Sparking the Reformation



On this very date in fifteen twenty-one

The Diet of Worms tried a man and won

And after having already excommunicated him

Then asking for a recant of his controversial themes



And failing - Martin Luther (and his works) were banned

Causing a major rift with Roman Catholics in many lands

As his teachings were quite widely respected ...

Even though the Diet and Vatican neglected ...



The man they'd supported throughout his studies

After he published his Ninety-Five Theses, snubbing

... The Church ... for requiring payment for absolution

Causing the initiation of Martin Luther's persecution ...  



And, although, it is widely thought Luther broke away

Creating the Lutheran Church in existence today ...

This scenario was not exactly the case at all ...

For Martin Luther was absolutely no fool ...



Even though he came into disagreement with Rome

His work, though renounced, always had its home

In a steeped base of highly learned theology

Nurtured by truth, deepened by his ideology



For in Luther's view ... there's no bought absolution

Only God's Grace can provide the sinner's solution

And this cannot be earned in any way at all

For it comes from God's golden rules ...

 

Never-the-less, as sound as his teaching was ...

He'd never again be allowed to represent the cross

But, in years to follow his time and influence ...

There'd be a major break and a larger confluence



Evolving into four major traditions of Protestantism

... *Evangelical, Calvinist, Anabaptist and Anglican

All of which completely renounced the papacy ...

And stressed individual faith ... Luther's legacy ...



- Tristram



© Christopher W. Thomas

9:30pm Wed. May 26th, 1999



The Writings of Martin Luther:



On Christian Liberty (1519)

To the Christian Nobility (1520)

The Babylonian Captivity of the Church (1520)

On the Bondage of the Will (1525)

Small Catechism (1529)



* The Lutheran Church is the name used 

here in the USA and, also - in Great Britain.

Elsewhere in Europe - it's called the Evangelical Church.



NB

Martin Luther would NOT have sanctioned 

a branch of Protestantism honoring his name.