Luther and the Ignorant Gentlemen at Rome

We have a lot of differences with the German Reformer Martin Luther, but one of the things that we respect and appreciate from his life is his boldness for the truth as he saw it. He didn’t mess around and mince words. He was not a religious politician. He imitated Bible prophets such as Enoch (Jude 14-15) in his earnest contention for the faith. We need a lot more of this today. Here is a man who lived in a day when protest against Rome could mean imprisonment, frightful torture, even burning alive, but he could not be quieted. He nailed his protest against the pope’s indulgences to the door of a major Catholic Church. He stood before the pope’s men at the Diet of Worms and refused to back down, saying, “I cannot submit my faith either to the pope or to the councils, because it is as clear as day that they have frequently erred and contradicted each other. Unless therefore I am convinced by the testimony of Scripture, or by the clearest reasoning, and unless they thus render my conscience bound by the word of God, I cannot and I will not retract, for it is unsafe for a Christian to speak against his conscience. Here I take my stand; I cannot do otherwise: may God be my help!” Speaking of the right of the individual Christian to interpret the Bible, Luther wrote, “The Romanists profess to be the only interpreter of Scripture, even though they never learn anything contained in it their lives long. They claim authority for themselves alone, juggle with words shamelessly before our eyes, saying that the pope cannot err as to the faith, whether he be bad or good; although they cannot quote a single letter of Scripture to support their claim. Thus it comes about that so many heretical, unchristian, and even unnatural laws are contained in the canon law. ... In such a case, what is the need or the value of Holy Scripture? Let it be burned, and let us be content with the ignorant gentlemen at Rome” (Luther, Appeal to the Ruling Class).

(Friday Church News Notes, March 11, 2016, www.wayoflife.org, fbns@wayoflife.org, 866-295-4143)

---