I - Biography
Martin Luther was born in 1483 in Germany, and has been known popularly as the Catholic Monk who started the Protestant Reformation. Luther was well educated, gaining his bachelor’s and master’s by 1505. Luther’s education was intended by his parents to go towards his career in business or law, but that did not come to pass. In 1505, Luther was traveling and a lightning bolt struck a nearby tree during a thunderstorm. In fright, Luther called out to Saint Anne, promising he would become a monk if he made it out of the storm alive. He lived through the storm, and stuck to his word. Luther became a priest in 1507 and became a professor of theology.
By 1517, Luther had built up some grievances against church practices, especially the practice of indulgences, which was the forgiveness of sins in exchange for money. Luther did not believe in this practice of the church and sought to object, but was met with resistance. He posted on the church doors of Wittenberg his famous Ninety-Five Theses which were oppositions to that which he saw being done by leadership of the church. He continued to write, and with the invention of the printing press, his writing was able to spread and become rather influential. He had never originally sought to create a division within the church, but as tensions escalated, a division in the church became something he could not have stopped even if he were to try. Martin Luther died at the age of 62 in the year 1546.
II - Martin Luther in Historical Context.
The time period surrounding Martin Luther was dramatic and had a lot going on that contributed to creating tensions in society which acted as a powder keg, ready to explode by the time that Martin Luther begins lighting matches in his desire to reform the church. Leading up to the 1500’s, the church had become situated as a massive political institution. The church owned a massive amount of land and was a source of political order in a period where the political field in Europe was very unstable. As a result, much of the church was tied up in what we might call “secular” concerns: the need for acting as a government more than a church. Reformers such as John Huss who preceded Luther contributed to bringing awareness to some of the corruption which came with this secularization of the church.
In the few decades preceding Martin Luther’s birth, some significant developments occurred. The Ottoman Empire was a growing Islamic power which gained power over the Eastern Byzantine empire and increased political tensions in Europe.Also at this time, the governing system of Feudalism was in place, which caused a huge wealth gap in the population and created a very large peasant class. In the 1300’s this peasant class in England caused a large revolt following the hardships of the Black Death and the Hundred Years’ War, but eventually the revolt was suppressed. However, the instability remained an issue. In 1524, the growing instability in Germany due to increased tensions between the church and those who were protesting against the church paved the way for another Peasants war which did not last very long, but had massive casualties.
Also during this time, the Americas were drawing more attention and Spain began investing in the conquest of South America. Eventually, the Americas would become an attractive place to settle for the many divisions of Protestants who deviated away from the Catholic church.
III - Some of Luther’s Key Ideas.
Though indulgences were a key point on which Martin Luther debated with common church practice, there were many more things which Luther voiced which proved to be pivotal ideas in the Protestant Reformation. Much of what Luther wrote on back then is still echoed in many of our ideas today. I chose a few of the prominent ones and provide some comments below.
The Solas: Martin Luther along with other Protestant reformers often looked to certain principles to guide them along the path of reformation. Today, we know these principles as the Five Solas, which literally means “alone.” The idea is that these Solas provide parameters with which one might judge what is good and true. This was especially important for people like Martin Luther, who did not believe that the traditions of the church and the Pope’s judgement held as much weight or virtue as the virtues encapsulated in the Solas.
1: Sola Scriptura: by Scripture alone. This is the idea that Scripture is the paramount authority.
2: Sola Fide: by faith alone. There is no way for us to “earn” salvation by being good enough, but rather it is only through our faith that we are saved.
3: Sola Gratia: by grace alone. God saves us out of His Divine Grace, not because we deserve it. Reuniting in relationship happens through our reaching out of faith, and God’s reaching out of Grace.
4: Solus Christus: Christ alone. Jesus Christ is the only mediator between God and ourselves, which excludes the necessity of mediation by the church or the Saints.
5: Soli Deo Gloria: glory to God alone. Our worship and our prayers are to glorify God alone, not ourselves and not the angels or Saints.
Salvation by grace through faith, not works. Martin Luther came to a different conclusion concerning how people become saved then the predominant position of the church. Especially influenced by Paul’s writings in Romans, Luther concluded Sola Fide: by faith alone people are saved, rather than us being able to earn or buy our salvation. This point of Luther’s threatened the church greatly, because it meant that the church was not able to control salvation, and thus control people in the same way. During a time when the church’s control on people provided what those in power viewed as political stability, this was a threatening statement from Luther. The idea that faith alone saves puts more emphasis on the responsibility of each individual, which plays into the concept often attributed to Luther of the “priesthood of all believers.”
Priesthood of all believers. The sentiment here is that each person is able to connect with God and has a responsibility to follow God for themselves. During the period of the church leading up to Luther, many people were illiterate and could not read the bible. Those who could read, would need to be even more educated because the bible was only translated in Latin. Several people, Luther included, believed that the bible should be translated and offered in the languages which people could read more easily, but this was not permitted by the church. Furthermore, the idea that all believers are priests extends back to the model of the Old Testament in which a priest would go into the presence of the Lord on behalf of the people. The church during Luther’s time believed that ordained priests still acted as intermediaries between God and man in a similar way. But Luther’s idea of the Priesthood of all believers was a major shift in theology where anyone who believed was able to enter into the presence of the Lord because through Christ, believers are saved through their faith.
IV - Resources I used and for your further study.
The book Here I Stand: A Life of Martin Luther by Roland H. Bainton. This is one of the most prominent biographies on Luther and is very informative.
The book The Reformation of the Sixteenth Century by Roland H. Bainton. Provides a good overview of what was happening in Europe during this time period and how Luther fits in to all of it.
The book Christian Spirituality: The Classics, edited by Arthur Holder.
This book is very well done and can be a slow read, but it is very informative and well organized. It has information on many of the important Christian authors throughout the ages.
This movie is about an hour long and is a PBS documentary narrated by Liem Neeson, so it is pretty great.
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