O
ctober 31, 2017 will mark the 500th anniversary of
what is considered the beginning of the Protestant
Reformation. On that date Martin Luther nailed
95 theses for debate concerning the issue of indulgences
onto the door of the Castle Church in Wittenberg,
Germany. The printing and distribution of these theses
created a firestorm which led to the reformation of the
church, not only in external corruption, but in the heart
and core of the Gospel: the biblical truth that we are
justified (declared righteous) before God not on the basis
of our good works but by faith in the God who declares
us righteous because of Christ.
Early Life
Martin Luther
Father of the
Reformation
by Edward G. Kettner
6
THE CANADIAN LUTHERAN September/October 2015
Martin Luther was born November 10, 1483 in Eisleben,
the second son of Hans and Margaretta Luder. He was
baptized the next day, the feast day of St. Martin of Tours,
after whom he was named. In 1484 the family moved to
Mansfield. His father, who began in poverty, soon purchased
two smelting furnaces, and provided a good living for his
family, and even became a councilman (“burgher”), hoping
to provide a good education for his children.
Martin’s education began in Mansfeld, where he
began to learn Latin, along with the Ten Commandments,
Lord’s Prayer, hymns, and prayers. Because his father
had professional hopes for him, he was sent in 1497
at the age of fourteen to the Franciscan school at
Magdeburg. After a year there he was sent to school
in Eisenach where he had relatives. However, he got
no financial support from his relatives, either because
they would not, or simply could not, support him. By
God’s grace, he was taken in by Ursula Cotta, wife of
Conrad Cotta, who provided a place for him to stay. Freed
from want, his life as a scholar blossomed, as he grew
in knowledge of science, literature, and the fine arts,
singing, and playing both the lute and flute.
From Eisenach he went to university in Erfurt in
1501. He had acquired a thirst for knowledge while at
Eisenach, and his father wanted him to study law. At
Erfurt he learned dialectics, a strongly disciplined style
of philosophy which prepared one for argument and
disputation. After two years at Erfurt, at the age of twenty,
he received the degree of Bachelor of Arts, and in 1505
received the Master of Arts. The discipline made him
realize how far short he fell of the true holiness that God
desired of him, and of all people.
Luther’s life changed through several brushes with
death: a serious illness brought about by exhaustion when
studying for his bachelor’s examination, and an injury
when the sword he was wearing cut a major artery in
his foot as he was heading home for a visit at Easter in
1503. He was also affected by the murder of a close friend,
Alexis, at university, which brought home the reality that
death could come at any time.
When he was heading back to Erfurt from home in
the summer of 1505, where he was already lecturing
at the university as part of his program of study of law,
thought Rome was a place of sanctity, but saw that it
he was thrown to the ground by a lightning bolt that
in fact was a place of corruption.
struck nearby. In terror he cried out, ‘St. Anne help
He finished his doctoral work in 1512 and began
me! I will become a monk!’ The terrors of conscience
to teach theology. He lectured first on the Psalms and
that this event aroused led him now to seek holiness
after that, on Romans. In these earliest lectures it
as much as he had previously sought knowledge. He
seems that he still did not fully grasp the Gospel, still
abandoned the life of the university and entered the
speaking of some kind of righteousness within us that
Augustinian cloister in Erfurt on August 17, 1505,
saves us. Yet Luther himself said that it was in the study
throwing himself with zeal into the ritual and routine,
of Romans 1 that he found release as he realized that
and doing so in order to save himself.
the righteousness which saved was a righteousness
After a brief apprenticeship doing the most menial of
apart from the Law—the righteousness that saves is
tasks and of begging, he was freed to return to studies,
the righteousness of Christ!
this time in theology. He spent time in the God’s Word,
The Ninety-Five Theses were precipitated by the
meditating upon it, desiring to learn perfectly God’s
indulgences controversy. Pope Leo X had decreed
will, studying Hebrew and Greek as well. However,
permission for the sale of plenary indulgences, which
his conscience tormented him whenever he missed the
granted the purchaser, or the person for whom they
prayers of the day because of his study, and he would
bought one, full remission of time in purgatory. Johann
strive to make them up. His
Tetzel was charged with
fears continued to mount.
