Transcript What Are We Protesting About?

What Are We
Protesting About?
Martin Luther
and the
Reformation
What are We Protesting About?:
Martin Luther and the Reformation
• 4/26/2009: The Medieval Church and the
Seeds of Reformation
• 5/3/2009: Martin Luther’s Problems with
the Church
• 5/10/2009: Luther’s Bible and the
Spread of Lutheranism
• 5/17/2009: Other Reformations and the
Counter-Reformation
The Medieval Church and the
Seeds of Reformation
• Two weeks ago…
– A.D. 743-756: Pope Zachary and Pope Stephen II
conspired with Pepin the Short, making Pepin King of
the Franks in exchange for the eliminating the threat
of the Lombards and creating the Papal States, a
kingdom ruled by the Popes.
– 1305-1378: The Avignon Papacy; 1378-1414: The
Western Schism. St. Peter’s Basilica fell into
disrepair.
– 1513: Giovanni di Lorenzo de’ Medici becomes Pope
Leo X, bankrupting the papacy and necessitating
increased fundraising, including indulgences.
Martin Luther’s Problems
with the Church
• Last week…
– 1505-1517: Martin Luther entered a monastery and
was later ordained a priest. He was obsessed with
his own sinfulness and couldn’t understand how God
could accept him.
– His reading of Romans 1:17 gave him an
understanding that our faith alone justifies us before
God.
– 1517-1520: Preached against sale of indulgences
(and other perceived problems with the Church)
which conflicted with this theology.
– 1521: Luther was excommunicated by the Pope and
declared a heretic by the Holy Roman Emperor at the
Diet of Worms, but was abducted on his way home…
Luther’s Bible and the
Spread of Lutheranism
Image: Wartburg Castle. Photograph by Robert Scarth, via Wikimedia commons.
• The masked horsemen who
abducted Martin Luther on
the way home from Worms
were pre-arranged by
Frederick III, who brought him
to Wartburg Castle for his
own safety.
• Luther grew a beard and
posed as a knight named
Junker Jörg, and remained
out of sight for 11 months.
• By far, Luther’s most
important work during this
time was his translation from
Greek to German of the
entire New Testament. This
was published in September
1522.
Luther’s Bible and the
Spread of Lutheranism
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The version of the Bible used by the Roman
church since the fifth century was known as the
Vulgate, which was compiled and translated by
St. Jerome.
Desiderius Erasmus, in 1512, had begun the
process of updating the Vulgate using some six
Greek manuscripts he had of the New
Testament (none dating from later than the 12th
century, and all but one of which were
mainstream Byzantine copies).
This book, the Textus Receptus, included what
Erasmus judged to be the best Greek version in
the left column, and his Latin translation in the
right. It was this Greek that Luther used to write
his German translation.
The Greek from the Textus Receptus was also
the version used to create the New Testament in
the King James Version.
Image: The final page of the Textus Receptus.
Via Wikimedia commons.
Luther’s Bible and the
Spread of Lutheranism
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Image: Luther’s room at Wartburg Castle, Photochrom print from the
Library of Congress, c. 1890-1905. Via Wikimedia Commons:
It’s hard to underestimate the
importance of the Luther Bible
(both the New and the Old
Testaments, which was eventually
translated and published in 1538).
The Church read all services in
Latin only, a language most
people no longer understood.
They relied on the Church to tell
them what the message of
scripture was, and what rules
people needed to follow in order to
receive salvation.
Now, suddenly, anyone who could
read could understand for
themselves what the Bible really
said.
Luther’s Bible and the
Spread of Lutheranism
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Luther’s Bible was notable also for
its contribution to the German
language.
The Holy Roman Empire was a
crazy patchwork of tiny duchies,
kingdoms, and nation-states, all of
which spoke wildly varying dialects
of German.
As Luther wrote his translation, he
would go out into local taverns and
public places just to listen to
everyday speech, to make sure his
translation could be clearly
understood.
As this translation spread throughout
the Empire, it had the side effect of
standardizing German speech to
Luther’s Saxon dialect, and
strengthening the Empire into
something almost approaching a
cohesive nation.
Image: First page of Luther’s Bible. Photo by Wikipedia user Torsten
Schleese, Lutherhaus Wittenberg, 1999. Via Wikimedia Commons.
Luther’s Bible and the
Spread of Lutheranism
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Image: Andreas Karlstadt, portrait by unknown artist c. 1541-1542.
Via Wikimedia Commons.
Luther was also in communication
with his supporters back home in
Wittenberg and was alarmed with
what was happening there.
