There are specific dates in the history of the world which are of unique importance. The even is which transpire on these dates are remembered often in the centuries that follow. October 31, 1517 is such a date. Martin Luther used that day to make his views about certain religious abuses known to the public.
Luther felt this could best be done by holding a scholarly debate in the open. He decided to make a civic pronouncement of his theological position. The Lord honoured that decision and used it to shake the world. The seeds of change had already been sown by others. Politically, the power of the papacy was being challenged. In Portugal, Spain, France, and England, national states were seeking to rise. Emperors felt the restrictions of religion on their decisions, and they wanted more freedom from the Church. Elsewhere, the followers of Mohammed continued to move against the borders of the Holy Roman Empire. After conquering Constantinople and the Eastern Empire in 1453, Islamic armies marched across Eastern Europe until they arrived at the gates of Vienna in 1529. The world was rapidly changing. Religion was note exempted. When Constantinople was conquered by the Mohammedan Turks, the central power of the Eastern Orthodox Church was lost, and national churches soon emerged. Other important things were happening. Christopher (literal meaning: Christ-like) Columbus made his valiant voyage which led to the discovery of the New World. This, in turn, allowed a Spanish empire in the West. Ferdinand Magellan circum navigated the globe. Meanwhile, the Portuguese claimed territory in Brazil, Africa, and the Far East. Also during this period, advances were being made in knowledge. The scientific legacy of the Middle Ages includes the Hindu numerals, the decimal system, the discovery of gunpowder, and the inventions of the eyeglass, the mariner’s compass, and the pendulum clock. The invention of moveable type at Mayence on the Rhine, in 1456 by Johann Gutenberg, ensured that learning would be widely encouraged and new ideas would be spread. It is significant that the first book printed by Gutenberg was 200copies of Jerome’s Vulgate Bible. Later, the printing press would be used to bring the Scriptures to the common person in a clear translation that all could read. Once people were able to read the Bible for themselves, many would realize that the Catholic Church had become far removed from the ideals of the New Testament. As the printing press made the Scriptures available to a wider audience, so it made people more aware of secular concepts. Humanism would come to enjoy a wide following as specific ideas were articulated. One belief that found popular appeal was the humanistic teaching that individuals could be made better by moral reformation, apart from religious instruction by the Church. It was also contended that the world itself could be improved by creative thinking on the part of man. To discover how, an appeal was made to the literature of the Classical Age of the Greeks. It seemed that the past would be the key to the future. However, in order to understand the past, the ancient languages of Greek and Hebrew had to be seriously studied once more. Their ony is that this led secular scholars back to the Bible, because the old manuscripts had to be mastered. To enhance this renewed interest in learning, universities arose to educate a larger number of people. The educational process helped to in still an objective spirit of inquiry into the mind. Individuals were encouraged to challenge established authority, and to think in critical terms. Some of those who were religiously inclined, began to think critically about the state of the Church. It did not take much of a discerning mind to realize that a great deal needed to be changed. There was sin in the sanctuary. The sins of the saints included simony (the selling of Church offices), ecclesiastical arrogance, immorality among members of the clergy, and the selling of salvation and sanctification through indulgences. These and other abuses caused spiritual unrest to concerned souls, which only added to the disturbance of a society experiencing social and economic unrest. People desired more personal freedom, more money, and more opportunities to blind dividually creative. Multitudes were crowding into towns in desperate attempt to flee the hares life under feudalism. There were differing degrees of independence and serfdom among the peasantry of Europe, but for all, it was a very hard way of existence. Life on the land had a regular, monotonous, repetitive pattern. In autumn pigs were killed, and in the spring, oxen were led out to plough. People wanted more. Martin Luther, born in Eileen, Germany, on November 10, 1483, to devout parents, John and Margaret. He met the Mastering the small, cold cell of the Black Cloister in Wittenberg in a moment of glory, he came to know Jesus Christ personally. His soul was s suddenly filled with peace, hope, and joy unspeakable. He was a different person (2 Cor. 5:17). He was used by God to shake the World by shaking the theological foundation of Catholicism, ninety five theses, which are statements or propositions. We need Murtin Luther of our days, bold enough to speak out the truth, no compromise with the worldly church, we are just living in the new formation of the past world… will you be the one!
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