Participants:
Series Code: IIWR
Program Code: IIWR001476A
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01:30 ♪[Music]♪
01:40 ♪[Music]♪ 01:49 >>John Bradshaw: This is It Is Written. I'm John Bradshaw. 01:51 Thanks for joining me for 500. 01:54 Our special series on the Reformation, 01:56 which is 500 years old, 01:58 thanks to, 02:00 an extraordinary life and an extraordinary ministry. 02:03 Martin Luther is the subject of this program. 02:07 We're going to take you to Germany, 02:09 Luther's Germany and beyond for "Here I Stand," 02:12 words made famous by Martin Luther. 02:16 And I'm honored that our special guest on this program 02:18 is Dr. Leslie Pollard, the President of Oakwood University 02:22 in Huntsville, Alabama. 02:23 Dr. Pollard, thanks for joining me. 02:25 >>Dr. Pollard: My pleasure, thank you. 02:26 I'm glad to be here. 02:27 >>John: Briefly, who was is this Martin Luther? 02:29 Tell me something about the man and his impact. 02:31 >>Dr. Pollard: Okay, I'll say it in three words: 02:32 lover, fighter, visionary. 02:34 Martin Luther. 02:35 >>John: That was Martin Luther. 02:37 Well you're going to hear more about Martin Luther 02:39 as this program goes by. 02:40 He was all of that. 02:42 Martin Luther was a man who successfully changed his world 02:45 and he changed ours. 02:48 We're going to travel together to Wittenberg in Germany. 02:51 It's a city of around 50,000 people these days 02:54 in a part of the world once known, a generation ago, 02:58 as East Germany. 03:00 It's interesting that during the communist East German times, 03:04 the Martin Luther sites in Wittenberg languished. 03:09 They were neglected and they fell into a state of disrepair. 03:13 In recent times, 03:15 there's been a lot of work done to bring Wittenberg 03:17 up to its current splendor, 03:20 the Luther premises have been refurbished. 03:22 The Lucas Cranach studio has been rebuilt 03:27 or sort of reenacted. 03:29 Melanchton's home is right there on the same street 03:32 as where Luther used to live, 03:33 and that's now a place for tourists to visit as well. 03:37 So the restoration of democracy in what was East Germany 03:42 has been good for the restoration 03:45 of the Protestant sites of historic value. 03:49 Wittenberg is a place in sort of place. 03:53 It's hard to know just how much 03:55 the average Wittenbergan knows or cares about Martin Luther. 04:00 But in the last few years there's been a lot of 04:03 caring as the entire town has been, 04:06 well, spruced up a little bit for what's taking place 04:09 late in 2017. 04:12 Huge celebrations, 04:13 huge commemorations will happen in Wittenberg, 04:17 October 31 being the 500th anniversary 04:22 to the day of what we call the founding of the Reformation. 04:26 At that time really the sites of the world 04:28 will be trained on Wittenberg in Germany. 04:33 Martin Luther was a revolutionary. 04:36 He was a radical but he did not set out to be any of that. 04:41 He simply wanted to reform his church. 04:43 He realized that there was certain things 04:45 being taught in his church that not only did not 04:48 measure with the Bible, 04:50 but he felt also robbed people of their joy. 04:52 If you examine the 95 Theses, 04:55 you see that one of the things that pops up again and again, 04:59 about 15 different times, is purgatory. 05:03 I'm certain I'll be speaking with Dr. Pollard 05:05 about purgatory a little later on. 05:08 Now, if you don't have a background 05:11 in what this is all about, 05:12 then perhaps it's not that easy for you to appreciate. 05:16 In Roman Catholic thinking, 05:17 if you're not good enough to get to heaven, 05:19 and pardon me for phrasing it that way, 05:21 if you deem it incorrect, 05:22 and not bad enough to go to hell, 05:24 there is a place you can go to be purged of your sins, 05:27 it's purg-a-tory, 05:29 purgatory, what we know it as today. 05:32 The place of purging so that you can be purified from your sins 05:37 and then go to heaven. 05:38 Of course, on the one hand, 05:39 it provides believers with an enormous amount of assurance. 05:44 I wasn't good enough the first time around, 05:47 God will cleanse me, 05:49 purge me in purgatory and ready me for everlasting life. 05:53 But imagine being as I was a kid, 05:55 I remember this just about as vividly as I remember 06:00 anything in my life, 06:02 being a young person considering purgatory. 06:04 Of course, I'd of preferred to gone to heaven, 06:07 but I didn't think I was good enough for that, 06:08 who thinks they're good enough for that. 06:10 And nobody wants to consider that 06:11 they're going to go to hell. 06:12 That's the worst alternative of all. 06:15 But as purgatory was explained to me, 06:17 it was a place where you would pay for your sins, 06:20 atone for your sins, 06:22 where you'd be punished for your sins. 06:24 And while I didn't have a good idea in my mind 06:27 exactly what that would be like, 06:29 I knew it wasn't gonna to be good. 06:31 And I knew I could be in a place of suffering 06:34 for thousands of years, 06:36 at least that's how it was explained to me 06:37 by the nuns who educated me. 06:40 And so there I was as a kid. 06:42 When you're a kid, a day is a long time, 06:45 you get a little bit older, 06:47 a year just flies by. 06:49 So imagine being south of 10 years old and thinking about 06:52 thousands of years in a place of suffering. 06:56 I'd do anything I could do to avoid that. 06:58 Anything at all. 07:01 So you can understand how in Luther's day 07:03 when the church dominated entirely where the pope was 07:08 as God in the minds of the people. 07:11 When they were confronted with purgatory 07:14 and they knew it's awful, 07:16 in fact, what they knew about it was what the priests 07:19 told them about it because they had no access 07:22 to reading material on the subject and of course, 07:25 purgatory is a mythical place anyway. 07:28 When you're a peasant and you're illiterate 07:31 and you're ignorant in your ways 07:33 and somebody says to you for a sum of money 07:36 that's all, 07:38 you can be freed from your future time in purgatory, 07:43 for a sum of money you can get time off your time in purgatory, 07:47 for a sum of money your wife or your children 07:50 or your parents can be spared much of the suffering 07:52 in purgatory. 07:54 You think that has an impact on you? 07:56 I know from experience it has an impact on you. 08:01 Martin Luther knew that people who are bound up 08:04 in this type of theology were essentially slaves 08:08 to these teachings that were not true and would demonstrably 08:12 and monstrously false. 08:15 And so he felt compelled to do something about it. 08:20 So Martin Luther Here I Stand words he spoke with conviction 08:26 at the Diet of Worms, 08:28 Worms, a city in Germany, 08:29 the diet was a council, 08:31 it was where he was brought to recant his positions, 08:36 to deny his Biblical faith, 08:39 to turn his back on, 08:40 to repudiate what he had written as a Protestant. 08:45 Luther arrived at that Diet with fire in his bones, 08:50 recant, he could not. 08:53 "Here I stand, I can do no other, so help me God." 08:58 In just a moment, 08:59 Here I Stand, the Martin Luther story. 