An Essay on the Reformation

Martin Luther (1483-1546)

Explorer of the Reformation Frontier


A study of Martin Luther and his influence is inevitably and rather joyfully a sociological study of God’s working in the world for His glory. This very fact gives the entire Reformation a multi-faceted dimension that requires a comprehensive look at the history of the political, religious, and personal events both before and after Martin Luther’s startling posting of the 95 Theses. In many ways, we will need to consider a macro-historical look at the Papacy in order to understand the need for change. In other ways, we will also consider a micro look at the people, for it is the people, their lives, their families, who had the most to gain from the events of the Reformation. And those people are us in many respects. You cannot squelch human creativity and the desire for personal expression. The strange but true dichotomy of our need for leadership that allows and encourages personal freedom cannot be ignored. Freedom without guidance, without parameters, and without a pathway is anarchical, resulting in random decisions leading to negative consequences. Antithetically, restrictive dictatorial leadership, with no sense of democracy or consensus, such as the people were experiencing at the time, is demeaning, and demonstrates a lack of respect for the human spirit. Yet the human spirit is a boundless energy force that may be individually constricted at least temporarily, but in time becomes unleashed and creative. With that creativity and desire for exploration of what is right and what is wrong, comes protests against injustices. Thus the Reformation Frontier and its exploration were born.

As we proceed in this study, please know, however, that a 20 minute historical discourse of these events can only provide a precursory glance at the complexity surrounding the Reformation and its influence on the world. As we wade through murky waters of corruption, interpretation, personalities, human nature, politics, culture, and scholarship, we must remember that regardless of the human frailties and the mistakes made by governing officials as well as the common people, God ordained the events and used them for His glory. The Reformation may have been divisive and create schisms of polarization in religious thought, and may even now contribute to emotional and irrational behavior both individually and collectively; yet it also caused a comprehensive examination of many issues. Perhaps through patience and prayer, time will continue to be kind and we can one day embrace the totality and overall purpose of God’s Church so that the differences become harmonious with the end goal being love rather than violence.

At the time of Martin Luther’s birth was a growing dissatisfaction among the common people with the ruling Papacy of Rome, with one concern being an obvious disconnect and distance from the lives of the German commoners. The Papacy simply did not know the pulse of the German people. To be fair, the Roman Catholic Church’s strength and influence were not necessarily a result of widespread corruption but actually an effort to unify the worship practices and religious thought throughout the western world, to establish the proper practice, and to understand and trust those who spent years struggling through doctrinal questions. Today, due to our advanced technology, it is becoming increasingly difficult for us to imagine a world that is not interconnected through immediate communication tools, but we must realize that historically, any practices or concerns about events occurring outside of the recommendations of the papacy were not easily fixed. Furthermore, in many ways, while the ruling order of the Roman Catholic Church would certainly prefer conformity to the higher ideals set forth, much of the Western World was not easily accessible, resulting in pockets of religious autonomy at least to an extent. Inevitably this lack of governance can cause corruption to exist at the local level often times apart from the knowledge of the rulers, for as the saying goes “power corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely.” Yet it is more likely, in Johann Tetzel’s case, that he was following the spirit of the Papacy if not the intent in trying to acquire more money. Rome had certain requirements that needed money, and the Church Universal should help provide the needs.

In religion, this corruption is easily fostered through fear and discord by saying “God says you will….unless you do…” If the listener, the learner, the believer does not have direct access to God through His word, then he cannot discern truth from fiction and often implicitly trusts the deliverer of the message. For all its apparent absurdity, today’s world is not far from this in our tendency to trust politicians or even the people around us. Examples such as the economy or questionable healing or crime rate causes or fuel costs seem to be delivered by people we trust with little empirical evidence to support the position. How much does this differ from a man who claims to represent the papacy requesting money to get someone out of purgatory? Sadly, the parallels to our modern world are dangerously similar. But that is another story for another day. Let us return to Martin Luther.

