Luther and Lutheranism

Luther

As the year 1500 arrived, Europe was in the midst of profound changes. The conditions, attitudes, and institutions that had characterized the Middle Ages were gradually giving way to new movements and developments. The discovery of unknown lands across the Atlantic accompanied an explosion of exploration and trade. The emergence of powerful monarchies in Germany, France, and Spain introduced complex new dynamics to European politics. In the aftermath of the Renaissance, interest in learning and the study of ancient texts ran high, and the recent invention of Gutenberg’s printing press facilitated the spread of ideas at an unprecedented rate. Amid this prevailing climate of change, a consensus was forming among many Europeans that certain beliefs and practices of the church were in dire need of reform.

I. Luther’s Childhood and Entry into the Monastery

A. Martin Luther was born in 1483 in Saxony.

B. Luther’s family was middle class, and his father had ambitions for Martin to study law.

C. Luther abruptly discontinued his law studies in order to join a monastery.

i. While traveling in July 1505, Luther was caught in a severe thunderstorm.

ii. Luther cried out for Saint Anne to save him from the storm, vowing to become a monk in exchange for her protection.

iii. A few weeks later, Luther joined an Augustinian monastery

II. Luther’s Monastic Career

A. Luther embraced the monastic life at a time when the field of biblical studies was quickly expanding.

i. After the fall of Constantinople in 1453, many ancient biblical manuscripts were carried to safety in Western Europe.

ii. The development of an improved moveable-type printing press by Johannes Gutenberg in the mid-fifteenth century enabled the rapid production and distribution of printed works, including the Hebrew and Greek Scriptures.

iii. Like many of his contemporaries, Luther had the opportunity to learn Hebrew, Greek, and Latin and to study the Bible and the church fathers in the original languages.

B. Luther earned his Doctor of Theology degree in 1512 and joined the theological faculty at the University of Wittenberg.

ii. As a professor in the early 1500s, Luther’s task was to present lectures to his students based on his own studies in the Bible.

iii. Throughout the next few years, Luther devoted extensive time to studying and lecturing

iv. By 1516, Luther was also preaching regularly in Wittenberg, communicating God’s Word pastorally to the common people.

III.The Controversy over Indulgences and the Ninety-Five Theses

A. In 1517, a Dominican preacher named Johann Tetzel began to sell indulgences near Wittenberg to fund the construction of Saint Peter’s Basilica in Rome.

i. These were said to be plenary indulgences, which would secure full pardon for past and future sins.

ii. Concerned about the way that this practice misrepresented God’s Word and exploited the people, Luther responded by writing a collection of theses against the sale of indulgences.

B. Luther posted these Ninety-Five Theses on the church door in Wittenberg on October 31, 1517.

i. In the sixteenth century, it was common to write and post a list of theses as an invitation to academic debate.

ii. Since Luther’s theses were written in Latin, they were only intended to reach a small audience.

iii. Rather than attack the authority of the church or the legitimacy of indulgences, these theses simply questioned the way that indulgences were currently being sold.

C. Shortly after he wrote and posted his Ninety-Five Theses, Luther experienced his “Protestant breakthrough,” in which he came to the realization that God justifies sinners by faith alone.

i. Throughout his monastic career, Luther had been tormented by a sense of his unworthiness before God.

ii. The thought of God’s righteousness was terrifying to Luther, filling him with fear and hatred.

iii. When he understood and embraced a biblical understanding of justification, Luther’s entire life and ministry changed dramatically

It is often through trial and adversity that God shapes His people the most. After publishing what he thought to be an unremarkable critique of corruption in the sale of indulgences, Martin Luther found himself at the forefront of a controversy that he neither expected nor desired. In the years that followed, Luther repeatedly returned to Scripture for guidance and instruction, and his exposition of God’s Word soon put him at odds with both the political and religious elites of his day.

