Change is good

Olusegun Obasanjo was an army general and later on the 12^th president of Nigeria. My parents would complain about his regime and how corrupt his government was, but the one thing they did not have an opinion about was the communication reform the he brought to Nigeria. This reform allowed communication companies to start a base in Nigeria permitting the use of cell phones, internet, and cable television. His reforms brought Nigeria out a dark age in technology, setting the country apart from the others in Sub-Saharan Africa. Like Obasanjo, Martin Luther brought significant change to the Catholic Church allowing the church to survive until today.

The church symbolizes a community with a set group of bylaws that Christians follow for a common goal. The church represented an authority in medieval Christianity where the Pope had levy in politics. The Pope had authority over the emperor and had property that he solely benefitted from. During the time of Martin Luther, The Pope and his clergy abused their authority in their churches. In To the Christian Nobility the fourteenth reform Martin Luther proposed “We also see how the priesthood has fallen, and how many a poor priest is overburdened with wife and child, his conscience troubled” (To the Christian Nobility 9). His proposal was ironic because priests are to be celibate and not have children but was serious because it shows how dedicated the priests were to their God. Martin Luther treatises addressed what is wrong with the church and his clergy and why it should be changed.

Martin Luther disagreed that the Pope was the only one who could interpret scripture, call a council, and the idea that only men of the clergy men were of “spiritual estate”. Martin Luther believed, “all Christians are truly of the spiritual estate, and there is no difference among them except that of office. Paul says in 1 Corinthians 12:12–13 that we are all one body, yet every member has its own work by which it serves the others.” (To the Christian Nobility 1). Luther argued that Christians have one gospel and one faith and this fact allows for all Christians to be of a “spiritual estate”.

Another important grievance Martin Luther had with the church was that the Pope ordered the selling of indulgences. This money was used to fund the building of the church and other extravagant purchases of the Pope. This indulgence traffic was an abuse of priestly power because priest preyed on the fear that their followers had of hell and of their loved one perishing. The practice of simony was very common where members could buy a position of power in the church. These clerical abuses were brought into the light by Martin Luther allowing the church to make reforms of its own. The Counter Reformation was a response to Luther’s protestant reformation that removed corrupt bishops and priests, indulgences, and financial abuses.

Incomparable to my parent’s complaints, Martin Luther was persecuted and excommunicated for expressing what he believed was wrong with the church. Luther’s writings brought about change in Germany, and eventually the Church, whereas Obasanjo’s reforms transformed Nigeria into a global competitor. The protestant movement caused the denomination of protestant churches and modified changes to the modern Catholic Church. Minute changes in both organizations produced massive changes that many benefit from today.

Bibliography

Janz, Denis: A Reformation Reader : Primary Texts With Introductions. Minneapolis, MN : Fortress Press, 1999, S. 98