Chapel 15 October - Martin Luther

Roy Pangemanan

Reformers

Martin Luther

15 October

 This month topic are the Reformers because of Reformation Day in October.  

During Martin Luther's time, the condition in the church wasn't very good. Only the priests and high ranking people in the church hierarchy because the Bible was only available in its original languages. Even then, the priests didn't want to share the word of God. Of course, the normal people began to get weary of the condition of the Catholic Church.

Martin Luther was the first reformer in the Protestant  Reformation (although there were some people who tried to reform the church before). He was born in the German town Eisleben in 1483 to Hans and Margarethe, and Hans was a copper miner. In 1501, Hans sent Martin to law school. In 1505, however, something unique happened to Luther. There was a harsh thunderstorm and a thunderbolt nearly hit him, so he prayed to Saint Anna, the Catholic saint of silver-mining. He promised that he would become a monk in the church. Although this was a "wrong" prayer, God used it. Martin Luther was saved, and truly did he become a monk, a monk of the Augustinian order. (Augustinian being the order which followed the teachings of Augustine of Hippo. 

But he began to feel that there was something wrong, that he had sinned, no matter what he did. As a Catholic monk in those years, he did what was "right", but always had a feeling of wrong. Eventually, one of the pastors made a senior pastor accompany him because he was thinking left and right about this. The senior pastor asked him to climb a flight of stairs in Rome, the heart of the Catholic Church, and each step he took he prayed. He did so, and still, it wasn't gone.

He began to study the Bible, and he read Romans 1:17. Through the verse, he discovered something enlightening: that it was not through works one is saved but by faith (a.k.a Sola Fide).  In 1517, Luther compiled ninety five disagreements with the Catholic belief at the time and his (and,more importantly, the Bible's), known as the Ninety-five Theses. He nailed it on a church door. He was a very firm man and would not easily be blown away by pressure. He was excommunicated (kicked out)  of the Catholic Church because he refused to undo the 95 theses. In the Diet of Worms, which was a religious trial, Martin Luther again refused to comply and recant his writings. In 1534, he finished a translation of the Bible into simple German for everyday people to read. His life was very difficult, filled with threats from others and trouble, but he remained firm in the truth of the word of God. His belief centers around justification in Christ alone (not works like indulgences, which is basically a bought letter of forgiveness of sins, which were extremely popular at the time). He believed that the Bible was the highest authority (Sola Scriptura), but not Solo Scriptura (only authority). 

Reflection: I think this was an interesting chapel. I already knew some parts and learned some others. I think the most important thing from the chapel is that justification (salvation) is from faith alone, not works, one of the tenets of the Protestant tradition. I learned many things about the person discussed, especially his early life.