Luther Refuses to Recant and Conflict Erupts

Blog Post #2 Luther Refuses to Recant and Conflict Erupts

When Johann Tetzel comes to Wittenburg, Martin Luther sees firsthand how he uses fear and intimidation coupled with church doctrine, to motivate ignorant peasants and townspeople to pay for indulgences that will raise vast amounts of money for the church. The sale of indulgences paid for the Basilica of St. Peter in Rome, an opulent palace of the church.

Luther believed that the church should serve man, not man serve the church. The sale of these worthless indulgences angered him because the church had no power to grant what only God can grant, which is forgiveness of sins. The corruption of the church bothered him to the point where he felt the need to speak out.

Luther said to his congregation that the Bible is the word of God and that it is through faith that mankind is saved from damnation. This is the central part of Luther’s teachings. Justification (salvation) through faith is how mankind is redeemed.

What is clear is that initially his criticism is muted. He is still respectful of the church and the pope, believing that the church needed to be reformed, cleansed of corruption, that the problem was in the miscreants who were debasing the faith with their bad behavior. He wanted originally to warn the pope of corruption staining the church. His call was for reform. Notice the way he follows the church protocol, shows respect for the cardinal and the pope. He wanted reform, not a complete break.

His refusal to recant puts him at odds with the Catholic Church and sets him up for persecution as a heretic (one who teaches doctrines at odds with accepted orthodoxy). His writings are banned, books are burned and he is considered an outcast. But it is clear that the people support Luther. The church cannot control what is becoming a wildfire of protest against its authority. The Christian church in Europe is breaking apart.

Why do you think Luther was so much more successful than the Pope at getting his message out and understood by the common people? How did the printing press help Luther and hurt the Pope? What was it about Luther’s message that people responded to so strongly? Was Luther a revolutionary or a reformer? And how important do you think Luther was to the outbreak of protest against the church? Was it something of his creation or did the times and the situation in hand create the explosion of anger at the church? Do you think it is possible that Luther was being used by other people to achieve independence from the authority of the church? What do you think?