Luther revolutionized the course of Christian theology

During 1517, Luther revolutionized the course of Christian theology when he nailed his 95 Theses on the church door at Wittenberg, accusing the Roman Catholic Church of continued heresy. Many historians believe this act as the primary starting point of the Protestant Reformation. But it cannot be denied that John Wycliffe, John Hus, Thomas Linacre, John Colet and few others had already had done enough for same cause of truth as Martin Luther. Luther's charges also directly challenged the position of the clergy in regard to individual salvation.  In quickness of time, Luther’s 95 Theses of Contention was published all over Europe.

In 1520 Luther's Protestant views were wholly condemned as heretical by Pope Leo X and Luther was summoned to either renounce or reaffirm his faith at the Diet of Worms on 17 April 1521. When he appeared before the assembly, Johann von Eck, who acted as the spokesman for Emperor Charles the Fifth presented him with a table filled with copies of his writings. Eck asked Luther if he still believed what these works taught and Luther requested time to think about his response. Luther prayed, consulted with friends and mediators and presented himself before the Diet the next day. When the counselor put the same question to Luther the next day, the reformer apologized for the harsh tone of many of his writings, but said that he could not reject much of the teachings in them. Luther respectfully but courageously declared, "Unless I am convinced by proofs from Scriptures or by plain and clear reasons and arguments, I can and will not retract, for it is neither safe nor wise to do anything against conscience. Here I stand. I can do no other. God help me. Amen." On May 25 of the same year, the Emperor issued his Edict of Worms, declaring Martin Luther an outlaw. Luther had several close friends and allies and prominent among them were the princes of Germany.  The prince, Frederick the Wise, Elector of Saxony arranged for Luther to be abducted on his way from the Diet by a company of masked horsemen. Luther was carried to the castle of the Wartburg, where he stayed about a year. During this period, Luther continued to work hard on his celebrated translation of the Bible.  Although his stay at the Wartburg kept Luther hidden from public view, Luther often received letters from his friends and allies, asking for his views and advice. Martin Luther was the first person to translate and publish the Bible in the commonly-spoken dialect of the German people. The Luther German New Testament translation was first published in September of 1522. The translation of the Old Testament followed, yielding an entire German language Bible in 1534.

As regards Judaism, Luther initially preached tolerance towards the Jewish people, sympathized that the Jews were discriminated against and they had never heard the Gospel of Christ. But after Luther’s appeal failed to convince or persuade the Jewish people to adopt Christianity, Luther began proclaiming that the Jews were set in demonic, anti-Christian ways, and needed to be expelled from German politics. Luther was over-zealous about the Gospel, and he wanted to protect the German people the Jews who he believed would be a source of pernicious influence as they did not believe in Christianity nor recognized Jesus as their Savior. Luther was certainly a man of the world who enjoyed all material pleasures, and was often found blunt and tactless in the truth he forcefully preached. While his utterances offended many, it equally endeared him to others.

Martin Luther died only of natural causes and these were his historic last written words:  "Know that no one can have indulged in the Holy Writers sufficiently, unless he has governed churches for a hundred years with the prophets, such as Elijah and Elisha, John the Baptist, Christ and the apostles... We are beggars: this is true."

kevin Russel is a Copywriter of Us Churches. He written many articles in various topics.For more information visit: Church Directory contact him at rchurch.jesus@gmail.com.