Corruption of the Catholic Church

399 Words2 Pages
The early reformers of the Catholic Church had one common thread; they felt the word of the Lord was grossly misinterpreted by the Church. Though the Church was working to give the people what they wanted, their practices were dishonest and they took liberties with the scriptures. Martin Luther cited two major corruptions in his Ninety Five Theses. The first was that salvation could be reached only by one’s own faith; secondly Luther objected to the selling of indulgences to provide absolution for sinners. The monies from these sales financed wars and expensive lifestyles of the popes, archbishops and bishops. Some one thousand years earlier, Augustine had similar reservations about the Catholic Church as Luther. He felt the Bible must stand as the ultimate religious authority, not the church officials. Augustine also believed salvation could be reached only by God’s divine grace; it could not be achieved through good works. Luther later formed Protestantism on these two central beliefs. You are accurate in saying that faith alone, grace alone, and scripture alone was the foundation of Luther’s theology, but as the Reformation proceeded, many Protestants rejected some of his ideas. Marsiligio of Padua felt that those who were running the Church were getting away from the original message of Christ. John Wycliffe was conflicted by a number of things within the Catholic Church. Wycliffe could find no clear documentation in the bible for transubstantiation; he determined that bread never ceased to be bread. Wycliffe also opposed indulgences and rejected the practice of confession. He upheld the bibles teaching on faith – Trust wholly in Christ…be aware of seeking to be justified in any other way. John Hus’s platform was that people should be able to read the Bible in their own language. John Colet contended that the scripture could be translated into text that
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