I. Aftermath of the Ninety-Five Theses

A. Though Luther had intended his Ninety-Five Theses for a limited audience, this document began to circulate throughout Germany.

B. As this obscure monk became increasingly well-known, he was given many opportunities to share his views, which were becoming more and more at odds with official church teachings.

C. In 1518, Pope Leo X attempted to bring Luther to Rome for trial.

i. Luther appealed to his local ruler, Elector Frederick of Saxony, who took up Luther’s cause.

ii. The pope withdrew his order in the hope of securing Frederick’s support of his favored candidate in the election of the next Holy Roman emperor.

D. In 1519, Luther debated the Catholic theologian Johann Eck in Leipzig.

i. On the question of church authority, Eck attempted to demonstrate that Luther’s views were not in harmony with the tradition of the church.

ii. In this debate, Luther publicly expressed his conviction that when Scripture and church tradition are at odds, Scripture must be regarded as the higher authority.

E. In 1520, Luther wrote three of his most well-known treatises.

i. The first, Appeal to the Christian Nobility of the German Nation, urged German political leaders to bring about badly needed reform in the church.

ii. The second, On the Babylonian Captivity of the Church, addressed the error and corruption that had come to characterize the church’s sacramental system.

iii. The third, On the Freedom of the Christian, described the doctrine of justification and the Christian’s resulting freedom from condemnation and slavery.

F. Pope Leo responded to Luther’s teachings by issuing the papal bull Exsurge Domine, which announced Luther’s excommunication from the Roman Catholic Church if he did not recant his teachings.

II. The Diet of Worms

A. In 1521, the newly elected Emperor Charles V summoned Luther to the city of Worms for a diet, or meeting of the German parliament.

i. Called to be examined by powerful church and state officials, Luther was keenly aware that his life was in danger.

ii. Instead of being given an opportunity to speak, Luther was simply shown his writings and was asked if he would recant of the errors within them.

B. Having been given twenty-four hours to consider his response, Luther wrestled with the question of whether he could in fact be right and so many within the church could be wrong.

C. When called before the diet once more, Luther declared that his conscience was captive to the Word of God and that he could not act contrary to it.

D. As a result of his refusal to recant, the emperor declared Luther to be a heretic.

III.Work in Wartburg and Wittenberg

A. In order to protect Luther, Frederick of Saxony gave orders for him to be abducted and taken to a secret location.

B. Working in safety at Wartburg Castle, Luther translated the New Testament and much of the Old Testament into German.

C. While Luther was in hiding, reforms started happening throughout the church

D. When he returned to Wittenberg, Luther took charge of the reform movement, married a former nun, Katharina von Bora.

F. By marrying and raising a family, Luther and Katharina helped to establish a precedent for Protestant family life.

G. In 1525, Luther wrote On the Bondage of the Will in response to Desiderius Erasmus’ insistence on unhindered free will in salvation.

H. Living and working in Wittenberg, Luther continued to provide leadership for the growing Protestant movement.

I.

Lutheran Distinctives

Solas - Reformation

Scriptura

Christus

Fide - Very Lutheran

Gratia

Deo Gloria

Real Presence - Communion

Not Physical presence (transubstantiation) or symbolic presence

It has been called "consubstantiation," but Lutheran theologians reject the use of this term "since Lutherans do not believe either in that local conjunction of two bodies, nor in any commingling of bread and of Christ's body, of wine and of his blood."[11][12] Lutherans use the term "in, with, and under the forms of consecrated bread and wine" and "sacramental union" to distinguish their understanding of the Eucharist

1. Lutheranism is a tradition within Christianity that began in the Protestant Reformation. With a membership estimated at around 80 million members worldwide, Lutheranism is the third-largest Protestant movement, after Anglicanism and Pentecostalism.

2. The Lutheran faith is based on doctrines first articulated by Martin Luther in his attempt to reform the Catholic Church. Luther conducted the first Lutheran worship service and ordained the first Lutheran minister in 1525. One hundred years after Luther’s death the first Lutheran church in America was planted in the area east of today’s downtown Wilmington, Delaware.

