Catholic doctrine had emphasized that both faith and good works were required for a Christian to achieve personal salvation. In Luther’s eyes, human beings, weak and powerless in the sight of an almighty God, could never do enough good works to merit salvation. Through his study of the Bible, especially his work on Paul’s Epistle to the Romans, Luther rediscovered another way of viewing this problem. To Luther, humans are saved not through their good works but through faith in the promises of God, made possible by the sacrifice of Jesus on the cross. The doctrine of salvation or justification by grace through faith alone became the primary doctrine of the Protestant Reformation (justification is the act by which a person is made deserving of salvation). Because Luther had arrived at this doctrine from his study of the Bible, the Bible became for Luther, as for all other Protestants, the chief guide to religious truth. Justification by faith and the Bible as the sole authority in religious affairs were the twin pillars of the Protestant Reformation.
Martin Luther. This painting by Lucas Cranach the Elder in 1533 shows Luther at the age of fifty. By this time, Luther’s reforms had taken hold in many parts of Germany, and Luther himself was a happily married man with five children.
Germanisches Nationalmuseum, Nuremberg//© Scala/Art Resource, NY
THE INDULGENCE CONTROVERSY Luther did not see himself as either an innovator or a heretic, but his involvement in the indulgence controversy propelled him into an open confrontation with church officials and forced him to see the theological implications of justification by faith alone. In 1517, Pope Leo X had issued a special jubilee indulgence to finance the ongoing construction of Saint Peter’s Basilica in Rome. Johann Tetzel, a rambunctious Dominican, hawked the indulgences in Germany with the slogan “As soon as the coin in the coffer rings, the soul from purgatory springs.”
Luther was greatly distressed by the sale of indulgences, certain that people who relied on these pieces of paper to assure themselves of salvation were guaranteeing their eternal damnation instead. Angered, he issued his Ninety-Five Theses, although scholars are unsure whether he nailed them to a church door in Wittenberg, as is traditionally alleged, or mailed them to his ecclesiastical superior. In either case, his theses were a stunning indictment of the abuses in the sale of indulgences. It is doubtful that Luther intended any break with the church over the issue of indulgences. If the pope had clarified the use of indulgences, as Luther wished, he would probably have been satisfied, and the controversy would have ended. But Pope Leo X did not take the issue seriously and is even reported to have said that Luther was simply “some drunken German who will amend his ways when he sobers up.” Thousands of copies of a German translation of the Ninety-Five Theses were quickly printed and were received sympathetically in a Germany that had a long tradition of dissatisfaction with papal policies and power.
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Martin Luther, Ninety-Five Theses (1517)
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Of course, Luther was not the first theologian to criticize the powers of the papacy. As we saw in Chapter 12, John Wyclif at the end of the fourteenth century and John Hus at the beginning of the fifteenth century had attacked the excessive power of the papacy. Luther was certainly well aware of John Hus’s fate at the Council of Constance, where he was burned at the stake on charges of heresy.
THE QUICKENING REBELLION The controversy reached an important turning point with the Leipzig Debate in July 1519. In Leipzig, Luther’s opponent, the capable Catholic theologian Johann Eck, forced Luther to move beyond indulgences and deny the authority of popes and councils. During the debate, Eck also identified Luther’s ideas with those of John Hus, the condemned heretic. Luther was now compelled to see the consequences of his new theology. At the beginning of 1520, he proclaimed: “Farewell, unhappy, hopeless, blasphemous Rome! The Wrath of God has come upon you, as you deserve. We have cared for Babylon, and she is not healed: let us then, leave her, that she may be the habitation of dragons, spectres, and witches.”4 At the same time, Luther was convinced that he was doing God’s work and had to proceed regardless of the consequences.
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Luther and the Ninety-Five Theses
To most historians, the publication of Luther’s Ninety-Five Theses marks the beginning of the Reformation. To Luther, they were simply a response to what he considered Johann Tetzel’s blatant abuses in selling indulgences. Although written in Latin, Luther’s statements were soon translated into German and disseminated widely across Germany. They made an immense impression on Germans already dissatisfied with the ecclesiastical and financial policies of the papacy.
Martin Luther, Selections from the Ninety-Five Theses
5. The Pope has neither the will nor the power to remit any penalties beyond those he has imposed either at his own discretion or by canon law.
20. Therefore the Pope, by his plenary remission of all penalties, does not mean “all” in the absolute sense, but only those imposed by himself.
21. Hence those preachers of Indulgences are wrong when they say that a man is absolved and saved from every penalty by the Pope’s Indulgences.
27. It is mere human talk to preach that the soul flies out [of purgatory] immediately the money clinks in the collection-box.
28. It is certainly possible that when the money clinks in the collection-box greed and avarice can increase; but the intercession of the Church depends on the will of God alone.
50. Christians should be taught that, if the Pope knew the exactions of the preachers of Indulgences, he would rather have the basilica of St. Peter reduced to ashes than built with the skin, flesh and bones of his sheep.
81. This wanton preaching of pardons makes it difficult even for learned men to redeem respect due to the Pope from the slanders or at least the shrewd questionings of the laity.
