Luther And The Catholic Church In The 16th Century

Luther-Erasmus Essay
In the sixteenth century a massive religious and political movement emerged in Europe known to posterity as the Reformation, this movement would challenge not only the corrupt practices of the Catholic Church but also the legitimacy of the institution entire. Up to the sixteenth century, Catholicism was the dominant form of Christianity in all of Christendom (Christian world). Other Christian sects existed such as the Coptic Church in North Africa and Orthodoxy in Eastern Europe, but none had the power and authority held by the Catholic Church. The Catholic Church wielded total spiritual authority over Europe at this time, as well as holding temporal power through its influence on European monarchs and the Papacies direct
Luther detested the Catholic doctrine that good works in life can justify god’s grace and salvation, arguing instead that god’s grace can only be obtained through ones inner faith and devotion. In Luther’s view the merit of one’s own achievements where entirely irrelevant in god’s decision to grant salvation. He further argued that if some credit were to fall on the good works of man than this would deny credit to the glory of the all-powerful deity. Luther believed that religious truth can only be obtained through interpretations of the Christian scriptures, and that knowledge of the scriptures should not be contained within the clergy. Famously, Luther declared the sale of indulgences to be completely incompatible with the Christian religion, and that this was just one of many instances of Papal lust for temporal power, a lust he believed was wholly at odds with Christian teachings. Among his other criticisms, Luther condemned the pomp and splendor of the Catholic Church, the nepotism practiced by the clergy, and the absenteeism of church
Erasmus defended the Catholic notion of freewill, affirming its existence as essential to spiritual salvation. For Erasmus, freewill provides humans with a choice; we can either except god’s grace through Christianity or reject it, and it is this choice which determines whether or not god awards salvation. In other words, faith and good works in life merit the reward of god’s grace and salvation. Luther on the other hand rejects this entirely. For Luther free will is an illusion and negates the glory attributed to the Christian god. If salvation is even partially credited to an individual’s choices or good works than the glory of god is stripped away. Luther states that salvation can only be attained through the intervention of god, not one’s acceptance of faith, and if salvation is not attained it is due to the intervention of the devil, and not once rejection of faith. If Luther were to suppose freewill existed, he would argue its very existence negates the omnipotence of the