CHURCH HISTORY II Lesson 3 Martin Luther, Part 2

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CHURCH HISTORY IILesson 3 Martin Luther, Part 2
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Human life without the knowledge of history is
nothing other than a perpetual childhood nay, a
permanent obscurity and darkness
Philip Melanchthon
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Ancient Church History
Medieval Church History
Modern Church History
The Reformation of the sixteenth century is,
next to the introduction of Christianity, the
greatest event in history. It marks the end of
the Middle Ages and the beginning of modern
times. Starting from religion, it gave, directly
or indirectly, a mighty impulse to every forward
movement, and made Protestantism the chief
propelling force in the history of modern
civilization Philip Schaff, vol. VII, p.1
Who was the most important figure in the
Reformation?
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The Essential Martin Luther

• Luther the Theologian
• Luther the husband
• Luther the author
• Luther the Pastor
• Luther the hymn writer

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Into what kind of world was Martin Luther born?
facere quod in se est
Medieval/scholastic theology
To do what lies within you to do your very best
"There are three things I know to be true that
frequently make my heart heavy. The first
troubles my spirit, because I will have to die.
The second troubles my heart more, because I do
not know when. The third troubles me above all. I
do not know where I will go" Dietrich Kolde
Mirror of the Christian Man
Three important words in Catholic
theology Penance
Purgatory
Indulgence
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Where did Luther find peace?
sola scriptura
Deliver me in your righteousness, and cause me
to escape Ps 712
I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, for it
is the power of God to salvation for everyone who
believes, for the Jew first and also for the
Greek. For in it the righteousness of God is
revealed from faith to faith as it is written,
The just shall live by faith. Rom 1 16-17
By the one solid rock we call the doctrine of
justification by faith alone, we mean that we are
redeemed from sin, death and the devil, and are
made partakers of life eternal, not by self help
but by outside help namely by the work of the
only begotten Son of God, Jesus Christ alone.
sola fide
sola gratia
sola Christus
sola scriptura
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John von Staupitz
As a young man I made myself familiar with the
Bible by reading it again and again I came to
know my way about in it
I had then already read and taught the sacred
Scriptures most diligently privately and publicly
for seven years, so that I knew them nearly all
by memory
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Where did this attraction for the Bible come from?
Expected an answer
There was joy in the discovery
The Bible is the proper book for men. There the
truth is distinguished from error far more
clearly than anywhere else, and one finds
something new in it every day. For twenty-eight
years, since I became a doctor, I have now
constantly read and preached the Bible and yet I
have not exhausted it but find something new in
it every day
You should diligently learn the Word of God and
by no means imagine that you know it. Let him who
is able to read take a psalm in the morning, or
some other chapter of Scripture, and study it for
a whileI do this only to keep myself well
acquainted with these matters, and I do not want
to let the mildew of the notion grow that I know
them well enough.
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Here John 539,40,43 Christ would indicate the
principal reason why the Scripture was given by
God. Men are to study and search in it and to
learn that He, He, Mary's Son, is the one who is
able to give eternal life to all who come to Him
and believe in Him. Therefore, he who would
correctly and profitably read Scripture should
see to it that he finds Christ in it then he
finds life eternal without fail
If we are to understand Luthers continuing
appeal it must be with his theology that we begin
and enc Jaroslav Pelikan NYT Sunday Magazine
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Luther the Husband
Catherine Bora
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Luther the Author
1520-1530 one third of all books printed in
German came from his pen!
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Luther the Pastor
It is not necessary for a preacher to express all
his thoughts in one sermon. A preacher should
have three principles first, to make a good
beginning, and not spend time with many words
before coming to the point secondly, to say
that which belongs to the subject in chief, and
avoid strange and foreign thoughts thirdly, to
stop at the proper time
When I preach I regard neither doctors nor
magistrates, of whom I have above forty in my
congregation I have all my eyes on the servant
maids and on the children. And if the learned
men are not well please with what they hear,
well, the door is open
The priesthood of all believers
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Luther the hymn writer
The devil should not be allowed to keep all the
best tunes to himself!
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Scholarly teacher
Irenic reformer
Timid and fearful
Skillful theologian
Loci Communes (1521)
Augsburg Confession (1530)
Philip Melanchthon 1497-1560
Theological shifts
synergism
Lords Supper
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There are elusive elements in Philip
Melanchthon. Occasionally he perplexed his
contemporaries, and sometimes he disappointed his
friends. It is scarcely surprising that, now and
then, he is an enigma to us. We are drawn to
him irresistibly we feel his singular
graciousness and attraction but we are not
certain that in every instance, we can appreciate
his motives or interpret his mind
Alexander Smellie (The
Reformation in its Literature, 96).
the grass withers and the flower fades, but the
word of our God shall stand forever (Isaiah 408)
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