We will look at the most pivotal individual in bringing about the

Protestant Reformation

Session 2 – Martin Luther

In this session we will look at the beginning of the reformation period

We will see the positive and negative aspects of his theology and teachings

Luther grew up in a poor family, and was sent to

the university to become a Lawyer, after a while

there he became a Monk, and after being a Monk he started to question

certain doctrines of the Catholic church

Martin Luther born in Saxony, in 1483

On October 31st, 1517

Martin Luther nailed his 95 theses to the door of the Castle Church in

Wittenberg, Germany

“I dissent, I disagree, I protest”

The 95 theses are too long to read over here, but can be easily found online

if you are interested

The 95 theses are addressing the use of indulgences by the Roman Catholic Church

If you want to help a dead relative in purgatory make it to heaven, you need to have Masses said for that person. In order

to have that done, you pay them.

Indulgences were sold by the Catholic Church with the claim that they shorten

someone's time in purgatory

Example of these theses

1. When our Lord and Master, Jesus Christ, said "Repent", He called for the entire life of

believers to be one of repentance.

2. The word cannot be properly understood as referring to the sacrament of penance,

i.e. confession and satisfaction, as administered by the clergy.

35. It is not in accordance with Christian doctrines to preach and teach that those

who buy off souls, or purchase confessional licenses, have no need to

repent of their own sins.

42. Christians should be taught that the pope does not at all intend that the purchase of indulgences should be

understood as at all comparable with the works of mercy.

Although they were not written down in a systematic form at the time, the reformers

fought for what today is known as the five Solas:

Sola Scriptura (“Scripture alone”): The Bible alone is our highest authority.

Sola Fide (“faith alone”): We are saved through faith alone

in Jesus Christ.

Soli Deo Gloria (“to the glory of God alone”): We live for the glory of God alone.

Sola Gratia (“grace alone”): We are saved by the grace of God alone.

Solus Christus (“Christ alone”): Jesus Christ alone is our Lord,

Savior, and King.

These were the foundational beliefs

The sola that caused the most debate (now and still today) is the idea

of Sola Scriptura

The idea of Sola Scriptura undermined the office of Pope, and the infallibility of

the Catholic Church

Sola Scriptura espouses the idea that the Bible is the only infallible rule of faith that

we have been given

As we have said before, we are not going to be addressing the theological debates in

detail here (we have an entire class for that) but for now we just want you to know what

the issues were at the time

Martin Luther got married eventually to a lady named Catherine Von Bora, who he married just to spite the Pope (although

they had a good marriage)

Luther did many debates against both Catholics and Protestants on different topics

Against Catholics he would debate the issues we’ve been discussing

Against Protestants like Ulrich Zwingli (an important reformer) he would debate things like communion, which multiple

views had formed in regard to.

Luther was a very black and white individual, and was not very classy when dealing with people of opposing beliefs

(Protestants or Catholics)

“Your words are so foolishly and ignorantly composed that I cannot believe you

understand them.” M.L.

“I would not smell the foul odor of your name.” M.L.

“There you are, like butter in sunshine.” M.L.

One of the highlights in Luther’s life is when he was summoned to:

The diet of Worms Luther began his trip to Worms on April

2nd, 1521. The journey to the Imperial Diet did not embody the repentance the church

had hoped for.

The journey to Worms was more like a victory march; Luther was welcomed

enthusiastically in all of the towns he went through. He preached in Erfurt, Gotha and Eisenach. He arrived in Worms on April 16th

and was also cheered and welcomed by the people.

Luther's appearance at the Imperial Diet was described as objective, clever and

well thought out.

He had to appear before the Emperor twice; each time he was clearly told to

take back his teachings. Luther

didn't see any proof against his theses

or views which would move him to

recant:

"Unless I am convinced by Scripture and plain reason - I do not accept the

authority of the popes and councils, for they have contradicted each other - my

conscience is captive to the Word of God. I cannot and I will not recant anything for to go against conscience is neither right

nor safe. God help me. Amen."

After he left the negotiations room, he said "I am finished."

Luther was dismissed, and not arrested because he had a letter of safe conduct

(Schutzbrief) which guaranteed him 21 days of safe travel through the land. He headed

home on April 25th.

When Luther and the princes who supported him left Worms, the emperor

imposed an Imperial Act (Wormser Edikt): Luther is declared an outlaw (he may be killed by anyone without punishment)

On the trip home, Friedrich the

Wise allowed Luther to be kidnapped on May 4th. This took place on

the one hand to guarantee Luther's

safety and on the other hand to let him

disappear from the scene for a short while;

there were even rumors of Luther's death. This action also helped Friedrich not to

endanger himself because he could have been held liable for protecting an outlaw

and a heretic. Luther was taken to the secluded Wartburg and the Reformation had

time to stabilize and strengthen

While there Luther worked on translating the New Testament into the spoken

language of the German people

This is one of the big changes the reformation brought to the

people of Europe

Before, most individuals couldn’t read the Bible unless they knew Latin, most didn’t know what was being said in Mass, most didn’t even know the words to the songs they would sing (the reformation started

singing in the modern language).

The Bible came alive to people because of the translating work that was being done, people could read it for themselves and

see what it said

The translation of the Bible into the peoples language

was a pivotal part in the reformation

Luther began to get ill in his old age, and on Feb 18th, 1546, Luther passed away

Even though Luther was the one who started the reformation, it did

not end with him

Luther wrote many works during his lifetime that we still have available

for use today

Works of Luther

Table talk (by Martin Luther)

Many of Luther's books were ordered to be burned as a result of Luther's dissent.

