Reformation of 15th century

The Reformation began on October 31, 1517, when German monk Martin Luther nailed his 95 Theses to the Castle Church door in Wittenberg, Germany. This was one of the greatest events of the past 1,000 years. Martin Luther made a translation of the Bible from Greek and Hebrew into German. Soon all the countries of Europe followed his example by translating the Scriptures into their languages. For the first time in history, the recently invented printing press made the Word of God available to all the people. Luther wrote a book entitled The Babylonian Captivity of the Congregation. The end of the Babylonian Captivity of the Jews in 457 B.C., started the 490 years countdown to the First Coming of the Messiah, and the end of the Babylonian Captivity of the Congregation in 1517 started the countdown to the Second Coming of Christ!! When he was commanded to appear before Emperor Charles V to answer for his writings, Luther gave this fearless reply: "I cannot submit my faith either to the Pope or to the Councils, because it is clear as day that they have frequently erred and contradicted each other. Unless therefore, I am convinced by the testimony of Scripture ... I cannot and will not retract ... Here I stand, I can do no other. So help me God, Amen."Luther challenged the might of the Roman Church which was selling indulgences to buy your salvation by saying that salvation was by grace alone and by scripture alone. He brought the focus back to the cross and the redeeming work of Christ which the Roman church deemd unnecessary to obtain salvation.

(marksman;45870)
Luther challenged the might of the Roman Church which was selling indulgences to buy your salvation by saying that salvation was by grace alone and by scripture alone. He brought the focus back to the cross and the redeeming work of Christ which the Roman church deemd unnecessary to obtain salvation.
What a travesty of the truth!The Catholic Church was not selling indulgences.Luther claimed that you were saved by faith alone, not scripture aloneThe Catholic Church did not, and does not deem the redeeming work of Christ is unncessary to obtain salvation. Such a suggestion is ridiculous

(Denver;46128)
It boils down to the simple fact that a group of people (and I personally believe quite rightly so) recognized that they did not need a mediator between them and God.This over-arching theme is confirmed to us by literature of the time. Things were sold - saints body parts, indulgences, and so forth which all required one to go actually go to the church to buy them. The Bible was not available in the vernacular language and authority rested upon someone reading it to you.If you want to get into the downright ridiculous - which the church has since then fixed this issue - but there were 6 foreskins floating around purporting to be the foreskin of Christ. It was common for saints and other Biblical figure to have more than 10 fingers at various shrines...and so on and so on.
The financial scandal surrounding indulgences at the time of Martin Luther concerned the giving of alms to a charitable foundation and were used as an occasion to grant an indulgence. There was no selling of indulgences. As with other practices sometimes abuses became associated with them, but other activities however holy have had the same problem through the malice or unworthiness of man. Even the Eucharist, as St. Paul declares, means an eating and drinking of judgment to the recipient who discerns not the body of the Lord. (1 Corinthians 11:27-29).You only have to look around are the various scandals of our time - Sex abuse (not just in Catholic Churches), ministers who profess purity while committing adultery, minsters who become very rich at the expense of their flock etc. But you cannot blame the various churches as a body when this happens.The are many instances of the Church condemning abuses in the granting of indulgences well before Martin Luther’s time.– for example Fourth Council of the Lateran (1215) and that of Vienne (1311). the Council of Clovesho in England (747) condemns those who imagine that they might atone for their crimes by substituting, in place of their own, the austerities of mercenary penitents. As to the Bible there had been translations into various languages before Luther's time, some of them very poor which was why the Church sometimes condemned them . However prior to the printing press they were all copied laboriously by hand and only the rich (and the monks who copied them) could afford them. Those generally spoke Latin which was the language of the well educated who had no need of vernacular translations. Moreover only the well educated could read anyway. Even Kings and Princes often could not read or write, being too busy training for warfare.

Yes Winsome, we know theyve trained you well. Good JobWhen it comes right down to it, they WERE selling salvation and security in peoples faith with everyday laws and man made sins. OH NO THE FISHING MARKETS DOWN! "Ok, from this day on everyone be sure to eat your fish on friday, or else its a mortal sin." wait several years until another council- "ok weve taken that sin off the list" Not to mention the RCC had to keep their copy of the bible hidden so nobody can know better. They were the ones with the bible- so it was LISTEN OR DIE! Litterally too.Plain and simple- we need GODS word NOT mansLive by the Word, not by manmade lawIt doesnt matter what "title" you have before God on judgement day- its your heart he sees.So pretty much, Luther stood up to the corrupt dealings of the RCC

(Denver;46128)
This over-arching theme is confirmed to us by literature of the time. Things were sold - saints body parts, indulgences, and so forth which all required one to go actually go to the church to buy them. The Bible was not available in the vernacular language and authority rested upon someone reading it to you.If you want to get into the downright ridiculous - which the church has since then fixed this issue - but there were 6 foreskins floating around purporting to be the foreskin of Christ. It was common for saints and other Biblical figure to have more than 10 fingers at various shrines...and so on and so on.
Ya know Denver, I get a little grossed out at the skeletal relics they portray. This is going a bit too far.

