Martin Luther: Saint or Sinner
By Izzy O'Brien
Was Luther a Saint?
Martin Luther can also be seen as a saint because he helped to reform the Catholic church in so many ways for the sake of the people and faith. He is even shown on the stained glass windows of some churches, like in the second image. He noticed that the church was corrupt, so Martin Luther stepped up to fight for what he believed in, disregarding possible consequences. Previously, Catholics were afraid to stand up to the leaders of the church to fight for what was right due to fear of damnation and persecution. Luther risked his life to show the other Catholics how corrupt the church had become due to unreliable leaders that tricked their followers for money and a larger population. His speaking out helped to save people from false information and hope. He essentially started a revolution in the beliefs of the Catholic church in order to keep the religion how it was written in the bible.
Martin Luther is also a saint because he changed the people's rights. He gave them more freedom and made the people of the church more equal. In his ninety-five theses that Luther is shown posting on the church door in the third image, he roughly stated that the priest and the pope do not have the right to fully forgive sins, only God can do that. This showed that the pope had too much power over the people with things like indulgences and the fact that he can change the rules of the church because he was so trusted by the people. By showing how corrupt the church was with his theses, he also gave the people the right to freedom of religion. Although this was a major setback for the population of the church, many new religions started to form and the people could choose what they wanted to believe rather than being tricked by a bad Catholic pope.
Was Luther a Sinner?
Another reason that Martin Luther was a sinner is because although he believed in strictly following the bible, he also believed in medical and scientific advances. This can be shown in the third image where he is readong from the bible, yet supports ideas that are not in the bible. Luther was one of the few Catholics that supported this advancement because it was against the bible to perform these studies. According to the people, God created and controlled everything and everyone's fate was determined by Him, but scientific discoveries proved otherwise.
Works Cited
cwoznicki (2014) Posts about martin luther on CWoznicki think out loud. Available at: http://cwoznicki.com/tag/martin-luther/ (Accessed: 23 December 2015).
Luther’s 95 theses (no date) Available at: http://www.saintmlc.com/luther-s-95-theses.html (Accessed: 23 December 2015).
Martin Luther (2015) in Wikipedia. Available at: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Martin_Luther (Accessed: 22 December 2015).
Simpson, J. (2008) English fundamentalism and the reformation. Available at: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/books/non_fictionreviews/3670320/English-fundamentalism-and-the-Reformation.html (Accessed: 23 December 2015).
Taylor, J. (2012) What was Luther doing when he nailed his 95 theses to the Wittenberg door?. Available at: http://blogs.thegospelcoalition.org/justintaylor/2012/10/31/what-was-luther-doing-when-he-nailed-his-95-theses-to-the-wittenberg-door/ (Accessed: 23 December 2015).
Title-page / print (1993) Available at: http://www.britishmuseum.org/research/collection_online/collection_object_details.aspx?objectId=1424195&partId=1&people=116563&peoA=116563-1-7&page=1 (Accessed: 22 December 2015).