Religion and Theology

I. Introduction
The father of modern day Protestant theology, Martin Luther the man behind the creation of Lutheranism was German cleric in the 16th Century. The book in question Table Talk is one of his celebrated works though not written by him, is a collection of his thoughts and ideals by his colleagues, students and friends. This thesis will focus on a section of his book entitled Of the Sacraments of the Lords Supper and provide a critique on Luthers thoughts in this section (Luther, 2004 p. 129-130).

II. Brief Summary
As mentioned before the book itself is a collection of Luthers thoughts and ideas by those close to him. These ideas have been written in the form of conversations Luther may have had with a group of friends around the dinner table and is written in such a way as to ease the reader into accepting the theologians ideas. The writings themselves span a series of topics, ranging from the nature of sin to the justification of prayer. It is important to given consideration  to the fact that thought Luthers ideas seem to have singular themes, his writings as a whole have a centralized narrative which is tightly focused on worshipping God and holding him above any man made institution of belief. In fact the only other thing besides God that Luther seems to hold reverence for is the Holy Scriptures and the message that lies therein.

III. Critical interaction with the authors work
In the section being discussed Luther uses the biblical example of the sacrament in order to explain the hypocrisy of the church and its practices. How Christs sacrament was originally meant to be a spiritual gift meant to bring faith to those who had none and how the church has turned it into a mere ritual where the common man cannot distinguish between an act of will and an act of faith and worship. He speaks of how priests and bishops use these rituals to elevate themselves to the level of apostles. Making their congregation no better than idol worshippers with them as the idols.
It is much more in line with their beliefs to put forward that reverence and faith is not limited to these physical acts that true worship can occur even outside of the church. He ends his thoughts by providing an insight that if these holy men believe that men are sinful in nature and faith is the only cleansing source. Then they should acknowledge they are unclean as well since they are men first and foremost.

Here I believe the author does bring his point across sufficiently by establishing the difference between spiritual belief and physical acts which bear no meaning to it. Though a weakness exists in the authors argument since these physical acts in Christianity can act as an augmenters of faith and belief. If the authors argument is taken to heart that physical manifestations of belief are unnecessary and faith is the true path to enlightenment and thus God. Then it should be acknowledged that along with the Sacrament, the bible also becomes redundant since it is also a means by which the holy men establish their power base in the four corners. A ministry can implement these ideas by showing individuals how their own perspective on morality and faith is far more important to God than that of a lone priest or pope, that while these Holy men may be guides for people, they are as fallible as any man.

IV. Conclusion
I believe though flawed the authors point of contention is valid even in these modern times where great uncertainty exists in every religion. The author succeeds in establishing that faith is not the product of physical acts or priests, bishops or even the pope but rather of people and the basis of their faith.