Religion-State Relationships: Luther's Reformation. In answer to the question: To what extent was Luther's religious reformation, in reality, a political reformation?

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The Roman Catholic Church was the dominating power in the 16th century as this time saw many people focusing on religion and the power of God. However, this dominant power was not always a positive thing; in fact, Martin Luther saw many faults within the power of the Catholic Church. These faults were not within the core beliefs of the church, the faults were in the way the church was structured. Luther's reformation had biblical foundations, it was mostly a political reformation because it aimed to change the structure of the church so that power was properly distributed and that the fundamental Christian beliefs were not forgotten.

Martin Luther was a professor of biblical studies at the University of Wittenburg in Germany (Dowley, 1977). His education and great knowledge of the bible was one of the main reasons why Luther was a reformist. He was able to study the scriptures and explore the Christian faith, which lead him to start fighting the inconsistencies of the church and the blind faith expected of its followers (Rempel, 2001).

In the 16th century, almost all questions and answers were a matter for the church because many believed it was a path through which God revealed everything. The church was the dominating power not only morally, but scientifically and politically as well (The Political Impact of Luther and Calvin, 2005). Luther, as a reformist, was opposed to this dominating power of the church and in his knowledge and education was able to point out the flaws and the subsequent threats to the people (Rempel, 2001). In a case where the church becomes the state as well, it is hard to define what is meant by religious reformation and political reformation. However, since Luther was mostly concerned with power, a political reformation in this case...