Lafia Journal of Religion and Humanities

Martin Luther's famous 95 Theses which were written for an academic disputation had ignited the fire for the Protestant Reformation which several people had longed for. The 95 Theses unraveled several hidden motives of different rulers who were obsessed with the papal supremacy and had longed for avenues to break away. The church ignored him and proceeded with her plans of increasing revenue, thereby going into negotiations of different concordats or treaties with princes. This diverted the attention of the papacy and bishops on matters concerning the church, and gave more powers to princes and kings who controlled the church within their territories, which was easy to break up and form their respective churches. This paper seeks to bring to the fore and analyze the political factors that aided the 16th century Protestant Reformation. The work provides guiding principles for the Nigerian religious leaders. The paper uses the historical research approach to trace the history of the Protestant Reformation. It uses the analytical method to examine the role of political leaders in religion and the extent which they can go. The study also brings to limelight, the extent to which religious leaders should speak on politics, without detriments to their religious functions. This work is of paramount importance because politics in Nigeria seems to be the only viable industry for immediate attainment of wealth, at the detriment of the masses. Perhaps this politics seems to attract everyone, including those who are not professionally equipped for it..

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