When I was younger, I did not enjoy
reading history or biographies, but these days I find myself turning
to biographies quite frequently. Somehow fiction just doesn’t
compare with real life. I just finished the 2017 biography of Martin
Luther by Eric Metaxas, and I would highly recommend it. I learned a
lot that I hadn’t read before or had long since forgotten. (Dr.
Rosell may decide to revoke my grades in his church history classes
at GCTS.)
I knew that Scripture knowledge was
lacking among the laity because they didn’t have the Bible in their
own language, but I didn’t realize that the clergy weren’t much
better. Metaxas writes:
“It was a plain fact that no one was really entrusted with reading the Bible itself, so that monks and even priests and theologians were typically kept at one or more removes from it... In contrast with his frenetic and passionate Bible reading, Luther said that the other monks did not read their Bibles very much or at all... Strangely enough, once a novice actualy became a monk, he was no longer allowed to keep his Bible. At that point, he must limit himself to only reading scholarly books” (52-53).
In his many debates, Luther’s
opponents seemed to be more concerned with upholding the authority of
the Pope than with seriously considering what Scripture had to say
about an issue.
“Duke George himself had a private conversation with Luther... he easily solved the thorny theological question of papal authority by gruffly declaring, ‘Whether by divine or by human right, the pope is still the pope!’” (171).
“For many in attendance [at Leipzig, Johannes] Eck’s quoting [Matthew 16:18-19] to prove his point was as though he had shouted ‘QED,’ and raised his hands in triumph. Eck then said that to deny this most basic of doctrines was to side with the Bohemian heretic Jan Hus, who a century earlier was condemned at the Council of Constance and burned at the stake” (174).
In addition, I hadn’t realized the
extent of papal power over secular authorities. There is a reason it
was called the Holy Roman Empire. Luther wrote:
“In name the empire belong to us, but in reality to the pope... We Germans are given a clear German lesson. Just as we thought we had achieved independence, we became the slaves of the craziest of tyrants; we have the name, title, and coat of arms of the empire, but the pope has the wealth, power, the courts, and the laws. Thus the pope devours the fruit and we play with the peels” (186).
In the modern Western world, it’s
hard to imagine the a world without national and personal
independence. We value our freedom of religion and freedom of
expression, but this a bit of a historical anomaly. Most nations and
most time periods have simply not had the freedoms we enjoy.
“Many historians have put Luther forward as the first to put ‘individual conscience’ before the authority of the church and empire. But ironically, he was not at all asserting the freedom of the individual to do as he pleased. He was asserting the freedom of the individual to do as God pleased—if and when the church or state attempted to abrogate that freedom. Luther was asserting the modern idea of freedom of religion and freedom of conscience for the first time in history... Luther called upon every Christian to cease the petty obedience to church that was nothing when compared to the freedom and joy of actually obeying God” (221).
Martin Luther wasn’t perfect and
he got some things wrong, but I have to admire someone who took a
stand for what he believed Scripture taught even though it got him
condemned as a heretic by the official church and put him at risk of
being burned at the stake. Many today would rather be popular than
theologically correct. We can easily choose to let people hold onto
lies that will bring eternal condemnation rather than risk our
reputation before men.
We have benefitted from Luther’s
work: we have the Scriptures in our own language; we have a multitude
of churches to choose from; we can join in musical worship of many
different styles; we have the right to disagree with theologians, and
many other freedoms. So what will we do now?
“But you are a chosen race, a
royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for His own possession,
that you may proclaim the excellencies of Him who called you out of
darkness into His marvelous light” (1 Peter 2:9 ESV).
© 2018 Dawn Rutan. Unless otherwise
indicated all images are copyright free from pixabay.com.
