One of the little known stories of 19th century missions is that of Francis Thomas McDougall. It is the story of a forceful man. Francis was born in England but spent much of his childhood and youth overseas with his military father. Growing up, Francis became interested in medicine and enrolled in the University of Malta. Later he transferred to King's College, London, and took his medical degree at London University, becoming a member of the Royal College of Surgeons in 1839. Continuing his education he entered Oxford. While there, he rowed on the university's winning team of eight. His physical prowess and medical training would prove valuable in his later career.
He did not at first employ his medical degree but helped supervise an ironworks. He married the daughter of one of the men connected with the firm. When the works failed, he decided to take holy orders, a thing he had long contemplated. He was ordained in 1845. He was then 28 years old.
For two years he held curacies in England, and for a short time worked at the British Museum. When a chance opened for him to go to Borneo (now called Kalimantan) as a missionary, he turned it down, but later repented the decision and in December 1847 sailed for the mission field.
Francis was a pioneer in medical missions. His supervisors actually thought he was stepping out of line when he began to tend the sick. He had to convince them he was doing only what was right.
He had little success among the Muslim Malays who, coming from the peninsula, were overlords to much of Borneo. He did better among the Chinese traders who had settled Borneo, but best among the indigenous Dyaks. His work brought many of them to believe in Christ.
On this day, October 18, 1855 he was made Bishop of Labuan and Sarawak. Although he was actually bishop of Borneo, the church hesitated to give him that title because England did not rule the island. Francis and his wife, Harriette suffered much in the years that followed. Illness racked their bodies. Their children died. A riot by the Chinese wiped out much of their work. In spite of this formidable opposition. Francis and Harriette persevered, unconquerable even when other missionaries fled. Harriette wrote delightful letters and sketches of their life.
Francis took the blows of life on the chin, but not without resistance. Once a boat on which he and a local bigwig were passengers was attacked by pirates. Every man aboard was ordered to the defense. The bishop fought gallantly with the best of them and helped repel the pirates. His exuberant account of the affair was rebuked at home. A British bishop was not supposed to enjoy a brisk brawl. Broken health forced him to return to England in 1867, twenty years after he first set foot in the East Indies. Among his achievements was a Book of Common Prayer and Catechism in Malay.
torsdag 24 mars 2011
Lowered over a Wall, Calvin Fled Paris
When the apostle Paul escaped Damascus by being lowered over the wall in a basket it was not the last time a Christian evangelist would dramatically flee from persecution. On this day, November 2, in 1533, John Calvin made a similar thrilling escape from Paris.
A devout Catholic, Calvin studied law at the Universities of Orleans and Paris. He was a brilliant student, and with the Protestant Reformation in the air, he began reading Martin Luther and became a leader of the Reformation in France, at the risk of arrest, imprisonment, or even death.
In 1532 Calvin wrote that "Only one ...salvation is left open for our souls, and that is the mercy of God in Christ. We are saved by grace... not by our works." Calvin became a leader of the evangelical party in Paris, often encouraging his followers with the words of Paul: "If God is for us, who can be against us?"
In 1533 the newly elected head of Paris University, Nicholas Cop apparently asked Calvin to collaborate on an inauguration address. The speech called for the church to return to New Testament ideals. It accused traditional theologians of being nothing but a set of sophists. "They teach nothing of faith, nothing of the love of God, nothing of the remission of grace, nothing of justification, or if they do so, they pervert and undermine it all by their laws and sophistries. I beg of you, who are here present, not to tolerate any longer these heresies and abuses."
The king and church authorities were furious. With the police hot on their heels, Cop and Calvin fled for their lives. Calvin lowered himself from a window on bedsheets tied together, and escaped Paris dressed as a farmer with a hoe on his shoulder. Taking the alias Martianus Lucianius, he reached safety in tolerant Basel. For three more years he wandered as a fugitive evangelist under such assumed names. Finally he settled in Geneva, Switzerland where he became one of the best-known leaders of the Reformation.
Bibliography:
1.Adapted from an earlier Christian History Institute story.
2.Bouwsma, William J. John Calvin; a sixteenth-century portrait. New York: Oxford University Press, 1988.
3.Stevenson, Richard Taylor. John Calvin: the statesman. Cincinnati: Jennings and Graham, 1907.
A devout Catholic, Calvin studied law at the Universities of Orleans and Paris. He was a brilliant student, and with the Protestant Reformation in the air, he began reading Martin Luther and became a leader of the Reformation in France, at the risk of arrest, imprisonment, or even death.
In 1532 Calvin wrote that "Only one ...salvation is left open for our souls, and that is the mercy of God in Christ. We are saved by grace... not by our works." Calvin became a leader of the evangelical party in Paris, often encouraging his followers with the words of Paul: "If God is for us, who can be against us?"
In 1533 the newly elected head of Paris University, Nicholas Cop apparently asked Calvin to collaborate on an inauguration address. The speech called for the church to return to New Testament ideals. It accused traditional theologians of being nothing but a set of sophists. "They teach nothing of faith, nothing of the love of God, nothing of the remission of grace, nothing of justification, or if they do so, they pervert and undermine it all by their laws and sophistries. I beg of you, who are here present, not to tolerate any longer these heresies and abuses."
The king and church authorities were furious. With the police hot on their heels, Cop and Calvin fled for their lives. Calvin lowered himself from a window on bedsheets tied together, and escaped Paris dressed as a farmer with a hoe on his shoulder. Taking the alias Martianus Lucianius, he reached safety in tolerant Basel. For three more years he wandered as a fugitive evangelist under such assumed names. Finally he settled in Geneva, Switzerland where he became one of the best-known leaders of the Reformation.
Bibliography:
1.Adapted from an earlier Christian History Institute story.
2.Bouwsma, William J. John Calvin; a sixteenth-century portrait. New York: Oxford University Press, 1988.
3.Stevenson, Richard Taylor. John Calvin: the statesman. Cincinnati: Jennings and Graham, 1907.
Fyodor Dostoevsky: More than a Novelist
The famous Russian novelist and Christian, Fyodor Dostoyevsky was born on this day, November 11, 1821. From earliest childhood Dostoyevsky knew the gospels and learned Bible stories from the deacon at the hospital where his father was a doctor. As he looked back in later years, he rejoiced that as a child he was brought up in a home that knew Christ, and that his mother and father had given him something holy and precious to carry him through the rest of his life.
As a young man, Dostoyevsky was an activist promoting the social ideals of his day. In 1849, at age 26, he was charged with conspiracy against Tsar Nicholas' government and sentenced to death. Standing before a firing squad, he was reprieved at the last moment (the dramatic moment turned out to be an act staged as a terrifying warning), and sent to prison in Siberia for four years. On his way, a group of women gave him a New Testament which he treasured the rest of his life. The underlining in his New Testament shows that he emphasized two themes: persecution of the just and the coming Day of Judgment. He believed that man's road to salvation must be through suffering.
However, his view of suffering was not pessimistic. In his writings, the darkness was always lighted, however indistinctly, by the sufferings of Christ. The most degenerate person still retains a spark of God's image and must be loved as our neighbor.
He also believed in God's Providence. Once, when a friend remarked that his Siberian punishment had been unjust, Dostoyevsky disagreed, pointing out that God had sent him to Siberia to teach him important lessons. Dostoyevsky's best known novels--The Idiot, Memoirs from Underground, Crime and Punishment, and The Brothers Karamazov--explore man's sinful soul and show that suffering has a purifying effect upon an individual.
Dostoyevsky, an epileptic, struggled all his life with powerful compulsions, such as gambling. Although he saw Christ as embodying freedom for men (a freedom that the Grand Inquisitor he invented in The Brothers Karamazov considers cruel, because most people can't bear it), Dostoyevsky never seemed to understand how to experience that freedom himself.
He died in 1881. The epitaph on his grave is from John l2:24: "Unless a grain of wheat falls to the earth and dies, it remains by itself alone; but if it dies, it bears much fruit."
Bibliography:
1.Adapted from an earlier Christian History Institute story.
2.Berdyaev, Nicholas. Dostoevsky. Cleveland: World Publishing, 1962.
3.Dostoevsky, Fyodor. The Brothers Karamazov. Various editions.
4.Kaus, Otto. Dostojewski zur Kritik der Personlichkeit. Munchen, 1916. Source of the image.
5.Wintle, Justin. Makers of Nineteenth Century Culture, 1800-1914. London; Boston: Routledge & Kegan Paul, 1982; p. 175.
As a young man, Dostoyevsky was an activist promoting the social ideals of his day. In 1849, at age 26, he was charged with conspiracy against Tsar Nicholas' government and sentenced to death. Standing before a firing squad, he was reprieved at the last moment (the dramatic moment turned out to be an act staged as a terrifying warning), and sent to prison in Siberia for four years. On his way, a group of women gave him a New Testament which he treasured the rest of his life. The underlining in his New Testament shows that he emphasized two themes: persecution of the just and the coming Day of Judgment. He believed that man's road to salvation must be through suffering.
However, his view of suffering was not pessimistic. In his writings, the darkness was always lighted, however indistinctly, by the sufferings of Christ. The most degenerate person still retains a spark of God's image and must be loved as our neighbor.
He also believed in God's Providence. Once, when a friend remarked that his Siberian punishment had been unjust, Dostoyevsky disagreed, pointing out that God had sent him to Siberia to teach him important lessons. Dostoyevsky's best known novels--The Idiot, Memoirs from Underground, Crime and Punishment, and The Brothers Karamazov--explore man's sinful soul and show that suffering has a purifying effect upon an individual.
Dostoyevsky, an epileptic, struggled all his life with powerful compulsions, such as gambling. Although he saw Christ as embodying freedom for men (a freedom that the Grand Inquisitor he invented in The Brothers Karamazov considers cruel, because most people can't bear it), Dostoyevsky never seemed to understand how to experience that freedom himself.
He died in 1881. The epitaph on his grave is from John l2:24: "Unless a grain of wheat falls to the earth and dies, it remains by itself alone; but if it dies, it bears much fruit."
Bibliography:
1.Adapted from an earlier Christian History Institute story.
2.Berdyaev, Nicholas. Dostoevsky. Cleveland: World Publishing, 1962.
3.Dostoevsky, Fyodor. The Brothers Karamazov. Various editions.
4.Kaus, Otto. Dostojewski zur Kritik der Personlichkeit. Munchen, 1916. Source of the image.
5.Wintle, Justin. Makers of Nineteenth Century Culture, 1800-1914. London; Boston: Routledge & Kegan Paul, 1982; p. 175.
Dwight L. Moody Was Converted
Dwight L. Moody didn't attend school beyond the fifth grade; he couldn't spell, and his grammar was awful. His manners were often brash and crude, and he never became an ordained minister. Once, before his conversion, he so outraged an Italian shoe salesmen with a prank, that the man chased him with a sharp knife, clearly intending to kill him. Yet, Dwight L. Moody was used by God to lead thousands of people to Christ. Moody's life of Christian service began with his conversion on this day, April 21, 1855.
Dwight came to Boston as a teenager from Northfield, Massachusetts, and he felt all alone in the big city. The boy was desperate for work. An uncle took him on as a shoe salesman--on condition that he be obedient and that he attend Mt. Vernon Congregational Church. The young man had been raised in a Unitarian church which denied the full divinity of Christ and did not emphasize human need for salvation from sins. Now Dwight heard about those things. But he decided that he wanted to enjoy the pleasures of the world and wait to get saved until just before he died.
However, the kindness of his Sunday School teacher, Edward Kimball, turned young Moody into his life-long friend, and encouraged him to persist in his church attendance and regular Bible reading. Though Moody did try to read the Bible, he couldn't understand it. Kimball later said he had never seen anyone whose mind was as spiritually dark as Dwight's.
That changed on this day, April 21, 1855. Kimball came to the shoe store to ask Dwight to commit his life to Christ. Dwight listened closely and became a Christian that day. Immediately he began sharing his faith with others, including his own family. They wanted nothing to do with his faith. "I will always be a Unitarian," his mother said. (However, she converted shortly before her death.)
And at first Moody wasn't allowed to become a church member. Asked what Christ had done for him, the nervous boy replied that he wasn't aware of anything particular. Leaders felt that was an unacceptable answer.
When Moody later moved to Chicago he wandered the streets to find young boys to bring to his Sunday School class. He had a passion for saving souls and determined never to let a day pass without telling someone the gospel of Jesus Christ. Often he irritated strangers on the street by asking them if they were Christians -- but his pointed questioning stirred the consciences of many. God used the converted shoe salesman to become the leading evangelist of his day.
Estimates vary, but Dwight is thought to have led as many as a million people to confess faith in Christ. Among his many achievements on either side of the Atlantic was the founding of Moody Bible Institute.
Bibliography:
1.Adapted from an earlier Christian History Institute story.
2.Findlay, James F. "Moody, Dwight Lyman." Encyclopedia of American Biography, edited by John A. Garraty. Harper and Row, 1975.
3.Harvey, Bonnie C. D. L. Moody, the American Evangelist. Barbour Books, 1997.
4.Moody, William D. Life of D. L. Moody by His Son. Revell, 1900
Dwight came to Boston as a teenager from Northfield, Massachusetts, and he felt all alone in the big city. The boy was desperate for work. An uncle took him on as a shoe salesman--on condition that he be obedient and that he attend Mt. Vernon Congregational Church. The young man had been raised in a Unitarian church which denied the full divinity of Christ and did not emphasize human need for salvation from sins. Now Dwight heard about those things. But he decided that he wanted to enjoy the pleasures of the world and wait to get saved until just before he died.
However, the kindness of his Sunday School teacher, Edward Kimball, turned young Moody into his life-long friend, and encouraged him to persist in his church attendance and regular Bible reading. Though Moody did try to read the Bible, he couldn't understand it. Kimball later said he had never seen anyone whose mind was as spiritually dark as Dwight's.
That changed on this day, April 21, 1855. Kimball came to the shoe store to ask Dwight to commit his life to Christ. Dwight listened closely and became a Christian that day. Immediately he began sharing his faith with others, including his own family. They wanted nothing to do with his faith. "I will always be a Unitarian," his mother said. (However, she converted shortly before her death.)
And at first Moody wasn't allowed to become a church member. Asked what Christ had done for him, the nervous boy replied that he wasn't aware of anything particular. Leaders felt that was an unacceptable answer.
When Moody later moved to Chicago he wandered the streets to find young boys to bring to his Sunday School class. He had a passion for saving souls and determined never to let a day pass without telling someone the gospel of Jesus Christ. Often he irritated strangers on the street by asking them if they were Christians -- but his pointed questioning stirred the consciences of many. God used the converted shoe salesman to become the leading evangelist of his day.
Estimates vary, but Dwight is thought to have led as many as a million people to confess faith in Christ. Among his many achievements on either side of the Atlantic was the founding of Moody Bible Institute.
Bibliography:
1.Adapted from an earlier Christian History Institute story.
2.Findlay, James F. "Moody, Dwight Lyman." Encyclopedia of American Biography, edited by John A. Garraty. Harper and Row, 1975.
3.Harvey, Bonnie C. D. L. Moody, the American Evangelist. Barbour Books, 1997.
4.Moody, William D. Life of D. L. Moody by His Son. Revell, 1900
Titus Coan: Early Missionary to Hawaii
Never mind that father had forbidden it. Father was far away. Nine year old Titus was going sledding with a friend on a frozen pond. Out onto the ice he whizzed. It broke. Titus could not find the bottom and rose to the surface, screaming for help. His friend was too frightened to attempt a rescue. Every time Titus grabbed the edge of ice, another piece broke under his weight. It seemed he must die. But at last he found a sturdy patch and his partner crept close enough to give him a hand. Thousands, including Titus himself, would have perished eternally if he had drowned that day.
Eighteen years after his ice accident, Titus was converted in the religious movement known as the Second Great Awakening. A few years later, he sailed to Hawaii as a missionary, carrying the revival spirit with him.
As soon as his tongue commanded the language, he declared his intention to visit every one of the 16,000 people on Hilo Island. Determined to conduct sound follow-up work and to pray intelligently, he made systematic notes on each person he met. In future tours, he would check up on each person and update his notes.
Any ward boss in a city could do the same. But no ward boss has the power of God to transform lives. Wherever Titus went, men and women fell under conviction. The classic signs of revival followed. People cried out for mercy. Panting to hear more of God, they ran from meeting to meeting. They studied the word late into the night and then rose early the next day to seek God anew. Prayer services ran for hours. Friends led the blind and carried the lame to church so they wouldn't miss the opportunity of salvation. Hardened rogues bent their hearts to Christ. Hundreds and thousands turned from wicked deeds.
In the two year period 1837-38, so many converts were added to Titus's church that it became the biggest single congregation in the world. By 1870 it had 13,000 members. No one was admitted to membership until he or she proved over a period of several months that their repentance was sincere. A check of the trusty notebooks told the story.
Coan always hoped to "to die in the field with armor on, with weapons bright." That wish was granted. He suffered a stroke in the midst of a revival. On this day, December 1, 1882, he died praising God. He had seen 70% of Hilo's population turn to Jesus.
Bibliography:
1."Coan, Titus." Virtual American Biographies. http://www.famousamericans.net/tituscoan/
2.Johnston, Julia H. Fifty Missionary Heroes Every Boy and Girl Should Know. London: S. W. Partridge, 1899. Source of the image.
Eighteen years after his ice accident, Titus was converted in the religious movement known as the Second Great Awakening. A few years later, he sailed to Hawaii as a missionary, carrying the revival spirit with him.
