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Another disclaimer for this specific article. I was aiming to write a historically accurate account of Martin Luther and the Reformation. In the format of a blog post I cannot address all issues and facts that arise with this topic. However, I want to point out that while Martin Luther was progressive in many ways (he had a rather equal relationship with his wife Katharina) he was also a staunch antisemit who wrote vile things about Jews and Judaism.
October 31st is Reformation Day. On that day in 1517, Martin Luther, a monk and theology professor, sent 95 theses criticizing the Catholic Church to his Archbishop. It is said that he nailed those theses on the church door in Wittenberg but it is debatable that actually happened. However, we are sure that Martin Luther saw problems within the Catholic Church that he wanted to address. He wrote his theses to encourage reform but in the end it led to a new church, the Evangelical Church.
There are different names in German that are often used interchangeably but technically have different meanings. The Evangelical Church of Germany is in its roots Protestant, and encompasses the three branches: united, reformed, and lutheran. Most people refer to the Evangelical church as “evangelisch“, “protestantisch“, or “lutherisch“.
Reformation Day in Germany
Reformationstag (Reformation Day) is celebrated in Germany, but not everywhere since not all of Germany is Protestant. In East Germany, Reformation Day has been an official holiday since the Reunification in 1990. In 2018, the four northern states (Schleswig-Holstein, Hamburg, Bremen, and Lower Saxony) also declared Reformation Day a holiday.
While the people in South Germany, which is predominately Catholic, do have to go to work and school on October 31st, they are off on Allerheiligen (All Saints’ Day) on November 1st.
When I was in school in the 80s (in Schleswig-Holstein), we did have school on the 31st though we didn’t really have classes but instead did projects that dealt with the Reformation and religion. You should know that religion (or a form of philosophy and ethics) is a subject in school in most states.
Martin Luther
But let’s start with the man who started the Reformation: Martin Luther (1483-1546). Later, I will also briefly touch upon other reform movements of the time like Zwinglianism, the Anabaptists, the Anglican Church, and Calvinism as well as the Counter-Reformation by the Catholic Church.
Martin Luther was born 1483 in Eisenach, Germany and originally studied law. He vowed to become a monk after he was caught in a thunderstorm on an open field and survived – at least that’s the story. In Erfurt he joined the Augustinian Hermits as a monk and subscribed to the monastic discipline. However, he was tortured by the question “What must I do to be saved?” and couldn’t find an answer even though he adhered religiously to discipline and confession. He found his conscience troubled and weak which is why he started studying theology.
After receiving his doctorate in theology in 1512 he became a professor at the University in Wittenberg. He was still trying to answer the question how people can be saved because he didn’t think that people could do enough good works to justify God’s grace. In Paul’s Epistle to the Romans he believed he found his answer: salvation came through faith alone. This went against the belief of the Catholic Church that a person needed to do good deeds and have faith in order to be saved.
Salvation through Indulgences
The pressure to do good and not commit any sins weighed heavily on people but luckily they could buy some absolution through indulgences. While the Catholic Church had been selling indulgences for some time, their effort was increased in 1517 when Pope Leo X wanted to finance the Saint Peter’s Basilica in Rome and needed money. Luther was distressed by this development since he didn’t believe that one could rely on a piece of paper to find salvation.
Indulgences were sold by traveling sales people, among them Johann Tetzel who was a Dominican friar and preacher. He led people to believe that paying now could save their dead loved ones from hell. And he even had his own little rhyme to go with his sales pitch.
“Sobald das Geld im Kasten klingt,
Die Seele in den Himmel springt.”
(As soon as the gold in the casket rings,
The rescued soul to heaven springs.)
Luther's 95 Theses
Indulgences were one of the points that Luther felt strongly about but there were other issues within the Catholic Church he wanted to address. He compiled them in 95 theses and published them. At first the pope didn’t take them seriously, but the theses were translated from Latin to German and spread quickly. It was helpful that printing presses were relatively common at the time. Around 1440 Johannes Gutenberg had not exactly invented the printing press but with the innovation of movable type it had become easier and faster to print pamphlets and books. While the majority of the common people couldn’t read or write, the ones who could were able to tell everybody what Luther’s theses said.
Luther’s theses are engraved into the door of All Saints’ Church, Wittenberg. The Latin inscription above informs the reader that the original door was destroyed by a fire, and that in 1857, King Frederick William IV of Prussia ordered a replacement be made.
By A.Savin (Wikimedia Commons · WikiPhotoSpace) – Own work, FAL, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=54520833
Luther and his theses were well received in Germany and gained enough traction to warrant a confrontation with Johann Eck, a representative of the Catholic Church. During this debate in 1519, Luther was basically forced to deny the papal authority, and while he didn’t want to break with the Catholic Church he acknowledged it since he believed he was doing God’s work.
He published more pamphlets whose main points were: the Catholic Church is holding back the true meaning of the Gospel, clergy should be allowed to marry and monasticism should be reformed, salvation comes through faith alone, and good works should be done out of gratitude.
Luther himself married Katharina von Bora, a former nun, and went on to have 6 kids, two of which died as babies. I have linked here the trailer and the movie “Katharina Luther” (Luther and I) and the documentary “Katharina von Bora” (Deutsch).
Portait of Katharina von Bora (oil on panel) by Lucas Cranach the Elder (1472-1553); Private Collection; Photo © Christie’s Images
Excommunication and Exile
In 1521, the Catholic Church excommuniated Luther, and Emperor Charles V asked him to appear before the Reichstag (the Imperial Diet of the Holy Roman Empire) in Worms. Luther was expected to recant all his heretical writings and doctrines, but he didn’t. It is believed that he said: “Hier stehe ich, ich kann nicht anders.” Here I stand, I can do no other.
