Question 2

Why did Luther’s teachings provoke strong reactions from the papacy?

Paragraph One

• The most important reason why the papacy reacted as it did is therefore the obvious one that Luther had attacked not just its wealth and dubious practices such as the sale of indulgences but also the authority of the papacy itself
• Luther said there was nothing in the Scriptures that justified the Pope’s place as God’s representative
• This went against every teaching of the Catholic Church for the past thousand years

Paragraph Two

• It wasn’t just the papacy which reacted strongly to Luther it was also its representatives such as archbishops
• They saw their authority being challenged
• Luther had to be silenced because he was a revolutionary who threatened to destroy the Catholic Church forever

Paragraph Three

• Pope Leo X wanted to arrest Luther and make sure that he stopped his teaching because it was too revolutionary
• Luther was a Protestant who wanted to overthrow the Catholic Church