All of us have been through those times when some protective shelter like this looks mighty good . .
. . . but what do you do when all the places like that are owned by people who would as soon wipe you out as look at you?
This was the problem facing a German monk by the name of Martin Luther in 1517 as he walked with his ninety-five theses up to the door of that Roman Catholic Church in Wittenberg, Germany. Today it is hard for us to understand what he was risking as he posted his arguments and demands for reformation of the church. Modern Christians in the Western world have a large choice of denominations to choose from if one denomination has become hateful -- and, when people change denominations, nobody in the government comes looking for them to punish them.
But in Luther's day, the Roman Catholic Church was the most powerful temporal force on earth; the pope gave orders to kings and armies and they moved -- and opposing the church usually meant the charge of heresy attached and horrible death imposed. To change churches was next to impossible; of course the Eastern Orthodox churches were over the eastern horizons, and further still over the horizons were the Coptic churches of Africa, and long-standing Christian faith in the Far East. But for Luther, those were not viable options. He wanted change in his church, in his country, NOW. The basis of the argument: was salvation gained by faith in Christ and what He achieved in His death, burial, and resurrection, or did good works and penances needed to be added (and, could "indulgences" be purchased to make up for absence of penance and good works)?
Luther pitted himself against the combined might of the church and state on the belief, drawn from a intense study of Scripture, that faith in Christ alone was sufficient for salvation, and that much of the ceremony and ritual that had been built up over a millennia in the Roman Catholic Church was inessential to the faith. Bear in mind also; Luther was a Catholic priest himself -- he was to be considered a traitor to his own church, a heretic, an outlaw, and a man marked for death. And of course, all the places like this --
-- were controlled by those who would become his deadliest enemies.
Of course we know how the story turns out; Luther sparked the Reformation, and lived to tell about it. But, there was a point in the terrible struggle that he underwent in which he despaired. Woodrow Kroll of Back to the Bible Radio told the story on March 31, 2010 of how Luther sank into a deep depression, and how his wife Katherine got him out of it. One day, Luther came home to find his wife dressed in black funeral clothes. When he asked who had died, she answered him, "The way you've been acting lately, God Himself must be dead!" That snapped Luther out of his depression, and perhaps was the spark that got his pen in gear. In 1529, Luther penned both words and music to "Ein' Feste Burg Ist Unser Gott," which of course we know as "A Mighty Fortress Is Our God":
Verse 1:
A mighty fortress is our God, a bulwark never failing;
Our helper He, amid the flood of mortal ills prevailing:
For still our ancient foe doth seek to work us woe;
His craft and power are great, and, armed with cruel hate,
On earth is not his equal.
Luther had made an intense study of the Bible; perhaps he was thinking of Psalm 18:1-3:
1. I will love Thee, O LORD, my strength.
2. The LORD is my rock, and my fortress, and my deliverer; my God, my strength, in Whom I will trust; my buckler, and the horn of my salvation, and my high tower.
3. I will call upon the Lord, Who is worthy to be praised: so shall I be saved from mine enemies.
Now Luther had no illusions; despite the way his former denomination had treated him, he also knew that his major enemy was not the people:
I Peter 5:8 -- Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour.
But Luther was also confident . . .
I Corinithians 15:57 -- But thanks be to God, which giveth us the victory thorugh our Lord Jesus Christ.
Verse 2
Did we in our own strength confide, our striving would be losing;
Were not the right Man on our side, the Man of God's own choosing:
Dost ask who that may be? Christ Jesus, it is He;
Lord Sabaoth, His Name, from age to age the same,
And He must win the battle.
So although Luther couldn't quite buy himself one of these . . .
. . . he trusted in his Saviour, and left us "A Mighty Fortress Is Our God" to remind us that
Psalm 46:1 -- "God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble."
Ehrenbreitstein Felsentor (German Fortress) from Doris Antony
and Wikimedia Commons
. . . but what do you do when all the places like that are owned by people who would as soon wipe you out as look at you?
