Thomas Hunt

3.17.2003

Religion 195B

Luther and his Reformation

Keywords: Luther, Protestantism, Reformation, Catholicism, indulgences, Christianity, 95 Theses

I. Abstract

This paper is a summary of Martin Luther’s attempts at Reformation of the Christian Church in the 1500’s. It seeks to compare Luther’s beliefs with those that came before him as promoted by the Catholic Church. Luther opposed many of the beliefs of the Catholic Church, specifically the reliance on the Pope as authority, the ability of men to grant forgiveness, and the hierarchy that was required to reach God. By opposing these, Luther formed a system that was much more independent and allowed much more personal contact with God.

II. Scope and Purpose of the System

Luther’s system of belief, which ended up inspiring Protestantism as seen today, is based in general Christian thought, as written in the Bible, with God in the Trinity as the head. This system is intended to be an active part in everyday life and dominates a person’s spiritual being. It’s main goal is to bring people to belief in Christ, by which they will save their souls and spend eternity in heaven due to the forgiveness He grants. Any sector of society can join in this system; all that is required is a faith in God.

The area in which the Protestant faith really draws its uniqueness, however, is in its differences from the Catholic Church, which controlled the Christian faith in Europe up to the time of the Reformation. Luther ‘created’ his system of belief solely because of deficiencies he saw in the Catholic thought, such as the Pope being able to issue decrees that could determine forgiveness, Masses and Bibles being produced in Latin so they were unreachable to the common man, and the sale of indulgences.

III. Authority Structure

A

The source of knowledge for this system is, theoretically, the same as it is for all branches of Christianity. Ultimate wisdom, to Luther, comes straight from God. God is all-knowing and all-powerful, and knowledge that men possess is known only by the grace of God. This knowledge is recorded in the Bible, which is the literal Word of God and not to be doubted. Thus the wisdom of the Scripture is to be taken by faith and not to be doubted. Furthermore, to Luther, the Bible was the sole source of wisdom and knowledge regarding religion. In other words, there was no way for man to expand or grow this knowledge or to issue decrees or proclamations that carried the same weight as the Word of God. This idea was one of the essential differences from the Catholic Church, and one of the main causes behind Luther’s rebellion and attempt to reform the Church.

By this point in history, the Catholic Church’s hierarchy had grown almost overwhelming. “Its sheer physical presence surrounded life from birth to death…The church was in itself the grandest of the sacraments, a divine power animating the physical reality of the institution” (Marius 41). It was run by the Pope, who ruled almost as king over all of earth. The Pope’s powers had seemingly expanded continuously since the days of Peter, who is regarded as the first Pope. At this point, the Pope was issuing decrees that supposedly had the weight to determine whether or not men received salvation. Specifically, Luther was angered by the concept of dispensations. This practice, which perhaps had different purposes when it started, had grown to where the Pope issued forgiveness or reprieve for certain sins in return for favors, such as monetary payoffs or the service of knights in papal wars. Luther saw this as compromising the deity of God, by saying that the Pope, a mortal, could issue forgiveness that could only be found through the blood of Christ in his sacrifice on the cross. In his 95 Theses he wrote,

When our Lord and Master, Jesus Christ, says “Repent,” he means that all the life of the faithful man should be repentance.

The pope cannot forgive any sin; he can only make known and testify to God’s forgiveness.

The priests who, when someone is dying, issue penances for him to do in purgatory act stupidly and wickedly. (Marius 140)

Luther was very much bothered by this, and his belief system was founded on the view that man could not issue such forgiveness. These three theses do an excellent job of summarizing the key differences he held with the Catholic Church, and the emphasis he put on knowledge and forgiveness coming only from God.

