Martin Luther

Luther nailed his 95 theses to the door of a church to point out the corruption he saw in the Catholic church.

I can sympathize with Luther and support him hanging his 95 theses at the beginning of his career as a reformer.   However, as time went on and Luther became a revolutionary, I think his actions became too extreme. At first, he just wanted to positively change the church. I think it is good that he was able to see the deeply rooted corruption of the church and tried to point it out to others in order to bring about a turn for the good. It was also a smart move on his part when he received such a negative reaction from the church to appeal to the German nobility. I can also respect his courage to stick to what he thought was right and not back down even when he was possibly facing his death. Starting with his time of isolation however, I think his grip on reality may have begun to slip. By then he fully supported an all-out religious revolution. He did not seem to predict that with how deeply embedded religion was in the culture of that time, a cultural revolution was called for as well. When he was able to return to his home, he was shocked to see the changes that had been made in the name of the change he had been demanding. He did not completely agree with what was being done, and yet it did not seem to occur to him to tone it down. He saw demons and the apocalypse everywhere and only seemed to grow more extreme. I think he took it far too far when some peasants interpreted his words as calling for a political revolution and started an uprising. Instead of taking responsibility for his influence and trying to correct the peasants, he demands that they be brutally cut down.   

Wartburg Castle, where Luther went into hiding

 

Martin Luther’s revolution was started in Germany and spread to affect all of Europe. At the time, Luther’s efforts helped bring distinction to an other wise often looked down upon German Nation.  Because of him, German was the first language of the common people for the Bible to be translated into.   The conflict that he helped sparked has had long lasting effects; Even today Germany is largely split into a Catholic and Protestant sides. 

Luther was the first to make it possible for non clergymen to read the bible.