Martin Luther and his Reform

Luther’s early Years and Educational

Background
• A. Martin Luther was born on November 10,
1483 in Eisleben, and raised under strict discipline
by a devoted Catholic family.
• B. Luther finished his B.A. in 1502 and M.A. in
1505. Although his father wished him to study law,
he decided to become a monk during a severe
thunderstorm experienced early in July of 1505.
• C. A few weeks later, Luther entered a monastery
of the Augustinian order at Erfurt, and in 1507 he
was ordained.
 Early Career of Teaching
• D. During the winter of 1508 Luther taught theology
at the newly found university in Wittenberg.
• E. Luther was sent to Rome in 1510 and 1511. There
he saw the corruption and luxury of the Roman Catholic
Church and came to realize the need to reform the
church.
• F. After returning from Rome, Luther became a
professor of Bible and received his doctoral degree in
theology. He lectured on the Psalms (1513-1515), on
Romans (1515-1517), and later on Galatians and
Hebrews.
 The Starting Point of Reformation
• G. On October 31, 1517 Luther posted the Ninety-five
Theses on the castle church door in Wittenberg. In them he
condemned the abuses of the indulgence system and called for
a debate on the matter.
• H. The main points of Luther’s theological system were (1)
sola fide (only faith--justification by faith), (2) sola scriptura
(only the Bible--the Scriptures are the only authority for sinful
people in seeking salvation), and (3) sola sacerdos (only the
priesthood of all believers). The other one (4) was sola gratia
(only grace).
• I. It was his study of the Bible that led him to trust in
Christ alone for his salvation.
 The Debate after the posting ep.1
• A. After the publication of the Ninety-five
Theses, there was a debate between Tetzel, who
was supported by the Dominican Order, and
Luther, who found support in the Augustinian
Order.
• B. In 1518, Luther was asked to debate his
views before the priests of the Augustinian Order,
but little came of the debate, except that Martin
Bucer (1491-1551) was there and accepted
Luther’s ideas.
 New Supporter Came
• C. In the same year, Philip Melanchthon
(1497-1560) came to Wittenberg as professor
of Greek. He became Luther’s key colleague
and supplemented Luther’s bold courage with
his gentle reasonableness, While Luther
became the great prophetic voice of the
Reformation, Melanchthon became one of its
key theologians.
 The Debate after the posting ep. 2
• D. Late In 1518, Luther was called to
appear before the imperial Diet of
Augsburg. But he was supported and
protected by Fredrick, the elector of
Saxony. At the Diet Luther was commanded
by Cardinal Cajetan to retract his view, but
he refused to do until he should become
convinced of his errors by Scripture. Luther
also denied the pope as the final authority in
faith and morals, and the usefulness of the
sacraments without faith.
 The Debate after the posting ep. 3
• E. In July 1519, Luther debated with
John Eck (1486-1543) at Leipzig.
• According to one account, Luther nailed
his Ninety-Five Theses to the door of All
Saints' Church in Wittenberg on 31
October 1517, sparking the Reformation.
The Latin inscription above informs the
reader that the original door was
destroyed by a fire, and that in 1857,
King Frederick William IV of Prussia
ordered the replacement be made.
Luther's theses were engraved into
today's bronze gate (pictured).
 Luther’s Work in 1520
• F. In 1520, Luther decided to publish three pamphlets
to carry the issues to the German people. Through these
pamphlets Luther tried to attack the hierarchy/authority,
sacraments, and theology of the Roman Church, and
appeal for national reform.
– 1. The Address to the German Nobility – It was aimed at the
nobles. Luther tried to demolish the Roman Church’s claim that
spiritual authority was superior to temporal authority and stated
that princes should reform the church when it is necessary. He
further claimed that all believers were spiritual priests of God
who could interpret Scripture and had the right to choose their
own minister.
 Luther’s Work in 1520
• 2. Babylonian Captivity – In this pamphlet
Luther strongly attacked the sacramental
system of Rome which claimed that the
sacraments were means of grace when
dispensed by the priesthood.
• 3. The Freedom of the Christian Man –
attacked the theology of the Roman Church by
its assertion of the priesthood of all believers.
 Excommunicated of Luther
• G. By June 1520, Leo X excommunicated
Luther, and his books were burned.
• Exsurge Domine (Latin: Arise O Lord) is a
papal bull issued on 15 June 1520 by Pope Leo
X.
 The Debate after the posting ep. 4
• H. In the spring of 1521, Luther went to the
Diet of Worm issued by Charles V (1500-
1558), and refused to recant his views unless
he could be convinced of error by “the
testimony of the Scripture” or reason. And he
said, “Here I stand. I can do no other. May
God help me.”
 “Patmos Time”
• I. On the way back to Wittenberg, Luther
was kidnapped by his friends and sent to the
Wartburg Castle, where he remained from May
1521 to March 1522. During this time he
translated the New Testament into German.
 Philip Melanchton
• A. In 1521, when Luther was in Wartburg
Castle, Melanchthon wrote the “Loci
Communies,” the first major theological
treatise of the Reformers of Wittenberg. In it
he argued that the law cannot help to save
because its main function is to reveal sin.
Rather God has initiated the work of salvation.
It made Melanchthon the theologian of the
Lutheran movement.
 Luther’s Bible
• B. During the year from May 1521 to
March 1522, Luther completed his German
translation of the New Testament. (The whole
Bible, including the Apocrypha, was translated
from the original languages into German by
1534). It should be noted that the German
translation not only gave the German people
the Bible in their language, but also set the
standard form of the German language.
 Luther and Anabaptist
• C. While Luther was at Wartburg, the Zwickau prophets
(Nicholas Storch and Markus Stübner) appeared at
Wittenberg, and preached some of the Anabaptists’ ideas
(that the kingdom of God would soon come, and that their
followers would have special revelation). Carlstadt was
influenced by them.
• D. Luther returned to Wittenberg in 1522. After eight fiery
sermons, in which he stressed the authority of the Bible and
the need for gradual change, he defeated the Zwickau
prophets. From then on, Luther was separated from the
radical wings of the Reformation (Carlstadt and Anabaptists).
And in 1535, he broke openly with the Anabaptists.
 Luther and Erasmus
• E. By 1525, Luther lost the support of the
humanists, such as Erasmus. Erasmus
disagreed with Luther’s view that would lead
to a break with Rome and that man’s will was
so bound that the initiative in salvation must
come from God. While Erasmus published The
Freedom of the Will in 1525, Luther denied
freedom of the will in his book The Bondage
of the Will in 1525.
 Luther and Peasant’s Revolt
• F. By 1525 the German peasants also
became hostile to Luther when he finally
opposed the Peasants’ Revolt.

