Topic 3: Protestant Reformation - Martin Luther
1) Political climate that led to Luther’s reformation
o The political climate that led up to Luthers Reformation was one of an almost
overbearing and sort of dictatorship sense.
o The Roman Catholic Church had the power of all of the religious teachings and
understandings that was known throughout the Roman Empire. The Roman
Catholic had lax practices of the faith as well as many disputes despite the
General councils call to impose reforms on the systems of the Catholic Church.
o The reason for the reform was generally because the Roman Catholic Church had
too much power of what was interpreted in the bible and had too much control
over the way people had expressed and practiced their faith.
o John Wycliffe, an English priest and professor of the 14th century said that people
should have the chance to interpret the meanings of the bible for themselves; this
was a factor that played in the reformation.
By: Gabriel
2) Grievances against the Catholic Church
 Martin Luther made a list of grievances called the 95 theses. He pinned this list
on the Church door for people to see.
 Martin Luther’s main grievance with the Catholic Church was that it was selling
indulgences.
 People thought their sins could be forgiven without having any faith at all.
 He believed that indulgences were not right and wouldn’t bring people to heaven.
 He accused the Church of not showing people how to get into heaven, and leaving
them with their sins.
 He didn’t believe that performing good actions gets you into heaven, but faith and
faith alone.
By: Justin
3) Luther’s Response to the Catholic Church’s Position
In response to the church’s position, Luther wanted to make it clear that people
were saved by Christ’s sacrifice on the cross, and that alone. Nothing that you or
the church did had an effect on your salvation; only what Christ had already done.
This is when Luther decided to reform the church
At this time the printing press was first being put to use and Luther took this
opportunity to spread his word this way
He used it to write down his messages and teachings in languages such as Latin
and German as well as creating anti-Pope propaganda
He believed the Pope was Antichrist and was trying to tear down God’s church
from the inside.
By: Victoria and Angelica
Works Cited
Brown, Lorrie. "Martin Luther and the Reformation."
lorriebrown.suite101 . N.p., Mar 29, 2007 . Web. 13 Sep 2011.
<http://lorribrown.suite101.com/martin -luther-and-the-reformationa17603>.
McGrath, Allister. "mtio.com." Martin Luther: Pioneer of Reform .
R a n d o m H o u s e , I n c . , c o p yr i g h t 2 0 0 1 . W e b . 1 3 S e p 2 0 1 1 .
<http://www.mtio.com/articles/bissar72.htm>.
E d w a r d s , M a r k J r . “ M a r t i n L u t h e r : A p o c a l yp s e ! ” P B S . 1 9 9 5 - 2 0 1 1 .
Web. 15 Sep 2011.
<http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/s hows/apocalypse/explan
ation/martinluther.html>