Subsequently, he was declared a heretic and traitor.
On his way back from Worms, Luther got ‘kidnapped’ by Frederic III and taken to the Wartburg castle in Eisenach where he lived for two years as Junker Jörg and translated the New Testament from Greek into German. While there had been translations before, Luther’s was the one that most Germans, speaking so many different dialects, could understand. Luther wanted to write like the ‘normal’ people spoke; er hat dem Volk aufs Maul geschaut. (He looked at the common people’s muzzle/mouth.) His translation also helped form a standard for the written German language.
The new religion of Lutheranism or Protestantism quickly spread throughout Germany, the Baltics, and Scandinavia. While Luther believed that scripture should be the source of belief and not tradition and that people should be able to read the Bible themselves (priesthood of all believers), he did not agree with the peasants when they started a revolt in 1524/25 (The Peasants’ War). He sided instead with the princes which was disappointing to the peasants since they had drawn inspiration from Luther and his writings.
Other Reform Movements
Luther was not the only one in Europe who wanted to reform the church and did so. There were many movements that broke with the Catholic Church and founded their own new churches, the most well-known is probably the Anglican Church in England.
Anglican Church or Church of England
In 1529, Henry VIII wanted to divorce his first wife Catherine of Aragon. But of course, marriage is a sacrament and divorce is not an option in the Catholic Church. Pope Clement VII would have probably annulled Henry’s marriage however he was faced with a dilemma. Emperor Charles V had sacked Rome in 1527 and the pope was therefore dependent on Charles’ support and good graces. Annulling the marriage between Henry and Catherine would have been not in the pope’s best interest because Catherine was Emperor Charles’ aunt.
As a result Henry VIII founded a new church, the Church of England, and made himself the head of it. His daughter by Catherine, Mary, tried to restore Catholicism in England but failed though not without earning the nickname “Bloody Mary”.
Zwinglianism
In Switzerland, Ulrich Zwingli (1484-1531) took a very radical approach. He wanted music, images, relics, celibacy, monasticism, the pope’s authority, and the veneration of the saints abolished. While the Protestant churches nowadays are rather plain, especially compared to Catholic churches, Zwingli’s idea of a church went a couple steps further. He also thought that the state should supervise the church. In regards to the last supper, Zwingli understood the “This is my body and this is my blood” symbolically.
Anabaptism
Similar to the understanding of the Holy Communion of the Zwingli supporters, the Anabaptists in the Netherlands understood the Last Supper as a remembrance. They proposed the complete separation of church and state, were in favor of adult baptism, and generally wanted to live in the spirit of the early Christian church. While the Anabaptists were involved in an armed conflict in Münster they soon returned to their pacifist roots. This pacifism can still be seen in the beliefs of the Amish and the Mennonites, named after Menno Simons.
Calvinism
Johannes (John) Calvin mostly operated in Geneva and his beliefs were very close to Luther’s. However, he believed in predestination that the ‘elect’ will be saved, and the ‘reprobate’ will be damned. The later Calvinists thought they were the ones that would be saved and that they were the ones doing God’s work.
Consequences of the Reformation
No matter what your religion there is no denying that the Reformation changed the social and political make-up of Europe. The Peace of Augsburg of 1555, which ended the violent conflict between Protestants and Catholics, acknowledged Lutheranism as an official religion next to Catholicism. Any state prince could decide which denomination he wanted to subscribe to and anybody in his realm who didn’t agree could leave. (cuius regio, eius religio – whose region, his religion).
However, the conflict between Protestants and Catholics didn’t end in 1555 but continued to play a role throughout history. (Thirty Years’ War, Persecution of the Huegenots in France, Conflict in Northern Ireland to name a few)
Counter-Reformation
In the early years of the Reformation, the Catholic Church and Pope Paul III realized that the church needed to be reformed and eventually established the Council of Trent (1545-1563). Most of the traditions and views that Luther criticized were not changed but indulgences were no longer to be sold. Though good deeds and faith were both still required for salvation.
Generally speaking, during that time we can witness a revival of mysticism and monasticism. Old orders like the Benedictines and Augustinians were reformed, the Capuchins (a group of Franciscans) went back to the roots of Saint Francis of Assisi caring for the sick and the poor and preaching directly to the people.
The Jesuits, founded by Ignatius of Loyola, focused on missionary work in India, China, and Japan, establishing schools, and converting Protestants back to Catholicism. They were especially successful in Southern Germany and Poland which are both predominantly Catholic nowadays.
Social Impact
The more direct impact of the Reformation could be felt in family life and education. Since there were no more monasteries the option of becoming a nun was no longer available to women. Their only path now was marriage, and the family was regarded the center of human life with the husband being the ‘ruler’ of the household.
Because Protestants wanted the people to understand what was said in the Bible they furthered education and geared schools to a wider audience. Even girls were supposed to be educated, mostly in moral values (1525).
Humanist values (see Erasmus of Rotterdam and Thomas More) and methods were used in secondary schools and universities. The Gymnasium (secondary school) was introduced in Germany by Philipp Melanchthon (Teacher of Germany) to more students with a focus on liberal arts like Latin, Greek, philosophy, grammar, and theology. Interestingly, there are still a couple of humanist Gymnasien in Germany which teach Latin as the first foreign language.
Martin Luther the person has been the subject of many books and movies. The songs he wrote on the Wartburg castle, like Eine feste Burg ist unser Gott (A Mighty Fortress is Our God), are still sung in churches (see video). In 2017, for the 500th anniversary of the Reformation Playmobil, a German toy maker, produced a Playmobil figurine of Martin Luther.
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