16th century peasant rebels

 A Mighty Fortress Is Our God
• An early printing of Luther's hymn A Mighty
Fortress Is Our God (Ein' feste Burg ist unser
Gott)
 Luther’s Marriage
• G. Luther’s marriage to Katherine von Bora
(1499-1550) in 1525 caused many to oppose
him. However, he had much joy from his
family life with his wife and six children.

Katharina von Bora, Luther's wife, by Lucas Lutherhaus, Luther's residence in Wittenberg
Cranach the Elder, 1528
 Luther and Zwingli
• H. Another unfortunate situation was that Luther did
not agree with Zwingli on some points. Even though they
agreed with each other on many points, they disagreed on
how Christ was present in the elements of Communion.
Luther believed there is a real physical presence of Christ
in the Communion, though the substance of the bread
and wine did not change (consubstantiation), while
Zwingli considered Communion as a memorial of
Christ’s death. The problem was that while Zwingli was
willing to fellowship with the Lutherans, Luther was not
willing to fellowship with the followers of Zwingli.
Marburg Castle
Disagreement at Marburg Colloquy
• There was a disagreement between Luther and Zwingli in
Lord Supper. The meeting was held in October 1529. That
was the only point that they disagreed of 15 concepts.
• Sometime the confrontation was uneasy. Citing Jesus’
words “The flesh profiteth nothing” (John 6.63), Zwingli
said, “This passage breaks your neck.” “Don’t be too
proud,” Luther retorted, “German necks don’t break that
easily. This is Hesse, not Switzerland.” On his table Luther
wrote the words “Hoc est corpus meum” (“This is my
body”) in chalk, to continually indicate his firm stance.
 Two Diets at Speier
• I. At the second Diet at Speier in 1529, the
decision of the previous Diet in 1526 was
cancelled (that the ruler should choose the
religion of his state), and declared that the
Roman Catholic was the only true and legal faith.
Six princes, who followed Luther, representing
fourteen free cities, presented a Protestation.
From then on, the followers of Luther have been
called “Protestants” by their opponents.
 Diet of Augsburg
• J. At the Diet of Augsburg in 1530,
Melanchthon (with Luther’s approval)
presented the Augsburg Confession, which
later became the official creed of the Lutheran
church. There were 28 articles but the last
seven were showing how the Protestants
differed with Catholic.
Reading of the Augsburg Confession by
Emperor Charles V at the Diet of Augsburg,
1530
 Schmalkaldic League
• A. In 1531, the Protestant princes decided to
organize the Schmalkaldic League (the Protestant
League) in order to defend their faith by force of
arms if necessary.
• B. Through Luther’s order of ordination in 1535,
the Lutherans broke the ecclesiastical relationship
with the Roman Catholic.
John Frederick I
of Saxony by
Portrait of Philip I, Lucas Cranach
Landgrave of Hesse the Younger.
 Peace of Augsburg
• C. The war between Emperor Charles V and the
German princes (between 1546 and 1552) was
finally ended by the Peace of Augsburg (now
Bavaria, Germany0 in September 25, 1555. There
was some agreement between Roman Catholics
and the German Protestants:
(1) Lutheranism gained legal equality with Roman
Catholic in Germany; (2) Each prince can determine
the religion in his territory; (3) dissenters should be
allowed to emigrate; and (4) if a Catholic leader
becomes Protestant, he must give up his position.
 Peace of Augsburg
• D. The national Lutheran churches of
Germany and the Scandinavian countries (as
the territorial churches) were a result of the
processes described above.

