[buffyt]

This article is 100% pure HOGWASH!!! He was against things like paying for you forgiveness with Indulgences. He was against the things that were wrong in the church. Go back and read about some of the very bad popes including the one who tried to have a Luther KILLED.

[HiTech RedNeck]

Well a state church had it coming sooner or later. I do not mourn that one iota.

[Tench_Coxe]

"His defiant stand gave voice to a sentiment that would eventually provide legitimation for disobeying all forms of authority."

Luther was railing against obvious abuses of those entrusted with positions of authority. Not *all* forms.

[tired&retired]

I understand that the Pope is headed to Wittenberg for reconciliation this October for the 500th anniversary of Luther’s nailing the 95 theses on the door.

[iowamark]

The author, Frank Furedi, is a founder of the ‘Revolutionary Communist Party’.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frank_Furedi

[Yashcheritsiy]

Luther started the process, but it was Calvin who really legitimised the idea of burning Catholics at the stake.

[sphinx]

It is perhaps better to pose the question as "who is the final judge when traditional sources of authority fall into opposition?"

There are three sources of authority: scripture, authority, and right reason. In principle, all three should be in harmony and should operate so as to reinforce one another. But since the world is complicated, and since people ask complicated questions and fall into error, conflicts do arise.

The immediate question for Luther was how to respond when "authority," in the form of the hierarchy of his day, had fallen into obvious error. Luther argued for the primacy of scripture as understood through right reason. The status of hierarchial "authority" rested ultimately on the deference owed to a teacher who has devoted his life to the study of scripture, including the historical exegesis of the church, as guided by reason disciplined by a lifetime of prayer and rigorous personal discipline.

Luther held such authority in high regard. He did not challenge it lightly. And he certainly did not think laymen should run off and invent their own theologies at the drop of a hat. Luther had a deep respect for learning, and for the class of people (the clergy) who had devoted their lives to its pursuit.

The issue, however, was that much of the hierarchy of Luther's day had fallen into grievous and obvious error and, in doing so, had forfeited the deference that would otherwise come naturally. When the Pope acted like a petty Italian warlord, with the higher clergy often living in scandalous luxury, with cardinals and bishops keeping mistresses and treating church properties as tokens in dynastic intrigues, continued deference would have required a willful closing of one's eyes.

That said, I presume that Luther would have stayed within the church had the Pope not forced his hand. Luther didn't leave voluntarily; he was excommunicated. And he refused to recant because he was being ordered to perjure himself (a mortal sin) by a clearly corrupt judge. And so: when the judge is corrupt, who is the final authority?

[rigelkentaurus]

As a Missouri Synod Lutheran, I still have zero interest in reconciling with the catholic church.

Many of Luther’s issues with the catholic church remain as issues to me today. They may have finally ended the selling of indulgences, but other important issues remain unresolved.

[Wuli]

Power corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely - and Luther saw the result in the very human institution of the Roman Catholic Church. It could no longer claim many aspects of its writ were either “divine” or “divinely inspired”.

[stylecouncilor]

Ping

[elpadre]

there is a vast difference between authority as exercised in the world today, and absolute authority as exercised by Popes and monarchs of yesterday.

[IronJack]

a chain of events that fundamentally undermined the idea of authority itself.

PRESUMED authority maybe ...

[ConservativeMind]

The perversion of the Catholic church was easy to see.

[Just mythoughts]

Poor old Luther .. (no I am not a Lutheran) but the war against him misses who really has authority .. since the beginning .. and authority, sure was NOT passed off to some ‘man’ elected’ character calling himself ‘holy father’...

The next reformation will leave NO doubt about WHO has authority and WHO is in control.

[yoe]

The Word of God was not enough..along came “religion”, a particular system of faith and worship...becoming a kaleidoscope of faiths, many were forms of law and order...none are better than other.

[af_vet_1981]

The ideas set out by Martin Luther sparked a Holocaust against the Jews. He laid out the 7 point plan.

[Elsie]

It is unlikely that Martin Luther set out to shatter authority.

And you can still find FR Catholics that swear by the AUTHORITY of the One, True Church!

[bert]

“My arse is broken” Martin Luther