10: Luther & The Reformation in Germany (Needs more)

HUMANISM & THE RENAISSANCE

Many factors conspired together in history to bring about the Reformation when and how it happened. One of those was the rise of humanism that was perhaps most associated with Erasmus of Rotterdam.

The Reformation in Switzerland with Zwingli (who we’ll talk more about in a minute) took place approximately the same time as the events with Luther were transpiring in Germany. However, Zwingli wasn’t so much influenced by Luther as he came to similar conclusions independently of and in parallel with Luther. One of the reasons he did so was the practice of humanism.

What do you think of when you hear the word “humanism?”

The humanism that existed at the start of the Renaissance had nothing to do with what we call humanism today. Today humanism means to elevate man above God or to even claim that human beings are the highest measure of things discounting God altogether.

Just as a side note, one of the things we must avoid when “doing” history is anachronistic thinking. We’re anachronistic when we apply modern ideas, definitions, etc. to historical things uncritically. You see this a lot in the evaluation of people in history. We expect historical figures to conform to our modern sensibilities a lot of times or we’re willing to write off any good things they might have done if they’re not shining examples of 21st century tolerance and open mindedness. A good example is being willing to throw out the entire constitution because many of its authors owned slaves – as did most men of their social class in that day. While we would say slavery was just as wrong then as it is now – we’re not talking about making right and wrong relative - we cannot expect people who lived then to have the same attitude towards it that we do.

And we can do that with words too. You always have to be sure you understand what a word meant at the time it was used.

In the early 16th century “humanism” simply meant having to do with the humanities and it signified not a philosophy so much as a method of study.The method was to return to the classical sources for learning. As you may recall, the fall of Constantinople caused many classical texts, especially in Greek, to be available to the western world for the first time. The goal of the Renaissance humanists was, rather than to read ABOUT the classical world to read the source documents in the original languages.

In France this was particularly applied to the legal system. During the reign of Francis I, he set out to reform the laws of France (John Calvin was trained as a lawyer in France during this time). The way they set out to do that was to return to the Roman law codes of antiquity and the way they set out to do that was to go back to the original sources in the original languages. In France, perhaps more so than any other place in Europe, the motto of the humanists was ad fontes – “to the fountain” or to the source.

What implication does that have for the church at the time and for theology?

If the goal is to return to the original sources in the original languages, scripture becomes the source of truth and not what the church says about scripture. It’s from this soil that the reformation grew.

MARTIN LUTHER – THE MAN

Martin Luther is one of the most important figures in all of western history.

Thomas Carlyle, Scottish writer in Victorian times said Luther’s stand at Worms was “the greatest moment in the modern history of man.”

Bruce Shelly in his book “Church History in Plain Language” says Luther “…ultimately transformed no only Christianity but all of Western civilization.”[i]

Luther was born into a middle class German family in 1483 in the region of Saxony. His father was a copper miner. Luther was an intelligent young man and was being groomed by his father to become a lawyer.

That all changed in 1505. Luther was caught in a terrible thunderstorm while on the road and feared for his life. In his panic he cried out to St. Anne, the patron saint of miners: “St. Anne, save me! And I’ll become a monk.” This may seem a bit extreme but in this era to be struck down suddenly by God, as by lightening, was seen as a judgment from God so Luther was afraid of being struck down and sent to Hell not just of the storm.

We’ll he was saved though probably not by St. Anne.

Being a man of his word and much to the chagrin of his parents Luther kept his promise to St. Anne and entered an Augustinian monastery in Erfurt.

It’s apparent that the Lord was at work in Luther’s life even at this time for he was a man deeply aware of his sin. The trouble was, he didn’t know what to do about it. Upon entering the monastery Luther, resolved to be the best monk possible:

“I kept the rule so strictly that I may say that if ever a monk got to heaven by his sheer monkery, it was I. If I had kept on any longer, I should have killed myself with vigils, prayers, reading and other work.”[ii]

Now, it should be said here that Luther was not necessarily trying to save himself as much keep himself on the road to salvation. As we’ll see in a minute, Roman Catholic doctrine taught that one could fall from a state of grace through having committed sin and would then have to do some kind of penance to be restored. So being acutely aware of his sin, Luther was doing penance of some kind constantly.

This was to no avail, however, for he continued to feel the burden of his sins no matter how hard he worked. Luther admitted that at times he actually hated God because he saw him as a cruel taskmaster who required that which could not be done – and of course Luther was right, not about God’s cruelty but that what God required man could not fulfill.

It might be helpful here to talk about the medieval Roman Catholic theology with which Luther was steeped:

BAPTISM (as an infant, usually) – Original sin washed away and state of grace entered -à SIN (our own) – state of grace damaged or even lost CONFESSION – must be to a priest or other church official to be valid. Must be true sorrow over your sin before God, not just “fire insurance.” -à PENANCE – acts of absolution given by the priest such as saying prayers, going on a pilgrimage, etc. that pay for the sin or sins in question. -à PURGATORY – where any remaining sin is paid for so that we can be completely justified.

Then one day in 1515 when studying the scriptures, Luther came upon Romans 1:17 where Paul talks about the essence of the gospel:

For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith for faith, as it is written, “The righteous shall live by faith.”

Luther said:

“Then I grasped that the justice of God is that righteousness by which through grace and sheer mercy God justifies us through faith. Thereupon I felt myself to be reborn and to have gone through open doors to paradise.” [iii]

Luther had discovered for himself justification by grace through faith in Christ alone. He was from that point forward a changed man.

