Martin Luther was a plain-spoken man. In keeping with the custom of his age, he could pitch invective and throw mud with the very best of them. Our modern politicians are incompetent mud slingers in comparison to Luther and his contemporaries (although they seem to be catching up quickly). Luther knew the difference between true and false, which drove much of his invective. He was happy to mock and harass those who taught the poor people of Germany the false teaching that their own works could gain them eternal merit in the sight of God. He was especially hard on those who knew better because of their high learning and their exalted office representing God as religious authorities. One of his favorite targets was certainly Archbishop Albert Cardinal Mainz, who simultaneously held three different benefices, which was against even Roman Catholic canon law.

Albert ratcheted up the indulgence preaching when he worked out a deal with the pope to fund his purchase of the Archbishopric of Mainz by splitting the proceeds of the indulgence trade in his territories with the pope! This bold commercialism stirred up Luther, because he could see the poor flock of Christ being fleeced to pay for that which the price had already been paid by Christ Himself. Luther's Reformation began out of his pastoral concern for the Christians of Germany, because he became increasingly aware that we could never pay for what Christ had merited freely for us by His suffering and death.

The theory that Christians could buy their way out of purgatory and could even pay in advance for the privilege of indulging in intentionally sinful behavior drove Luther, not only to demand a reconsideration of the theory behind indulgences, but also made clear to Luther that the work righteousness undergirding the whole indulgence trade contradicted the chief article of the Christian religion, that is, the gospel that sinners are counted righteous in the sight of God on account of Christ through faith and not by works. Of course, Luther himself was blamed for starting the debate about indulgences that started the Reformation movement. Luther, however, declined to take the blame for what he called the "Lutheran rumpus." Luther was willing to lay the blame at the doorstep of Albert and his indulgence sales agent, John Tetzel, the Dominican monk.

Luther was not aware of all the details of the deal cut by Albert with the pope, but he suspected that the indulgence trade was being used to finance Albert's ecclesiastical shenanigans. His intuition was correct. This is why he was willing to lay the blame for the rumpus on Albert and his sales agent. As far as Luther was concerned Tetzel's sales pitches (aka sermons) were blasphemous, not merely because they stole from the people of Germany, but because these sermons presumed that human effort or payment could earn merit in the sight of God. Luther became clear about God's indulgent mercy in Christ through faith alone because of his opposition to the indulgence trade. It's no wonder Luther slung so much mud. There was plenty to sling!