Eccleisology

Luther questioned the privileged position of the Pope and the Clergy. Renaissance thinking had encouraged people, particularly men, to learn to read and this had resulted in the masses questioning most forms of authority. Luther believed that the Bible was the way to salvation as the church had the ability to misinterpret the word. He taught the scriptures were superior to the Pope, making the believer more important than the Church and its rituals. His boldest assertion was that Matthew 16:18 does not confer on popes the exclusive right to interpret the scripture, and that therefore neither popes nor churches were infallible, breaking the established ideas of the time. Luther and his wife (a former nun) also set the example for married clergy.