Martin Luther and the Reformation

Lutheran Christians look to Martin Luther (1483-1546) not as the founder of a new church, but as a reformer and teacher whose work may serve Christ's whole Church.

A decisive insight Martin Luther was born in Saxony, the son of German peasants. He was to become a lawyer or, if that failed, marry a rich widow so that his parents could enjoy old age. Such was the wish of his father, who looked forward to early retirement from overseeing foundries near the Saxon copper mines. But Luther's path to such a future was blocked by a life-changing event that directed him to become a monk, a priest, a biblical theologian, and a reformer of the church.

Like others of his time and place, Luther's Christianity was first shaped by the powerful medieval Roman Catholic Church. As a young man he was deeply affected by the church's teaching about confession. Private confession of sins to a priest, followed by prescribed acts of penance, were said to secure forgiveness and release from punishment after death.

Having gone regularly to confession since the age of seven, Luther still remained troubled by a deep sense of despair. While he was studying law at the University of Erfurt, a friend unexpectedly died. An accidental leg wound brought Luther in contact with sick and dying patients in a primitive hospital. Then, in the summer of 1505, a violent thunderstorm surprised him as he was hiking from his parents' home in Mansfeld back to Erfurt. "Help, St. Anna," cried Luther as lightening struck nearby, "and I will become a monk!"

Fear of death and the vow he had spoken to his family's patron saint led Luther to join the Augustinian Hermits of Erfurt, who were known for their tough training of mind and body. But neither confession nor a rigorous schedule of study and prayer reduced Luther's anxiety about doing enough to avoid divine punishment. Nevertheless, he was an exemplary and dedicated monk, soon to become a leader in his order. By command of his superior, Johann von Staupitz, Luther began study to become a Professor of Holy Scripture at Wittenberg University.

Luther began teaching in 1513. It was through his study and teaching of the Bible that the decisive insight came: Faith in Christ, not one's own ambitious moral or devotional efforts, promised salvation from sin and life with God. Luther felt "born again" when he read "the righteous will live by faith" (Hab. 2:4; Rom. 1:17).

Shepherding a renewal This insight opened up the meaning of Scripture and decisively changed Luther's attitude toward the church. He began to see clearly that the church of his time stressed human merit rather than trust in God. This was vividly illustrated by the sale of "indulgences"- printed permits or coupons listing the monetary value of a personal confession of sin. Bishop Albrecht of Mainz had authorized the sale of indulgences in order to pay Rome for making him an archbishop. The monies raised were used to assist in building St. Peter's basilica in Rome. The Dominican order, led by John Tetzel, was ordered to sell the idea that buying indulgences would release sinners from divine punishment. "As soon as the coin in the coffer rings, the soul from purgatory springs," Tetzel's jingle went.

Luther issued a public call for theological debate on the sale of indulgences by posting ninety-five theses on the door of the Castle Church in Wittenberg on the eve of All Saints' Day, October 31, 1517. Printers distributed copies without Luther's knowledge and permission. Within a few weeks, Martin Luther was known everywhere as the voice of renewal.

The reform movement, nicknamed "Lutheran" by opponents, found broad support in Germany and abroad. The nickname bothered Luther, whose intention had been to retain the catholic tradition of 1500 years, while reforming the distortions of the faith. Other reformers, such as Ulrich Zwingli and John Calvin, believed they could return to an imagined church of the first century, and turned away from ancient traditions and their beautiful expression in music and art. These reformers converted Luther's movement into a crusade that would eventually affect all political and social structures of the Western world.

Although Rome wanted to silence Luther, powerful German princes, led by Elector Frederick of Saxony, Luther's benefactor, secured freedom of speech for him. He debated with Cardinal Cajetan and the Dominican John Eck at Augsburg and Leipzig in 1519; he stated his case before Emperor Charles V at Worms in 1521 (where, standing before empire and church he said, "Here I stand. I cannot do otherwise. God help me." and he published numerous proposals for reform from 1520 on. Nevertheless, Luther was excommunicated as a heretic and condemned as a traitor by pope and emperor in 1521.

But the renewal continued. German Lutheran territories submitted their proposals for reform .at the imperial assembly at Augsburg in 1530. The Augsburg Confession affirmed the reformers' adherence to the historic teachings of the one, holy, catholic, and apostolic faith. Luther shepherded the reform movement in Germany, often with a critical eye on other movements that did not retain the catholic substance of the faith expressed in the historic creeds and confessions, or that he judged were not sufficiently shaped by faith in Christ alone. All of Scandinavia had become Lutheran by the 1530s.

Even war did not stop the reform movement. Emperor Charles V agreed to the Peace of Augsburg in 1555, which recognized Lutheran lands by the principle that "whoever rules a region is in charge of its religion." Rome attempted to stem the tide of Lutheranism by creating a "counter-reformation" based on the decisions of the Council of Trent (1545-1563). The Thirty Years' War (1618-1648) changed the map of Europe by granting freedom for Lutheran and protestant territories.

Distinctive teachings Luther found his identity in total trust in Christ, the living Word of God, encountered in the spoken Gospel and made visible in the sacraments of Baptism and Holy Communion. Luther's teachings focus on the essentials of Christianity as taught by the prophets and apostles.

Luther wrote more than 30 hymns, enjoyed married life and six children, and was known for his spicy speech and good humor. His basic teachings were published in about 450 treatises, 3000 sermons, 2600 letters, and 5000 "table talks." His works have been collected in more than 100 oversized volumes since 1883 in the Weimar Edition. His translation of the Bible from Hebrew and Greek into German was so popular that the basic structure of the modem German language is derived from it.

Luther's basic insights are enduring and helpful for later generations. The most important are these: (1) Humankind is entrapped in the ancient temptation to play God (Gen. 3:5), violating the first of all divine commandments, "You shall have no other gods." (2) Liberation from this original sin comes through faith of at least two people--one who tells another of Christ as the source of freedom from sin, and one who, so addressed, affirms faith in Christ alone. (3) The Christian life is one in which, though we are sinners by nature, we are at the same time saints by God's grace and love. (4) The Christian life is lived in two realms that belong equally to God--church and society. This calls for Christian commitment to education, fair economic practices, and a life of mission to the ungodly.

And so, the church is born again and again, vigilant against the sin of idolatry (playing God) and confident that trust in Christ alone (justification by faith) is the only source of freedom and salvation. The Christian thus freed is called to serve all God's children in the world.

American Lutheran Publicity Bureau , P.O. Box 327, Delhi, NY 13573-032-7       Publisher's of Christian and other morality Tracts.   Can be contacted at (607) 746-7511

© 1994 ALPB. Printed in U.S.A.