This week, like many of you, I’m celebrating the 500th anniversary of the Reformation!
Reformation Day is celebrated annually on October 31 because tradition holds that a German monk by the name of Martin Luther nailed his 95 Theses to the Church Door in Wittenberg, Germany, on October 31, 1517.
Church door of the Theses in Wittenberg, Germany
His hammer blows started a revolution of sorts now known as the Protestant Reformation.
The 95 Theses? You may be asking what is that? And how could a piece of paper start a revolution?
The 95 Theses was a list of Luther’s views on what he believed to be abusive practices within the church of that time. For example, the 86th Thesis says: “Why does the pope, whose wealth today is greater than the wealth of the richest Crassus, build the basilica of St. Peter with the money of poor believers rather than with his own money?”
1517 Nuremberg printing of the Ninety-five Theses as a placard, now in the Berlin State Library
Essentially, Luther’s list was a protest.
We’re familiar with protests, aren’t we? Seems every time we turn around someone is protesting something new. Social media has made this the age of having to outdo, outshine, and outshout one another. “Protesting” has become just one more vehicle we use to push and shove our way to the forefront of what’s trending.
The result of such “popularity protesting” is that too many jump aboard because everyone else is doing it. But I’m sure you wonder, like I do, whether a fraction of those people know what the issues really are? Do they know the history of protesting? Do they know that most of the strong protestors who came before us protested at great risk to themselves, their families, even their communities?
When Martin Luther wrote his list of protests he KNEW he was putting his life in jeopardy. He was well aware that men like Hus and Savonarola had been tortured and burned at the stake for similar dissension against the ruling powers.
The day Martin Luther nailed his 95 Theses to the church door was the day he said, “I’m willing to die for what I believe is right.”
He expected to be persecuted and he was.
He was excommunicated, put on trial, and found guilty. With a death warrant upon him, he spent years in hiding and avoiding capture. He was slandered, belittled, and mocked. He expected that every day would be his last, that he’d end up being burned at the stake like the protestors who came before him.
I’m grateful for brave men like Martin Luther who stood strong in the face of persecution and worked to bring about positive changes. I’m grateful for others who came after him, like Martin Luther King Jr. who died for his beliefs.
I wonder how many of today’s protestors would be willing to suffer immensely or die for their causes? Or would many of the protestors fall away in the face of such hardship?
I fear that “popularity protesting” trivializes our causes. When everyone is raising angry voices about everything, will anyone be heard? If protesting becomes so commonplace, will we lose the courage to stand up and fight when we really need to? And when we are persecuted for our protests, can we stand back and take it, or do we whine and complain?
As we celebrate the 500th anniversary of the Reformation and remember Martin Luther, I pray, like him, we will choose our battles wisely and then have the courage to see the fight to completion even at great personal sacrifice.
If you’d like to learn more about the personal life of Martin Luther, I invite you to read my award-winning novel, Luther & Katharina, an inspiring love story that takes readers behind the scenes into Martin Luther’s persecution and struggles. Visit my website for more information: jodhedlund.com
For the chance to WIN a copy of the book, head over to my publisher’s website where we’re giving away FIVE copies of the book this week (giveaway ends Fri. Nov. 3).
What about YOU? What lessons do YOU think we need to learn about protesting for causes? What lessons can we learn from great men like Martin Luther?
Jody Hedlund
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I just bought Eric Metaxas’s new biography (in audio), Martin Luther: The Man Who Rediscovered God and Changed the World. Looking forward to listening to it. And you already know that I LOVED Luther and Katharina. Thanks for this post about protesting. Excellent thoughts.
I love Eric Metaxas’s biographies and I’m looking forward to reading this one on Luther!
This is a great post, Jody! I wonder too how many of today’s protesters would be protesting if they faced the same consequences Martin Luther did. I’m Lutheran, so am eternally grateful for the risks he took to speak out about the injustices of the Catholic church and spread the good news of Christ.
Jennifer, I wonder the same thing about current protestors. It’s easy to protest when the stakes aren’t all that high. But when faced with the threat of death and persecution? That takes a lot more guts!
