History Essay 2

Explain Luther’s main points in the selection you read from On the Freedom of a Christian.

Luther was saying that doing good deeds are not enough to get you into heaven and that you can only get into heaven through Jesus Christ and you should look to God and the Bible for help. Luther is not saying that you should not do good deeds and that in fact Jesus calls us to help the poor and the sick, but that you should not rely on your good deeds to get you into heaven.

Explain Calvin’s main points in the section you read from the Institutes of the Christian Religion.

Calvin was explaining that the Protestants were not a part of the Anabaptists who were taking over cities, destroying things and taking women and forcing them to marry their men. Protestants were being killed because of this and Calvin was trying to explain that the Protestants did not support this kind of behavior and that they were not trying to take down the Catholic church. The Protestants believed that having faith was all you needed to get into heaven and not by your good deeds.

How does Calvin answer those who say predestination makes God into a being who dispenses justice unequally?

Calvin states that if you are questioning God then that makes him extremely arrogant. The Bible makes it very clear what God’s character is and arrogance is not one of his qualities. He also states that if we are dependent on God’s mercy and grace then we must go back to the question of absolute power and who is in control. Who would do what is best for us, and who what is best for themselves. God wants what is best for us because he sent down his son to die for us which means that he must care, and there is no human good enough to rule us so it can not be one of us. Calvin says that when you are questioning God you are questioning his absolute power and are proving that you must not have as big of a role in heaven by questioning him.

English 3 Essay 2

“Why does More present the traveler as a sensible reformer early in Book I, but not later?”

Thomas More wrote Utopia in the sixteenth century as a book of fiction and was the first dystopian novel written. Utopia follows a traveler that has been to many places around the earth named Raphael. Raphael has been observing the politics and the economics of the different countries he has been to and the one country the Raphael names the most astounding is Utopia. Utopia seems to have it all, happiness, peace, no need for money or greed. Utopia is very content, they work six hours a day then have time to relax, they have no wars to fight in. Would you live here? While Utopia seems to have it all, they in reality have very little. In the beginning Raphael is very reasonable, he is against standing armies which he sees as a government trying to intimidate and executing thieves which is the same punishment for murderers.

As Raphael goes on he becomes more bold and the list of ideas that he has for a country become tyrannical. Raphael suggests that private property should not exist, that there is no need for money, he wants to get rid of farming sheep because it turns them into beasts. Raphael believes that the government should control the market and somehow everyone will get what they need. Why does he think this, because it worked in Utopia.

Raphael also believes that the government should get rid of taverns and gambling. Raphael believes that those things are a waste of time and money and that people are unable to quit taking part of those things on their own, so his solution is for the government to completely ban it. Why does he think this, because in Utopia there are no taverns or gambling.

In Utopia everyone is dressed the same and everyone thinks the same way. Everyone eats in the same place, everyone rotates jobs so there is no personal craftmanship or art. For fun the people go and talk, there are only so many people allowed in one family, and if one family is more abundant than one they can take a child away from you. In one city there they can have six thousand occupants and no more. Among all this there is no war, everyone is happy and content but would you still live here?

In reality this society would not work, and Thomas More knows this. People need ambition to do things, and if everything is set just like the day before and your entire future is planned out, doing things in exactly the same way as before, there is nothing to be ambitious about.

In conclusion I believe that Thomas More wrote Utopia with Raphael starting to sound reasonable and then throwing out his real opinions because that is how people state their arguments. People start with the appealing then move onto their real ideas which they know you may not agree with.

History Essay 1

How would you describe the condition of the Catholic Church on the eve of the Protestant Reformation?

The night that Martin Luther wrote the 95 Theses was a revolutionary night that would change the history of the church forever. The Catholic church was highly corrupted because of the greed of the Pope and the church altogether. Pope Leo X and the church was selling indulgences claiming that it would save people from going to Purgatory and would send them to heaven instead. The people could also buy an indulgence for a family member who had already passed on who might be stuck in Purgatory. Luther wrote the 95 Theses to bring to light the evil and harm that selling indulgences were doing and going to do to the community. While the church was full of corrupt people the Pope and the church were probably very comfortable and were not expecting to be challenged by anyone especially Luther because of his commitment to the church, the church underestimated Luther and his influence on history which lead to the splitting of the churches leaving the Catholic church and the Protestant church. The condition of the church was comfortable, wealthy and corrupt.

What were the Ninety-Five Theses about? What was the basic message of Luther’s complaint?

The 95 Theses were written by Martin Luther who started the Protestant church, was about the selling of indulgences and how corrupt the act of selling them were. Luther was concerned for the people buying the indulgences because he was worried about their souls and did not want them to be cheated out of heaven because they believed a lie told by the church. The church was selling indulgences to fund the luxury of the Pope and the church itself was corrupt and full of people seeking power. The essence of the 95 Theses was that the selling of indulgences should not be tolerated at all, not just selling them to be forgiven or that you had to buy it to be sent to heaven. The Bible makes it very clear that no matter how many good deeds you do in this life they are never going to be enough to save you, so how could buying your way into heaven be any different. Luther was very passionate about this and even though the 95 Theses were and are not perfect he captures the idea and the thought that you do not need to buy your way into heaven because you can not.

In conclusion the church was in a good place in the earthly sense but in a spiritual sense they had been corrupted and lost sight of what was actually important, and while Luther’s first attempt at reformation was not perfect his passion, concern and love for others was revolutionary that changed history forever.

English 3 Essay 1

“Do you think that Luther really believed that Pope Leo X did not know what the indulgence salesmen were saying?”

During the point when Luther was writing the 95 Theses he was very concerned for the people buying the indulgences and was set on letting the church know this. In a response to the selling of indulgences Luther wrote the 95 Theses pointing out the sins of selling indulgences to the public. Buying an indulgence from the church, the Pope claimed you would not be sent to purgatory but to heaven instead. The sellers of indulgences also claimed that you could use the indulgence for a relative who might be stuck in purgatory. This was all fabricated by the church because Pope Leo X was a very frivolous man and liked the finer things in life and spent money on things such as literature and paintings. Pope Leo X and other members of the church decided that they could have the congregation fund their finery and set up this trap which many people fell for. Luther however was not very pleased with this form of trickery and wrote the 95 Theses. This event that Luther had not intended to become public became very public and everyone was talking about his 95 Theses thanks to the printing press, would later on become the cause of the split of the church from Catholic to Protestant. It took Luther a few years to figure out his points and explanations against the Pope because in the 95 Theses there are some contradictions, but he would form them and start the Protestant church.

While Luther was writing the 95 Theses did he think Pope Leo X knew what he was doing? There are many points to say that Luther did believe that Pope Leo was innocent and was not trying to trick the public.

1. While writing the 95 Theses Luther does not attack the Pope or the church and in some cases praises the Pope saying that they have a necessary role in the church.
2.  Luther often talks for the Pope and the church making it seem as though they are innocent and want the best for the people.
3.  During this point of time Luther still believed in the Catholic faith and held onto many of its teaching such as Purgatory, which Luther would later on say does not exist.
4. The 95 Theses was in no way to disrespect the Pope or the church, Luther simply wanted to have a debate on it and find its faults.

There are not many reasons as to why Luther would think the Pope and the church were selling indulgences intentionally, after all the church was there to save peoples souls not harm them. The reasons that I found as to why he might have found them guilty at this time are very few and not strong points that would hold up in an argument. I believe that Luther at this time did not think that Pope Leo and the church were selling indulgences out of harmful intensions, which he would later on find out that this was not the case.