The identification of the Roman Catholic church as the apostate power written of in Scripture became evident to Martin Luther while he was a Roman Catholic priest. Martin Luther wanted the Catholic Church to reform itself and return to the teachings of the early church and the Bible and rid itself of the traditions and corruptions of the papacy, which he believed to have strayed from the original teachings. Luther declared his intolerance for the Roman Church's corruption in 1517, by nailing his 95 Theses of Contention to the Wittenberg Church door. The pope as the antichrist was so ingrained in the Reformation era that Luther stated it repeatedly. For example: “This teaching the supremacy of the pope shows forcefully that the pope is the very Antichrist, who has exalted himself above, and opposed himself against Christ, because he will not permit Christians to be saved without his power, which, nevertheless, is nothing, and is neither ordained nor commanded by God” ("Smalcald Articles", II).