Some of his fellow Augustinians
revolted against their prior,
vandalizing churches.
In December 1521, Andreas
Karlstadt, the former Chancellor of
the University of Wittenberg, led
mass in German, and offered both
bread and wine to the congregation.
In January 1522, a group of
Anabaptists from Zwickau arrived in
Wittenberg and tried to impress their
ideas of adult (believer’s) baptism
and radical reformation of the
church.
Luther’s Bible and the
Spread of Lutheranism
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Luther secretly traveled back to
Wittenberg, arriving home on 6 March.
“During my absence, Satan has entered
my sheepfold, and committed ravages I
cannot repair by writing, but only by my
personal presence and living word.”
Beginning the next Sunday and going
for eight days, Luther returned to the
pulpit of his old church and preached a
series of sermons now known as the
“Invocavit Sermons,” wherein he
exhorted his followers to keep the
Christian values of love, patience,
charity, and freedom firmly in mind and
to reject violence, allowing God’s word
to make the necessary changes.
This calmed things down and drove the
Zwickau Prophets away, but it did not
end their influence in other parts of the
Empire.
Image: Martin Luther, portrait by Lucas Cranach, 1529.
Via Wikimedia Commons.
Luther’s Bible and the
Spread of Lutheranism
Image: Herring Fishing in Scania. Woodcut by Olaus Magnus,
from the History of the Nordic People, published 1555.
Via Wikimedia Commons.
• Meanwhile, in a Cistercian
convent near Grimma, a group
of nuns had secretly been
reading Luther’s writings and
had become convinced of the
need for reform in the church.
However, they were cloistered
and unable to leave.
• One of the nuns, Katharina von
Bora, wrote to Luther to beg for
assistance. He contacted the
herring deliveryman and asked
him to smuggle Katharina and
several other nuns out of the
convent, which he did on
Easter Eve 1523.
Luther’s Bible and the
Spread of Lutheranism
• In 1524, the Zwickau Prophets
ignited the Peasant’s War in
the southern and western
portions of the Empire, a
popular revolt against the
feudal system and clergy.
• Thomas Müntzer, the leader of
the revolt, used several of
Luther’s writings to support the
cause.
• Luther deplored the violence
and urged the reformers to act
peacefully, but that movement
was beyond his control. The
rebels were soundly defeated
at Frankenhausen on May 15,
1525.
Thomas Müntzer, 18th Century engraving by Christoph van Sichem.
Via Wikimedia Commons.
Luther’s Bible and the
Spread of Lutheranism
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On June 13, 1525, Martin and
Katharina were married.
Luther later wrote, “Suddenly, and
while I was occupied with far
different thoughts, the Lord has
plunged me into marriage.”
Some former monks and priests,
including Andreas Karlstadt, had
already married, but this put the
official seal of approval on priestly
marriage in the budding Lutheran
movement.
The happy couple moved into a
former monastery, which was a
wedding gift from John Frederick,
the son of John, the new Elector
of Saxony.
Image: Katharina von Bora, portrait by Lucas Cranach, 1526.
Via Wikimedia Commons.
Luther’s Bible and the
Spread of Lutheranism
• Other notable writings:
– 1525: On the Bondage of the Will, a reply to Erasmus’s first attack on
Luther, On Free Will. Luther concluded that sin incapacitates humans,
and Satan prevents unredeemed persons from exercising free will, but
that when God redeems someone, that person’s will returns to them
only at that point.
• Erasmus and Luther continued to debate each other in their writings
until Erasmus died in 1536.
Image: The Bondage of the Will, screenshot from Amazon.com created on 5/11/2009.
Luther’s Bible and the
Spread of Lutheranism
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Other notable writings:
– 1526: German Mass, which laid out suggestions for how mass was to be sung
– 1528: Large and Small Catechisms. The Small Catechism laid out Luther’s
thoughts on the Ten Commandments, the Apostle’s Creed, the Lord’s Prayer and
the (3) sacraments. It is still used today in Lutheran churches in youth education
and confirmation. The Large Catechism covered the same topics but was aimed
at the clergy in order to aid them in teaching their congregations.
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Of all the works Luther penned, he later stated he was most proud of On the
Bondage of the Will and the two Catechisms.
Image: Luther’s Small Catechism, screenshot from Amazon.com created on 5/11/2009.
Luther’s Bible and the
Spread of Lutheranism
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Image: Huldrych Zwingli, portrait by Hans Aspur, c. 1531,
in the Winterthur Kunstmuseum. Via Wikimedia commons.
