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World history
Course: World history > Unit 4
Lesson 5: The Protestant Reformation- An introduction to the Protestant Reformation
- Introduction to the Protestant Reformation: Setting the stage
- Introduction to the Protestant Reformation: Martin Luther
- Introduction to the Protestant Reformation: Varieties of Protestantism
- Introduction to the Protestant Reformation: The Counter-Reformation
- Read + Discuss
- Protestant Reformation
- Cranach, Law and Gospel (Law and Grace)
- Cranach, Law and Gospel
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Introduction to the Protestant Reformation: Martin Luther
Learn about the life of Martin Luther and his dispute with the Catholic church. Created by Beth Harris and Steven Zucker.
Want to join the conversation?
- Heresy is a (usually religious) belief contrary to what is considered correct or aceptable at the time. A heretic is someone who has heretical beliefs. Heresy doesn't refer to one particular idea or denomination - during the Reformation, Catholics were considered heretics in Protestant areas, and Protestants were persecuted for heresy in Catholic areas.(6 votes)
- I just want to clarify.. At around, you said that Frederick the Wise secretly kidnapped Martin Luther and "hides him away". So does that mean the "kidnap" here is a good thing? As in he helped him avoid getting arrested? Thanks 6:50(10 votes)
- In this case, "kidnap" is a good thing because Frederick the Wise hides Martin Luther for his own protection. If Martin Luther was out and about, someone would have arrested him and burned him at the stake for being a heretic. By hiding, he was safe and was able to translate the Bible from Latin to German.(7 votes)
- What are indulgences? I don't get it??(3 votes)
- An indulgence is a remission of punishment for previously committed sins. It was a practice of the Roman Catholic Church, and involved its members paying for ticket-like documents that showed they had been forgiven of certain sins. The money from the sales of the indulgences was used to fund activities and projects (normally construction of churches, palaces, and monuments) for the Church. It should be noted that the Catholic Church no longer sells indulgences, and the practice is now an occurrence of the past.(8 votes)
- What is the difference between monks and priests?(5 votes)
- In the Catholic religion there is a sacrament called Holy Orders which men receive when they become deacons, priests and bishops. They are ordained into the priesthood and so are now called to serve God and His church. They can perform certain sacraments that lay people (those who have not received the sacrament of Holy Orders) can't.
A monk does not receive the sacrament of Holy Orders. Generally monks belong to a specific religious order and each religious order has different focus/goals. Some orders are contemplative (they focus on prayer and generally remain apart for society). Some orders are missionary where they travel to spread God's word. Some focus on education and work in schools and the like. So a monk has taken certain vows to the religious order to serve the goals of that order and one of those vows could be celibacy. The strictness depends on which religious order.
Hope this helps ;)(4 votes)
- Atwhat do they mean by " faith alone "? 10:20(4 votes)
- It means people are not saved by what they do, but rather that God saves them when they place their faith in Him, and then they do good because they are thankful.(4 votes)
- Why no mention of hussite rebellions fromto 2:50? 4:45(3 votes)
- Were indulgences written out by hand, or were they produced using the printing press?(3 votes)
- Probably a little of both. Sometimes the priests would write the indulgences out for specific people and other times they were mass produced.(3 votes)
- Who translated 95 thesis from Latin to common language?(2 votes)
- There is no specific person who translated the 95 thesis from Latin to common language. There were no complete languages like there are today then, whatever Luther spoke was not written it was vernacular of the place. Since the printing press had been becoming more popular any person within access could have translated but even then the audience/market to read it was not there because the majority of people were not literate (could not read or write) so in each individual town someone would take the initiative to read out the 95 thesis to the public.(3 votes)
- Did the Elector of Saxony kidnap Luther in a conscious attempt to continue the Reformation (to keep him safe while the animosity died down) or in an actual attempt to halt his progress? If it was an attempt to continue the Reformation, would the Elector be considered a Protestant? Also, how and why was Luther released when he was?(3 votes)
- The Elector of Saxony was trying to help Luther, and through him the Reformation. So in that sense, he wanted to continue the Reformation, but this doesn't necessarily mean that the Elector himself believed in Protestantism.
