John Locke

Essay by PaperNerd ContributorCollege, Undergraduate November 2001

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The author of this statement is John Locke. this statement comes from natural laws. When legislators try to gain or give someone else absolute power over the lives, liberty, or property of the people they abuse the power that the people have put into their hands.

Locke's statement about legislators trying to gain absolute power over the lives of the people and their liberty and property helped in the development of American values in the Declaration of Independance (line 10) that when a government becomes destructive the people have the right to "alter or to abolish it, and to institute a new government." A government that will protect the people. In the Declaration of Independance (line 25) talks about the present king of Great Britain has a history of abusing the people, the king had "absolute tyranny over these states", he would not pass laws that would be necessary for the "public good."

The United States general Congress separated themselves from Great Britain and the King's laws, and declared that these united colonies are free and independant states.

In the niney-five theses Luther describes several reasons why statement one is wrong.

The church stated that they did not sell indulgences they only granted them Luther stated that one man (pope) does not have the power over other man to remove a man's obligation to pay a penalty for commiting a sin. Indulgences were a way of stealing money from the poor. However, the pope was allegedly not aware that indulgences were being sold. Luther believed that indulgences corrupted the meaning of Christianity.

A man does not have the authority to tell another man that by buying an indulgence, all his or her sins would be forgiven. Only God has the authority to do that.