Martin Luther, by Lucas Cranach the Elder
Martin Luther lived from 1483-1546, and in his sixty-six years, shook the Church. Opportunity for debate exists between whether Luther established new doctrine in the church or recovered the heart of Apostolic Orthodoxy. Luther and followers, called Lutherans, were not the first challenge to Christian unity or papal authority. The Great Schism of 1054 resulted in the permanent split between the Eastern and Western Churches, and prior reformation attempts by men such as Hus and Savonarola resulted in martyrdom. Some may argue whether Luther was even the most important reformer considering that the remarkable period 1517-1800 fully encompassed the lives of Calvin, Zwingli, Simmons, Wesley, Edwards and Whitefield, giants of Protestant theological thought and legacy. What does appear clear in history, however, is that Martin Luther’s bold challenge beginning with his 95 Theses marked the start of successful reformation, paving the way for the establishment of additional denominations of Christendom and the opposition to various teachings of the papacy which seemed to contradict the scriptural message of salvation. For this reason, the start of Luther’s Reformation should be considered a paradigm-shifting event in Christian History.
The very fact that Martin Luther received the opportunity to be in the position to challenge papal teaching, specifically the authorized sale of indulgences for the reduction of time spent in purgatory, which was carried out primarily by Johann Tetzel, remains an interesting starting point. Luther had entered law school at the University of Erfurt in 1501. After receiving his degree in 1505, a close encounter with a lightning strike during a 2 July 1505 thunderstorm resulted in a desperate promise that he would become a monk should he be spared from bodily harm. Feeling bound by his oath, and to his father’s initial fury, Luther left Erfurt and entered monastic life fifteen days later.
R.C. Sproul, a noted 21st Century pastor, suggests in his book, The Holiness of God, that this legal background provided an excellent foundation for his confrontation with the problem of salvation. Luther, keenly aware of his own sinfulness and the offense which doctrine said this was to God, exasperated his fellow monks and abbot with constant confessions of sin to the minutest detail. His dilemma was simple: how can a perfectly just and righteous God allow sin to go unpunished, and if sin can not go unpunished, how does the sinner enter heaven?
Longstanding Catholic tradition had established a type of works-righteousness, in which the good works of a Christian could be used to pay off spiritual debt, reduce time in purgatory and earn a just, favorable position with God. Luther struggled to see this connection.
Paul’s Epistle to the Church at Rome, Romans, made his confusion clear. Specifically, Luther read Romans 1:17, “For in the Gospel the righteousness of God is revealed—a righteousness that is by faith from first to last, just as it is written: ‘The just shall live by faith.’” An interesting vocabulary note is that the words used for righteousness and just in this text are words borrowed from the legal culture of Attic Greek, with the same basic root dikaios. Luther concluded that the connection between God’s law and mercy was that, by observing the active faith of the believer, God could declare that person just before him through Jesus Christ.
This tenet became the principle behind the Reformation rallying cries “sola gratia” and “sola fide”: a person is saved by grace alone through faith alone. This has also been termed “the evangelical doctrine”. This principle governed Luther’s ministry from that point on, and it held considerable consequences when applied to the church. Guided by Scripture, Luther argued that salvation was entirely the work of Christ and absolutely unconditional to a person’s works and purchases of indulgence, which had no power before God which might obligate Him to save an individual. While Luther, and later Calvin, ultimately argued that the transformation of a person to belief would yield fruit, or good works, they insisted that this was the result of a spiritual renewal, and not a condition or purchase of salvation. Calvin famously repeated in Geneva, “God saves you; you can not put Him in your debt.”
The emergence of Luther into the public square resulted from the reports of the sale of indulgences by Johann Tetzel, who promised various rewards through the sale of indulgences. Luther challenged this and, believing he was informing the Pope of the offense rather than challenging him, composed the Ninety-Five Theses, or points for debate regarding the work of salvation. Tradition holds that he nailed them to the door of the Castle Church in Wittenberg. Some evidence exists to suggest that this Church Door was similar to a modern bulletin board, thus it would not be odd that Luther would publicly announce his ideas via such a post.
Luther Bible, 1534
Certainly, the recent invention of the printing press facilitated the rapid dissemination of Luther’s works. Additionally, where previous reformers had been executed, Luther enjoyed the protection of a Germanic ruler who, along with his people, was weary of the Roman influence both in the German Church and German politics. Luther, when he refused to recant at the Diet (Hearing) at Worms, in modern-day Germany, was excommunicated by the Pope and denounced by the Emperor Charles V; however, he survived to continue his reformation work and exhibit a lasting influence on the church. One such area was Bible translation into common languages. Perhaps equally important, he provided a model for other reformers to follow when challenging institutionalized doctrines which were worth reconsidering for biblical merit.
Luther’s work laid the foundation for reform in the Christian Church. While he did not initially desire separation, he considered the principle of salvation by grace through faith important enough to stand firm and break with the papacy. Ultimately, he created a rift which has remained to this day. More important than this division is the simple fact that all protestant denominations owe a piece of their history to his precedent. Luther’s work, therefore, has influenced numerous denominational formations and millions of Christian laity and leaders over the nearly five centuries since his initial break. The continuation of his influence into this day requires the start of the Protestant Reformation by Martin Luther to be considered a moment of paradigm shift in history.
By: Brad Corfman
Edited by: Joan Eardly
Apostolic Orthodoxy: The belief that the Church’s teachings can be directly traced back to the teaching of the 12 Apostles and Jesus Christ.
http://www.holytrinityindy.org/Apostolic/tabid/227/Default.aspx
Great Schism of 1054: After rising tensions between the Latin speaking Western and Greek speaking Eastern Churches, they decided to split. The split was based on “doctrinal, theological, linguistic, political, and geographic lines” and lead to the rise of the Roman Catholic Church in the West and the Greek Orthodox Church in the East.
http://www.middle-ages.org.uk/the-great-schism.htm
Hus and Savonarola: 15th century Italian monks that attempted to bring back the purity of the ancient church by rivaling the Pope. Neither of their attempts were effective.
http://www.pbs.org/empires/medici/renaissance/heresy.html
John Calvin: (1509-1564) He was a Frenchman and Protestant. Most known for the creation of Calvinism and the idea of predestination, the belief that certain people are chosen by God for salvation.
The Cave 