With Halloween Reformation Day right around the corner, here’s an interesting post about moments of spiritual doubt and frustration in Martin Luther’s life. While we usually focus on Luther’s epic theological contributions, it’s easy to overlook the fact that, far from being an unearthly saint who lived a blessed life, Luther struggled for years with depression, arthritis, and other painful ailments:
Luther recovered [from health problems that nearly killed him], but his physical condition continued only to become worse from this point. This physical weakness brought on serious bouts of depression. This melancholy would accompany Luther throughout his life. As he struggled with failing health, he would at times wish for death to release him from the pain brought on by intense headaches, dizziness, arthritis, digestion problems, infections, and uric acid stones, to name only some of his maladies. In his pain, he questioned whether or not God had abandoned him. [...]Some may be surprised to read these words by Luther. How could a man who stood alone against the Catholic Church and Roman Empire show such a lack of faith?
The point, as the post suggests, is that it’s not realistic to imagine that Luther (or any other Christian “hero”) was an unshakable pillar of faith every moment of every day. I’m reminded of the widespread buzz earlier this year when it was learned that Mother Teresa experienced moments of (gasp!) doubt and frustration as well. It’s worth remembering that even the most devout life of Christian service will not magically transform one into a perfect person. And that God can bring about mighty, world-changing good through the lives of humans who are flawed, imperfect, and, well, human.
And while we’re talking about humanizing Luther and his fellow Reformers, the Internet Monk has a recent post up suggesting that Protestants step back and adopt a more nuanced, realistic view of the Reformation. He makes some good points. But don’t let that stop you from donning your Martin Luther costume this week and trick-or-treating teaching the kids at Sunday school about the great minds of the Reformation.
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October 30, 2007 at 18:05
I think that as imperfect humans,we are constantly struggling with our faith.We are already saved if we believe in the saving grace of Jesus but we fight,daily,with unrelenting attacks from evil.If we fall,and we always do,then we run to the bosom of our Father. We are assured of Jesus’ advocating on our behalf and this the best news that we can have.
October 30, 2007 at 19:15
Hi,thank you for the opportunity to voice my reply. I can really identify with this article.I was involved in many forms of the Occult before being delivered by the grace of GOD. I know Halloween from the Occult side. I was overjoyed to find out the GOD had lead Martin Luther to nail his 95 tenets on the church`s door on the 31st of October. I am well aware of the phrase “Christians aren`t perfect just forgiven!” “The spirit is willing but the flesh is weak.” Martin Luther is a great example how God qualifies the called despite his weakness.
November 2, 2007 at 02:32
My question is, “How bad do you have to be before you are seen as a Hitler instead of a Martin Luther?” Martin Luther recommended many of the policies that Hitler carried out against the Jews. You can read a summary Martin Luther’s solutions in his book called “On the Jews and Their Lies” in the following link.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/On_the_Jews_and_Their_Lies
Martin Luther also practiced witch hunting and was personally responsible for at least 4 so called witches being burnt at the stake in Wittenberg.
“Luther, in his 1522 sermon, charged the “witches” with a litany of supernatural behaviors, including transformation into different animals, accusations which, to the rationally thinking mind, would be ludicrous indeed.” He certainly did not witness these things first hand.
In our day he would certainly be seen more like a violent Fred Phelps of the Westboro Baptist Church who is hardly seen as a great interpreter of the Bible even though he holds many views mainstream Christians would agree with.
What makes Martin Luther, a confirmed anti-Semetic and witch hunter, great and Fred Phelps, a confirmed anti-Semetic and gay basher, a bigot and nut case?
November 2, 2007 at 16:05
Re: “What makes Martin Luther, a confirmed anti-Semetic and witch hunter, great…?”
I daresay Martin Luther would fight tooth and nail to NOT be called great.
Luther had the doctrine of salvation by grace through faith correct, and when placed in its proper historical context, this acheivement WAS truly monumental. When placed in today’s feel-good about yourself, save yourself by your own understanding, prayers, good works, martyrdom, reincarnation, etc., etc., cauldron, it still IS an awesome achievement.
Reasonable people can read Luther and the Bible and understand that Luther’s anti-Semitism was his own personal flaw, not a biblical doctrine. They can do the same with Fred Phelps. Then you have your Hitlers, who prefer to think that men’s understanding is the be-all and end-all, and they use every tool at their wicked fingertips to justify their evil deeds.
Saved people wouldn’t have to be saved in the first place if they were not desperately in need of a Savior. The Apostle Paul called himself the chief of sinners and stood by while a man was murdered just for being a Christian. Measure all actions and deeds by the Holy Bible’s standard.
