Martin Luther and his 95 theses.

Hello there, for today's posts I decided to write about something that I have heard about a lot, probably like a lot of you, but dont really understand. Im talking about Martin Luther (not MLK) and his 95 theses.

To start us off.

Who was Martin Luther?
Martin Luther was tod and became a monk. He was later condemned a heretic for questioning the Church.
he son of a prominent business man in a territory of what is now Germany.  While studying at the University of Erfurt in 1505, his life changed during a huge storm. Young Martin Luther suffered a near-death experience in which he was almost struck by a lightning bolt. Because of that he considered his life a Gift from G

Background info on the Church at that time.
In the early 16th century, a lot of the writings of the church (mainly the Bible) were beginning to be more widely spread because of the advances in the reading capabilities and understanding of common people. Because of this a lot of people started to question the teachings of the church, calling them out-dated and inappropriate for the times. There were people like Augustine (340–430) who emphasized the primacy of the Bible rather than Church officials as the ultimate religious authority. At this point in time the church was also selling Indulgences and in some places that practice became extremely corrupt with the indulgences being sold without the proper requirements to make them valid. But people just wanted to make money.

What did Marting Luther do?  
Luther vigorously objected to the corrupt practice of selling indulgences. Acting on this belief, he wrote the "Disputation on the Power and Efficacy of Indulgences," also known as "The 95 Theses," a list of questions and propositions for debate with the Church. He was later summoned to a hearing in which he debated against Cardinal Thomas Cajetan for three days.Pope Leo X issued a papal bull (public decree) that concluded that Luther's propositions were heretical and gave Luther 120 days to recant in Rome.  Refusing to recant, Luther concluded his testimony with the defiant statement: “Here I stand. God help me. I can do no other.” 

With his bold statements and actions, Martin Luther single handedly started the Protestant Reformation which led to there now being over 30,000 different denominations for Christians all around the world. He is considered a heretic by the church having been excommunicated by Pope Leo X, but in the eyes of regular people he can be considered a great thinker and true spokesman having stood up alone agains the Church because of something he saw that went against what he believed in.