Reformation: Guiding Questions

Document A: Luther in 1517

1) (Sourcing) When was this document written? What was Luther’s purpose in writing it? This
was writing in 1517 and his purpose for writing this letter was for the pope to know that he
doesn’t think you can buy yourself into heaven.

2) (Close reading) How would you describe Luther’s tone in this document? I would say his tone
sounded disappointed.

3) (Close reading) According to this document, why did Luther challenge the Catholic Church?
Luther didn’t like the way the church was lying to the people.

Document B: Luther in 1535

1) (Sourcing) When was this document written? What was its purpose? 1535. The purpose was
to show and explain why Luther disagreed with the Pope.

2) (Close reading) How would you describe Luther’s tone in this document? Luther’s tone
Critical because he doesn’t agree with the church.

3) (Close reading) According to this document, why did Luther challenge the Catholic Church?
He challenged the catholic church because he doesn't agree with the pope being head of the
church and how he is using his power.

What are the differences between Luther’s account from 1517 and his account of 1535?

Difference in: 1517 1535

Tone Luther has a submissive Luther has an aggressive

tone. tone.

Place in Life He was a young monk he was nearly twenty years

older and the leader of a
revolutionary religious
movement.

Disagreement Luther wants a clarification His disagreement with the

with the and doesn’t seem to be trying church seems to be about
Church to start a revolution much broader, political issues
that cut to the center of what
Catholicism and Christianity
are all about

Hypothesis: After reading Documents A and B, and discussing the Guiding

Questions create a hypothesis regarding the question: Why did Martin
Luther’s account of his break with the Church change between 1517 and
1535? Is one account more reliable than the other?

I think his later account was more reliable than his earlier account because the older you get
the more experience you have and also most of the bad things the church was doing were
when he was a bit older.

Explain your answer with specific evidence from the documents:

The region my answer is the way it is up top is because of these sentences in Document B.
“The main reason I fell out with the pope was this: the pope boasted
that he was the head of the Church, and condemned all that would not be
under his power and authority. He said although Christ is the head of the
Church, there must be a physical head of the Church upon the earth’’