StudentShare
Contact Us
Sign In / Sign Up for FREE
Search
Go to advanced search...
Free

The Life of Martin Luther King - Essay Example

Cite this document
Summary
This essay "The Life of Martin Luther King" focuses on Martin Luther who was an amazingly forward-thinking person who was brave enough to challenge some of the fundamental precepts of the Catholic Church. His 95 Theses were a document he nailed to his church’s door…
Download full paper File format: .doc, available for editing
GRAB THE BEST PAPER98.7% of users find it useful
The Life of Martin Luther King
Read Text Preview

Extract of sample "The Life of Martin Luther King"

? Martin Luther was an amazingly forward thinking person who was brave enough to challenge some of the fundamental precepts of the Catholic Church. His 95 Theses were a document he nailed to his church’s door in order to spark public debate, mostly surrounding the sale of indulgences and the Church’s ability to free people from purgatory. Martin Luther’s 95 Theses were an attempt to clearly define a direct connection between God and worshipers without the intermediary necessity of the church, to make it clear to Christians that a life of mercy is better than the purchasing of indulgences, and to illuminate corrupt practices from religious leaders of the time. The fundamental thing Luther addressed in his Theses was the sale of indulgences, something that posed a significant amount of theological problems. Indulgences were essentially a fundraising tool used by the Church in times of financial need, forgiving people for past (or in some cases future) minor sins in return for their coin. Religious leaders made it very clear that these only affected minor sins, and thus would shorten someone’s time in purgatory (a very painful realm between heaven and hell that people entered to purge them of their sins, according to Catholic thinking of the time) but not save them from serious sins that would put them in hell. Many people had a problem with the sale of indulgences, and they were widely unpopular in parts of Northern Europe among the laity. As Luther points out in his Theses, there are a wide array of theological problems with the sale of indulgences. One of the biggest problems that Luther had with indulgences is that they pervert the worshiper’s relationship with god and with the church. In Luther’s thinking, only god can truly offer repentance for a person’s sin, and worshipers need to understand that they have to live lives of repentance, not just towards the church through the sacrament of penance, but also to God by living a life of mercy towards your fellow man. Luther believed that the indulgences undermined people’s motivations of living lives of mercy, by thinking that they could get away with doing bad things and just pay for it through penances. Furthermore, Luther thought that giving to the needy was a much better use of money than giving money to the already overly rich Church, and that indulgences inhibited people from giving to those in need, which they saw as only possibly granting salvation, as opposed to giving money to the Church to buy indulgences, which would definitely grant them a reprieve from a particular sin. Essentially, Luther wants to address a wide array of problems caused by the sale of indulgences. The first thing he makes sure is that people know that they need to support those around them before spending money on indulgences, and that mercy towards those around them is more holy than helping the Church build a new basilica. This solves the problem of people neglecting charity in order to support the opulent church. Furthermore, Luther insists that people must financially care for themselves and their family before even thinking of buying indulgences. The fact that he includes this provision in his Theses seems to indicate that some people were neglecting their family and their wellbeing, possibly putting indulgences before essentials like food and housing in order to supposedly ensure a shorter time in purgatory. These two provisions are meant to address real-world, practical problems with the sale of indulgences that Luther seems to be facing on a day to day basis in his church. In addition to tackling these practical real world problems, Luther makes some significant challenges to classical Churchly authority in the field of theology. Probably his most inflammatory statement is that people are their own priests. In saying this, Luther, a priest himself, does not mean to underestimate the amazing benefit having a priest, with their specialized knowledge and training (and ability to perform sacraments), but rather to emphasize the personal relationship with God that an individual can have. In this he essentially means that a person can act as their own intermediary with God, and try to get forgiveness for their sins through good works in their community and make good with God without having to recourse to the Church. He is obviously not imagining removing clergy from service, but rather emphasizing that each believer needs to have a personal relationship with the divine. Probably the most scathing aspect Luther’s Theses come at the end when he implicitly criticizes church leaders. Luther never comes out and out and accuses church leaders of being inherently corrupt necessarily, but rather implies that the church hierarchy must want something to be done a certain way, because that is the good and holy thing to do, almost implying that their message must be getting distorted before reaching the laity, and putting church hierarchy in a false light if they stand opposed to his statement. Thesis 51 is an excellent example of this – Luther states that “Christians are to be taught that the pope would and should wish to give his own money, even though he had to sell the basilica of St. Peter, to many of those from whom certain hawkers of indulgences cajole money.” Instead of criticizing the pope for sending the “hawkers” in the first place, Luther makes it seem as if the pope must be against what is happening, and simply not be able to control it, making it incredibly awkward for him to switch positions. The most scathing of these implicit critiques comes at the close of his Theses, where Luther puts together a series of logical fallacies about the sale of indulgences and then attributes to “shrewd questions of the laity.” One of these asks that if the pope can end purgatory for people by the sale of indulgences, “why does he not empty purgatory for the sake of holy love and the dire need of souls that are there if he redeems an infinite number of souls for the sake of miserable money?” This question cleverly demonstrates that either the pope a) does not have the ability to actually save souls from purgatory, or b) would rather have money than save souls, both of which are obviously very, very bad for the pope. Yet by attributing these questions to the laity, Luther avoids direct confrontation with the pope, being merely the messenger and not the actually radical who would undermine church authority. Luther clearly thinks that church leaders are a combination of incompetent and corrupt, but avoids direct conflict by making their positions seem completely untenable. Luther’s Theses ended up being the foundation of a revolution that would change Christianity forever. But this was not at all his intention, he rather intended to challenge current practice and get the church to address the obvious problems and internal inconsistencies in its dogma and practice. Luther, in this text, outlines a personal and direct relationship between God and the believer, in which God alone can forgive the believers guilt, while addressing real world problems of indulgences and implicitly criticizing church hierarchy. Read More
Cite this document
  • APA
  • MLA
  • CHICAGO
(“Martin Luther King Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words”, n.d.)
Retrieved from https://studentshare.org/history/1432469-none
(Martin Luther King Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 Words)
https://studentshare.org/history/1432469-none.
“Martin Luther King Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 Words”, n.d. https://studentshare.org/history/1432469-none.
  • Cited: 0 times