B

Again, the ideas of the Catholic Church at the time must be understood to understand the reasons and basis of Luther’s beliefs. The Catholic Church held that the masses were not holy enough to personally relate to God. As already discussed, many times pardons were granted by those in power in exchange for money or favors. In addition, those who were not members of the clergy were not allowed to touch the elements of the Eucharist during communion. The Catholic Church held that the elements were actually transformed into the blood and body of Christ, and thus the impure laity was not good enough to touch them. Instead, the priests placed the bread in their mouths, and they were not allowed to drink the wine. Also, even when dispensations were not used, non-clergy had to go through the clergy to confess and obtain forgiveness for their sins.

These concepts point to the method of inquiry that Luther promoted. Rather than having most people having to access God through the clergy, he favored the concept of a personal relationship with God, who is the ultimate source of all wisdom. All people could talk to God through prayer and present their questions and requests to Him. Thus this was the highest source of all knowledge. Further knowledge could be acquired through study of the Bible, which was God’s Word. Knowledgeable men could help explain the Bible to others, but their words were to be taken merely as explanation and not a source of actual truth. This is interesting because Luther himself was a prolific author of religious texts, and his power and influence became magnificent because of these writings. As his fame grew, many people began to read what he said as the absolute truth, rather than attempts to help explain the truth of God. An additional complication was that up until this time, Bibles were printed in Latin. Thus, nearly everyone outside of the clergy could not actually read what the Bible said. This is why Luther made translating the Bible into German one of his first projects after his break with the Catholic Church.

This helped foster a very faith-based manner of confirming the truth and accepting proof. In fact, Marius states, “Throughout the work Luther made his central point that every good thing in the Christian life comes from faith” (230). Because the only source of true knowledge was God, and because every man could have a relationship with God, truth simply became whatever it seemed God wanted most. Nearly everything that was set forth as truth in the Bible or elsewhere was to be taken by faith, as God’s infinite wisdom was far beyond that of humans. To divine this truth from God, men could study the Bible, pray, meditate, or consult other works of religious importance, but in the end only by listening to what God said could truth be determined. This system is not very scientific in any manner really, nor did it claim to be. Rather, Luther saw this as above science. God was absolutely true and possessed absolute truth and thus did not need to be proved or determined by science. Faith, not science, was the key term of Luther’s faith.

C

A conundrum was raised by the goals of Luther’s revolution. After all, he was rebelling against the Church in large part because of the influence the selected ‘management’ had over the rest of the church in a world where all men were supposed to be equal and only God was superior. “Here is a seeming contradiction: Luther sought to overthrow the institutional hierarchy of the Catholic Church, with its priests, bishops, and the pope; et he created another hierarchy, that of the ministers confirmed by congregations in the right to preach the Word” (Marius 270). The professional structure of Luther’s church was very interesting because of this. One of the most important concepts of his system of belief is the idea of the laity as the church, both leaders and followers. The Catholic Church had become controlled by its hierarchy, with the Pope having extreme authority on top, the bishops running their dioceses with almost royal strength, the priests reading the masses in Latin and not letting the laity touch the elements of the Eucharist, and the masses having no say in the operation of the church. Luther’s church was specifically designed to counteract these ideas. To him, all of the laity were preachers, each having a say in running the church and spreading the word of the religion to the untaught. No one person had authority over the spiritual destination of another. Rather, each man was the navigator of his own spiritual faith.

However, Luther did acknowledge that having a purely egalitarian system would not be an efficient was to run a church. Thus, some people were appointed preachers or leaders in the church, in charge of spiritual knowledge and teaching. The Bible, after all, pointed out that each person has different gifts, some for preaching, some for evangelism, etc. Luther’s system took this belief at face value. Those that had a talent for spiritual knowledge were put in charge of study of the Bible to assist those who were not as knowledgeable in their spiritual learning, those that were administratively talented were put in charge of running the church, and those that were skilled at devotion were put in charge of rituals and prayers. Thus a system of governance evolved, with those that were skilled at such things given power to make decisions. However, the important concept of the equality of believers was and is a standard of the Protestant Church. Luther’s ideas that men could not provide pardons and that all men were equally able to talk to God were the basis of his system of thought and have carried through to this day.

