Reform

Garrett Lambur
The Reformation. Such an interesting subject to talk about for there was so much going on within the world of religion at this time, not to mention everywhere else in the world. Many grant the reformation as bring about well, reformation to Christianity in a mainly good way. Without it we would not have the world of Christianity that we have today, we would all either be Catholic or not Christian. But the idea behind the reformation brings up some interesting questions about religion and its impact upon the human being. What Martin Luther did was impressive and shocking at the same time. He held to his beliefs in the face of great danger. Not only would he face danger in a bodily manner but according to the Catholic Church he would face danger in a spiritual manner also. The Catholic Church could excommunicate him and cut him of spiritually from the church and thus God but Martin believed differently. This is very striking to me. For he grew up in a time where you followed the established beliefs or else and these established beliefs held dire consequences against any who challenged them. Martin seemingly broke this system and ushered in a new era where there were different options. Before in the Catholic Church the Pope was the highest voice and in essence determined the wishes of God through the interpretation of the Bible. The pope wielded massive amounts of power and Martin challenged this.

But I guess what brings the greatest question to my mind is this. If God is omnipotent, an all knowing being that we cannot begin to comprehend then who is say one human to correctly interrupt his wishes? Yes it is true that we have the Bible and it teachings but many of the meanings of these teachings are argued over. In these arguments, many will state that they are correct and the other is wrong yet both are humans attempting to interpret the wishes of a being we cannot begin to comprehend. I admire Martin in his original motive for posting the 95 theses, to discuss them, not to state he was right and the other was wrong for we may never know in this life whether either is right in their interpretation.