CHECK THESE SAMPLES OF The Life of Martin Luther King

Famous African American of the 20th Century

Famous African American of the 20th Century- martin luther king   martin luther king was born on 15th January 1929 and was assassinated on 4th April 1968 in Memphis, Tennessee.... martin luther king rose in 1955 when he was appointed as minister in Montgomery.... martin luther king was the beam of light that showed them the path to freedom and individuality.... A high flying leader in the African-American Civil Rights Movement, king is renowned for his achievements in civil rights not only in America but throughout the world, by means of nonviolent techniques and civil disobedience....
5 Pages (1250 words) Research Paper

How Did the 1960's Change America

Important factors related to the 1960s include but are not limited to The Life of Martin Luther King Jr.... In the years between 1955 and 1968, martin luther king took certain steps that changed the status of the blacks.... He said, “Faith is taking the first step, even when you don't see the whole staircase” (King cited in “martin luther king”).... martin luther king's efforts came to a stop in the year 1968 because he was murdered in this year during a protest in Tennessee....
3 Pages (750 words) Term Paper

American History Since 1900

Incidents in the life of A Slave vis-a-vis The American Pageant Name: Institution: The analysis of historical evidence and the conclusion reached depend on a number of factors.... These factors include objective of research, personal prejudices that an individual has with regards to the matter in question and the sources of information....
5 Pages (1250 words) Essay

The Black Force That Moved America: The Achievements of Martin Luther King, Jr

Let the Trumpet Sound: The Life of Martin Luther King, Jr.... The Black Force That Moved America: The Achievements of martin luther king, Jr.... The author of the essay concludes that the achievements of the late martin luther king will never be eradicated in US history.... How martin luther king, Jr.... n August 23, 1968, martin luther king Jr.... t is interesting to speculate on what the course of American history might have been, if martin luther king, Jr....
5 Pages (1250 words) Essay

Analysis of Martin Luther King Jr.s I Have a Dream Speech

So was The Life of Martin Luther King.... Notwithstanding the meticulous process that went into composing this landmark speech, and regardless of the famed rhetorical prowess of the person who delivered it, all of which may be no more than secondary details, the simplicity and the essence, the power and the impact of martin luther king's words, prima facie, transcend the reach of rational analysis. ... n the first place, martin luther king was not speaking as a clever orator bent upon persuading his audience....
5 Pages (1250 words) Essay

What Atlanta has to Offer the Tourist

Then there is the King Center, which honors The Life of Martin Luther King, Jr.... life of the activists who have struggled to attain civil rights is presented in a video.... Next is the famous Ebenezer Baptist Church quite near the king Center, which tourists frequently feel drawn towards....
1 Pages (250 words) Article

Lyndon Baine Johnson and Martin Luther Kings Impact on the Voting Rights Act of the 1965 Year

he life of martin luther king Junior has deservingly been accorded very many citations and legendary recognition for the simple fact that he believed in justice and equality and fought relentlessly for the rights of the oppressed minorities.... This research paper "Lyndon Baine Johnson and martin luther king's Impact on the Voting Rights Act of the 1965 Year" is about the voting rights act of 1965 has been considered by many people as one of the most important and successful civil rights laws ever enacted....
4 Pages (1000 words) Research Paper

Major Changes in the US Development of the 1960s

Important factors related to the 1960s include but are not limited to The Life of Martin Luther King Jr.... In the years between 1955 and 1968, martin luther king took certain steps that changed the status of the blacks.... He said, 'Faith is taking the first step, even when you don't see the whole staircase' (King cited in 'martin luther king').... martin luther king's efforts came to a stop in the year 1968 because he was murdered this year during a protest in Tennessee....
3 Pages (750 words) Term Paper
sponsored ads
We use cookies to create the best experience for you. Keep on browsing if you are OK with that, or find out how to manage cookies.
Contact Us