Martin Luther - Part 1

Martin Luther – Part 1

Martin Luther, born in the late 15th Century, was the son of a copper miner. His father was climbing the ladder of the scant middle class in Germany. Martin showed great academic promise, so his father made arrangements to send him to law school – which would solidify the financial state of Martin, as well as his parents, for the future. He began legal school at age 14, earning his baccalaureate and master’s degrees in the shortest time allowed by the university.

During his time at law school, Martin began to have doubts about his spiritual state, and took a leave of absence from doctoral school in 1505 (at age 21) to discuss this with family and friends. On his ride home, he was caught in a lightning storm and a bolt of lightning hit very close to where he was. In fear he cried out, “Help me, Saint Anne! I will become a monk!” Saint Anne was very familiar to him, as she was the patron saint of miners.

Martin kept his word, and entered the strictest Augustinian monastery he could find, after giving away all his possessions. He was an impeccable student and was very observant. He did not just endure, but he earnestly pursued the prayer, fasts, and ascetic practices such as going without sleep, enduring cold without a blanket, and self-flagellation. He later remarked, “If anyone could have earned Heaven by the life of a monk, it was I.” He was instructed to undertake the study of theology and quickly rose to become one of the Order’s teachers.

As Martin continued to study, he became more fearful of God, and had continued doubts of his own salvation. His teachers taught that God demanded absolute righteousness (“Be perfect, even as your Father in Heaven is perfect…”). If you weren’t perfect, you had to repent in a contrite manner, not for the selfish purpose of saving yourself. This requirement for perfect contrition plagued him, because he knew his own works were purely selfish, the desire to save his own skin.

Luther was drawn to Romans 1:17 (which later became the ‘text of the Reformation’), “…the righteous shall live by faith.” Luther knew deep down that he was not righteous, therefore he could not live by faith. Luther, with all his piety, knew his incredible works did him no good. He confessed his doubts to his superior in the Order, and was even told to go out and commit a ‘real’ sin. “You want to be without sin, but you don’t have any real sins anyway…the you must not inflate your halting, artificial sins out of proportion!” Martin’s conscience would not permit this, “Yet my conscience would never give me assurance, but I was always doubting and said ‘You did not perform that correctly. You were not contrite enough. You left that out of your confession.’ “

As he continued to meditate on and study Romans 1:17, he later stated about this: “I was seized with the conviction that I must understand Paul’s letter to the Romans…but to that one moment one phrase in Chapter 1 stood in my way. I hated the idea, “in it the righteousness of God is revealed.” …I hated the righteous God who punishes sinners… At last, meditating day and night and by the mercy of God, I began to understand that the righteousness of God is that through which the righteous live by a gift from God, namely by faith…Here I felt as if I were entirely born again and had entered paradise itself through gates that had been flung open.”

In 1517, Pope Leo X sent his aide, Johannes Tetzel, on a fund-raising journey. Tetzel offered the sale of indulgences – monetary contributions to limit the stay in purgatory for deceased loved ones. Tetzel preached on emotion, and usually ended his pitch with a catchy jingle, “When the coin in the coffer rings, the soul from Purgatory springs!” This money was used to fund church projects, primarily the vast renovation of St Peter’s Basilica.

Martin Luther was very bothered by the sale of indulgences, in addition to his other struggles. He posted a list of 95 questions, the famous “95 theses” on the door of the church at Wittenburg on All Saints’ Eve. They were written in Latin, and were meant to be a formal introduction to debate on the sale of indulgences and a few other points Luther questioned.

Enter “mass media”. An individual unknown to history made a copy of Luther’s theses, translated them into German, and within two weeks, they were spread across Germany. Martin’s questions proved to be a flashpoint that allowed many individuals to question what they instinctively know to be wrong. By Spring of 1518, Luther was called to Heidelberg to debate the underlying theological issues. The flashpoint issue quickly moved from indulgences to the authority of the church: Did the Pope have the right to issue indulgences?

A number of public debates ensued, and Martin wrote prolifically to buttress his views. Eventually, his opponents were forbidden from debating with him – unless it was on the subject of church and Papal authority. Growing increasingly frustrated, Luther declared “A simple layman armed with the Scriptures” was superior to both Pope and church councils which did not have them. Pope Leo X issued a Papal bull threatening excommunication for Martin and anyone who followed his teachings. Luther publicly burned this, along with a copy of Canon Law. Luther’s writings urges rulers to take the reform of the church into their own hands; reduced the seven Catholic Sacraments to three (baptism, the Lord’s Supper, and penance), then instructed Christians that they were free from the Law of the church, while they were bound in love to their neighbors.

In Spring of 1521, at the urging of the Pope, the Holy Roman Emperor, Charles V, held a “Diet” – a meeting – in the city of Worms. Martin Luther thought this to be another debate. He was awed to see Charles V himself, surrounded by his advisors and representatives of Rome, bishops, princes, and representatives of great cities. They were all standing around a table piled high with Luther’s writings. This was not to be a debate, but a judicial hearing. He was asked simply if those were his writings, and secondly if he would recant. Martin, taken aback, asked for a day to consider the matter.

The following day, Luther was again ushered into the great hall. He was asked the same questions, and he had a short prepared speech. He repeated it in Latin for the benefit of Emperor Charles V. Then the chief prosecutor demanded a simple answer, “Will you recant or not?” Luther replied, “Unless I can be instructed and convinced with evidence from the Holy Scriptures or with open, clear, and distinct grounds of reasoning…then I cannot and will not recant, because it is neither safe nor wise to act against conscience. Here I stand. I can do no other. May God help me. Amen.”