In celebration of Reformation Day today and Luther’s act of defiance 504 years ago that started the Protestant Reformation, I’d like to share some of his major achievements:
- Luther posted the 95 Theses on the door of the church in Wittenberg, Germany in October 1517. These were the differences Luther found between the Roman Catholic Church and the Bible. His refusal to recant these views led to him being excommunicated.
- Friends of Luther made copies of the theses on the newly-invented printing press, and they spread across Europe in a matter of months. This was the first time a controversy had spread with the help of a printing press.
- He hid in the Wartburg Castle in Eisenach after his excommunication in 1521. While there, he translated the New Testament into German.
- Luther published his German Bible translation, and it quickly became a bestseller, as well as a model for other vernacular translations, including Tyndale’s English Bible.
- Luther taught that the doctrine of justification by faith alone was the central doctrine of the Christian life. He also said that faith came solely as a gift from God.
Your partner in ministry,
Nelson
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