It was by faith “alone,” not by works or deeds, that salvation was accomplished. Indulgences were works! The result of this struggle was, therefore, always inevitable. In time, Martin Luther was condemned by the church, excommunicated as a heretic and driven into hiding. His life in danger, he was protected by certain political princes of Germany, who saw in Luther’s upheaval a way to break the power and control of the Vatican and thus to allow both the nation states of Europe and their wealth to develop independent of religious control. It was a tumultuous time in European history.
