The story of Martin Luther, famous theological reformer and perhaps the first so-called apostate of the Catholic Church is fascinating.  Here’s a brief summary of him from Wikipedia:

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Martin Luther (Born 11/10/1483, Died 2/18/1546) was a German priest and professor of theology who initiated the Protestant Reformation. He strongly disputed the claim that freedom from God’s punishment of sin could be purchased with money. He confronted indulgence salesman Johann Tetzel with his Ninety-Five Theses in 1517. His refusal to retract all of his writings at the demand of Pope Leo X in 1520 and the Holy Roman Emperor Charles V at the Diet of Worms in 1521 resulted in his excommunication by the pope and condemnation as an outlaw by the emperor.

Luther taught that salvation is not earned by good deeds but received only as a free gift of God’s grace through faith in Jesus as redeemer from sin. His theology challenged the authority of the pope of the Roman Catholic Church by teaching that the Bible is the only source of divinely revealed knowledge and opposed sacerdotalism by considering all baptized Christians to be a holy priesthood…

His translation of the Bible into the language of the people (instead of Latin) made it more accessible, causing a tremendous impact on the church and on German culture. It fostered the development of a standard version of the German language, added several principles to the art of translation, and influenced the translation into English of the King James Bible. His hymns influenced the development of singing in churches. His marriage to Katharina von Bora set a model for the practice of clerical marriage, allowing Protestant priests to marry.

In his later years, Luther became strongly antisemitic, writing that Jewish homes should be destroyed, their synagogues burned, money confiscated and liberty curtailed. These statements have contributed to his controversial status.

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Right away we see that he must have been a man of tremendous courage. Luther wasn’t perfect, and he didn’t have all the answers. But the point is that he shares many qualities that we ourselves do. He strove to set himself free from the yoke of an authoritarian, legalistic church. Do we not also yearn for Christian freedom as Jesus said in John 8:32? We want to be “set free” from oppressive and overbearing men that regulate our conscience and “teach commands of men as doctrines”! (Matthew 15:9) Watch this re-enactment of that fateful day when he stood up to these leaders:

 

 

Do we pray daily for our Father Jehovah to set things right? Do we pray that we can have the strength to take our stand and do it in the proper way? In the beginning our “stand” may be as small as searching out and studying material based on our Bible-trained conscience. Staying in “stealth mode” takes strength and courage too and we may do it to keep our family together, patiently waiting on Jehovah and enduring. Or we may feel a deep need in our heart to do more, and get out and even speak out. God’s Holy Spirit can comfort us:

But the helper, the holy spirit, which the Father will send in my name, that one will teach YOU all things and bring back to YOUR minds all the things I told YOU. (John 14:26)

And it can also impel us to action. It is God’s active force, his Power. When you watch a video like that and meditate and think upon what Martin Luther did as a sincere Christian Witness and lover of Christ, does it not make your heart swell? In the year 1517 he literally nailed his “95 Theses of Contention” to the door of the Wittenberg Church. Talk about “apostate” literature! He was exiled in the months following the Diet of Worms Council in 1521 (which was designed to martyr him) and went on to translate the Greek Scriptures into German and publish it in September of 1522. Luther also published a German Pentateuch (First five books of the Hebrew Scriptures) in 1523, and another edition of the German New Testament in 1529. In the 1530’s he would go on to publish the entire Bible in German. His courage and his conviction has reverberated down through many centuries and reached all of us. May it touch our hearts. May it buoy us up and encourage us to follow our Christian course and conscience, and to pick up our own “torture stake”. (Luke 9:23) May his example strengthen all of us as we walk the “narrow path that leads to life” (Matthew 7:13,14) and press on to maturity as Christian lovers of Truth.

 

 

 

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18 Comments on Martin Luther – A Brave Christian

  1. andrew says:

    I agree JJ, examples like Martin Luther inspire us to become more courageous than we sometimes feel.

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  2. greybeard says:

    Good job JJ! I never really knew that much about Martin Luther but now I do thanks to this post. As you pointed out, It to bad he had antisemitic views and made those statements regarding the Jews. It just shows how a person with such vast knowledge can miss the entire point of Christ namely love and forgiveness. His statements could have very well had a huge impact on the thinking that lead to the holocaust. He wrote a book called “On Jews and their lies” and this impacted Protestant Christianity greatly.
    More on that here: http://www.awitness.org/books/luther/

    This just shows us that no matter how good a human/man can seam he is still capable of terrible evil. That is why we are told to trust no man. Not even the self appointed men like the GB/FDS who are no different that Martin Luther when it comes to judging others. They believe everyone except JW’s on this earth shall be destroyed.

    Your brother,
    Greybeard

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    • bruceguth says:

      It is important…that you “keep testing whether you are in the faith,” as Paul declared. Keep checking to see whether the things you believe are in keeping with
      God’s Word. But the question is, Are you willing to put your religion through such a test? There is nothing to fear, because if you have the right religion you can only be reassured by the examination. And if what you believe is not in keeping with the Bible, then you should welcome the truth, because it leads to light and life.
      ─Watchtower, May 1, 1958 p.261; Is Your Religion the Right One?

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  3. DannyH says:

    Luther was not perfect, that’s true Greybeard. But to overemphasize his mistake, and underemphasize the fact that he stood up to the Catholic church is kinda weird.

    That video made me want to stand up and get DFed again! The rank and file JW can do the right thing, and they can look at Luther and see that he was made of strong stuff and relied on Jehovah God.

