Martin Luther King and the Church Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Martin Luther King and the Church - Essay Example All social groups ranging from the ruling class to the peasant class had a strong reason to accept Luther’s reasons and support him. The princes and kings resented the overarching control of the Church, while the peasants resented the wealth of the Church and revolted against the social, political and religious authorities. It was the context and time that played a huge role in the success of Luther. As reformation spread from Germany throughout Europe, it gave rise to violence, religious struggles, wars and civil unrest. The widespread conflicts involving Catholics killing Protestants, Protestants killing Catholics and the Thirty Years War can certainly not be justified, whatever the reason was, given the bloodshed and other serious consequences. However, Reformation alone cannot be held solely responsible for these wars as even otherwise there would have been political and social struggles leading to wars at that time in Europe. There was an increasing social and political discontent all over Europe. Reformation offered the opportunity to either establish authority or to break away from it. This context should not be ignored while discussing the stormy period in Europe during the Reformation. Such a political and social unrest should be seen as a significant trigger for the wars and civil unrest all over Europe during Reformation. Brutal wars and bloodshed cannot be hailed or celebrated, but without Reformation, Europe would not have undergone significant changes in its political, economic and social institutions. Change is inevitable, and Reformation was one such a change within the Church but one which led to a larger scale conflict and war because of the contemporary socio-political conditions. It was only an opportunity seized by the society of that time, and if it had not been a Reformation, it would have been some other revolution that would have erupted to