Martin Luther Rings a Bell

A few days ago I posted about Claire's Reformation Day costume, not thinking how that might leave some people scratching their heads. Here's the explanation:

Our church celebrates Reformation Day in lieu of Halloween. We still do the costumes, the candy, the games, food, and fun, though. And every year, we have a story for the kids: the story of Reformation Day. This is how the story goes, sans puppets :)... Just in case anyone is interested. It is the story of a real-life hero who was just a poor, parish priest once upon a time, a man who lived to become a dragon-slayer of a different sort. He feared God but not man, and God used him to rescue His Bride from captivity.

Martin Luther was this poor parish priest who lived in Germany in 1516. His church was granted permission by the Pope to issue indulgences that if bought, could grant a full remission of sins. The day selected for this proclamation was November 1st - All Saints Day. The merits of the saints were the supposed to be the basis for these indulgences, thus the date. Luther's patron was Frederic the Wise who was a very pious man. He had a huge collection of relics there at his own Wittenburg's Castle Church. They would be made available to the people on All Saints Day, and if anyone viewed the relics and paid their contribution, they might receive indulgences to reduce their time in purgatory for themselves or others. (Interestingly, the maximum indulgence shaved 1,902,202 years and 270 days off their "time!")

Luther preached critically of the sale of indulgences three times that year. The third time was Halloween, the eve of All Saints. The problem the Church had with this was that basically, Luther was attacking the way in which she made her revenues.

A year later, in 1517, a particularly liberal indulgence was proclaimed by the church and offered locally through a man named Tetzel, who was very experienced at these types of things. (I'll skip the political reasons behind the decision to proclaim this infamous indulgence!) Tetzel's famous lines are, "As soon as the coin in the coffer rings, The soul from purgatory springs." This was too much for Luther, whose parishioners couldn't seem to resist the offer. He felt very protective of the sheep under his care, so he became even more vocal.

Again on the eve of All Saints Day, 1517, when Frederick the Wise would again offer his indulgences for Luther's own parishioners, Luther spoke out. But this time he wrote out his reasons for his protest: there were 95 reasons in all. Luther took his 95 Theses for debate and nailed them to the door of Wittenburg Castle, which was a common practice - kind of like putting them on the community bulletin board. There were 3 main points: "an objection to the avowed object of the expenditure, a denial of the powers of the pope over purgatory, and a consideration of the welfare of the sinner."

This is just a part of Luther's argument:
"The revenues of all Christendom are being sucked into this insatiable basilica [of St. Peter's]... Before long all the churches, walls, and bridges of Rome will be built out of our money. First of all, we should rear living temples, not local churches, and last of all St. Peter's which is not necessary for us. Better that it should never be built than that our parochial churches should be despoiled... [The pope] would do better to sell St. Peter's and give the money to the poor folk who are being fleeced by the hawkers of indulgences...
Papal indulgences do not remove guilt. Beware of those who say that indulgences effect reconciliation with God... If the pope does have the power to release anyone from purgatory, why in the name of love does he not abolish purgatory by letting everyone out? If for the sake of miserable money he released uncounted souls, why should he not for the sake of most holy love empty the place?"

The power of his argument in the people's ears came not from the complaints of financial extortion, which had been voiced for a century already, but from the insight that came when he identified the indulgences for what they really were : blasphemy. Martin Luther's 95 Theses required a return to the Scriptures Alone as the final authority of the Church, Faith Alone as the only means to justification, Grace Alone as the only means to forgiveness. It was his answer to the ultimate question : "How can man stand before a living God?" He felt bound to answer it, not only for himself, but for the "sheep of his flock."

Luther did not attempt to spread his theses himself to the people, but they were quickly copied, carried, and read far and wide. With those written words, we say the Reformation was launched by a poor parish priest who was willing to cling to the Word of God "though as a result the whole world should be, not just thrown into turmoil and uproar, but shattered into chaos and reduced to nothingness... for it is better to lose the world than to lose God," as he himself put it. He did see the world thrown into turmoil for a while, but he said of that, "the origin of this conflict and its continuance is from God... the Word of God and the traditions of men fight each other in implacable opposition... I rejoice from my heart... the Word of God is now in full cry..."

Roland Bainton summed it up well: "What Karl Barth said of his own unexpected emergence as a reformer could be said equally well of Luther, that he was like a man climbing in the darkness a winding staircase in the steeple of an ancient cathedral. In the blackness he reached out to steady himself, and his hand laid hold on a rope. He was startled to hear the clanging of a bell."

... to be continued...

(Recommended reading: Here I Stand, by Roland Bainton)