Martin Luther Priest (1483-1546)

Martin Luther Priest:

Martin Luther was born on November 10, 1483, in a poor peasant family in Germany. After graduating from Irfurt University, Martin Luther read for the Bar at his father’s wish. But he switched over to theology in place of law. He felt perturbed. He was beset with various doubts. On becoming a professor of theology at the University of Wittenberg, Martin Luther studied more and more to remove his doubts. In 1511, he visited Rome. Pope’s immoral conduct put Martin Luther in dejection.

In the beginning, Martin Luther did not oppose the Pope. However, an incident that occurred in 1517 changed Luther’s mind. Pope ordered Tetzel to amass wealth by selling the “letters of Indulgence” to the public to build St. Peter’s Cathedral. Martin Luther stood against the Church at this. Tetzel used to say, “The moment the coins offered for the ‘Letters of Pardon‘ jingle, the soul of the person who offered money directly enters Heaven.” But gradually people lost faith in such notions. Everyone was disgusted with all this. But Martin Luther was the only courageous person who vehemently opposed the funny act and the exploitation of the public. He declared that the sale of the “Letter of Pardon‟ was a violation of the basic principles of religion. Martin Luther held that a person is purged of sins through repentance, which is the subject of mind and does not relate to sacraments. Against this practice, Martin Luther hung his letter of protest entitled “The Ninety-five Thesis” on the entrance gate of Wittenberg’s Castle Cathedral on October 31, 1517. In these 95 statements, Martin Luther criticized all the ways the Church adopted for the collection of money. These statements were first drawn in Latin but soon they were translated into German.

Martin Luther sent copies of his 95 statements to his friends abroad. He still avoided an open challenge to the Church but the Pope underestimated the importance of Luther’s opposition.

In an open debate in 1519, Martin Luther branded the Pope’s intervention between man and God as useless. He urged upon following the ideas of John Huss. It was an allegation against the autocracy of the Church which might have resulted in grave consequences. In the meantime, he published three pamphlets. In these pamphlets, Luther promulgated all those fundamental principles which were later designated “Protestantism‟. In “An address to the Nobility of the German Nation‟, he gave an account of the immense property of the Church and inspired the German rulers to get rid of foreign influence. He derided the Pope and his organization in “The Babylonian Captivity of the Church”. In “The Freedom of Christian Man”, he explained the principle of salvation and established an unflinching faith in God’s grace. The doctrines promulgated in these pamphlets became the fundamental tenets of “Protestantism‟.

Luther’s work annoyed the Pope. In 1520 the Pope ordered Martin Luther to recant his ideas, otherwise, he would be declared a heretic. However, he did not care for the Pope’s orders. Consequently, Martin Luther was expelled from religion. In this period, Luther’s friend- the ruler of Saxony became his patron. Many German rulers opposed the church. So, Luther did not sustain any loss even though he was expelled from religion. Although Charles V- the head of the Holy Roman Empire- supported the Pope, he was so much occupied with wars that he failed to suppress the increasing religious discontent. On the other hand, Martin Luther preserved his course of action and stirred awareness in every section of society by means of his lectures, articles, and pamphlets. The causes of awareness in people comprised not only the Church and its organizational faults but also the greed for the possession of Church property. In 1521, the German Imperial Assembly (Reichstag) passed a vote of censure against Martin Luther, but the awareness among people was widespread to be affected by this censure. In bringing about this awareness, the most prominent part was played by various groups of the middle class (the bourgeoisie) and the working class (the proletariat).

The German Diet of Worms condemned Martin Luther in 1521 for heresy and asked him to recant his ideas. He contended that he would revoke his thoughts if his statements were refuted on the strength of logic and proof. The Diet of Worms declared his works illegal and deprived him of legal protection. In the meanwhile, Luther translated the Bible into German which became very popular and has importance even today.

Luther’s Ideas and Their Dissemination:

1. He asserted the acceptance of Christ and the Bible and rejected the Pope’s divinity and autocracy of the Church.
2. He declared faith in God to be the source of Salvation in place of adherence to the Sacraments.
3. Out of seven Sacraments, he embraced only three: confirmation, penance, and the Holy Eucharist.
4. He disbelieved the miracle of the Church.
5. He considered nobody was above the Law.
6. He emphasized upon the consolidation of the national Church after wiping out the Sovereignty of the Roman Catholic Church.
7. The Scripts are for all and everyone can have their knowledge.
8. He concluded that the priests should be allowed to marry and live like civilized citizens in order
   to prevent corruption in the church.

Martin Luther stressed the formation of a free Church in the ensuing years. He rejected the hierarchical organization of the Catholic Church. He adopted German for the ecclesiastical work. Sectarianism and the special offices of the priests as representatives of God on the earth were eliminated. The doctrines of theism and the authority of the Scriptures were accorded the top priority. Pilgrimages and the worship of old relics were given less importance. On the whole, Luther preserved in simplifying religion.

