Luther was not the first person to rebel against the Catholic Church due to their corruption. However, he became a driving force behind the attempt to reform them. The movement ended up becoming known as the Protestant Reformation. In the 1500’s people were suffering from things like the Black Plague and the Church was suffering from division due to corruption. Part of the corruption was due to their not relying on Scripture to form doctrine. St. Augustine had the same complaint hundreds of years earlier and Luther agreed.
Even though the people suffered the Church soaked them for money in order to become rich. The Church’s practice of “indulgences” did not sit well with people who had access to their own Bibles. To maintain power and authority over the people the Pope made sure he was the only one who could call a council. He even made himself the “divine authority”. People obtaining their own Bibles were finally able to see for themselves what was in it and now knew the Catholic Church was corrupt.
Reformed On The Way 