CREEDE HINSHAW: Martin Luther’s influence still felt in church

Five-hundred years ago this Tuesday, Martin Luther nailed his Ninety-Five Theses to the church door in Wittenberg, Germany. I am sure he had no idea what he set in motion with his protest against the excesses of his church.

I have been reading selections from Luther this year in John Dillenberger’s “Martin Luther,” a 500-page book that contains barely a smidgen of the 130 volumes Luther wrote.

Luther was a captivating writer and thinker. Both disciples and detractors would probably agree that he could be abrasive, outrageous and over-the-top. But he captured the spirit of the day and identified severe excess of the church needing reformation.

If Luther were alive today, reporters and newscasters would seek him out for an incisive quote. He would probably be blogging.

Here are a few of Luther’s trenchant thoughts:

“… a godly man is dead unto the law like as he is dead unto sin, the devil, death and hell …” (Commentary on Galatians)

“Our faith in Christ does not free us from works, but from false opinions concerning works.” (Freedom of a Christian)

“A Christian is a perfectly free lord of all, subject to none. A Christian is a perfectly dutiful servant of all, subject to all.” (Freedom of a Christian)

“Faith is a living and unshakable confidence, a belief in the grace of Gold so assur3d that a man would die a thousand deaths for its sake.” (Preface to Romans)

“… therefore a man who neither knows or preaches the gospel is not a priest or a bishop, but only a nuisance in the church … they will be sons of eternal perdition.” (Pagan Servitude of the Church)

“A hundred thousand learned men are not as wise as one little hair of our God.” (Sermons on the Catechism: The Lord’s Supper)

“Don’t say: I am not fit today [to receive the Lord’s Supper], I will wait a little while. This is a trick of the devil. Say rather: neither preacher, prince, pope or emperor compels me, but my great need, and beyond this, the benefit.” (Sermons on the Catechism: The Lord’s Supper)

“We conclude, therefore, that a Christian lives not in himself but in Christ and in his neighbor. Otherwise he is not a Christian. He lives in Christ through faith, in his neighbor through love.” (Freedom of a Christian)

“The fact is that our baptism consecrates us all without exception, and makes us all priests. … It follows that, if needs be, anyone may baptize or pronounce absolution, an impossible situation if we were not all priests.” (An Appeal to the Ruling Class of German Nationality as to the Amelioration of the State of Christendom)

“The Romanists traffic in livings [indulgences, etc.] more disgracefully than the Gentiles under the cross trafficked with Christ’s garments.” (An Appeal to the Ruling Class …)

“All those who believe themselves certain of their own salvation by means of letters of indulgence, will be eternally damned, together with their teachers.” (Ninety-Five Theses, Article 34)

“… whoever has faith will have everything and whoever does not have faith will have nothing.” (Freedom of a Christian)

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