Luther Leads the Reformation
Martin Luther’s protest over abuses in the Catholic
Church leadsto the founding of Protestant churches.
Causes of the Reformation
Church Authority Challenged
• Secularism, individualism of Renaissance
challenge Church authority
• Rulers challenge Church’s power
• Printing press spreads secular ideas
• Northern merchants resent paying church
taxes to Rome
Causes of the Reformation
Criticisms of the Catholic Church
• Corrupt leaders, extravagant popes
• Poorly educated priests
Early calls for reform didn’t go so well
Jan Hus was executed for heresy in 1415
The 95 Theses
• Martin Luther protests Friar Johann Tetzel’s selling of indulgences
• Indulgence—a pardon releasing a person from penalty for a sin
• In 1517 Luther posts his 95 Theses attacking “pardon-merchants”
• Luther’s theses circulate throughout Germany
• Luther launches the Reformation—a movement for religious reform
• Reformation rejects pope’s authority
"As soon as a coin in the coffer rings, a
soul from purgatory springs".
Luther’s Teachings
• People can win salvation by faith only, not good works (sola fide)
• Christian teachings must be based on the Bible only (sola scriptura)
• All people with faith are equal, can interpret Bible without priests
The Pope’s Threat
• Pope Leo X issues decree threatening to excommunicate Luther (1520)
• Luther’s rights of Church membership are taken away
• Luther refuses to take back his statements and is excommunicated
The Emperor’s Opposition
• Charles V is Holy Roman Emperor
• He issues Edict of Worms (1521), declaring Luther an outlaw
• Luther and followers begin a separate religious group—Lutherans
Leo X
Charles V
The Peasants’ Revolt
• Inspired by Reformation, German peasants seek end to serfdom (1524)
• Princes crush revolt; about 100,000 people died
How do you think Luther will react to the peasants?
Therefore let everyone who can, smite, slay, and
stab, secretly or openly, remembering that nothing
can be more poisonous, hurtful, or devilish than a
rebel ... Our peasants want to make the goods of
other men common, and keep their own for
themselves. Fine Christians they are! I think there is
not a devil left in hell; they have all gone into the
peasants. Their raving has gone beyond all measure.
Luther was a theological revolutionary and
a political conservative
Germany at War
• Some princes side with Luther,
become known as Protestants
• Charles V fails to return rebellious
princes to Catholic Church
• Peace of Augsburg (1555)—each
prince can decide religion of his state
Ode to Luther
In fourteen hundred and eighty-three,
Martin Luther, in Germany, was born,
But the Germans then lacked a real unity,
Except in a Church about to be torn.
Times were harsh, the system mean,
Especially for the working poor;
Joy and ease were seldom seen,
Just suffering and death seemed sure.
Discipline and obedience were the rule,
In Martin’s boyhood home;
Fifteen floggings at a village school
He paid for one grammar question blown.
He studied and fasted, suffered and prayed,
But found no peace, no heavenly goal;
Now the monster conscience he had made
Found him deep in the night of his soul.
How could he, a man who sinned,
Find favor with a righteous God?
With the fervor of a howling wind
He clung to despair, before Judgment’s rod.
Sent to Wittenberg, a tough-drinking burg,
Doctor of Theology he became;
He studied and taught the Holy Word,
And realized a respected name.
And then the fateful revelation struck
Like lightning long years past:
A verse from Romans forever stuck,
Healing his tortured soul at last.
About God’s saving, eternal grace,
He no more felt anxious or deceived;
Not money, not merit secured a heavenly place,
But a faith in Christ, humbly received.
Not a hundred blows, but ninety-five,
He nailed to All Saints Church door:
Theses of debate, soon and live,
Calling all wits to a verbal war.
October 31, 1517
But Luther’s own stand was later to be,
For his fire fast jumped academia’s ring
Into the streets for all to see,
Blown by the winds of mass printing.
That’s why I’m number 1!
Now the issues grew beyond
Mere issues of doctrine and belief,
To challenge the Church’s imperial bond
From which many Germans sought relief.
As the rebellion spread across Europe’s north,
The Roman Church roused from its quiet;
To restore authority, it called Luther forth,
To answer before the emperor’s Diet.
Charles V
Before he appeared, he unleashed his pen,
Directing the Church’s reform,
Proclaimed the priesthood of all women and men
Who, in faith, had been spiritually reborn.
Luther at the Diet of Worms, by Anton von Werner, 1877
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 conscience. Here I stand, I can
do no other. God help me. Amen.
Luther statue in Worms
Debate retired, and gave the stage
To drama, clear and bold;
Now the question of the age:
Would Europe shatter its medieval mold?
Despairing his career, now thought at end,
He left Worms with great anxiety,
Rescued, then hidden, from the emperor’s men,
He began a comfortable captivity.
Frederick III, Elector of Saxony, was an early
defender of Luther. (Frederick the Wise)
The Edict of Worms was a decree issued in May 1521 by Emperor
Charles V:
For this reason we forbid anyone from this time
forward to dare, either by words or by deeds, to
receive, defend, sustain, or favor the said Martin
Luther. On the contrary, we want him to be
apprehended and punished as a notorious heretic,
as he deserves, to be brought personally before us,
or to be securely guarded until those who have
captured him inform us, whereupon we will order the
appropriate manner of proceeding against the said
Luther. Those who will help in his capture will be
rewarded generously for their good work.
The Edict also enforced censorship upon printers.
Wartburg Castle was his haven-to-be,
But he was restless for something to do;
With his pen he shaped German destiny:
In the people’s tongue wrote the Testament New.
After ten full months, he left that place
To control the Reformation now begun,
For chaos was running violently apace,
Hollowing the victory that principle had won.
His goal had not been division,
But a Church reformed, purified;
To Luther it had sullied its mission,
Becoming corrupt and ossified.
He taught and preached, counseled and wrote,
A workload few others could carry;
Then he crossed his monkish last moat:
At forty-two, he chose to marry.
This former priest chose a former nun
His remaining years to share;
Six children blessed this unique union,
And mellowed the lion in his lair.
In his final years, music became
His fitting expression when awed;
With ear attuned to the Heavenly Name,
He penned “A Mighty Fortress Is Our God.”
A Mighty Fortress Is Our God
What is Luther’s corner to be
Villain, or Protestant hero?
This is sure: In the drama of history,
He scripted new lines for the individual.
95 Theses Rap