IV. History

After the common beginnings shared by all Christian faiths, the start of Luther’s faith came with his idea that the Church needed reformation. His goal was to accomplish this, perhaps on the level of a prophet, but not as a deity. He merely spoke for many who had doubts about the Catholic Church. While Luther was not the sole dissenting voice against the Catholic Church during this millennium and a half, it was he that finally caused the walls to crack and dissention to grow into opposition. Luther was born in Germany on November 10, 1483. His father scraped together enough money for him to go to a university, where he got his degree and studied law for a little while till he was caught in a storm and made a vow to become a monk in 1505. He studied in his monastery in relative silence for many years, later saying that he was perhaps one of the best monks there.

The critical moment in the Reformation has become a legend throughout the world now. Supposedly Luther nailed his 95 Theses to the door of the church in Wittenberg, Germany on October 31, 1517, coming out into the open with his opposition to the practice of indulgences and the complete authority of the Pope. Recently it has been questioned and is now doubted that he actually nailed the Theses to the church door. However, without a doubt he sent a letter to his archbishop, Albrecht of Brandenburg, containing his 95 Theses. This was an extremely gutsy move for a monk, who really had no power in the hierarchy of the church. These Theses were almost immediately reproduced and spread throughout Germany and Europe, creating quite a stir in the religious community. The Church almost immediately began to strike back, sending emissaries to attempt to quiet Luther and threaten him with excommunication. Rather than quiet him, these attempts inspired Luther, who had intended his Theses merely to start an academic debate and perhaps get the clergy to make changes, to reach even further with his attacks. Luckily, the prince of his area of Germany, Frederick the Wise, was sympathetic to his cause and willing to protect him. For example, Rome requested a hearing to determine Luther’s fate, a hearing run on their terms, but, “From the beginning of the quarrel, Frederick the Wise insisted that his professor have a hearing on German soil by German authorities” (Marius 275).

Luther began writing with a passion, with each composition a religious treatise that attacked some aspect of the Catholic Church. Each time he wrote or spoke the fire of rebellion was fanned further. He held a debate in Leipzig with one of his main opponents, and, while many thought he lost, the fact that he was allowed to debate his views in public showed how much respect he was gaining. Luther very much benefited from the time he lived in. The people were very dissatisfied with both the Italian run Catholic Church and their rulers at home; and the rulers of Germany were upset by the power the Roman Church tried to exercise over Germany. Luther gained tremendous support from the commoners in Germany, which perhaps saved his life a few times. He translated the Bible into German, which was a monumental accomplishment and allowed many more Germans to become acquainted with the faith personally. Many of the princes of Germany were afraid to attack or harm Luther because of the fame and admiration he enjoyed from the masses, and that a popular revolt would start if they did.

Luther’s religion then began to carry because of these factors. He continued to spread his doctrine, and eventually others began to heed the call and spread the word on their own. These people did not agree with Luther all the time and almost from the beginning factions began to appear in Protestantism, which can be seen very clearly today. However, especially at that time, the most important fact was that they opposed the Catholic Church. There was enough opposition to the Catholic Church both among the masses and the learned that, once Luther lit the spark, the Reformation began to take a life of its own and spread. Many more men began to author critiques of the Catholic faith and convert commoners and princes. The Protestant faith continues today, arguably stronger than the Catholic Church, although the fierce rivalry and wars between the churches have died down into a state of peaceful coexistence.

