The first four points summarize to say that repentance is understood to be a relationship between God and the believer that continues until the entrance into the Kingdom of Heaven, and as such, the priest has no ruling in the matter. The next points summarized are points five through nine; emphasizing the importance of repentance. He declared that only God can remove sin, the pope cannot. In points ten through nineteen Luther addresses the church and financial gains in regard to purgatory. God has the sole control of death and purgatory, and it is not for the Church profit from.
It is founded in God, Who did not only create the Ten Commandments, but He is the standard and the law. God allowed sin to come into the world. He did not create it, yet He created the possibility of it. God cannot sin nor even be tempted by sin. He is so holy, just, and full of grace that He had to send His Son, Jesus Christ, to die for these sins and humans’ depraved condition.
Thomas More takes the side of the church and follows the idea that God judges the consciences of all, and if one is against God, then that person could be considered evil. “More went to his death as he said on the scaffold, “the king’s good servant and God’s first” ( Lahr). More believes that following God is the only way to go even if it resulted to death. More decides to stay true to his own beliefs and his own conscience based off of what is morally right under the law of God. This shows that in the Renaissance times, evil was viewed by what beliefs that people had in God, and the conscience and beliefs of the King are considered evil under what God laid down as
However, the Grand Inquisitor’s rejection that the nature of man has potential to change when we accept Christ as our savior highlights the weak link in his argument. The inability to handle freedom appears to the Grand Inquisitor as one flaw possessed by humans. “… For nothing has ever been more insupportable for a man and a human society than freedom” (Dostoevski 29). He claims that man is too weak and rebellious to bear the weight of free will and therefore believes our paths should be decided for us. However, as Christians we believe that man should have freedom to choose whether he will follow Christ or not.
The conquistadors “truly believed that they were serving God” when they sought to convert the indigenous populations of the Americas; these God-serving military men became exasperated and irate when these civilizations could not and would not perceive the superiority of Christianity, nor the need for salvation of their souls under this unfamiliar monotheistic religion devoid of their beliefs (38). This Christianity was preached to and imposed on a wide variety of indigenous peoples and their
Naturalist do not believe in more than just matter, they look at things as if I cannot see it then it is not there. However, as a Christians, I believe in more and I know our God is out there helping us through our lives. Naturalist look at us as machines that all of our emotions and such are just reactions in our brains, but Christians believe that everything we do is the creation of God. Secular humanist and Christians are so different I use my religion to help stay in line. Secular humanist feel that religion is really a negative thing because it gives you rules to follow therefore you never really follow your deepest desires.
This let's people understand that everyone is equal no matter what; by not doing this your pointing out that, my religion is better or my race is supreme and yours is inferior. As seen through history with the Native Americans worshipping nature and involuntarily worshipping Christianity. Moreover, the African Americans were forced into slavery and working until the died whether of old age, disease, etc... Although we as a nation have learned from our mistakes and from others we still have issues with religion and race. By being aware of others we can help to fix problems that were an issue earlier.
King also states the question of their condemnation because they are the minority. "Isn't this like condemning Jesus because His unique God-Consciousness and never-ceasing devotion to His will precipitated the evil act of crucifixion?" At this point King compares his cause to Jesus' cause. He says, in essence, that the civil rights movement is a God-like event. he also talks of the injustices towards blacks.
This is probably the most heartbreaking assertion Martin Luther King ever makes . He feels as if the church has shirked its responsibilities to the African American people, hiding behind “anesthetizing security of stained-glass windows”. I totally agree with , Dr. Martin Luther King’s , take on ,” Just and Unjust laws .” “There are many just and unjust laws; ones which should be followed in order to be a moral person, and laws in which you must disobey for conscious sake in order to be a moral person .” This is the answer Martin Luther King had given when the clergymen wanted to know why he was breaking laws .” Laws are made to protect the people , not to degrade and punish them .” As far as Dr. Martin Luther King , is concerned, the African American would continue to do whatever was necessary, preferably non-violently, to obtain the legal and moral right that was theirs
The church is directly called to speak up against it and do as God calls us to do in order to stop the still growing crime. The church is the Body of Christ and if we do not stretch out the hand that God gave us then we will be like a barren vine that has heard the Word but has yet to live it. Paul also states in Philemon that he is very much a slave to Christ. A true Christian is bound to His teachings and to strive for the exemplary life that Christ lived just as a slave is bound to the chains of his master. There are many things that the church could do to prevent slavery today although the majority of those who are taking action do not know the love and bond of Christ.