Martin Luther was a monk and professor who was born in Germany. He is known for his nailing of the ninety-five thesis and the starting of the Protestant Reformation. He was married to Katharina von Bara and lived in Eisleben for most of their lives. She bore six kids for Luther and he loved her very much. Born to his father, Hans Luther, Martin was baptized the day after he was born into the Roman Catholic Church. Martin attended the University of Erfurt in Germany once he turned seventeen and swiftly grew academically. During his time there, he excelled in three different studies, law, medicine, and theology. He had to pick one of the three to start his career in. His father strongly recommended law and for about three weeks, Martin tried law. He felt inclined to go into theology and soon enough and Martin enrolled at a monastery in Erfurt. This did not please his father, for he gave up a prestigious job. Despite his father’s wishes, he found it tough to get through and said vowed that he would become a monk if he got through it. Eventually, he did and became a monk shortly after the program. However, he couldn’t live the life of a monk for long. Being inclined to get recognized for his work, he went back to his studies of theology in the hopes he could teach at a monastery on his own. He got his doctorate in theology and became a professor at the university in Wittenburg.
Martin Luther believed that one doesn’t atone for one’s sins or achieve salvation by paying indulgences (paying money to forgive one’s sins) or being high in the ecclesiastical ladder but through one’s own faith and actions throughout their life. He challenged the authority of the papal power and taught that the Bible was the only true word of God. This led to him being excommunicated by the Pope and deemed a traitor by the Roman Catholic Church. Martin is important to the church because he was the one who inspired the idea that the Bible is the only source of knowledge from God, opposing many Catholic teachings. The Ninety-five Theses are a bunch of topics of debate over indulgences and how the Catholic church uses its power. They were introduced after Martin began studying the Bible for himself. This is where the topic of righteousness by faith comes in. He learned about God after his academic career largely on his own. He began to study and learn God’s ways for himself. Romans is a book of the Bible that talks about how we are supposed to live by faith in God and that that faith produces works for His glory and also our salvation. This is one of the teachings of Paul he found to be true. The Catholic church excommunicated him out of the church because of his findings and beliefs and deemed him an outlaw. Martin went on to create cultural legacies sparking the Protestant Reformation.
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The Protestant Reformation was a religious reform of the old Catholic ways, splitting the church into different believing religions of which the most popular was Lutheranism. It broke Catholic Europe creating a new era of modern beliefs that proved to be truer for them. Martin Luther and a few others were reformers who began to challenge the papal power and argue that it should be handed over to the Bible instead. Luther played a large role in this reformation because he studied theology hard enough to produce his own ideas including ninety-five theses. The Catholic church despised the reformation because it denied their authority over people. Rebellion and reform caused papal power to decrease and fight back. The Counter-Reformation created by papal power opposed the reformation trying to bring the people back to the old ways. Today, Seventh Day Adventists have a similar approach to those in the reformation. They believe that the Bible is the one and only source of divine knowledge. They also are a church conceived from Baptists and Lutherans but incorporating a few different ideas and laws into their theology such as righteousness by faith.
Righteousness by faith has a specific connotation that we now know. Paul talks in Romans in his letter to the Gentiles and the Jews about forgiveness of their sins through repentance and the idea of righteousness by faith. Some may find that confusing so I will break it down. The Jews were having trouble understanding that they weren’t, “Gods exclusive people.” God wanted them to go out and spread the gospel but what often happened was that they would just keep to themselves and be saved. Circumcision was a big deal for them. The Jews were descendants from the patriarch Abraham whom they called, “The Father of Circumcision.” Most people thought things, like getting circumcised and doing things for God, made them righteous. Paul taught that it wasn’t circumcision and works that made them righteous, faith in God was what made them righteous and that faith produces works. God is gracious enough to give us salvation for our faith and that is what Paul was trying to show the Jews. Works by Faith is what gives righteousness, not faith by works. Works can be a part of faith though because we need to act on our faith instead of ignoring it.
How was Ellen G White involved in this issue? Was she able to help the situation? What ultimately happened to them and their “reformation?”
Ellet Waggoner and Alonzo Jones were two men who debated over Seventh-day Adventist principles and are widely known for their impact in the theology of their church. The Seventh-day Adventist Church was growing so they needed to discuss ideas. However, because there was growth in support, there was growth in opposition. Leaders G. I. Butler, Uriah Smith among others were in opposition to many beliefs and wanted to change them. In 1888, the General Conference of Seventh-day Adventists held a meeting in Minneapolis, Minnesota called the Minneapolis General Conference Session. This is observed as a monument in Seventh-day Adventist history. Key associates in the session were Waggoner and Jones. They gave a report on the topic of justification. They had the full support of Ellen G. White, who became known later as a prophet from God. The gathering presented important theological issues like the real meaning of what righteousness by faith was, the way the Trinity worked, the relationship between law and grace, and what Justification and Sanctification are.
Waggoner and Jones found righteousness by faith to exist instead of righteousness by works, just like Paul taught in Romans. They believed that the law is not what gives us salvation, grace is. Lastly, justification results in sanctification. Waggoner and Jones defined a few important SDA beliefs that make them different from many religions.
- https://www.britannica.com/biography/Martin-Luther
- https://www.history.com/topics/reformation/reformation
- https://www.adventistreview.org/2013-1528-p16
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