To what extent was Luther pushed by his Catholic opponents into the extreme position he adopted in 1521?

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To what extent was Luther pushed by his Catholic opponents into the extreme position he adopted in 1521?

Until 1517 Luther had shown no inclination towards a rebellion with the papacy but was in fact rather humble towards the authority of the Pope and respected him greatly. The purpose of Luther's 95 theses of 1517 was to bring to the Pope's attention the abuses being committed in his name thinking that the Pope, Leo X, did not know of the dealings of his clergy. This rather naive belief in the purity of the Pope shows just how much Luther respected his authority in 1517.

But this was all to change due to the events that take place between 1517 and 1521, ending with Luther calling the Pope an Antichrist, dismissing the Pope's assumed role as God's representative on Earth and completely breaking away from the Church. Such an extreme attitude meant that he was easily identifiable in those times as a heretic and so liable to be put to death and yet Luther would not recant being so convinced that his position was the right one in God's eyes.

From this we are able to see the differences in the Luther of 1517 and of 1521, but what were the events and who were the people that played a part in effecting such a dramatic change in the Augustinian monk? Even though the Pope was not Luther's initial target or enemy he does become his biggest opponent since it was the Pope controlling the papacy's dealings and also he represented for Luther the things that were wrong with the Church. Luther's other opponents during this time included Tetzel, Prieras, Cajetan, Von Militz and Eck. These men become involved in the eventful discussions and debates with Luther to try and protect the Church's position in society.
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It was John Tetzel, a Dominican friar and his selling of indulgences that provoked Luther into his first action, which was the 95 theses of 1517. The 95 theses and the following "Sermon on Indulgences and Grace" were very respectful in tone with Luther wanting to avoid confrontation with the papacy as much as possible. At this point Luther was concerned about the fact that people believed that they were able to buy forgiveness for sins committed and did not think that the clergy should be promoting such an idea. He did not know of the financial matters ...

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