Question

Read the article.

1) when was this document written? What was it’s purpose?
2) how would you describe Luthers tone in this document?
3) according to this document, why did Luther challenge the Catholic Church?

Answer 1

1. Table Talks are a compilation of Martin Luther´s comments made at the dinner table with friends or brothers in the faith for many years. The collection was first published in 1566. This particular talk is dated 1535, 18 years after Martin Luther had made public his 95 theses in Wittemberg, that is, after the start of the Reform.

2. Luther here is very critical. He questions the pope´s pretension to be the head of the Church on Earth and his assertion of power and authority not only over the Church, but also on the Holy Scriptures, which he found even more inadmissible. So, Luther´s tone is critical and of rejection.

3. In the talk, he outrightly rejects the self-proclaimed right of the Roman pointiff to be the head of the Church and the exclusive power of the Catholic Church to interpret the Scriptures, "the Word of God." That seemed scandalous to his eyes because "No man can explain the Scriptures." For him, "this could not be tolerated."