<P> Although there had been significant earlier attempts to reform the Catholic Church before Luther -- such as those of Jan Hus , Peter Waldo , and John Wycliffe -- Martin Luther is widely acknowledged to have started the Reformation with the Ninety - five Theses . Luther began by criticising the sale of indulgences , insisting that the Pope had no authority over purgatory and that the Catholic doctrine of the merits of the saints had no foundation in the Bible . The Protestant Reformation , however , would come to incorporate doctrinal changes such as a complete reliance on Scripture as a source of proper belief ( sola scriptura ) and the belief that faith in Jesus , and not good works , is the only way to obtain God 's pardon for sin ( sola fide ) . The core motivation behind these changes was theological , though many other factors played a part , including the rise of nationalism , the Western Schism that eroded loyalty to the Papacy , the perceived corruption of the Roman Curia , the impact of humanism , and the new learning of the Renaissance that questioned much traditional thought . </P>
<P> Although there had been significant earlier attempts to reform the Catholic Church before Luther -- such as those of Jan Hus , Peter Waldo , and John Wycliffe -- Martin Luther is widely acknowledged to have started the Reformation with the Ninety - five Theses . Luther began by criticising the sale of indulgences , insisting that the Pope had no authority over purgatory and that the Catholic doctrine of the merits of the saints had no foundation in the Bible . The Protestant Reformation , however , would come to incorporate doctrinal changes such as a complete reliance on Scripture as a source of proper belief ( sola scriptura ) and the belief that faith in Jesus , and not good works , is the only way to obtain God 's pardon for sin ( sola fide ) . The core motivation behind these changes was theological , though many other factors played a part , including the rise of nationalism , the Western Schism that eroded loyalty to the Papacy , the perceived corruption of the Roman Curia , the impact of humanism , and the new learning of the Renaissance that questioned much traditional thought . </P>
who wanted the catholic church to reform and address
who wanted the catholic church to reform and address
Martin Luther
Martin Luther