Despite this fact, a copy of Martin Luther's Table Talk (then entitled Divine Discourses) was found preserved under the foundations of a German citizen's

home in 1626.

Table Talk contains a series of informal conversations Luther shared with his students and colleagues in his home.

The topics of these conversations range from religious doctrine and history to instructions regarding government,

church, and the academic university.

Luther is bold in how he presents his views in his writings

Luther's Small Catechism reviews the Ten Commandments, the Apostles' Creed, the

Lord's Prayer, the Sacrament of Holy Baptism, the Office of the Keys and Confession and the

Sacrament of the Eucharist.

Luther's Large Catechism consists of works written by Martin Luther and compiled

Christian canonical texts, published in April 1529. This book was addressed particularly to

clergymen to aid them in teaching their congregations.

Some of his books reveal a dark side to him (and much of the reformation)

On the Jews and their Lies (By Luther)

“It is not my purpose to quarrel with the Jews, nor to learn from them how they

interpret or understand Scripture; I know all of that very well already. Much less do I

propose to convert the Jews, for that is impossible.

…Those two excellent men, Lyra and Burgensis, together with others, truthfully described the Jews' vile interpretation ... If these blows do not help, it is reasonable to assume that our talking and explaining will

help even less ...”

While Luther may be right in some of what he says (the Jews wrongly interpret

scripture in many areas) there are some serious problems

“So we are even at fault in not avenging all this innocent blood of our Lord and of the

Christians which they shed for three hundred years after the destruction of

Jerusalem, and the blood of the children they have shed since then (which still shines forth from their eyes and their skin). We are at fault in not slaying them. Rather we allow

them to live freely in our midst despite an their murdering, cursing, blaspheming,

lying, and defaming”

Here is a long, but disturbing quote:

What shall we Christians do with this rejected and condemned people, the Jews?

Since they live among us, we dare not tolerate their conduct, now that we are

aware of their lying and reviling and blaspheming. If we do, we become sharers in

their lies, cursing and blasphemy. Thus we cannot extinguish the unquenchable fire of divine wrath, of which the prophets speak,

nor can we convert the Jews.

With prayer and the fear of God we must practice a sharp mercy to see whether we might save at least a few from the glowing

flames. We dare not avenge ourselves. Vengeance a thousand times worse than we

could wish them already has them by the throat. I shall give you my sincere advice:

First, to set fire to their synagogues or schools and to bury and cover with dirt

whatever will not burn, so that no man will ever again see a stone or cinder of them.

This is to be done in honor of our Lord and of Christendom, so that God might see that we are Christians, and do not condone or

knowingly tolerate such public lying, cursing, and blaspheming of his Son and of his Christians. For whatever we tolerated in

the past unknowingly and I myself was unaware of it will be pardoned by God. But if we, now that we are informed, were to protect and shield such a house for the

Jews, existing right before our very nose,…

in which they lie about, blaspheme, curse, vilify, and defame Christ and us (as was

heard above), it would be the same as if we were doing all this and even worse ourselves, as we very well know….

Second, I advise that their houses also be razed and destroyed. For they pursue in

them the same aims as in their synagogues. Instead they might be lodged under a roof

or in a barn, like the gypsies.”

The quotes go on and on about how he would advise dealing with the Jews

His idea is to take all their rights away and basically make them slaves (summarizing)

You need to be aware of this aspect of the reformation, and realize that just because

they said it, doesn’t mean we have to defend it. Luther was wrong about this.

While he did a lot of good for what would develop into modern day Christianity, he had some bad theology, and was still very catholic in his mindset, and he was very

cruel towards the Jews

We will not end on that note though, we will look at a few more quotes

from Luther

“So when the devil throws your sins in your face and declares that you deserve death

and hell, tell him this: "I admit that I deserve death and hell, what of it? For I

know One who suffered and made satisfaction on my behalf. His name is Jesus Christ, Son of God, and where He is there I

shall be also!” ― Martin Luther

“We are saved by faith alone, but the faith that saves is never alone.” ― Martin Luther

“If you want to change the world, pick up your pen and write.” ― Martin Luther

What you write and leave to future generations will have a far greater

impact then just the things you can do in your lifetime

“I have so much to do that I shall spend the first three hours in prayer.”

― Martin Luther

“True humility does not know that it is humble. If it did, it would be proud from the

contemplation of so fine a virtue.” ― Martin Luther

“There never yet have been, nor are there now, too many good books.” -Martin Luther

“Let the wife make her husband glad to come home and let him make her sorry to

see him leave.” ― Martin Luther

Memory VersePsalm 18:2: “The LORD is my rock and my

fortress and my deliverer; My God, my strength, in whom I will trust; My shield and

the horn of my salvation, my stronghold.”

“This is my own beloved Psalm. Although the entire Psalter and all of Holy Scripture

are dear to me as my only comfort and source of life, I fell in love with this

psalm especially…

Therefore I call it my own. When emperors and kings, the wise and the

learned, and even the saints could not aid me, this psalm proved a friend and helped

me out of many great troubles. As a result, it is dearer to me than all the

wealth, honor, and power of the pope, the Turk, and the emperor. I would be most

unwilling to trade this psalm for all of it.”