As soon as his tongue commanded the language, he declared his intention to visit every one of the 16,000 people on Hilo Island. Determined to conduct sound follow-up work and to pray intelligently, he made systematic notes on each person he met. In future tours, he would check up on each person and update his notes.
Any ward boss in a city could do the same. But no ward boss has the power of God to transform lives. Wherever Titus went, men and women fell under conviction. The classic signs of revival followed. People cried out for mercy. Panting to hear more of God, they ran from meeting to meeting. They studied the word late into the night and then rose early the next day to seek God anew. Prayer services ran for hours. Friends led the blind and carried the lame to church so they wouldn't miss the opportunity of salvation. Hardened rogues bent their hearts to Christ. Hundreds and thousands turned from wicked deeds.
In the two year period 1837-38, so many converts were added to Titus's church that it became the biggest single congregation in the world. By 1870 it had 13,000 members. No one was admitted to membership until he or she proved over a period of several months that their repentance was sincere. A check of the trusty notebooks told the story.
Coan always hoped to "to die in the field with armor on, with weapons bright." That wish was granted. He suffered a stroke in the midst of a revival. On this day, December 1, 1882, he died praising God. He had seen 70% of Hilo's population turn to Jesus.
Bibliography:
1."Coan, Titus." Virtual American Biographies. http://www.famousamericans.net/tituscoan/
2.Johnston, Julia H. Fifty Missionary Heroes Every Boy and Girl Should Know. London: S. W. Partridge, 1899. Source of the image.
Henry Alford - Author of Thanksgiving Hymn "Come Ye Thankful People Come"
November 18, 1827
Henry Alford - Author of Thanksgiving Hymn "Come Ye Thankful People Come"
Dan Graves, MSL
Email thisPrint thisDiscuss thisShare on FacebookShare on TwitterShare on DeliciousShare on DiggmoreOn November 18, 1827, sixteen-year-old Henry Alford wrote in his Bible: "I do this day, as in the presence of God and my own soul, renew my covenant with God, and solemnly determine henceforth to become His, and to do His work as far as in me lies." The rest of his life, this serious and holy young man showed that he meant what he said.
At college, he chummed with the noblest men of his day, among them Alfred Lord Tennyson. One of the deans said, "I really think he was morally the bravest man I ever knew. His perfect purity of mind and singleness of purpose, seemed to give him a confidence and unobtrusive self-respect which never failed him." Rejecting participation in the sins that were so common among young men at Cambridge, he became an outstanding scholar. It did not go to his head. For example, he wrote in his journal, "I went up to town and received the Holy Orders of a Priest; may I be a temple of chastity and holiness, fit and clean to receive so great a guest; and, on so great a commission as I have now received, O my beloved Redeemer, my dear Brother and Master, hear my prayer."
To the person in the pew, Henry Alford is best known as the author of the Thanksgiving hymn "Come Ye Thankful People Come." Among scholars, he is better known for his commentary on the Greek New Testament, on which he labored for eighteen years. He did much of this work while carrying on the duties of a vicar to the small parish of Wymeswold. It had been neglected and he rebuilt it, visiting every soul in his keeping. One of his major undertakings was a series of Sunday afternoon sermons in which he taught through books of the Bible, explaining their meaning. He had a knack for explaining things in a way the simple people could understand.
For example, explaining that Paul expected Christ to return in his own lifetime, he wrote, "Nor need it surprise any Christian that the apostles should in this matter of detail have found their personal expectation liable to disappointment respecting a day of which it is so solemnly said that no man knoweth its appointed time, not the angels in heaven, not the Son, but the Father only (Mark xiii. 32)."
After many years of hard work, chiefly at Wymeswold, he accepted a position at Canterbury Cathedral that allowed him more time to write. At Canterbury, he began a series of Sunday afternoon services as he had done at Wymeswold. Again these attracted large crowds. His preaching was evangelical. Formal church leaders considered him a bit radical but his good humor and friendliness won their affection. He was notable for being able to see the best points in all Christian positions, however much he might disagree with them.
Henry died rather unexpectedly in 1871. In addition to Bible work and hymns, he edited the poems of John Donne and translated Homer's Odyssey.
Read more church history articles here.
Bibliography:
1.Alford, Henry. Alford's Greek Testament; an exegetical and critical commentary. Grand Rapids, Michigan: Guardian Press, 1976.
2.Cross, F. L. and Livingstone, E. A. The Oxford Dictionary of the Christian Church. Oxford University Press, 1997.
3.Day, Nigel. "Come, Ye Thankful People, Come." http://www.stpetersnottingham.org/hymns/thankful.htm
4.Hare, Augustus J. C. (Augustus John Cuthbert). Biographical Sketches; being memorials of Arthur Penrhyn Stanley...Henry Alford...Mrs. Duncan Stewart, etc. London: G. Allen; New York, Dodd, Mead, and co., 1895.
Henry Alford - Author of Thanksgiving Hymn "Come Ye Thankful People Come"
Dan Graves, MSL
Email thisPrint thisDiscuss thisShare on FacebookShare on TwitterShare on DeliciousShare on DiggmoreOn November 18, 1827, sixteen-year-old Henry Alford wrote in his Bible: "I do this day, as in the presence of God and my own soul, renew my covenant with God, and solemnly determine henceforth to become His, and to do His work as far as in me lies." The rest of his life, this serious and holy young man showed that he meant what he said.
At college, he chummed with the noblest men of his day, among them Alfred Lord Tennyson. One of the deans said, "I really think he was morally the bravest man I ever knew. His perfect purity of mind and singleness of purpose, seemed to give him a confidence and unobtrusive self-respect which never failed him." Rejecting participation in the sins that were so common among young men at Cambridge, he became an outstanding scholar. It did not go to his head. For example, he wrote in his journal, "I went up to town and received the Holy Orders of a Priest; may I be a temple of chastity and holiness, fit and clean to receive so great a guest; and, on so great a commission as I have now received, O my beloved Redeemer, my dear Brother and Master, hear my prayer."
To the person in the pew, Henry Alford is best known as the author of the Thanksgiving hymn "Come Ye Thankful People Come." Among scholars, he is better known for his commentary on the Greek New Testament, on which he labored for eighteen years. He did much of this work while carrying on the duties of a vicar to the small parish of Wymeswold. It had been neglected and he rebuilt it, visiting every soul in his keeping. One of his major undertakings was a series of Sunday afternoon sermons in which he taught through books of the Bible, explaining their meaning. He had a knack for explaining things in a way the simple people could understand.
For example, explaining that Paul expected Christ to return in his own lifetime, he wrote, "Nor need it surprise any Christian that the apostles should in this matter of detail have found their personal expectation liable to disappointment respecting a day of which it is so solemnly said that no man knoweth its appointed time, not the angels in heaven, not the Son, but the Father only (Mark xiii. 32)."
After many years of hard work, chiefly at Wymeswold, he accepted a position at Canterbury Cathedral that allowed him more time to write. At Canterbury, he began a series of Sunday afternoon services as he had done at Wymeswold. Again these attracted large crowds. His preaching was evangelical. Formal church leaders considered him a bit radical but his good humor and friendliness won their affection. He was notable for being able to see the best points in all Christian positions, however much he might disagree with them.
Henry died rather unexpectedly in 1871. In addition to Bible work and hymns, he edited the poems of John Donne and translated Homer's Odyssey.
Read more church history articles here.
Bibliography:
1.Alford, Henry. Alford's Greek Testament; an exegetical and critical commentary. Grand Rapids, Michigan: Guardian Press, 1976.
2.Cross, F. L. and Livingstone, E. A. The Oxford Dictionary of the Christian Church. Oxford University Press, 1997.
3.Day, Nigel. "Come, Ye Thankful People, Come." http://www.stpetersnottingham.org/hymns/thankful.htm
4.Hare, Augustus J. C. (Augustus John Cuthbert). Biographical Sketches; being memorials of Arthur Penrhyn Stanley...Henry Alford...Mrs. Duncan Stewart, etc. London: G. Allen; New York, Dodd, Mead, and co., 1895.
Solzhenitsyn's Gulag Archipelago Published
When Alexander Solzhenitsyn was awarded the Nobel Prize for literature in 1970, the Soviet government would not allow him to accept the prize. He was famed as the author of a realistic tale of prison existence, One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich, published in 1962. This was based upon his experiences in Stalin's prison camps.
When One Day was accepted for publication, Solzhenitsyn offered up this prayer:
How easy it is for me to live with you, Lord!
How easy for me to believe in you,
When my spirit is lost, perplexed and cast down,
When the sharpest can see no further than the night,
And know not what on the morrow they must do
You give me a sure certainty
That you exist, that you are watching over me
And will not permit the ways of righteousness to be closed to me.
Here on the summit of earthly glory I look back astonished
On the road which through depths of despair has led me here.
To this point from which I can also reflect to men your radiance
And all that I can still reflect - you shall grant to me.
And what I shall fail you shall grant to others.
The year after he won the Nobel, Solzhenitsyn found himself in exile. He settled in the U.S.
On this day, December 28, 1973 a new book by the Nobel-winner appeared in the Paris book markets. This book, too, was about prison--a documentary of the horrors of the Gulag Archipelago, Stalin's prison camps in central Asia, a system of inland "islands" which taken together would have been as big as the country of France.
Trained as a mathematician, Solzhenitsyn found his fame as an author instead. In 1945, while serving in the Russian army, he was arrested and sent to prison for criticizing Russian dictator Josef Stalin in a letter. While in prison he met Christians whose faith impressed him, and he came to appreciate the deepened understanding of truth which comes through suffering.
The day came when he was able to say, "Bless you, prison, for having been in my life." For in prison, he recognized what a spiritual monster he had been. There he listened to his conscience; there he found God. Prison made him firm.
While in exile, Solzhenitsyn not only sought the spiritual renewal of his native Russia, but he also lovingly rebuked the west for its materialism and growing moral decadence. He continued to publish literary works which documented the moral injustices of the Communist state and the terror under Lenin and Stalin.
Bibliography:
1.Adapted from an earlier Christian History Institute story.
2.Nielsen, Niels C., jr. Solzhenitsyn's Religion. New York: Pillar Books, 1976.
3.Solzhenitsyn, Aleksandr I. The Gulag Archipelago. New York: Harper and Row, 1975
When One Day was accepted for publication, Solzhenitsyn offered up this prayer:
How easy it is for me to live with you, Lord!
How easy for me to believe in you,
When my spirit is lost, perplexed and cast down,
When the sharpest can see no further than the night,
And know not what on the morrow they must do
You give me a sure certainty
That you exist, that you are watching over me
And will not permit the ways of righteousness to be closed to me.
Here on the summit of earthly glory I look back astonished
On the road which through depths of despair has led me here.
To this point from which I can also reflect to men your radiance
And all that I can still reflect - you shall grant to me.
And what I shall fail you shall grant to others.
The year after he won the Nobel, Solzhenitsyn found himself in exile. He settled in the U.S.
On this day, December 28, 1973 a new book by the Nobel-winner appeared in the Paris book markets. This book, too, was about prison--a documentary of the horrors of the Gulag Archipelago, Stalin's prison camps in central Asia, a system of inland "islands" which taken together would have been as big as the country of France.
Trained as a mathematician, Solzhenitsyn found his fame as an author instead. In 1945, while serving in the Russian army, he was arrested and sent to prison for criticizing Russian dictator Josef Stalin in a letter. While in prison he met Christians whose faith impressed him, and he came to appreciate the deepened understanding of truth which comes through suffering.
The day came when he was able to say, "Bless you, prison, for having been in my life." For in prison, he recognized what a spiritual monster he had been. There he listened to his conscience; there he found God. Prison made him firm.
While in exile, Solzhenitsyn not only sought the spiritual renewal of his native Russia, but he also lovingly rebuked the west for its materialism and growing moral decadence. He continued to publish literary works which documented the moral injustices of the Communist state and the terror under Lenin and Stalin.
Bibliography:
1.Adapted from an earlier Christian History Institute story.
2.Nielsen, Niels C., jr. Solzhenitsyn's Religion. New York: Pillar Books, 1976.
3.Solzhenitsyn, Aleksandr I. The Gulag Archipelago. New York: Harper and Row, 1975
Death of C.S. Lewis
Email thisPrint thisDiscuss thisShare on FacebookShare on TwitterShare on DeliciousShare on DiggmoreThis is the date that is remembered around the world and annually recalled on the evening news as the date President John F. Kennedy was assassinated in Dallas in 1963. Far less noticed is the fact that another famous twentieth century figure also died on this date. On this day, November 22, l963 C.S. Lewis (who preferred to be called "Jack") went to be with the Lion named Aslan.
To understand what that means, we must recall that Jack was one of the world's outstanding writers and a professor of English Literature at Oxford and Cambridge Universities. He succeeded in capturing the imagination of young and old with his Chronicles of Narnia. These seven books tell the story of boys and girls magically stepping through their wardrobe closet to venture into a fictional land protected by Aslan, a magnificent lion who symbolizes Christ. The stories have proved to be more than captivating reading adventures for children. They also have been an effective instrument for converting many to faith in Jesus Christ.
Jack referred to himself at age fourteen as a "happy atheist," but after years of analytical thinking, he concluded that knowing Christ is the only logical way to understand both man and the universe around him. Accepting Christ as his Redeemer at age 30, Jack soon achieved worldwide recognition as the author of more than 25 Christian writings. Perhaps best known of his non-fiction books is Mere Christianity, a simple yet strikingly logical statement of why the Gospel is worthy of acceptance.
Remarkably, Jack stands out as one of history's gifted geniuses who has had the versatility to fascinate and delight children with his simple stories of Aslan and at the same time challenge the most scholarly philosophers with his profound thought and keen logic. One of his widely known scholarly writings is English Literature in the Sixteenth Century. Another, Abolition of Man, was classified by Encyclopedia Britannica as one of the Great Books of the World.
Jack suffered from kidney problems late in life and had to have many transfusions. Once he went into a coma. However, he continued to read new books and reread books he loved. At five thirty on this day, November 22, 1963, Jack's brother Warnie heard a crash and found Jack unconscious. The famous writer died a few minutes later.
Shadowlands, a BBC film on Jack's life, co-produced with Gateway Films, won the international Emmy award for best drama and spun off a stage play and theatrical feature film of the same title, bringing the life of this English professor to a wide popular audience. Today, millions continue to read, enjoy, and benefit from the remarkable works of C.S. Lewis.
Bibliography:
1.Based on an earlier Christian History Institute story.
2.Gresham, Douglas A. Lenten Lands; My childhood with Joy Davidman and C. S. Lewis. New York: Macmillan, 1988.
3."Lewis, Clive Staples." Dictionary of National Biography. Edited by Leslie Stephen and Sidney Lee. London: Oxford University Press, 1921 - 1996.
4.Petersen, William J. C. S. Lewis Had a Wife; Catherine Marshall Had a Husband. Wheaton, Illinois: Tyndale House, 1986.
5.Sayer, George. Jack: C. S. Lewis and His Times. San Francisco: Harper and Row, 1988.
6.Wellman, Sam. C. S. Lewis; Author of Mere Christianity. Urichsville, Ohio: Barbour, nd.
To understand what that means, we must recall that Jack was one of the world's outstanding writers and a professor of English Literature at Oxford and Cambridge Universities. He succeeded in capturing the imagination of young and old with his Chronicles of Narnia. These seven books tell the story of boys and girls magically stepping through their wardrobe closet to venture into a fictional land protected by Aslan, a magnificent lion who symbolizes Christ. The stories have proved to be more than captivating reading adventures for children. They also have been an effective instrument for converting many to faith in Jesus Christ.
Jack referred to himself at age fourteen as a "happy atheist," but after years of analytical thinking, he concluded that knowing Christ is the only logical way to understand both man and the universe around him. Accepting Christ as his Redeemer at age 30, Jack soon achieved worldwide recognition as the author of more than 25 Christian writings. Perhaps best known of his non-fiction books is Mere Christianity, a simple yet strikingly logical statement of why the Gospel is worthy of acceptance.
Remarkably, Jack stands out as one of history's gifted geniuses who has had the versatility to fascinate and delight children with his simple stories of Aslan and at the same time challenge the most scholarly philosophers with his profound thought and keen logic. One of his widely known scholarly writings is English Literature in the Sixteenth Century. Another, Abolition of Man, was classified by Encyclopedia Britannica as one of the Great Books of the World.
Jack suffered from kidney problems late in life and had to have many transfusions. Once he went into a coma. However, he continued to read new books and reread books he loved. At five thirty on this day, November 22, 1963, Jack's brother Warnie heard a crash and found Jack unconscious. The famous writer died a few minutes later.
Shadowlands, a BBC film on Jack's life, co-produced with Gateway Films, won the international Emmy award for best drama and spun off a stage play and theatrical feature film of the same title, bringing the life of this English professor to a wide popular audience. Today, millions continue to read, enjoy, and benefit from the remarkable works of C.S. Lewis.
Bibliography:
1.Based on an earlier Christian History Institute story.
2.Gresham, Douglas A. Lenten Lands; My childhood with Joy Davidman and C. S. Lewis. New York: Macmillan, 1988.
3."Lewis, Clive Staples." Dictionary of National Biography. Edited by Leslie Stephen and Sidney Lee. London: Oxford University Press, 1921 - 1996.
