I'm not really sure what I think about Martin Luther. To be honest, I am amazed, impressed, and extremely respectful of anyone who stands up against overbearing powers for what they believe in. However, Martin Luther's ideals, movement, and teachings brought about controversy, unrest, and a division of the German country.
     Like most revolutionaries, Martin Luther had many people who did not only disagree with his ideals, but they adamantly opposed and refused them. However, the man had strong believes and stuck strong to these feelings and ideals. He translated the Bible to German so that others around him could learn, understand, and appreciate the beliefs that he himself found to be true. Luther held strong to what he wanted and did all he could to spread his word throughout the German culture. Martin Luther did not see what the Roman Empire and Catholic Church were preaching and enforcing as right, just, or understandable. He interpreted and saw the Bible and the teachings of Christ in a different light and wanted to at least give people around him an opportunity to follow in his footsteps and see his point of view. He did not believe in many of the ways of the Church, including Indulgences where people could pay for the sins that they committed and many other injustices he saw in the ways of the Church. I am grateful and honored by the word and honesty that Martin Luther laid down to stand against the Church he disagreed with and the beliefs he did not feel.
    On the other hand, Martin Luther paved the path for some controversy and an eventual division of the German people and way of life. His ideals and teachings were the first real questioning of the Catholic Church and the processes that the Roman Empire built itself upon. For the first time, people of Luther's day had another outlet and another realm of religion and belief that they could learn from and search for than what they had been used to. This caused much unrest, hostility, and general questioning from the people. This is where I question and lower my brow to Martin Luther questioning his reasoning to cause an uprising and revolution of sorts at the time.
     Overall, Martin Luther stood up for what he believed in a fought a powerful Empire and Church that had never before been questioned. However, his teachings and beliefs caused and uprise and an unrest that I do not see as just or fit at the time of his delinquency.

My photos are a statue of Martin Luther and the admiration of the historic figure in German culture, the Bible, as translated by Luther, and of what his ideals and the Protestant Reformation did to Europe of the day.

Word count: 432 plus captions