According to the pre-Reformation Roman Catholic Church, it was believed that all human beings are born into a state of sin. Due to the fall of Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden, the result is inevitable that humans cannot avoid sin. Even infants were believed to have sin because of their strong and continuous desire for their mother’s breast milk. Due to their desire, the infants were also not pure individuals.

The Church’s resolution for this was to have the child baptized to redeem their sins. After baptism, once they were purified, there were other alternatives to forgive sins whether through confession, contrition, or penance. What happens if you die before you are able to perform your penance? For example, if an individual performed a minor sin and confessed, the individual could be told to say twenty-five “Hail Mary’s” as a penance for their sin. If that individual was only able to say twenty of the twenty-five “Hail Mary’s” and then died for whatever reason, the Church stated that individual would go to Purgatory where

For questions in life, there were also alternatives the people could turn to in answer of their uncertainties. They turned to the Four Fathers: Augustine, Ambrose, Gregory the Great, and Jerome for these answers. If, however, a question had been brought to the attention of the Four Fathers and they disagreed upon it, there was a prescribed method the inquisitor must go through. The Scholastic Method first began with asking the question and then lining up the authorities (the Four Fathers) with what was told. Once the scholars answer the questions in their different responses, it was the inquisitors’ responsibility to reconcile these authorities.

Another thing that proposed questions to corruption were in the use and sale of indulgences. Indulgences are a ticket to bypass Purgatory into heaven for afterlife. The church was able to convince congregants of these tickets stating that the saints, like Jesus, performed too many good works and had left over to hand out. The Pope was the treasurer of these merits and would hand indulgences out to merit good works. The Church included these good works as noteworthy acts of charity or sacrifice and rewards for holy pilgrimages. The question arose then for those fighting in the Crusades, labeled as a Holy War, what if they were killed in action before they were able to complete their penances? Even though killing is wrong, for no matter what cause, the Pope granted plenary indulgences (full pardon from Purgatory) to those fighting in the Holy War. This soon turned into a fundraiser for the church and people would buy indulgences as a ticket to Heaven. The peasants also felt the pressure of wanting to avoid Purgatory, but the indulgences were too expensive for the poor peasants. The peasants found themselves making irresponsible choices with their money and spending it on indulgences rather than essential needs for their family.

Martin Luther, an ordained priest and doctor of theology at Wittenberg University, noted these inadequacies within the Church and felt there was a problem. Luther realized that reform from within the church was not possible – the church was already too corrupt. Luther’s main objection to the church’s corruption was the papal indulgences being bought and sold. He felt that charity was not necessary for salvation. Also, Luther agreed with the church’s role of transubstantiation but argued priests should not be involved in the transformation. In the Catholic Church, the priests would hold the wine and drink it for the congregation but Luther disagreed with that particular concept.

The Catholic Church felt that salvation is achieved through confession, contrition, and penance. Luther disagrees and states salvation is God’s gift and Jesus’ righteousness covers his people. Luther believed that justification came from God alone and that by faith alone one would make it into heaven, or “sola fides”. Luther also pushed for what is known as the Priesthood of All Believers. He states there are no separate classes of priests and no one is limited to religious offices; everyone is called to do something. Because Luther believed that the Bible was the main source for authority, he pressed the term “sola scriptura” or by scripture alone. Luther’s most profound change, however, were his efforts in education. Luther stressed that religion should b

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