As a result his literature was banned, and it was
made a crime for anyone in Germany to give him
food or shelter. But on his return to Wittenberg,
his supporter, Frederick III, had him ‘taken captive’
by armed, masked horsemen who in reality were
taking him to Wartburg Castle for his own safety.
There he translated the New Testament into
German, and continued his writing. Later, with
the translation of the whole Bible into German
(in 1534), the Scriptures became ‘the foundation
against all the powers of hell’. Luther wrote
several hymns (possibly even ‘Away in a Manger’).
The hymns were sung to tunes of drinking songs
of his day. He married an ex-nun, Katharina von
Bora, and was known for the happy family life
they enjoyed.
Of course, Luther made his mistakes and had his
regrets. There are aspects of his life and example
from which all Christians would want to distance
themselves. Nevertheless, Luther was a kind man
who, for example, when all others rejected Tetzel,
visited him when he was dying.
WHY DOES IT MATTER?
500 years after Luther’s historic act it is easy to
think all this was a religious dispute in the Middle
Ages which has no relevance to us today. We have
become impatient with religious disputes. Yet the
issues are not far removed from our lives. The
questions, ‘How can a person be made right with
God?’ and ‘Can we know that after death we will
be received into heaven or lost from God in hell?’
are still big issues with which thinking people
grapple.
There are still major differences between the
teachings of the Bible and the Roman Catholic
Church. In fact the gap has widened since Luther’s
day as the Catholic Church has added doctrines
such as the Immaculate Conception of Mary
(in 1854), Papal infallibility (in 1870), and the
Assumption of Mary (in 1950). The Bible, though
translated into modern language, has remained
truth unchanged and unchanging.
initiative and come into the world to reconcile us
to Himself. God clothed Himself in humanity as
Jesus was born. Living a sinless life, He was going
towards the cross to die in our place, carrying on
Himself the sin of the world. Because of His great
love for us, the judgement which should be ours,
Jesus took.
The drama of the Bible goes further. The cross
is no longer carrying Jesus. He died and was
buried, but His tomb is empty. Jesus has risen and
ascended to be seated on the throne of heaven.
Jesus has done what no pope, priest or person
could ever do.
The finished work of Christ is available to all
who will turn from their own way and trust Him.
God’s grace – His infinite love – means we can
be declared just, or forgiven and brought into an
eternal relationship with God.
If you would like a free DVD on the
life of Jesus, or a copy of
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Religion teaches that by doing good and following
religious duties we can try to reach God. The
Bible teaches exactly the opposite. What we do
merely cuts us off from God, but He has taken
the initiative and come into the world to reach
and rescue us. Religion based on our efforts is
powerless to change us and enable us to live as
we should. God gives those who trust Him the
strength to consistently follow Him.
Martin Luther saw very clearly the Bible’s teaching
that everyone needs forgiveness, and that no
individual or church can ever make themselves
good enough to be acceptable to God who is
absolutely holy and just. Rather, He has taken the
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So Christians are people who have been justified
by grace alone, through faith alone, in Christ
alone. Or, as the Bible puts it, ‘For by grace you
have been saved, through faith, and that not of
yourselves, it is the gift of God; not of works lest
anyone should boast.2’
God wants us to confess our sins to Him, and
put our trust in Jesus alone to be our Lord and
Saviour. He will take us through life, death and
into eternity with Himself. We will have God’s
guaranteed promise that we are His for ever,
which Jesus’ disciple, Peter, describes as ‘an
inheritance … reserved in heaven for you.’3
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1 1 Corinthians 3:11 2 Ephesians 2:8-9 3 1 Peter 1:4
WHO WAS MARTIN LUTHER?
He was born in Eisleben in1483 and was baptised
a Roman Catholic. He studied at the University
of Erfurt, which he described as a ‘beerhouse and
a whorehouse’, even though the discipline was
such that he was made to get up every day at
4am. He got his BA and MA from there.
Returning from his home to University on
horseback on 2 July 1505, there was a
thunderstorm. A lightning bolt struck right next to
him. Terrified of death and of being judged by
God for his sin, he made a rash vow to become
a monk. He felt he had to keep the vow, despite
it being a decision made in haste. So, against his
father’s wishes, he left law school, sold his books
and entered a closed Augustinian friary with the
intention of never emerging again. In 1507 he
became a priest and so began hearing people’s
confessions.
sin, did not come from what he could do, but
through what Jesus had done on the cross for
him. He understood the Bible’s words, ‘The just
shall live by faith’, grasping that to be declared
‘just’ or to be forgiven, comes through faith in
Jesus alone. He turned to God, being sorry for all
his sinfulness, and understanding that Jesus had
carried the sin of the world on Himself. He said,
“God sent His Son, Jesus, into this world in order
to proclaim to terrified sinners the mercy of God.”