4.Petersen, William J. C. S. Lewis Had a Wife; Catherine Marshall Had a Husband. Wheaton, Illinois: Tyndale House, 1986.
5.Sayer, George. Jack: C. S. Lewis and His Times. San Francisco: Harper and Row, 1988.
6.Wellman, Sam. C. S. Lewis; Author of Mere Christianity. Urichsville, Ohio: Barbour, nd.
December 30, 1384
John Wycliffe on His Death Bed
Diana Severance, Ph.D. edited by Dan Graves, MSL
Email thisPrint thisDiscuss thisShare on FacebookShare on TwitterShare on DeliciousShare on DiggmoreWord that John Wycliffe was dying whipped like storm winds across England. Now on this day, December 30, 1384, clerics--many of them his enemies--crowded into his room at Lutterworth. If they hoped to hear some last word or a recantation from him, they were disappointed. John could not speak.
Two days earlier, he had grown numb and collapsed while saying mass. When he came to from this, his second stroke, he was paralyzed and unable to speak.
John was the most famous priest of his day. His learning was immense. He had been a leading scholar at Oxford and a chaplain to the King of England. More to the point, he spoke out boldly against the errors of the popes, the organizational hierarchy of the Roman Church, and the corruption of the clergy in his day. He criticized not only the organization of the medieval church but its theology as well and argued for a return to the Scriptures. Pastors should live lives of simplicity and holiness, he taught, shepherding their flocks (people)--not plundering them.
If the people in England were to know the truth, John reasoned that they must have the Word of God in their own language. Under his direction, the Bible was translated into English for the first time, although the job was not completed by his associates until 1395, eleven years after his death. Repeatedly condemned and burned by church authorities, copies of Wycliffe's Bible continued in use for over a century, until printed Bibles took their place. This work greatly influenced William Tyndale who made the first printed translation of the New Testament in English.
We can still puzzle out the meaning of John Wycliffe's words. Here is how he describes the transfiguration: "And aftir sixe dayes Jhesus took Petre, and James, and John and ledith [led] hem [them] by hem selve aloone in to an high hil ; and he is transfigurid before hem. And his clothis ben maad [were made] schynynge [shining] and white ful moche [much] as snow, and which maner clothis a fullere [cloth worker], or walkere [worker] of cloth, may not make white on erthe. And Helye [Elijah] with Myses apperide [appeared] to hem, and thei weren [were] spekynge [speaking] with Jhesu."
John Wycliffe died of his stroke on the last day of the year. The religious authorities had never excommunicated him because they feared public opinion--the people loved John and his fame was international. So he was buried in consecrated soil. But about thirty years later, the Council of Constance revenged itself on his criticism by condemning his teachings and ordering his bones to be dug up and burned.
But the burning of such a man's bones could not end his influence. As John Foxe said in his book of martyrs, "though they digged up his body, burnt his bones, and drowned his ashes, yet the Word of God and the truth of his doctrine, with the fruit and success thereof, they could not burn; which yet to this day...doth remain."
Bibliography:
1.Adapted from earlier Christian History Institute stories.
2.Bowie, Walter Russell. Men of Fire. New York: Harper and Brothers, 1961.
3.Caughey, Ellen. John Wycliffe: herald of the Reformation. Uhrichsville, Ohio: Barbour, 2001.
4.Innis, George S. Wycliffe: the morning star. Cincinnati: Jennings and Graham, 1915.
5.Kenny, Anthony. Wycliffe. Oxford University Press, 1985.
6.Kunitz, Stanley L. British Authors Before 1800; a biographical dictionary. New York: H. W. Wilson, 1952.
7.Russell, Bertrand. Wisdom of the West. London, 1959. p. 215.
8.Wood, Douglas C. The Evangelical Doctor; John Wycliffe and the Lollards. Herts, England: Evangelical Press, 1984.
9."Wycliffe, John." Dictionary of National Biography. Edited by Leslie Stephen and Sidney Lee. London: Oxford University Press, 1921-1996.
John Wycliffe on His Death Bed
Diana Severance, Ph.D. edited by Dan Graves, MSL
Email thisPrint thisDiscuss thisShare on FacebookShare on TwitterShare on DeliciousShare on DiggmoreWord that John Wycliffe was dying whipped like storm winds across England. Now on this day, December 30, 1384, clerics--many of them his enemies--crowded into his room at Lutterworth. If they hoped to hear some last word or a recantation from him, they were disappointed. John could not speak.
Two days earlier, he had grown numb and collapsed while saying mass. When he came to from this, his second stroke, he was paralyzed and unable to speak.
John was the most famous priest of his day. His learning was immense. He had been a leading scholar at Oxford and a chaplain to the King of England. More to the point, he spoke out boldly against the errors of the popes, the organizational hierarchy of the Roman Church, and the corruption of the clergy in his day. He criticized not only the organization of the medieval church but its theology as well and argued for a return to the Scriptures. Pastors should live lives of simplicity and holiness, he taught, shepherding their flocks (people)--not plundering them.
If the people in England were to know the truth, John reasoned that they must have the Word of God in their own language. Under his direction, the Bible was translated into English for the first time, although the job was not completed by his associates until 1395, eleven years after his death. Repeatedly condemned and burned by church authorities, copies of Wycliffe's Bible continued in use for over a century, until printed Bibles took their place. This work greatly influenced William Tyndale who made the first printed translation of the New Testament in English.
We can still puzzle out the meaning of John Wycliffe's words. Here is how he describes the transfiguration: "And aftir sixe dayes Jhesus took Petre, and James, and John and ledith [led] hem [them] by hem selve aloone in to an high hil ; and he is transfigurid before hem. And his clothis ben maad [were made] schynynge [shining] and white ful moche [much] as snow, and which maner clothis a fullere [cloth worker], or walkere [worker] of cloth, may not make white on erthe. And Helye [Elijah] with Myses apperide [appeared] to hem, and thei weren [were] spekynge [speaking] with Jhesu."
John Wycliffe died of his stroke on the last day of the year. The religious authorities had never excommunicated him because they feared public opinion--the people loved John and his fame was international. So he was buried in consecrated soil. But about thirty years later, the Council of Constance revenged itself on his criticism by condemning his teachings and ordering his bones to be dug up and burned.
But the burning of such a man's bones could not end his influence. As John Foxe said in his book of martyrs, "though they digged up his body, burnt his bones, and drowned his ashes, yet the Word of God and the truth of his doctrine, with the fruit and success thereof, they could not burn; which yet to this day...doth remain."
Bibliography:
1.Adapted from earlier Christian History Institute stories.
2.Bowie, Walter Russell. Men of Fire. New York: Harper and Brothers, 1961.
3.Caughey, Ellen. John Wycliffe: herald of the Reformation. Uhrichsville, Ohio: Barbour, 2001.
4.Innis, George S. Wycliffe: the morning star. Cincinnati: Jennings and Graham, 1915.
5.Kenny, Anthony. Wycliffe. Oxford University Press, 1985.
6.Kunitz, Stanley L. British Authors Before 1800; a biographical dictionary. New York: H. W. Wilson, 1952.
7.Russell, Bertrand. Wisdom of the West. London, 1959. p. 215.
8.Wood, Douglas C. The Evangelical Doctor; John Wycliffe and the Lollards. Herts, England: Evangelical Press, 1984.
9."Wycliffe, John." Dictionary of National Biography. Edited by Leslie Stephen and Sidney Lee. London: Oxford University Press, 1921-1996.
The King James "Authorized Version"
Have you ever attended a frustrating meeting where nothing much seems to get done? The Hampton Court conference, held in 1604, was like that. When James VI of Scotland rode south to London on the way to the coronation that would make him James I of England, Puritans presented him with a petition, pleading for freedom from man-made rites and ceremonies in worship. Since over 1,000 leaders of these reform-minded Christians signed the petition, James could not ignore it.
He called for a conference of churchmen and theologians to be held at Hampton Court, one of the royal palaces. But his attitude toward the event was signalled by the wording of the summons, "for the hearing, and for the determining, things pretended to be amiss in the Church." [our italics]
The Puritans thought that the Church of England had kept too many Catholic practices. They wanted church government put in the hands of the people, rather than a heirarchy of bishops and archbishops. But the Puritans weren’t going to get their wish. The king made that plain at Hampton Court. He recognized the democratic tendencies of Puritanism and suspected that if the people dumped bishops they one day might dump their king. James and his son, Charles I, harassed the Puritans so fiercely that many fled to America.
James and the Puritans did agree on one thing at Hampton. When Dr. John Reynolds, President of Corpus Christi College, Oxford, proposed a new translation of the English Bible, he found James enthusiastic. The king detested the Geneva Bible, the most popular translation in use in England. He considered its margin notes “very partial, untrue, seditious, and savoring too much of dangerous and seditious conceits.” In other words, the Geneva Bible did not support the theory that kings have divine right to rule, even if they behave badly. James wanted a Bible free of political and theological notes.
And so, on this day, January 17, 1604, the motion was carried "...that a translation be made of the whole Bible, as consonant as can be to the original Hebrew and Greek; and this to be set out and printed, without any marginal notes..."
Forty-seven of England's top Bible scholars were appointed to do the work. In an effort to diminish bias, both Anglicans and Puritans were included. King James himself organized the task. The translators were counted off into six panels (three Old Testament, two New Testament, one Apocrypha). The king charged them to stick as close to the earlier Bishop’s Bible as accuracy would allow, but to take into account earlier versions. In the end, the new translation borrowed about seventy percent of its wording from William Tyndale’s vivid translation.
The procedure was to assign each translator a portion of Scripture. He had to present his work to the others in his group for approval. Each book was then sent to the five other groups for review and criticism. With this procedure, each book was scrutinized by every member of the team. A committee of twelve--two from each team--made a final review.
By 1611, the translation was complete, but it would take years for this Bible to win general acceptance. Readers who had memorized scripture from earlier versions hesitated to adopt new wordings. One scholar opposed it on the grounds he was preparing a better version! Others complained that it was not consistent and that there were spelling errors.
Because James was so closely involved with the work, the 1611 translation is often called the "Authorized Version" (in America, the "King James Version"). In time it became the most beloved English translation. Through its powerful rhythms and pleasing phrases, it shaped the language of the Bible-reading public. A few denominations consider the King James Version virtually inspired, the only acceptable translation for reading and study.
Bibliography:
1.Bruce, F. F. History of the Bible in English. New York: Oxford University, 1978.
2.Christian History Institute files.
3."Bible-History of the English Bible." Enclyclopedia Americana. Chicago: Encyclopedia Americana, corp., 1956.
4.McGrath, Alister E. In the beginning : the story of the King James Bible and how it changed a nation, a language, and a culture. New York: Anchor Books, 2002.
He called for a conference of churchmen and theologians to be held at Hampton Court, one of the royal palaces. But his attitude toward the event was signalled by the wording of the summons, "for the hearing, and for the determining, things pretended to be amiss in the Church." [our italics]
The Puritans thought that the Church of England had kept too many Catholic practices. They wanted church government put in the hands of the people, rather than a heirarchy of bishops and archbishops. But the Puritans weren’t going to get their wish. The king made that plain at Hampton Court. He recognized the democratic tendencies of Puritanism and suspected that if the people dumped bishops they one day might dump their king. James and his son, Charles I, harassed the Puritans so fiercely that many fled to America.
James and the Puritans did agree on one thing at Hampton. When Dr. John Reynolds, President of Corpus Christi College, Oxford, proposed a new translation of the English Bible, he found James enthusiastic. The king detested the Geneva Bible, the most popular translation in use in England. He considered its margin notes “very partial, untrue, seditious, and savoring too much of dangerous and seditious conceits.” In other words, the Geneva Bible did not support the theory that kings have divine right to rule, even if they behave badly. James wanted a Bible free of political and theological notes.
And so, on this day, January 17, 1604, the motion was carried "...that a translation be made of the whole Bible, as consonant as can be to the original Hebrew and Greek; and this to be set out and printed, without any marginal notes..."
Forty-seven of England's top Bible scholars were appointed to do the work. In an effort to diminish bias, both Anglicans and Puritans were included. King James himself organized the task. The translators were counted off into six panels (three Old Testament, two New Testament, one Apocrypha). The king charged them to stick as close to the earlier Bishop’s Bible as accuracy would allow, but to take into account earlier versions. In the end, the new translation borrowed about seventy percent of its wording from William Tyndale’s vivid translation.
The procedure was to assign each translator a portion of Scripture. He had to present his work to the others in his group for approval. Each book was then sent to the five other groups for review and criticism. With this procedure, each book was scrutinized by every member of the team. A committee of twelve--two from each team--made a final review.
By 1611, the translation was complete, but it would take years for this Bible to win general acceptance. Readers who had memorized scripture from earlier versions hesitated to adopt new wordings. One scholar opposed it on the grounds he was preparing a better version! Others complained that it was not consistent and that there were spelling errors.
Because James was so closely involved with the work, the 1611 translation is often called the "Authorized Version" (in America, the "King James Version"). In time it became the most beloved English translation. Through its powerful rhythms and pleasing phrases, it shaped the language of the Bible-reading public. A few denominations consider the King James Version virtually inspired, the only acceptable translation for reading and study.
Bibliography:
1.Bruce, F. F. History of the Bible in English. New York: Oxford University, 1978.
2.Christian History Institute files.
3."Bible-History of the English Bible." Enclyclopedia Americana. Chicago: Encyclopedia Americana, corp., 1956.
4.McGrath, Alister E. In the beginning : the story of the King James Bible and how it changed a nation, a language, and a culture. New York: Anchor Books, 2002.
True Spirituality
Months ago, I began a journey through the works of Francis Schaeffer beginning with the book True Spirituality. I've been writing about that over at Crosswalk the Devotional. There is still time to join the journey, and I hope you will.
As C.S. Lewis once said: "First-hand knowledge [of great authors] is not only more worth acquiring than second-hand knowledge, but is usually much easier and more delightful to acquire." (Quoted from his introduction in Athanasius', On the Incarnation, St. Vladimir's Seminary Press: Crestwood, New York, 1993, p. 3).
In other words, you'll probably enjoy Francis Schaeffer much more than reading my devotionals on Francis Schaeffer. But it is not just your delight in reading a great man that is at stake. No. Schaeffer's message is a much-needed remedy for the low condition of joy and genuine faith that seems to plague this generation.
And Schaeffer knows something about that. He once went through a long period of being a joyless Christian himself.
In 1971, Schaeffer published True Spirituality to help people experience the reality of Christ in daily life. Not just at the moment of salvation. At first, his book was a series of Bible lessons. He taught them to his family and students who gathered regularly in their home in the Swiss Alps. But before they ever became that set of lessons to others, Schaeffer taught them to his own heart.
Before Schaeffer ever became the famous author and Christian leader that he eventually became (and prior to the time that L'Abri began), Francis went through a dark period lasting several months. He was troubled by the disproportion that he saw in himself between the large amount of Bible data he knew and claimed to believe and the lack of genuine spiritual joy in his life.
Over those months as he walked in the mountains, Francis rethought his reasons for being a Christian and, at last he…
"…saw again that there were totally sufficient reasons to know that the infinite-personal God does exist and that Christianity is true.
"In going further, I saw something else which made a profound difference in my life. I searched through what the Bible said concerning reality as a Christian. Gradually, I saw that the problem was that with all the teaching I had received after I was a Christian, I had heard little about what the Bible says about the meaning of the finished work of Christ for our present lives.
"Gradually the sun came out and the song came. ...and although I had written no poetry for many years, in that time of joy and song I found poetry beginning to flow again—poetry of certainty, an affirmation of life, thanksgiving, and praise. Admittedly, as poetry it is very poor, but it expressed a song in my heart which was wonderful to me." (from True Spirituality, p. 196 in The Complete Works of Francis Schaeffer, vol. 3 © 1982 Crossway Books, Wheaton, Illinois).
Francis Schaeffer saw and believed that the finished work of Christ really is the source of the Christian's daily life. He grew deeply convinced that the Christian life is not just about conversion, but about moment-by-moment living out of the grace of God today, in the present by the power of the Holy Spirit.
While what I've been writing at Crosswalk the Devotional faithfully summarizes Schaeffer' message, I suspect that my writing carries only a fraction of the impact that reading True Spirituality would have upon you. God has used this book to shed light and build faith in the hearts of many for years. And as C.S. Lewis said, there really is something special about reading the greats for yourself. Only then can you experience the transforming progression of Schaeffer's argument, the clarity of his thought, and his wise use of Scripture and illustrations throughout his book.
Think about it: If it suddenly became possible for you to be personally mentored by Dr. Francis Schaeffer, would you take the opportunity? In a way, you can. Pick up True Spirituality, then follow with us on the trail of his thought.
Intersecting Faith and Life:
Imagine that a friend or family member is called upon to testify of the presence of spiritual reality in your life. What evidence would they give?
Think through the reasons why you became a Christian. Reflect on what it means to have an authentic relationship with the infinite-personal God who is there.
As C.S. Lewis once said: "First-hand knowledge [of great authors] is not only more worth acquiring than second-hand knowledge, but is usually much easier and more delightful to acquire." (Quoted from his introduction in Athanasius', On the Incarnation, St. Vladimir's Seminary Press: Crestwood, New York, 1993, p. 3).
In other words, you'll probably enjoy Francis Schaeffer much more than reading my devotionals on Francis Schaeffer. But it is not just your delight in reading a great man that is at stake. No. Schaeffer's message is a much-needed remedy for the low condition of joy and genuine faith that seems to plague this generation.
