Why did Martin Luther protest against the Catholic Church?

Answer 1

Non Catholic Answer

He believed that belief (and the grace of God) alone would get one into heaven. The Catholic church believed that faith which resulted in good works got you into heaven. Luther obviously disagreed. He also didn't like the selling of indulgences.

If you look at the history of the Catholic Church (not Christianity) it was going through a terrible period of corruption in his day and many honest Christians of the time saw this and decided that it had moved so far from Christ's teaching and example that reformation was needed. Martin Luther was the most articulate of these reformers.

-----------------------------------------------------------Catholic AnswerMartin Luther was a very troubled man, a very immoral man, who eschewed practically every virtue, left his religious order without dispensation, married without permission after taking a vow of perpetual celibacy. Below is a link to Amazon.com to a book by Patrick O'Hare, a book mainly in Luther's own words. Luther could not reconcile himself to his religion or himself, so he remade religion to suit himself and ended up with a disaster. Please pick up a copy of the book, as I said, it is mostly in his own words. I think those who quote Martin Luther and worship him as a the great founder of Protestantism are in for a shock.
Martin Luther was concerned about the corruption and the lifestyles of the priests in the Catholic Church. He was also concerned about the selling of indulgences. Indulgences were a partial remission of the temporal punishment and they were being sold and the proceeds used to finance the Popes building projects.

Answer 2

Martin Luther, a monk teaching at the University of Wittenberg in Saxony, said that he "hated this God who punished sinners", and turned to The Bible which he re-interpreted to say that man's salvation was not by acts of penance and repentance, but by faith alone.

His initial aim was to reform the use of indulgences, rather than to abolish them. At this time, Pope Leo X needed money to finalise the construction of St Peter's in Rome and planned to declare indulgences for all who contributed. Among those who replied to Luther's theses was Prierias, Master of the Papal Palace, who declared any challenge to the sale of indulgences heretical. Luther refused to retract and appealed to the Pope and to a General Council.

He also attacked the doctrine of transubstantiation, and the withholding of the Sacrament from the laity.

Catholic AnswerMartin Luther's "reasons" if you can be so bold as to call them that are contained in his "95 Theses" which he nailed to the Castle door. To read them is an exercise in wonderment. Supposedly Martin Luther was an Augustinian Friar, a priest, and a Theology professor, but his theses are the writings of an extremely ignorant man totally devoid of any knowledge of Catholic theology. Some of his questions presuppose that the Catholic Church does not believe in them, while actually they are legitimate Catholic theology - and were back them, as well. Others are totally off the wall, making no sense at all. Any first year theology student could have easily answered all of his questions without opening a book. Bottom line? Martin Luther found it too difficult to live the moral life that Our Blessed Lord was calling him to, and instead of trying, through prayer, and, with our Lord's help, to better himself, he gave himself up to sin and expected that Our Blessed Lord would save him, despite the contrary assertions in the Gospel. For instance he claims that he is saved by faith alone, and yet the only time those words appear together in is the Letter of St. James with the word "not" in front of them. Here is the exact quote from the King James Version of the Bible: St. James 2:24 - Ye see then how that by works a man is justified, and not by faith only.

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from

Radio Replies, by Fathers Rumble and Carty, 1942

221 The power of Romanism was shattered by Martin Luther, of immortal memory.

Martin Luther is undoubtedly an outstanding figure in history. But the immortal memory of Luther will become less and less pleasant as the facts concerning him become known. Those who idealize Luther can do so only by ignoring an immense amount of inconvenient information. He was a priest of the Catholic Church, but one who was not faithful to his obligations even as a Christian. On his own admissions he was a victim of both immorality and drunkenness; and he was the most intolerant of men. Far from granting liberty of conscience, he refused to allow anyone to think differently from himself, and coolly said, "Whoever teaches otherwise than I teach is a child of hell."

265. Did not Luther give ninety reasons for leaving the Catholic Church?

He gave many excuses, but no real reasons. Before he left the Church, he was a member of a religious order, vowed for the love of Christ to poverty, chastity, and obedience. He broke all three vows. Vices, whether intellectual or moral, are excuses, not reasons, for leaving the Church.

269. Do you know of any good in Luther?

Intellectually, not much. He declared that reason was of the devil, and that the Christian must regard it as his greatest enemy. Morally, less still. St. Paul says that those who are Christ's have crucified their flesh with its vices and concupiscences. (Gal. V., 24.) That Luther indulged his vices and concupiscences is clear from his writings, where he gives disgraceful descriptions of his own indulgence in everything passionate. His diaries record shocking excesses of sensuality, which could not be printed in any decent book to-day. A true Apostle of Christ does not give vent to such expressions as, "To be continent and chaste is not in me," or, "Why do I sit soaked in wine." I do not say these things merely to detract from the memory of Luther. But it is not right that people should be duped by the thought that Luther was a well-balanced and saintly reformer. He was not entirely devoid of good qualities. He was endowed with a certain kindness and generosity. But this does not compensate for his vices. He should have controlled his sentimentality and emotional nature in the light of Christian principles. He did not, but gave free rein to his lower passions, calmly saying that a man has to do so, and will not be responsible for such conduct.

Answer 3

Martin Luther attacked the roman catholic church by writing his 95 thesis - which were his complaints against the church - in the vernacular. the vernacular is the common language, not Latin, which is what was used in Church. By writing in the vernacular, commoners could understand what was being said and more people began having access to his complaints.

Answer 4

He nailed 95 complaints on the church door in Worms, Germany.

Answer 5

Because the church was corrupt and they sold indulgences. Plus they told people that if they paid them enough, they could get into heaven for sure.

Answer 6

By posting his 95 Theses on the door of Wittenburg Castle.