hrough his reforms aimed at both politics and Church.
Luther believed that both secular authorities and priests in the Church had elevated themselves above other human beings in a system of inequality which denied the true basis of the relationship between human beings and God. The essence of his protest against and reformation of the Church is his demand that sinning human beings find a fresh equality, under God, especially in terms of their access to forgiveness for those sins. The clergy are no longer to be the dispensers of forgiveness through either the sacraments or indulgences:
When our Lord and Master, Jesus Christ, said "Repent," He called for the entire life of believers to be one of penitence. The word cannot be properly understood as referring to the sacrament of penance . . . as administered by the clergy. Yet its meaning is not restricted to penitence in one's heart; for such penitence is null unless it produces outward signs in various mortifications of the flesh. . . . The pope himself cannot remit guilt (Luther 490).
In the Medieval Era, the pope was both political and religious figure. Luther sought to name and oust hypocrisy in all institutions, whether religious or political, because it elevated some human beings over others. He attacks political leaders, or princes, for falsely calling themselves Christians when, in fact, they are greedy materialists who are abusing their power for worldly purpo
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