheranī but eventually meant all non-
Catholic Christians
2. Luther provided new answers to four old, basic theological issues
1. How is a person to be saved? -- salvation comes by faith alone
2. Where does religious authority reside? -- authority rests in the Word
of God as revealed in the Bible alone and as interpreted by an
individualās conscience
3. What is the church? -- re-emphasized the Catholic teaching that the
church consists of the entire community of Christian believers
4. What is the highest form of Christian life? -- all vocations have equal
merit, whether ecclesiastical or secular, and that every person
should serve God in his or her individual calling
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3. Whereas Catholic doctrine held that there are seven sacraments, Luther
believed that the Scriptures support only three sacramentsābaptism,
penance, and the Eucharist, or Lordās Supper
1. Catholic Church held transubstantiation -- bread and wine because
the actually body and blood of Christ, who is then fully present in the
bread and wine
2. Luther defined consubstantiation -- belief that after consecration the
bread and wine undergo a spiritual change whereby Christ is really
present but food same
3. Swiss reformed Ulrich Zwingli affirmed that the Lordās Supper is
a memorial
4. John Calvin believed Lutherās consubstantiation (consumed
spiritually)
5. The Social Impact of Lutherās Beliefs
1. Two significant late medieval developments prepared the way for
Lutherās ideas
1. Since the fifteenth century, city governments had expressed
resentment at clerical privileges and immunities
2. Critics of the late medieval church condemned the irregularity and
poor quality of the sermons -- town burghers established
preacherships to support good preachers
2. Luther in his 1520 treatise On Christian Liberty: īA Christian man is the
most free lord of all and subject to none.ī (words contributed to social
unrest)
3. After crop failures in 1523 and 1524, Swabian peasants demanded an
end to death taxes, new rents, and noble seizure of village common
lands forming the Twelve Articles, which Luther who wanted to prevent
rebellion, supported by warned that nothing justified the use of armed
force
4. Revolts soon broke out using Lutherās writings as their slogans but he
had written of the īfreedomī of the Christian, but he had meant the
freedom to obey the Word of God, for in sin men and women lose their
freedom and break their God relationship
5. Lutheranism came to exalt the state and subordinate church to the
secular rulers
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Document Summary
Martin luther and the birth of protestantism, introduction, german augustinian friar, martin luther launched the protestant. Saxony protected him: protestant thought, between 1520 and 1530, luther worked out the basic theological tenets that became the articles of faith for his new church and for all the. Protestant groups: protestant derives from the protest drawn up by a small group of reforming german princes at the diet of speyer in 1529, protestant first meant (cid:1688)lutheran(cid:1689) but eventually meant all non- Burgundian netherlands for centuries: from his father, habsburg charles v inherited spain, spanish dominions in italy, sicily, sardinia, and naples, habsburg lands in austria, southern. Valois kings of france (french supported lutheran princes within. Calvinism: calvinism, calvin"s theological writings profoundly influenced the social thought and attitudes, in 1533 he experienced a religious crisis, in which he converted to. Protestantism: convinced that god selects certain people to do his work, calvin believed that god had specifically called to reform the church (the.
