The beginning of a new age - Lutheranism

5 important questions on The beginning of a new age - Lutheranism

Who is Martin Luther?

Martin Luther (1483-1546) is a German monk. He read the books of Erasmus (who lived almost at the same time as Luther) but was more radical. He found out that many practices of the Church were not mentioned in the Bible and therefore not correct to him. He expressed his criticism in 95 theses (= short statements that Luther wanted to discuss with others).

What was the reaction of the Catholic Church to Luther's theses?

The Catholic Church was against him and the Pope excommunicated him. King Charles V declared Luther an outlaw in the Holy Roman Empire which means that anyone was allowed to kill Luther.

How could Luther live as an outlaw with big enemy the Holy Roman Empire?

The German Empire existed only of a few principalities, and the Emperor of the Holy Roman Empire ruled over these rulers. The German rulers didn't like the influence of the Roman Empire and supported Luther and hided him.
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Why did the German rulers support Luther?

The German rulers liked the ideas of Luther that the ruler is also the head of the Church and that the subjects always has to obey the ruler. And when there are no monastic orders any more, the land of those orders could be taken over by the rulers. The German ruler also didn't want to give Charles V more power. Charles V became emperor of the Holy Roman Empire in 1519 and wanted again to have unity within the Christian Church.

Could everybody according to Luther make the interprets of the Bible real?

According to Luther everybody has the right to interpret the Bible in his own way. But people were not allowed to make their own decisions. The ruler always was right according to Luther. Therefore he was against the rebellion of German peasants and in 1525 the peasants uprising was violently suppressed.

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