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The Early Church
“A council may sometimes err. Neither the church nor the pope can establish articles of faith. These must come from Scripture.” This was Luther’s response to the charge that he was preaching “dangerous doctrines.” It was a sign to the Church of Rome that Luther’s conviction of his newfound faith was not to be influence by the powers of the pope. Having already been convinced of man’s salvation by “Faith Alone” through “Christ Alone” had moved him one step from Rome’s teachings of salvation by works. It had also awaken another critical aspect of the gospel—mainly that Scripture Alone and not edits and articles made up by councils and popes governs man’s behavior. It did not take long for the church to declare Luther a heretic and put him alongside men such as John Hus and john Wyclif. Fewer than three hundred years earlier, these two men, especially John Hus, had taught vigorously against the worldliness of popes and their elevation to vicars of Christ. Hus was burned at the stake for his firm teaching of Christ as the head of the Church and not the Popes of Rome. Both men were reminiscent of another group of men who chose death by fire and the lion’s mouth rather than compromise God’s Word. Many of the church’s theologians, especially one John Eck, saw shades of wyclif and Hus in Luther. Therefore, It did not take long before these enemies of Christ also declared him a heretic. However, Luther took a lesson from Wyclif who when declared a heretic took his case to the people. As a result, he was able to bring much light to a world made dark by Rome. In Luther’s case, this was much more effective, not just because of his brilliance, but the invention of the printing press. This newfound invention made it possible for Luther’s writings and teachings to quickly spread throughout Germany. Perhaps the most important writing during this time was his “The Babylonian Captivity of the Church.” The central theme of this writing was the captivity of Christians by the sacraments of the Roman church. He concluded that Christ alone could only institute sacraments! Based on this, he reduced the seven sacraments (Baptism, Confirmation, Penance, the Eucharist, Extreme Unction Orders and Matrimony [Catholic Encyclopedia, Sacraments]) to two (Baptism and the Lord’s Supper). He topped this off by pointing out that these two sacraments are for Believers only. (Baptists and some other Protestant denominations recognize Baptism and the Lord Supper as ordinances and not sacraments). In declaring these teachings, Luther was detaching himself from the tradition of Rome and bringing the Church back to its New Testament roots. He was also preparing the way for the greatest movement in Church History—The Protestant Reformation. Before we continue, the question of “Protestantism” warrants our attention. In other words, what is Protestanism? Shelly defines it by quoting Ernst Troeltsch as “Modification of Catholicism in which Catholic problems remain, but different solutions are given.“ Shelly further states “The four questions that Protestantism answered in a new way are (1) How is a person saved? (2) Where does religion authority lie? (3) What is the Church? And (4) What is t he essence of Christian living?” (Church History in Plain Language, Bruce Shelley, Word, Publisher). This was the movement begun by Luther and all those who would become known as “protestant” against the Church of Rome. Luther fully understood his calling and purpose in life. This is important in our lives today, especially in a world where the Church seems to have lost her footing and find herself dangerously close to the times that characterized the age of Rome. It is this surety that gave Luther the courage to stand before the young emperor, Charles V, who had the unfortunate task of defending the church from heretics—of which Rome regarded Luther as chief. So when summoned to appear before him and all the other great theologians of that day, Luther did not run (though by now alreadt declared an outlaw of the state for his teachings), but gladly took that invitation to defend his Lord. Nothing would stop him from keeping this appointment with destiny, even “if there were as many devils as tiles on the roof.” Perhaps Luther expressed this sentiment best in the song written by him entitled “A Mighty Fortress is Our God”, one of the great hymn of the Protestant Reformation.
And tho’ this world, with devils filled, Should threaten to undo us, We will not fear, for God hath willed His truth to triumph thro’ us. The prince of darkness grim, We tremble not for him—His rage we can endure, For lo, his doom is sure: One little word shall fell him.
In Christ, Minister John Cobb
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