The Separation of Church and State
The separation of church and state, whereby the church has no influence over the actions of the state and the state does not mandate any religious practices for its people, is a concern of modern secular states.
Martin Luther's 95 Theses
Martin Luther begins his 95 Theses by emphasizing the value of repentance for all Christians. He asserts that confession and forgiveness provided by clergy are not the same as repentance as stated by Christ. (2). Luther also asserted that remission can only come from God. (6). This was intended to imply that the pope lacks the power to commute fines unless God grants it. Through this, Luther was encouraging people to seek salvation and forgiveness from God directly, without relying on the priests. He was trying to seek independence of people from the priests by stating that remission only comes from God.
Luther's Critique of Indulgences
Luther pointed out that it is not proven in the Scripture that souls in purgatory were guaranteed salvation (19), thereby condemning the forgiveness of the dead through indulgence (21). Luther was trying to show that the priests had bestowed the power to forgive through indulgence, yet not all people could be forgiven (23). The only thing a priest can do for the souls in purgatory is to intercede for them and leave the rest to God (28). He criticized the practice of indulgence in the church in an attempt to open the eyes of believers who thought that buying indulgence guaranteed them forgiveness. Instead, he stated that Christians who were sincerely repentant were entitled to full remission of guilty without paying for indulgence (36). Luther was trying to separate the act of repentance and remission from the priests as individuals who sought money more than they sought to perform their obligations. Furthermore, Luther acknowledged that buying of indulgence does not mean that a Christian is better but rather, giving to the poor and performing deeds of love is more important (44). Anyone can help the needy and poor without necessarily being a Christian and this encouraged people to perform good deeds without interference from religion.
King Henry VII's Act of Supremacy
In the document The Act of Supremacy, King Henry VII of England separated his people from the pope by making himself the leader of the Church of England. Through this, he stripped off the pope’s powers and his say in any matter in the state. The King now had full authority, jurisdictions, and privileges as the leader of the church. The fact that the church was the only one with authority over issues concerning marriage meant that the state was not separate from the church. This shows that the pope had a lot of power over issues and not much could be done without the pope giving approval.
Contribution to Modern Secular States
The two documents contribute to the establishment of the modern secular state in the sense that both discouraged the concept of popes and priests authority and control of issues. Martin Luther encouraged people to seek remittance directly from God without involving the priests and tried to separate the priests as individuals and their work as men of God. Through his work, the world currently is more interested in humanity and any deeds of love which is normally done by both religious and non-religious people. In addition, the idea that performing deeds of love is better than a Christian who buys indulgence as proposed by Luther, has contributed to modern secular state since people can still contribute to charity and other humanitarian work without being associated with the church or without the involvement of the church. King Henry VII's establishment of the Church of England took away the powers of the pope as the only person who could dissolve a marriage and acquired independence from the church. In today's world, states have the right to dissolve marriages through the courts, and this has contributed to the establishment of modern secular states since states are able to perform such tasks, such as dissolution of marriages, without interference from the church.
