Beginning of Essay
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 o ....

Middle of Essay
.... 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 ....