What did martin luther accuse the roman catholics of doing?

Question

what did martin luther accuse the roman catholics of doing?

Answer 1

by telling people they could buy their way to heaven and accepting indulgences.

Answer 2

Martin Luther didn't accuse Catholics of anything except believing in their Church which was created by Jesus. Rather, he accused those in control of the Church instituted by Jesus of selling indulgences. Martin Luther believed the Catholic Church was the true church but he believed that church officials were abusing their power.

Martin Luther believed that some of the books that were in the Bible because their sources were weak. When he translated the Bible into German, he left these books out. These omitted books contained important doctrines to the Church such as Purgatory which is found in the books of Maccabee. When the average farmer got a hold of the Lutheran Bible, he/she could find no proof of Purgatory since the proof was edited out he/she believed the Catholic Church had been lying.

He had issues with priest celibacy. I really don't know a passage in the Bible which supports celibacy but in my personal experience a good priest wouldn't have time to have a family. Every Catholic Church has daily mass, has to be in his office everyday to help council his parishioners, over see church functions, visit the hospital at least once a week, visit the elderly who cannot make it to church to recieve communion, write a sermon for the upcoming Sunday. All of that is easy for someone who is not married and doesn't have a family. For a family guy, it's difficult. Having a family changes one's focus on life. Even Martin Luther himself changed drastically after he had children. It's easier to focus on God when your family isn't pulling you in all directions. Also Martin Luther's argument on celibacy was weak because there are orders for men and women who can have families. I know this because I was looking to be a nun myself.

Luther believed all people shoud read a Bible, that all men should be on equal grounds with God. For the longest time the Catholic church didn't let the Bibles leave the church and to some extent even chained them to the church. The Church didn't want illiterate peasants believing that they could understand the Bible at the same level of the educated priests. That is why every day it seems like someone starts a new Christian denomination. Everyone understands the Bible a different way and everyone believes they are right. The only thing handing out Bibles to everyone did was create more division in Christ's people.

Luther's position on ownership of the Bible led to his belief about statuary and stained glass in church. He believed these prompted worship. He forgot that the main reason for the statues and the stained glass were to teach the illiterate the Bible without using words. Before the Reformation, all paintings were religious depictions. Painting was used to glorify God. When paintings were no longer sacred, painters painted all that was beautiful to glorify God. As time went by painters stopped using their gifts for God. So in the long term removing the art from God only succeeded in removing God from the art.

Luther never understood the doctrine of Papal Infallibility. Popes are not perfect and need salvation just as much as you and I do. The whole concept of Papal Infallibility comes from the Bible when Jesus said "You are Peter and upon this rock I shall build my church and the gates of h**l shall not prevail against it." Thus he made Peter the first pope and he promised that God would guide his church. The Pope cannot make error in anything doctrinal because he is guided by the Holy Spirit. In every other aspect, the Pope is a sinner.

Answer 3

he accused them of making people pay to get in heaven- they had people buy indulgences to spend less time in purgatory!  Im proud of myself- I remembered that and I only studied it for one semester in 8th grade last year!!  Im happy!

=)  

[ps- he also started a whole religon- lutherianism...]

Answer 4

Basically, by telling people they could buy their way to heaven and accepting indulgences.

Answer 5

I think his biggest beef was the selling of indulgences.  That is, hey for a small fee your sins are forgiven.  

Also all the relics and icons and the fact that the Church had become a business.

He also took issue with the monopolization of authority within the Church and the notion that the Pope was infallible.  He felt the Bible was the only infallible source.