V. Representative Examples of Argumentation

One of the key early examples of argumentation is the debate Luther held with Johann Eck at Leipzig in July of 1519. This debate was set up as an early attempt to settle the differences Luther had with the Church. However, it ended up being a fierce argument running over the course of a couple weeks about the differences between the Christian viewpoints. To begin, “Eck doggedly maintained the papal primacy by a learned appeal to tradition” (Marius 174). Luther countered by saying that, “The real monarchy in the church lay not with the bishop of Rome or any other Bishop; it lay with the consensus of all the church of the faithful. True doctrine was what the masses of Christians believed to be true doctrine” (Marius 173). The debate then moved on to the divine correctness of the Catholic Church. Eck believed that the decrees of the Pope were never wrong because they had been inspired by God. Luther, however, stated that, “Scripture could contradict the long-received traditions of the Catholic Church in major ways, and if such contradictions were manifest, the Catholic Church had erred” (Marius 179). These assertions were important for multiple reasons. First of all, they openly stated the irreconcilable differences between Luther and the Catholic Church. In this debate Luther had attacked nearly all of the basic tenets that supported the Catholic Church. There was no hope for negotiations or an agreement between the two parties. Furthermore, this debate illustrated the methods of inquiry that Luther proved. He based his arguments solely on basic readings and interpretations of scripture. Papal decrees and Church doctrine, to him, held no value.

VI. Comparative Scales

Traditional Authority (1) vs. Testimony of Experience (10): 7

In one sense, this should be a 1 because the authority of Christianity lies totally on the Bible. However, disregarding that, Luther’s Church relied a good deal on testimonies of the experience of the faith. He was fighting against an all encompassing authority structure and seeking to establish one that was not as dominant.

Centralization of Authority (1) vs. Individual Inquiry and Lay Authority (10): 10

This one is fairly straight forward. One of the main goals of the Reformation was to rid the Church of the extreme amounts of hierarchy and bureaucracy. The laity as ministers was extremely important to Luther.

Emphasis on Invisible Realities (1) vs. Material Earthly Ones (10): 3

While acts on Earth were important as far as showing one’s devotion to God, faith in the unseen was a keystone of Luther’s faith. Believers were expected to trust in God and take Him by faith, not by visual evidence.

Spiritual or Moral Objectives (1) vs. Pragmatic Aims (10): 3

There were some very pragmatic aims in the Reformation: end the sale of indulgences, reduce the authority of the Pope. However, the emphasis was on the spiritual side. Luther saw the Reformation as necessary because of the destruction of the spiritual relationship with God for the sake of worldly power and success.

Power in Divine Being (1) vs. Individuals (10): 2

While the Holy Spirit does live in all believers, it is there as a separate entity who is still God. Humans themselves are sinners, imperfect, and meaningless compared to God. It is only through the love of God that they can find meaning and salvation.

Secondary Sources

Eire, Carlos M. N. War Against the Idols. Cambridge. Cambridge University Press.

1986

This book outlines the attempt to stamp out idolatry in the Christian faith in Europe, around the time of Luther. The Reformation is dealt with because of its effect on the sainthood worship and other practices of the Catholic Church, but it is not the main focus.

Marius, Richard. Luther. Philadelphia. Lippincott. 1974.

This book is a biography of Luther. It deals with his childhood and other biographical issues with more depth than the following book. However, because the following book is by the same author, is more recent, and deals more with the Reformation, that is the book that is referred to when Marius is cited.

Marius, Richard. Martin Luther, the Christian Between God and Death. Cambridge.

Belknap Press of Harvard University Press. 1999.

An in depth book looking at Luther and his Reformation. Deals with how his personality and history influenced his actions.

Oberman, Heiko A. The Reformation: Roots and Ramifications. Edinburgh. T&T

Clark. 1994.

A series of essays mostly regarding Luther and the Reformation. Some are interesting, some are very theological in subject.

Scott, Dixon C. The Reformation in Germany. Malden, Mass. Blackwell Pub. 2002.

This book looks at the Reformation very politically. It examines how the situations in Germany at the time influenced or caused the Reformation, and how the Reformation changed life in Germany

The Reformation World, Edited by Andrew Pettegree. New York. Routledge. 2000.

This book is a compilation of articles about the Reformation and its setting. Discusses many interesting issues, such as the peasant life in the time and how other countries besides Germany were affected by the Reformation.

Tracy, James D. Europe’s Reformations 1450-1650. Lanham. Rouman and Littlefield.

1999.

This book takes the Reformation in a broader context, looking at it not specifically as the movement Luther led in Germany, but the movement that spread across Europe. Discusses the wars and politics surrounding it.