Luther was released because enough time had passed that he would probably be safe from the Holy Roman Emperor.(1 vote)
- Why did people stop speaking Latin?(3 votes)
Video transcript
[MUSIC PLAYING] DR. STEVEN ZUCKER: So
in the first video, we established that Martin
Luther, this professor of theology in Wittenberg,
this Augustinian monk, had posted his 95 Theses
on the door of the castle church in Wittenberg--
at least, this is how the tradition tells
the story-- that took issue with the way in which the
Catholic Church thought about salvation, and it
specifically took issue with the selling of indulgences. DR. BETH HARRIS:
Luther was arguing against the sale of
indulgences, and that kind of monetary transaction
for getting into Heaven. Tetzel, who was
selling indulgences, we quoted in the first video,
but here's another quote, "Won't you part with even a
farthing to buy this letter? It won't bring you money but
rather a divine and immortal soul, whole and secure in
the kingdom of heaven." DR. STEVEN ZUCKER: We have to
understand that this exists within this larger
scheme, and the church thought that the ultimate
aim was a good one. But he sounds like
a used car salesman. DR. BETH HARRIS: So Luther in
one section of the 95 Theses, says you know people are
going to ask questions that we can't really
answer about what we're doing with these
indulgences, such as, "Why does not the
Pope empty Purgatory for the sake of holy love and
the dire need of the souls that are there, if he redeems
an infinite number of souls for the sake of miserable money
with which to buy a church? The former reason
would be most just, the latter is most trivial." See, what he's saying
is, if the pope has the authority, the treasury
of merit of all of the saints that he can
distribute, why is he selling them to
build the church? Why doesn't he just redeem the
souls that are in Purgatory and send them up to Heaven, if
he has the power to do that? And there was a perception
that the church, at times, was a rather corrupt
institution, that seemed to be more concerned with
power, and political issues, and worldly issues,
and not so concerned with the salvation of souls. DR. STEVEN ZUCKER: Well the
previous pope, Julius II, certainly had that
kind of reputation. DR. BETH HARRIS: Right. This is a hard thing for
us to realize, I think, but at this time,
the popes claimed not only spiritual power,
like they do today, but also political power, and
governed these very significant lands, known as
the Papal States. DR. STEVEN ZUCKER:
And so, in some ways, the pope functioned as
the princes of territories in Italy. DR. BETH HARRIS: Right. Pope Julius II led
armies into battles against other Christians
to reclaim territories that were historically
part of the Papal States. DR. STEVEN ZUCKER:
So this notion of a, kind of,
corruption in Rome is infusing this
entire discussion, this entire argument. DR. BETH HARRIS: So there
had been other reformers before Luther who
were not successful. For example, we could
look to John Wyclif in the 14th century. DR. STEVEN ZUCKER:
So in the 1300s, this Englishman had set
about to translate the Bible into the vernacular, into the
common language, into English. DR. BETH HARRIS: He organized
the translation of the Bible into English. He translated much
of it himself. DR. STEVEN ZUCKER: Especially,
much of the New Testament. DR. BETH HARRIS: It
was important to him that the Bible be
available to people in their common language--
that people could read it. If it's in Latin, essentially,
only the priests could read it. This is important for
us, because this idea of enabling the reading of the
Bible was critical for Luther. And we'll get to that. DR. STEVEN ZUCKER: OK. So let's just step
back for a moment, and just remember that in
Western Europe at this time, the vast majority of the
population was illiterate. But those that
could read, would be reading in the
vernacular, not Latin. And by vernacular, I mean
their common languages, whether it was English, or
German, or French, or Italian, it wasn't Latin. And this was a means
that the church could control the word of God. DR. BETH HARRIS: Well it meant
that you heard the word of God through the
priests-- you weren't able to read it yourself. Wyclif also attacked the
abuses of the church, the worldliness of the church. DR. STEVEN ZUCKER:
After he died, he was declared a heretic. His body was exhumed,
it was burned. His books were burned. He was punished after the fact. DR. BETH HARRIS: Another
early reformer was John Hus. DR. STEVEN ZUCKER: Now
he was from Bohemia, and he was ultimately
burned at the stake. DR. BETH HARRIS: In 1415. So this is just a little
bit more than 100 years before Luther. DR. STEVEN ZUCKER: Now those
95 Theses were posted in Latin, but people translated it,
without his authorization, into German, and then used the
new technology of the printing press, and
distributed it widely. DR. BETH HARRIS:
The printing press had been invented in
the mid-15th century. Incredibly important
invention for the spread of Protestant ideas. DR. STEVEN ZUCKER: Well, think
about what's happening here. Instead of the distribution
network of the church, you have people acting on their
own, outside of that structure, in their own language. DR. BETH HARRIS: So Luther posts
the 95 Theses in 1517, word gets to the pope, he's
accused of heresy, but he's gaining
support, widely. And in 1521, he's called
to a large council. DR. STEVEN ZUCKER:
So this event, we call the Diet
of Worms, and it was under the auspices of
the Holy Roman Emperor. DR. BETH HARRIS: So this
is an unfortunate name. [LAUGHTER] DR. STEVEN ZUCKER: Yes, it is. DR. BETH HARRIS:
The Diet of Worms. DR. STEVEN ZUCKER:
