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Impact Of Martin Luther And The Reformation Of The Church

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Martin Luther and the Reformation of the Church Martin Luther did many things. He was one of the first people to defy the Catholic Church and its pope annd his writings pursaded other people to do the same. He translated the New Testament from Latin to German so common people could read it, not just clegery. Without him, the church would have been very different, as would daily life in the Renaissance and possibly today. Martin Luther was one of the most important people in the Renaissance and the reformation of the Catholic Church. Luther's writings challenged the legitimacy of the Catholic Church. He challenged the pope saying that the Bible is the only authority Christians should follow. If the pope's teachings went against the Bible, …show more content…

Luther responed with the famous “Here I stand. God help me. I can do no other.” Charles V declared Luther a hetric, called for his execution, and the papal Bull “Exsurge Domine” which ordered Luther's writings to be put on the Index. The Index Librorum Prohibitorum, or “Index” was created. It was a list of forbidden books published by Pope Paul IV. There was also an Index Expurgatorius: a list of books that were OK as long as certain passages were removed. Another extreme action taken by the church was the Inquisition. The Inquisition was started to find and punish heretics. It was a search organized by six generals hired especialy for the Inquisition. One of the generals was the infamous Tomás de Torquemada. If the Inquisition found you guilty, your puishments could range from exucution to the church taking your property. Despite all this, Luther managed to hide, and from safety, keep writing. He translated the Latin New Testament into German for the common people. This was probably his biggest favor to the reformation of the church. Luther didn't set out to start a rebelion against the church, but he did, and changed the world he lived in. With the New Testament and later the Old Tesament printed in German instead of Latin, normal people could read the Bible and interpert its teaching for themselves. Some, upon realizing the corruption of the Catholic Church and the need for faith to receive forgiveness, joined a new domination called Protestants.

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