Like many I will be celebrating the 500th Anniversary of the Protestant Reformation. The reason I celebrate is that Christ's Love was restored, and the Gospel was unleashed from its One Thousand Year "Babylonian Captivity." The Reformation made the world of today, and is why I can right now publish this blog, and delve into the Holy Scriptures without a Roman Catholic Magisterium to interpret for me. Beyond that, Luther and the other Reformers paved the way for the later return of the Holy Spirit in power via the Pentecostal, and Charismatic Renewal. I do find it odd that Pope Francis I and many Catholics will be observing October 31st, Reformation Day. In fact, there is Catechism dispensation of Catholic Church that is permitting Catholics to participate in festivities. How bizarre! The Reformation was about breaking free of the shackles of Roman Canon Law, Sacraments (except two, Baptism and Eucharist, then later Confession and Absolution), Magisterium, Papacy, and Indulgences. Now in an ecumenical wave, Roman Catholics and Protestants will be celebrating together. On the surface this seems paradoxical, especially considering Luther's radical turn from Roman Church, he even burned 60+ volumes of Canon Law, a Papal Bull, and did what infuriated the Catholic Church: married Katherine Von Borgia (breaking his chastity vows), publishing the New Testament in High German without Papal permission, and of course he challenged indulgences, and claimed what the Apostles and Jesus Christ taught, Salvation is by grace and through faith (Acts 15:10-11, Ephesians 2:8-9, John 6:40, John 3:16). Luther was revolutionary and his dance with the Roman Church started out as duel over doctrine, but in the end Luther actually had other ideas.
Many are surprised to learn Luther wanted to reform the Catholic Church, not schism and create splinter churches such as The Lutheran Church, and the Anabaptist Radicals. Martin had hoped Rome would recoil and reform after the initial fires of the 95 Thesis, Diet of Worms, and the Baron barricade in Germany. Instead, Rome disowned and excommunicated Luther and eventually stepped away from German Church which had evolved into several streams, the Radical Reformers lead by Andreas Karlstadt, a contemporary professor of Luther at Wittenberg and the more moderate Reformers with Philip Melanchthon. Luther late in life regretted that Rome was unreformed, but had he studied history, he would have realized that this was the natural progression of Christ's Church. In the year 1054 A.D., the Eastern Orthodox Church, its capital in Constantinople, Byzantium was excommunicated by Papal Bull of the Pope of the Roman Catholic Church, causing the first great schism. The Roman and Eastern Churches had split over rites (Byzantine Greek vs Western Roman Latin), Pope vs Council of Equals (Bishops), and finally because of Filoque, the Roman Catholics reforming the Nicene Creed and adding that Holy Spirit proceeds from Father and Son, which is supported by John 14:26, and John 20:21-22. It might have made Martin Luther marvel to know that Roman Catholic Church was a reforming church once upon a time, that it saw a injustice in the original Nicene Creed, and rectified it. Luther did the same thing, only one a larger and more encompassing (holistic) scale. The point is reforms are always trying to get back to the original form, in this case the Church as it was in time of the Apostles (Acts 2:42, Acts 4:32) and the teachings of Christ.
Luther underestimated the Reforming Spirit that was already swimming in shallows of Europe's soul. People were not content with the Papacy and the abuses of the Roman Church's power. Deep sentiments were harbored in the German aristocracy, nobles, and common people; in fact this was true in rest of the world. The Truth is that Luther only lit the fuse, the fuse had already been coiled and spread out for this moment. While John Wesley is famously called the "Firebrand of God," Luther very well could have been called the same, for he lit a fuse that engulfed the entire European continent in reforming fire.
