why the pope wanted to make martin luther apologize for his writings?

Answer 1

In a time when defense of the Gospel meant closing down any errant viewpoints, Luther was just another heretic.

It also wasn't a good year to rebel against authority. That Luther survived his rejection of the Catholic Church is a testament either to his strength or the church's restraint.

Answer 2

The Pope wanted Martin Luther to apologize for his writings because in those times the Catholic church took in a lot of money for "indulgences". A person could buy their way out of sin and punishment. Martin Luther correctly disagreed. The Catholic church had no right to sell salvation in this manner. The Catholic church has changed dramatically since those days and I respect their religion of today.

Answer 3

Martin Luther was a rioghteous man in his own right but sometimes he also had fits of anger especially against the Jews when his attempt to convert them did not materialize. I am interested in his works just to understand and somehow there were things that sometimes make me doubt as a Catholic. I have read some of his writings and he seemed to be a sincere pious man and what you can call a TRUE Christian however, there are things that he tried to instigate which portrayed some racist ideas and it made me wonder why this is so. Honestly, to me this seems to be quite unchristian. And maybe this is just one of some reasons.

Please read this.......

LUTHER AND THE JEWS

Luther's views on the Jews have been described as racial or religious anti-Semitism, or as anti-Judaism. Earlier in his career, Luther argued that the Jews had been prevented from believing in Jesus by the actions of Christians, and the proclamation of what he believed to be an impure Gospel. He suggested that they would respond favorably to the evangelical message if it were presented to them gently. When they did not, he furiously attacked them. The most notorious of Luther's Jewish polemics is found in his pamphlet "Von den Juden und ihren Lügen" (On the Jews and their Lies), published in 1543. In it he wrote that Jewish synagogues should be set on fire, their prayerbooks destroyed, their rabbis forbidden to preach, their homes "smashed and destroyed", property seized, money confiscated, and that these "poisonous envenomed worms" be drafted into forced labor or expelled "for all time". These remarks by Luther were used by the Nazi party in Germany as part of their effort to justify the "Final Solution to the Jewish Problem", their systematic effort to exterminate the Jewish population in lands under their control.

In the opinion of Dr. Robert Michael, Luther also appeared to sanction their murder: "Jerusalem was destroyed over 1400 years ago, and at that time we Christians were harassed and persecuted by the Jews throughout the world . . . So we are even at fault for not avenging all this innocent blood of our Lord and of the Christians which they shed for 300 years after the destruction of Jerusalem . . . We are at fault in not slaying them."

While some scholars have attributed the Nazi "Final Solution" directly to Martin Luther, others have refuted this theory, pointedly taking issue with the thesis advanced by Shirer and others. British historian Paul Johnson called On the Jews and their Lies the "FIRST WORK OF MODERN ANTI=SEMITISM, AND A GIANT STEP FORWARD ON THE ROAD TO THE HOLOCAUST." Four centuries after it was written, the Nazis cited Luther's treatise to justify the Final Solution.

Since the 1980s Lutheran church bodies and organizations have formally denounced these writings, though they do not characterize Luther as an anti-Semite.

Maybe, just maybe, many of the Lutheran based Christians still doesn't know this.

Answer 4

Well, he (ML) fractured the RCc, he figured out the biggest heresy taught by RCc. Luther actually read the Bible and believed it. He figured out that we are saved by 'grace through faith' and not by a RC priest or church only. That turned the world upside down at the time. The only way for the RCc to recover would be for Luther to recant. The pope sent a delegation to see him to persuade him to retract what he had said. They persuaded him. How is not recorded in history.

Answer 5

I'm guessing that after reading Luther's anti-Semitic rants, his calls for disabled babies to be tossed off cliffs, and his idea that you could go to heaven even if you commit murder every day as long as you have faith, the Pope was probably not too happy with the man.

Answer 6

Have you read them? Have a read and you'll know why. Luther was demented. Nevertheless, he was good for telling the Pope to shove his anathemas up his bum.

Answer 7

I have no idea but I personally do not really like the pope although I'm a Christian.

Answer 8

because martin luther was a heretic.

Answer 9

Because he was wrong.

When you're wrong, you apologize.