CREEDE HINSHAW: Martin Luther’s impact 500 years later

Five hundred years ago this Oct. 31, the 33-year-old Catholic priest, church reformer, university scholar, theologian, Bible translator and courageous protestor Martin Luther posted his 95 Theses on the church door in Wittenberg, Germany, thereby unleashing the first salvo in a religious reformation that eventually formed Protestantism.

It is impossible to overestimate the formative role this man had in the course of world history.

In anticipation of this 500th anniversary, I have spent much of the year reading Luther’s writings from John Dillenberger’s “Martin Luther: Selections from His Writings.” Dillenberger’s volume, more than 500 pages of small print, covers a representative sampling of Luther’s work.

Nobody is going to read everything Luther wrote. In German, you can read his entire collection: 121 volumes, 80,000 pages. This collection, taking publishers 125 years to complete, includes his German translation of the Bible.

If you prefer English, you can find Luther’s Works in 55 volumes, a project taking 30 years to publish. There are also 18 volumes of Martin Luther’s letters. In addition, there are his commentaries, sermons, an autobiography, a volume of his hymns and collections of his Table Talks, consisting of lectures he gave to his students.

If you are more interested in reading about Luther than reading his writing, your choices are broad. One of the most highly acclaimed and recent biographies has been written by Oxford University’s Lyndal Roper. Titled “Martin Luther,” it is 540 pages long. I have only read a review of this book, but it appears that the book would be a highly profitable read.

If you want to browse other books, I recommend checking out an annotated “A Reformation Anniversary Reading List,” provided on the Religious News Service website. (Readers of this column know that I often dip into the news stories provided by this comprehensive and balanced news source.) This Luther list includes everything from children’s books to a biography of the runaway nun Katerina, who became Luther’s wife.

If you prefer a more comprehensive reading list, type Luther’s name into your search engine. Half a millennium after his death, you can find every sort of book imaginable, prices ranging from 99 cents to $4,000.

The internet also offers enough Luther memorabilia to tempt you to start your own protest movement. If I were making a purchase, I’d go with the T-shirt emblazoned with Luther’s portrait and these words: Luther Nailed It.

There is increasing agreement nowadays between Lutherans and Catholics. A 1999 joint declaration of the Roman Catholic Church and the World Lutheran Federation effectively ended the “faith versus works” debate in a 44-paragraph document including this statement:

“By grace alone, in faith in Christ’s saving work and not because of any merit on our part, we are accepted by God and receive the Holy Spirit, who renews our hearts while equipping us and calling us to good works.”

It took almost 500 years for church leaders to agree on their statement. I will write more next week about Luther.

Contact Creede Hinshaw, a retired Methodist minister, at [email protected].