Changes in Christianity and Martin Luther's Protest
There have been a lot of changes in Christianity in regards to most of its practices. Some of these changes are attributed to Martin Luther who was among the first people to protest some of the Catholic Church practices that led to the birth of the Protestant churches. Martin Luther is considered as one of the controversial theologians that contributed to the development of Christianity. Therefore, this paper aims at analyzing some of the practices and believes that he protested.
Protest against Catholic Church Practices
There were some practices within the Catholic Churches that he was not in contention with. Though he never protested some of the traditions like the clerical celibacy, the immaculate conception of Mary and the papal infallibility, he, however, disapproved of any new tradition. He insisted that Christians needed the Bible alone as a source of revelation. Martin Luther stated that neither the Church nor the pope had the power to establish the articles of faith and that all the teachings had to come from the Scripture (Spitz 4). Therefore, he was not for the idea of Christians having to use some articles apart from the Bible while praying. Martin Luther insisted on the need to use the Scripture as the only source of teachings and the only place to learn how and when to pray.
Reformation and Salvation through Faith
Therefore, Martin Luther was not amused by some of the practices of the Catholic priests and elders; hence, he had to protest them. Thus, it was the Catholic’s ways of practicing Christianity that led to the protest since they practiced things that were not written in the Scripture. His protests were aimed at reforming the Catholic Church and reassuring Christians that they could attain salvation through faith, and not by doing good work as preached by the Catholic priests (Spitz 14). Besides, he reaffirmed the importance of the Bible as he firmly believed that the priests who were overemphasizing traditions were misplacing the teachings of Jesus, and rituals. For instance, he quoted Romans (1:16-17) which says that “For I cannot be ashamed of the Good News from God; It is God’s power that can save everyone who has faith.” Based on this, Martin Luther believed that Christ was the only ultimate model for the Christians’ conducts.
Impact and Contemporary Christianity
Martin Luther’s protests led to his excommunication from the Catholic Church, and that is when he came up with the Protestant church that ultimately shaped his contribution to Christianity. Therefore, his impact can still be seen in the contemporary Christianity as many more Protestant churches have been created that are not in contention with the teachings of the Catholic priests. Luther wanted the Christians to pray following the instructions in the Bible and not the articles that were written by some of the Catholic leaders such as the pope. He was also after the salvation that was attained through faith and not one that was achieved through good deeds. Therefore, in summary, Martin Luther was one of the greatest theologians in the history of Christianity, and his contributions to the protests that led to the birth of Protestant churches cannot be overlooked as well. Finally, it is worth noting that it was the practices that he considered as not Biblical that led to his protests.
Work Cited
Spitz, Lewis William. The Protestant Reformation,
1517-1559. Vol. 3. Harpercollins, 1985.
