A New Reformation: From Luther's World to Ours

Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved. A New ReformationFrom Luther's World to OursBy Rob FuquayAbingdon PressCopyright © 2018 Abingdon PressAll rights reserved.ISBN: 978-1-5018-6401-8ContentsIntroduction, 1. A Perfect Storm, 2. Sola Scriptura, 3. Sola Fide, 4. Taking a Stand, 5. Refuge, 6. The Priesthood of All Believers, Afterword, Acknowledgments, Notes, CHAPTER 1A Perfect StormIt is through living, indeed through dying and being damned, that one becomes a theologian, not through understanding, reading, or speculation.- Martin LutherForming and re-forming. You could say that is God's basic job description. Look at how the Bible begins in Genesis 1, "The earth was formless and empty" (Genesis 1:2 NIV). Then just a few verses later, "the Lord God formed [humankind]" (Genesis 2:7 NRSV). We don't have any specifics on how God formed humanity, but what we do know is that formation was just a beginning. The human body is constantly undergoing reformation.Scientists have revealed that the body regenerates itself every few years. The 50-75 trillion cells in the body have regenerative ability, meaning that cells are constantly dying. They reproduce so that each part of the body can continue tofunction and carry out its purpose. For instance, according to British medical experts, the lungs' set of air sac cells basically regenerate every year. Fingernails do about every six months. Every decade we have, in effect, a whole new skeletal system. The only part of the body that does not re-form is the brain. In order for living organisms to continue serving a purpose, they must be reformed.Martin Luther was aiming for this kind of reformation when he nailed his 95 theses to the doors of Schlosskirche, or Castle Church, in Wittenberg on All Hallows' Eve (October 31) in 1517. He was calling for reforms that would help the church reclaim its core purpose and mission. Specifically, Luther attacked the practice of indulgences. The very first thesis, based on Matthew 4:17, read: "When our Lord and Master Jesus Christ said, 'Repent' ... he willed the entire life of believers to be of one repentance." The word translated as repentance in the New Testament is the Greek word metanoia, meaning "to change one's mind or direction." To put in modern parlance, Jesus was saying, "It's time to reform." Luther led off his list with Jesus' words about repentance to say it's time for the people, and the church, to reform.Luther didn't intend to set off a firestorm. In fact, he posted his theses in Latin in order to address only the university scholars who would be able to understand his words. Luther was calling for a debate on a current hot topic, not an uncommon thing at a university. But the doors of the Castle Church functioned something like today's Internet. They were a place where people posted their opinions and ideas, much like we do with our "posts" on social media. As it turns out, someone took Luther's post and translated his disputation into German. Then a new invention called the Gutenberg press was used to mass produce his 95 protests, and Luther's words went viral. To appreciate why they caused such a reaction, we need to go back at least a century before Martin Luther and understand the complex mixture of forces and tensions mounting in Europe.The Perfect StormThe 2000 movie The Perfect Storm featured an all-star cast portraying the crew of the ill-fated fishing boat the Andrea Gail. In October 1991, the boat sank off the coast of New England in what was described as a meteorological phenomenon. Three different weather systems collided, causing hurricane force winds and tidal wave conditions, all combining to create "the perfect storm."That's essentially what was happening in Europe in the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries. Three distinct forces collided, setting the stage for major upheaval. These were religious, political, and personal, and each shared a common lightning rod: indulgences. Indulgences were printed ce