Seeing the sixteenth century Catholic Church as intensely flawed, Martin Luther wrote extensively on what he perceived to be the main issues with the institution. In the document “To the Christian Nobility of the German Nation,” Luther posits that there are three distinct “walls” that have been constructed around the church hierarchy, thus causing the church to be rendered incapable of reform. The first wall was metaphorically erected due to the church’s contention that spiritual power is non-negotiably superior to temporal power. Next, the second wall was structured around the church’s concept that only the pope had the ability to accurately interpret the sacred scriptures. Finally, the third wall was contingent on the belief that a council could only be summoned by the pope himself.

In addressing the first wall, Luther declared that the church’s teaching that only their clergy are members of the spiritual state while all others are of the temporal state amounts to “deceit and hypocrisy” (91). Luther contends that instead, “all Christians are of the spiritual estate” (91). He utilizes scripture to support his argument, claiming Saint Paul teaches that Christians are all collectively one body, and thereby all compose the spiritual realm. Luther quotes Paul’s teachings by citing Romans 12, 1 Corinthians 12, and 1 Peter 2, with each verse echoing the idea that all Christians compose one united body. Further, Luther sarcastically rebukes the church’s ritual of ordination, reducing it to only a bishop “prescrib(ing) garb different from that of the laity” (91). He insists that no form of consecration can make a man into a spiritual Christian. To continue in his attack on this “wall,” Luther proposes an analogy in which ten Christian laymen are deserted with no ordained priest. If one of these members were to preach the gospel and perform the sacrament of baptism, Luther asserts that his actions would indeed be valid in the eyes of God. Therefore, Luther contends that the role of the bishop and priests is wholly unnecessary, and there is no basic difference between the layman and the church clergy.

The second wall Luther deconstructed involved the doctrine of papal infallibility, meaning that “the pope cannot err in matters of faith” (93). Luther exposes the hypocrisy of this belief, rhetorically asking the question that if this statement was objectively truthful, what need would there be for scriptures? He sarcastically suggests that the scriptures be burned so all with be “satisfied with the unlearned gentlemen at Rome who possess the Holy Spirit” (93). Sarcasm appears to be the primary strategy Luther utilizes to convey his points, as he finds it the most effective means of capturing people’s attention. Continuing, Luther again makes reference to St. Paul’s 1 Corinthians, this time choosing a verse that corresponds to divine revelation being available for all (93). Luther points to John 6, which claims that Christians shall be taught by God, and therefore the pope is not qualified to make statements on behalf of the Father. To go further, Luther points to the absence of scriptural support available for the church’s position, meaning that the Bible does not give the pope ultimate and singular authority. The church had long contended that Christ handed the keys to the kingdom to St. Peter, and he followed this tradition by passing the metaphorical keys along to each of his papal successors. However, Luther disputes this tradition, instead positing that the keys were not handed to Peter alone, but rather to the whole community of believers.

Luther claims that this this wall would fall on its’ own accord once the first two have been demolished. He begins this argument by again pointing to the lack of scriptural basis for the belief that the pope alone has the authority to call a council. Luther’s theory of “Sola Scriptura,” or by the scriptures alone, proves to be a prevalent and guiding force throughout his arguments. Luther points to a passage in Acts 15 which he interprets as a direct contradiction to this particular church teaching. In this chapter, a council is called not by St. Peter, but by the group of apostles and their elders. If that right was to be given to Peter alone, Luther claims, “the council would not have been a Christian council, but a heretical” one instead (94). Luther propounds that when the pope is at fault, the temporal authorities should have a moral responsibility to call a council and rectify the situation. He then puts forward another analogy, but rhetorically asking if it would be logical to watch a fire burn in a city, and to wait for the proper authorities to arrive, even if the observers had the ability to offer their assistance. Luther returns to the teachings of Paul, who in 2 Corinthians instructs that God has prescribed His followers with the authority to prevent Christendom from ruination. If the pope were to ever refuse a council, Luther argues that this would be a contribution to the destruction of the church, and therefore must be prevented.

To conclude his document, Luther gives his “fool’s song,” which offers a list of ideas that he thinks should be enacted to reform the church. One of his opening proposals is that “the Christian nobility should set itself against the pope” (96). This particular proposition was a direct attack on the head of the Catholic Church, and one that the established institution could not reconcile. Additionally, the ninth decree of the song proposed that the pope should have no power over the emperor, which would eliminate or at least severely reduce the pope’s role in the secular world. He continues to request in nonspecific terms that certain elements of canon law should be eliminated, despite the fact that the church believed the divinely revealed law to be unchangeable. Finally, Luther concludes his document by claiming that the practice of indulgences was to be eliminated immediately. Ceasing the collection of indulgences would put a huge financial strain on the institutional church, but Luther nevertheless insisted that the immorality of the practice was simply too great for it to be allowed to continue.