Today’s episode is the third part in our overview of the Protestant Reformation, which started when a young Augustinian monk nailed 95 theses onto the door of the castle church in Wittenberg, Germany in 1517, and became one of the most influential revolutions in Western Civilization.
We have been focused on one of the true pivot points in Western Civilization – the Protestant Reformation, which happened in the 16th century when Martin Luther – the monk with the mallet - set out to correct a problem he saw in the Medieval Catholic church he was serving and ended up splitting the church in two.
This is the third of three lectures on the Reformation. In the first we:
1. Looked at the challenges inside the Medieval Church – principally the corruption that was by no means total but which was a real problem – and the ways in which the Gospel had been distorted, especially with regard to issues of repentance and justification. We also tracked the young Martin Luther from birth up to his appearance at the Diet of Worms.
2. In the second – podcast number 36 – we followed Luther as he attacked indulgences, ended up excommunicated by both the Pope and the Emperor, was kidnapped by Frederick the Wise, spent a year hiding in the castle at Wartburg, and then as he returned to Wittenberg and led the Reformation. We also looked at his marriage, his death and some of his writings.
In today’s lecture we get a bit more theological. Perhaps I should apologize now. This isn’t exactly the deep end of the pool, but it may be deeper.
We’re going to focus on the Five Solas – which is the shorthand phrase for saying, we are going to discuss the theological principles that Luther and the other reformers will argue for and ultimately establish in Protestant Churches.
These are not the initial issues. Let me remind you that Luther – by his own admission – stumbled into the Reformation. Not only did he not set out to do what he did, but when he first started voicing objections, they were not about the things he would later be so adamant about.
When he nailed the 95 theses to the door of the Wittenberg church, he was mad at Tetzel’s sale of indulgences. And if you read the 95 theses that is what you hear about.
He was not mad at the Pope’s power or the celebration of tradition or prayers to the saints, and he is not advocating for the five solas that we are going to focus on. These things will emerge as the reformation plays out, and they are not all driven by Luther. The Reformation ends up being much bigger than him.
However, these five are important and you may hear them brought up from time to time and any thoughtful summary of the Reformation needs to make mention of them, so today they are our focus.