The Gospel message is that we are saved by grace through faith, “not by works.” Let Christ’s work be your focus. If you are perfect, you don’t need Him. But if you are not perfect, well, the great truth that Luther shared is that “Christ died for the ungodly.”
Your post points out happily that Luther was just that – ungodly. What about you, Richard?
November 2, 2007 at 22:55
Christine,
First of all, the context of my comments is from other people considering Martin Luther as great. I never said that Martin Luther considered himself great.
Secondly I see no problem with someone feeling good about themselves. What you suggest is that feeling bad about oneself is a virtue.
I see no difference in people’s behavior whether they are saved or not. Martin Luther, Calvin, and a multitude of other Christian greats committed great atrocities in the name of their religious convictions. I see no advantage of being Christian in that context.
In many ways Martin Luther’s book on what he considered to be the problem of the Jews was a large part of the formation of Hitlers ideas. If you read the link that I posted you would read that Martin Luther’s book was displayed prominantly at the Nazi party Nuremberg Rallies and is considered by most historians to have “exercised a major and persistent influence on Germany’s attitude toward its Jewish citizens…”
You are presenting the distinction of one asking Jesus to be their saviour as a superior state that does not play out well in history. If Christians have the same personal flaws and commit the same terrible deeds that non-Christians do then I see no advantage of being Christian other than some theoretical future salvation.
Most of what I observe Christianity teaching is shame and fear based and I can understand why when I read its “church father’s” material.
Even you use fear and shame. You end your post, not with facts or something that you have thought out, but with an implication that my personal character needs to be examined.
This is inconsistant because if my words aren’t reliable because I am ungodly then why should we listen to Martin Luther who by your admission is ungodly? Or even closer to home, why should we listen to you?
November 3, 2007 at 20:48
“This is inconsistant because if my words aren’t reliable because I am ungodly then why should we listen to Martin Luther who by your admission is ungodly? Or even closer to home, why should we listen to you?” That is exactly my point, Richard: We need a higher authority than ourselves; and this source is found in the Holy Bible. When you write something, I test it, prove it in the light Scripture and hold fast to that which is good. I don’t dismiss your thinking as unimportant simply because you are an unbeliever in Christ. Even if a believer tells me something, i.e., Jews are to be hated, well, I can see from the Bible too that Jesus Christ was Jewish as to His earthly life, so were all the Apostles, Abraham, etc., and so I understand that anti-Semitism is unbiblical. But more about that later…
God – not me – says that all have sinned (a verifiable statement if I ever heard one!) and fall short of His glory. We are all in the same titanic mess as to our motives, deeds and our desires, and this ship is sinking fast. Richard, you are not better than me – or Hitler – or Luther – or even Paul, who referred to himself as the chief of sinners. One of the greatest mercies of God to mankind is that He gives us the mirror of the Holy Bible in which we see ourselves honestly. Only by admitting we are desperately flawed can we let go of shame and its trappings and live in freedom’s holy light.
Now, about Hitler, Luther, et. al.: when we discuss issues, it is important to keep an accurate context. Hitler used everything at his political disposal to try to achieve his ultimate goal of ruling the world. It is historically correct context to note that Hitler’s ultimate aim was for a perfect race, of which he was a perfect representative perfectly worthy of worship from both countrymen and conquered subjects. This, not Luther’s anti-Semitism, was the reason Hitler wanted to obliterate the Jewish people, and I do find it remarkable that you have not once brought this secular, humanistic agenda of Hitler’s up. That Hitler used religion to score despotic points surprises no history buff, political science major, or sociologist. He used Wagner’s music and the Jainic swastika and Neville Chamberlain, too. I highly recommend Erwin Lutzer’s book “Hitler’s Cross” to you for deeper inquiry into the subject matter at hand, especially since this book deals specifically with the theological background of pre-1940’s Germany & Europe.
November 5, 2007 at 11:34
The apostle Paul wrote in the book of Romans, that “all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.” Man is by nature a flawed creature, and most religions attempt to change man into something better, which by the way, is impossible. Religion never changed or changes anyone.
Christianity is no exception, and being a Christian does not make one perfect. All men, whether Christian or not, suffer from physical and/or mental maladies, and all men fight the inner battle between flesh and spirit whether they recognize/admit it or not.
As for Martin Luther, I confess that I’m not well read on his life, works, etc. Raised as a Roman Catholic, I was taught that he was more or less THE heritic of all time and the instigator of “the great falling away” from the RC church, i.e. the Reformation.
Knowing better now and no longer RC, I realize what courage it must have taken for him to break away and declare that great truth of salvation by grace and grace alone. Did his actions deliver him from his human nature? Hardly. If anything, his notierity may have made him more suseptible to egotism. As I’ve already stated, I’m not well read on Luther so I can’t really comment on that.