82. For example: “Why does not the Pope empty purgatory for the sake of most holy love and the supreme need of souls? This would be the most righteous of reasons, if he can redeem innumerable souls for sordid money with which to build a basilica, the most trivial of reasons.”
86. Again: “Since the Pope’s wealth is larger than that of the crassest Crassi of our time, why does he not build this one basilica of St. Peter with his own money, rather than with that of the faithful poor?”
90. To suppress these most conscientious questionings of the laity by authority only, instead of refuting them by reason, is to expose the Church and the Pope to the ridicule of their enemies, and to make Christian people unhappy.
94. Christians should be exhorted to seek earnestly to follow Christ, their Head, through penalties, deaths, and hells.
95. And let them thus be more confident of entering heaven through many tribulations rather than through a false assurance of peace.
What were the major ideas of Luther’s Ninety-Five Theses? Why did they have such a strong appeal in Germany?
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In three pamphlets published in 1520, Luther moved toward a more definite break with the Catholic Church. The Address to the Nobility of the German Nation was a political tract written in German in which Luther called on the German princes to overthrow the papacy in Germany and establish a reformed German church. The Babylonian Captivity of the Church, written in Latin for theologians, attacked the sacramental system as the means by which the pope and church had held the real meaning of the Gospel captive for a thousand years. Luther called for the reform of monasticism and for the clergy to marry. Though virginity is good, he argued, marriage is better, and freedom of choice is best. On the Freedom of a Christian Man was a short treatise on the doctrine of salvation. It is faith alone, not good works, that justifies, frees, and brings salvation through Jesus. Being saved and freed by his faith in Jesus, however, does not free the Christian from doing good works. Rather, he performs good works out of gratitude to God. “Good works do not make a good man, but a good man does good works.”5
Unable to accept Luther’s forcefully worded dissent from traditional Catholic teachings, the church excomm
unicated him in January 1521. He was also summoned to appear before the Reichstag (RYKHSS-tahk), the imperial diet of the Holy Roman Empire, in Worms, convened by the recently elected Emperor Charles V (1519–1556). Expected to recant the heretical doctrines he had espoused, Luther refused and made the famous reply that became the battle cry of the Reformation:
Since then Your Majesty and your lordships desire a simple reply, I will answer without horns and without teeth. Unless I am convicted by Scripture and plain reason—I do not accept the authority of popes and councils, for they have contradicted each other—my conscience is captive to the Word of God. I cannot and I will not recant anything, for to go against conscience is neither right nor safe. Here I stand, I cannot do otherwise. God help me. Amen.6
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FILM & HISTORY
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Luther (2003)
Luther, directed by Eric Till, depicts the early life and career of Martin Luther ( Joseph Fiennes), largely from a Lutheran point of view. The movie focuses on some of the major events in Luther’s early life, including his years in a monastery; his trip to Rome on behalf of his religious order; his study for a doctorate in theology at the University of Wittenberg; the writing of his Ninety-Five Theses; the subsequent controversy over Luther’s criticism of indulgences, including a scene showing the abuses in the sale of indulgences by Johann Tetzel (Alfred Molina); Luther’s meeting with Cardinal Cajetan (Mathieu Carriere); his dramatic stand at the Diet of Worms, when he refused to recant the ideas in his writings; the meeting of the German princes with Holy Roman Emperor Charles V (Torben Liebrecht) at Augsburg in 1530; and the marriage of Luther to a former nun, Katherina von Bora (Claire Cox).
The movie re-creates these scenes largely based on legends about Luther, rather than on a strict adherence to the historical facts. Although Luther was visibly distressed when he celebrated his first Mass, he did not spill the wine. Historians still debate whether Luther posted his Ninety-Five Theses or mailed them to his ecclesiastical superior. Luther did travel to Rome in 1510, but it is unlikely that he encountered Pope Julius II in the streets, although it is true that Luther was appalled by the religious indifference and widespread corruption that he experienced in Rome. The meeting with Cardinal Cajetan is presented as a brief experience with a quickly frustrated cardinal, when in fact the sessions with Cajetan occurred over a number of days. Nor is Luther’s doctrine of justification by faith clearly presented—not that it would be easy to present in a movie. One is left with the impression that indulgences themselves were the chief reason for Luther’s stand against the Catholic Church; the movie does not show clearly that his new theological doctrine of justification by faith alone was the foundation of Luther’s rebellion against the church. The Peasants’ War of 1525 is handled too quickly and too simplistically—it is never quite clear what was at stake or even why the war occurred. The scene of the princes at Augsburg in 1530 is largely fictional. Although some of the princes were no doubt adherents of Luther’s new faith, the movie hardly considers the princes’ political motives, especially in regard to their relationship to Charles V. We also do not know whether Luther ever had a face-to-face meeting with his prince, Frederick the Wise, the Elector of Saxony (Peter Ustinov), or whether Frederick really expressed any thoughts about Luther’s German Bible. Luther’s return to Wittenberg from the Wartburg Castle was done against the wishes of Frederick the Wise, not with his approval.
Luther (Joseph Fiennes) defends his writings at the Diet of Worms.