Luther was not the only reformist
active in the Empire at the time.
There was a Swiss movement led by
Huldrych Zwingli.
Less radical than the Anabaptists,
Zwingli and his followers seemed to
have many of the same problems
with the Catholic Church as Luther
did, and many of the same solutions
(new masses, clerical marriage).
In October 1529, Philip I, Landgrave
of Hesse, who had met Luther at the
Diet of Worms, held the Marburg
Colloquy, seeking to hammer out
differences between the theologies
of these emerging Protestant
Churches. Luther and Zwingli both
attended.
Luther’s Bible and the
Spread of Lutheranism
• Luther and Zwingli held
differing views of the Eucharist.
• Luther insisted that Christ is
truly present (“Real Presence”)
in the bread and wine, while
still denying the Roman
doctrine of Transubstantiation.
Zwingli and the other
theologians, however, believed
that there was only a symbolic
presence.
• On this point, they could not
agree, and so the two reform
movements remained
separate.
Image: Marburg Colloquy. Coloured woodcut, c. 1557.
Via Wikimedia Commons.
Luther’s Bible and the
Spread of Lutheranism
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Image: Diet of Augsburg, by Christian Beyer. Via Wikimedia Commons.
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Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor,
called a Diet at Augsburg in 1530
to deal with the religious unrest
within his Empire and the looming
Ottoman threat.
John, Elector of Saxony, asked
Luther and some of his fellow
leaders to prepare a statement of
their faith that he could present at
the Diet.
The Augsburg Confession was
largely written by Luther’s close
friend Philip Melanchthon. The
Confession consists of 21 Theses,
stating what Lutherans believe,
and 7 Antitheses, stating Catholic
doctrines in which Lutherans do
not believe.
Though Charles rejected the
Confession, it became the primary
statement of faith for the Lutheran
Church.
Luther’s Bible and the
Spread of Lutheranism
• In 1539, Philip I, Landgrave of
Hesse, decided he wished to
take a second wife, which he
felt was permissible as per his
reading of the Bible. He asked
Luther and other protestant
leaders for their approval, and
though he did not explicitly
approve of the bigamy, Luther
also did not tell Philip not to
marry.
• In 1540, Philip took his second
wife, but tried to keep it a
secret. Word did get out, and
it caused some lasting damage
to Luther’s reputation (and
health).
Image: Philip I, Landgrave of Hesse.
Etching by Matthäus Merian. Via Wikimedia commons.
Luther’s Bible and the
Spread of Lutheranism
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Image: Original cover page of On the Jews and their Lies.
Via Wikimedia Commons.
Luther’s writings on Judaism and
Islam are a source of some
controversy nowadays.
His polemics against Islam can
largely be explained when one
considers that he was speaking
more against the expanding
Ottoman Empire, which captured
Budapest and laid siege to Vienna
during his lifetime, threatening the
Holy Roman Empire itself.
However, the clear anti-Semitism
in, for example, On the Jews and
their Lies (1543) is another matter.
Luther advocated setting
synagogues on fire, expelling Jews
from the Empire, and stated that
“We are at fault for not slaying
them.” These thoughts were
widely quoted in the 1930s and
1940s in Germany.
Luther’s Bible and the
Spread of Lutheranism
• Luther’s health declined rapidly
as he reached his 60s. He
suffered from tinnitus, vertigo,
kidney stones, constipation,
arthritis, and angina. The
death of his 13-year-old
daughter in 1542, and the
constant struggles with Rome
and more radical reformers
took a great toll on his health.
• He preached his last sermon in
Eisleben, the town where he
was born, on 15 February
1546. He was there to
negotiate on behalf of his
siblings’ families regarding
some problems with his
father’s copper mine.
Image: Statue of Martin Luther outside St. Mary’s Church
in Berlin. Photo by Adam Carr, May 2006.
Via Wikimedia Commons.
Luther’s Bible and the
Spread of Lutheranism
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Image: Luther’s tombstone. Photo by Paul T. McCain, May 2006.
Via Wikimedia Commons.
On 17 February, having
successfully concluded
negotiations, he felt chest pains.
He prayed, “Into your hand I
commit my spirit; you have
redeemed me, O Lord, faithful
God” (Psalm 31:5). In the early
hours of the next morning, after
another bout of chest pain, his
companion Justus Jonas,
shouted, “Reverend father, are
you ready to die trusting in your
Lord Jesus Christ?” Luther
responded firmly, “Ja!” He died
shortly thereafter.
Luther is buried beneath the pulpit
of the Castle Church in
Wittenberg.
To be concluded…