Perhaps, in the end, it all comes down to motivation. What motivates one man to do evil and another to good? What happens when a man turns from doing good to doing evil and vice versa?
Perhaps, in the end, it depends on who we chose to serve? Do we serve Jesus Christ or do we serve Satan? Or do we just serve ourselves? Out of the three, there is only one true savior.
November 6, 2007 at 14:11
I have read with interest all previous posts.
I believe it is essential that we all remember that there was ever only one perfect person – Jesus Christ. All of us have ‘faults’ but I thank God that, through the Holy Spirit working in the lives of those who have accepted His gift of salvation, we are being changed more and nore into Jesus likeness.
It would appear that the key to what happens in our lives depends on what we choose to do with the knowledge etc that we have.
Luther and Hitler may have had the same idea about the Jews but the things they did with their knowledge was VERY different!
November 6, 2007 at 23:07
Christine,
You claim that your understanding of the bible is from God since there is no way, that I know, of reading the Bible without it passing through some human’s brain. The Bible, like anything else, doesn’t just sit out there without being interpreted. And by strong implication you are making the claim that your understanding of what God wants is better than mine.
Now if Luther is considered by you and others a brilliant scholar of the Bible because he developed a salvation by faith theology and yet used that same ability to develop the theology of anti-semitism, how do we know that he was right about the salvation by faith and wrong about the anti-semitic theology? He used the Bible to support both views.
And if you are subject to the same flaws as Luther, how do you know that your view of the Bible is correct? How do you know that your ideas of what God wants is correct? Did God come and tell you?
Its obvious to me that claiming Biblical authority for one’s views has little or no consistency. The only thing that I find reasonable to look at is the fruits of one’s beliefs. What belief system brings more or less suffering to this world?
If the Christian religion does not bring about any change, then what good is it? Why would I want to worship a God who plans to use violence as the final solution? Why would one want to join an organization that historically has chosen violence as its primary method of conversion? Why would I want to join a group of people who point to church fathers that had very immature and cruel ethical methods they claimed to be Bible based?
And if I am to be judged by what I do with my ethical knowledge, what do I need Christianity for? (Particularly a Christianity that makes no difference in my behavior and apparently makes some people behave worse.)
In terms of the view that we can serve Satan, Jesus, or ourselves, I have a difficult time believing that Gandhi served Satan or himself just because he never accepted Jesus as his savior. And if we are all so ungodly, who really serves God at all. To me it seems like a belief system that only serves to shame people and keep people irresponsible for their actions.
I see a double standard. Hitler is condemned, as he should be, for his cruel treatment of the Jews and yet Martin Luther, the source of Hitler’s ideas on the Jews, is excused because he was a Christian. If you read Luther’s 7 points on the problem of the Jews you will read a proto-Nazi program. Luther, to the best of his ability, carried these out in his lifetime. He influenced any ruler that would listen to him to ban Jews from participating in German society.
One should also note that this is not early Luther, but this is mature Luther. It is quite evident that Luther’s faith did not make him more loving and wiser. I would think that this would at least bring some doubt about the nature of Luther’s ability to understand anything about the Bible.
Luther was superstitious and irrational. He claimed outlandish things about Jews and witches. He came to believe that Kosher food was a Jewish attempt to poison others. He also claimed that witches could change into animals. This is not a sign of a great mind.
Salvation by faith could be one solution to the obsessive religion that Luther practiced, but I find it to be a burdensome mental gymnastic. I would simply point to the vast disagreement about what salvation by faith even means and yet the supreme confidence with which each group proclaims its views.
Again, I’m not saying that individual Christians don’t provide good things to society, but I find no evidence that Christianity is better than many other approaches to life. And by your own admission Christianity has no solution to being ungodly. I thought Jesus said to look at people’s fruits, not their doctrines, beliefs, or ideologies.
November 16, 2007 at 20:04
Richard, I appreciate your response, and I hope to answer the excellent questions. I will try to be concise, but do ask your patience.
You asked:
“Now if Luther is considered by you and others a brilliant scholar of the Bible because he developed a salvation by faith theology and yet used that same ability to develop the theology of anti-semitism, how do we know that he was right about the salvation by faith and wrong about the anti-semitic theology?”
