Martin Luther

He was born in 1483, just nine years before Columbus discovered America. Plague or the &lquo;Black Death&rquo; periodically swept over Europe wiping out whole towns. Life expectancy was 40 and only half of all children lived to adulthood.

Europe was just emerging out of the &lquo;dark ages&rquo; and was experiencing a re-birth of learning and art, and the foundations of science as we know it were only now being laid. Johannes Gutenberg had just invented the moveable type printing press in Germany, and nation states with strong monarchs were emerging to assert their national interests and power.

The Western Catholic Church of Rome was the wealthiest and most powerful institution in Europe, and bishops were often secular rulers who controlled territories with standing armies. Contributions to the Church were levied as taxes and sins were punished as crimes.

According to traditional medieval piety Jesus Christ was typically portrayed as a stern judge threatening punishment for sin. The saints were said to have lived lives of &lquo;extra&rquo; merit, which could be applied to sinners in this life and even to those in a state after death called &lquo;purgatory,&rquo; a place were believers were &lquo;purged&rquo; of their sin in preparation for heaven. The system of sacraments administered by the priests covered everything from the cradle to the grave. Through this system the Church controlled what marriages were legal, which births were legitimate, and what wills were valid. The Mass was seen as a vehicle to offer Christ as a sacrifice for sin, and wealthy patrons left huge sums in land and money to perpetuate prayers to pave their way to heaven.

The monastic system of poverty, chastity and obedience was held up as superior to the common Christian life, though monasteries were often fabulously wealthy and morally lax. Relics, items connected with the life of our Lord or the saints, were said to have miraculous properties and were venerated by the faithful to shorten their time in purgatory.

Out of concern for his own salvation, Luther submerged himself whole heartedly in this system of ecclesiastical works and merit. He joined a strict monastery and scrupulously kept the rule. Again and again he confessed his sins, but found no peace. He was ordained a priest and was assigned to teach Scripture at the new university in Wittenberg, Germany. During his stay there he became preacher in the town church and pastor to the people.

To finance the building of the new St. Peter's, the Pope authorized in 1517 the sale of a special document called an indulgence, which would give the purchaser forgiveness of sins for the living or reduce the time the faithful departed spent in purgatory. An indulgence was granted in lieu of making a confession of sin and doing a &lquo;penance.&rquo; It was very popular because it gave to the faithful some assurance of salvation at a time when life was short and the terrors of hell very real. As a parish priest Luther was outraged! To protest the practice he nailed 95 theses or propositions for debate on the Castle Church door in Wittenberg on the eve of All Saints Day, 1517. Soon the printers published them for sale all over Germany and beyond. The challenge to the practice of indulgences struck a chord with the common people, who hungered for the assurance of forgiveness, but like Luther himself had found no peace. Luther called for still more reform and was himself excommunicated by the Pope in 1520.

It was the beginning of the Reformation, which spread all over Europe. The Mass was translated into the language of the people, who received both the bread and the cup in communion. Priests were permitted to marry, and the Bible was translated into the people's language for all to read. The centerpiece of the Lutheran movement was the assurance of salvation by grace through faith in Jesus Christ, and not by works, and the Scriptures became the sole authority for Christian faith and life. Luther died in 1546. After a terrible religious war which sought to stamp out his protesting movement, the Protestant Church became legal in 1555. Reluctantly, the movement to reform the Western Catholic Church was forced to become a Church itself. Today there are 350 million Protestant Christians throughout the world.