Nobody's eating worms. DR. BETH HARRIS: But a diet
is a gathering, a council, and Worms or "vorms,"
is a city in Germany. DR. STEVEN ZUCKER: So the new
Holy Roman Emperor, who's, by the way, only a teenager at
this time, has summoned Luther. He's given him an authorization
of safe passage, that is, he won't be
arrested on his way. And he is to testify
at this council. DR. BETH HARRIS: So Luther is
asked if he authored the books. He's presented
with his own books. Luther says, yes, I did. DR. STEVEN ZUCKER:
And then he's asked, do you stand by the
ideas in these books? DR. BETH HARRIS:
And Luther says, give me a day to
think about that. DR. STEVEN ZUCKER: And
that request is granted. He comes back the next
day, and by all accounts, gives an eloquent defense
of the ideas in the books and does not renounce
any of the ideas. DR. BETH HARRIS: It's pretty
clear that the lines are drawn. And Luther leaves Worms. He's declared an
unrepentant heretic, it's clear he's
going to be arrested, possession of his
writings is forbidden, and he leaves the city of Worms. Remember, he's been
granted safe passage, so he's allowed to leave Worms. DR. STEVEN ZUCKER: Now
here's the crucial moment. Will he end up like Hus
that is burned at the stake? Arrested? Will that be the
end of his efforts, or will something else happen? Well, something
else does happen, and that's because
of political issues. The new emperor of
the Holy Roman Empire had gotten that job
because of the vote of men in Germany-- princes,
who are called Electors. And one of those Electors,
the Elector of Saxony, secretly kidnaps Luther as
he leaves the city of Worms, and hides him away in a castle. Where, by the way,
Luther immediately gets down to work writing and
translating the New Testament. And by the time Luther emerges
and returns to public life, the Holy Roman Emperor is
involved in other issues and doesn't pursue his arrest. So Luther is able to
do something that Hus, that Wyclif was not
able to do, which is to continue his campaign. DR. BETH HARRIS: In a
way, the whole Reformation happens because of
issues like this. That local rulers, whether
they're monarchs or princes, are tired of seeding so much
authority and political power to the pope, and use the
opportunity of the Reformation to wrest back some control
of their own lands, of their own people. DR. STEVEN ZUCKER: If
you think about the power structure in Europe
at this time, especially in what
will become Germany, you have the local princes,
you have the authority of the pope in Rome on the
other side of the Alps, but you also have the
Holy Roman Emperor. So it was very
complicated, and everybody was trying to enlarge
their own stake. So Martin Luther is
at the Diet of Worms, he's been confronted
with his own writings, he's in a really
dangerous situation. DR. BETH HARRIS:
Luther was going against one of the central
doctrines of the church. And that was that
you were justified. That is, that you got
to Heaven in two ways, according to the church. One, through God's forgiveness,
through God's grace. The other, through things
that you could do yourself, choices that you could make
as a human being through what the church called good works. DR. STEVEN ZUCKER: So by good
works we mean, for instance, helping to build Saint
Peter's Basilica. DR. BETH HARRIS: Exactly. Or donating money to the church. DR. STEVEN ZUCKER: Or helping
the poor, or any of the things that we think, in the modern
world, of charitable work. DR. BETH HARRIS: Exactly. And Luther was deeply
disturbed by this idea, because in his own
conscience he felt so sinful that nothing he felt
that he could do could help him get to Heaven. There was not enough good
works to do in the world to remove the sin that he
felt that he lived with, and that all human
beings lived with. If you think about
the medieval mind tallying up the sins
they've committed, and sometimes sins can just
be like jealousy or envy, and tallying those against the
good works that they've done, you can imagine this
constant tallying that must have gone on in
the medieval conscience. DR. STEVEN ZUCKER: So this
is a terrible responsibility on the individual. And so it must have been
a tremendous relief when he read carefully the
words of Saint Paul. DR. BETH HARRIS: Luther
read Saint Paul, who said, "For I am not ashamed
of the gospel of Christ, for it is the power of God
to salvation for everyone who believes. For in it the righteousness
of God is revealed from faith to faith, as it is written,
'The just shall live by faith.'" Those last words
were critical for Luther. That meant to Luther
that one is justified, one gets to Heaven,
through faith alone, not through good works. Salvation with something
freely granted by God, and not something that had to be
earned by human beings. DR. STEVEN ZUCKER: So
faith was a kind of gift that God gave you,
and that faith was all you needed
to get to Heaven. DR. BETH HARRIS:
Through faith alone, is one of Luther's
central ideas. DR. STEVEN ZUCKER: So all of
this make sense in relationship to the 95 Theses, and
to Luther's concern about indulgences, because the
indulgence is this proposition that good works will
hurry the soul to Heaven. And that's precisely what
Luther is taking issue with. DR. BETH HARRIS:
And with, really, the whole authority of the
church to forgive, to remit sin and to allow a
person into Heaven. Luther's feeling was
that the only power to do that was with God. DR. STEVEN ZUCKER: So
he looks at his books, and he does not renounce them. DR. BETH HARRIS: No. And he eventually
returns to Wittenburg and founds the Lutheran church,
and sparks many other types of Protestantism that we'll
talk about in the next video. [MUSIC PLAYING]