Martin Luther changed Christianity forever
LITTLE did German Roman Catholic priest Martin Luther know that he would have been the founder of another branch of Christianity, which gave way to the formation of all other churches outside of the Catholic Church. But Luther’s actions, starting from the famous nailing of his 95 Thesis on the church door in Wittenberg started one of the biggest religious events in the history of the world. This weekend marks the 493rd year since the Protestant Reformation took place. This event was initiated by German theologian and monk Martin Luther.
Luther strongly opposed the sale of indulgences by the Catholic Church back then. In fact, his 95 Theses outlined his 95 reasons why indulgences should not have been sold. Widespread corruption within the Church and other abuses became known and evident to Luther. There were so many other matters that Luther brought before the Church hierarchy, namely the then Pope, Leo X. After refusing to recant 41 sentences drawn from his writings, including the 95 Theses within 60 days, Luther was defrocked and excommunicated, as decreed in a papal bull in 1521, some 4 years after the start of the reformation.
It was said that Luther wanted badly to reform the Church without causing much outside stir; however, quite the opposite took place and things got sort of out of hand. Instead, he was thrown out of the Church, while many others left with him. Before he knew it, he was with a flock of followers, who motivated him to start the new religion. Luther translated the Bible from its traditional language then, to the vernacular, so that the ordinary lay person could have read it for himself. He began to challenge certain Catholic teachings, such as transubstantiation, the papacy, among others. In the end, with help from friends, Luther formulated what has become today the teaching of his church, the Augsburg Confession. He was increasingly occupied, too, in the formation of this new church. Those who left the Catholic Church with him, called the new church, the ‘Lutheran Church’.
Luther retained the essential parts of his German Mass and instituted the Divine Service, which is popular among today’s Protestant denominations, especially the traditional churches. He married a runaway Catholic nun, Katherina von Bora.
The Reformation has many lessons for all of us. Of course, the Catholic Church had to retaliate to get back its members who had left. They launched what was called the Counter Reformation, which was very successful to some points, as the Catholic Church had ‘pulled itself up’ on various issues, due to Luther’s criticisms, of course.
The Reformation allowed, as one person puts it, the Church to ‘change its clothes’. Perhaps, if Luther did not speak out as he did, the Church might have continued its excesses even to this day. The Church is a human institution, governed, operated and held together by human beings. Things had gone so wrong in so many areas in the Catholic Church prior to 1517. Luther saw these things and tried to engage the Church hierarchy in discussions and debates. That did not go as planned.
It is said that Luther had a love for Our Lady. As a priest, Luther practiced numerous devotions to her. He continued well after he was excommunicated. He preached numerous sermons on the matter even though he made no mention of the Marian doctrines in his Small Catechism and the Augsburg Confession.
Many agree that Luther was a really confused man. Many have their own views and notions about this very important historical figure that graced our history books. Little do we know that Martin Luther has not remained in the pages of these history books and in literary archives, but he exists among us today. Martin Luther’s call for change, fresh air and renewal within the Catholic Church continued well after 1517 and still does today. The arrival of Vatican 2, review of the Mass, review of the Roman Missal, and constant update to Church doctrines have all been in keeping with the Church’s mission to continue reforming itself.
It is interesting to note, that Luther’s formation of the Lutheran Church gave way to more splits in the church back then. More persons followed suit on grouses with scripture and doctrines and began to form their own church. John Calvin and Wesley along with other reformers began their own churches. Today the result is 38,000 Christian denominations in just 497 years.
Today, many have their own dislikes, grouses and axe to grind with the Catholic Church; some of them are members within this very church.
The questions are: Could Luther have devised a more practical approach to the issues and grouses which he had back then? If there were abuses and excesses that were practiced by Rome back then (and there were many), why was there no action from the other priests? Luther stood his ground and spoke out, totally aware of all the repercussions, but perhaps with a hope that the Church which he loved and served all his life would have started to repair itself and reform her ways. Sadly, that did not happen.
Today, nearly 5 centuries after, things might be changing. We are beginning to see more communication and dialogue, like never before since the Reformation, between Protestant and Catholic Churches. This is a very important step in the right direction, a step which many see as bridging the gap and creating new and lasting relationships and friendships among multi- denominational Christians. We must pray that one day we might see that unity that existed prior to 1517, once more evident.
Hate him or love him, though, Martin Luther‘s actions may have very well allowed the Church to take stock of itself and continue on the right path to continuous reformation and deep self- examination. He changed Christianity forever.

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