Martin Luther Quotes
For God does not want to save us by our own but by an extraneous righteousness, one that does not originate in ourselves but comes to us from beyond ourselves, which does not arise on earth but comes from heaven.
Luther, Martin. Lectures on Romans: Glosses and Scholia. Edited by Hilton C. Oswald, Concordia Publishing House, 1972, p. 298.
This point of theology is not universally held even amongst Christians. The Spanish Inquisition and much of the Roman Catholic Church in earlier times believed that it was their duty to prevent people from sinning and were opposed to allowing people free choice in moral matters. There are a few Protestant Fundamentalists who feel that way even today, as does much of Islam.
Martin Luther, O.S.A. was a German professor of theology, priest, author, composer, Augustinian monk, and a seminal figure in the Reformation. Luther was ordained to the priesthood in 1507. He came to reject several teachings and practices of the Roman Catholic Church; in particular, he disputed the view on indulgences. Luther proposed an academic discussion of the practice and efficacy of indulgences in his Ninety-five Theses of 1517. His refusal to renounce all of his writings at the demand of Pope Leo X in 1520 and the Holy Roman Emperor Charles V at the Diet of Worms in 1521 resulted in his excommunication by the pope and condemnation as an outlaw by the Holy Roman Emperor.
