The Indulgence Controversy
Luther's personal “discovery” that we are saved by grace through faith in Christ would probably have gone unnoticed if it had not flown smack dab in the face of one of the church's biggest money-makers in those days: the selling of indulgences.
Indulgences were declarations signed by the pope. They gave assurance to whoever purchased them that, if they were truly sorry and properly confessed their sins to a priest, then by their “gift” of money to the church they had made a sufficient “satisfaction” for their sins. That is, they had done an adequate good deed to demonstrate the true sincerity of their sorrow.
Supposedly, the indulgence they purchased would shorten their time in “purgatory” and get them to heaven sooner. Although not mentioned in the bible or preaching of Jesus, the church of the middle ages developed “purgatory” as a preliminary place that most Christians had to go before they were “purged” or “pure” enough to go to heaven. In the thinking of the time, most Christians would be there thousands, if not millions, of years.
Indulgences raised millions of dollars for the pope and church leaders. And the church needed lots of money, especially for the rebuilding of Saint Peter's Cathedral in Rome and for the ongoing war against the Muslims.
One of the worst uses of indulgences occurred near Wittenberg (where Luther was teaching) through a man named John Tetzel. He sold indulgences not only to believers for this life but also for their friends and relatives who were already dead and supposedly in purgatory. Tetzel said in a little jingle, “When a coin in the coffer rings, a soul from purgatory springs.”
The 95 Theses (or Debating Points)
Luther was appalled by indulgences. He read nothing about them in the bible. And it seemed to him to be the selling of forgiveness for money. This went totally against his “discovery” that forgiveness is free and we are saved by our faith in Christ.
He also thought indulgences robbed the poor German people from their money and gave it the rich of other countries to beautify their cities. And he felt it gave those who bought indulgences a false sense of security. They mistakenly thought that they did not need to worry about their spiritual condition and put their trust in the cross of Christ. They thought they already adequately paid theirway to heaven.
And so, Luther wrote 95 Theses (or debating points) to challenge the selling of indulgences. He felt this was his duty as a professor of his theology. Legend has it that he nailed them to the door of the Wittenberg Castle Church on October 31, 1517 because doors like that were often the place for public notices before the days of newspapers, radios and television. Consequently, Halloween (All Hallow's Eve or the evening before All Saints' Day) is “Reformation Day” for many Lutherans.
In any case, they spread like wild fire. Local publishers translated them from Latin (the language of scholarly debate) into German (the language of the people). And thanks to Guttenberg's recent discovery of movable type for the printing press, what Luther wrote was widely distributed. Many Germans agreed with what Luther said. The sale of indulgences were reduced dramatically. And the sale of other writings by Luther went up. Thus, a serious struggle between Luther and the papal church began. At one point, a third of everything in print was written by Martin Luther.
Rome Responds
Through various representatives, the pope in Rome (Leo X) ordered Luther to “recant,” that is, admit his error and take back what he had written. After all, who was he, a common, German monk, to challenge the pope, the chief representative of Christ on earth. But Luther refused unless he could be shown his error from the Scriptures. No longer was the issue just indulgences, but rather the authority of the pope and many other questionable teachings of the medieval Roman Catholic church.
Finally, the pope issued a “papal bull“ (an official pronouncement) declaring Luther a “heretic” (a false teacher in the church) and “excommunicating” him (kicking him out of the church) unless he immediately recanted and ordered that all of Luther's writings across the land be burned. Luther responded by burning the papal bull. Some of his friends and students also threw books of canon (church) law in the fire as a sign of breaking from papal decrees and depending only on the Scriptures.
The Diet at Worms
The pope wanted Luther to be sent to Rome to stand trial. But, instead, his powerful prince and protector, Frederick the Wise, arranged a hearing before the emperor, Charles V, at the Diet (imperial meeting) of Worms (pronounced “Vorms”) in 1521.
Luther was given one last chance to admit his error and take everything he had written back. But Luther said, “Unless I am convinced by Scripture and plain reason...I cannot and I will not recant anything, for to go against one's conscience is neither right nor safe. God help me. Amen.”
The emperor declared Luther an “outlaw” (a civil offense) in addition to being a “heretic“ (a religious offense). Once he was declared an outlaw, Luther could be arrested and killed by anyone. The same could also happen to anyone who helped him. But, because the emperor had promised Luther “safe conduct” in order to get him to the Diet at Worms, the emperor had to let him go as a free man for at least 30 days.
Luther at the Wartburg
On his way back to Wittenberg, Luther was “kidnapped” by his friends and taken for his safe-keeping to one of Prince Frederick's castles called “Wartburg” until things could cool down. This had to happen secretly because anyone who helped Luther would become an outlaw, too. Luther was told to grow a beard and dress like a knight. His Wartburg keepers gave him the name “Junker (Knight) George.”
While at the Wartburg Luther wrote a series of sermons on the Christmas story and began translating the bible into the German language so that the princes and common people could read the bible and judge for themselves the truth of what he was saying.
It was his experience of protection at Wartburg that inspired Luther to write the famous hymn of the reformation, “A Mighty Fortress is our God.”