Within a period of six months Martin Luther published his famous three treatises of 1520, each one outlining his displeasure of the Renaissance papacy and his anger at the exploitation of the Germans by the Roman church. One of these treatises is an Appeal to the Ruling Class. Within this Luther expresses his main criticisms about the Roman church and how these should be changed.
Luther’s aim for writing the treatise was to make a change to the Roman church in a way that he believed would be more true to the bible. He describes the ‘Romanists’ using quite vicious language to get his point across. Using words such as wicked and princes of hell, Luther successfully illustrates his main criticisms of the Catholic church of how they have restricted reform and “practiced all their villainy wickedness” with the protection of the three walls.
The first criticism Luther makes is about the hierarchal structure of the church and the separation it creates. He calls this the first wall. It is Luther’s belief that all Christians are equal in the eyes of god. He states, “Those who… have been baptised like the rest of us, and have the same faith… we must admit that they are priests and bishops.” This means that despite his or her religious title, in the eyes of god, no one has more religious prowess. He claims that the community, rather than a certain
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He makes a mention about how the Romanists are the sole interpreters of the bible. He strongly disagrees with this saying that “it is a wicked base invention, for which they cannot adduce title of evidence in support”. This clearly shows Luther’s view on this. He believes that interpreting the bible should be for everyone rather than for a select few who could be infected with the devil. It also gives the impression that the clergy are interpreting the bible in a way that benefits themselves and the church rather than focusing on the spiritual needs of the greater