First, Luther did not develop the theology of salvation by faith. He was shown what the Gospels and the Epistles of the New Testament teach, and he was courageous enough to stand on what he knew to be in the Bible although it deviated from everything he had been taught to that point of his life. Luther revealed the truth of what Scriptures really said to an illiterate populace who were being misled deliberately. Also: Luther’s teaching re: salvation by grace through faith in Christ can be validated by Scripture; his anti-Semitism cannot. The Lord Jesus, born of a Jewish virgin named Mary,went out of His way to minister to a Samaritan woman (Samaritans were half-breed idolaters); answered the prayers of a Canaanite pagan; chose 12 Jewish men as His first followers; saved a blaspheming, Christian-killing Jewish Pharisee named Paul, told His followers to witness in Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria, and to the ends of the earth about Him. Paul, that beloved and wonderful Apostle to the Gentiles, wrote in the Book of Romans that he wished he could be accursed from Christ if it meant his Jewish brethren would be saved. Paul also wrote those blessed words, “To the Jew first, and also to the Greek.” So everywhere I see that the Gospel is for Jewish people as well as Gentile people. King David was flawed, too, but no less saved after he committed adultery and had a man deliberately killed. Believers have never been morally perfect; only Christ is. I will focus on Him.
“And if you are subject to the same flaws as Luther, how do you know that your view of the Bible is correct?”
I am subject to the same flaws as Luther, but the Bible isn’t. And the Holy Bible is my standard.
“How do you know that your ideas of what God wants is correct? Did God come and tell you?”
As a matter of fact, my faith is in the living and risen Christ, Who by His Holy Spirit teaches me His Word. I know Jesus Christ personally. Every time I read my Bible, God comes & tells me…oh, and how I thank Him and praise His name for it! As a believer, I am taught to place line upon line, precept upon precept.
“What belief system brings more or less suffering to this world?”
This is where Christianity triumphs over every other “ism,” every good-works mind-set. In the 10 Commandments, the orientation is God first, then others. Missing the mark on the first commandment is just as bad as falling short on the other nine. But the good news is that God, knowing we would be His enemies, that we would fail not just the first commandment, but every single one of them many times over, sent His Son to take our punishment and die for us anyway so that we would not have to suffer eternal punishment. Most people, when told about this love, decide God is an ogre to insist that their evil must be punished for a whole eternity, or that God is a sadist to send His Son to die on the cross for men. For this clever avoidance of the fact that they are sinners deserving of punishment, they will be held accountable.
“If the Christian religion does not bring about any change, then what good is it?”
I agree with you, a believer’s life should evidence change. Luther’s did. He was deeply flawed. But he had one thing right: men’s souls, Jewish and Gentile, were to be saved. And he suffered for both Jew and Gentile when he took the punishment and vitriol for standing on the truth of the Holy Bible.
“Why would I want to worship a God who plans to use violence as the final solution?”
The God of the Bible doesn’t do this. He calls men to repent of their sins and trust in Him. If men reject Christ, they will be held accountable for their rejection of Him, and they will not be with Him in heaven. This strikes me as more than fair on God’s part. People who don’t like the idea of hell don’t seem to understand that God doesn’t want us there – we choose to reject Christ’s love and so He judges us by our works (beginning with Commandment 1). God will give us our fair wages; the Bible teaches He will give us exactly what we have earned. But…He would much rather give us a free gift – eternal life through Christ Jesus.
“Why would one want to join an organization that historically has chosen violence as its primary method of conversion? Why would I want to join a group of people who point to church fathers that had very immature and cruel ethical methods they claimed to be Bible based?”
Richard, if you know churches in your area doing this, I beg you, please report them to the authorities! If you don’t actually know of churches doing this, then I submit to you that all you are doing is bringing up a red herring. After all, these church members were human beings, too; are you planning on becoming an extra-terrestrial because humans have acted, and still do act, wickedly?
“And if I am to be judged by what I do with my ethical knowledge, what do I need Christianity for?”
You won’t be judged by what you did with your ethical knowledge, but what you have done with Christ. Every action taken will be judged in accordance with the light you had of Jesus Christ. Please don’t follow some kind of historic “Christianity.” Follow Christ, and His followers as you see them imitating Him. Everything else is fluff and dander, and an allergic reaction to it is quite warranted.
“To me it seems like a belief system that only serves to SHAME people and keep people irresponsible for their actions.”
Richard, am I mistaken, or are you not the one who is continually bringing up evil aspects of Luther’s personality? (I see 3 paragraphs just in your last post dealing with his sins). Look to Christ’s work, not to Luther’s. If Hitler used Luther’s ideas, what can I say except he should have focused on Christ, too?
“I thought Jesus said to look at people’s fruits, not their doctrines, beliefs, or ideologies.”
This statement of yours actually highlights what Luther accomplished, so I am glad to see it. The Lord Jesus, in Matthew 7, is speaking to His followers about how to tell false prophets among them. Some will say to Him, ‘Look at all the wonderful stuff we have done in Your name’ but they will be sent away from the Lord’s presence, for it is not the fruits of our own works – no matter how great or good or beneficial to humankind in the short run – that saves us, but the fruit of a sinful human being placing his or her faith in the completed work of the crucified, buried, and risen Lord Jesus Christ that will matter for time and eternity.