The prevailing perception that wealth was centralized in the Catholic Church is an oversimplification, especially when analyzed through the prism of the separation of powers into spiritual authority (authoritas) and temporal power (potestas). This dichotomy reflects a division of governance rather than a consolidation. Luther, while initially seeming to challenge the Church's structure, inadvertently facilitated the amalgamation of these separated powers. The diffusion of his ideas, propelled by Gutenberg's printing innovation, contributed to the empowerment of secular rulers, thus laying the groundwork for the rise of absolutist monarchies which, in turn, served as the precursors to the modern State. Luther's legacy, therefore, is paradoxically linked to the unintended unification of power under the nascent State rather than its division.