The monk Martin Luther just wanted to discuss the problems he saw in the Catholic Church. But what happened in Wittenberg on October 31, would forever change Germany, Europe, and the rest of the Christian world.
To understand the tremor that Luther unleashed with his 95 theses, we have to go back to the era he lived in. In the late Middle Ages and beginning of the modern era, the Christian faith was dominated by the Roman-Catholic Church. The Church's dogma and rules dictated people's lives, and God was seen as a judgmental figure who never let a mistake go unpunished. Events that couldn't be explained - like personal tragedies, bad harvests or even wars - were viewed as the consequences of a pact with the devil.
Those thought to have entered into such deals were usually burned at the stake. Martin Luther was born in Eisleben in as the son of a miner. In , he began his studies at the University of Erfurt. Four years later, he completed his Masters degree and then began studying law.
Then something life-changing happened to Luther. In July , he was caught in a big storm and was struck by lightening. Faced with the prospect of death, he feared having to face God unprepared, so he called to Saint Anna, the patron saint of miners, and pledged to become a monk.
Less than a fortnight later, Luther knocked on the door of the Augustinian cloister in Erfurt and asked to be accepted into the order. Driven by his search for a merciful God and fear of missing out on life after death, Luther saw an opportunity to experience a fulfilled life inside the walls of the monastery.
From the beginning, the young monk was conspicuously obedient. He prayed for six hours a day and fasted; he practiced self-reflection, mortification and confession. Later, Luther would say about his life in the cloister, "If ever anyone has ever managed to get into heaven by being a monk, I wanted to do that too. Less than two years after entering the monastery, Luther became a priest in Theological teaching was at the center of his studies, which he threw himself into with zeal.
In , Luther was sent to Rome on business by his Augustine order. The trip would prove pivotal. The Curia was struggling financially due to the expensive construction of St. Peter's Basilica.
To raise money, the church leaders introduced the selling of indulgences. The congregation was told they could attain the forgiveness of sins by committing good deeds - or paying the Church. Prices were set according to income, and even those who'd already died could allegedly be rescued from the fires of hell if their relatives coughed up a few coins.
It wouldn't be until much later that Luther would take a critical view on the practice he had witnessed. Lutherans and Anglicans have a common history , liturgical life, and theology, more than, say we Anglicans have in common with Presbyterians or even Methodists. It is possible for a Lutheran pastor to be appointed to an Episcopal Church position and vice versa. The Reformation created different understandings about the priesthood and the ministry of all the baptized, and these differences remain acute and challenging.
Even though I studied the Reformation a long time ago, Luther has remained an enigmatic figure to me. The invitation to the Morgan Library exhibit and sharing these sacred German sites associated with Luther at St. The definition of this revolution is described here:. The Protestant Reformation was the 16th-century religious, political, intellectual and cultural upheaval that splintered Catholic Europe, setting in place the structures and beliefs that would define the continent in the modern era.
So by January , it looked as if my formal Christian Education opportunity for this year, should focus on Luther and the Reformation. It is difficult for anyone in our modern society to understand the power of a papacy that could effectively condemn someone to death. There are many theories as to why this perfect storm—the Reformation— happened when it did. Why was Luther saved by one of the German princes? Such economic and theological divisions eventually fractured the entire Holy Roman Empire, resulting in a redefinition of the relationship between church and state civil society.
Luther was in effect redefining the role of the state in the process of defending a fairly orthodox form of Christianity. He did not tolerate the theologically unsound practice by the Anabaptists of replacing infant baptism with adult baptism, but he felt the state should banish rather than execute them. Yet his attempts at finding a via media , signifying moderation in all things, had a large impact on the Reformation in other parts of Europe, especially in England.
Henry had no scruples about using the sword to protect his own interests; nationalizing the church and its assets in England served his own imperial agenda, expanding his army and colonial interests in the New World and in Ireland.
Was he suffering from PTSD? I set out to understand more about Luther the man, the physical places he touched and how they shaped him, and the revolution he started. Were there any lessons to be learned for the 21 st century as we go through our own revolutionary times? I was delighted to discover that others were asking similar questions. Our friends at Union Theological Seminary in New York City convened a two-day conference last April on Bonhoeffer and Luther , specifically the positive impact of their lives on ours.
I had just had an opportunity to see how these divisions have impacted Germany over the last 70 years. So, I discovered this major educational component to the th anniversary of the Reformation as much for contemporary Germans as for the global faith community. Germans are celebrating this anniversary as some Americans are seriously reconsidering constitutional separation of church and state as well as the role of the state in defending the Christian faith, so the 15 th and 16 th centuries have much to teach us.
In May , President Trump signed an Executive Order on Religious Freedom that appears to remove the wall between Church and state and allowing political endorsement of candidates and policies than before. How does a Muslim travel ban impact the privileges of Christians who appear to benefit from the proposed ban?
As the world becomes more connected, the forces that divide and cause fear among races,. Has Luther anything to say to us that might give some hope or encouragement? Or do we need a renewed reformation that spins us into the next human orbit of history without making the mistakes of the past?
I arrived in Wittenberg on a Monday morning. Having had little sleep on the flight to Berlin and then a brief minute train ride, I left my bags at my Airbnb residence, owned by a musical-instruments maker named Jorge Dahm. Twenty years ago, following the fall of the Berlin Wall, he moved to East Germany and invested in this community.
When I arrived no one was present to give me a key, so I left my suitcase hidden in the bicycle shed and stopped in at a nearby restaurant, where I pointed to a picture of eggs and sausages to order my breakfast. The bar was smoke-filled, as locals chatted over morning coffee.
The smoke clung to my jacket all day, reminding me I was no longer in the USA! As I walked around for some fresh air, waiting for my host to show up, it was amazing to think these wonderfully wide, elegant streets—deserted that Monday—had been patrolled by the Red Guard until What I saw instead was a sleepy, provincial town coming to the end of a multi-year project to spruce itself up for the millions of people who would want to do what I was doing.
How had this little place, with its two main streets lined quaint churches and houses, taken on the most powerful institution in the world, the Church, and survived? I saw everything from sushi bars to foot massage services with fish tanks where you could put your feet for…fish therapy?
In front of the grand town hall in Market Square stood the famous statue of Luther and his ally and friend, the younger Philip Melanchthon. Both men were in their early twenties when they were hired to teach Biblical Studies at the brand-new university of Wittenburg.
The Elector of Saxony had been inspired by royal universities established by rival German princes. Melanchthon was a genius in classical languages, while Luther, at the time an Augustinian monk, had just completed his doctoral studies in nearby Erfurt. Both men remained committed to academic studies and the mentoring of young people throughout their time in Wittenberg.
I visited the building, the Leuocorea, where they taught; it is still a branch of the larger regional university at Halle. In Wartburg, he translated the Bible into German. Martin Luther is born into a world dominated by the Catholic Church. For the keenly spiritual Luther, the Church's promise of salvation is irresistible. Caught in a thunderstorm and terrified by the possibility of imminent death, he vows to become a monk. But after entering the monastery, Luther becomes increasingly doubtful that the Church can actually offer him salvation.
His views crystallize further when he travels to Rome and finds the capital of Catholicism swam The Catholic Church uses all of its might to try to silence Luther, including accusations of heresy and excommunication.
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