09:02 It's part of 500, 09:04 our look at The Reformation, 09:07 brought to you by It Is Written. 09:09 I'll be back in just a moment. 09:11 ♪[Music]♪ 09:17 The prophesies of The Book of Revelation 09:19 announce startingly that Babylon is fallen. 09:24 What does that mean? 09:25 How do we understand the fall of Babylon? 09:28 I'd like to send to you today's free offer, 09:29 it's entitled "The Fall of Babylon." 09:33 Call us on 800-253-3000 09:36 or visit us online at itiswritten.com 09:40 or you can write to the address on your screen. 09:42 I'd like you to receive our free offer 09:44 The Fall of Babylon. 09:47 Thank you for remembering that It Is Written 09:49 exists due to the gracious support of the people like you. 09:53 It's your support that makes it possible for It Is Written 09:55 to share Jesus and the great truths of the Bible 09:58 with the world. 10:00 You can send your tax-deductible gift 10:02 to the address on your screen 10:03 or you can support It Is Written through our website 10:06 itiswritten.com. 10:08 Thanks for your generous support. 10:10 Our number is 800-253-3000 10:13 and our web address is itiswritten.com. 10:18 >>John: This is It Is Written. I'm John Bradshaw. 10:20 Thanks for joining me. 10:23 What makes a reformer? 10:26 Consider with me Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. 10:28 ♪[Music]♪ 10:31 The son of a minister, raised in Atlanta, Georgia, 10:35 not raised in privilege, 10:38 but raised in society that was designed to disadvantage him. 10:42 Yet he then went on to become a revolutionary, 10:44 an agent of change. 10:47 He boldly confronted a powerful system. 10:50 You might ask why? 10:52 What drives a man to do that? 10:55 But Martin Luther King Jr. 10:56 was driven to act, 10:58 to write, 10:59 to speak, 10:59 to organize, 11:00 to protest by a system that was broken, 11:05 by a society that gloried in its brokenness 11:08 and was determined to preserve its dysfunction. 11:11 "I still have a dream," he said, 11:14 one last summer's day in 1963 on the mall in Washington, DC. 11:20 It is a dream deeply rooted in the American dream. 11:23 I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up 11:26 and live out the true meaning of its creed: 11:29 We hold these truths to be self-evident, 11:32 that all men are created equal. 11:35 By the time Dr. King was murdered outside room 306 11:38 of the Lorraine Motel in 1968, 11:42 there would be no stopping the progress that he 11:44 and so many others along with him had made 11:47 in advancing the American civil rights movement. 11:51 Looking back on those days, 11:52 it's difficult to imagine that a country would choose 11:55 to live with the system it had created. 11:58 In the land of the free, 11:59 millions of people were not free. 12:03 Self-determination was the lot of some, 12:06 not all, intolerance was normal, 12:11 the struggle to right the wrongs of civil injustice 12:13 in the United States was long and hard. 12:17 It cannot be suggested the revolution, 12:20 if you'll let me call it that, should not have been waged. 12:25 So what is it that creates a revolutionary? 12:29 You might say it's the times, 12:31 an individual sees a need that must be met. 12:34 Hears a call he or she cannot ignore. 12:37 People like Gandhi, 12:38 Susan B. Anthony, 12:40 Harriet Tubman, 12:42 William Wilberforce. 12:44 I suspect many reformers, social or religious, 12:48 will tell you they ultimately didn't choose 12:50 the role they assumed, the role chose them. 12:56 Martin Luther King Jr. was not named Martin when he was born. 13:01 He was named Michael after his father, 13:04 but when little Michael was just five years old, 13:06 Michael Sr. made a trip to Germany 13:09 to attend a church congress in Berlin. 13:11 And while he was there he was so deeply impressed by the life 13:16 and ministry of a certain German gospel minister 13:20 that he made a decision to change his name 13:22 and that of his son from Michael to Martin. 13:26 Not only did Martin Luther impress Pastor Michael King, 13:30 Martin Luther changed the world. 13:33 On October the 31st, in the year 1517, 13:37 Martin Luther defied the system that was essentially 13:40 governing Western civilization. 13:43 His contribution to history is so immense 13:47 that Time Magazine ranked him fourth on the list of 13:50 the greatest men of the millennium. 13:53 It all happened here, in Wittenberg, Germany, 13:56 in the part of Germany that for more than 40 years 13:58 was known as East Germany. 14:02 In the 1500s Wittenberg was part of the kingdom of Saxony, 14:06 and while the town now officially known 14:09 Lutherstadt Wittenberg is a popular tourist destination. 14:13 In Luther's day it was anything but. 14:18 Wittenberg is a pleasant town today 14:19 with a population that hovers around 50,000. 14:23 It's 60 miles southeast of Berlin 14:25 and just a two-hour drive to the border with Poland. 14:28 It sits on the Elbe River, which starts in the Czech Republic 14:31 and flows through Germany right past Hamburg, 14:35 Germany's second largest city and to the North Sea. 14:39 During communism, 14:41 Wittenberg's sites of religious significance were neglected. 14:44 In preparation for the 500th anniversary of the starting 14:47 of The Reformation, October 31, 1517, 14:52 the town is being revitalized, 14:54 the Castle Church is being renovated 14:57 and there's a lot of pride in Wittenberg's favorite son. 15:01 Wittenberg, in Luther's day had a population of around 3,000 15:05 and it was hardly the sort of place that you would have 15:08 thought would launch a revolution. 15:11 Luther called it miserable. 15:13 His right-hand man in reform; Philipp Melanchthon 15:15 referred to Wittenberg as a hamlet comprised 15:19 not of regular houses but only of little ones. 15:22 Bad huts built of clay and covered with hay and straw. 15:26 Duke George of Saxony called Wittenberg a hole. 15:31 And one theologian wrote to a friend about the poor, 15:33 miserable, filthy, little town of Wittenberg. 15:38 Now that theologian couldn't stand Martin Luther. 15:41 That might have colored his view, 15:42 but you get the idea nevertheless. 15:44 That this place was hardly the garden of Eden. 15:47 Martin Luther was born here in Eisleben 15:50 about 60 miles from Wittenberg on November 10th, 1483. 15:56 This whole area was part of what was known for centuries 15:59 as the Holy Roman Empire. 16:02 He grew up in poverty. 16:04 His parents were peasants. 16:07 His father worked as a miner. 16:09 Hardship shaped his upbringing. 16:12 Luther's father, Hans, 16:14 wanted him to become a lawyer and he was appalled 16:18 when Martin instead shows to enter a cloister 16:22 to trying to become an Augustinian monk. 16:24 However, it was in that cloister that Martin Luther 16:28 found a Bible chained to the monastery wall. 16:31 It was the first time she'd ever seen a whole Bible. 16:34 You can imagine how he felt as he read the gospels 16:37 and the epistles of Paul, he was moved. 16:41 At the same time, 16:42 he was overcome by the sense of his own sinfulness. 