Remembering a rebel

By Jeff Long

Exactly half a millennium ago, the world changed. A relatively obscure Roman Catholic monk, vexed by the activity of Johannes Tetzel -- a seller of "indulgences" to the faithful -- posted a document on the door of Castle Church in Wittenberg, Germany.

The church is still there, the door is long gone, lost in a fire and replaced with a facsimile. The date of the posting was October 31, 1517.

The 34-year old man who posted the document, what he termed his "95 Theses," sought a debate with anyone who would engage his statements and questions.

The Vatican had commissioned traveling salesmen, like Tetzel, to sell "indulgences" to raise money for the construction of a new St. Peter's basilica. With an indulgence, a person could shorten the punishment for sins committed either by the buyer or by loved ones in purgatory. It was a Middle Ages version of a church capital campaign. It was meeting with success. Tetzel's effective argument to folk in Wittenberg went like this: "The moment your coin hits the bottom of the coin box, another soul springs out of purgatory."

Martin Luther (1483-1546), a teacher, among other things, of children in the catechism, objected to Tetzel's words and made it the foundation for his "Theses."

Luther's parchment was taken off the church door and reproduced, using the still-relatively new Gutenberg press. With this technology, Luther's words spread throughout the countryside and unwittingly lit a fire of reformation throughout Europe. Protestantism was launched. The first half of the 16th century marked a major fracturing of Christianity, a schism which remains today.

To commemorate the 500-year anniversary of Luther's objection, a new film is being released: "Martin Luther: The Idea That Changed the World." I'll go see this movie when it comes to Southeast Missouri. I'm fascinated by Luther.

The individual actions of some people can crystallize long pent-up frustration and give it an outlet. Luther captured the imagination of western Europe with his challenge. Life in the faith has not been the same since.

I've been to Wittenberg, one hour by car from Berlin. I've stood in the spot where Luther tacked his paper. I've walked the town, which natives refer to as Lutherstadt (Luther Town). Many will visit the town during 2017 on specially-organized pilgrimages to a community which for many years was behind the Iron Curtain in East Germany.

Luther, in my mind, was courageous because his challenge was considered heresy in his day. His life was literally in jeopardy. Had he not had the protection of the Elector of Saxony, doubtless he would have perished soon after his Wittenberg act.

Despite my admiration for his courage and his willingness to be a lighting rod for the forces of protest, I do not see him as a personal role model. Luther was not careful at all to protect his health. Gluttony dogged him all of his life and in later years, he paid the price -- suffering major gastrointestinal distress. In that time period, there were no specialists and Luther, according to multiple biographies, spent many an hour in agony. (I leave it to the reader to imagine what form that agony took.)

Physically wracked with pain, a bitterness emerged in the legendary Protestant reformer that carried over into his writing. Anything he wrote after 1530, when Luther approved the Augsburg Confession, ought properly to be ignored. He became hateful late in life, with many a vicious diatribe directed at the pope. Luther's anti-Semitism is a shameful legacy.

Luther, without intending to do so, caused schism and much friction in the faith. Yet his challenge helped cause Roman Catholicism to make changes, resulting in the Counter Reformation work of the Council of Trent (1545-1563).

The largest Christian tradition in the world refers to Luther as a "hostile witness," a label applied in a recent book being promoted on EWTN. I'm not sure Luther himself would object to that characterization. A better noun for him, I suspect, is rebel. Maybe it is that our faith needs rebels once in awhile -- to rescue it from stagnation and apathy.

My thoughts are with all of the readers of this column this Palm Sunday.