This is our Big Question this term in Religious Education. We started the term off by looking at the different denominations of Christianity and how they were similar and different. We thought about the different churches we had seen or visited in Braintree and realised that there were lots of different denominations just in Braintree. 

This week we have been looking at Martin Luther (1483-1456) and why he was a significant individual in the Christian church. First we researched his life and found out lots about him.

We then thought about why Martin Luther made the decisions he did and what the impact of those decisions were. 

He was not happy that the Catholic Church exploited the poor and the fact that the clergy sold 'indulgences'. He wrote 95 Theses about this. He was then excommunicated by Pope Leo X and declared a heretic, which forced him into hiding. During this time, he decide to translate The Bible into German because he felt that everyone should be able to read The Bible in their own language so they didn't have to rely on the clergy. This then cause lots of arguments and wars as people were now able to read The Bible and use passages to back up their arguments. The final consequence of this was the Catholic Church split in half to become The Catholics and The Protestants.