A complicated, highly intelligent man with a law degree and an unswerving desire to serve the Lord, Martin Luther became a monk in 1505 following a lightning bolt promise, and entered the priest-hood in 1507. He began coursework in theology from the University of Wittenberg where earned the Doctorate in Theology in 1512. His devotion to his calling, his creative brilliance, and his concern for the German people subsequently led to the events of 1517 and beyond. In addition, there was the questioning problem of his own commitment to the priesthood plus his scholarly ability and desire to read and understand scripture. All these plus the courage to stand up for what is right, in part, led to the events. Yet, there is little doubt that had the abuses of Johann Tetzel not occurred, any reforming of the church, and any criticism from Martin Luther would have been ultimately beneficial but also primarily culturally and religiously benign.

Whether ordained or happenstance, the truth remains, Johann Tetzel was selling indulgences with the idea of raising money for a new building, pocketing the money, taking advantage of the people, and making Martin Luther and the people of Wittenberg discontent. A self-appointment protector of the people, Martin Luther began to preach against the practice of indulgences, believing instead that God solely has a right to forgive, not a man, particular one whose forgiveness of others was based on the amount of money given. Martin Luther’s 95 Theses were born out of this written disputation again the “…power and efficacy of the sale of indulgences.” So as to attract the largest number of readers, Luther posted these 95 Theses on the door of the Castle church in Wittenberg on the eve of All Saints Day, a day and location not unusual for various announcements.

Rather than being an announcement that caused people to nod and go about their business, this particular notice received attention, further propelled by one of, or perhaps the greatest invention of the Western world, the printing press. Eventually making its way to the unhappy leadership of the Catholic Church, Martin Luther found himself in a precarious position and was called upon to respond to his heretical views. As a priest, he should uphold the papacy and its authority over the people, but as a devoted and scholarly Christian, he felt called to teach and preach the teachings of God as presented in scripture. Being unable to find any scriptural evidence for the sale of indulgences and the role of the priest as the forgiver of sins, Luther decried the practices of the papacy and quickly endeared himself to the common person who was simply looking for an opportunity and most likely for leadership to rally against the authority of the time—namely the church. The church, however, did not accept the criticism from the young and obviously brilliant priest who had dared to question the authority of the papacy. Fortunately for Martin Luther, he had a friend in the Frederick the Wise, the Elector. In 1518, the inquisition against Luther proceeded until a Papal bull was issued in 1520 demanding Luther recant his accusations. He burned the bull and was then excommunicated in 1521. To bring conclusion to these inflammatory events, Martin Luther was officially summoned to the city of Worms for a gathering of church authority figures, called a Diet of Worms, in the hopes of requesting Luther renounce his earlier tirade against the papacy. The journey to Worms was an opportunity for preaching, teaching, and general support resulting in a type of populist glitter for the already famous German theologian Martin Luther.

Whether the people saw in Luther a type of hero who could lift them out of their religious restriction, or if they simply hoped for greater German autonomy apart from Roman, is debatable and incidental to the story, for Luther capitalized on his popularity not to mention the respect and admiration from his friend Frederick the Wise. Luther did appear before the officials at Worms, refused to recant his words, and left of his own free will. Similar to the releasing of the floodgates, the rushing tide of German people against Rome was impossible to prevent, and Martin Luther the man, by virtue of his gifts and his own rebellion, became the instigating force behind what would eventually become a major societal, cultural, and religious shift of authority in the world. On his way back to Wittenberg, after refusing to recant, he was kidnapped by Frederick the Wise, for his own protection, and taken to a castle at Wartburg where he began a German translation of the Bible.

During this period of self-imposed captivity, Luther experienced great productivity mixed with religious torment, a not unusual event for Luther who was plagued with fear of the wrath of God and the desire to war with Satan throughout his life. Such emotional anguish could result in a deepening madness, and some have suggested that Luther flirted with such throughout his life; yet, if brilliance indeed borders on brink of insanity, Luther stayed on the side of brilliance with regard to his remarkable literary output during this time.

