Martin Luther’s theology

Martin Luther, a teacher, preacher, priest and theologian, was, in my opinion, one of the most outstanding people in European history. He produced a great impact on the further development of Christian religion and European philosophy as well. He also contributed to the critical regard at a traditional holy Catholic Church which was considered to be an infallible representative of the almighty God. So, what did he do then? Actually, being a priest, to a certain extent by occasion, since in 1505 when a lightening stroke near to him and he promised to St. Anne to become a monk, as he stayed alive, I think that was one of the reasons why he was on the one hand so devout and on the other hand very critical in relation to the Roman Catholic Church. Martin Luther got a doctorate and began to teach theology but he didn’t accept the papal policy and theology. He was shocked by the corruption within the Catholic Church and widely criticized the efficacy of indulgences particularly in his “95 Theses”. As a result he was condemned and excommunicated but still he continued to develop his theological ideas. He denounced the authority of the Catholic Church and estimated that the only religious authority was the Bible and individual reason. His view on theology, bible and Christian religion in general was quite different from that of the Catholic Church. He found a new sense of the righteousness of God which he understood not as active righteousness, that is adjudged by God on the basis of humans works, but as passive righteousness that is received from God who makes sinners just. In short, he believed that salvation is a gift of God`s grace, received by faith in God`s promise to forgive sins for the sake of Christ`s death. Such views influenced his translation of the Bible and his criticism of Hebrew, James, Jude and Revelation. Thus, his life and work helped to develop new, alternative ideas concerning Christian theology and in further prospective his views served as the basis for Protestant movements in Europe and made people more critical to the Roman Catholic Church. It also contributed to the German Peasant Rebellion which, however, wasn`t supported by M. Luther. So, Martin Luther is a prominent figure whose role and ideas had to be thoroughly analyzed. 

The Renaissance in Italy in 1400-1600

Italy is a country where the Renaissance actually began and it dates back to the late 13^th c. but the shift from the Middle Ages to the Renaissance became the most evident in the 14^th c. this period is characterized by a rapid development of arts, science and culture. The cultural center of Europe was Florence, a beautiful Italian city where many famous artists lived and worked as well as many travelers and explorers of new lands did, since Genoa is a native city of Christopher Columbus. During 14-16^th centuries artists as well as scientists focus their attention on the real world around them. They began to apply to the history, particularly to the ancient culture of Greece and Rome. They studied works of arts of ancient artists that certainly broadened their horizons. Actually, there was a trend to experiment and innovation in the art which was reinforced by growing wealth of cities that helped support artists. This trend was widely realized in all arts. For example, in painting Giotto di Bondone, a Florentine painter, based his art on the observation of the real world, his partisans led by Masaccio used scientific principles to solve the problem of perspective and invented new techniques for representing light and shade. So the list may be continued and I think it would be enough to name a few but the most outstanding artists that, in my opinion, shaped the culture of that epoch, they are: Leonardo da Vinci, Rafael Sanzio, Michelangelo Buonarroti, Danatello and many others.  But not only artists the audience itself had changed: people became more demanding, they wanted more variety and vividness. So such cultural and socio-economical changes led to the necessity to explore not only new forms in the art but new lands as well because since feudal relations were replaced by bourgeois it forced people to seek for new prospects for enrichment that could be provided by exploration and further colonization of new lands but such explorations became possible only due to the growing level of education and acquaintance with works of ancient artists, particularly writers and philosophers and general growth of European culture.