Will You Stand Firm... or Cave and Crumble?

“You never know how much you really believe anything until its truth or falsehood becomes a matter of life and death to you.” – C.S. Lewis

Martin Luther was born in Eisleben, Saxony on November 10, 1483, and died there on February 18, 1546. During the intervening 62-plus years, God used him to shake Europe and forever change the religious world.

Luther attended the University of Erfurt, at the time one of the most distinguished universities in Germany, where he received a baccalaureate degree in 1502 and a master’s degree in 1505. Eligible to pursue graduate work in one of the three “higher” disciplines – law, medicine, or theology – Luther chose the law in accordance with his father’s wishes. However, just six weeks later, he quit his law studies and joined a monastery.

It soon became apparent that Luther was not cut out for the anonymous and routine life of a monk. And so, in 1507, he returned to the University of Erfurt to study theology and then transferred to the Augustinian monastery at Wittenburg a year later to continue his studies there.

In the fall of 1517, Luther published his famous – and to some, heretical – 95 Theses which questioned many of the core teachings and practices of the Catholic Church such as the infallibility of the pope and the sale of indulgences. Luther also firmly held to the doctrine of salvation by grace through faith alone without the benefit or necessity of works (see Ephesians 2:8-9). A year later, Pope Leo X declared Luther’s views to be in direct conflict with official church teachings.

By 1520, the issue had come to a head and calls for Luther to be excommunicated were gathering steam. Pope Leo X issued an edict (or bull) which charged that 41 sentences in Luther’s various writings were “heretical, scandalous, and offensive to pious ears,” and gave him 60 days upon receiving the bull to recant and another 60 days to report his recantation to Rome.

Luther responded belligerently in a tract titled Against the Execrable Bull of the Antichrist. Upon the expiration of the 60-day probationary period, Luther cancelled his classes, marched to a bonfire started by his students outside one of the city gates, and threw a copy of the bull into the fire. As a result, Luther was formally declared a heretic on January 3, 1521.

Because of his political connections, Luther wasn’t immediately arrested and executed. Instead, he was called to appear before the Diet of Worms on April 17, 1521, and was told to both acknowledge and repudiate his writings. Luther did the former but asked for 24 hours to contemplate the latter.

When he appeared before the council the next day – with not only his ministry career but his life hanging in the balance – Luther admitted that he had used inappropriate language but declared that he could not and would not recant the substance of his writings. He flatly refused to repudiate his works unless convinced of error by Scripture or by reason, stating that his conscience was bound by the Word of God.

Facing defrocking and the near certainty of being burned at the stake, Luther’s closing words were, “Here I stand. I can do no other. God help me. Amen.”

May our faith be as certain and our resolve be as strong.

“For this reason, even though I suffer as I do, I am not ashamed; for I know whom I have believed, and I am convinced that He is able to guard what I have entrusted to Him for that day.” 2 Timothy 1:12 (BSB)

- Rev. Dale M. Glading, President