There was a tremendous diffusion of Luther’s ideas and teachings in all the northern and central German Countries. Availing himself fully of the contemporary social and political unrest, Martin Luther condemned both, the Pope and the Emperor. His principles were recognized and accepted very soon. As a matter of fact, Luther’s Reformation Movement was a popular national movement. He drew the attention of austere priests towards his Reformation movement. The Lutheran doctrines influenced the German patriots so much so that they wanted to root out the policy of exploitation carried out by the foreign priests. His followers revolted against the Catholic Church, extorted the Church property, and renounced the rituals of the Catholic Church. The Catholic cathedrals were demolished. The Pope’s political, religious, and economic supremacy was rejected. The diffusion and general acceptance of the Lutheran doctrines in the whole of Germany seemed inevitable in 1524. But at the same time, certain events took place which kept the Lutheran movement within limits. Consequently, the Lutheran movement affected the states of North Germany only.

The rapid growth of Luther’s thoughts yielded an unexpected result and the peasants’ revolt started in Germany. Lutheranism became aggressive under the leadership of Caterstedante and Tomas Muntzer. Against this backdrop, peasant wars were waged in 1525 in Central and South-West Germany. They launched the movement against serfdom, feudal taxes, religious taxes, and restrictions upon the utilization of forest wealth. They also demanded the election of priests. The peasants believed that Luther was also a supporter of social and economic freedom in addition to religious freedom. Therefore, they relied too much upon Luther to support their movement. On the contrary, Luther joined the rulers and feudal lords in suppressing the peasant revolt. Luther condemned the peasants bitterly and incited the feudal lords to kill peasants like mad dogs. It is presumed that 50,000 peasants were massacred in connection with the suppression of their revolt. In fact, Martin Luther did not launch a socio-economic movement. Consequently, the force of proletariat sympathy for Lutheranism wore out gradually and it depended greatly on the German kings. Luther’s orthodox outlook blocked the passage of periodic fresh vigor needed for the stream of the Reformation.

The Birth of the Protestant Church:

The first assembly of the Holy Roman Empire was called in 1526 at Speer to seek a solution to the religious dispute. The German rulers had split into two groups- Lutherans and the Catholics. Hence the Holy Council could not find a permanent solution for the Reformation movement. The responsibility for seeking a solution to the religious problem was left to the local rulers. It was resolved that every king would be responsible to God and the Emperor for his religious conduct. The second council held at Speer in 1529 did not recognize the Reformation movement and passed several sanctions against it. The Lutheran rulers and followers protested vigorously against the exparte decisions of the second council. Becuase of a protest, the Reformation movement was named “Protestant”. Formally, the protest was launched on April 19, 1529. From a historical point of view, the word (Protestant) was born on this day. In this way, the Protestants rejected the supreme rights of the Church and the Pope. In 1530, the doctrines of the Protestants were formulated on the strength of giving recognition to Martin Luther’s principles.

Augsburg Pact:

The Holy Roman Emperor Charles V was involved in several problems. After 1530 he tried to suppress Lutheranism. He called a Council at Augsburg and allowed the Protestants to put forward their principles in the form of a document. This document is called “The Augsburg Approval”. Charles V rejected this document. But looking to the Lutheran Influence and the adverse external circumstances, he settled a peace pact in 1532 which lasted till 1546. After getting rid of external adversities and internal problems Charles V determined to suppress the Protestants thoroughly. Because of this decision, Germany passed through a civil war from 1546 to 1555. Frustrated by the adverse consequences of the prolonged civil war, Prince Ferdinand settled the “Augsburg Pact” with the Protestants in 1555. The terms of the pact were as follows:

1. Every ruler was free to choose the religion for himself and his subjects.
2. The Church property confiscated by the Protestants prior to 1552 was restored to them.
3. Nobody was given recognition except Martin Luther.
4. The Lutherans who dwelt in the Catholic Zones were not constrained to change their religion.
5. According to the Reservation of Religion, any Catholic who changed his religion would be divested of all the privileges of his earlier office.

The terms of the Pact solved the religious problem but in a wrong manner. The Pact accorded religious freedom to a ruler but not to the people. So, this did not hold water for long. Only Lutheranism was given recognition by this Pact and other protestant sects (like Calvinism, and Zwinglism) were ignored. The idea of the utilization of the Church property for public welfare was dismissed. The religious dispute intensified because the Calvinists were neglected. After some time when their influence increased in South Germany and Bohemia; the Calvinists urged for the grant of equal legal rights. It led to the Thirty Years War. Actually, this pact failed to solve the religious contention. The religious dispute was solved by means of the Westphalia Pact after a century. Thus in 1555, the Augsburg Pact was made with the expectation that it would solve the religious problems but in vain. During the latter half of the 16th century, in spite of the shortcomings of the Augsburg Pact, Germany evaded wars.