ON OCTOBER 31st - Martin Luther

I had trouble getting onto post my blog this morning. But I'm there now. Enjoy this story!

I don't know if most are interested in what happened in the 1500's but I am always fascinated in the history of the church. I have read Halley's Handbook many times and He brings the early church from its beginning thru the dispensations of its struggles, successes and deviations of the Christian way. Martin Luther, born November 10, 1483, changed its direction.

'Indulgencies' began as a fund raiser. The Pope had control over Purgatory which was like hell, but you did't stay there as long. The Pope could shorten your stay for a fee. It was so profitable within the hierarchy, that it became open for general use. 'Selling the privilege to sin' became one of the main sources of the Papal Revenue. A salesman came through Germany selling certificates, signed by the Pope, offering pardon of all sins to buyers and their friends.

Martin Luther, a Monk, began to study the Word and discovered that "the just shall live by faith." He discovered that salvation came by "Trust in God," through Christ and not by rituals, sacraments and penances of the Church. This changed his life! He went to Rome and saw first hand the retail service of the salesman for the Pope. He witnessed; "As soon as your coin clinks in the chest the souls of your friends will rise out of Purgatory into Heaven." Luther was appalled! Luther began diligently to bring this shame into the light.

He began a religious revolt in Germany. He began by writing and posting his 95 theses declaring his contempt of the Catholic Church's corruption, on the Wittenberg Church door, October 31, 1517. Others had gone before Luther and put their lives on the line for this same cause but it was Luther who actually started the Protestant Reformation Movement. He labored until Protestantism was born. He and his followers wanted to return Christianity to its roots but instead they changed the Christian world not into idealism but into the restoration movement that put the church in motion again in the 1800's with John Knox, followed by the Campbell's and others who are still being followed by the Christian and Church of Christ theologians today.

There was a time when the Catholic Church called the shots under the guise of Christianity. But they didn't know that God would raise up Martin Luther who became known as the Father of the Reformation. He became one of history's most important reformers. Luther was first to translate and print the whole Bible in German. He was a simple but strong man who was motivated by what he learned by reading God's Word for himself.

Luther could have quietly communicated his thoughts but he wanted to discuss these things in the University he taught at, but instead he had copies printed and posted all over Germany. He was the spark that set Europe on fire and became a very popular man in Germany.

Luther was ordered before the Holy Roman Empire which included; Germany, Spain, Netherlands and Austria. They demanded he retract. He requested some time, to think about this. After 24 hours, he returned to the 'Diet of Worms" and they asked him again to retract his declarations! He replied; "Here I stand; I can do no other! God help me, Amen!" He was condemned to be burned at the stake and was taken away to wait 20 more days or so, until his execution. As the carriage carried him away he could hear many horses behind him and felt desolate. However, as the horsemen closed in on him and his guards, Martin Luther was snatched bodily from the carriage and was carried away by the men of Prince Frederick the Wise.

They took him deep into the forest where he was hidden for about a year and then he returned to Wittenberg to continue his work of speaking and writing. Excommunicated and exiled by Rome, Martin Luther married an ex-nun and lived happily ever after and died of natural causes February 18, 1546, but not before the protestant beliefs took hold throughout Europe. Reads like a fairy tale, doesn't it? But it's all there in our history. By Jane Ann Crenshaw 10/27/09