ope. This last point emphasizes that the Roman Catholic Empire created laws of their own that were dictated by one sole person. Luther set out to spread his idea of true Christianity.The main ideology of Lutheranism is that salvation can be gained by three fundamental precepts: by faith, by grace and by scripture alone. Luther felt that Salvation could not be achieved through good works such as prayer or holy living: “Good works do not make a good man, but a good man does good works.” (Luther, On Christian Liberty, p.9). Faith in God is created through the belief and love for Him; salvation would rise from it nonetheless. Luther felt that it was up to every individual to interpret the Scriptures and decide for himself what was good. This was a revolutionary concept, as previously it had been only the Pope who could interpret the Scriptures. Another concept of Lutheranism was that every believer could achieve priesthood. All men who had true faith had the opportunity to serve God and were equal in His eyes. “Among Christians there shall and can be no authority; rather all are alike subject to one another.” (Luther, Part Two. How Far Temporal Authority Extends, p.31). Bishops and priests in the Lutheran church were not authoritative figures but simply serving an office. In comparison to other sects that evolved from the Protestant Reformation, Lutheranism had a different view concerning the relationship between religion and the state. Luther felt that the two ‘kingdoms’, that of the world and that of God, were separate entities which both provided a service to God. All true Christians belonged to the kingdom of God, but these true Christians were few and far between. The kingdom of the world was responsible for establishing order and restraining the non-believers from doing evil. He felt there would be no need for temporal power if all humans were true Christians: “If all the world w...