Oh, my, this whole protesting and being offended is going overboard. You are right, one starts to simply say, “Again?” And then turn attention elsewhere. The ease of protesting and documenting it does not help! Your book, however, looks wonderful! Perfectly timed! Congratulations!
It’s too bad that we’re starting to say “again” and roll our eyes, isn’t it? I fear that such protests may do more damage to the “causes” than good.
Thanks Jody! I don’t think today’s protesters even know what they are protesting! They just jump on the bandwagon! People get “ offended” too easily! We should be offended that people attack the Gospel! Loved your book on Katy and Martin. I am a Lutheran. It was tops in my book! Love the way you research! Thanks for writing it!
Thanks for reading the book, Paula! Yes, we should know when to be offended and when to stay silent. And I fear that people just get offended at everything nowadays.
Jodi, I was awed by your post today! So many important points were brought out. Thank you!
We had a great sermon on Martin Luther yesterday. He disregarded the personal risk. It had to be by God’s work in him through the Holy Spirit, to do what he did in an attempt to put the church’s focus back onto God. He couldn’t have done it without Divine inspiration. Thank you,
Thanks for stopping by and reading the post today, Hilda! The sermon sounds wonderful! Wish I could have heard it!
My thoughts on the current protests are that they should be doing more than saying. They kneel at games and clash in the streets, but are they doing anything to improve their communities? Are they helping to affect some change where they see injustice? I’m not Lutheran, I’m LDS, and we honor those like Luther who recognized that some truths were missing from their church and responded with action. We believe that this led the way to the founding of our country and our church, and we are grateful for their sacrifices!
Hi Karen, I am grateful, too, when I read about the people who came before us and took such great risks so that we can have freedom!
I loved “Luther & Katharina!!! It was such an enjoyable book! I also loved “Newton & Polly”. I have read a bio of John Newton! I do admire him! I’m looking for a good bio on Martin Luther. Any ideas?
I’m looking forward to reading Eric Metaxas’s new biography mentioned by Robin in a comment above. Have you considered that one? If you’d like to learn more about Katharina, I highly recommend Katharina Von Bora: A Reformation Life by the Markwalds. Excellent insights into Katharina’s life!
Jody, thank you for the suggestions. I’ll look into those.
This is a very thought-provoking and timely post, Jody. I enjoyed reading it, and I agree with your thoughts on protesting. I’m grateful for Martin Luther and his courage in standing up for what he believed. We can all take a lesson from him. Thanks!
Thanks, Winnie! I’m glad the post resonated! We can definitely learn a lot from Luther! 🙂
We should all be willing to take a peaceful stand for what we believe in. Too many people today take a violent stand for ungodly “rights”.
As Martin Luther did, we need to use the Bible as our plumb line in matters of protest. In gray areas, our position needs to be consistent with Biblical standards.
Love this post, Jody, and must read the book. My take on so much today is the terrible amount of anger that these people are venting – often just because they can. We have been having ongoing conversations at church (Presbyterian) about civility and sharing opinions without yelling and threatening others because they don’t agree. And I agree with you – many of the protests just end up trivializing the really important issues.
Loved your thoughts here, Jody, and you know I LOVED your book!
What a thought provoking post! Thank you.
I am sorry, but (as a proudly Catholic) I can’t agree completely with the idea that Luther was a hero. Surely the Church made lots of errors in that time, great errors, and perhaps initially the publication of the 95 theses was reallyan act of freedom; must be remembered also that in none of the theses Luther spoke about separating from Catholic Church. But Luther promoted the horryfic massacre of German protesters. Luther said “they should be killed like they were dogs”. When he became protected by German lords, he became false and evil. He did not want to dissociate himself from their decision to destroy the life of that peasants. Luther’s soul was covered of blood and lie. Luther excluded the Letter of Apostle James from his personal biblical canon because it did not work with his conception of sola fide, only faith without works, and he did so even if this Book had been always accepted for 15 centuries. The reformation is not an event to celebrate. Maybe it is easier to say for a Catholic than for a not Catholic. But someone said that the Reformation was the worst event of the entire Second Millennium, and perhaps he was right. I do not want to demolish Luther’s image, but the only truth is Truth. Probably something can be learned from him too, but he was not a hero, did not he? With love and brotherhood in Christ, And