Martin Luther Protestant Reformation
Christopher Columbus, Martin Luther, Charles Darwin, and Johannes Gutenberg established a paradigm shift in the western tradition. If asked to choose the most influential, the answer would definitely be Martin Luther.
Martin founded a movement that altered Christianity with the protestant reformation during the sixteenth century. Martin was responsible for the Roman Catholic Church’s division and he was also involved in the Bible translations. According to Mattes (2018), these roles, however, resulted in major challenges with the interrelationships between the church leaders and the followers. Luther’s major motive was for human beings to seek God and be close to Him. Luther wrote a document that had a significant attack on the Roman Catholic Church’s culture of selling “indulgences” as a way of absolving sin in 1517. His writing presented two core beliefs, one claiming that the bible is the primary religious power and that human beings can attain salvation through their deeds and their faith as well. The other belief aimed at sparking the protestant reformation.
Martins codified his ideas at the time when the religious reformation history was ripe. As a result, the Roman Catholic Church suffered division ever after and Protestantism emerged as an impact of Martin’s ideologies (Mattes, 2018). Although Martin critiqued the Roman Catholic Church, he kept some distance from the radical successors who followed his lane. Martin Luther is therefore commemorated as a controversial leader, not only due to his writings that triggered the emergence of Protestantism, but also due to the radical roles he embraced in the future.
Generally, Martin Luther had the greatest influence on western culture. Through his writings, he was able to criticize the teachings and beliefs of the Roman Catholic Church, and thus he shaped the emergence of Protestantism.
Reference
Mattes, M. (2018). Martin Luther: A Christian between Reforms and Modernity. Lutheran
Quarterly, 32(3), 365-370.