First Principles Of The Reformation

Martin Luther was a German friar, priest and professor of theology who was a seminal figure in the Protestant Reformation. Luther taught that salvation and subsequently eternity in heaven is not earned by good deeds but is received only as a free gift of God's grace through faith in Jesus Christ as redeemer from sin and subsequently eternity in hell. His theology challenged the authority and office of the Pope by teaching that the Bible is the only source of divinely revealed knowledge from God and opposed sacerdotalism by considering all baptized Christians to be a holy priesthood. Those who identify with these, and all of Luther's wider teachings, are called Lutherans even though Luther insisted on Christian as the only acceptable name for individuals who professed Christ. Today, Lutheranism constitutes a major branch of Protestantism and overall Christianity with some 80 million adherents.

In 1517, Martin Luther challenged the Catholic Church, and ultimately altered the course of European history, when he nailed his "95 Theses on the Power and Efficacy of Indulgences" on the door of Castle Church in Wittenberg, Germany. At the time, Renaissance humanists were beginning to oppose the reign of the Church and the wealth it accrued from taxes and the sale of Indulgences to the people. A monk and a scholar, Luther intended to promote independent thinking with the translation of the Bible into the vernacular. He wanted people to read the words and understand God in terms of their own experience. Unsurprisingly, he was ordered by the pope to print a retraction, which he refused; he was ultimately excommunicated, and his action prompted the Protestant Reformation. This edition contains Martin Luther's "95 Theses," as well as the three other primary works of Martin Luther: "To the Christian Nobility of the German Nation Respecting the Reformation of the Christian Estate," "Concerning Christian Liberty," and "On the Babylonish Captivity of the Church."

First Principles Of The Reformation is an unchanged, high-quality reprint of the original edition of 1885. Hansebooks is editor of the literature on different topic areas such as research and science, travel and expeditions, cooking and nutrition, medicine, and other genres.As a publisher we focus on the preservation of historical literature.Many works of historical writers and scientists are available today as antiques only. Hansebooks newly publishes these books and contributes to the preservation of literature which has become rare and historical knowledge for the future.

This historic book may have numerous typos and missing text. Purchasers can usually download a free scanned copy of the original book (without typos) from the publisher. Not indexed. Not illustrated. 1883 edition. Excerpt: ... ON THE BABYLONISH CAPTIVITY OF THE CHURCH. 7"rxo Jesus. Martin Luther, of the Order of St. Augustine, salutes his friend Hermann Tulichius. Whether I will or not, I am compelled to become more learned day by day, since so many great masters vie with each other in urging me on and giving me practice. I wrote about indulgences two years ago, but now I extremely regret having published that book. At that time I was still involved in a great and superstitious respect for the tyranny of Bome, which; led me to judge that indulgences were not to be totally rejected, seeing them, as I did, to be approved by so general a consent among men. And no wonder, for at that time it was I alone who was rolling this stone. Afterwards, however, with the kind aid of Sylvester and the friars, who supported indulgences so strenuously, I perceived that they were nothing but mere impostures of the flatterers of Rome, whereby to make away with the faith of God and the money of men. And I wish I could prevail upon the booksellers, and persuade all who have read them, to burn the whole of my writings on indulgences, and in place of all I have written about them to adopt this proposition: Indulgences are wicked devices of the flatterers of Rome. DEGREES After this, Eccius and Emser, with their fellow-conspirators, began to instruct me concerning the primacy of the Pope, t Here too, not to be ungrateful to such learned men, I must confess that their works helped me on greatly; for, while I had denied that the Papacy had any divine right, I still admitted that it had a human right. But after hearing and reading the super-subtle subtleties of those coxcombs, by which they so ingeniously set up their idol--my mind being not entirely unteachable in such matters--I now know and..

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This work has been selected by scholars as being culturally important and is part of the knowledge base of civilization as we know it. This work is in the public domain in the United States of America, and possibly other nations. Within the United States, you may freely copy and distribute this work, as no entity (individual or corporate) has a copyright on the body of the work. Scholars believe, and we concur, that this work is important enough to be preserved, reproduced, and made generally available to the public. To ensure a quality reading experience, this work has been proofread and republished using a format that seamlessly blends the original graphical elements with text in an easy-to-read typeface. We appreciate your support of the preservation process, and thank you for being an important part of keeping this knowledge alive and relevant.