Martin Luther: Reluctant Revolutionary

Martin Luther was a great antagonist. He challenged the Church and held true to his believes; something that made him a remarkable man. He was ridiculed, excommunicated, and feared for his life. With every problem he faced though he took it and added it to fuel his fire! (Quite literally with his excommunication papers) To me, Martin Luther is a great role model.

            Martin Luther culturally changed Germany by proving that you can stand up to the Government and for what you believe in. He did this by nailing his 95 Theses to the doors of Churches and Cathedrals.  He challenged people and even though he could have taken back his words and writings and just said, “I made a mistake”; he went on to challenge everyone even more. His life was on the line but he still stood for up for what he believed.

            As well as helping prove that you can stand up for your beliefs, Luther also culturally helped shape Germany by using the printing press. In the short film, Martin Luther: Reluctant Revolutionary, he is described as “the first propagandist” (10:52). He showed Germany how this newfound technology can really shape the world.

            He also helped Germany politically by unintentionally starting a revolution. It started with the 95 Theses but eventually the people caught on and started destroying property, burning things, and protesting after the Diet of Worms. Luther was horrified; he had never imagined things going this bad. He avoided death with the help of his king (Frederick the Wise) from Wittenberg, who was one of the few who voted on his side after the hearing.

            Luther had so much religious influence. He completely changed the way the bible was interpreted. By calling Pope Leo X out on how he was almost staging faith to make it more ‘fabulous’ (7 sacraments verses 2), he put his life on the line; an incredible thing to do. In my opinion this is the most incredible way Luther influenced religion. He started a whole new religion, he changed Germany and other countries to become Protestant instead of Catholic. He must have been a very charismatic and influential man to have been able to do all this in his life.

            This was so important to German-speaking lands because it gave them a choice to separate from the Roman Catholic Church as the book Germany A New History by Hagen Schulze explained. Schulze described Luther as, “a ‘German Hercules,’ the ‘German nightingale.’ His appearance on the scene evoked feelings of emerging national identity”(Schulze, 57). These statements sums up on influential and important Luther was for German-speaking lands. He unified them while he was captive in Wartburg and translated the bible into German, one of his most incredible works ever. Martin Luther had to be one of the most influential and important people in Germany history.

Word Count: 475.

Schulze, Hagen. Germany : a new history / Hagen Schulze ; translated by Deborah Lucas Schneider  Harvard University Press Cambridge, Mass.1998.

Martin Luther: Reluctant Revolutionary. Dir. Cassian Harrison. PBS. Devillier Donegan Enterprises.  2003.  YouTube. Web. September 5^th 2013. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ni1gupkGAW0