Recovering our memory: Martin Luther

Name: Martin Luther
When: 1483-1546
Where: Wittenberg, Germany

So what?

Much can be, and has been, written about Luther. So let this be a rough guide for the uninitiated. Martin Luther was a German monk, pastor, writer, theologian and lecturer at the University of Wittenberg. When Luther was a young man, there was only one church in Western Europe—the Roman Catholic Church—and Luther didn’t originally intend to leave it or split it apart. But what started as Luther’s indignation at the vulgar selling of indulgences (a kind of ticket to heaven) grew into a “reformed” theology that proved profoundly incompatible with Catholicism.

Luther did a lot of influential writing, speaking and preaching—and not all of it praiseworthy. But the key ideas that fuelled the Reformation can be bluntly summarised as follows:

1. Sola Scriptura: Luther believed that only Scripture was infallible. This was in contrast with the Roman Catholic Church, which taught that its own traditions and teaching were authoritative, and that Scripture could only be interpreted in light of them. Luther still had a high degree of respect for the historic writings of the early church fathers; but he was not prepared to give them blind or uncritical allegiance. Instead, he thought that tradition must be subject to Scripture, and not the other way round.
2. Justification is by faith alone: Thanks to his good friend Melanchthon’s expertise in Greek, Luther came to see that “justify” in the New Testament means to be declared righteous in God’s sight. The church taught that “justification” was being made morally righteous through our own good works (with or without the help of the Holy Spirit). Luther understood that when we are justified, Christ gives (imputes) his merit to us. We cannot earn our own merit through human works—we must receive Christ’s instead.
3. The nature of the church: The normal teaching of the day was that the “church” was the outward organisation of the papacy and clergy, who, by administering the sacraments (like mass, and baptism), granted God’s grace to the recipients. Looking to Scripture, Luther saw that the church was a body of believers who were in a direct relationship with Jesus Christ, who received grace through faith in the gospel (see point 2!). One did not need to be a member of the Roman Catholic Church to be a part of this true, spiritual church.

It’s probably the first two points that Luther is most admired for today. But, at the time, it was Luther’s denial of papal authority that got him into trouble with the established church. Most famously, in 1521 Luther appeared before the Diet of Worms (essentially a council meeting in Worms, Germany), which had the power to execute Luther. When the Diet demanded that he recant his writings, Luther refused, boldly exclaiming: “I am conquered by the Holy Scriptures I have quoted, and my conscience is captive to the Word of God. I cannot and will not withdraw anything”.

The areas in which our culture today clashes with the Bible are different; but Luther’s example is a great reminder that our consciences, too, should be “captive to”—informed by—the word of God, even when means staring death in the face.

Interesting fact: After the Diet of Worms, Luther went into hiding for almost a year at Wartburg castle. Luther masqueraded as a gentleman called “Sir George”, with a long beard and hair. In his disguise, he even enjoyed asking the locals whether Luther’s whereabouts had been discovered yet!

Good quote: “Christ is full of grace, life, and salvation. The soul is full of sins, death, and damnation. But let faith join them [together], and the sins, death, and damnation will belong to Christ, and the grace, life, and salvation will belong to the soul”.

Prayer of thanks: Dear Lord, Thank you for giving us your infallible word on which we can depend. Thank you for the wonderful truth that we are justified by faith alone; that you declare us right in your eyes based on what Jesus has done, not on our own pitiful efforts. Thank you that Luther was willing to die rather than deny this truth. Please help us to treasure it just as highly. Amen