This coming Saturday, October 31, many churches around the world will mark Reformation Day. It remembers a fall day in 1517, when a German monk and Bible teacher named Martin Luther put his questions in writing and asked the leaders of his church to listen.
His document is known as the Ninety-five Theses. More than 500 years later, it still carries a lesson for anyone who has ever felt that something was wrong and wondered whether one ordinary voice could make a difference.
Who Was Martin Luther?
Martin Luther was born on November 10, 1483, in Eisleben, in what is now Germany. In 1505 he entered an Augustinian monastery, and two years later he was ordained a priest. He became a professor of biblical studies at the University of Wittenberg, where he spent his days teaching and studying the Scriptures.
The Problem Luther Saw
In Luther’s day, the church offered indulgences, which were meant to reduce the temporal punishment for sin. Over the Middle Ages, abuses had grown around them. In 1517, a Dominican named Johann Tetzel was selling an indulgence in Germany and making extravagant claims about what it could do. The money was said to support rebuilding St. Peter’s Basilica in Rome, but, as Britannica explains, half of the German proceeds were secretly set aside to repay a debt that Archbishop Albert of Mainz owed to a banking family.
Members of his Wittenberg church showed Luther the pardons they had bought. As their pastor and teacher, he was troubled. He worried that people were being led to trust a piece of paper instead of trusting God.
Ninety-Five Questions, Not a Battle Cry
Luther wrote his theses in Latin, the language of scholars. They were propositions for debate, not a call for revolution. He sent copies to the archbishop of Mainz and to the bishop of Brandenburg. He did not set out to break away from his church. He expected that his call for reform would be heard.
You may have heard that he nailed the theses to the door of the Castle Church in Wittenberg on October 31. Historians are not certain that happened. Britannica says the theses were possibly posted there, and that tradition only became widely tied to the start of the Reformation more than a century later. What is certain is that October 31, 1517, became the date the world remembers.
A Spark Carried by the Printing Press
Luther did not spread his theses to the public himself. Others translated them into German, printed them and passed them along. Thanks to printing, they were known across Germany within a few weeks.
What followed was a time of great conflict in the Western church. On April 17, 1521, Luther stood before the Diet of Worms, an imperial assembly, and was told to take back his writings. He admitted that some of his language had been harsh, but he said he could not recant what he had written unless Scripture or reason showed him he was wrong. He was declared an outlaw and was excommunicated that same year.
A Bible in the People’s Language
Men working for Luther’s prince staged a “kidnapping” and hid him at Wartburg Castle. There, in about eleven weeks, he translated the New Testament into German. It was published in September 1522 and became a bestseller. Its German was so close to how people really spoke that it helped shape the German language for centuries, and families could read the words of Jesus in their own everyday speech.
Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path.
Psalm 119:105 (KJV)
Christians today still hold different views about the Reformation and what came after it. Many also note that the Catholic Church’s Council of Trent (1545 to 1563) later defined its teaching on indulgences and removed the abuses. But almost everyone can agree that putting God’s Word into people’s hands changed history.
Lessons for Our Families Today
- Speak up with humility. Luther began with questions and an invitation to talk, not with insults. That is still a good way to raise a hard issue at home, at church or at work.
- Admit where you were wrong. Even at Worms, he owned up to his harsh words while standing firm on what mattered most.
- Open the Bible together. Luther worked hard so ordinary families could read Scripture. Many of us have several Bibles on a shelf. This week, read a chapter aloud at dinner.
- Small acts can travel far. A few pages written for a university debate ended up shaping the world.
Whatever storm you face, you do not need to be famous to be faithful. One honest question, asked in love and rooted in God’s Word, can light a path for many others. Through every storm, we rise together.
What Bible verse has been a lamp for your family in a dark season? Share in the comments below.
Sources: Encyclopaedia Britannica, “Ninety-five Theses”; Encyclopaedia Britannica, “Reformation Day”; Encyclopaedia Britannica, “Martin Luther: Diet of Worms”; Encyclopaedia Britannica, “Martin Luther summary”; 1517.org, “Luther’s September Testament”; King James Bible, “Psalm 119:105”.
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