16:45 He wanted to find peace with God and so he did 16:47 what they told him to do at the monastery. 16:49 He fasted, he prayed for hours, 16:52 he even resorted to the flagellation. 16:54 Later he would say, 16:55 if ever a monk could obtain heaven by his monkish works 16:59 then I should certainly have been entitled to it. 17:03 But Luther had a mentor during his training, 17:06 a man named Johann von Staupitz. 17:09 Luther would later say: 17:11 "if it had not been for Dr. Staupitz 17:13 I should surely have sunk in hell." 17:17 Staupitz encouraged Luther by telling him this. 17:19 Instead of torturing yourself on account of your sins 17:23 throw yourself into the Redeemer's arms, 17:26 trust in Him, 17:28 in the righteousness of His life, 17:30 in the atonement of His death. 17:33 Listen to the son of God, 17:35 he became man to give you the assurance of divine favor. 17:40 Love Him who first loved you. 17:46 Between 1501 and 1505, 17:48 Luther studied at the University of Erfurt, 17:50 a two-day walk from his home here in Eisleben. 17:53 He earned a master's degree, then he began studying law 17:56 but he dropped out of law school to enter the cloister. 18:00 But the fastings and the endless prayers 18:02 and all that came with it, left Luther desperate. 18:06 So in 1508 he accepted a call to teach theology 18:10 at the University of Wittenberg. 18:13 The university had been founded only a few years before 18:16 by Frederick III, the Elector of Saxony. 18:19 Frederick was a prince in the state of Saxony. 18:21 He was known as an Elector because he was one of the elite 18:25 who elected the king of the Romans. 18:28 He was a powerful man. 18:30 Not only was Luther born here in Eisleben, 18:32 but he died here as well. 18:34 In fact, 18:35 he died right here in this building behind me in the 1540. 18:38 It was from this humble little spot 18:42 virtually in the middle of the German nowhere 18:44 that Luther was thrust into the global spotlight. 18:48 Yet you come to town like this, busy towns. 18:50 This is Lutherstadt Eisleben it's called 18:53 or Lutherstadt Wittenberg, that's the city's official name. 18:57 If you come to places like this, 18:58 there's throngs of tourists, people visiting, 19:01 people coming and going 19:02 and you realize that the vast majority of those people 19:06 haven't got a clue why Martin did what he did. 19:08 The essence of Luther's protest has been lost. 19:14 So why did he do it? 19:15 Why he nailed his 95 Theses to the door 19:18 of biggest church in town? 19:20 Why did he pick a fight 19:21 with the most powerful people on the planet. 19:24 People he knew who didn't lose fights like those. 19:28 I'll tell you in just a moment. 19:30 ♪[Music]♪ 19:36 >>John: I'm John Bradshaw from It Is Written 19:38 inviting you to join me for 500. 19:42 Nine programs produced by It Is Written 19:44 taking you deep into the Reformation. 19:47 This is the 500th Anniversary of the beginning of the Reformation 19:52 when Martin Luther nailed his 95 Theses 19:54 to the door of Castle Church in Wittenberg, Germany. 19:57 We'll take you to Wittenberg and to Belgium, 19:59 to England, 20:00 to Ireland, 20:02 to Rome, 20:02 to the Vatican City and introduce you to 20:05 the people who created the Reformation, 20:07 who pushed the Reformation forward. 20:09 We'll take you to sites all throughout Europe 20:11 where the Reformers lived and in some cases died. 20:13 We'll bring you back to the United States 20:15 and take you to a little farm in upstate New York 20:18 and show you how God spread the Reformation here. 20:21 Don't miss 500. 20:23 You can own the 500 series on DVD. 20:26 Call us on 888-664-5573 20:31 or visit us online at itiswritten.shop. 20:36 ♪[Music]♪ 20:41 >>John: Thanks for joining me on It Is Written. 20:44 It was on October 31st, 1517 that Martin Luther 20:48 nailed his famous 95 Theses to the door of the Castle Church 20:53 and he launched the movement that became known to history 20:56 as the Protestant Reformation. 20:58 But when Martin Luther did that he wasn't 21:01 a radical and he wasn't a revolutionary. 21:03 He wasn't even a reformer. 21:06 He was a loyal son of the Roman Catholic church. 21:10 But when he was around 27 years old 21:12 he traveled to the city of Rome. 21:15 What he found when he got there shook him to his core. 21:19 As a young monk, 21:21 Luther had been living a strict lifestyle of self-denial, 21:25 but when he arrived in Rome, 21:27 he found priests and monks and bishops 21:29 living in luxury and debauchery. 21:32 He found so much spiritual corruption that he stated: 21:35 "If there is a hell Rome is built over it. 21:40 "One event in particular profoundly affected him. 21:43 Pope Julius II had recently made a decree 21:46 that a special indulgence was available 21:49 to those who would walk on their knees 21:51 up what had become known as Pilate's staircase. 21:55 The staircase was believed to have been the very staircase 21:58 Jesus walked on during His trial before Pontius Pilate. 22:02 And the church claimed it had been miraculously transported 22:05 from Jerusalem to Rome. 22:07 Luther was determined to acquire this indulgence 22:11 and so one day he devoutly 22:12 climbed these stairs on his knees. 22:14 But suddenly a voice seemed to declare in his ears 22:18 like thunder the words of the apostle Paul 22:21 quoting the prophet Habakkuk in the Book of Romans, 22:24 "The just shall live by faith," Romans 1:17. 22:30 Luther sprang to his feet and left the place in shame. 22:34 He'd been practicing salvation by works. 22:38 The idea that a person's good deeds merit favor with God 22:42 as opposed to simply being a response 22:45 to the goodness and the love of God. 22:47 But he heard God say to his heart, 22:49 "The just shall live by faith." 22:52 And Martin Luther was a changed man. 22:54 ♪[Music]♪ 22:58 Not long after he began teaching in Wittenberg, 23:01 the church embarked on a grand new project, 23:04 the building of the largest church in the world: 23:08 St. Peter's Basilica, in what is now Vatican City. 23:13 To help pay for the project, 23:15 the church offered its people the chance 23:16 to purchase indulgences for their sins. 23:20 An indulgence is a way to reduce the amount of punishment 23:23 you have to undergo for the sins you have committed. 23:25 So while it's not exactly the same as buying salvation, 23:29 you'd be buying pardon for sin which of course 23:32 flies in the face of the entire Bible. 23:35 Ephesians 2:8 tells us 23:36 "We are saved by grace through faith, which is a gift of God." 23:41 1 John 1:9 says that 23:44 "If we confess our sins He is faithful and just 23:49 to forgive us our sins." 23:51 Luther was appalled. 23:55 Commissioned by the Archibishop of Mainz, 23:58 a man named Johannes Tetzel began traveling around Germany 24:02 selling these indulgences. 24:04 Now that might have got passed Martin Luther once upon a time, 24:08 but not now. 24:09 Not now that he understood something 24:11 about the grace of God. 24:13 He found the selling of indulgences 24:15 to be completely sacrilegious. 