the sale of them in the
We see in early Luther a
region. The purpose
combination of fierce piety
was to pay for Albrecht
created and driven by the
of Mainz’s bishoprics
Law, which at this point
( a rc h b i s h o p o f M a i n z
even his scholarship did not
and of Magdeburg, and
abate. Told to seek comfort
bishop of Halberstadt),
and righteousness by his
and to also support the
own works, he was driven
remodeling and expansion
even more into despair.
of St. Peter’s Basilica in
In the midst of his
Rome.
struggles he was befriended
The Ninety-Five Theses
by Johann Staupitz, Vicar
were presented simply as
General of his order, who
theses for debate as was the
had gone through similar
custom of the universities
struggles, and who preached
at that time. He nailed them
grace and faith to Luther.
to the door of the castle
Staupitz was a scholar, and
church, not as an act of
friend of Frederick the
protest, but because that is
Wise, who had made him
where such notices were
the founding director of the Martin Luther, c. 1520 (engraving by Lucas Cranach the Elder).
published. They were not
University of Wittenberg and
an attack on church or pope;
the first dean of the theological faculty. (The university was
in fact, he sincerely believed that if the pope knew what
founded in 1502). Though he did not yet fully comprehend
abuses were taking place that he would be appalled. (Sadly,
the Gospel, Luther had begun to believe God actually
he wasn’t.) In the end, we see here the work of a man who
provided forgiveness for him in the blood of Christ, and was
desired the moral reform of the church. The fullness of the
able to declare, “I believe in the forgiveness of sins.”
Gospel was not yet present, but he was getting there. The
Ordination came after two years in the monastery,
disputation never took place, but the theses were quickly
on May 2, 1507. He became a professor at Wittenberg
printed and spread throughout Germany and Europe.
at the end of 1508 teaching physics and dialectics.
Indeed, without the printing press, the Reformation would
He renewed his study of the languages and of the
have had great difficulty gaining ground.
Bible hoping that he would in the end be able to teach
As attention grew, Luther continued to prepare
theology. He received the Bachelor of Divinity in March
theses for debate which showed growth in understanding
1509. He also was called upon to preach, ultimately
what the Gospel was really about. The Heidelberg theses
serving as preacher for the city church, and later for
were prepared for a general chapter meeting of the
the castle church.
Augustinians in Germany, held at Heidelberg in April
Already he was becoming disillusioned with Rome.
of 1518. Here Luther laid out the theses for dispute
He had made a journey to Rome around 1511 to
that first addressed the concept of what it means to be
represent his order before the pope. He had previously
a “theologian of the cross”.
THE CANADIAN LUTHERAN September/October 2015
7
About a year later, the Leipzig debate with Johann
Eck—one-time friend of Luther—dealt with the question
of the church and papacy, as well as other issues raised by
Luther’s theology. In Luther’s rejection of the papacy, Eck
accused Luther of being a “Hussite,” a follower of Jan Hus,
the Bohemian reformer of the early 1400s. In the end, Luther
admitted privately, “We are all Hussites.” This was the key
revelation to Luther at these debates; he clearly now sought
the overthrow of the papacy and to declare Christ alone to
be the head of the Church. The principle stands, that popes
and councils can err.
While many of these disputations stand apart from
his lecturing duties at the university, Luther certainly
understood them to be a part of his call as a doctor of
the church. As a result of his rejection of the papacy as
the head of the church, Luther was excommunicated on
June 15, 1520. His response included his treatise “On the
Babylonian Captivity of the Church,” where Luther asserts
the importance of the sacraments as vehicles of God’s
unmerited favor to the individual, to be received by faith.
Through all of this, his desire was to ensure that God’s people
understood that they were saved through faith in Christ, not
through their own righteousness.
The Diet of Worms
Through all of this,
Luther’s desire was to
ensure that God’s people
understood that they were
saved through faith in
Christ, not through their
own righteousness.
