Written for: Church History II
Date Written: 2/03/2009
Martin
Luther: God's Man at God's Time
Ryan Watters
God’s Bible School & College
Martin
Luther: God’s Man at God’s Time
Martin
Luther stands as perhaps one of the most colossal
figures in church history, if not world history. While
it would be naive to say that Luther single-handedly
began the Reformation, he is considered to be the
initiating spark that ignited the visible fires of the
reformation, a position that he most certainly
deserves.
Luther was born on November 10, 1483 in Eisleben,
Germany (Cairns, 1996, p. 281). He was born in
obscurity, far from the fame that would accompany him
later in life. Kittelson states it well when he says,
“When Martin Luther died, news was reported throughout
Latin Christendom. Soon the story was circulating in
Rome… By contrast, Luther’s birth was a matter of such
insignificance that he and his friends later debated
the exact year” (1986, p. 31). His home was a very poor
one in the beginning. But as time moved on, his father,
through hard work and careful planning, managed to
accumulate a modest amount of wealth, which allowed
Luther to receive an education when he came of age. He
was raised in a very strict and severe Christian home.
His mother was known at times to punish him so terribly
that blood would literally pour from him after the
whipping (Ritchie, 1996, p. 5). She also taught him
many false superstitions that were common in that era,
and these would later effect his personality, and haunt
him with terror as he sought salvation (Cairns, 1996,
p. 281).
He received his early education from various schools
before enrolling at the university in Erfurt in 1501
(Boehmer, 1946, p. 22). From here he received his
Bachelors and Masters degrees. He completed this
degrees as soon as the stipulations would allow,
graduating second in his class, indicating his unusual
level of intelligence. His training at Erfurt did much
to shape his thinking, and strengthened his ability to
‘think outside the box.’ For example, his professors
taught him that “the earth is not a disk but a sphere
and that the moon produces the tides. They told him,
too, that storms are generally, but not always, caused
by natural forces. He also learned that alchemy is a
very questionable science and that there is nothing in
astrology to boast of” (Boehmer, 1946, p. 26). To be
sure, this affected his ability to go against the
accepted norm of the Roman Catholic Church.
During a trip to another city in the year 1505, Luther
was caught in a thunderstorm, which terrified him.
During the experience he promised St. Anne that if she
would spare him, he would become a monk. He held true
to his promise, and joined the Augustinian order at
Erfurt the same year. This all occurred much to his
father’s chagrin, who wanted Luther to become a lawyer.
After completing his studies, he was ordained in the
year 1507, and celebrated his first mass (Cairns, 1996,
p. 282).
One event that began Luther down the path of breaking
with the Roman Church came when he visited Rome in
1510. As Bainton states, “Disillusionments of various
sorts set in at once.” He goes on, “The abysmal
ignorance, frivolity, and levity of the Italian priests
stupefied him. They could rattle through six or seven
masses while he was saying one” (Bainton, 1950, p. 49).
This experience would begin the process of
disillusionment with all that he had come to know as
the absolute truth of the Roman Church.
In 1511 he was transferred to Wittenberg, where he
received his doctor of theology degree and became a
professor of Bible (Cairns, 1996, p. 282). He began to
study the original languages, and began an intense
study of the New Testament. It was while studying the
book of Romans at Wittenberg that he discovered the
great truth and doctrine of justification by faith
alone, which ran in stark contrast to the Roman
Church’s teaching of justification by faith
and
works.
The actuating event that led Luther in his most overt
break with the church came as a result of Johann Tetzel
in 1517. Tetzel was, under the authority of the Pope,
selling indulgences in an attempt to earn money for the
building of St. Peter’s Cathedral in Rome. These
indulgences were supposed to make repentance
unnecessary for the buyer, and “gave complete
forgiveness of all sin” (Cairns, 1996, p. 282). This
infuriated Luther because of its blatant contradiction
of Scripture. It inspired him to write his Ninety-five
Theses, which he nailed to the door of his church on
November 31, 1517. This document quickly spread
throughout Europe (Cairns, 1996, p. 284).
Over the next few years, tension and strife continued
to grow, but Luther steadfastly continued to develop
his theology, and doctrines. As Kittelson states,
“Oddly enough, while around him all sorts of people
talked about the controversy he had started, Luther
calmly continued down the theological path that he had
begun to walk four years earlier. Ever more insistently
he argues that Christ and Christ alone was the sole
source of salvation and the only object of hope” (1986,
p. 109).
He was eventually denounced by Rome, and ordered to
appear at a trial in Augsburg. However, Luther would
not recant, and upon fear of being thrown into prison,
escaped the city. Then followed something of a truce
between Luther and Rome, which would eventually be
broken by the bitter disputations brought about by the
great Catholic theologian John Eck. As Ritchie states,
“From this time Eck became the reformer’s bitterest
enemy” (1996, p. 37). It would eventually be Eck who
would stand against Luther at the great Diet of Worms.
The Diet of Worms occurred in January of 1521. Even the
emperor, Charles V, was present at the diet. It was
here that the final thread was broken between Luther
and the Roman Church. With his immortal words, “Unless,
therefore, I am convinced by the testimony of Scripture
or by the clearest reasoning, unless I am persuaded by
means of the passages I have quoted, and unless they
thus render my conscience bound by the Word of God, I
cannot, and I will not retract, for it is unsafe for a
Christian to speak against his conscience. Here I
stand, I can do no other; may God help me! Amen!”
(Ritchie, 1996, pp. 43-47).
And with these words, the final push was made, and the
Reformation was born. While Luther was nearly entirely
alone in the courtroom that day, thousands across
Europe would eventually stand with him in defiance to
the Roman Catholic system. Out of this dissatisfaction
with the Roman Church came the Protestant movement.
We owe much to this great figure in human history.
While it is true that if Luther had failed, someone
else may have been raised to take his position, he is
without a doubt the man God chose for that crucial
period in history. To him we owe the great rediscovery
of salvation by grace through faith alone, and a
plethora of other key insights into Scripture that
still affect our theology to the present day. Luther is
truly an inspiration to the modern day Christian, and
may we all take our stand along side him in defense of
the sovereignty of God’s Holy Word.
Reference
Bainton,
Roland. (1950). Here I
stand.
Nashville, TN: Abingdon Press.
Boehmer, Heinrich. (1946). Martin
Luther: road to reformation.
Cleveland, OH: The World Publishing Company.
Cairns, Earle. (1996). Christianity
through the centuries. Grand
Rapids, MI: Zondervan.
Kittelson, James M. (1986). Luther:
the reformer.
Minneapolis, MN: Augsburg Publishing House.
Ritchie, John. (1996). Martin
Luther: hero of the reformation. Salem,
OH: Schmul Publishing Company.