History of the Church II: Week One

“A Wild Boar” In June of 1520, a papal bull was issued by Pope Leo X condemning Martin Luther and giving him 60 days to turn from his heretical course. This was one of many papal decrees issued by various popes but this one was different: it would change Christianity forever. This age of church history from 1517 to 1648 is called the Reformation. Just who was Martin Luther? Why was he so important in church history? As with many reformers, his impact had both religious and political consequences.

Luther’s Background Born in 1483 in modern-day Germany, Luther wanted to become a lawyer This event changed his life: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KxtK7LNKBoI

Luther as a priest “I kept the rule so strictly,” he recalled years later, “that I may say that if ever a monk got to heaven with sheer mockery, it was I. If I had kept on any longer, I should have killed myself with vigils, prayers, reading and other work.” Shelley p. 238 He was driven by his profound sense of his own sinfulness and God’s unutterable majesty. See quote on p. 238

Luther’s discovery One day in 1515, Luther was reading and mediating on the book of Romans. In Romans 1:17 he read “For therein is the righteousness of God revealed from faith to faith: as it is written, The just shall live by faith.” After several weeks went by Luther wrote down his famous doctrine of justification by faith alone. This was clearly against Catholic teachings.

The Protestant Reformation Title page of Leo’s Bull to Luther

The Protestant Reformation What is Protestantism? The best definition according to Shelley is that of Ernst Troeltsch who early in the 20th century called it a “modification of Catholicism” in which Protestantism answers the four questions of Catholicism in a new way. The four questions are: 1) How is a person saved? 2) Where does religious authority lie? 3) What is the church? 4) What is the essence of Christian living?

The Protestant Reformation For two years Luther wrestled with the consequences of his beliefs. If they were true, there would be no need for monks, priests, mass and prayer to the saints. Luther wasn’t ready to go public with his views and he might not have if something totally against Scripture would not have happened in 1517. A Dominican priest named John Tetzel was making his way through Europe selling indulgences to complete the construction of St. Peter’s basilica in Rome. If one would just make a contribution for this building, one’s sins would not only he forgiven, you could free souls from purgatory!

The Protestant Reformation Luther nails the 95 thesis

The Protestant Reformation Luther challenged Tetzel to a debate in Leipzig and wrote 95 challenges to the teachings of the Catholic Church. After the debate, the Dominican friars denounced Luther to Rome as a man guilty of preaching “dangerous doctrines”. The Vatican denounced Luther’s teachings as heresy. Luther at first accepted the decision but asked for the scriptural proof that his teachings were wrong.

The Protestant Reformation Luther had now stated two major points of Protestant theology: Salvation is by faith through Jesus Christ alone Scripture is the final authority on Christianity not popes and councils Luther took his teachings to the people by publishing a series of pamphlets. In his Address to the Nobility of the German Nation, he asked the princes in each province to correct abuses in the church and take their wealth. This was a stroke of genius because now the princes’ had an excuse to expand their power. Luther never intended use his new found power politically but others did.

The Protestant Reformation In his The Babylonian Captivity of the Church, Luther made clear how justification by faith changed the doctrine of the church. He said the sacraments held the Christian “captive” to the Pope. Since man did not need a priest to approach God, Christians did not need a priest (or a Pope) to do the sacraments. Luther believed there were only two sacraments instituted by Christ: Baptism and the Lord’s Supper. Thus the church did not need the hierarchy of the Catholic Church. “Good works do not make a man good,” he said, “but a good man does good works.” Works are an outpouring of spiritual condition. p. 242

Luther’s Lasting Influence Luther was able to escape persecution because he was given sanctuary by the prince of Saxony, Duke Frederick the Wise. Holed away in the Wartburg Castle as a minor nobleman named Junker George, Luther translated the New Testament into German. After one year, he came back to Wittenberg to put into effect a spiritual reform that included: Abolish the office of the Bishop Monks and nuns could marry The worship service changed from a celebration of the Mass to the teaching and preaching of God’s word.

The Political Effects Luther was never interested in political change but his ideas quickly spread to the political realm. If a man could be freed from the spiritual bondage of the church could he also be freed from the political bondage of the state? Less than 100 years after Luther, serfdom ended in western Europe. Luther’s own monarch refused to follow Luther which resulted in a civil war between 1546 and 1555 in which the princes’ won the Peace of Augsburg. (Religious freedom within their borders) The Augsburg Confession (1530) became the Protestant Manifesto.