24:17 How, he wondered, could anybody purchase salvation 24:20 or purchase lesser punishment for sin 24:23 or purchase lesser time spent in purgatory, 24:27 even if there was a purgatory? 24:29 In the Bible when Simon Magus 24:31 tried to purchase from Peter the power to work miracles, 24:35 Peter replied, 24:37 "Your money perish with you 24:38 because you thought that the gift of God 24:41 could be purchased with money." That's Acts 8:20. 24:45 Luther was strong in his opposition to the practice. 24:49 He contacted this bishop and voiced his concerns 24:52 and then he took those concerns public 24:55 when he nailed them to the door of the Castle Church. 24:58 Those concerns became known as Luther's 95 Theses 25:02 and they launched the Protestant Reformation. 25:05 The church, western civilization, 25:09 the world would never be the same again. 25:12 So what are the 95 Theses? 25:16 The first one lays the foundation 25:18 not only for those that follow, 25:21 but also for the most basic message 25:23 of the Reformation as far as human salvation is concerned. 25:27 "When our Lord and Master Jesus Christ said, 25:30 'Repent,' 25:31 He willed the entire life of believers 25:35 to be one of repentance." 25:36 The second follows right on, 25:38 "This word cannot be understood as referring 25:41 to the sacrament of penance, 25:43 that is, confession and satisfaction, 25:46 as administered by the clergy." 25:48 Later he writes in number 20, 25:51 "Therefore the pope, when he uses the words 25:54 'plenary remission of all penalties,' 25:57 does not actually mean 'all penalties,' 26:01 but only those imposed by himself." 26:04 Number 21, 26:06 "Thus those indulgence preachers are in error who say 26:10 that a man is absolved from every penalty 26:13 and saved by papal indulgences, 26:15 sacraments of the church, 26:18 or the purchase of indulgence." 26:20 Number 27, 26:21 "They preach only human doctrines who say that 26:25 as soon as the money clinks into the money chest, 26:28 the soul flies out of purgatory." 26:30 Number 86, 26:32 "Why does not the pope, 26:34 whose wealth today is greater 26:37 than the wealth of the richest Crassus, 26:40 build this one basilica of St. Peter with his own money 26:45 rather than with the money of poor believers?" 26:50 You can understand why Luther became so unpopular 26:54 with the leaders of the church. 26:56 His teachings spread throughout Germany 26:58 and soon they made it to Rome. 27:01 The pope demanded that Luther travel to Rome 27:04 and stand trial for his teachings. 27:06 German leaders refused. 27:08 They said that Luther's trial must be heard in Germany, 27:11 and so that's what took place. 27:13 During that trial, 27:14 Luther was told that he had to retract his teachings 27:17 and submit to the authority of the church 27:19 or he'd be sent to Rome for punishment. 27:22 But he managed to get away from Augsburg 27:24 where his case was heard by slipping through a gate 27:27 in the wall of the city. 27:28 And he made it back to Wittenberg and to safety. 27:31 Frederick, the Elector of Saxony protected Luther. 27:35 He refused to hand him over to the authorities of Rome, 27:38 saving Luther from certain death. 27:40 ♪[Music]♪ 27:47 >>Announcer: Every Word is a one-minute Bible-based 27:50 daily devotional presented by Pastor John Bradshaw 27:53 and designed especially for busy people like you. 27:55 Look for Every Word on selected networks 27:58 or watch it online everyday on our website 28:01 itiswritten.com. 28:04 ♪[Cricketts chirping]♪ 28:06 [Wolves howling] 28:09 ♪[Music]♪ 28:16 [Camera equipment rattling] 28:19 [Rustling in bushes] 28:22 [People talking] 28:24 [Wind blowing] 28:29 ♪[Music]♪ 28:39 ♪[Music]♪ 28:48 [Cheering] 28:57 ♪[Music]♪ 29:12 >>John: Luther was excommunicated 29:14 from the Roman Church. 29:16 It's said that this tree here in Wittenberg 29:20 marks the spot where he publicly burned the papal edict 29:24 announcing his excommunication. 29:27 Luther's writings began to spread throughout Europe 29:30 when he was summoned to appeal before a council 29:33 in the city of Worms. 29:35 Huge crowd greeted him when he arrived there. 29:38 It was found to be a heretic, 29:40 that was almost a given, 29:42 he'd be sentenced to death, 29:44 and the cause of the Reformation might just die along with him, 29:47 but if by some miracle 29:48 he escaped the sentence of death, 29:51 then the cause of the Bible would advance. 29:54 When he was asked to recant, 29:56 to retract his views and submit to the authority 30:00 of the Church of Rome, 30:01 Luther replied in words that would live forever. 30:05 "I cannot submit my faith either to the pope or to the councils, 30:09 because it is clear as the day that they 30:11 have frequently erred and contradicted each other. 30:14 Unless therefore I am convinced by the testimony of Scripture, 30:18 or by the clearest reasoning, 30:21 unless I am persuaded by means of the passages I have quoted, 30:25 and unless they thus render my conscience 30:27 bound by the Word of God, 30:29 I cannot and I will not retract, 30:33 for it is unsafe for a Christian to speak against his conscience. 30:37 Here I stand; I can do no other; may God help me. 30:43 Amen." 30:44 The council refused to deliver Luther up to the church, 30:47 but as on his way back here to Wittenberg, 30:50 Luther was captured. 30:52 He was captured by the man who protected him, 30:54 Frederick, 30:55 because Frederick knew it was not safe 30:57 to leave Luther in circulation. 30:59 So he took him to the Wartburg Castle to keep him safe. 31:03 and while he was there, 31:04 Luther translated the New Testament into German. 31:08 Meanwhile, back here in Wittenberg, 31:10 reform within the church continued. 31:13 Priests began to marry, the worship service was altered, 31:16 things that had been strictly forboden by the church. 31:21 Luther didn't do it all on his own. 31:24 His right-hand man was Philipp Melanchthon, 31:26 a religion professor who taught with Luther, 31:29 apart from Luther and John Calvin, 31:31 it's likely no figure stands higher in the development 31:34 and history of the Protestant Reformation. 31:37 Melanchthon is kind of the forgotten one, 31:39 but he was absolutely essential to the work of Reform. 31:42 The establishment of the Lutherian church 31:44 and the crafting of the public witness 31:46 would largely be accomplished through his work. 31:50 Luther married Katharina von Bora, 31:53 a former nun, 31:54 a woman that he had helped escaped from a convent. 31:58 With the Bible being the ultimate guide in his life, 32:00 he came to view enforced or mandated celibacy 32:03 as being completely unbiblical. 32:05 And he realized that his church taught that Peter, 32:09 said to be the first pope, had himself been married. 32:13 Now unfortunately, not all of Martin Luther's legacy 32:17 has been positive for Christianity. 32:19 There are many of Luther's admirers today 32:22 who are embarrassed by the very antisemitic views 32:26 that he often espoused. 32:29 How in the world do you reconcile this idea of Luther 32:31 on the one hand proclaiming the righteousness of Christ 32:35 then on the other hand being a hatemonger? 