Comparing and Contrasting two World Famous Political Theorists
Both leaders of their generations, Martin Luther and Niccolo Machiavelli were also religious and political icons. Through their theses, essays, and books they were able to successfully convey their views to the public. Martin Luther was a lawyer turned priest, who tried to open the eyes of the public to the general corruption of the Catholic Church. His 95 theses were the foundation of the Protestant Reformation, while Machiavelli used his skills as a writer, with The Prince, and other works, to bring to light the issues of politics. Known as the father of modern day politics, Machiavelli took his ideas public and changed government, as we know it. Both men were determined to break up the monopoly of knowledge and power that the Catholic Church held over the people. Through examination of Machiavelli's The Prince, and Martin Luther's Christian Liberty, their different views on the individual, God, and the state will be compared and contrasted to better understand their issues with the Catholic Church. Many people say that Martin Luther started the Protestant Reformation by nailing his 95 theses on the front gate of the Catholic Church. Some of these people also say that these theses were an attack on the Church.
To eliminate some of the corruption of the church, Luther felt that with the new understanding about the relationship between man and God, that the people should be able to elect their own pastors. The Word of God should come from a person with the same views as the people. The free cities could not resist this and it gave them the freedom from taxation. Luther's views and theology, as the nobles viewed it, was a way to contain the powers of the Church within their own states. The individual towns felt that the influence of the Church within their states was too much, because it proved that the Church had too much power over them. All throughout Martin Luther's life, even before his work with the Church, his faith God was limited. His beliefs were based on his personal experiences with God. He constantly felt that God had left him, and would consistently punish himself through starvation. He felt that through starvation he could cleanse himself of all the things God felt was impure. As stated in Christian Liberty "Since by faith the soul is cleansed and made to love God, it desires that all things, and especially its own body, shall be purified so that all things may join with it in loving and praising God." (Luther, 22). This was Luther's personal feeling about the relationship between man and God. Both of these statements are false. Martin Luther, a brilliant philosopher during the Renaissance, traveled to Rome in 1511 as the delegated representative of seven allied Augustinian monasteries to protest against some improvements of Staupitz. His experiences as a monk and a priest were fulfilling to his Catholic enlightenment. For example, his trip to Withberg to receive the sub-prior position helped Luther to gain respect and earn more important and valued positions with in the Church. While moving his way up in the Church, Luther was able to see the corruption and deceptiveness that the Catholic Church had become involved in. During his year associated with the Church, he was able to develop his own view on God and the behavior of the Church. Machiavelli's view on the state and their ideals came down to the strength and slyness of a ruler. The strength will not be enough to enable the ruler to escape the traps set by enemies; the slyness is also needed. Especially for new princes, strength and slyness are tested throu
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Approximate Word count = 1592
Approximate Pages = 6 (250 words per page double spaced)
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