1. Criticism Of The Catholic Church By David Oh, Tazio Galardi, Clayton Thompson, Andrew Kelly, & Lucas Mrs. Lonergan, Catholic Faith, Red 1 7 May 2013

2. Indulgences  Intent of indulgences: offer Christians an alternative way of “doing good” to repent their sins.  Power became corrupt in the church.  People believed they could sin all the time.  Buying indulgences became a mockery of religion.  John Tetzel: a Dominican friar & seller of indulgences.  Tetzel widely attracted crowds with sales pitches.  Declared buying indulgences freed you of all sins.

3. Martin Luther  Augustinian priest & monk.  A scholar.  Studied the Bible and church fathers.  Ran a monastery in Wittenburg, Germany.  Lived a strict religious life.

4. The Protestant Reformation  Began in 1517.  Luther sent a letter to Archbishop Albert of Mainz.  The Letter contained the famous Ninety-five Theses.  Luther’s ideas pertained to the issues of indulgences, sin, forgiveness, and power to grant them.  Luther claimed the indulgences contradicted the idea of Catholic Theology.  Sparked a radical change during the time.

5. Luther’s Philosophy  Brought up new ideas about papal authority, grace, and the Bible.  Popes had authority, only by human agreement.  Luther claimed people are solely saved by Jesus Christ himself.  Luther stated that The Bible was the sole supreme authority of a person’s life.  People began discussing Luther’s ideas about where their money went, the pope’s authority, and faith.

6. Failed Attempts to Reconcile With Rome  Pope Leo X.  Luther accused of heresy for denying pope’s authority.  Support from people in Saxony.  Wrote directly to Leo X to deny heresy.  Summoned to Rome to answer questions.

7. On the Bible as the Sole Supreme Authority  Living in Wittenberg, Luther continued writing, preaching, and teaching at the university.  The Bible was the sole supreme authority in a Christian. However, This belief stood in contrast with the Catholic position.

8. Luther Excommunicated  In 1520, the Roman Curia, who were sure of the new emperor's support, produced a document excommunicating Luther that is, putting him out of the church.  So Luther had sixty days to reserve his teaching or be excommunicated.  The official from Rome had a difficult time posting excommunication orders in Luther's case because many Germans stood with Luther.  With only three weeks left before he had to recant or be arrested, Luther was "kidnapped" by his friend Duke Frederick and was hidden in a castle at Wartburg.

9. Still a Catholic?  Luther still considered himself to be a Catholic.  He believed in the sacraments; Baptism, the Eucharist, and perhaps penance.  Luther believed in Christ's real presence in the Eucharist.  But he denied that the Mass was a sacrifice in the sense popular in his day.

10. Augsburg Confession  In 1530  Luther’s good friend Philipp Melanchthon.  He composed a document for the German national assembly in Augsburg.  It summarized the teaching of those who followed Luther.  The document also outlined the reforms proposed by Luther to correct the abuses in the church. The Lutheran church emerged.

11. Luther's impact on politics  Luther took the peasant's side, urging nobles to reform the conditions of German working people.  As a result, the Peasant’s Revolt erupted, lasting from 1523 to 1525.  In the battles, the nobles’ armies slaughtered 130,000 peasants to rebel.

12. Rulers Choose the Religion for Their Region  Lutheranism grew into a popular movement in northern Germany.  Lutherans agreed to the Peace of Augsburg, which said that local rulers could choose the religion of their domain.  For some rulers, accepting the new religion meant independence from Roman church taxes and from the Holy Roman emperor.