And Schaeffer knows something about that. He once went through a long period of being a joyless Christian himself.
In 1971, Schaeffer published True Spirituality to help people experience the reality of Christ in daily life. Not just at the moment of salvation. At first, his book was a series of Bible lessons. He taught them to his family and students who gathered regularly in their home in the Swiss Alps. But before they ever became that set of lessons to others, Schaeffer taught them to his own heart.
Before Schaeffer ever became the famous author and Christian leader that he eventually became (and prior to the time that L'Abri began), Francis went through a dark period lasting several months. He was troubled by the disproportion that he saw in himself between the large amount of Bible data he knew and claimed to believe and the lack of genuine spiritual joy in his life.
Over those months as he walked in the mountains, Francis rethought his reasons for being a Christian and, at last he…
"…saw again that there were totally sufficient reasons to know that the infinite-personal God does exist and that Christianity is true.
"In going further, I saw something else which made a profound difference in my life. I searched through what the Bible said concerning reality as a Christian. Gradually, I saw that the problem was that with all the teaching I had received after I was a Christian, I had heard little about what the Bible says about the meaning of the finished work of Christ for our present lives.
"Gradually the sun came out and the song came. ...and although I had written no poetry for many years, in that time of joy and song I found poetry beginning to flow again—poetry of certainty, an affirmation of life, thanksgiving, and praise. Admittedly, as poetry it is very poor, but it expressed a song in my heart which was wonderful to me." (from True Spirituality, p. 196 in The Complete Works of Francis Schaeffer, vol. 3 © 1982 Crossway Books, Wheaton, Illinois).
Francis Schaeffer saw and believed that the finished work of Christ really is the source of the Christian's daily life. He grew deeply convinced that the Christian life is not just about conversion, but about moment-by-moment living out of the grace of God today, in the present by the power of the Holy Spirit.
While what I've been writing at Crosswalk the Devotional faithfully summarizes Schaeffer' message, I suspect that my writing carries only a fraction of the impact that reading True Spirituality would have upon you. God has used this book to shed light and build faith in the hearts of many for years. And as C.S. Lewis said, there really is something special about reading the greats for yourself. Only then can you experience the transforming progression of Schaeffer's argument, the clarity of his thought, and his wise use of Scripture and illustrations throughout his book.
Think about it: If it suddenly became possible for you to be personally mentored by Dr. Francis Schaeffer, would you take the opportunity? In a way, you can. Pick up True Spirituality, then follow with us on the trail of his thought.
Intersecting Faith and Life:
Imagine that a friend or family member is called upon to testify of the presence of spiritual reality in your life. What evidence would they give?
Think through the reasons why you became a Christian. Reflect on what it means to have an authentic relationship with the infinite-personal God who is there.
Prophet
“I will raise up for them a prophet like you from among their brothers" (Deuteronomy 18:18).
In Deuteronomy 18 God promises through Moses to raise a line of godly prophets in Israel. That line would culminate in one person who would be the “prophet like me” of verse 15: “The Lord your God will raise up for you a prophet like me from among your own brothers. You must listen to him.” Verse 18 gives us the same promise in the Lord’s own words: “I will raise up for them a prophet like you from among their brothers; I will put my words in his mouth, and he will tell them everything I command him.”
This “prophet like you” will have four characteristics:
1. He is raised up by God (meaning that he has a divine calling).
2. He will be like Moses (thus having intimate knowledge of God).
3. He will be from among the people (an Israelite).
4. He will speak with divine authority (as a result of the preceding factors).
Who could this prophet be?
In Acts 3 Peter heals a crippled man in the name of Jesus. When a crowd gathers in amazement to watch the formerly-crippled man walk under his own power, Peter preaches a powerful evangelistic sermon. He tells them that this miracle had been done by the power of Jesus–the same man who had been crucified just a few weeks earlier. As part of his proof that Jesus is the promised Messiah, Peter quotes Deuteronomy 18:15 and applies it directly to Jesus (Acts 3:22).
Because Jesus is the True Prophet of God, he understands the secrets of the human heart. Nothing is hidden from him. Though men cover their sin with a thin veneer of religiosity, it doesn’t fool Christ for a second. He sees through the sham, exposes the sin, and calls it what it really is.
He knows the truth and he declares the truth, even when his words are sure to offend his hearers.
When a prophet speaks, you have only two choices:
Listen to what he says.
Disregard his words.
There are no other options. If you say, “I’m going to think about it,” that’s really the same as disregarding him.
If Jesus is the True Prophet of God, then each person must either listen to him or disregard his words. You have to make a choice. There can be no neutrality about Jesus. You are either with him or against him. You either follow him or you ignore him.
What is your verdict about Jesus? Is he really the Son of God? If he is, then crown him King of your life and join the millions who willingly worship him as Savior and Lord.
Lord Jesus, may we not waver in the slightest in our devotion to you, the great Prophet sent from heaven. Grant us believing hearts that we might follow you gladly. Amen.
In Deuteronomy 18 God promises through Moses to raise a line of godly prophets in Israel. That line would culminate in one person who would be the “prophet like me” of verse 15: “The Lord your God will raise up for you a prophet like me from among your own brothers. You must listen to him.” Verse 18 gives us the same promise in the Lord’s own words: “I will raise up for them a prophet like you from among their brothers; I will put my words in his mouth, and he will tell them everything I command him.”
This “prophet like you” will have four characteristics:
1. He is raised up by God (meaning that he has a divine calling).
2. He will be like Moses (thus having intimate knowledge of God).
3. He will be from among the people (an Israelite).
4. He will speak with divine authority (as a result of the preceding factors).
Who could this prophet be?
In Acts 3 Peter heals a crippled man in the name of Jesus. When a crowd gathers in amazement to watch the formerly-crippled man walk under his own power, Peter preaches a powerful evangelistic sermon. He tells them that this miracle had been done by the power of Jesus–the same man who had been crucified just a few weeks earlier. As part of his proof that Jesus is the promised Messiah, Peter quotes Deuteronomy 18:15 and applies it directly to Jesus (Acts 3:22).
Because Jesus is the True Prophet of God, he understands the secrets of the human heart. Nothing is hidden from him. Though men cover their sin with a thin veneer of religiosity, it doesn’t fool Christ for a second. He sees through the sham, exposes the sin, and calls it what it really is.
He knows the truth and he declares the truth, even when his words are sure to offend his hearers.
When a prophet speaks, you have only two choices:
Listen to what he says.
Disregard his words.
There are no other options. If you say, “I’m going to think about it,” that’s really the same as disregarding him.
If Jesus is the True Prophet of God, then each person must either listen to him or disregard his words. You have to make a choice. There can be no neutrality about Jesus. You are either with him or against him. You either follow him or you ignore him.
What is your verdict about Jesus? Is he really the Son of God? If he is, then crown him King of your life and join the millions who willingly worship him as Savior and Lord.
Lord Jesus, may we not waver in the slightest in our devotion to you, the great Prophet sent from heaven. Grant us believing hearts that we might follow you gladly. Amen.
söndag 6 mars 2011
Biography of Martin Luther
The life of Martin Luther is one of the most fascinating stories in the history of Christianity. It has all the stuff of a good novel: parental conflict, spiritual agony, life-changing moments, near-misses, princes, popes, emperors, castles, kidnapping, mobs, revolution, massacres, politics, courage, controversy, disguises, daring escapes, humor and romance. And not only is it a good story, it marks a major turning point in western history and in Christianity.
Luther at the Diet of Worms. Youth
Luther's story begins in Eisleben, a small town in the region of Saxony in modern Germany. As a part of the Holy Roman Empire, 15th-century Saxony was under the political control of the Holy Roman Emperor and the religious control of the Roman pope. The Roman Catholicism into which Luther was born focused on purgatory, hell, angels, demons, sin, judgment and the saints. Jesus was depicted as an unapproachable, terrifying judge, but believers knew they could call upon the Blessed Virgin and other saints to intercede on their behalf.
On November 10, 1483, Hans and Margarethe Luther welcomed their firstborn son into the world. As was customary, the boy was named after the saint on whose feast day he was born, St. Martin.
Luther's house in Eisenach
Martin Luther was the eldest of seven children in a middle-class German peasant family. He seems to have been an unusually sensitive and religious youth. The prevalent graphic images of Christ as Righteous Judge and the agonies of hellfire terrified him.
At 21, Luther earned a Master of Arts degree from the University of Erfurt. Hans Luther was determined that his son be well-educated, and his hard work in the copper mines financed the younger Luther's education. In May 1505, Luther entered law school in accordance with his father's wishes. But less than a year later, his life took an unexpected turn.
That same year , while traveling back to university from his parents' home, Luther was caught in a severe thunderstorm. Nearly hit by a bolt of lightening, he cried out in desperation to the patron saint of miners: "Help me, St. Anne, and I'll become a monk!" Luther escaped the ordeal unharmed, and true to his word, entered a monastery within a month.
Monastic Life
Martin Luther as a young monk (1522)Not surprisingly, the new career direction was not warmly received by the elder Luther. But the young man took the monastic life very seriously and excels at it. Still terrified of the wrath of God, he confessed sin as often as 20 times a day, punished his body by sleeping on a cold concrete floor and performed his first Mass with a trembling hand.
When he was 27, Luther was assigned to travel to the holy city of Rome to represent his monastery. The Church taught that by paying respect to relics of saints, one can earn religious merit that would shorten one's time in Purgatory. The trip was a tremendous opportunity for the young monk, but it proved to be a profoundly disappointing experience. He was shocked by the immorality, ignorance and flippancy of the Roman priests. As he dutifully kissed each of Pilate's stairs, he began to doubt the Church's teachings about relics and merits. Luther returned to Saxony more troubled than ever.
Luther's superior, Johann von Staupitz, tried to counsel the monk to stop striving and worrying and simply love God. But how could he love someone he feared so? Luther later recalled his true feelings: "Love God? I hated him!" This, of course, only added to his spiritual fear and turmoil. Finally, the exasperated Staupitz directed Luther to earn a doctorate in theology at the local University of Wittenburg, hoping the rigors of academia and helping others would force Luther to focus on things other than the state of his own soul.
A Spiritual "A-ha" Moment
Father Staupitz' plan was far more successful than he could have imagined. Luther flourished in his new role as academic, but his thorough study of Scripture yielded an another, unexpected result - religious enlightenment. While preparing for lectures in 1513, Luther read two biblical passages that changed his life. First, he read in the Psalms the words Christ had cried out on the cross: "My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?" Luther realized with amazement that the Divine Judge had once known the very desolation he was feeling. This new perspective offered some comfort. Then, almost two years later while preparing for a lecture on the book of Romans, the professor read at verse 1:17, "The just will live by faith."
Luther was struck by the power of the simple phrase. He meditated on its meaning for several days, and the full significance of the passage changed his life. No longer terrified of God or enslaved by the system of religious merits, Luther was finally able to rest in the knowledge that faith was all that was necessary to save him. The new perspective became evident in his lectures and conversations with other faculty, and before long his ideas became prominent at the University of Wittenburg.
One Indulgence Salesman
Pope Leo X with cardinals
Meanwhile, in Rome, Pope Leo X needed funds to build St. Peter's Basilica. Fortunately for him, the Church had as a major source of income at its disposal: the sale of indulgences. So, in 1517, Leo announced the availability of new indulgences. Those who purchase them, he announced, will not only help protect the precious relics of St. Paul and St. Peter from the ravages of rain and hail, but would receive valuable religious merit. This merit, which could be distributed at the Pope's discretion from the treasury of merit of the saints, would alleviate the penalty of sin in this life and the next.
A Dominican monk named John Tetzel was assigned to the sale of indulgences in Saxony. A talented and unscrupulous salesman, Tetzel was willing to make any claim that improved sales. He thus promised not only a reduction in punishment for sin, but complete forgiveness of all sin and a return to the state of perfection enjoyed just after baptism.
He added that if one would generously purchase indulgences to speed the release of a deceased loved one from Purgatory, no actual repentance on the part of the giver was even necessary. Marketing genius that he was, Tetzel employed a memorable jingle to make his offer clear and simple:
"As soon as the coin in the coffer rings, a soul from Purgatory springs."
Ninety-Five Theses
Some of those who purchased indulgences from Tetzel were Luther's parishioners. Appalled at the abuse, Luther penned 95 statements against the practice of selling indulgences. On October 31, 1517, he nailed his 95 Theses to the door of the castle church in Wittenburg, a common method of initiating scholarly discussion.
Luther posts his theses
The actual title of the famous theses is Disputation on the Power and Efficacy of Indulgences. Luther wrote them in Latin with an intended audience of his university colleagues, and could not have imagined the impact they would have on Christianity and on Europe.
But his Theses were translated into German, and using to Guttenberg's newly-invented movable-type printing press, quickly copied and disseminated all over Saxony. The Pope himself received a copy, but he was unimpressed. He is said to have inquired, "What drunken German monk wrote these?" He directed the Augustinian order to deal with the situation.
When invited to the order's next meeting, in April 1518, Luther feared for his life, and for good reason. Heresy had cost the lives of many reformers before him. But to his surprise, Luther found that many of his fellow friars agreed with him. Others simply regarded the issue as yet another dispute between the rivals Dominicans and Augustinians.
Diet of Augsburg
In October 1518, an imperial diet ("DEE-it") - a meeting of the Holy Roman Empire's princes and nobles - was held in Augsburg. The Pope sent a representative to the meeting with instructions to convince the German princes to support a crusade against the Turks. A secondary task was to meet with Luther and convince him to recant. Not entirely confident he would return home alive, Luther nevertheless attended the meeting in the hopes of defending his views.
Unfortunately, the papal representative Cardinal Cajetan showed no interest in debating issues, only in persuading Luther to recant. Like Jan Hus, who was burned at the stake for heresy 100 years prior, Luther responded that he would be glad to recant if shown his errors from the Scriptures. When he learned he was to be arrested if he refused to recant, Luther escaped by night and returned to Wittenburg.
Fortunately, politics were on his side for the moment. As one of the electors of the Holy Roman Emperor, the Pope did not wish to upset Luther's prince, Frederick the Wise. A truce was called in which both the Pope and Luther agreed to abstain from further controversy. Of course, neither would obey the truce for long.
In July of 1519, a professor from Ingolstadt named John Eck challenged one of Luther's colleagues at Wittenburg to an academic debate. The colleague, Karlstadt, was a convert to Luther's way of thinking, and in fact more radical in some ways than Luther himself. (Luther later wryly remarked of his friend: "He has swallowed the Holy Spirit, feathers and all.")
Luther accompanied Karlstadt to the debate, which was held in Leipzig. As Eck had hoped, Luther wound up participating directly. He demonstrated a superior knowledge of the Scriptures, but Eck was highly skilled in the art of debate. Luther was led to state that councils can err, and that the average Christian with the authority of Scripture has more power than a council or the Pope himself. Eck considered himself victorious, for Luther had proved himself to be a heretic just like Hus. From this point forward, anti-Lutheran propaganda often portrayed the monk as "the Saxon Hus."
Papal bull excommunicating Luther.Excommunication
Luther spent the next year developing his ideas, teaching, and writing. His most important treatises of this period include Address to the German Nobility, On the Babylonian Captivity of the Church, and Freedom of a Christian.
On October 10, 1520, Luther received a papal bull (official proclamation from the Pope). Entitled Exsurge Domine ("Arise, O Lord"), the bull began by dramatically appealing to God to protect his church from the threat of Luther.
Arise, O Lord, and defend Thy cause!
A wild boar has invaded Thy vineyard.
Less poetic was the papal bull's sober message that Luther would be excommunicated if he did not recant within 60 days. In Catholic doctrine, in which salvation is only available through the church, excommunication amounts to eternal damnation.
Luther burns the papal bull Luther, once a trembling Catholic kissing each of Pilate's steps in Rome, publicly cast the bull into a bonfire. He was officially excommunicated by the Pope on January 3, 1521.
Diet of Worms
Emperor Charles V opened the imperial Diet of Worms (pronounced "DEE-it of Vorms") on 22 January 1521. Luther was summoned to renounce or reaffirm his views and was given an imperial guarantee of safe-conduct to ensure his safe passage. When he appeared before the assembly on 16 April, Johann Eck, an assistant of Archbishop of Trier, acted as spokesman for the Emperor. (Bainton, p. 141) He presented Luther with a table filled with copies of his writings. Eck asked Luther if the books were his and if he still believed what these works taught. Luther requested time to think about his answer. It was granted.
Luther prayed, consulted with friends and mediators and presented himself before the Diet the next day. When the counselor put the same questions to Luther, he said: "They are all mine, but as for the second question, they are not all of one sort." Luther went on to say that some of the works were well received by even his enemies. These he would not reject.
A second class of the books attacked the abuses, lies and desolation of the Christian world. These, Luther believed, could not safely be rejected without encouraging abuses to continue.
The third group contained attacks on individuals. He apologized for the harsh tone of these writings, but did not reject the substance of what he taught in them. If he could be shown from the Scriptures that he was in error, Luther continued, he would reject them. Otherwise, he could not do so safely without encouraging abuse.
Eck, after countering that Luther had no right to teach contrary to the Church through the ages, asked Luther to plainly answer the question: Would Luther reject his books and the errors they contain? Luther replied:
"Unless I am convicted by Scripture and plain reason — I do not accept the authority of popes and councils, for they have contradicted each other — my conscience is captive to the Word of God. I cannot and will not recant anything, for to go against conscience is neither right nor safe."