32:38 It has been said by commentators and critics 32:41 that Luther fueled the fires of antisemitism 32:44 which Adolf Hitler picked up on centuries later. 32:48 Well you probably don't reconcile it, 32:49 but there are a couple of things that, 32:51 I think a person, really ought to keep in mind, 32:53 Luther came to Christianity out of the abject darkness. 32:57 He came to the Bible from no Biblical frame of reference, 33:01 so to expect complete spiritual maturity from Martin Luther 33:05 is maybe a little bit too much. 33:06 Luther was wrong in his antisemitic views. 33:10 Nevertheless, there have been a lot of people 33:12 down through the years who had been wrong particularly 33:14 about matters of faith. 33:15 David, wrong about a lot, 33:17 Solomon, his lifestyle, 33:19 his practices were in many cases wrong, 33:22 James and John wanted to call fire down from heaven 33:25 and incinerate people simply because 33:28 they weren't on the same team. 33:29 That was wrong, 33:30 there were church men in the United States who 33:32 defended slavery and used the Bible 33:35 to justify their aberrant positions. 33:39 Wrong. 33:40 So on the one hand, Luther was a revolutionary, 33:43 Luther was a radical, 33:44 Luther was a reformer, 33:45 he saw so much in the church and in the world 33:48 that he called to people's attention and pointed out 33:51 as being outside of God's will. 33:53 On this one though for the most part, he missed it. 33:56 You wonder why that can happen. 33:58 A bit of a mystery really. 34:01 Luther's final sermon would be delivered here in his hometown 34:05 of Eisleben on February 15, 1546, 34:10 three days before his death. 34:12 He didn't set out to form a new church, to be a troublemaker, 34:17 he simply wanted the church to look to the Bible 34:20 and embrace the teachings of Jesus 34:23 and allow people to read the Bible for themselves 34:26 and be guided by the Holy Spirit. 34:28 In fact, Luther coined the phrase 34:31 "sola scriptura," the Bible alone. 34:35 Luther wasn't guided by tradition 34:38 and would be faithful to God's word. 34:41 And this form the basis of the most profoundly impactful 34:44 religious movement in almost 2,000 years. 34:49 The supremacy of the Bible and the teaching of 34:51 justification by grace alone through faith alone, 34:55 in Christ alone were Luther's passions and they lit a fire for 35:00 the gospel that illuminated the world 35:02 and has led millions and millions of people 35:05 to faith in Jesus Christ. 35:07 Now do you think Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. 35:09 would say the work he started has really been completed? 35:13 Or do you think that he might think 35:15 there's a little more work that needs to be done? 35:18 The same is likely true of Martin Luther. 35:21 There's still work that needs to be done. 35:24 There are still people the world over 35:26 who must hear the great truths of the Bible 35:28 and be led to a personal relationship with Jesus Christ. 35:33 So how is it with you, friend? 35:34 How's that working out in your life? 35:37 How is it with you? 35:38 ♪[Music]♪ 35:45 The prophesies of the Book of Revelation 35:47 announce startingly that Babylon is fallen. 35:51 What does that mean? 35:52 How do we understand the Fall of Babylon. 35:55 I'd like to send you today's free offer. 35:57 It's entitled "The Fall of Babylon." 36:00 Call us on 800-253-3000. 36:04 Or visit us online at itiswritten.com, 36:07 or you can write to the address on your screen. 36:10 I'd like you to receive our free offer 36:12 "The Fall of Babylon." 36:15 Thank you for remembering that It Is Written 36:17 exists due to the gracious support of the people like you. 36:21 It's your support that makes it possible for It Is Written 36:23 to share Jesus and the great truths of the Bible 36:26 with the world. 36:27 You can send your tax-deductible gift 36:29 to the address on your screen or you can support 36:32 It Is Written through our website 36:33 itiswritten.com. 36:36 Thanks for your generous support. 36:38 Our number is 800-253-3000 36:41 and our web address is itiswritten.com. 36:46 >>John: Welcome back to 500. 36:47 I'm John Bradshaw from It Is Written. 36:49 My special guest is Dr. Leslie Pollard. 36:52 He's the president of Oakwood University 36:54 in Huntsville, Alabama. 36:56 Dr. Pollard, thanks so much for joining me. 36:57 >>Dr. Leslie Pollard: Thank you. It is my pleasure to be here. 36:59 >>John: I really appreciate this. 37:00 And we got a great subject to talk about, 37:03 Martin Luther, 37:04 whose fingerprints are all over history. 37:06 >>Dr. Pollard: Yes. 37:07 >>John: You can't really discuss theology 37:08 without talking about Martin Luther. 37:10 You're certainly going talk about the Reformation. 37:12 So who was this man? 37:13 Where did he spring from? 37:15 And what kind of a person was he? 37:16 >>Dr. Pollard: Well, Martin Luther was far more ordinary 37:19 than we have gone back and reconstructed him to be. 37:22 He was born in 1483 to working class parents, 37:27 although the dad did have some ownerships, 37:29 some leasing and some mines and things like that, but, uh, 37:33 his mother Margarethe was a working class lady 37:37 and their family was very well-structured. 37:40 He had other brothers and sisters. 37:42 One brother that we think he was pretty close to 37:45 because he mentioned him, 37:46 he didn't mention the others as much. 37:48 Um, but he was an ordinary person who was called 37:52 to do something extraordinary, 37:54 out of his love and passion for God. 37:57 So, just a wonderful personality, 37:59 a confusing personality in history. 38:02 Um, we think about him as, um, as a zealot, 38:07 as a reformer, 38:09 as a protestor, 38:10 but he was also a musician, 38:12 he loved music, he loved poetry. 38:14 >>John: He, he composed "A Mighty Fortress is Our God." 38:17 >>Dr. Pollard: That's an eternal song, 38:19 "A Mighty Fortress is Our God." 38:21 So, so there was something, and as one scholar said, 38:26 he, we never think of him as a lover, 38:27 we, as somebody who fell radically, 38:31 desperately, deeply in love with God. 38:34 We, we don't tend to think of him that way, 38:37 but, but he did do that. 38:38 >>John: 1517, 500 years ago, 38:42 Luther's not the first reformer to have come along. 38:44 >>Dr. Pollard: No. 38:45 >>John: So, what do you think it was? 38:47 Maybe we're trying to get inside the mind of God here, 38:49 but perhaps we're trying to get in the mind of history as well, 38:52 why then, why Luther? 38:55 Perhaps it had something to do with Luther being, 38:57 uh, uniquely suited to a good fight. 39:02 What was it about that time that made that date, 39:06 October 31, 1517 the right time to launch a revolution. 39:13 >>Dr. Pollard: When I think about that time, John, 39:14 I think about the text in Galatians 39:16 "when the fullness of time had come," 39:18 and when Christ appeared in history, 39:20 there was a confluence of events that made it the perfect time 39:25 for God to launch the personal plan of salvation 39:28 embodied in Jesus Christ. 