Luther struck directly at the imaginary mysterious semi-supernatural power supposed to belong to the Church and the priesthood which had held Europe in awed submission for so many centuries. Reform had been impossible, the appeal said, because the walls behind which Rome lay entrenched had been left standing—walls of straw and paper, but in appearance formidable. These sham fortifications are: the _Spiritual Power_ which is believed to be superior to the temporal power of kings and princes, the conception that _no one can interpret Scripture but the Pope_, the idea that _no one can summon a General Council but the Bishop of Rome_. These are the threefold lines of fortification behind which the Roman Curia has entrenched itself, and the German people has long believed that they are impregnable. Luther sets to work to demolish them. The Romanists assert that the Pope, bishops, priests, and monks belong to and constitute the _spiritual estate_, while princes, lords, artisans, and peasants are the _temporal estate_, which is subject to the spiritual. But this _spiritual estate_ is a mere delusion. The real _spiritual estate_ is the whole body of believers in Jesus Christ, and they are spiritual because Jesus has made all His followers priests to God and to His Christ. A cobbler belongs to the _spiritual estate_ as truly as a bishop. The clergy are distinguished from the laity not by an indelible character imposed upon them in a divine mystery called ordination, but because they have been set apart to do a particular kind of work in the commonwealth. If a Pope, bishop, priest, or monk neglects to do the work he is there to do, he deserves to be punished as much as a careless mason or tailor, and is as accountable to the civil authorities. The _spiritual priesthood of all believers_, the gift of the faith which justifies, has shattered the first and most formidable of these papal fortifications. It is foolish to say that the _Pope alone can interpret Scripture_. If that were true, where is the need of Holy Scriptures at all? “Let us burn them, and content ourselves with the unlearned gentlemen at Rome, in whom the Holy Ghost alone dwells, who, however, can dwell in pious souls only. If I had not read it, I could never have believed that the devil should have put forth such follies at Rome and find a following.” The Holy Scripture is open to all, and can be interpreted by all true believers who have the mind of Christ and approach the word of God humbly seeking enlightenment.