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Background
Background
Martin Luther (1483 - 1546) was born in what is now Germany. He is most famous as a key figure in the Reformation when many priests and churches split from the Catholic church.
Many people had long been arguing that the Catholic Church needed reform - John Wycliffe for example, complained about the way in which priests seemed to flaunt their power and wealth. But the moral authority of the church really started to fall apart at the end of the 15th century when Pope Sixtus IV (1471–1484) started selling indulgences to raise money. According to church teaching, if you had sinned during life, you would be punished when you died. The church, however, said that it had the power to reduce any such punishment by granting an indulgence. Pope Sixtus IV realised that he could make quite a lot of money by allowing people to buy such indulgences.
Sixtus IV wasn’t alone in being a dodgy Pope, Pope Alexander VI (1431-1503) was notoriously corrupt and famous for having seven children. He and his family were accused of murders and all sorts, but it was very difficult to pin such crimes on the Pope.
On 31 October 1517, Martin Luther had had enough of dodgy and corrupt Popes and nailed his Ninety-five Theses on the Power and Efficacy of Indulgences.
Luther's argument
Luther's argument
We can summarise argument at the centre of the Reformation as follows:
If salvation is a gift received through faith alone, then human "works" (rituals, charity, or sacraments) cannot earn a person’s salvation.
If human works cannot earn salvation, then no institution can claim exclusive authority by "selling" or "distributing" God's grace through its own rituals.
Humanity is justified by faith alone.
∴ the Catholic Church does not hold a monopoly on spiritual authority, nor is it a necessary intermediary between the individual and God.
Luther developed the idea of justification by faith alone (premise 1) based on Ephesians 2:8-10
For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast. For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them.
In the ninety-five theses, Luther expanded on this idea, comparing the immensity of the gift of God's grace to the paucity of the grace offered by the Catholic church in the form of indulgences:
62. The true treasure of the Church is the Most Holy Gospel of the glory and the grace of God.
...
67. The indulgences which the preachers cry as the "greatest graces" are known to be truly such, in so far as they promote gain.
68. Yet they are in truth the very smallest graces compared with the grace of God and the piety of the Cross.
-Martin Luther, Ninety-five Theses on the Power and Efficacy of Indulgences.The Catholic Church's response
The Catholic Church's response
The position of the Catholic Church was based upon the book of James 2:20-26:
You foolish person, do you want evidence that faith without deeds is useless? Was not our father Abraham considered righteous for what he did when he offered his son Isaac on the altar? You see that his faith and his actions were working together, and his faith was made complete by what he did. And the scripture was fulfilled that says, “Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness,” and he was called God’s friend. You see that a person is considered righteous by what they do and not by faith alone.
… As the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without deeds is dead.
The Catholic Church responded to the Protestant Reformation by convening the Council of Trent. At this council the Church condemned various protestant proclamations as heresies. It decided which books would make up the official Bible of the church and which translations were to be allowed to be read. The Council also gathered together key Catholic doctrines in what was called the Roman Catechism. This Catechism was used to educate the Priests.
The Roman Inquisition was set up to combat the heresies and ensure the promulgation of the Catechism.
Tasks
Tasks
Explain Luther’s argument
Explain the Catholic Church’s response.
Explain the consequences this argument had for the power of the church
What is your response to these arguments? Explain yourself.
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