NFP Teleart/Eikon Film/The Kobal Collection/Rolf Von Der Heydt
Above all, the greatest weakness of the movie is its failure to demonstrate what made Luther a great rebel and what enabled him to continue his rebellion in the face of almost certain martyrdom. Luther did not seek martyrdom, but he was also not that concerned about his personal safety. He was, however, determined to save the cause whose champion he had become, and to that end he was a man with a strong mind, filled with great zeal and conviction, and blessed with unstoppable persistence.
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Emperor Charles was outraged at Luther’s audacity and gave his opinion that “a single friar who goes counter to all Christianity for a thousand years must be wrong.” By the Edict of Worms, Martin Luther was made an outlaw within the empire. His works were to be burned, and Luther himself was to be captured and delivered to the emperor. Instead, Luther’s prince, the Elector of Saxony, sent him into hiding at the Wartburg (VART-bayrk) Castle, where he remained for nearly a year (see the Film & History feature above).
The Rise of Lutheranism
At the beginning of 1522, Luther returned to Wittenberg in Electoral Saxony and began to organize a reformed church. While at the Wartburg Castle, Luther’s foremost achievement was his translation of the New Testament into German. Within twelve years, his German New Testament had sold almost 200,000 copies. Lutheranism had wide appeal and spread rapidly but not primarily through the written word, since only 4 to 5 percent of people in Germany were literate. And most of these were in urban areas.
Woodcut: Luther Versus the Pope. In the 1520s, after Luther’s return to Wittenberg, his teachings began to spread rapidly, ending ultimately in a reform movement supported by state authorities. Pamphlets containing picturesque woodcuts were important in the spread of Luther’s ideas. In the woodcut shown here, the crucified Jesus attends Luther’s service on the left, while on the right the pope is at a table selling indulgences.
Kupferstichkabinett, Berlin//© Bildarchiv Preussischer Kulturbesitz/Art Resource, NY
Instead, the primary means of disseminating Luther’s ideas was the sermon. The preaching of evangelical sermons, based on a return to the original message of the Bible, found favor throughout Germany. In city after city, the arrival of preachers presenting Luther’s teachings was soon followed by a public debate in which the new preachers proved victorious. A reform of the church was then instituted by state authorities.
Also useful to the spread of the Reformation were pamphlets illustrated with vivid woodcuts portraying the pope as a hideous Antichrist and titled with catchy phrases such as “I Wonder Why There Is No Money in the Land” (which, of course, was an attack on papal greed). Luther also insisted on the use of music as a means to teach the Gospel, and his own composition, “A Mighty Fortress Is Our God,” became the battle hymn of the Reformation:
Standing alone are we undone, the Fiend would soon enslave us;
but for us fights a mighty One whom God has sent to save us.
Ask you who is this? Jesus Christ is He, Lord God of Hosts.
There is no other God; He can and will uphold us.
THE SPREAD OF LUTHER’S IDEAS Lutheranism spread to both princely and ecclesiastical states in northern and central Germany as well as to two-thirds of the free imperial cities, especially those of southern Germany, where prosperous burghers, for both religious and secular reasons, became committed to Luther’s cause. Nuremberg, where an active city council led by the dynamic city secretary Lazarus Spengler (SCHPEN-ler) brought a conversion as early as 1525, was the first imperial city to convert to Lutheranism. At its outset, the Reformation in Germany was largely an urban phenomenon. Three-fourths of the early converts to the reform movement were from the clergy, many of them from the upper classes, which made it easier for them to work with the ruling elites in the cities.
A series of crises in the mid-1520s made it apparent, however, that spreading the word of God was not as easy as Luther had originally envisioned—the usual plight of most reformers. Luther experienced dissent within his own ranks in Wittenberg from people such as Andreas Carlstadt (KARL-shtaht), who wished to initiate a more radical reform by abolishing all relics, images, and the Mass. Luther had no sooner dealt with them than he began to face opposition from the Christian humanists. Many had initially supported Luther, believing that he shared their goal of reforming the abuses within the church. But when it became apparent that Luther’s movement threatened the unity of Christendom, the older g
eneration of Christian humanists, including Erasmus, broke with the reformer. A younger generation of Christian humanists, however, played a significant role in Lutheranism. When Philip Melanchthon (muh-LANK-tun) (1497–1560) arrived in Wittenberg in 1518 at the age of twenty-one to teach Greek and Hebrew, he was immediately attracted to Luther’s ideas and became a staunch supporter.
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Luther and the “Robbing and Murdering Hordes of Peasants”
The Peasants’ War of 1524–1525 encompassed a series of uprisings by German peasants who were suffering from economic changes they did not comprehend. Led by radical religious leaders, the revolts quickly became entangled with the religious revolt set in motion by Luther’s defiance of the church. But it was soon clear that Luther himself did not believe in any way in social revolution. This excerpt is taken from Luther’s pamphlet written in May 1525 at the height of the peasants’ power but not published until after their defeat.
Martin Luther, Against the Robbing and Murdering Hordes of Peasants
Western Civilization: Volume B: 1300 to 1815, 8th Edition Page 25
