What were some reasons martin luther and his followers wanted to reform the Catholic Church?

Answer 1

II. ORIGINAL IDEAS AND PURPOSES OF THE REFORMERS

The first impulse to secession was supplied by the opposition of Luther in Germany and of Zwingli in German Switzerland to the promulgation by Leo X of an indulgence for contributions towards the building of the new St. Peter's at Rome. For a long time it had been customary for the popes to grant indulgences for buildings of public utility (e.g. bridges). In such cases the true doctrine of indulgences as a remission of the punishment due to sin (not of guilt of sin) had been always upheld, and the necessary conditions (especially the obligation of a contrite confession to obtain absolution from sin) always inculcated. But the almsgiving for a good object, prescribed only as a good work supplementary to the chief conditions for the gaining of the indulgence, was often prominently emphasized. The indulgence commissaries sought to collect as much money as possible in connexion with the indulgence. Indeed, frequently since the Western Schism the spiritual needs of the people did not receive as much consideration as a motive for promulgating an indulgence, as the need of the good object by promoting which the indulgence was to be gained, and the consequent need of obtaining alms for this purpose. The war against the Turks and other crises, the erection of churches and monasteries, and numerous other causes led to the granting of indulgences in the fifteenth century. The consequent abuses were heightened by the fact that secular rulers frequently forbade the promulgation of indulgences within their territories, consenting only on condition that a portion of the receipts should be given to them. In practice, therefore, and in the public mind the promulgation of indulgences took on an economic aspect, and, as they were frequent, many came to regard them as an oppressive tax. Vainly did earnest men raise their voices against this abuse, which aroused no little bitterness against the ecclesiastical order and particularly the Papal Curia. The promulgation of indulgences for the new St. Peter's furnished Luther with an opportunity to attack indulgences in general, and this attack was the immediate occasion of the Reformation in Germany. A little later the same motive led Zwingli to put forth his erroneous teachings, thereby inaugurating the Reformation in German Switzerland. Both declared that they were attacking only the abuses of indulgences; however, they soon taught doctrine in many ways contrary to the teaching of the Church.

The great applause which Luther received on his first appearance, both in humanistic circles and among some theologians and some of the earnest-minded laity, was due to the dissatisfaction with the existing abuses. His own erroneous views and the influence of a portion of his followers very soon drove Luther into rebellion against ecclesiastical authority as such, and eventually led him into open apostasy and schism. His chief original supporters were among the Humanists, the immoral clergy, and the lower grades of the landed nobility imbued with revolutionary tendencies. It was soon evident that he meant to subvert all the fundamental institutions of the Church. Beginning by proclaiming the false doctrine of "justification by faith alone", he later rejected all supernatural remedies (especially the sacraments and the Mass), denied the meritoriousness of good works (thus condemning monastic vows and Christian asceticism in general), and finally rejected the institution of a genuine hierarchical priesthood (especially the papacy) in the Church. His doctrine of the Bible as the sole rule of faith, with rejection of all ecclesiastical authority, established subjectivism in matters of faith. By this revolutionary assault Luther forfeited the support of many serious persons indisposed to break with the Church but on the other hand won over all the anti-ecclesiastical elements, including numerous monks and nuns who left the monasteries to break their vows, and many priests who espoused his cause with the intention of marrying. The support of his sovereign, Frederick of Saxony, was of great importance. Very soon secular princes and municipal magistrates made the Reformation a pretext for arbitrary interference in purely ecclesiastical and religious affairs, for appropriating ecclesiastical property and disposing of it at pleasure, and for deciding what faith their subjects should accept. Some followers of Luther went to even greater extremes. The Anabaptists and the "Iconoclasts" revealed the extremest possibilities of the principles advocated by Luther, while in the Peasants' War the most oppressed elements of German society put into practice the doctrine of the reformer. Ecclesiastical affairs were now reorganized on the basis of the new teachings; henceforth the secular power is ever more clearly the supreme judge in purely religious matters, and completely disregards any independent ecclesiastical authority.

Answer 2

Martin Luther, a monk, became sick and tired of all the corruption within the Church. For example the monumental rebuilding of St Peter' s Basilica in Rome was paid for largely by the corrupt practice of selling indulgences. In other words, by those seeking to buy their way into heaven through the cooperation of hypocritical priests. When the edifice was opened to the public and people thronged in from all over Europe, Luther and other more thoughtful Christians were shocked at the huge amount of money that was spent on decoration, also by the fact that prostitutes circulated freely among the pilgrims offering their bodies for sale at the holy site. In time this led to open rebellion on his part and that of others.

Answer 3

In 1517 a monk named Martin Luther from Wittenburg in Germany began to criticise the power and corruption of the Pope and the Catholic church. He attacked the Pope for pardoning people's sins in exchange for money. Luther thought that it was immoral for the Pope's agents (pardoners) to travel all over Europe selling these letters of indulgence.

Luther also criticised the Pope for not allowing the Bible to be translated into other languages. Luther argued that as the vast majority of people could not read Latin they had to rely on what the priest told them was in the Bible.

Luther was very angry that Pope Leo X was raising money in this way. He believed that it was wrong for people to be able to buy forgiveness for sins they had committed. Luther decided to write down his views on the subject. He then nailed the paper to the door of the church in Wittenberg.

Luther's views on the Church were not new. In the 14th century, John Wycliffe and his Lollard followers had said similar things in England. However, with the help of the English monarchy, the Lollard movement had been crushed by the Pope and the Catholic church.

Answer 4

There were a lot of things wrong with the state of the Church at that time. One of the main issues was the selling of indulgences. It began as a way for people to get prayer from the church and help the church at the same time. It ended up with people believing they could buy their way out of Purgatory. The Church is a human institution, they made mistakes in the past, are making some now and will probably make more in the future. We are not perfect.

Answer 5

Some Catholic churches were acceptiing money (bribes) in exchange for givinge absolution to sins IN ADVANCE.

In other words. I'm plainng to screw this girl I know next week, I'm married but not to her. If I pay you $1,000 am I sin free after I do this next week sometime....

The Church said: Sure, yeah, right!

Now his SUPPORTERS (not necessarily followers) and benefactors were looking at this new religion of Luther's as a way to break the control of the Catholics Church which makes Kings bow down.

If the King becomes Lutheran, he's still religioius and in God's good graces and no longer has to pay tax to Rome and no longer has to kiss the Papal ring!

Answer 6

Martin Luther wanted everyone to understand the Bible, but at the time the bible was only written in Latin, and not everyone was able to understand Latin at the time. Most people were speaking German, so Martin Luther wrote the New testament in German which got him X-communicated from the Catholic church.

Answer 7

Probably the single biggest offense was the sale of indulgences. It's important to remember that Martin Luther was right about that. it's just that he and his followers "went to far" in combating the problem.

Answer 8

The Catholic Church was corrupt and people were buying their way out of trouble and into Heaven with indulgences

Answer 9

I could thousands of reasons power, greed corruption sexual abuses , lies , tortures of dissenters , their pagan doctrines their whole existence was based on a lie a fraud they teach unscriptural things ect Gorbalizer

Answer 10

Because the church was lying and they were greedy