According to tradition, Luther is then said to have spoken these famous words:
"Here I stand. I can do no other. God help me. Amen." (Bainton, pp. 142-144)
Private conferences were held to determine Luther's fate. Before a decision was reached, Luther left Worms. During his return to Wittenberg, he disappeared. The Emperor issued the Edict of Worms on May 25, 1521, declaring Martin Luther an outlaw and a heretic and banning his literature.
A Nighttime Kidnapping and Exile in Wartburg
Luther as Knight George
Luther's disappearance after the Diet of Worms was planned. Frederick the Wise arranged for Luther to be seized on his way from the Diet by a company of masked horsemen, who carried him to Wartburg Castle at Eisenach, where he stayed for about a year. He grew a wide flaring beard, took on the garb of a knight, and assumed the pseudonym Jörg (or "Knight George"). During this period of forced sojourn in the world, Luther was still hard at work upon his celebrated translation of the New Testament, though he couldn't rely on the isolation of a monastery.
With Luther's residence in the Wartburg began the constructive period of his career as a reformer; while at the same time the struggle was inaugurated against those who, claiming to proceed from the same Evangelical basis, were deemed by him to swing to the opposite extreme and to hinder, if not prevent, all constructive measures. In his "desert" or "Patmos" (as he called it in his letters) of the Wartburg, moreover, he began his translation of the Bible, of which the New Testament was printed in September 1522. Here, too, besides other pamphlets, he prepared the first portion of his German postilla and his Von der Beichte, in which he denied compulsory confession, although he admitted the wholesomeness of voluntary private confessions.
He also wrote a polemic against Archbishop Albrecht, which forced him to desist from reopening the sale of indulgences; while in his attack on Jacobus Latomus he set forth his views on the relation of grace and the law, as well as on the nature of the grace communicated by Christ. Here he distinguished the objective grace of God to the sinner, who, believing, is justified by God because of the justice of Christ, from the saving grace dwelling within sinful man; while at the same time he emphasized the insufficiency of this "beginning of justification," as well as the persistence of sin after baptism and the sin still inherent in every good work.
Wartburg Castle
Although his stay at Wartburg kept Luther hidden from public view, Luther often received letters from his friends and allies, asking for his views and advice. For example, Philipp Melanchthon wrote to him and asked how to answer the charge that the reformers neglected pilgrimages, fasts and other traditional forms of piety. Luther's replied: "If you are a preacher of mercy, do not preach an imaginary but the true mercy. If the mercy is true, you must therefore bear the true, not an imaginary sin. God does not save those who are only imaginary sinners. Be a sinner, and let your sins be strong, but let your trust in Christ be stronger, and rejoice in Christ who is the victor over sin, death, and the world. We will commit sins while we are here, for this life is not a place where justice resides. We, however, says Peter (2. Peter 3:13) are looking forward to a new heaven and a new earth where justice will reign." (Letter 99.13, To Philipp Melanchthon, 1 August 1521.)
Meanwhile some of the Saxon clergy, notably Bernhardi of Feldkirchen, had renounced the vow of celibacy, while others, including Melanchthon, had assailed the validity of monastic vows. Luther in his De votis monasticis, though more cautious, concurred, on the ground that the vows were generally taken "with the intention of salvation or seeking justification." With the approval of Luther in his De abroganda missa privata, but against the firm opposition of the prior, the Wittenberg Augustinians began changes in worship and did away with the mass. Their violence and intolerance, however, were displeasing to Luther, and early in December he spent a few days among them. Returning to the Wartburg, he wrote his Eine treue Vermahnung . . . vor Aufruhr und Empörung; but in Wittenberg Carlstadt and the ex-Augustinian Zwilling demanded the abolition of the private mass, communion in both kinds, the removal of pictures from churches, and the abrogation of the magistracy
Around Christmas, Anabaptists from Zwickau added to the anarchy. Thoroughly opposed to such radical views and fearful of their results, Luther entered Wittenberg on March 7, and the Zwickau prophets left the city. The canon of the mass, giving it its sacrificial character, was now omitted, but the cup was at first given only to those of the laity who desired it. Since confession had been abolished, communicants were now required to declare their intention, and to seek consolation, under acknowledgment of their faith and longing for grace, in Christian confession. This new form of service was set forth by Luther in his Formula missæ et communionis (1523), and in 1524 the first Wittenberg hymnal appeared with four of his own hymns. Since, however, his writings were forbidden by Duke George of Saxony, Luther declared, in his Ueber die weltliche Gewalt, wie weit man ihr Gehorsam echuldig sei, that the civil authority could enact no laws for the soul, herein denying to a Roman Catholic government what he permitted an Evangelical.
The Peasants' War
The Peasants' War (1524-1525) was in many ways a response to the preaching of Luther and other reformers. Revolts by the peasantry had existed on a small scale since the 14th century, but many peasants mistakenly believed that Luther's attack on the Church and its hierarchy meant that the reformers would support an attack on the social hierarchy as well. Because of the close ties between the hereditary nobility and the princes of the Church that Luther condemned, this is not surprising. Revolts that broke out in Swabia, Franconia, and Thuringia in 1524 gained support among peasants and some disaffected nobles. Gaining momentum and a new leader in Thomas Münzer, the revolts turned into an all-out war, the experience of which played an important role in the founding of the Anabaptist movement.
Initially, Luther seemed to many to support the peasants, condemning the oppressive practices of the nobility that had incited many of the peasants. As the war continued, and especially as atrocities at the hands of the peasants increased, Luther came out forcefully against the revolt; since Luther relied on support and protection from the princes, he was afraid of alienating them. In Against the Murderous, Thieving Hordes of Peasants (1525), he encouraged the nobility to visit swift and bloody punishment upon the peasants. Many of the revolutionaries considered Luther's words a betrayal. Others withdrew once they realized that there was neither support from the Church nor from its main opponent. The war in Germany ended in 1525, when rebel forces were put down by the armies of the Swabian League.
Luther resented Germany's domination by a group of clergymen based in Rome, and these nationalist feelings may have motivated the Reformation to some extent. During the Peasants' War, Luther continued to stress obedience to secular authority; many may have interpreted this doctrine as endorsement of absolute rulers, leading to acceptance of monarchs and dictators in German history.
Luther's Death and Legacy
Luther's deathbed
Luther died in Eisleben, the same town in which he was born, on 18 February, 1546.
Monument to Luther in Eisleben
Martin Luther's bold rebellion, more than the other religious dissenters that preceded him, led to the Protestant Reformation. Thanks to the printing press, his pamphlets were well-read throughout Germany, and soon other thinkers developed other Protestant sects. Since Protestant countries were no longer bound to the powerful Roman Catholic Church, an expanded freedom of thought developed which probably contributed to Protestant Europe's rapid intellectual advancement in the 17th and 18th centuries.
On the darker side, Roman Catholics waged bitter and ferocious wars of religion against Protestants. A century after Luther's protests, a revolt in Bohemia ignited the Thirty Years' War, which ravaged much of Germany. And Luther's violent writings against the Jews may well have strengthened medieval and modern anti-Semitism in Europe.
Both for better and for worse, the legacy of Martin Luther's massive personality is still felt across the western world
Luther at the Diet of Worms. Youth
Luther's story begins in Eisleben, a small town in the region of Saxony in modern Germany. As a part of the Holy Roman Empire, 15th-century Saxony was under the political control of the Holy Roman Emperor and the religious control of the Roman pope. The Roman Catholicism into which Luther was born focused on purgatory, hell, angels, demons, sin, judgment and the saints. Jesus was depicted as an unapproachable, terrifying judge, but believers knew they could call upon the Blessed Virgin and other saints to intercede on their behalf.
On November 10, 1483, Hans and Margarethe Luther welcomed their firstborn son into the world. As was customary, the boy was named after the saint on whose feast day he was born, St. Martin.
Luther's house in Eisenach
Martin Luther was the eldest of seven children in a middle-class German peasant family. He seems to have been an unusually sensitive and religious youth. The prevalent graphic images of Christ as Righteous Judge and the agonies of hellfire terrified him.
At 21, Luther earned a Master of Arts degree from the University of Erfurt. Hans Luther was determined that his son be well-educated, and his hard work in the copper mines financed the younger Luther's education. In May 1505, Luther entered law school in accordance with his father's wishes. But less than a year later, his life took an unexpected turn.
That same year , while traveling back to university from his parents' home, Luther was caught in a severe thunderstorm. Nearly hit by a bolt of lightening, he cried out in desperation to the patron saint of miners: "Help me, St. Anne, and I'll become a monk!" Luther escaped the ordeal unharmed, and true to his word, entered a monastery within a month.
Monastic Life
Martin Luther as a young monk (1522)Not surprisingly, the new career direction was not warmly received by the elder Luther. But the young man took the monastic life very seriously and excels at it. Still terrified of the wrath of God, he confessed sin as often as 20 times a day, punished his body by sleeping on a cold concrete floor and performed his first Mass with a trembling hand.
When he was 27, Luther was assigned to travel to the holy city of Rome to represent his monastery. The Church taught that by paying respect to relics of saints, one can earn religious merit that would shorten one's time in Purgatory. The trip was a tremendous opportunity for the young monk, but it proved to be a profoundly disappointing experience. He was shocked by the immorality, ignorance and flippancy of the Roman priests. As he dutifully kissed each of Pilate's stairs, he began to doubt the Church's teachings about relics and merits. Luther returned to Saxony more troubled than ever.
Luther's superior, Johann von Staupitz, tried to counsel the monk to stop striving and worrying and simply love God. But how could he love someone he feared so? Luther later recalled his true feelings: "Love God? I hated him!" This, of course, only added to his spiritual fear and turmoil. Finally, the exasperated Staupitz directed Luther to earn a doctorate in theology at the local University of Wittenburg, hoping the rigors of academia and helping others would force Luther to focus on things other than the state of his own soul.
A Spiritual "A-ha" Moment
Father Staupitz' plan was far more successful than he could have imagined. Luther flourished in his new role as academic, but his thorough study of Scripture yielded an another, unexpected result - religious enlightenment. While preparing for lectures in 1513, Luther read two biblical passages that changed his life. First, he read in the Psalms the words Christ had cried out on the cross: "My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?" Luther realized with amazement that the Divine Judge had once known the very desolation he was feeling. This new perspective offered some comfort. Then, almost two years later while preparing for a lecture on the book of Romans, the professor read at verse 1:17, "The just will live by faith."
Luther was struck by the power of the simple phrase. He meditated on its meaning for several days, and the full significance of the passage changed his life. No longer terrified of God or enslaved by the system of religious merits, Luther was finally able to rest in the knowledge that faith was all that was necessary to save him. The new perspective became evident in his lectures and conversations with other faculty, and before long his ideas became prominent at the University of Wittenburg.
One Indulgence Salesman
Pope Leo X with cardinals
Meanwhile, in Rome, Pope Leo X needed funds to build St. Peter's Basilica. Fortunately for him, the Church had as a major source of income at its disposal: the sale of indulgences. So, in 1517, Leo announced the availability of new indulgences. Those who purchase them, he announced, will not only help protect the precious relics of St. Paul and St. Peter from the ravages of rain and hail, but would receive valuable religious merit. This merit, which could be distributed at the Pope's discretion from the treasury of merit of the saints, would alleviate the penalty of sin in this life and the next.
A Dominican monk named John Tetzel was assigned to the sale of indulgences in Saxony. A talented and unscrupulous salesman, Tetzel was willing to make any claim that improved sales. He thus promised not only a reduction in punishment for sin, but complete forgiveness of all sin and a return to the state of perfection enjoyed just after baptism.
He added that if one would generously purchase indulgences to speed the release of a deceased loved one from Purgatory, no actual repentance on the part of the giver was even necessary. Marketing genius that he was, Tetzel employed a memorable jingle to make his offer clear and simple:
"As soon as the coin in the coffer rings, a soul from Purgatory springs."
Ninety-Five Theses
Some of those who purchased indulgences from Tetzel were Luther's parishioners. Appalled at the abuse, Luther penned 95 statements against the practice of selling indulgences. On October 31, 1517, he nailed his 95 Theses to the door of the castle church in Wittenburg, a common method of initiating scholarly discussion.
Luther posts his theses
The actual title of the famous theses is Disputation on the Power and Efficacy of Indulgences. Luther wrote them in Latin with an intended audience of his university colleagues, and could not have imagined the impact they would have on Christianity and on Europe.
But his Theses were translated into German, and using to Guttenberg's newly-invented movable-type printing press, quickly copied and disseminated all over Saxony. The Pope himself received a copy, but he was unimpressed. He is said to have inquired, "What drunken German monk wrote these?" He directed the Augustinian order to deal with the situation.
When invited to the order's next meeting, in April 1518, Luther feared for his life, and for good reason. Heresy had cost the lives of many reformers before him. But to his surprise, Luther found that many of his fellow friars agreed with him. Others simply regarded the issue as yet another dispute between the rivals Dominicans and Augustinians.
Diet of Augsburg
In October 1518, an imperial diet ("DEE-it") - a meeting of the Holy Roman Empire's princes and nobles - was held in Augsburg. The Pope sent a representative to the meeting with instructions to convince the German princes to support a crusade against the Turks. A secondary task was to meet with Luther and convince him to recant. Not entirely confident he would return home alive, Luther nevertheless attended the meeting in the hopes of defending his views.
Unfortunately, the papal representative Cardinal Cajetan showed no interest in debating issues, only in persuading Luther to recant. Like Jan Hus, who was burned at the stake for heresy 100 years prior, Luther responded that he would be glad to recant if shown his errors from the Scriptures. When he learned he was to be arrested if he refused to recant, Luther escaped by night and returned to Wittenburg.
Fortunately, politics were on his side for the moment. As one of the electors of the Holy Roman Emperor, the Pope did not wish to upset Luther's prince, Frederick the Wise. A truce was called in which both the Pope and Luther agreed to abstain from further controversy. Of course, neither would obey the truce for long.
In July of 1519, a professor from Ingolstadt named John Eck challenged one of Luther's colleagues at Wittenburg to an academic debate. The colleague, Karlstadt, was a convert to Luther's way of thinking, and in fact more radical in some ways than Luther himself. (Luther later wryly remarked of his friend: "He has swallowed the Holy Spirit, feathers and all.")
Luther accompanied Karlstadt to the debate, which was held in Leipzig. As Eck had hoped, Luther wound up participating directly. He demonstrated a superior knowledge of the Scriptures, but Eck was highly skilled in the art of debate. Luther was led to state that councils can err, and that the average Christian with the authority of Scripture has more power than a council or the Pope himself. Eck considered himself victorious, for Luther had proved himself to be a heretic just like Hus. From this point forward, anti-Lutheran propaganda often portrayed the monk as "the Saxon Hus."
Papal bull excommunicating Luther.Excommunication
Luther spent the next year developing his ideas, teaching, and writing. His most important treatises of this period include Address to the German Nobility, On the Babylonian Captivity of the Church, and Freedom of a Christian.
On October 10, 1520, Luther received a papal bull (official proclamation from the Pope). Entitled Exsurge Domine ("Arise, O Lord"), the bull began by dramatically appealing to God to protect his church from the threat of Luther.
Arise, O Lord, and defend Thy cause!
A wild boar has invaded Thy vineyard.
Less poetic was the papal bull's sober message that Luther would be excommunicated if he did not recant within 60 days. In Catholic doctrine, in which salvation is only available through the church, excommunication amounts to eternal damnation.
Luther burns the papal bull Luther, once a trembling Catholic kissing each of Pilate's steps in Rome, publicly cast the bull into a bonfire. He was officially excommunicated by the Pope on January 3, 1521.
Diet of Worms
Emperor Charles V opened the imperial Diet of Worms (pronounced "DEE-it of Vorms") on 22 January 1521. Luther was summoned to renounce or reaffirm his views and was given an imperial guarantee of safe-conduct to ensure his safe passage. When he appeared before the assembly on 16 April, Johann Eck, an assistant of Archbishop of Trier, acted as spokesman for the Emperor. (Bainton, p. 141) He presented Luther with a table filled with copies of his writings. Eck asked Luther if the books were his and if he still believed what these works taught. Luther requested time to think about his answer. It was granted.
Luther prayed, consulted with friends and mediators and presented himself before the Diet the next day. When the counselor put the same questions to Luther, he said: "They are all mine, but as for the second question, they are not all of one sort." Luther went on to say that some of the works were well received by even his enemies. These he would not reject.
A second class of the books attacked the abuses, lies and desolation of the Christian world. These, Luther believed, could not safely be rejected without encouraging abuses to continue.
The third group contained attacks on individuals. He apologized for the harsh tone of these writings, but did not reject the substance of what he taught in them. If he could be shown from the Scriptures that he was in error, Luther continued, he would reject them. Otherwise, he could not do so safely without encouraging abuse.
Eck, after countering that Luther had no right to teach contrary to the Church through the ages, asked Luther to plainly answer the question: Would Luther reject his books and the errors they contain? Luther replied:
"Unless I am convicted by Scripture and plain reason — I do not accept the authority of popes and councils, for they have contradicted each other — my conscience is captive to the Word of God. I cannot and will not recant anything, for to go against conscience is neither right nor safe."
According to tradition, Luther is then said to have spoken these famous words:
"Here I stand. I can do no other. God help me. Amen." (Bainton, pp. 142-144)
Private conferences were held to determine Luther's fate. Before a decision was reached, Luther left Worms. During his return to Wittenberg, he disappeared. The Emperor issued the Edict of Worms on May 25, 1521, declaring Martin Luther an outlaw and a heretic and banning his literature.