Meanwhile, back in his hometown of Wittenberg, the people felt unleashed to experiment with their new-found freedom from Catholic religious restriction. This resulted in 3 local priests deciding to get married, people questioning purgatory, and a general mistrust of papal authority. With the eventuality of the Bible being placed in the hands of the German people, came the requirement to intercede directly with God rather than going through another person. This practice, plus the problem of Biblical interpretation outside of those so ordained was both radically, personally expressive and collectively dangerous. If knowledge is power, and power is potentially dangerous, then it stands to reason that the Bible in the hands of the people could have frightening or, if we look at it another way, maybe even glorious consequences. While it may be a sticky proposition or even a little messy at times to give religious tools such as the Bible to the people, ultimately putting knowledge and truth in the hands of the people leads to power decentralization and a form of freedom. If the worst form of slavery is ignorance, the Reformation gave flight to the people by virtue of its liberating knowledge.

In spite of Luther’s original intent simply to dispute some of the practices of the local Catholic authority not turn the world on its heels, when put to the task of stating whether he agreed with all the teachings of Rome or if he believed that the Pope could indeed be wrong, Luther was forced into referencing scripture as the divine truth rather than the church. In doing so, Luther was branded a heretic by the church and a hero by the people. It is not surprising Luther was excommunicated, furthering his status by the people and driving the nail deeper on the former practices by the Papacy. The Reformation was put in motion and the momentum could not be stopped. This growing demand for reform, coupled with great admiration for its early spokesman, Martin Luther, aided in his protection. To rid the world of the person who represents public thought would be a major political and religious faux pas, but to keep him could be worse! Nevertheless, Luther remained and with him the Reformation flourished.

Luther’s refinement of theology to include grace, justification, and atonement established him as reformer. His marriage to Katherine von Bora in 1525 was roundly criticized by some of Luther’s followers, but he continued to teach at the University of Wittenberg while living in a modest home. His years with Katherine were filled with writing, debating, discussing, and further refining the reformation movement, including frequent contentious disputes with fellow reformers. Luther’s passion and zealousness was expressed in his writing and in his music where he could be found playing the flute and writing hymns including the famous Reformation hymn Ein Feste Burg.

To his credit, aside from some rather emotionally charged writing on various potentially explosive topics, Luther tried to bring a lofty, theological viewpoint to his world and to the process of reforming the church. Luther’s concern about abuses and theological doctrine added to the general social unrest of the people. Luther’s focus may have been on spiritual matters, but the people were also concerned with taxation, class structure, religious freedom, and general treatment. Unfortunately, the rising and oft ugly tide of the people, led by Thomas Muntzer, caused the Peasants War, a violent expression of anti-Catholic sentiment that resulted in the death of over 70,000 people. Other losses include the destruction of churches, castles, and great Catholic art of the period.

Martin Luther denounced the Peasants War and in the final years of his life, found himself in disagreement with some of the practices being taught by other reformers, almost imperceptibly regretting some of the results of his earlier disputations. Yet, even as he desired a little more harmony with the Papacy particular in light of his disagreements with Zwingli, he ironically wrote yet another diatribe against the Catholic church further solidifying his permanent break with Rome. Throughout his illustrious and fervid career, Luther remained true to his convictions while seeking for peace rather than war. His last days were spent trying to settle a mining dispute.

Martin Luther explored a new frontier, a world begging for recognition but a world virtually unknown to the principalities, the ruling order. What makes his story appealing is the idea of the underdog battling the big boys and winning. Yet, further examination of the Reformation frontier reveals that the seeds of unrest had been planted many years before, and when there is good land, land ideal for farming, there is always someone or thousands who wish to settle upon it.

His famous words have a type of anthem or slogan feel to them and are regarded as the liberating words of the Reformation:

"Unless I am convinced by Scripture and plain reason - I do not accept the authority of the popes and councils, for they have contradicted each other - my conscience is captive to the Word of God. I cannot and I will not recant anything for to go against conscience is neither right nor safe. God help me. Amen."