Martin Luther was German preacher whose own spiritual crisis led to a revolution in religious thought and practice. His belief in the concept of sola fides, which means by faith alone, caused great controversy among the people of the time. He believed that in order to reach a true state of religiosity one had to believe in God's grace and blessings, that it was faith alone and not our own works that should be basis of the Christian faith. He also believed in sola scripture, which means by scripture alone. He believed that what was not in the text should not be included in religious practice. This included the belief that everyone had the potential to be godly and denounced the class of priests. Along with certain technological advances and social factors, his writings proved to be a powerful weapon in the inciting of a religious revolution.A main reason for how his teachings led to a revolution was printing and its effect on the disseminating of propaganda. Without it, the revolution would never have occurred. Between 1518-1524 the amount of books printed increased seven times and between 1517-1520, thirty Lutheran tracts sold 300,000 copies. Another reason was the financial and political difficulties experienced by the Church of Rome. Many people were worried about the prevalence of corruption and bribery and also critical of certain practices such as indulgences. The papacy was open to considerable amounts of criticism. Peasants also questioned why they had to pay tithes and why they couldn't elect their own priests. There was also social tension at the time. The Peasant's War, the issue of the Swiss mercenary soldier, and the withdrawal of Baptist communities are some examples. Political issues were another reason. Henry VIII of England wanted a divorce from the Roman church because he needed money and much of the land was in the hands of the church. German noblemen at the time also protested against the church. W...
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