A Nighttime Kidnapping and Exile in Wartburg
Luther as Knight George
Luther's disappearance after the Diet of Worms was planned. Frederick the Wise arranged for Luther to be seized on his way from the Diet by a company of masked horsemen, who carried him to Wartburg Castle at Eisenach, where he stayed for about a year. He grew a wide flaring beard, took on the garb of a knight, and assumed the pseudonym Jörg (or "Knight George"). During this period of forced sojourn in the world, Luther was still hard at work upon his celebrated translation of the New Testament, though he couldn't rely on the isolation of a monastery.
With Luther's residence in the Wartburg began the constructive period of his career as a reformer; while at the same time the struggle was inaugurated against those who, claiming to proceed from the same Evangelical basis, were deemed by him to swing to the opposite extreme and to hinder, if not prevent, all constructive measures. In his "desert" or "Patmos" (as he called it in his letters) of the Wartburg, moreover, he began his translation of the Bible, of which the New Testament was printed in September 1522. Here, too, besides other pamphlets, he prepared the first portion of his German postilla and his Von der Beichte, in which he denied compulsory confession, although he admitted the wholesomeness of voluntary private confessions.
He also wrote a polemic against Archbishop Albrecht, which forced him to desist from reopening the sale of indulgences; while in his attack on Jacobus Latomus he set forth his views on the relation of grace and the law, as well as on the nature of the grace communicated by Christ. Here he distinguished the objective grace of God to the sinner, who, believing, is justified by God because of the justice of Christ, from the saving grace dwelling within sinful man; while at the same time he emphasized the insufficiency of this "beginning of justification," as well as the persistence of sin after baptism and the sin still inherent in every good work.
Wartburg Castle
Although his stay at Wartburg kept Luther hidden from public view, Luther often received letters from his friends and allies, asking for his views and advice. For example, Philipp Melanchthon wrote to him and asked how to answer the charge that the reformers neglected pilgrimages, fasts and other traditional forms of piety. Luther's replied: "If you are a preacher of mercy, do not preach an imaginary but the true mercy. If the mercy is true, you must therefore bear the true, not an imaginary sin. God does not save those who are only imaginary sinners. Be a sinner, and let your sins be strong, but let your trust in Christ be stronger, and rejoice in Christ who is the victor over sin, death, and the world. We will commit sins while we are here, for this life is not a place where justice resides. We, however, says Peter (2. Peter 3:13) are looking forward to a new heaven and a new earth where justice will reign." (Letter 99.13, To Philipp Melanchthon, 1 August 1521.)
Meanwhile some of the Saxon clergy, notably Bernhardi of Feldkirchen, had renounced the vow of celibacy, while others, including Melanchthon, had assailed the validity of monastic vows. Luther in his De votis monasticis, though more cautious, concurred, on the ground that the vows were generally taken "with the intention of salvation or seeking justification." With the approval of Luther in his De abroganda missa privata, but against the firm opposition of the prior, the Wittenberg Augustinians began changes in worship and did away with the mass. Their violence and intolerance, however, were displeasing to Luther, and early in December he spent a few days among them. Returning to the Wartburg, he wrote his Eine treue Vermahnung . . . vor Aufruhr und Empörung; but in Wittenberg Carlstadt and the ex-Augustinian Zwilling demanded the abolition of the private mass, communion in both kinds, the removal of pictures from churches, and the abrogation of the magistracy
Around Christmas, Anabaptists from Zwickau added to the anarchy. Thoroughly opposed to such radical views and fearful of their results, Luther entered Wittenberg on March 7, and the Zwickau prophets left the city. The canon of the mass, giving it its sacrificial character, was now omitted, but the cup was at first given only to those of the laity who desired it. Since confession had been abolished, communicants were now required to declare their intention, and to seek consolation, under acknowledgment of their faith and longing for grace, in Christian confession. This new form of service was set forth by Luther in his Formula missæ et communionis (1523), and in 1524 the first Wittenberg hymnal appeared with four of his own hymns. Since, however, his writings were forbidden by Duke George of Saxony, Luther declared, in his Ueber die weltliche Gewalt, wie weit man ihr Gehorsam echuldig sei, that the civil authority could enact no laws for the soul, herein denying to a Roman Catholic government what he permitted an Evangelical.
The Peasants' War
The Peasants' War (1524-1525) was in many ways a response to the preaching of Luther and other reformers. Revolts by the peasantry had existed on a small scale since the 14th century, but many peasants mistakenly believed that Luther's attack on the Church and its hierarchy meant that the reformers would support an attack on the social hierarchy as well. Because of the close ties between the hereditary nobility and the princes of the Church that Luther condemned, this is not surprising. Revolts that broke out in Swabia, Franconia, and Thuringia in 1524 gained support among peasants and some disaffected nobles. Gaining momentum and a new leader in Thomas Münzer, the revolts turned into an all-out war, the experience of which played an important role in the founding of the Anabaptist movement.
Initially, Luther seemed to many to support the peasants, condemning the oppressive practices of the nobility that had incited many of the peasants. As the war continued, and especially as atrocities at the hands of the peasants increased, Luther came out forcefully against the revolt; since Luther relied on support and protection from the princes, he was afraid of alienating them. In Against the Murderous, Thieving Hordes of Peasants (1525), he encouraged the nobility to visit swift and bloody punishment upon the peasants. Many of the revolutionaries considered Luther's words a betrayal. Others withdrew once they realized that there was neither support from the Church nor from its main opponent. The war in Germany ended in 1525, when rebel forces were put down by the armies of the Swabian League.
Luther resented Germany's domination by a group of clergymen based in Rome, and these nationalist feelings may have motivated the Reformation to some extent. During the Peasants' War, Luther continued to stress obedience to secular authority; many may have interpreted this doctrine as endorsement of absolute rulers, leading to acceptance of monarchs and dictators in German history.
Luther's Death and Legacy
Luther's deathbed
Luther died in Eisleben, the same town in which he was born, on 18 February, 1546.
Monument to Luther in Eisleben
Martin Luther's bold rebellion, more than the other religious dissenters that preceded him, led to the Protestant Reformation. Thanks to the printing press, his pamphlets were well-read throughout Germany, and soon other thinkers developed other Protestant sects. Since Protestant countries were no longer bound to the powerful Roman Catholic Church, an expanded freedom of thought developed which probably contributed to Protestant Europe's rapid intellectual advancement in the 17th and 18th centuries.
On the darker side, Roman Catholics waged bitter and ferocious wars of religion against Protestants. A century after Luther's protests, a revolt in Bohemia ignited the Thirty Years' War, which ravaged much of Germany. And Luther's violent writings against the Jews may well have strengthened medieval and modern anti-Semitism in Europe.
Both for better and for worse, the legacy of Martin Luther's massive personality is still felt across the western world
Timeline of the Life of Martin Luther
The following timeline outlines the most important events in Martin Luther's life. For more information, see Biography of Luther.
1450 Gutenberg invents movable type
1483 Luther born in Eisleben (November 10)
1484 Luther family moves to Mansfeld
1497 Luther attends school in Magdeberg
1498 Luther attends parish school in Eisenach, staying with relatives
1501 Luther begins study at University of Erfurt
1502 Receives Baccalaureate in the Liberal Arts
1505 Receives Master of Arts; plans for law school
1505 Caught in a thunderstorm, pledges to become a monk (July 2)
1505 Enters Augustinian monastery at Erfurt
1506 Takes monastic vows
1507 Ordained priest
1507 Begins study of theology at University of Erfurt
1512 Luther receives doctorate in Theology
1512 Begins work as Professor of Theology at U of Wittenburg
1514 Becomes priest of Wittenberg's City Church
1514-15 Lectures on the Psalms
1515-16 Lectures on Romans
1516-17 Lectures on Galatians
1517 October 31- Posts 95 Theses on the castle church door
1517-18 Lectures on Hebrews
1518 Inquisition on Luther begins in Rome
1519 Death of Emperor Maximillian - Rome distracted from Luther
1520-21 Freedom of a Christian, Babylonian Captivity, Address to German Nation
1520 Inquisition on Luther taken up again
1520 Papal bull Exsurge Domine issued (June 15)
1520 Luther burns bull and canon law with students (December 10)
1521 Excommunicated in Rome (January 3)
1521 Arrives at Diet of Worms (April 16)
1521 Departs Worms (April 25)
1521 Kidnapped by Frederick, taken to Wartburg Castle (May 4)
1523 On Secular Authority
1524-25 The Peasants' War
1525 Bondage of the Will and Against the Murderous, Thieving Hordes of Peasants
1530 Edict of Worms
1531 Smalkaldian Alliance formed
1543 On the Jews and Their Lies
1546 Death of Luther in Eisleben on February 18
1546-47 Smalkaldian War
1892 Luther's grave is opened - his remains remained! (February 14)
1450 Gutenberg invents movable type
1483 Luther born in Eisleben (November 10)
1484 Luther family moves to Mansfeld
1497 Luther attends school in Magdeberg
1498 Luther attends parish school in Eisenach, staying with relatives
1501 Luther begins study at University of Erfurt
1502 Receives Baccalaureate in the Liberal Arts
1505 Receives Master of Arts; plans for law school
1505 Caught in a thunderstorm, pledges to become a monk (July 2)
1505 Enters Augustinian monastery at Erfurt
1506 Takes monastic vows
1507 Ordained priest
1507 Begins study of theology at University of Erfurt
1512 Luther receives doctorate in Theology
1512 Begins work as Professor of Theology at U of Wittenburg
1514 Becomes priest of Wittenberg's City Church
1514-15 Lectures on the Psalms
1515-16 Lectures on Romans
1516-17 Lectures on Galatians
1517 October 31- Posts 95 Theses on the castle church door
1517-18 Lectures on Hebrews
1518 Inquisition on Luther begins in Rome
1519 Death of Emperor Maximillian - Rome distracted from Luther
1520-21 Freedom of a Christian, Babylonian Captivity, Address to German Nation
1520 Inquisition on Luther taken up again
1520 Papal bull Exsurge Domine issued (June 15)
1520 Luther burns bull and canon law with students (December 10)
1521 Excommunicated in Rome (January 3)
1521 Arrives at Diet of Worms (April 16)
1521 Departs Worms (April 25)
1521 Kidnapped by Frederick, taken to Wartburg Castle (May 4)
1523 On Secular Authority
1524-25 The Peasants' War
1525 Bondage of the Will and Against the Murderous, Thieving Hordes of Peasants
1530 Edict of Worms
1531 Smalkaldian Alliance formed
1543 On the Jews and Their Lies
1546 Death of Luther in Eisleben on February 18
1546-47 Smalkaldian War
1892 Luther's grave is opened - his remains remained! (February 14)
Fast Facts on Martin Luther
name: Martin Luther
also known as: Martin Luder
born: November 10, 1483 in Eisleben, Germany
died: February 18, 1546 in Eisleben, Germany
buried: Eisleben, Germany
language: German
vocation(s): Monk, priest, professor, theologian, reformer
title(s): Father of the Reformation
turning points: Ordination as monk (1506)
Doctor of Theology (1512)
Religious awakening (c. 1515)
95 Theses (October 31, 1517)
Diet of Augsburg (1518)
Leipzig Disputation (1519)
Excommunication (January 3, 1521)
Diet of Worms (April 17-18, 1521)
Wartburg Castle (April 1521 - March 1522)
Peasants' War (Summer 1524)
Marriage to ex-nun Katerina Von Bora (June 1525)
Diet of Speyer (1526)
Marburg Colloquy (October 1529)
Augsburg Confession (1530)
Religious Peace of Nuremburg (1532)
Wittenberg Concord (1536)
major works: 95 Theses (1517)
Freedom of a Christian (1520)
The Babylonian Captivity of the Church (1520)
To the Christian Nobility of the German Nation (1520)
German New Testament (1522)
Bondage of the Will (1525)
"A Mighty Fortress is our God" (1527)
Large Catechism (1529)
related places: Eisleben, Wittenberg, Leipzig, Worms
related people: Archbishop of Mainz, Albert of Brandenburg, St. Augustine of Hippo, Count Albrecht of Mansfeld, Girolamo Aleandro, Theodor Bibliander, Martin Bucer, Cardinal Cajetan, Holy Roman Emperor Charles V, John Eck of Ingolstadt, Desidirius Erasmus, Frederick the Wise, Count Gebhard of Mansfeld, Jan Hus, Karlstadt, Pope Leo X, Hans Luther, Margarethe Luther, Philipp Melanchthon, Thomas Muntzer, Philip of Hesse, Georg Spalatin, Johann von Staupitz, Johann Tetzel, Gabriel Zwillig, Ulrich Zwingli
also known as: Martin Luder
born: November 10, 1483 in Eisleben, Germany
died: February 18, 1546 in Eisleben, Germany
buried: Eisleben, Germany
language: German
vocation(s): Monk, priest, professor, theologian, reformer
title(s): Father of the Reformation
turning points: Ordination as monk (1506)
Doctor of Theology (1512)
Religious awakening (c. 1515)
95 Theses (October 31, 1517)
Diet of Augsburg (1518)
Leipzig Disputation (1519)
Excommunication (January 3, 1521)
Diet of Worms (April 17-18, 1521)
Wartburg Castle (April 1521 - March 1522)
Peasants' War (Summer 1524)
Marriage to ex-nun Katerina Von Bora (June 1525)
Diet of Speyer (1526)
Marburg Colloquy (October 1529)
Augsburg Confession (1530)
Religious Peace of Nuremburg (1532)
Wittenberg Concord (1536)
major works: 95 Theses (1517)
Freedom of a Christian (1520)
The Babylonian Captivity of the Church (1520)
To the Christian Nobility of the German Nation (1520)
German New Testament (1522)
Bondage of the Will (1525)
"A Mighty Fortress is our God" (1527)
Large Catechism (1529)
related places: Eisleben, Wittenberg, Leipzig, Worms
related people: Archbishop of Mainz, Albert of Brandenburg, St. Augustine of Hippo, Count Albrecht of Mansfeld, Girolamo Aleandro, Theodor Bibliander, Martin Bucer, Cardinal Cajetan, Holy Roman Emperor Charles V, John Eck of Ingolstadt, Desidirius Erasmus, Frederick the Wise, Count Gebhard of Mansfeld, Jan Hus, Karlstadt, Pope Leo X, Hans Luther, Margarethe Luther, Philipp Melanchthon, Thomas Muntzer, Philip of Hesse, Georg Spalatin, Johann von Staupitz, Johann Tetzel, Gabriel Zwillig, Ulrich Zwingli
Martin Luther (1483-1546)
"Be a sinner and sin boldly, but more strongly have faith and rejoice in Christ." --Martin Luther
Portrait of Martin Luther by Lucas Cranach, 1529.Martin Luther was born in 1483 into a strict German Catholic family. His parents intended him for a law career, but he became a monk and a theology professor instead. A sensitive soul, he struggled mightily with a guilty conscience and an intense fear of God and hell until he realized the doctrine of "justification by faith" while studying the book of Romans. This doctrine, with his conviction that the Bible should be the basis of religious life and available to all, became the theological foundation of Protestantism.
Luther was not the first or the only churchman to come to these conclusions, but arrived in a time of rising nationalism and, thanks to the recently-invented printing press, unprecedented written communication. With his 95 Theses against the abuses of indulgences, Luther unwittingly sparked religious and political reform in Germany and founded the Lutheran branch of Protestantism.
With a strong and often abrasive personality, Luther took up the weapons of pen and pulpit against the corruptions of Catholicism on one side and the extremes of the Radical Reformation on the other. He spoke out against clerical celibacy, papal abuses, the denying of the scriptures and the communion wine to non-clergy, the cult of the saints, salvation by works, and other Catholic doctrines. Yet Luther retained many traditional and liturgical elements of the church that other reformers rejected.
Strongly influenced by the writings of Augustine, Luther stressed humanity's sinfulness, God's grace, and the sufficiency of faith in Christ for salvation. He translated the New Testament into German and formulated catechisms in the vernacular, making a major contribution to the development of written German. History remembers Martin Luther as the "Father of the Reformation."
Luther is much less admired for his violent anti-Jewish sentiments, which were later used as anti-Semitic propaganda by the Nazis and have been formally denounced by number of Lutheran bodies.
Luther's larger-than-life personality doesn't fit onto one page - please click on a link below for more detailed information on the German Reformer
Portrait of Martin Luther by Lucas Cranach, 1529.Martin Luther was born in 1483 into a strict German Catholic family. His parents intended him for a law career, but he became a monk and a theology professor instead. A sensitive soul, he struggled mightily with a guilty conscience and an intense fear of God and hell until he realized the doctrine of "justification by faith" while studying the book of Romans. This doctrine, with his conviction that the Bible should be the basis of religious life and available to all, became the theological foundation of Protestantism.
Luther was not the first or the only churchman to come to these conclusions, but arrived in a time of rising nationalism and, thanks to the recently-invented printing press, unprecedented written communication. With his 95 Theses against the abuses of indulgences, Luther unwittingly sparked religious and political reform in Germany and founded the Lutheran branch of Protestantism.
