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Luther, as evidenced by his own writings, was emotionally imbalanced.

"Most Holy Father, prostrate at the feet of your Holiness, I offer myself with all that I am and have . . . I will acknowledge thy voice as the voice of Christ."
{Letter to Pope Leo X, May 30, 1518}

"The true Antichrist, according to Paul, reigns in the Roman Court: I think I am able to prove that he [the Pope] is now worse than the Turks."
{Letter to Wenceslaus Link, December 11, 1518}

"I never approved of a schism, nor will I approve of it for all eternity . . . That the Roman Church is more honored by God than all others is not to be doubted . . . It is not by separating from the Church that we can make her better."
{Letter to Pope Leo X, January 6, 1519}

"I do not know whether the Pope is Antichrist himself, or his Apostle: so miserably is Christ (that is, truth) corrupted and crucified by him in the decrees."
{Letter to Georg Spalatin, March 13, 1519}

Inasmuch as I know for certain that I am right, I will be judge above you and above all the angels, as St. Paul says, that whoever does not accept my doctrine cannot be saved. For it is the doctrine of God, and not my doctrine; therefore my judgment also is God's and not mine . . . It would be better that all bishops were murdered, and all abbeys and cloisters razed to the ground, than that one soul should perish . . . If they will not listen to God's Word . . . what can more justly befall them than a violent upheaval which shall root them out of the earth? And we would smile did it happen. All who contribute body, goods . . . that the rule of the bishops may be destroyed are God's dear children and true Christians. {Against the Falsely So-Called Spiritual Estate of the Pope and Bishops, July 1522}

The Orthodox vs. The Heterodox Luther

So was Luther nuts? Is that your point?

I am old enough to remember the teaching of "buying "time off purgatory time for loved ones with roseries and masses and saying indulgences. Not much different than as Luther put it the sound of coins in the box..

I posted this thread with the hope that some RC's could agree that there were needed reforms in the church that Luther had a hand in prompting...but the same inability to admit to ANY ERROR is what keeps Cardnial Law in his position of power....

Luther, as evidenced by his own writings, was emotionally imbalanced.

I don't think that Luther's writings demonstrate that he was emotionally imbalanced at all. That's a cheap shot at best.

I think that Luther's writings reveal a man struggling with the realization (in his mind) that much of what he had been taught and had strongly believed was in error and even corrupt.

Luther was one of those unique individuals who had the courage to stand up and tell the emperor that he had no clothes, but summoning that courage would be emotionally difficult when the emperor is the RCC. It's hard to argue that the Roman Catholic Church is not in many ways designed to discouraged those unique, courageous individuals like Luther.

I also think that every person who calls himself a Christian should thank God daily for the Protestant Reformation. I shudder to think what the RCC would be like if Luther had not been born.