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==== The Reformation ====

==== The Reformation ====

[[Martin Luther]] led the most serious break from Roman Catholic doctrine and tradition, at about the time that King [[Henry VIII]], then of the [[Kingdom of England]], formed the Church of England, the forerunner of the Anglican Communion. Luther is most famous for his "95 precepts nailed to the church-house door." The most important of these is the principle that he stated in Latin as ''Sola Scriptura''--literally, "Scripture only." Luther rejected out-of-hand most of the various categories of sin, and the elaborate rituals that attended its so-called reconciliation.

In [[1517]], [[Martin Luther]] led the most serious break from Roman Catholic doctrine and tradition, the [[Protestant Reformation]]. This occurred at about the time that King [[Henry VIII]], then of the [[Kingdom of England]], formed the Church of England, the forerunner of the Anglican Communion.

 

Luther is most famous for his "95 precepts nailed to the church-house door." The most important of these is the principle that he stated in Latin as ''Sola Scriptura''--literally, "Scripture only." Luther rejected out-of-hand most of the various categories of sin, and the elaborate rituals that attended its so-called reconciliation.

To Luther, and to his intellectual heirs in the [[Lutheran Church]] and the [[Dutch Reformed Church]], the Bible tells all one needs to know about sin. Sin, according to Luther, is any failure to observe God's commandments or other Godly precepts that one may determine from the actual teachings of [[Jesus]] and of His [[Apostle]]s (especially [[Paul]], the most prolific writer among them). ''Reconciliation'' from sin was a ''private'' matter between God and any of His followers. A priest or minister ''was not'' required, because that would imply that a human being, of whatever office, could stand in the place of God--a thing Luther regarded as an insult to God, which is the definition of [[blasphemy]].

To Luther, and to his intellectual heirs in the [[Lutheran Church]] and the [[Dutch Reformed Church]], the Bible tells all one needs to know about sin. Sin, according to Luther, is any failure to observe God's commandments or other Godly precepts that one may determine from the actual teachings of [[Jesus]] and of His [[Apostle]]s (especially [[Paul]], the most prolific writer among them). ''Reconciliation'' from sin was a ''private'' matter between God and any of His followers. A priest or minister ''was not'' required, because that would imply that a human being, of whatever office, could stand in the place of God--a thing Luther regarded as an insult to God, which is the definition of [[blasphemy]].