Luther Wins the Battle for Religious Freedom

Blog Post #3 Luther Wins His Battle for Human Freedom from the Authority of the Church: The Church is Split!

Notice that Luther relies on scripture and reason in guiding his thoughts. The use of reason is a hallmark of Renaissance thinking. When Luther gives his answer at the Diet of Worms (1521) he sets in motion a chain of events that leads to a break with the Catholic Church. He refuses to recant his teachings and sets himself squarely in opposition to the authority of the Pope and the Church.

Interestingly, as soon as Luther refuses to recant, many different groups rally around him for their own reasons and take sides in the dispute. Is Luther leading this revolt against Church authority or is he merely providing the intellectual context for a revolution that was inevitable as a result of changes taking place in Europe due to the Renaissance?

Luther is kidnapped and protected by Prince Frederick III to guard him against being killed by the forces of Charles V and the Pope. As Luther hides out, Germany explodes in violence. Nobles revolt against the Pope, peasants revolt against the nobles, all while Luther hides out in Frederick’s castle translating the Bible into German for the people of Germany. Catholic Churches are desecrated and sacked, monasteries are looted, priests are roughed up, the whole social order is upended. In the quest for freedom from the oppression of church authority, the people have taken Luther’s words and used them to justify a revolution against the strictures of society.

Luther feels responsible for the massive bloodshed that is unleashed by his response at the Diet of Worms. His words are used as the justification for the slaughter. Ultimately Luther won, as the princes of Germany were allowed to choose who they would follow, the Pope or Luther. The Augsberg Confession of 1531 guaranteed that the split in the Church would not easily be healed and the Peace at Augsberg (1555) guaranteed that the split would be permanent.

Is Luther a revolutionary? Is he really interested in leading a revolution or is he a man of ideas, a thinker who simply provided the spark that ignited the fuel of injustice that was already present? How influential do you think he was in the course of world history? How essential is Luther to the struggle for human freedom against oppressive bureaucracies? Does he represent something more than the split in the Christian church? How important are the ideas of Luther to the world today?

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?

The Rise of Martin Luther

Blog Post #1   The Rise of Martin Luther

Martin Luther was a devout man who was training to be a lawyer, but because of a promise he made during an electrical storm, changes course and becomes a priest. His father disapproves of his son’s choice, but Martin Luther is obeying what he considers a higher authority.  His first mass, in front of his family, is a disaster, as he is nervous and forgetful, spilling wine on the altar. He hears voices, is conflicted and is emotionally unstable, hardly a leader of men early on.  He is a man who is afraid, unsure and shaken in his religious faith.

What makes Martin Luther different is that he questions church doctrine in his quest to have a more spiritual, more perfect communion with God.  He wants to know God as an individual. This expression of individuality is a hallmark of the Renaissance and Luther’s expression of individuality in his observance of faith is perhaps the first break with the church that eventually leads to the Protestant Reformation.

The corruption of the church, the violations of celibacy by clergy, the sale of religious icons, indulgences , even the requirement that parishioners pay for the holy sacraments and the ignoring of church rules debase the church and compromise it’s moral authority. Luther himself starts to lose his faith in such an environment. His love of God and concern for the church motivates him to act to create change, to reform.  This was what he was asking for.

He came to the conclusion that faith is the source of salvation, not useless ritual, that faith is what uplifts man to God and that the love of the creator for his creation is what gives man eternal life.

Notice that in every case, Luther is hesitant to confront the authority of the church directly. He merely questions established church doctrine and practice, citing the Bible as his authority. Yet, his questions cause others to question as well and this leads to a direct challenge to church authority.

Is Martin Luther, at least at this stage, a radical? Is he a revolutionary? Is he a reformer? What kind of a man is Martin Luther and what is he asking for? Does he seem like the kind of man who could lead a revolution? Most importantly, do you agree with Luther’s criticisms of the Church and his conclusions about the nature of faith? How do you see the intellectual values of the Renaissance guiding Luther in his quest to understand his own faith and reform the church?