The front page of the

document. Mainz, 1555.
 Book of Concord
• A. From the Peace of Augsburg (1555) until
the publication of the Book of Concord June
25, 1580 at Dresden, Germany the Lutheran
church struggled with internal doctrinal
controversy.
Title page from the 1580 German edition. At the
beginning of the book after the preface there are
three christian ancient creeds. They were Apostles’
Creed, Nicene Creed (with filioque),
and Athanasian Creed.
 Background of the Concord
• 1. Luther believed that law should be preached only to
show the need for the gospel, while others urged that only
the gospel should be preached because it was the gospel that
brought salvation.
• 2. George Major believed that good works were an
important part of salvation, even though one was saved by
faith. However, Luther and his followers argued that this was
a return to Roman doctrine of salvation by faith and works.
• 3. Debate over the Lord’s Supper and over whether or not
the human will is able to cooperate with the divine grace in
salvation broke out.
The Concord as an Intellectual Product
• C. The Formula of Concord was completed
by 1577 and published in 1580. Most
Lutherans agreed to it.
• D. However, these doctrinal discussions and
debates tended to ignore the subjective
spiritual aspects of Christianity. So the Pietistic
movement arose in the seventeenth century as
a reaction to this strong intellectual emphasis.
 The Death of Luther
• Luther died on February 18, 1546 at 2. 45 am
in Eisleben, the place where he was born.
• Since several years before he suffered with
various diseases.

Luther on his deathbed by The house where Luther's tombstone in the Castle Church
Lucas Cranach the Elder Luther died in Wittenberg (Beneath the pulpit
The other side of Luther: Bigamy of Philip I
of Hesse
• Like other noblemen, usually marriage happened
because of the political reason. To strengthen his
position he was married by the daughter of
Saxony ruler, Christina. Yet, he fell in love with
Margaret van der Saal. Christina agreed with this
decision but the problem was as a protestant it is
not allowed by the Scripture. Interestingly enough
Luther, Melanchton and Bucer agreed even the
last two theologians were as the witnesses of this
marriage.
The Other Side of Luther: Anti-Judaism
• In 1523 Luther attempted to convert the Jew
by writing his That Jesus Christ was Born a
Jew however this effort was having no
success. As the result he wrote On the Jews
and Their Lies in 1543 because they crucified
and rejected Jesus as Messiah as well as lied
about his resurrection.
• As the result, Hitler utilized his writings to
assault huge number of Jews in WWII.
 Luther’s system of beliefs—Sola Fide
• He made strenuous efforts to find a gracious God,
doing penance according to the dictates of scholastic
theology. Ultimately he became frustrated to the
point of despair. Through his understanding of
Rome 1:17, he realized that only faith and not works
that human being would be saved by the merit of
Jesus Christ. Luther considered justification by faith
“the summary of all Christian doctrine” and “the
article by which the church stands or falls.” In the
Smalkald Articles of 1537 he wrote: “Nothing in
this article can be given up or compromised, even if
heaven and earth and things temporal should be
 Luther’s system of beliefs—Sola Scriptura
• At the Diet of Worms in 1521, Martin Luther
declared his conscience captive to the Word of God.
For Luther, the church does not take priority over
the Bible; instead, the church is the creation of the
Bible. It is born in the womb of Scripture. Luther
held a high view of the inspiration of the Bible, but
what truly distinguished his exegesis was his ability
to make the text come alive. For him, Bible stories
were not distant historical acts but living current
events. Thus, for Luther, the Bible is no mere
depository of doctrine. In it, a living God confronts
 Luther’s system of beliefs—Sola Gratia
• For Luther, salvation was anchored in the eternal mysterious
purpose of God. Luther anticipated the human-centeredness
of later Protestant piety and guarded against it by insisting
that God’s grace comes from outside us. Faith is not a
human possibility, nor a dimension of the religious
personality; it is a radical and free gift of God. Luther saw
the human will enslaved by sin and Satan. We think we are
free, he contended, but we only reinforce our bondage by
indulging in sin. Grace releases us from this enslaving
illusion and leads us into “the glorious liberty of the
children of God.” God wants us to love him freely. But that
is only possible when we have been freed from captivity to
Luther’s system of beliefs—Sola Sacerdos
• Luther believed that every Christian is a priest
and eligible to come to the Lord directly
without any help of human being because
Jesus Christ is our high priest and becomes our
intercessor before the Father.
 Luther and his Soul Sleep
• Luther believed the immortality of the soul.
However, he believed a soul sleep which means
that the dead person knows nothing or he does not
aware of anything happens in this earth. The
argument that he suggested is that the Bible says
death as sleep. The one who sleep is not dead, he is
sleeping and not aware of anything but the person
is not dead. Thus, for Luther even though he
believed the soul sleep concept but it means that
the soul is still awake while the person in condition
of death.
 Conclusion
• Luther was a brilliant and brave man.
Nevertheless, the tension in political and
theological manner sometimes confused him. In
the case of Philip of Hesse, he attempted to keep
in balance between politic and the truth. The
same thing happened in the understanding of the
state of the dead, while he believed dualistic
concept, and he found that it contradicts with the
biblical view of soul, he preferred to philosophy
to answer this confusion.