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    • greybeard says:

      DannyH? Are you a newbie here or someone in disguise? Hmmmmm…

      I guess I’m just a weird guy… The point I was trying to make was clear I think. No matter how good man might seam he is still capable of evil. It wasn’t me that pointed this out:

      “In his later years, Luther became strongly antisemitic, writing that Jewish homes should be destroyed, their synagogues burned, money confiscated and liberty curtailed. These statements have contributed to his controversial status.”

      I never knew about it until I read this article. Sorry but that struck me just as hard as the other facts. For him to ask for liberty and justice and then rob liberty and justice from people based on RACE is deplorable in my book. It is down right hypocritical. A man can do wonderful things in his life but I think it was the apostle Paul that said, “he that endures to the end will be saved.” Yes he did give a truly fine example of standing up to the Catholic Church. I do not deny that at all. I did however wonder where Hitler got his strong hatred for the Jews from and now I know. From the man that translated the Bible into German. It wasn’t a “mistake” like a typo but rather a “mistake” that lead to the murder of thousands of innocent people.

      I apologize for my “weird” observation. I tell it like I see it.

      The way I see it is OJ Simpson could be used as a great example of a football player with courage and maybe at one time a good example of a human being. But now is he a great example of a human being? No he is not, but I think he still has courage.

      TMHO,
      Your weird bro,
      Greybeard

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      • Dennis says:

        GB,

        I agree. That’s one of the reasons I have problems refering to the commentary by John Calvin because I can’t seperate the man from his crimes.

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        • Dennis says:

          Dennis:
          GB,

          I agree. That’s one of the reasons I have problems refering to the commentary by John Calvin because I can’t seperate the man from his crimes.

          Oh, I almost forgot. I agree you are weird too. LOL

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        • greybeard says:

          Hi Dennis,

          Thanks, me too,
          I get the feeling DannyH thinks I’m trying to “one up” or “cap” on JJ but I’m not. Like I said, I think he did a great job on the article! That’s why I come here! There is good we’ll thought out articles on this site! I happen to be the type of person that voices his opinion no matter who writes what. I have a good friendship with JJ and he knows how I am. I speak off the cuff and many times I step on toes because of my out spoken big mouth. JJ has actually had to remove some of my statements on this forum and I didn’t like it at the time but now looking back I am very happy he did. I said many things to get a reaction because I am searching for truth. I put things on the table. Nothing i say in here is personal. But it’s true, sometimes I’m weird I guess. As far as remembering people I think LOVE should be the number one criteria. There is a scripture that says if we have many gifts and talents but do not have love we are nothing. So I just want to tell everyone on this forum I LOVE YOU ALL VERY MUCH.

          Please forgive me if I’m “weird” I’m working on it…
          Your brother,
          Weirdbeard

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  4. LonelySheep says:

    What has become of the Protestant movement?

    It is now splintered into thousands of bickering groups, each as authoritarian as the yoke the Catholic Church burdened men with.

    That for me sends a warning. However well intentioned and courageous our efforts may be, if it is not Jehovah’s time to act we will not prevail (Psalm 127:1)

    So whilst the courage of Luther is to be admired, never may we be caught in a fervour that would impel us to set up our own kind of reformation movement, as some have. We must wait for the Lord of all the earth, Jesus Christ to take care of things.

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    • rus virgil says:

      –“What has become of the Protestant movement?”

      What do you think will become “Jehovah’s witness” ?

      In a short time you will have the answer !

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      • rus virgil says:

        I said incomplete…
        What do you think will become “Jehovah’s witnesses” movement ?

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        • Amos says:

          To answer Rus, I believe that both these movements will be vanquished at Jehovah’s direction in the near future!

          I believe that we all should read, “Foxes’ Book Of Martyres”, it will just show exactly what a follower of the Lord should be prepared to do, lay down their life for the truth.

          BTW, Good work JJ.

          Amos

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          • DanielB says:

            The tree of Jesus’ illustration includes many branches and birds. Jehovah’s Witnesses are found there. The call to get out of Babylon is still future, and coming up.

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    • Laurie says:

      LonelySheep:
      What has become of the Protestant movement?

      It is now splintered into thousands of bickering groups, each as authoritarian as the yoke the Catholic Church burdened men with.

      As I assume you are JW I’m not surprised you don’t see what the “protestant movement” is. There is no condemnation for changing denominations as a “protestant.” I was blessed to grow up in a non denominational church. I’m a “Christian” aside from whatever denomination church I decide to go to.

      The non JW world really isn’t always like it looks from inside the Kingdom Hall.

      (I’m a christian with a fading JW friend)

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  5. pollywog says:

    My favourite Luther quote:–“if I but fart in Wittenburg the pope in Rome is THE FIRST TO SMELL IT!” –so whats happening in Warwick, N.Y.???

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  6. Bru says:

    In some respects Luther and Jehovah’s Witnesses share a similar development. What starts out as a benign International Bible Students Association becomes the “Organization”-the very thing old time Witnesses carried placards denouncing-Organized Religion is a Snare and a Racket. Luther leaves the Catholic Church to follow his conscience and then insists on a theology that condemns all who disagree and ends up serving the Devils purposes in sowing seeds of Anti-Semitism that is found in the writings of Nazi’s (Lutheran) Germany. Both are poor examples and not worthy of being followed.

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  7. Rupunzelsawake says:

    Very good point Bru! I could’ve used this at my judicial meeting last week, when “association” verses “organisation” were under discussion! Dam!

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