d in 1518 Luther was joined in his views by Melanchthon. Luther's ideas and reforms on Christianity were in direct conflict with the Catholic Church. These ideas, reforms, and thoughts on faith was the spark plug that started the Protestant Reformation.
             The principal sacrament of the Roman Catholic Church is the Holy Eucharist of Communion. The fact that Luther was messing with this sacrament proved to be a significant problem to the Catholic Church. Luther generated the Protestant belief that this sacrament is a ritual through which they raise their spirits in remembrance of Christ's life and death. According to the teachings of the Roman Church, Christ's human body and blood are actually present in the consecrated bread and wine. As Luther saw it, no sacrament is effective by itself without listening to the Word associated with the sacrament, and the faith that believes in it. There is no magical element to any sacrament, including the doctrine of change. Luther's teachings on the sacraments took away the power of the priests and the special nature of the Holy Eucharist. The Catholic mass depended completely on these concepts in order for the Roman Church to maintain its effectiveness as the representation of Christ. For Luther to take this position-required courage because he was taking on a force of great strength and authority. Luther did what most kings would fear to do. Luther's courage and boldness can be seen in his "Open Letter to Pope Leo X," "I have, to be sure, sharply attacked ungodly doctrines in general, and I have snapped at my opponents, not because of their bad morals, but because of their ungodliness. Rather than repent this in the least, I have determined to persist in that fervent zeal and to despise the judgment of men, following the example of Christ who in his zeal called his opponents 'a blood of vipers,' 'blind fools,' 'hypocrites'. . . I have truly despised your see, the Roman Curia, which, however, ...