which he felt took advantage of the faithful
by granting salvation on the cheap and, furthermore, promoted complacency in the
faith.

As a result of his protest, Luther would spend the next few years being chased by
Rome and further refining his theology, all the while winning converts, both religious
and political, to his cause. At the Diet of Worms in 1521, this now-excommunicated “wild
boar,” when asked to recant his positions, declared before the Holy Roman Emperor
Charles V, “I cannot do otherwise; here I stand.”

With neither side seemingly willing to compromise, the break appeared permanent.
In subsequent years, as Luther sought to live his faith, the monk married and had
children. Luther continued to rail against the papacy, but also turned his sights
toward Muslims and Jews. For a man who had brought about such change,experienced a comparable
burst of creativity. He attributes this to their hierarchical structure, which is
fixed on obedience and tradition. Autonomy in these societies was frowned upon, leaving
little room for speculative inquiry and experimentation.

He says that Islam’s golden age during the ninth and 10th centuries was actually
an aberration, since the religious leaders did not have a tight grip on the newly
conquered cultures.

Murray condemns the present zeitgeist that disdains any overarching idea that provides
a cohesive vision for society. He says the elimination of a belief in a transcendent
good has destroyed a basic organizing structure of society. A belief in transcendence
allowed for coherence of thought and shared growth among artists and scientists.

He castigates the present relativism in the arts as at best trite, personal and,
in many cases, disgusting. Robert Mapplethorpe’s obscene photographs