What causes people to sway between opinions? Luther started out very critical and ready to challenge the Roman Church on every stage, but late in life he lamented over the break with Rome. How did a man who in a fury burned Canon Law at book burning, then later regretted leaving the canons of the Roman Church? Was Luther bi-polar as experts now attest or was it something else? Paradox is part of human condition. People feel a range of emotions, and they examine the same events of their life with different lens. For Luther going through the Reforming Fire, his lens was fury against Indulgences, Penance, and injustices in the Church, but later in life his lens was one that was saddened that the Roman Church couldn't join him and the Reformers in transforming into more like the Church of Acts. For Luther, the experience could be equated to the Apostle Paul, who lamented that Jews would not believe the Truth, in Jesus, and so we doomed; Paul even said, "for my people, my Jewish brothers and sisters. I would be willing to be forever cursed--cut off from Christ!--if that would save them." (Romans 9:3, Paul said this in emotion of despair of his Jewish brethren, never pray or say this). Perhaps this is how Luther felt, that if he burned and the whole of the Roman Church would reform and be saved by grace it would be worth it, but instead as Paul saw, the Romans like the Jews in their stubbornness and devotion to men's traditions and self made religion, "Their worship is a farce, for they teach man-made ideas as commands from God," (Matthew 15:9), and "These have indeed an appearance of wisdom in promoting self-made religion and asceticism and severity to the body, but they are of no value in stopping the indulgence of the flesh," (Colossians 2:23) had kept them blinded, "But the people's minds were hardened, and to this day whenever the old covenant is being read, the same veil covers their minds so they cannot understand the truth. And this veil can be removed only by believing in Christ. Yes, even today when they read Moses' writings, their hearts are covered with that veil, and they do not understand." (2 Corinthians 3:14-15). Luther's agony then in my opinion and theory was not regret for reforming the Church, but that the "original olive tree," could not be saved, and instead the Wild Shoot of Protestantism had to take Rome's place. Thus you see Luther is not a paradox, but rather he was reformer of history, but grieved as Paul was, that the deceived ones could not come to knowledge of the truth (2 Timothy 3:7), and discover a God of love (1 John 4:18), who offers salvation by grace (Ephesians 2:8-9, Acts 15:10-11).
Martin Luther was not perfect. He found the love of God in the 16th century. However, he liked ale too much, was critical of Book of James in New Testament, and even hand picked books of New Testament as favorites and claiming them to be superior to other books in the same New Testament. While certainly we all have favorites in Scripture, we must believe all 66 books are perfect, and we must allow the two paradigms to reign of mercy and justice; love and truth, for Jesus Christ is love and truth (John 1:17, John 14:6, 1 John 4:8). How Luther was unable to see Christ in Old Testament baffles me since Son of Man judges Satan in Ezekiel 28:11, the Son of God was in furnace with Daniel's friends (Daniel 3:24-26), is the Suffering Servant (Isaiah 53), was there at Creation helping create with Father and Holy Spirit (Genesis 1:3, John 1:3, Colossians 1:16), the mercy of God shown to Nineveh (Jonah 3:4-8), two analogies of Jesus in Psalm 119:105 where David says "Your Word O Lord is a Lamp to my feet, light of my path", Jesus is both the Word (John 1:1-14, Revelation 19:11-16) and is the Light of Life (John 1:4) and the Light of World ( John 3:19, John 8:12, John 9:5, John 12:36, 46), and the plethora of verses in Old Testament that testify that Jesus is there. Luther made some major mistakes, from his Scriptural hand picking that mimicked the heretic Pelagius to his anti-Semitism. He was an imperfect vessel, but he did publish the New Testament (as whole) in German which made a way for William Tyndale to publish the Bible in English, and Luther did confront the indulgence system and merit based salvation, and called for Solae Gratia Solae Fide Solus Christus Solae Scriptura Solae Deo Gloria: Saved by Grace Alone through Faith Alone in Christ Alone according to Scriptura Alone and Glory be to God Alone. Luther's mark, the nail he hammered in on the door of Church history has left a mark that the Lord Trinity has used to set us free from the control of corrupt clergyman, and get us back to a pure and simple devotion to Christ (2 Corinthians 11:2-3). We can thank Luther for that, while forgiving his follies (Colossians 3:13). Martin was the German Monk God used to unleash the Gospel from the Roman Capitviity, and we can at least acknowledge that this October 31st. Amen.
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