Luther - Part 2

This is a follow-up post to yesterday’s post. There are a number of loose ends that I thought I should do a bit more to tie up.

Luther questioned the practices of selling indulgences. What were these? A practice had developed whereby a person could receive remission of temporal punishment due to the guilt of sin after the sin had been forgiven. They ranged from short term to plenary (full) remission of temporal punishment for one’s life. Indulgences were (are) authorized by the Pope. In Luther’s day, Pope Leo X collected money gained from sales of indulgences that was to go toward construction of St. Peter’s Basilica in Rome.

A Dominican professor, Johann Tetzel, was such a champion of indulgences that he was designated to sell them in several German provinces. Frederick, Elector of Saxony, prohibited sales of indulgences in his province. (This was where Luther also served as professor of theology.) To Tetzel’s account is charged the witticism: “When a coin in the coffer rings A soul from purgatory springs.” (Sounds so good in English; wonder if it sounds this good in German?) The practice of offering indulgences continues to this day, but the “payment” is often a form of spiritual work or service rather than or in addition to money.

Why did Frederick, Elector of Saxony prohibit the sales of indulgences in his province? Frederick had earlier gathered one of the greatest collections of relics. Relics are bones or blood of saints, bits of wood from the cross, even milk from Mary among many other things. Spiritual “credit” was offered to those who would venerate these relics. Although Luther focused on Tetzel, Frederick felt some of the sting of Luther’s preaching against indulgences. In 1523 Frederick consented to make an end of relic worship. There is testimony that Frederick professed his rejection of Catholicism and embracing of Reformation Christianity on his deathbed.

Another major issue addressed by Luther was the extent of papal authority and papal abilities. Did the pope have the authority of forgive sins? Luther’s reading of the Bible led him to the understanding that only God forgives sin, and that freely based on the work of Jesus Christ, and by grace through faith, not works. The pope could affirm this, but could not offer such forgiveness on his own authority. Did the pope have the ability to remit temporal punishments? Was he able to remit punishments for the dead? God had this authority if He chose to use it, not the pope. Luther rejected the idea that someone’s “merits” can be applied to the account of another person either living or dead - or were ever needed. Salvation is based solely on the grace of God, through the sacrifice of Christ that is appropriated by faith alone.
For further learning: the classic biography on Luther is Here I Stand, by Roland Bainton. There are a couple of notable films based on Luther’s life and efforts. One, called "Martin Luther," starring Niall McGinness (1953) is generally considered to be the more accurate of these in portraying the times, people, life and struggle of Luther. Released in 2003, Joseph Fiennes starred in "Luther," another attractive film version of Luther’s life. Typical of Hollywood, however, his central message from Romans 1:17 that salvation is exclusively a matter of grace through faith, not any works that any man can perform is conspicuously absent. You can look up Luther’s 95 Theses online; I quoted from a British translation in modern English. If you’d like to understand a major tenet of Luther’s thinking, read The Bondage of the Will, which is available in numerous printings. The one with an introduction by J. I. Packer is frequently cited at the top of the list.