39:30 Similarly, with Martin Luther, right at that time, 39:33 we were at a crossroads in history. 39:35 The, um, the papal church then, 39:38 the historic papal church had achieved its ascendancy 39:41 in the Holy Roman empire, 39:43 the feudal system had reduced, 39:46 had created a, a, 39:47 class stratification that was almost unbreakable. 39:51 There were the wealthy have's, 39:53 the landowners, 39:54 and the unwealthy have-not's, 39:56 the, the poor and the outcast. 39:58 There, there was a sense of psychological and theological 40:02 dominance in the landscape of that era. 40:05 And something needed to happen in order to, 40:09 I believe, to correct the image of God as an exacting 40:14 transactional entity who wanted blood for blood and, 40:20 and good work for good work, and in the scales of salvation, 40:25 if you committed, if you have a demerit, 40:28 then you're in a bad position, but a merit brings you back. 40:32 And Luther as a, as a figure was passionate 40:36 in his love for God, 40:38 but the checklist morality of the time did not satisfy him, 40:45 he, he, something was missing. 40:47 Something was missing. 40:49 And, and it's, it's in that window that God speaks to this, 40:53 this monk who, with all of his soul wants to please 40:58 this transactional God and keeps failing. 41:01 >>John: Take us back to the time. 41:05 Today, if you wanna believe in God, 41:06 you'll knock yourself out. 41:07 If you don't, you know, don't, 41:09 If you wanna have pink hair or blue hair or no hair, 41:12 it doesn't really matter, tattoo or not. Anyway, 41:15 people are free to do what they wanna do. 41:17 Uh, maybe that's good and maybe some isn't, 41:21 but it is what it is. 41:23 So let's go back to Luther's time, 41:26 what was that day like? 41:28 What was it like to live in Luther's society? 41:31 >>Dr. Pollard: Okay. 41:32 October 31st, 1517 when he nails his 95 Theses 41:36 to the church's door in Wittenberg. 41:38 Okay, so, it's an oppressive time, 41:41 psychologically and theologically, 41:43 because the dominance of the papal church is everything. 41:48 What we often don't process is that it's economic dominance 41:51 as well because the church is very wealthy 41:53 and it has access to privilege and opportunity. 41:56 It is a time when there is severe class stratification 42:01 where peasants have almost no hope. 42:04 It is a time of wide spread illiteracy, 42:07 only very few, 42:08 the public education as we know it did not exist, 42:11 only, only very few people get to go to school 42:14 and to learn to read and to become literate human beings. 42:17 So, right at that time, God chooses, 42:21 I believe, because I think we have to see 42:23 the overarching hand of God in some of this history, 42:26 God chooses in that time to speak to this people 42:30 and to set them free through the, 42:33 through the ministry of Martin Luther, 42:36 a ministry that he grew into, never planned, 42:40 simply wanted to reform, 42:41 never planned to launch a whole new movement called 42:45 Protestantism. 42:46 That wasn't his plan. 42:47 His plan was to reform his church. 42:50 >>John: So, Luther came out of the dark. 42:53 >>Dr. Pollard: Yeah. 42:54 >>John: He wasn't ra-, he didn't go to Sunday school. 42:57 >>Dr. Pollard: No. 42:58 >>John: He, he wasn't going to Bible study with his friends. 43:00 >>Dr. Pollard: He was one monk among many. 43:02 >>John: Yeah. 43:02 >>Dr. Pollard: One among many. 43:03 >>John: And they weren't guided by the, the, the, 43:04 they didn't have the Word of God burning in their bellies, 43:08 it wasn't anything like that. 43:10 In a certain sense, that'll help us understand some of the, 43:12 maybe his theological, uh, inconsistencies. 43:16 But this was a man who was a champion for the Bible. 43:20 >>Dr. Pollard: He was. He was. 43:21 >>John: How did he get to that place? 43:22 Keeping in mind, he wasn't born into a world, 43:25 there wasn't a Bible on, on the table in the living room 43:27 where he was raised, 43:28 but this man became a champion for the Bible. 43:31 How did he get from abject darkness to that concept 43:35 of being a champion for the, the light of lights? 43:37 >>Dr. Pollard: Yeah, yeah he, 43:38 he, certainly embraced the vulgate, 43:40 because that's what he used, the Latin vulgate and, 43:41 of course, he was very fluent in Latin. 43:44 But I think as Luther walked his journey 43:47 and began to interact directly with the Word of God 43:49 and to reflect upon it's teachings, 43:51 particularly the Book of Romans and, 43:53 and the notion that the just shall live by faith, 43:56 I think, again, this is where how we think about Luther 43:59 becomes important, Luther fell in love with God 44:03 and that love he wanted everybody to experience, 44:07 every peasant, 44:09 every surf, he wanted every citizen to experience it. 44:14 And he came to believe that if the church 44:16 stands between the Scripture, 44:19 the unfettered communication of Scripture, 44:23 and the believer, if the church came to stand between that, 44:26 they would never get to that place of love and freedom 44:29 that he had come to, and thus he was, 44:33 after his excommunication, 44:34 he said what I'm gonna do is I'm gonna tra- 44:36 in that 10 month period, 44:37 he translated the Bible into the German language 44:41 so that commoners who could read could read it. 44:45 What a gift! 44:47 I think that's one of his biggest contributions. 44:49 That translation of the Bible into the common parlance, 44:54 which by the way, 44:55 is the parlance in which it was written originally anyway. 44:58 It was always intended for the common people. 45:01 It was never to be the possession 45:04 of the religious hierarchy. 45:05 The Bible was never intended, that's why, 45:07 I'm in New Testament, 45:09 that's why coyney Greek which is common Greek issue. 45:12 It's not classical Greek that the average Greek 45:15 citizen could not read. 45:17 It's coyney Greek because it was always intended 45:20 to be in the hands of the simple believer. 45:22 >>John: He was interesting amalgamations really, wasn't he? 45:24 Because this was a man with a giant intellect. 45:26 >>Dr. Pollard: He was. 45:27 >>John: Which says boys and girls 45:28 something about the importance of doing your homework 45:30 and going to school because- 45:31 >>Dr. Pollard: Amen. 45:32 >>John: -who drove the Reformation forward 45:33 were academic giants. 45:35 >>Dr. Pollard: Amen. 45:36 >>John: However, this was a man who didn't have his head 45:38 in the clouds. 45:39 He had, he, he was a giant academically, 45:43 but he was committed to making the Bible 45:45 as accessible to everyday people as he possibly could. 45:50 >>Dr. Pollard: Yes. 45:51 >>John: Which, which speaks, I think, to, uh, 45:54 he had this level headedness about him. 45:55 >>Dr. Pollard: He did. 45:57 >>John: Maybe, as you said right at the beginning, 45:57 you said that he was a common guy 45:59 and never really forgot where he came from. 46:01 >>Dr. Pollard: It was important that his mother and his father 46:03 would understand the gospel too. 46:04 That was important. 