With a strong and often abrasive personality, Luther took up the weapons of pen and pulpit against the corruptions of Catholicism on one side and the extremes of the Radical Reformation on the other. He spoke out against clerical celibacy, papal abuses, the denying of the scriptures and the communion wine to non-clergy, the cult of the saints, salvation by works, and other Catholic doctrines. Yet Luther retained many traditional and liturgical elements of the church that other reformers rejected.
Strongly influenced by the writings of Augustine, Luther stressed humanity's sinfulness, God's grace, and the sufficiency of faith in Christ for salvation. He translated the New Testament into German and formulated catechisms in the vernacular, making a major contribution to the development of written German. History remembers Martin Luther as the "Father of the Reformation."
Luther is much less admired for his violent anti-Jewish sentiments, which were later used as anti-Semitic propaganda by the Nazis and have been formally denounced by number of Lutheran bodies.
Luther's larger-than-life personality doesn't fit onto one page - please click on a link below for more detailed information on the German Reformer
Pope John Paul II (1920-2005)
Pope John Paul II, the late bishop of Rome and head of the Roman Catholic Church, was born Karol Józef Wojtyla (voh-TEE-wah) May 18, 1920, in Wadowice, Poland.
When Wojtyla ascended the papal throne in 1978, he became the first pope from a Slavic country and the first non-Italian pope in 455 years.
During his pontificate, Pope John Paul II has traveled extensively, covering well over the distance traveled by all other popes combined.
Pope John Paul II is best known for his outreach to those of other faiths, especially Jews and Muslims, his strong personal devotion to the Virgin Mary, and his controversially conservative teachings on personal and sexual morality.
Early Life
Wojtyla's mother, Emilia Kaczorowska, was convent-educated and religiously observant. She died when he was only eight years old. His father, Karol Senior, was a lieutenant in the Polish army and described as intelligent and moral.
From 1920 to 1939, between the defeat of the Soviet Red Army and the German invasion, Poland enjoyed a brief period of independence. The population of Wadowice consisted of about 8,000 Catholics and 2,000 Jews. There was little anti-Semitism in Wadowice, but Auschwitz was built in a town only 15 miles northwest of the future pope's hometown.
When he was 12, Wojtyla lost his second family member, his elder brother. Friends remember him responding with the words, "Such was God's will."
Despite his early experiences of tragedy, Wojtyla was by all accounts an outgoing and socialable young man, though with a serious side. "He was a natural lead in school plays and is reported to have helped school friends with their homework without allowing them to copy his. He excelled in school, played soccer, and under his father's guidance lived a disciplined, routinely religious life." {1}
Life Under Nazi Occupation
After graduating as class valedictorian, Wojtyla attended university in Krakow (1938-39), where he studied Polish literature, participated in amateur drama, and wrote poetry. His academic career was interrupted when, on September 1, 1939, the Nazis invaded Poland. In addition to Jews, professors, priests, and other Slavic cultural leaders were deported to concentration camps, for Slavs were considered one of the inferior races.
To avoid deportation, the future pontiff continued classes secretly and worked for Solvay, a chemical manufacturer considered essential to the Nazi war effort. His work, which involved such tasks as breaking rocks in a quarry, laying track, shoveling limestone, setting dynamite charges, and tending machinery, would make him the only pope in modern times to have been a laborer.
In his spare time, Wojtlya wrote nationalistic plays and joined the Rhapsodic Theater, an underground resistance group aimed at keeping Polish culture and morals alive. A tailor who also headed a youth ministry, Jan Tyranowski, introduced Wojtyla to the writings of Saint John of the Cross. The saint's teachings and Tyranowski's successful work among youth together convinced Wojtlya that the church might be a more effective vehicle for improving the world than Polish theater.
On February 18, 1941, Karol Wojtlya, Sr. died in the apartment he shared with his son. The future pope prayed by the body all night. By the fall of 1942, Wojtyla was attending illegal seminary classes.
Another upheaval occurred in August 1944, when Hitler demolished Warsaw and Nazi troops swept through Krakow, seizing all able-bodied men. Wojtyla went unnoticed in his basement apartment, and his seminary leader was able to persuade chemical plant managers to make his name disappear from the list of missing personnel.
Priest, Professor and Poet
In 1945, German occupation replaced by Soviet occupation, and on November 1, 1946, Wojtyla was ordained into the priesthood. After two years of study in Rome, where he completed a doctorate on the theology of Saint John of the Cross, Wojtyla returned to Krakow.
Over the next decade, Wojtyla studied, wrote poetry, and lectured in philosophy and personal and sexual ethics. Completing a second doctorate, he became full professor at University of Lublin, and was a spiritual mentor to a group of friends with whom he kayaked and camped.
His first book of nonfiction was published in Polish in 1960, titled Love and Responsibility. The book explored the graces available in conjugal sexual relationships, and was considered radical to those who understood the Catholic Church to teach that sex was for procreation only.
Rising Through the Ranks
Wojtyla impressed church leaders with his ability to conduct a successful ministry despite communist restrictions. On July 4, 1958, Pope Pius XII made him a bishop of Krakow, and on December 30, 1963, during the Second Vatican Council, Pope Paul VI appointed Wojtyla archbishop of Krakow. The archbishop became familiar with the workings and issues of the church during the Council, and after its conclusion was appointed to the Pope's Commission for the Study of Problems of the Family, Population, and Birth Rate. His work probably influenced the famous encyclical Humanae Vitae of 1968, which rejects artificial contraception.
Wojtyla was made a cardinal of the Catholic Church on June 28, 1967, at the age of 47. As cardinal, he insisted a church be built in the new industrial suburb of Nowa Huta, Poland, placing a cross in the ground where the church would one day stand. He held masses at the site in defiance of communist authorities and continually requested permission to hold religious processions in the street. He was finally allowed to build his church in 1977. He was refused use of the media, so he and fellow church leaders traveled extensively and learned to communicate effectively with crowds. In 1976, he was invited by the then-pope to give the annual Lenten sermons in the Vatican. His sermon explored Catholicism's moral stance in a world of immorality.
Assuming the Chair of Peter
Pope Paul VI died in August 1978. The College of Cardinals elected Albino Luciani of Venice as the new pope. Luciani took the name John Paul to honor his predecessors John XXIII and Pope Paul VI. But only 34 days after his election, Pope John Paul I died, and the College of Cardinals returned to conclave to elect a new pope.
Karol Wojtyla made a good choice in the midst of the controversy that swirled after the Second Vatican Council: he was conservative in matters of church discipline, yet progressive in accepting the reforms of the Council. His youth (at 58, he was the youngest pope of the 20th century) was also seen as an opportunity to attract young people to the church.
The Pontificate of John Paul II
Karol Wojtyla was elected to the papacy on October 22, 1978, taking the name John Paul II to honor his predecessors. He began his extensive travels at once, journeying to Mexico (January 1979), Poland (June 1979), Ireland and the United States (October 1979), and Turkey (November 1979). In each place, he attracted large crowds and a great deal of media interest. One of his primary messages was the need for the church to be involved in politics (especially in the areas of human rights, national independence and religious freedom).
An official Vatican image of the Pontiff.
The pope himself was very active in political issues, especially in his attempts to undermine communism's hold on Eastern Europe. He supported Poland's Solidarity movement, while always reminding his former countrymen to remain nonviolent and move slowly.
The pope's political involvement came to a head on May 13, 1981, when he was shot and nearly killed by a young Turkish gunman, Mehmet Ali Agca. Although a conspiracy was never proved, it was widely believed the attempt had been orchestrated by the Soviets to undermine the Solidarity movement. But the pope rapidly recovered and continued to visit and encourage the people of Poland, and the movement persevered. He is credited with contributing to the final collapse of the U.S.S.R. came in 1991.
Pope John Paul II may also have played a significant role in the weakening of several dictatorships, including Brazil's João Baptista de Oliveira Figueiredo, the Philippines' Ferdinand E. Marcos, Haiti's Jean-Claude ("Baby Doc") Duvalier, Parguay's Alfredo Stroessner, Chile's Augusto Pinochet, and even Chun Doo Hwan of non-Catholic South Korea, all of whom relinquished rule within a few years of papal visits. He is also credited with averting a war between Chile and Argentina in 1979, and with serving as a third-party moderator between Cuba and the U.S.
After the end of the Cold War, John Paul's attention shifted from international politics to improving relations between world religions. The pope had already taken significant steps in this direction, most notably his convening of leaders of all major religions to Assisi, Italy, to pray for world peace in 1986. This was a controversial move, and was cited by the traditionalist archbishop Marcel Lefevre as one of the main reasons he left the church and ordained his own bishops, creating a formal schism within Catholicism.
The pope had also held numerous meetings with Jewish and Muslim religious leaders throughout his pontificate. He sponsored the "Colloquium on Holiness in Christianity and Islam" in Rome in 1984 and spoke to 80,000 Muslims in Morocco in 1985. February 2000 saw history's first meeting between a pope and Sunni Islam's highest religious authority, the Sheikh al-Azhar, at the sheikh's office in Cairo.
Pope John Paul II has had a long and accomplished pontificate.
Also significant for interreligious relations has been Pope John Paul's frequent apologies for past sins of Catholics and his encouragement of other Catholics to do the same. He himself has denounced and apologized for the past "brutalities and injustices of racism, violence, and prejudice-including those committed during the Crusades and against indigenous peoples, women, suspected heretics, non-Catholic Christians, Muslims, and Jews."
Surely influenced by his close proximity with Nazi anti-Semitism as a youth, the pope has also sought to mend the longtime distrust between Christians and Jews. He has called the Jews "our [Christians'] elder brothers in faith," has declared anti-Semitism a sin, and became, in 1986, the first pope to ever enter the synagogue in Rome. In 1994, he held a Holocaust memorial Passover concert in the Vatican, to which Roman Jews and Holocaust survivors were invited. In 1998, the Vatican document We Remember: A Reflection on the 'Shoah' reviewed various aspects of Catholic anti-Jewish prejudice that contributed to the Holocaust.
These efforts at reconciliation have been generally well-received by Israelis and Jewish leadership. In March 2000 in Jerusalem, Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak said to the Pope, "Blessed are you in Israel." During the same visit, John Paul met with Muslim leaders at the Al-Aqsa Mosque and then prayed alone at the Western Wall. Israel's minister for communications stated that "a 2,000-year-old account is now closed."
The pope has also worked to improve relations between Catholics and other Christian sects. A 1995 papal encyclical entitled Ut unum sint ("That They May Be One") reviews 30 years of ecumenical relations and invites non-Catholic churches to join the pope in rethinking the role of the papacy in world Christianity.
In addition to his political and ecumenical efforts, Pope John Paul II has made significant theological contributions. He issued a new Code of Canon Law in 1983, its first revision since 1917, and published a new Catechism of the Catholic Church in 1992, the first revision in over four hundred years. He has addressed the tension between religion and science directly, stating his approval of its search for truth and affirming that Catholicism must not deny the findings of science.
The 1998 encyclical Fides et ratio ("Faith and Reason") emphasizes the importance of reason in meaningful faith, and reflects the pope's high regard for his own Pontifical Academy of Sciences. In a homily delivered in his first year as pope (published as Original Unity of Man and Woman), he stated that some stories in Genesis, including that of Adam and Eve, are to be understood as inspired metaphor. The pontiff has also affirmed the importance of care for the environment, calling its destruction a grave sin and "a sign of real contempt for man."
The Pope's Declining Health
On February 1, 2005, the pope was taken to the Gemelli Hospital in Rome suffering from acute inflammation of the larynx and laryngo-spasm, brought on by a bout of influenza. The Vatican reported the following day that his condition had stabilized, but he would remain in the hospital until fully recovered. The pope appeared in public on 6 February to deliver the final lines of the Angelus blessing in a hoarse voice from the window of his hospital room. He missed the Ash Wednesday ceremonies in St Peter's on 9 February for the first time in his 26-year papacy, and returned to the Vatican on 10 February.
The Pope looked frail already in September 2004, when this photo was taken.
On 24 February 2005 the Pope began having trouble breathing and also had a fever, and he was rushed back to the Gemelli Hospital, where a tracheotomy was successfully performed. An aide to Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi said that John Paul was "serene" after waking up following the surgery. He raised his hand and attempted to say something, but his doctors advised him not to try speaking.
The Pope gave 'silent blessings' from his hospital window on Sunday 27 February and Sunday 6 March, and is said to have spoken in German and Italian during a working meeting with Cardinal Ratzinger in his 10th floor suite of the Gemelli on Tuesday 1 March. Cardinal Ratzinger told international press: "the Pope spoke to me in German and Italian. He was completely lucid. I brought the Holy Father greetings from the plenary of the Congregation for the divine cult which is meeting at this moment in the Vatican. The Holy Father will be working on material which I gave him today. I am happy to see him fully lucid and mentally capable of saying the essential matters with his own voice. We usually speak in German. The details are unimportant - he spoke of essential matters".
On 8 March, it was announced that the Pope was scheduled to give his Urbi et Orbi blessing on Easter Sunday, 27 March. The other ceremonies of the Easter Triduum were to be led by cardinals.
During the Angelus of Sunday 13 March The Pope was able to speak to pilgrims for the first time since he was readmitted to hospital. Later that day he returned to the Vatican for the first time in nearly a month. On Palm Sunday (20th March) the Pope made a brief appearance at his window to greet pilgrims. He was cheered by thousands of the faithful as he silently waved an olive branch. It was the first time in his pontificate that he could not officiate at Palm Sunday Mass. He watched it on his TV in his apartment overlooking St. Peter's Square.
On 22 March, there were renewed concerns for the Pope's health after reports stated that he had taken a turn for the worse and was not responding to medication.
On 24 March, Colombian Cardinal Alfonso Lopez Trujillo performed the rite of the washing of the feet, in the Vatican's St. Peter's Basilica. The cardinal stood in for Pope John Paul II at a Holy Thursday ceremony at the Vatican. He said the ailing Pontiff was 'serenely abandoning' himself to God's will. The 84-year-old Pope, whose health is precarious following throat surgery last month, watched the service on television from his Vatican apartments.
On 27 March, Easter day, the Pope appeared at his window in the Vatican for a short time. Angelo Cardinal Sodano read the Urbi et orbi message while the Pope blessed the people with his own hand. He tried to speak but he could not.
On 31 March, the Pope developed a "very high fever caused by a urinary tract infection," but was not rushed to hospital, apparently in accordance with his stated wishes to die in the Vatican. Later that day, Vatican sources announced that the Pope had been given last rites (anointing of the sick), the first time that pope had received the sacrament since the 1981 assassination attempt on his life. It is unclear if the Pope received the Apostolic Pardon as well.
On 1 April, the Pope had been fitted with a second feeding tube in his nose to help boost his nutritional intake as a result of his fever. Reports out of the Vatican early that morning reported that the Pope had suffered a heart attack, but remained awake. Vatican spokesperson Joaquin Navarro-Valls denied the reports of the heart attack, but said the Pope had suffered a "cardiocirculatory collapse" and called the Pope's condition "very serious."
At around 10:30 UTC (3:30 EST) a Vatican spokesman gave a further briefing on the Pope's health and confirmed that the Pope has received last rites. He refused to be taken to the hospital, and met with his closest associates. He also requested that he be read the meditations said on the Stations of the Cross a few days before.
At approximately 17:00 UTC the Italian news sources claimed that Pope John Paul II lost consciousness. At least one medical center stated that there is no more hope for him, according to MSNBC.
The Vatican published a press release at 17:00 UTC (11:00 EST) saying the Pope's kidneys stopped functioning. The ANSA news agency reported around 17:30 UTC that he lost consciousness. Several Italian media agencies reported the Pope's death at 18:20 UTC, 13:20 EST, but soon afterwards, the Vatican denied the pope's death. TV Sky Italia reported that his heart and brain were functioning.
On April 2, 2005, at 19:27 UTC, 13:37 EST, Pope John Paul II passed away. The papal funeral will occur within the week, and there will be a papal election within two weeks.
A number of men have been mentioned as papabili (possible successors), including Cardinals Joseph Ratzinger, Jorge Bergoglio, Francis Arinze, Christoph Schönborn, and Angelo Sodano. See How the Pope is Elected for more information on the process
When Wojtyla ascended the papal throne in 1978, he became the first pope from a Slavic country and the first non-Italian pope in 455 years.
During his pontificate, Pope John Paul II has traveled extensively, covering well over the distance traveled by all other popes combined.
Pope John Paul II is best known for his outreach to those of other faiths, especially Jews and Muslims, his strong personal devotion to the Virgin Mary, and his controversially conservative teachings on personal and sexual morality.
Early Life
Wojtyla's mother, Emilia Kaczorowska, was convent-educated and religiously observant. She died when he was only eight years old. His father, Karol Senior, was a lieutenant in the Polish army and described as intelligent and moral.
From 1920 to 1939, between the defeat of the Soviet Red Army and the German invasion, Poland enjoyed a brief period of independence. The population of Wadowice consisted of about 8,000 Catholics and 2,000 Jews. There was little anti-Semitism in Wadowice, but Auschwitz was built in a town only 15 miles northwest of the future pope's hometown.
When he was 12, Wojtyla lost his second family member, his elder brother. Friends remember him responding with the words, "Such was God's will."
Despite his early experiences of tragedy, Wojtyla was by all accounts an outgoing and socialable young man, though with a serious side. "He was a natural lead in school plays and is reported to have helped school friends with their homework without allowing them to copy his. He excelled in school, played soccer, and under his father's guidance lived a disciplined, routinely religious life." {1}
Life Under Nazi Occupation
After graduating as class valedictorian, Wojtyla attended university in Krakow (1938-39), where he studied Polish literature, participated in amateur drama, and wrote poetry. His academic career was interrupted when, on September 1, 1939, the Nazis invaded Poland. In addition to Jews, professors, priests, and other Slavic cultural leaders were deported to concentration camps, for Slavs were considered one of the inferior races.