3. Luther’s opponents first used the term “Lutheran” in 1519. Luther preferred the term “evangelical,” but the term also began to be used for those who followed the teachings of other reformers, such as Calvin and Zwingli. Lutherans adopted the label for themselves in the middle of the 16th century,

4. There a large number of Lutheran denominations, with the two main bodies in America being the Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod (LCMS) and the Evangelical Lutheran Church of America (ELCA). The LCMS is the more conservative of the two, teaching that the Bible is the “inspired and inerrant Word of God.” The ELCA holds that Scripture is not necessarily always accurate or trustworthy in all its details and parts. The two also disagree on “altar and pulpit fellowship” (allowing the pastors of one church to preach and celebrate Holy Communion in the church of another). The LCMS limits such engagement to certain other confessional Lutheran church bodies, while the ELCA is in full communion with the Presbyterian Church (USA), the Reformed Church in America, the United Church of Christ, the Episcopal Church, the Moravian Church, and the United Methodist Church.

5. Local Lutheran congregations are part of a regional or national organization called a synod. (It’s not always possible to tell from the name whether the synod is national or regional. A prime example is the Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod which is a national synod divided into districts (i.e., the Michigan district). Synods unite the work of congregations within their areas, serve as regional support, and guide the hiring of pastoral and other staff candidates.📷

6. The historic doctrinal standard of Lutheranism is the Book of Concord. First published in 1580, the book contains 10 creedal documents recognized as authoritative for Lutherans: the Apostles’ Creed, the Nicene Creed, the Athanasian Creed, the Small Catechism of Martin Luther, the Large Catechism of Martin Luther, the Augsburg Confession, the Apology of the Augsburg Confession, the Smalcald Articles of Martin Luther, the Treatise on the Power and Primacy of the Pope, and the Formula of Concord.

7. The primary confession of Lutheranism is the Augsburg Confession. In 1530, the Lutherans were required to present their confession of faith before the Holy Roman emperor in Augsburg, Germany. Philip Melanchthon wrote the Augsburg Confession, which was read before the imperial court on June 30, 1530. Since the 16th century the Augsburg Confession has been considered by most within the tradition to be the basic definition of what it means to be a Lutheran.

8. Lutherans believe there are two sacraments (defined by Lutherans as “rites, which have the command of God and to which the promise of grace has been added”), baptism and communion (i.e., the Lord’s Supper). Lutherans teach that baptism “is necessary to salvation, and that through baptism is offered the grace of God, and that children are to be baptized who, being offered to God through baptism are received into God’s grace.”

On communion, they teach that, “the body and blood of Christ are truly present, and are distributed to those who eat the Supper of the Lord.” (They reject, however, the Catholic doctrine of transubstantiation: “As regards transubstantiation, we care nothing about the sophistical subtlety by which they teach that bread and wine leave or lose their own natural substance, and that there remain only the appearance and color of bread, and not true bread. For it is in perfect agreement with Holy Scriptures that there is, and remains, bread, as Paul himself calls it, 1 Co 10: 6: The bread which we break.”)

9. Although there are difference related to issues such as predestination and Christology, the Lutheran’s distinctive view of the sacraments is the primary doctrinal divide with those of the Reformed tradition.

For example, Calvin believed that Christ is spiritually present in the Lord’s Supper, while Luther taught, “It is the true body and blood of our Lord Jesus Christ, under the bread and wine.”

The Reformed tradition also rejects Lutheran teaching on baptismal regeneration. (i.e., that baptism is necessary to salvation). Luther taught, “Baptism is not simply common water, but it is the water comprehended in God’s command, and connected with God’s Word. . . . It worketh forgiveness of sins, delivers from death and the devil, and gives everlasting salvation to all who believe, as the Word and promise of God declare”).

Key Documents

The Book of concord