3. Luther felt the way to salvation was to lead a pure life, take guidance from the Bible and place one’s faith only in God and his grace. He did not think that “good works” had any place in the church. He refuted sectioning religion into the following of various Saints and rejected the concept that people could eat and drink and do what they liked, with the confidence that repentance who absolve them. Luther felt the Roman Catholic Church, under the authority of the pope, was not adhering to the Bible as it was intended to be read and interpreted. By claiming that the path to salvation was through “the merit of works” and by dividing the concept of God into “numberless images and idols”, the Roman Catholic Church was turning religion into
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He believed it was just a method for getting more money for the church and therefore more money for the pope and other church officials. Luther also felt that the priests were not created to preach the word of God, but rather to act as overseers of “Mass and to roam about with the sacrament”. Ordaining priests did not follow the religious path of “pure gospel and Gods word” and therefore the priests being ordained by the pope were “false and wrong, for all worship which is not ordained of God, or erected by Gods word and command, is worthless.” Luther felt that the pope “preferred the authority of the church far above Gods word” claiming they didn’t know the Bible and “not a soul of them has read the Bible; it is a book unknown to them.” In his view the “pope, cardinals [and] bishops were just a bunch of “guzzling, gluttonous wretches, rich, wallowing in wealth and laziness” and they were never truly thinking of God but were “resting secure in their power”. It offended Luther that the Cardinals would interpret the Bible in ways that did not focus on faith but that focused on people doing whatever they wanted, and then asking forgiveness in the name of God. The “good works” method of gaining God’s grace was an abomination to
He believed it was just a method for getting more money for the church and therefore more money for the pope and other church officials. Luther also felt that the priests were not created to preach the word of God, but rather to act as overseers of “Mass and to roam about with the sacrament”. Ordaining priests did not follow the religious path of “pure gospel and Gods word” and therefore the priests being ordained by the pope were “false and wrong, for all worship which is not ordained of God, or erected by Gods word and command, is worthless.” Luther felt that the pope “preferred the authority of the church far above Gods word” claiming they didn’t know the Bible and “not a soul of them has read the Bible; it is a book unknown to them.” In his view the “pope, cardinals [and] bishops were just a bunch of “guzzling, gluttonous wretches, rich, wallowing in wealth and laziness” and they were never truly thinking of God but were “resting secure in their power”. It offended Luther that the Cardinals would interpret the Bible in ways that did not focus on faith but that focused on people doing whatever they wanted, and then asking forgiveness in the name of God. The “good works” method of gaining God’s grace was an abomination to