Martin Luther Case

Martin Luther was perhaps one of the most influential figures in Catholic Church history. Martin Luther, who was studying to become a lawyer due to his father's wishes, was caught in a mighty thunderstorm one day and was almost struck by lightning. He viewed this as a sign of God and vowed to become a monk if he survived it, and so he did ("Luther and the Theses"). Being a monk made Luther come to many realizations. Luther found that he disagreed with many of the Church's teachings. He appealed first to Pope Leo X and asked him to correct the issue of indulgences (Palmer, Colton, and Kramer 80). When the Pope refused, Luther was obliged to announce the issue publicly. On October 31st, 1517, Martin Luther nailed the 95 Theses to the Castle Church in Wittenberg, Germany. Along with posting them to the Church door, Luther also sent several of his friends a copy. In addition to that, he also sent one to Archbishop Albert of Hohenzollern, whom he deemed responsible for the sale of indulgences in Wittenberg. Initially, Luther never meant for the theses to get so much publicity, but with the help of the printing press, they spread widely (Palmer, Colton, and Kramer 55). Ultimately, this was the first big event that was to lead to the Protestant Reformation. In his 95 Theses, Martin Luther exposed the Catholic Church's abuse of power and sale of indulgences.

The Catholic Church, one of the oldest institutions known to man, was extremely corrupt, mainly by the abuse of power. Despite various reforms, the Church was not able to enforce any of the laws. Churchmen often obtained their positions in the Church through bribery. Church offices were often bought. This crime in the canon law, called simony, was unable to be abolished (Palmer, Colton, and Kramer 55). The Popes, bishops, and other churchmen, supposedly celibate, lived with mistresses and often had children (Palmer, Colton, and Kramer 55). Although this action was considered reasonable by society, it was still prohibited. Another issue was nepotism, or the practice of one with a powerful position favoring a relative or friend by giving him/her a position or job. Nepotism was often practiced among the Church (an example of this would be the Borgia family) and this, along with bribery, was how most people obtained their position in the Church (Palmer, Colton, and Kramer 55). These were some of the things Luther referred to when he wrote, "The pope does not intend to remit, and cannot remit any penalties other than those which he has imposed either by his own authority or by that of the Canons" (Thesis #5). The Pope also took the power of God, which is implied in Thesis #6, "The pope himself cannot remit guilt, but only declare and confirm that it has been remitted by God; or, at most, he can remit it in cases reserved to his discretion. Except for these cases, the guilt remains untouched." Martin Luther stressed through these theses that that the Pope should have limited power and should not play the role of God.

The Catholic Church was the ultimate authority. It controlled most of Europe, mainly the Western portion of it. Catholicism was the only accepted religion in most places, and if one was of another faith, such Muslim or Jewish, he would have been forced to convert or would either be expelled from the country or killed (Palmer, Colton, and Kramer 75). There were many people who attempted