Martin Luther

The chruch was too rich:

The church owned about one third of all of the land in England. An ordinary peasant had to give 10% of their harvest ( a tithe) to the priest every year. Some felt that the bishops, priests and monks lived in luxury whilst the poor suffered.

The priest didn't lead a very holy life:

Soem priests had a few jobs and neglected their work. Villagers once told the Bishop of Hereford.

'The priest put his horses and sheep in the churchyard... he was away for 6 weeks and made no arrangement for a substitute. Sir John (the priest) spends his time in the taverns (pubs) and there his tongue is loosened to the scande of everyone. He is living with a woman Margaret and he cannot read nor write and so cannot look after the parishers' souls'

Ordinary people did not think soem priests were setting a very good example to the people living in the village or town.

Ordinary people couldn't understand church services:

The bible was written in Latin and the church services were held in this language as well. People said they found it difficult to feel close to God if they couldn't understand what was being said in church.

Poor People couldn't afford indulgences:

When a person died, they went to heaven or hell. It was thought you passed through a place called purgatory on the way. In purgatory, people believed you were punished for any sins you may of commited whilst you were alive. It wasn't meant to be a nice place to stay very long. When you were alive, you could buy indulgences from a bishop. This meant that you travelled through purgatory quicker. Rich people could buy lots of indulgences. Poor people didn't think it was fair. They thought that they were being punished for being poor.

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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.

Luther the reformer had become Luther the revolutionary; the religious agitation had become a political rebellion. Luther's theological attitude at this time, as far as a formulated cohesion can be deduced, was as follows:

•The Bible is the only source of faith; it contains the plenary inspiration of God; its reading is invested with a quasi-sacramental character.

•Human nature has been totally corrupted by original sin, and man, accordingly, is deprived of free will. Whatever he does, be it good or bad, is not his own work, but God's.

•Faith alone can work justification, and man is saved by confidently believing that God will pardon him. This faith not only includes a full pardon of sin, but also an unconditional release from its penalties.

•The hierarchy and priesthood are not Divinely instituted or necessary, and ceremonial or exterior worship is not essential or useful. Ecclesiastical vestments, pilgrimages, mortifications, monastic vows, prayers for the dead, intercession of saints, avail the soul nothing.

•All sacraments, with the exception of baptism, Holy Eucharist, and penance, are rejected, but their absence may be supplied by faith.

•The priesthood is universal; every Christian may assume it. A body of specially trained and ordained men to dispense the mysteries of God is needless and a usurpation.

•There is no visible Church or one specially established by God whereby men may work out their salvation.

The emperor is appealed to in his three primary pamphlets, to destroy the power of the pope, to confiscate for his own use all ecclesiastical property, to abolish ecclesiastical feasts, fasts, and holidays, to do away with Masses for the dead, etc. In his "Babylonian Captivity", particularly, he tries to arouse national feeling against the papacy, and appeals to the lower appetite of the crowd by laying down a sensualized code of matrimonial ethics, little removed from paganism, which "again come to the front during the French Revolution" (Hagen, "Deutsche literar. u. religiöse Verhaltnisse", II, Erlangen, 1843, 235). His third manifesto, "On the Freedom of a Christian Man", more moderate in tone, though uncompromisingly radical, he sent to the pope.

In April, 1520, Eck appeared in Rome, with the German works, containing most of these doctrines, translated into Latin. They were submitted and discussed with patient care and critical calmness. Some members of the four consistories, held between 21 May and 1 June, counselled gentleness and forbearance, but those demanding summary procedure prevailed. The Bull of excommunication, "Exsurge Domine", was accordingly drawn up 15 July. It formally condemned forty-one propositions drawn from his writings, ordered the destruction of the books containing the errors, and summoned Luther himself to recant within sixty days or receive the full penalty of ecclesiastical punishment.

Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. was a Baptist Minister, a theologian with a Doctoral in Philosophy, the first President of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, an American Civil Rights Organization.

He was a Human and Civil Rights Activist, early in his career as a Minister, leading, organizing, and contributing to Peaceful Protests to secure greater recognition for Civil Rights. The 1955 Montgomery Bus Boycott, was led by King, as well as, the 1963 March on Washington March, and Protest, where he delivered his historically famous "I Have a Dream" speech, across from the Lincoln Memorial, to more than 200,000 Marchers. In 1964, he became the youngest person to receive the Nobel Peace Price for his work to end racial segregation, and racial discrimination through means of Civil Disobedience, and other nonviolent efforts.

he is amaerican

he was a minister

he got shot