The Reformation

After reading the sources and hearing the lecture, I learned that Martin Luther was a religious scholar devoted to practicing and teaching the core teachings of Christianity. He was a member of the Catholic Church, a monk, and a priest. Yet, it was not theology but integrity or principle that drove him away from the Catholic Church. It was disconcerting for him to observe the eminent fallibility among his fellow-men of faith, whose daily endeavors appeared increasingly divorced from the words and meaning of Scripture. He was disgusted with what his fellow ones of theology called "the doctrine of indulgences," the practice by which absolution was granted in exchange for compensation. he was instrumental in urging changes within the Church, such as the end of selling absolution and the worship of human representatives. There is no evidence that he wanted to start a new religion; instead, he just spotlighted the catholic church's problems and tried to resolve them. He was moved to demand a change in the Church by selling indulgences. He went public when he decided that the Pope was either unwilling or unable to correct those abuses. In the years following the introduction of his 95 theses, Luther attempted to work within the catholic church. The only time he constructed his church was after his ex-communication.