46:05 And again, the best use, I, I work in academia, 46:08 the best use of intellect, I say to my friends in theology, 46:12 I have proven nothing if I can confuse a 19 year old 46:16 with my theological discourse. 46:18 I, I've proven nothing. 46:19 But where I have proven something though is if 46:22 I can take the lingua franca of the theology 46:25 and translate it into the coinage of the common listener. 46:29 If I can do that, 46:31 then my theology will be most effective. 46:33 It will have legs that will run. 46:34 It will have hands that will work. 46:36 And it will have a heart that feels. 46:38 And that's really what Luther was able to do. 46:40 He was able through his movement 46:43 to set people free with his assurance, 46:46 with the assurance of salvation. 46:48 And, and again, we cannot under estimate that in the time, 46:53 this is a radical notion, 46:55 this is a radical notion that, 46:58 that the treasure house of the saints, 47:00 that all their treasured good works, 47:02 which are accessed through indulgences, 47:05 mean nothing because "the just shall live by faith." 47:10 It freed up a whole world. 47:12 >>John: Now we're gonna come back to that, 47:13 we'll do that in just a moment. 47:14 >>Dr. Pollard: Okay. 47:15 >>John: Justification by faith, 47:15 purgatory, 47:16 indulgences, 47:17 these are the things that that lit a fire under Luther 47:21 because it did, 47:22 Luther set the world on fire. 47:23 Back with more in just a moment. 47:25 ♪[Music]♪ 47:32 >>John: I'm John Bradshaw from It Is Written 47:34 inviting you to join me for 500, 47:38 nine programs produced by It Is Written 47:40 taking you deep into the Reformation. 47:43 This is the 500th anniversary of the beginning of the Reformation 47:47 when Martin Luther nailed his 95 Theses 47:50 to the door of the Castle Church in Wittenberg, Germany. 47:53 We'll take you to Wittenberg and to Belgium, 47:55 to England, 47:56 to Ireland, 47:57 to Rome, 47:58 to the Vatican City, 47:59 and introduce you to the people who created the Reformation, 48:02 who pushed the Reformation forward. 48:04 We'll take you to the sites all throughout Europe 48:06 where the reformers lived and in some cases died. 48:09 We'll bring you back to the United States 48:11 and take you to a little farm in upstate New York 48:14 and show you how God spread the Reformation here. 48:17 Don't miss 500. 48:19 You can own the 500 series on DVD. 48:22 Call us on 888-664-5573 48:27 or visit us online at itiswritten.shop. 48:33 >>John: Welcome back to 500. 48:34 I'm John Bradshaw. 48:36 Here I Stand, the life and ministry of Martin Luther. 48:39 I have the privilege of speaking to my guest Dr. Leslie Pollard 48:42 who is the president of Oakwood University. 48:45 Dr. Pollard, back to Martin Luther, 48:47 there were some certain theological things 48:51 that he fought against. 48:53 Let's check them off. 48:54 Purgatory. 48:56 >>Dr. Pollard: Yes. 48:57 >>John: If you read the 95 Theses, 49:00 many of them, 15 or so of them, 49:01 deal specifically with purgatory, 49:03 mention purgatory, it was really significant to Martin Luther. 49:07 Why was that so significant to Luther in Luther's time? 49:10 >>Dr. Pollard: Well, I, I think, I think, 49:12 John, that, that purgatory represented a kind of 49:16 unique theological aberration, may I say, 49:19 even heresy that the soul could be purged 49:23 through the fires. 49:24 I mean, for an indefinite period that the soul 49:27 could be purged through the fires of Hades. 49:30 And I, I like to liken it to taking a child 49:34 and putting bamboo shoots under their fingernails for hundreds 49:38 and thousands and even millions of years. 49:41 So, so there was this theological heresy 49:44 that just did not seem to square with Scripture. 49:47 But I think another effect, and some writers had pointed out, 49:51 it also represented the severest psychological bondage 49:55 that the, the ancient believer would have been held under. 49:59 >>John: Explain that to me. 50:00 >>Dr. Pollard: Well, by that I mean, 50:01 psychologically if my relatives are in this space 50:06 where they are being tortured because that's effectively 50:09 what they are doing, 50:10 there're held in this nether world of torture 50:13 and that it's up to me to be able to free them 50:16 through, through the corollary to purgatory is indulgences. 50:20 So, if it's up to me, 50:22 then even if I don't have the money, 50:25 I will work to get the money and thus I enrich 50:28 what is the institutional church of the time. 50:31 So one of the things I like to do is to look at the economic, 50:36 I'm an MBA, 50:37 so I also look at the economic ties to some of these doctrines. 50:41 And there is, 50:42 there is a profound economic benefit to the ancient church 50:47 at this time. 50:48 Under this doctrine of purgatory and indulgence, 50:51 there's a benefit that also comes along with the control. 50:54 >>John: Well, Tetzel came into Wittenburg- 50:58 >>Dr. Pollard: Yeah. 50:59 >>John: Carrying that box, or coffer or some kind. 51:03 >>Dr. Pollard: Yes. 51:04 >>John: And ultimately, indulgences paid 51:06 for the building of St. Peter's basilica. 51:08 >>Dr. Pollard: Absolutely so look at the economic benefit. 51:11 Yeah, there is. 51:12 >>John: You can imagine, can't you, 51:14 having a dollar in your pocket and knowing that this is gonna 51:17 get mom reduction in her time in purgatory- 51:19 >>Dr. Pollard: Yes. That's right. 51:20 >>John: What does that make you- 51:22 >>Dr. Pollard: Oh, my goodness. 51:23 That makes me, that, that makes me feel free. 51:25 It makes me feel worthwhile. 51:27 It makes me feel benefited. 51:28 Psychologically I have been a helper. 51:30 I have done something praiseworthy. 51:33 Let's say I was not even respectful to mom 51:35 or dad or whatever. 51:37 Or let's say I left home and I was a, a prodigal and, 51:41 and they died with me in the far country. 51:43 Now I can say I'm sorry. 51:45 >>John: You can make it up to them? 51:47 >>Dr. Pollard: I can make it up to them. 51:48 I mean, Tetzel, Tetzel was, 51:50 Johann Tetzel was notorious promoter of indulgences. 51:55 And one of the little sayings around him was, 51:59 um, that he had perfected was as soon as the coin, 52:05 um, as soon as the coin on the bottom of the coffer rings, 52:09 the soul from purgatory springs. 52:12 >>John: Yeah, that's a great sales pitch. 52:14 >>Dr. Pollard: Tremendous power. 52:15 >>John: Yeah. 52:16 And so Luther saw this fellow coming into his own, 52:18 into his own perish, fleecing essentially- 52:21 >>Dr. Pollard: He did. 52:22 >>John: And that, that really made a boom 52:24 with the righteous indignation, didn't it? 52:26 >>Dr. Pollard: It did. It did. 52:27 And he, and he thought this can't be true. 52:28 This can't be true. 52:30 So in the 95 Theses, he challenges it and says, 52:33 "Okay. If it is true, 52:34 let's look at Scripture history tradition and find out 52:38 when and where this became true?" 52:39 Because it wasn't always a practice. 52:42 It became a very convenient practice in Luther's day. 52:44 And there was at least one village in which, 52:47 one area which it had been banned. 