The Reformation began on October 31, 1517, when German monk Martin Luther nailed his 95 Theses to the Castle Church door in Wittenberg, Germany. This was one of the greatest events of the past 1,000 years.
Great for who? Thats the question....sorry but I just do not agree with his views.........nothing personal.

(Red_Letters88;46174)
Yes Winsome, we know theyve trained you well. Good Job
Are you always so patronising?(Red_Letters88;46174)
When it comes right down to it, they WERE selling salvation and security in peoples faith with everyday laws and man made sins. OH NO THE FISHING MARKETS DOWN! "Ok, from this day on everyone be sure to eat your fish on friday, or else its a mortal sin." wait several years until another council- "ok weve taken that sin off the list" Not to mention the RCC had to keep their copy of the bible hidden so nobody can know better. They were the ones with the bible- so it was LISTEN OR DIE! Litterally too.Plain and simple- we need GODS word NOT mansLive by the Word, not by manmade lawIt doesnt matter what "title" you have before God on judgement day- its your heart he sees.So pretty much, Luther stood up to the corrupt dealings of the RCC
I'm not going to waste time bickering at this sort of distortion of the truth, especially as it is not really relevant to the issue of the Reformation.Luther did not leave the Catholic Church and start his own because of corrupt practices but because of doctrine.If you object to practices you stay in the church and fight to change them, as many did. Yes there were problems and God was at that time raising up great reforming saints such as Teresa of Avila and John of the Cross. The Church is composed of sinners as well as saints.But Luther founded his own church because he disagreed with doctrine mainly his misunderstanding of the nature of redemption, particularly his claim of salvation by faith alone (which word he disgracefully inserted into scripture). He misunderstood the nature of the relationship between faith and works. When James' epistle contradicted his position he rubbished the epistle calling it "and epistle of straw".

What does the Augsburg Confession Confess?The Augsburg Confession is divided into two sections. The first section contains 21 articles (doctrinal statements) on core teachings of the Christian Faith: God, Original Sin, Jesus, Justification by Faith, Ministry, New Obedience, Church, Baptism, Lord's Supper, Confession, Repentance, Use of the Sacraments, Ecclesiastical Order, Ecclesiastical Usages, Civil Affairs, Christ's Return to judgment, Free Will, Cause of Sin, Faith and Good Works, and Worship of Saints.The second section addresses seven teachings or practices in the Roman Catholic Church that the confessors believed were abuses: withholding the cup from the laity, celibacy, false ideas about the Mass, the enumeration of all sins in confession, compulsory regulations concerning foods and traditions, monastic vows, and the power of bishops.
http://www.orlutheran.com/html/augs.htmlWinsome is right in his assessment of what Luther left the Catholic Church for it was never about corruption but doctrine. Luther was considered a heretic.
There were many confessions published by Protestants in the 1500s. But the Augsburg Confession has been universally recognized as a pivotal one. Its structure and many of its articles were copied over into other confessions. Its influence on all of Christendom has been profound. But far more than a historical document, for Lutherans it still is a statement of what we believe on the basis of Scripture. It still is our confession today.
http://www.orlutheran.com/html/augs.htmlMy connection to this is quite close since my ancestors began one of the first Lutheran Churches in my state. They like Luther left the Catholic Church not because of corruption but doctrine. That said I do not put a lot of stock in Luther's writings because in my view he does a lot of rambling. His 95 Theses was aimed more at the Jewish faithful of the time period and he had what he thought was the perfect swaying tool to convert the Jews to his way of thinking. When this did not happen he became angry and denounced the Jews because they did not buy into his ramblings...

The Catholic Church was not selling indulgences.
Here is a direct quote form Luther's Thesis in the english translation21. Therefore those preachers of indulgences are in error, who say that by the pope's indulgences a man is freed from every penalty, and saved;And here is another one...35. They preach no Christian doctrine who teach that contrition is not necessary in those who intend to buy souls out of purgatory or to buy confessionalia.And here is another one...42. Christians are to be taught that the pope does not intend the buying of pardons to be compared in any way to works of mercy.And here is another one...45. 45. Christians are to be taught that he who sees a man in need, and passes him by, and gives [his money] for pardons, purchases not the indulgences of the pope, but the indignation of God.Try this one for size...76. We say, on the contrary, that the papal pardons are not able to remove the very least of venial sins, so far as its guilt is concerned.What is this saying then...79. To say that the cross, emblazoned with the papal arms, which is set up [by the preachers of indulgences], is of equal worth with the Cross of Christ, is blasphemy.Sounds like buying indulgences to me84. Again: -- "What is this new piety of God and the pope, that for money they allow a man who is impious and their enemy to buy out of purgatory the pious soul of a friend of God, and do not rather, because of that pious and beloved soul's own need, free it for pure love's sake?"I think I would rather believe Luther's document than your take on things.