This was the problem facing a German monk by the name of Martin Luther in 1517 as he walked with his ninety-five theses up to the door of that Roman Catholic Church in Wittenberg, Germany. Today it is hard for us to understand what he was risking as he posted his arguments and demands for reformation of the church. Modern Christians in the Western world have a large choice of denominations to choose from if one denomination has become hateful -- and, when people change denominations, nobody in the government comes looking for them to punish them.
But in Luther's day, the Roman Catholic Church was the most powerful temporal force on earth; the pope gave orders to kings and armies and they moved -- and opposing the church usually meant the charge of heresy attached and horrible death imposed. To change churches was next to impossible; of course the Eastern Orthodox churches were over the eastern horizons, and further still over the horizons were the Coptic churches of Africa, and long-standing Christian faith in the Far East. But for Luther, those were not viable options. He wanted change in his church, in his country, NOW. The basis of the argument: was salvation gained by faith in Christ and what He achieved in His death, burial, and resurrection, or did good works and penances needed to be added (and, could "indulgences" be purchased to make up for absence of penance and good works)?
Luther pitted himself against the combined might of the church and state on the belief, drawn from a intense study of Scripture, that faith in Christ alone was sufficient for salvation, and that much of the ceremony and ritual that had been built up over a millennia in the Roman Catholic Church was inessential to the faith. Bear in mind also; Luther was a Catholic priest himself -- he was to be considered a traitor to his own church, a heretic, an outlaw, and a man marked for death. And of course, all the places like this --
Festung Koenigstein (German Fortress) from Norbert Kaiser
and Wikimedia Commons_2006-03-25.jpg)
-- were controlled by those who would become his deadliest enemies.
Of course we know how the story turns out; Luther sparked the Reformation, and lived to tell about it. But, there was a point in the terrible struggle that he underwent in which he despaired. Woodrow Kroll of Back to the Bible Radio told the story on March 31, 2010 of how Luther sank into a deep depression, and how his wife Katherine got him out of it. One day, Luther came home to find his wife dressed in black funeral clothes. When he asked who had died, she answered him, "The way you've been acting lately, God Himself must be dead!" That snapped Luther out of his depression, and perhaps was the spark that got his pen in gear. In 1529, Luther penned both words and music to "Ein' Feste Burg Ist Unser Gott," which of course we know as "A Mighty Fortress Is Our God":
Verse 1:
A mighty fortress is our God, a bulwark never failing;
Our helper He, amid the flood of mortal ills prevailing:
For still our ancient foe doth seek to work us woe;
His craft and power are great, and, armed with cruel hate,
On earth is not his equal.
Luther had made an intense study of the Bible; perhaps he was thinking of Psalm 18:1-3:
1. I will love Thee, O LORD, my strength.
2. The LORD is my rock, and my fortress, and my deliverer; my God, my strength, in Whom I will trust; my buckler, and the horn of my salvation, and my high tower.
3. I will call upon the Lord, Who is worthy to be praised: so shall I be saved from mine enemies.
Now Luther had no illusions; despite the way his former denomination had treated him, he also knew that his major enemy was not the people:
I Peter 5:8 -- Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour.
But Luther was also confident . . .
I Corinithians 15:57 -- But thanks be to God, which giveth us the victory thorugh our Lord Jesus Christ.
Verse 2
Did we in our own strength confide, our striving would be losing;
Were not the right Man on our side, the Man of God's own choosing:
Dost ask who that may be? Christ Jesus, it is He;
Lord Sabaoth, His Name, from age to age the same,
And He must win the battle.
So although Luther couldn't quite buy himself one of these . . .
Schoessertum Stolpen (German Fortress) from Thomas Henkel (Hen.th)
and Wikimedia Commons
. . . he trusted in his Saviour, and left us "A Mighty Fortress Is Our God" to remind us that
Psalm 46:1 -- "God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble."
Read more here:
With thanks.
Regards,
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