52:49 But, but the people then would go beyond the borders 52:52 of that province in order to buy indulgences. 52:56 >>John: Luther equals justification by faith. 53:00 >>Dr. Pollard: All the way. 53:01 >>John: So, what was he up against 53:03 and how did he get to that place? 53:05 I mean, it's a radical teaching, just what, 53:07 just the things that we're talking about, 53:09 speak of salvation by works. 53:10 >>Dr. Pollard: It does. It does. 53:12 >>John: But Luther turned this thing around completely, 53:15 did a 180 degrees. 53:17 So, so, let's talk about what justification by faith 53:21 meant in the mind and theology of Martin Luther. 53:25 >>Dr. Pollard: Okay. 53:26 So for Luther, justification was a free gift. 53:28 He, his favorite books Romans, 53:30 Galatians, 53:31 Ephesians, 53:32 especially Ephesians 2:8 53:33 By grace are you saved. 53:35 He, he quotes this, "I'm not ashamed of the gospel" 53:38 Romans 1:16: for it is the power of God into salvation. 53:42 In Galatians, you know, you're saved by grace, by faith. 53:45 That whole debate. 53:46 So for him, justification was the free gift of God 53:51 that bestowed salvation, had been purchased through 53:54 Jesus Christ act on calvary, 53:57 his sacrificial, 53:58 death, his resurrected life. 54:00 And when Luther saw that, 54:02 he then saw what he saw as the aberrations of, 54:05 of someone adding to this gift, other requirements, 54:12 and he reacted to it, but, but it wasn't because he didn't try 54:17 to fulfill those requirements. 54:19 So, I think it's important to recognize that a part of 54:22 Luther's theology is not controlled by his experience, 54:26 but it is definitely influenced by his own experience 54:30 with pursuing righteousness and never being able to obtain it. 54:34 >>John: He spurred to beginning of the Protestant Reformation, 54:37 so you can answer this in a thousand different ways. 54:40 >>Dr. Pollard: Yeah. 54:41 >>John: What does he bequeath to us today? 54:43 Where do we start to weigh that up? 54:46 >>Dr. Pollard: I think if you look at the stances 54:48 he took around the only's, you know, 54:51 sola is the Latin word for only. 54:54 So, sola scriptura is one of his great legacies. 54:57 The Bible and the Bible only. 54:59 Now it doesn't mean that Luther didn't respect tradition, 55:03 but he only respected traditional interpretation 55:05 of scripture as it conformed to Scripture. 55:08 So, so, so, so he's, so he's radical in that sense, 55:12 but he's not so radical that he will not allow that there 55:15 have been other positive and correct interpretation, 55:18 so sola scriptura. 55:20 Out of that sola scriptura, 55:22 sola gracia, that, that grace alone. 55:26 By grace alone are we saved. 55:28 And so this becomes one of the legacies 55:30 that is still operational in Protestantism today. 55:33 And then sola fide, the, the, the life of faith, 55:37 that faith is the access to that grace that saves us. 55:42 And then sola christus, the Christ alone. 55:46 So he loved Christ and Christ is enough. 55:49 He is enough. 55:51 I can't say that enough. 55:52 He is enough. 55:54 He doesn't need anything extra, He is enough. 55:57 And then, of course, 55:58 um, soli deo Gloria, 56:01 to the glory of God, 56:02 only to the glory of God that life is to be translated 56:06 out so that we live in the glory of God. 56:08 Those five things to me are lasting contributions. 56:12 Now you could underscore those, his protest ethic. 56:16 >>John: Sure. 56:17 >>Dr. Pollard: His sense of justice, 56:18 although there were times in his life, 56:19 where he did fail that test, 56:21 but, but all of the other things that make a protest a protest, 56:28 um, when the princes stood with him. 56:31 Um, all of that is grounded in those five only's. 56:36 If these five foundation stones are in place, 56:40 then out of that will come an allegiance to God 56:43 and not an allegiance to man. 56:45 I mean, that's the protest to the princes. 56:47 The princes say, we are to obey God rather than man, 56:51 the church and all the other things. 56:53 God only. 56:54 So, I, I think his legacy lives with us 500 years later. 56:59 It lives with us today. 57:01 Whenever, when I see young people today 57:04 in modern movements concerned about the ecology, 57:09 I think sometimes of Luther. 57:11 That when I see them concerned about injustice and, 57:15 and an equitable world I, I, I think sometimes 57:18 about the principles that Luther left us, 57:21 that every human being should have that dignity, 57:25 even though, 57:26 he may have failed at sometimes 57:27 in some of his antisemitic statements, 57:30 but the overarching principle is always true 57:32 and it's bigger than the purveyor of the principle. 57:35 The principle is always bigger than the purveyor 57:37 of the principle. 57:38 So none of us will live out our faith perfectly 57:40 or in complete maturity, 57:43 but we will live it to the best of our ability, 57:45 and when you do that God will say of us 57:48 as He can say of Martin Luther. 57:49 Well done, thou good and faithful servant. 57:51 >>John: Dr. Pollard, it's been fantastic. 57:53 Thanks for taking the time. 57:54 Appreciate it greatly. 57:55 >>Dr. Pollard: Thank you, my pleasure. 57:57 >>John: And thank you for taking the time for joining us. 57:59 Be sure to join us next time for our next program in 500, 58:04 you'll be as blessed then as I pray and hope 58:06 you've been today. 58:06 Let's pray together now, can we do that? 58:10 Our Father in Heaven, 58:11 we've been on a journey as we've traced this, 58:14 this outstanding life, 58:16 an ordinary person blessed by the great sovereign 58:20 of the universe to do extraordinary things. 58:23 And today we are the beneficiaries 58:25 of much of what Luther did. 58:27 He's left us so much that's positive. 58:29 We don't have to imitate the man 58:31 but his ethic his approach to you. 58:33 We thank you that you've given us the opportunity 58:37 to say Here I Stand. 58:40 Lord let the fire of faith burn in our hearts. 58:43 I pray that we'll have a life like Luther did, 58:45 what you did through him was miraculous. 58:46 It will take a miracle, but you can do it in us. 58:49 And I pray that you will some way there's a man, 58:52 a woman or young person looking at his or her life 58:55 and wondering what next, 58:57 I pray that you encourage that one, 58:59 that there is salvation by faith, 59:02 that there is salvation through the grace 59:05 of this great God of heaven. 59:07 Lord, we thank you. 59:08 We know that the Reformation must be finished. 59:09 It must be finished soon. 59:11 We are looking forward to going home. 59:12 Let it be so, we pray. 59:13 We thank you, 59:15 in Jesus name. 59:16 Amen. 59:17 >>Dr. Pollard: Amen. 59:18 >>John: Dr. Pollard, thanks again. 59:19 >>Dr. Pollard: Thank you. 59:19 >>John: And thank you again. 59:20 Looking forward to seeing you again next time. 59:22 Until then remember, 59:24 "It Is Written, 59:25 man shall not live by bread alone, 59:27 but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God." 59:31 ♪[Music]♪ |
Revised 2017-10-20