8
THE CANADIAN LUTHERAN September/October 2015
Luther was called upon to present himself to the Imperial
Diet at Worms in 1521 to recant his teachings. Here he made
his famous stand, declaring that he would not recant his
teachings unless compelled to do so by the Scriptures and
by clear reason. The emperor’s edict afterwards condemned
the teachings of Luther and authorized his arrest after the
safe conduct he had been granted had expired. Following the
Diet, on his way back to Wittenberg, he was “kidnapped”
by servants of Frederick the Wise, and held in “exile” at
the Wartburg Castle, overlooking Eisenach. It was here, in
confinement for a little over a year, that he began to translate
the Bible into German. He desired that the people be enabled
to read the Word of God in their own language, and to do
so in a way that sounded as if it had originally been written
by a German.
Luther’s zeal for the pure Gospel led him into conflict
also with other reformers. Ulrich Zwingli from Zurich, and
later John Calvin of Geneva, rejected the idea that the Holy
Spirit works through means: the preached Word and the
visible words which are the sacraments. Particularly against
Zwingli, Luther repeatedly stated that in the Lord’s Supper
Christ gives His true body and blood for the forgiveness
of our sins, and that it is not merely a memorial meal. For
Luther, faith clings to the word of promise outside of us,
and is not focused primarily inwardly on our feelings. In
the Word, God is at work.
Luther’s focus on the Gospel extended to life in this
world. He was instrumental in freeing many young women
from the convents who had realized the impossibility of
keeping their vows, and worked with his colleagues to find
husbands for them. While not intending to get married
Martin Luther preaching, 1547 (altar piece by Lucas Cranach the Elder and Lucas Cranach the Younger).
himself, he in the end married former nun Katerina von Bora
on June 13, 1525. The union was blessed with six children.
One of the most sorrowful events in Luther’s life was the
death of his daughter Magdalena at the age of fourteen.
Christian Education
What with all of his duties as professor and doctor
of the church, Luther realized that the education of
the Christian (and of
pastors as well) was
absolutely necessary
if they were to believe
and to teach the faith.
To that end, in 1529
he took upon himself
to preach on the
central parts of the
faith and to prepare
two catechisms on
these parts: the Ten
Commandments,
the Apostles’ Creed,
t h e L o rd ’ s P raye r,
Baptism, Confession,
and the Lord’s Supper.
The Small Catechism
also included a “Table
of Duties” and some
basic prayers, to assist
one in living one’s life in vocation. It was meant to be
learned and memorized, and was made in chart form
to be hung on the walls of home, church, and school,
so that those words would be always before their eyes.
The Large Catechism gave more detailed explanations,
and could serve as a guide to parents and pastors as they
taught their children and households.
The 1530s saw Luther solidify his teachings of the
Gospel of free grace in Christ, and repeatedly affirm that
those words which he wrote were his solid confession of
faith from which he would never depart.
Luther constantly travelled, as a doctor of the church,
trying to heal divisions, both political and churchly. On
January 23, 1546, Luther left to work to settle a dispute
among the three counts of Mansfield. Meeting in the town
of Eisleben, where Luther had been born, he managed to
work with them to bring about some sort of agreement.
But in the end, the journey and the work were too
much for him, and he
died the morning of
February 18, 1546 in
Eisleben, having firmly
confessed his faith in
Christ and standing
firm on the doctrine
he had taught. In his
pocket was found a
scrap of paper with
the words, “We are
beggars, it is true.” His
body was buried near
the pulpit in the Castle
Church in Wittenberg.
Luther’s legacy lives
on in that we desire,
as he did, to retain
our connection to the
church of the ages
through the preaching
of the Gospel and the administration of the sacraments as
instituted by Christ. Though we do not deny the importance
of religious experience, like Luther we must recognize that
true experience is created by the message of the Gospel, not
merely be the cultivation of certain emotions. May God keep
us steadfast in His Word!
Luther’s legacy lives on in
that we desire, as he did, to
retain our connection to the
church of the ages through
the preaching of the Gospel
and the administration
of the sacraments as
instituted by Christ.
Rev. Dr. Edward G. Kettner is Professor Emeritus of Systematic
Theology at Concordia Lutheran Seminary (Edmonton).
THE CANADIAN LUTHERAN September/October 2015
9