Martin Luther
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Martin Luther (1483-1546), the monk who led the Reformation. |
A monk of Wittenberg in Germany. He was the son of a miner, " born poor and brought up poor - one of the poorest of men. He had to beg, as the school-children in those times did, singing for alms and bread from door to door." Then, when he grew up, he became an inmate of a monastery, which he was to render famous throughout the world. From 1508 he taught at the University of Wittenberg, latterly as professor of scripture (1512-46).
He turned his thoughts to questions of religion, and on several points differed from the Church of the time. He
began to preach the doctrine of justification by faith rather than by works; his attack on the sale of indulgences
with his 95 theses was followed by further attacks on papal authority, The main emphasis of Lutheranism is on religious
faith in God Lutheranism unequivocally affirmed the real presence of the body and blood of Christ " in, with,
and under " the bread and wine and emphasized that the reason for the Eucharist is the remission of sins that
through faith alone a believer can gain salvation and forgiveness. The Bible was acknowledged to be the sole guide
to the truth, and many of the doctrines and practices of the Church were denounced as without authority.
In particular the reformers denied the spiritual supremacy of the Pope and the central dogma of transubstantiation on which much of the priestly power depended. Martin Luther nailed a list of his arguments with the Church to the church door at Wittenberg .
Due to the utter spiritual and moral depravity of the Pope and his Cardinals by 1517 the reformation had broken out in Germany, the movement spread over northern Europe. This spirit of inquiry led to Bible study and a better understanding of the Greek, Latin and Hebrew texts.
In those days the Church had the power of visiting upon those who refused her teaching the punishment of death,
and by simply living in quiet Luther might have avoided all danger and trouble. But he felt that he must declare
what he believed to be the truth if the whole world were arrayed against him. The Pope issued a Bull of Excommunication,
threatening to burn Luther and his followers at the stake. Luther promptly burnt the Pope's decree before a crowd
of exited people of Wittenberg. Then the sturdy Monk was summoned to the Emperor's Diet ( assembly ) at Worms to
answer the charges of heresy. To quote Carlyle:
" The Diet of Worms,
Luther's appearance there on the 17th of April, 1521, may be considered as the greatest scene in Modern European
History. After multiplied negotiations, disputations, it had come to this. The young Emperor Charles the Fifth
with all the Princes of Germany are assembled there Luther is to appear and answer for himself whether he will
recant or not, The world's pomp and power sit there on this hand: on that, stands up one man, the poor miner Hans
Luther's son. Friends had reminded him of Huss, advised him not to go; he would not be advised. A large company
of friends rode out to meet him with still more earnest warnings; he answered, 'Were there as many devils in Worms
as there are roof-tiles I would on.
" I will call this
Luther a true great man; great in intellect, in courage, affection and integrity; one of our most lovable and precious
men. Great, not as a hewn obelisk; but as an Alpine mountain, - so simple, honest, spontaneous, not setting up
to be great at all; there for quite another purpose than being great."
Luther's courage gained for him the friendship and protection of certain German princes, who could not, however, prevent the monk being condemned as a heretic. But they organized a plan for his safety which would prevent him falling into the hands of his enemies. From the Diet of Worms Luther travelled in an open wagon through the Thuringian Forest. On the way he was seized by four knights, who, without causing him any harm, carried him off to a castle called the Wartburg, where he lived for more than a year. To disarm suspicion and prevent discovery, he dressed as a knight, wore a breastplate and helmet, allowed his beard to grow, and in this manner was completely disguised. He afterwards reappeared among his friends, and spent an active life in preaching, teaching, and writing.
At a meeting with Swiss theologians at Marburg in 1529 he opposed Zwingli ( Huldrych Zwingli emphasized the memorial aspect of the Eucharist ) and gave a defence of the doctrine of consubstantiation (the presence in the Eucharist of the real substances of the body and blood of Christ); the next year he gave his approval to Melanchthon's Augsburg Confession, which laid down the Lutheran position.
His translation of the Bible into High German (1522-34) which he accomplished with the help of several friends
contributed significantly to the spread of this form of the language and to the development of German literature
in the vernacular. Luther died in 1546, one year before the death of our King Henry VIII., who received the title
of Defender of the Faith from the Pope for writing a book against the teaching of Luther.
Luther was the most influential of all the Protestant reformers of the 16th century, and Lutheranism remains the most important ingredient of Protestantism today. However, there is no single, authorized form of Lutheran worship, and even Churches which call themselves Lutheran may have slightly different forms of service