Whilst meditating in the tower of the monastery
in Wittenberg he saw that ‘righteousness’, which
God demands, is not earned but received as a gift
from God.
WHAT DID HE DO?
WHY DID HE DO IT?
WHAT IMPACT DID IT HAVE?
On the momentous day when he nailed the 95
Theses on what was regarded as a public notice
board, Luther had no intention of confronting
the Catholic Church. But he was objecting to
indulgences, which were being sold by the
Catholic Church at the instigation of Pope Leo X.
Indulgences were wrong in that Rome was taking
money from the poor to raise funds to rebuild St.
Peter’s Basilica in Rome, but also because they
were described as freeing people from purgatory.
Johann Tetzel, a Dominican friar, was selling
these indulgences with the patter, “As soon as the
coin in the coffer rings, the soul from purgatory
springs.” There was no mention of repentance or
forgiveness through Jesus.
His desire was for the Church to go back to the
Bible (Sola Scriptura) and not rely on tradition,
Popes and Councils. He wanted people to ask,
“What does the word of God (the Bible) say?” He
knew that the Church is not the sole interpreter of
the Scriptures, believing that anyone, with God’s
help, is able to read and understand the Bible.
With the aid of the printing press, Luther’s
Theses spread throughout Germany within a few
weeks, and after a couple of months had spread
throughout Europe. But the wrath of the Roman
Catholic Church became focused on him.
Rejecting the idea of priests having special
powers and authority, Luther underlined the
Bible’s teaching that all true Christians are priests
in God’s sight. He said that a poor serving girl
sweeping a room with a brush is in as good a
position as the Pope himself to understand the
Bible, if she has the Holy Spirit to help her. He
spoke against monks in their orders, saying that
the only way into the church was through trusting
Jesus Christ, not by making solemn vows to the
Church.
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Martin Luther, a German monk and university
professor, nailed his 95 Theses on the door of the
Castle Church at Wittenberg in Germany.
The Theses were points Luther was making that
were indirectly questioning Roman Catholic
teachings and practice.
He was later transferred, by the Church, to the
University of Wittenberg where he became
the Professor of Biblical Theology. However, all
through this time Luther was wrestling with the
issue of how he could be at peace with God. He
was aware that he, like all of us, was a sinner, and
he longed to find forgiveness. He fasted, prayed,
went to confession and Mass, paid penance, made
a pilgrimage to Rome, but remained in spiritual
despair. He needed to know that his sins were
forgiven by a gracious God.
Gradually, through reading the Bible and Christian
books, he saw that salvation, or forgiveness of
Soon he was preaching and writing about Jesus,
and the free gift of salvation through faith in Him.
As he did, his understanding of what the Bible
taught became clearer to him.
Martin Luther knew that salvation is offered as a
gift from God because of Jesus, and is not earned
or bought. It was not in the power of the Pope
or a priest to determine whether someone went
to heaven or hell after death. “Heaven is not a
reward but a gift”, said Luther.
So the day before a festival in Wittenberg, where
people would come to see various relics, Martin
Luther sought to call attention to the terrible
abuse and corruption within the Church. The 95
Theses were questioning several basic Roman
Catholic beliefs.
Fundamental to all he was teaching was that the
sacraments are not magical: there is no such thing
as the Mass. Because the Bible does not teach that
the bread and the wine, taken in memory of Jesus,
become the actual body and blood of Jesus, he
denounced this doctrine of transubstantiation.
Jesus had died once and for all, for the sins of all
people, past, present and future. And He is the
only foundation of the true church.1
God alone could declare a person ‘just’ or
forgiven, and willingly does so to all who will trust
Jesus Christ as their Lord and Saviour.
The Pope and Papal envoys turned against Luther.
He was accused of heresy, but refused to recant. He
was summoned to Rome, but did not go. He feared
that he might be kidnapped or killed. Despite
threats on his life, Luther continued to argue
that the Pope was neither infallible nor the sole
interpreter of the Bible. In January 1521 he was
excommunicated from the Roman Catholic Church
by Pope Leo X.
On 18 April 1521 Luther was ordered to appear
before the Diet of Worms. The ‘diet’ was the
imperial parliament which moved from city to city,
but on this occasion was in Worms, a town on the
Rhine. When asked if he stood by what he had
written, he famously replied:
“Unless I am convinced by the
testimony of the Scriptures or by
clear reason (for I do not trust either
in the Pope or in Councils alone,
since it is well known that they
have often erred and contradicted
themselves), I am bound by the
Scriptures I have quoted and my
conscience is captive to the word
of God. I cannot and will not
recant anything, since it is neither
safe nor right to go against my
conscience. Here I stand. I can
do no other. May God help me.”