It is incredible how many times in the history of the church God has moved men who he then uses to move the world through a simple passage of scripture. This is how Augustine was converted as well. Never underestimate the power of the Word of God. It is truly “living and active and sharper than any two-edged sword” – Hebrews 4:12

Indulgences

To understand the spark of the Reformation we need to delve a bit more into medieval Roman Catholic theology. If you remember what we said earlier about penance, it helps understand something called indulgences.

The doctrine of indulgences had passed through three stages before the time of Luther. Originally, an indulgence was simply the removal of a penalty (from a human perspective) to those who confessed their sins and were repentant. Around the twelfth or thirteenth century once penance had become a sacrament of the church, an indulgence became “a spiritual grace” something that actually secured the forgiveness of sin. Being truly repentant was still required as well. However, by Luther’s time basically the same system was present but repentance was no longer emphasized.[iv]It was if not said outright, implied, that simply by possessing the indulgence one was forgiven.

An indulgence was something that could release you from having to do penance in this life or even the next in purgatory. The doctrines of penance and indulgences and purgatory are inextricably linked. This, by the way, remains Roman Catholic teaching:

“Indulgence is the remission in whole or in part for the temporal punishment (time spent in Purgatory) due to sins.”[v]

Most people, of course, left this life with some sins to still be paid for, hence purgatory. Some however, saints, martyrs, etc. had enough to bypass purgatory and some even had more than they needed. The fancy theological word for this is “supererogation,” meaning doing more than is required. The works of supererogation performed by the saints or the martyrs form a treasury that the Church can draw from and apply to other sinners to exempt them from works of penance.

It was out of this excess, this “treasury of grace,” that the Pope could dispense grace to people who needed some - they could get some grace, he could get some cash. A win / win.

An indulgence could be earned by doing something like going on a pilgrimage or it could be purchased. Usually, however, when the pilgrimage was prescribed, it was with the understanding that the person would give some money to the shrine or church they were visiting.

For example, in 1491 Pope Innocent VIII had granted the inhabitants of Saxony (Luther’s home province) a dispensation from having to perform quarterly fasts for 20 years in exchange for payment of a certain amount towards the building of a bridge and a chapel.[vi]So this was nothing new. In fact, as I mentioned, it still goes on today. Pope Francis recently offered an indulgence to those who followed Catholic World Youth Day on Twitter and during WWI the pope offered a 500 day indulgence to anyone who devoutly kissed the Brown Scapular (a medal worn by some Catholics, symbol of the Carmelite Order).

What was new was Luther’s view of it in light of his conversion.

So, when Leo X needed to pay for the new St. Peter’s Basilica in Rome, it was to the sale of indulgences that he turned.

When the papal representative Johann Tetzel came to Germany selling indulgences for this purpose the scene was set that would spark the Reformation.

The 95 Theses

A common practice during the time was to post items for debate on the church door. So, on October 31, 1517, Luther posted his 95 Theses on the door of the Castle Church in Wittenberg. Among the issues listed was the issue of indulgences. Luther planned to have a discussion within the church and hoped to initiate change. However, as we know, that didn’t happen. Events continued to escalate until the point that Luther left (was kicked out) of the Roman Catholic Church and the first protestant denomination, Lutheranism, was born.

The climatic moment for Luther and some would say the Reformation was his speech at the Diet of Worms.

By June 1520, Pope Leo X had finally had enough of Luther. He issued a papal bull, which he titled “Arise O Lord,” condemning Luther and giving him two months to recant and return to orthodox Roman Catholic doctrine. However, Luther refused to do so. On January 1, 1521 Martin Luther was excommunicated from the Roman Catholic Church.

Luther was then summoned to appear before a meeting (diet) at Worms hosted by the Holy Roman Emperor Charles V. He did so in April 1521 and it was here he took his bold stand and declared that he would not recant unless it could be shown him in God’s Word that he was wrong.

(Show video)

MARTIN LUTHER – DOCTRINE

What were the main doctrinal issues of the Reformation?

Bruce Shelley says that Roman Catholicism and the Reformers were both asking the same questions. The Reformation came about because they answered those questions differently.

Per Shelley those questions were:

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?[vii]

(Chart)

Rome

The Reformers

By the grace of God and the work of Christ + the work of the sinner

By Grace alone, through faith alone in Christ alone (Sola Gratia, Sola Fide, Solus Christus)

With the Church

With the Scriptures (Sola Scriptura)

The Pope, Cardinals, Bishops, priests, monks, etc.

All believers, priesthood of the believer

Serving God as a member of the church (priest, monk, etc.)

Serving God in whatever calling He’s placed you (doctrine of vocation)*

*Luther supposedly said: “The Christian shoemaker does his duty not by putting little crosses on the shoes, but by making good shoes, because God is interested in good craftsmanship.” Making a good product and selling it at a fair price is as much a work of goodness to one’s fellow man as saying prayers in the monastery.

In addition, Luther eliminated all the church sacraments except baptism and Lord’s Supper, which he said were the only two that could be supported by scripture. He translated the liturgy of worship from Latin into German so the common people could understand it and allowed the laity to receive both wine and bread in communion (previously they only took the bread).

[i]Church History in Plain Language, Bruce L. Shelley, p. 245 [ii]Shelley, p. 238 [iii]Shelley, p. 239 [iv]Life of Luther, Barnas Sears, p. 203 [v]“The Brown Scapular”, Roman Catholic pamphlet on the Carmelite Order, 2003 [vi]Sears, p. 189 [vii]Shelley, p. 238