June 22, 2017
Devotions: Timeline of the Reformation: 1520 – Luther’s Treatises — On the Freedom of a Christian

The Freedom of a Christian was actually part of a personal letter Luther wrote to Pope Leo X. He was encouraged by Karl von Miltitz to write this treatise to try to avoid the rift between the Lutheran Protestants and the Catholic Church. He sent the letter – and there was no reconciliation. The theme of the letter was Luther’s exposition on human nature and human freedom. But there were ramifications to his writing just like his treatise to “…the Christian Nobility”.

Luther put forth his famous paradox that although a Christian was completely free and was sole ruler of his own self, he is also the subject and servant of all men. Christians were free in Christ, but all people should submit to the governing authorities, especially when paying taxes. Luther made the point that even Christ told His disciples they should pay taxes to the Roman government. Through The Freedom of a Christian, Luther tried to offer an olive branch to the Pope. He tried to define his break with the Roman Church over salvation and scripture. He argued for Justification by Grace through Faith and Christian love over works. The idea of Christian liberty would eventually get Luther in trouble during the Peasant Revolt when the commoners took Luther’s religious views and tried to make them political in nature.

The social ramifications were revolutionary for the sixteenth-century. Luther put forth the radical idea that all people should be socially equal because all were equal before God. However, the times were not open to this forward-thinking view. He also advocated for providing welfare for the poor in the community.

Traces of the “Protestant work ethic” idea were threaded throughout Luther’s treatise. He declared that “man cannot be idle, for the need of his body drives him and he is compelled to do many good works to reduce it to subjection” By proclaiming that all men were equal, Luther said that all vocations were equal before God and therefore holy. There are historians who claim that early capitalism sprang from the Reformation.

The cultural ramifications were vast because Luther called for a complete change to the German way of life. Germans in the sixteenth century were known for their drunken, rowdy behavior. Luther attacked this generalization by declaring that every man should have control of his own body. Men should discipline themselves “by fastings, watchings, labors, and other reasonable discipline” so that they might better serve their fellow men. Above all, Luther called upon Christians to subject themselves to the Holy Spirit.

The overall impact of these two treatises, Address to the Christian Nobility and The Freedom of a Christian, can never truly be comprehended but it is obvious that the printing press was important in spreading his views all across Europe. His ideas like the priesthood of all believers and Christian liberty impacted other great reformers like Zwingli, Calvin, and Knox. Luther revolutionized Europe by bringing forth a Reformation that would change the known world for the rest of time. (adapted and adopted by An Analysis Of Martin Luther’s Two Treatises, July 7, 2012, Hannah S. Bowers)

Pastor Dave

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