Assess the specific contribution of Thomas Muentzer to the German Reformation

Thomas Muentzer, despite being a lesser known protagonist, made some marked contributions to the German Reformation, both long term and short term. Despite rather large gaps in his history and the biographical information surrounding him, the information that is available is notable and necessary in a full understanding of the German Reformation. His main contributions include his contribution the field of Anabaptism, his conflict with Luther over many issues, more specifically about the inner spirit, and finally his belief that theological change necessitated action.Baptism was one of the most contentious issues within the German Reformation. Muentzer, along with others such as Karlstadt, Schwenkfeld and Franck, belonged to a group known as ‘spiritualists’. Despite falling under this heading, Muentzer is heralded as being one of the fathers of Anabaptism, whose foundation argument is that only those who make a conscious decision of faith and who understood the faith should be baptized (i.e. adult baptism). Muentzer’s ideas were fundamental in the development of this field both during and after the German Reformation. Secondly, Muentzer disagreed with Luther on many issues. He criticized Luther for not exposing the secular authorities for their wrongdoings. Luther believed that the secular domain was as God had intended it and was not under his jurisdiction. Muentzer put himself on the side of the common people to support the idea of a communal society rather than a hierarchical one, and was therefore influential in the Peasant’s War of 1525. A final major contribution was that of the insistence on activity rather than passivity. To Muentzer, the passive study and introspective version of Reformation thought was not enough; Christendom could not be saved unless the believers worked diligently every day by working through Scriptures, singing, reading, preaching but also, more importantly perhaps, working towards social change. With this attitude and conviction he gained a notable following in the areas of Allstedt and Muehlhausen while continuously being involved in peasant-led social action in South-Western Germany. It is feasible to argue that Luther did not embody the Reformation completely; Muentzer added a dynamism and truly embodied the integral part of the Reformation that Luther had neglected: that of change.