By presenting Maritain’s harsh criticism of Luther, this article attempts to clarify Luther’s theological grounds for his assault on the Church. Essentially, the Church believed that man could be saved by a combination of faith and works, despite his sin and that the Church was the divine instrument of God. Luther believed in the irremediable sinfulness of man and the world, including the Church .Only faith and God’s grace could save man. Once Luther understood Paul in this way, the Church became sin itself, as much in need of God’s grace as the most depraved man. The violence spawned by the Reformation cannot be understood without an appreciation of Luther’s radical and profound denial of the worth of the Church and all other manifestations of the World.
Keywords: Erikson, Faith, Luther, Maritain, Reformation, Salvation, Sin, Works
