Luther and present-day reconciliation with Rome
THIS year marks the five hundredth centenary of the death of Martin Luther. It is therefore appropriate to recall the tremendous achievements of the Reformer, by the grace of God, in awakening so much of Western Europe to the spiritual freedoms which come when biblical Christianity is faithfully presented. In particular, it was Luther’s great emphasis on the doctrine of justification by faith alone which broke in pieces for many the spiritual chains under which they had been bound, bringing them out into the clear light of gospel truth.
But such achievements mean little within the greater part of today’s Church. So, with an eye to the Pope’s visit to Germany last month, leaders of the German Evangelical Church (present-day Lutherans) appealed to him to make “a gesture of ecumenical goodwill” by visiting, however briefly, a town of significance to German Protestantism. In particular, they hoped he might visit the Wartburg, the castle where Luther was taken for his protection when he was kidnapped by some of his supporters after the Diet of Worms.
In fact the Pope’s schedule did not extend beyond Berlin, yet it shows how far modern Lutherans have drifted from the Reformer’s position when they wish to have any recognition from the Pope. But who can believe that Luther himself would have welcomed any such recognition by the head of a body which he condemned so thoroughly?
There was also a suggestion in the German magazine Focus, that the Pope would revoke the excommunication passed on Luther by a papal bull in 1520. This was denied by a Vatican spokesman, who was quoted however as saying that the Pope was working for the reconciliation of the Roman Catholic and Protestant traditions in a spirit of ecumenism in the run-up to the millennium.
Rome’s idea of reconciliation is very much one-sided; it is entirely on Rome’s terms. In any case, the Protestantism of those who engage in dialogue with Rome is already very questionable. But there was no question about Luther’s Protestantism. In reacting to the bull of excommunication he described the Pope as “an antichrist, an adversary, an oppressor of Holy Scripture, who dares to set his own words in opposition to the Word of God”. The decisions of the Council of Trent placed the Papacy even more firmly in opposition to the Word of God. Nothing has happened since then to reverse that.
Our responsibility is to proclaim the whole Word of God, and to pray for the destruction of Antichrist and the deliverance of those who are deceived by its doctrines – and to pray also that nominal Protestants would submit to the whole counsel of God.
KDM