To avoid deportation, the future pontiff continued classes secretly and worked for Solvay, a chemical manufacturer considered essential to the Nazi war effort. His work, which involved such tasks as breaking rocks in a quarry, laying track, shoveling limestone, setting dynamite charges, and tending machinery, would make him the only pope in modern times to have been a laborer.
In his spare time, Wojtlya wrote nationalistic plays and joined the Rhapsodic Theater, an underground resistance group aimed at keeping Polish culture and morals alive. A tailor who also headed a youth ministry, Jan Tyranowski, introduced Wojtyla to the writings of Saint John of the Cross. The saint's teachings and Tyranowski's successful work among youth together convinced Wojtlya that the church might be a more effective vehicle for improving the world than Polish theater.
On February 18, 1941, Karol Wojtlya, Sr. died in the apartment he shared with his son. The future pope prayed by the body all night. By the fall of 1942, Wojtyla was attending illegal seminary classes.
Another upheaval occurred in August 1944, when Hitler demolished Warsaw and Nazi troops swept through Krakow, seizing all able-bodied men. Wojtyla went unnoticed in his basement apartment, and his seminary leader was able to persuade chemical plant managers to make his name disappear from the list of missing personnel.
Priest, Professor and Poet
In 1945, German occupation replaced by Soviet occupation, and on November 1, 1946, Wojtyla was ordained into the priesthood. After two years of study in Rome, where he completed a doctorate on the theology of Saint John of the Cross, Wojtyla returned to Krakow.
Over the next decade, Wojtyla studied, wrote poetry, and lectured in philosophy and personal and sexual ethics. Completing a second doctorate, he became full professor at University of Lublin, and was a spiritual mentor to a group of friends with whom he kayaked and camped.
His first book of nonfiction was published in Polish in 1960, titled Love and Responsibility. The book explored the graces available in conjugal sexual relationships, and was considered radical to those who understood the Catholic Church to teach that sex was for procreation only.
Rising Through the Ranks
Wojtyla impressed church leaders with his ability to conduct a successful ministry despite communist restrictions. On July 4, 1958, Pope Pius XII made him a bishop of Krakow, and on December 30, 1963, during the Second Vatican Council, Pope Paul VI appointed Wojtyla archbishop of Krakow. The archbishop became familiar with the workings and issues of the church during the Council, and after its conclusion was appointed to the Pope's Commission for the Study of Problems of the Family, Population, and Birth Rate. His work probably influenced the famous encyclical Humanae Vitae of 1968, which rejects artificial contraception.
Wojtyla was made a cardinal of the Catholic Church on June 28, 1967, at the age of 47. As cardinal, he insisted a church be built in the new industrial suburb of Nowa Huta, Poland, placing a cross in the ground where the church would one day stand. He held masses at the site in defiance of communist authorities and continually requested permission to hold religious processions in the street. He was finally allowed to build his church in 1977. He was refused use of the media, so he and fellow church leaders traveled extensively and learned to communicate effectively with crowds. In 1976, he was invited by the then-pope to give the annual Lenten sermons in the Vatican. His sermon explored Catholicism's moral stance in a world of immorality.
Assuming the Chair of Peter
Pope Paul VI died in August 1978. The College of Cardinals elected Albino Luciani of Venice as the new pope. Luciani took the name John Paul to honor his predecessors John XXIII and Pope Paul VI. But only 34 days after his election, Pope John Paul I died, and the College of Cardinals returned to conclave to elect a new pope.
Karol Wojtyla made a good choice in the midst of the controversy that swirled after the Second Vatican Council: he was conservative in matters of church discipline, yet progressive in accepting the reforms of the Council. His youth (at 58, he was the youngest pope of the 20th century) was also seen as an opportunity to attract young people to the church.
The Pontificate of John Paul II
Karol Wojtyla was elected to the papacy on October 22, 1978, taking the name John Paul II to honor his predecessors. He began his extensive travels at once, journeying to Mexico (January 1979), Poland (June 1979), Ireland and the United States (October 1979), and Turkey (November 1979). In each place, he attracted large crowds and a great deal of media interest. One of his primary messages was the need for the church to be involved in politics (especially in the areas of human rights, national independence and religious freedom).
An official Vatican image of the Pontiff.
The pope himself was very active in political issues, especially in his attempts to undermine communism's hold on Eastern Europe. He supported Poland's Solidarity movement, while always reminding his former countrymen to remain nonviolent and move slowly.
The pope's political involvement came to a head on May 13, 1981, when he was shot and nearly killed by a young Turkish gunman, Mehmet Ali Agca. Although a conspiracy was never proved, it was widely believed the attempt had been orchestrated by the Soviets to undermine the Solidarity movement. But the pope rapidly recovered and continued to visit and encourage the people of Poland, and the movement persevered. He is credited with contributing to the final collapse of the U.S.S.R. came in 1991.
Pope John Paul II may also have played a significant role in the weakening of several dictatorships, including Brazil's João Baptista de Oliveira Figueiredo, the Philippines' Ferdinand E. Marcos, Haiti's Jean-Claude ("Baby Doc") Duvalier, Parguay's Alfredo Stroessner, Chile's Augusto Pinochet, and even Chun Doo Hwan of non-Catholic South Korea, all of whom relinquished rule within a few years of papal visits. He is also credited with averting a war between Chile and Argentina in 1979, and with serving as a third-party moderator between Cuba and the U.S.
After the end of the Cold War, John Paul's attention shifted from international politics to improving relations between world religions. The pope had already taken significant steps in this direction, most notably his convening of leaders of all major religions to Assisi, Italy, to pray for world peace in 1986. This was a controversial move, and was cited by the traditionalist archbishop Marcel Lefevre as one of the main reasons he left the church and ordained his own bishops, creating a formal schism within Catholicism.
The pope had also held numerous meetings with Jewish and Muslim religious leaders throughout his pontificate. He sponsored the "Colloquium on Holiness in Christianity and Islam" in Rome in 1984 and spoke to 80,000 Muslims in Morocco in 1985. February 2000 saw history's first meeting between a pope and Sunni Islam's highest religious authority, the Sheikh al-Azhar, at the sheikh's office in Cairo.
Pope John Paul II has had a long and accomplished pontificate.
Also significant for interreligious relations has been Pope John Paul's frequent apologies for past sins of Catholics and his encouragement of other Catholics to do the same. He himself has denounced and apologized for the past "brutalities and injustices of racism, violence, and prejudice-including those committed during the Crusades and against indigenous peoples, women, suspected heretics, non-Catholic Christians, Muslims, and Jews."
Surely influenced by his close proximity with Nazi anti-Semitism as a youth, the pope has also sought to mend the longtime distrust between Christians and Jews. He has called the Jews "our [Christians'] elder brothers in faith," has declared anti-Semitism a sin, and became, in 1986, the first pope to ever enter the synagogue in Rome. In 1994, he held a Holocaust memorial Passover concert in the Vatican, to which Roman Jews and Holocaust survivors were invited. In 1998, the Vatican document We Remember: A Reflection on the 'Shoah' reviewed various aspects of Catholic anti-Jewish prejudice that contributed to the Holocaust.
These efforts at reconciliation have been generally well-received by Israelis and Jewish leadership. In March 2000 in Jerusalem, Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak said to the Pope, "Blessed are you in Israel." During the same visit, John Paul met with Muslim leaders at the Al-Aqsa Mosque and then prayed alone at the Western Wall. Israel's minister for communications stated that "a 2,000-year-old account is now closed."
The pope has also worked to improve relations between Catholics and other Christian sects. A 1995 papal encyclical entitled Ut unum sint ("That They May Be One") reviews 30 years of ecumenical relations and invites non-Catholic churches to join the pope in rethinking the role of the papacy in world Christianity.
In addition to his political and ecumenical efforts, Pope John Paul II has made significant theological contributions. He issued a new Code of Canon Law in 1983, its first revision since 1917, and published a new Catechism of the Catholic Church in 1992, the first revision in over four hundred years. He has addressed the tension between religion and science directly, stating his approval of its search for truth and affirming that Catholicism must not deny the findings of science.
The 1998 encyclical Fides et ratio ("Faith and Reason") emphasizes the importance of reason in meaningful faith, and reflects the pope's high regard for his own Pontifical Academy of Sciences. In a homily delivered in his first year as pope (published as Original Unity of Man and Woman), he stated that some stories in Genesis, including that of Adam and Eve, are to be understood as inspired metaphor. The pontiff has also affirmed the importance of care for the environment, calling its destruction a grave sin and "a sign of real contempt for man."
The Pope's Declining Health
On February 1, 2005, the pope was taken to the Gemelli Hospital in Rome suffering from acute inflammation of the larynx and laryngo-spasm, brought on by a bout of influenza. The Vatican reported the following day that his condition had stabilized, but he would remain in the hospital until fully recovered. The pope appeared in public on 6 February to deliver the final lines of the Angelus blessing in a hoarse voice from the window of his hospital room. He missed the Ash Wednesday ceremonies in St Peter's on 9 February for the first time in his 26-year papacy, and returned to the Vatican on 10 February.
The Pope looked frail already in September 2004, when this photo was taken.
On 24 February 2005 the Pope began having trouble breathing and also had a fever, and he was rushed back to the Gemelli Hospital, where a tracheotomy was successfully performed. An aide to Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi said that John Paul was "serene" after waking up following the surgery. He raised his hand and attempted to say something, but his doctors advised him not to try speaking.
The Pope gave 'silent blessings' from his hospital window on Sunday 27 February and Sunday 6 March, and is said to have spoken in German and Italian during a working meeting with Cardinal Ratzinger in his 10th floor suite of the Gemelli on Tuesday 1 March. Cardinal Ratzinger told international press: "the Pope spoke to me in German and Italian. He was completely lucid. I brought the Holy Father greetings from the plenary of the Congregation for the divine cult which is meeting at this moment in the Vatican. The Holy Father will be working on material which I gave him today. I am happy to see him fully lucid and mentally capable of saying the essential matters with his own voice. We usually speak in German. The details are unimportant - he spoke of essential matters".
On 8 March, it was announced that the Pope was scheduled to give his Urbi et Orbi blessing on Easter Sunday, 27 March. The other ceremonies of the Easter Triduum were to be led by cardinals.
During the Angelus of Sunday 13 March The Pope was able to speak to pilgrims for the first time since he was readmitted to hospital. Later that day he returned to the Vatican for the first time in nearly a month. On Palm Sunday (20th March) the Pope made a brief appearance at his window to greet pilgrims. He was cheered by thousands of the faithful as he silently waved an olive branch. It was the first time in his pontificate that he could not officiate at Palm Sunday Mass. He watched it on his TV in his apartment overlooking St. Peter's Square.
On 22 March, there were renewed concerns for the Pope's health after reports stated that he had taken a turn for the worse and was not responding to medication.
On 24 March, Colombian Cardinal Alfonso Lopez Trujillo performed the rite of the washing of the feet, in the Vatican's St. Peter's Basilica. The cardinal stood in for Pope John Paul II at a Holy Thursday ceremony at the Vatican. He said the ailing Pontiff was 'serenely abandoning' himself to God's will. The 84-year-old Pope, whose health is precarious following throat surgery last month, watched the service on television from his Vatican apartments.
On 27 March, Easter day, the Pope appeared at his window in the Vatican for a short time. Angelo Cardinal Sodano read the Urbi et orbi message while the Pope blessed the people with his own hand. He tried to speak but he could not.
On 31 March, the Pope developed a "very high fever caused by a urinary tract infection," but was not rushed to hospital, apparently in accordance with his stated wishes to die in the Vatican. Later that day, Vatican sources announced that the Pope had been given last rites (anointing of the sick), the first time that pope had received the sacrament since the 1981 assassination attempt on his life. It is unclear if the Pope received the Apostolic Pardon as well.
On 1 April, the Pope had been fitted with a second feeding tube in his nose to help boost his nutritional intake as a result of his fever. Reports out of the Vatican early that morning reported that the Pope had suffered a heart attack, but remained awake. Vatican spokesperson Joaquin Navarro-Valls denied the reports of the heart attack, but said the Pope had suffered a "cardiocirculatory collapse" and called the Pope's condition "very serious."
At around 10:30 UTC (3:30 EST) a Vatican spokesman gave a further briefing on the Pope's health and confirmed that the Pope has received last rites. He refused to be taken to the hospital, and met with his closest associates. He also requested that he be read the meditations said on the Stations of the Cross a few days before.
At approximately 17:00 UTC the Italian news sources claimed that Pope John Paul II lost consciousness. At least one medical center stated that there is no more hope for him, according to MSNBC.
The Vatican published a press release at 17:00 UTC (11:00 EST) saying the Pope's kidneys stopped functioning. The ANSA news agency reported around 17:30 UTC that he lost consciousness. Several Italian media agencies reported the Pope's death at 18:20 UTC, 13:20 EST, but soon afterwards, the Vatican denied the pope's death. TV Sky Italia reported that his heart and brain were functioning.
On April 2, 2005, at 19:27 UTC, 13:37 EST, Pope John Paul II passed away. The papal funeral will occur within the week, and there will be a papal election within two weeks.
A number of men have been mentioned as papabili (possible successors), including Cardinals Joseph Ratzinger, Jorge Bergoglio, Francis Arinze, Christoph Schönborn, and Angelo Sodano. See How the Pope is Elected for more information on the process
Pope Benedict XVI (1927- )
christianity / people / pope benedict xvi
Pope Benedict XVI (1927- )
His Holiness Pope Benedict XVI (officially Benedictus XVI), born Joseph Alois Ratzinger (Latin: Iosephus Ratzinger) April 16, 1927, was elected Pope of the Roman Catholic Church on April 19, 2005. As such, he is Bishop of Rome, Sovereign of the Vatican City State and head of the Roman Catholic Church.
Benedict will be formally installed as pontiff during the Mass of Papal Installation on April 24, 2005.
At 78 years old, he is the oldest pope elected since Pope Clement XII in 1730. He is the first German pope since Adrian VI (1522–1523), who lived in what is now the Netherlands, a conglomerate of German provinces at the time of his papacy. Benedict is the eighth German pope in history; the first was Gregory V. The last Benedict, Benedict XV, served as pontiff from 1914 to 1922, reigning during World War I.
Pope Benedict XVI was appointed prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith by Pope John Paul II in 1981, made a Cardinal Bishop of the episcopal see of Velletri-Segni in 1993, and was elected Dean of the College of Cardinals in 2002, becoming titular bishop of Ostia.
Before he was elected to the papacy, Pope Benedict XVI was already one of the most influential men in the Vatican and a close associate of the late John Paul II. He also presided over the funeral of John Paul II and the Conclave in 2005 which elected him. After John Paul II's death, he was the highest-ranking official in the Catholic Church.
Some see Benedict as a traditionalist, others as merely orthodox, but almost all observers agree that he is a staunch defender of Catholic doctrine. He is a critic of homosexuality, same-sex marriage, euthanasia, and abortion.
He has spoken about the unique role of the Catholic Church in salvation and has called all other Christian churches and ecclesial communities deficient. As a cardinal, he wrote Truth and Tolerance, a book in which he denounces the use of tolerance as an excuse to distort the truth.
Benedict also participated as a priest in the Second Vatican Council and has continued to defend the council, including Nostra Aetate, the document on respect of other religions and the declaration of the right to religious freedom. He was viewed during the time of the council as a liberal. As the Prefect for the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, Benedict most clearly spelled out the Catholic Church's position on other religions in the document Dominus Iesus which also talks about the proper way to engage in ecumenical dialogue.
Early Life and Works
Ratzinger was born in Marktl am Inn, in Bavaria, the son of a police officer. In 1937 Ratzinger's father retired and settled in the town of Traunstein. When Ratzinger turned 14 in 1941, he joined the Hitler Youth, as was required of all Germans of that age by a 1938 law. According to National Catholic Reporter correspondent and biographer John Allen, Ratzinger was an unenthusiastic member who refused to attend any meetings.
In 1943, at the age of 16, he and the rest of his class were drafted into the Flak or anti-aircraft corps, responsible for guarding a BMW plant outside Munich. This plant manufactured aircraft engines and used slave labor from the Dachau concentration camp. He was then sent for basic infantry training and was posted to Hungarian border area, where he worked setting up anti-tank defenses in preparation for the Red Army assault.
After two years of service in the German military, Ratzinger's desertion came days before the surrender of German forces in Europe. While desertion in wartime formally carried a death penalty, the threat of encountering any penalty from the broken and distracted German military was minimal. After being shipped back to Bavaria, he deserted in May 1945 and returned to Traunstein.
The complete nature of Ratzinger's military service during the period of National Socialist Germany is uncertain. Current information suggests he was not a part of a combat unit (although a reference to the Landsturm has been made, this formation existed only until 1918). From the duties described, the formation Ratzinger was assigned to was a second rate unit, quite possibly Volkssturm or RAD. His brother, Georg Ratzinger, however, was two years older than him, and served as a Heer radio operator, seeing action on the Italian front from 1944 until the end of the war.
Shortly after returning to Traunstein, he was detained for six weeks in an Allied POW camp, as he wore a German military uniform and the Allies had taken over Traunstein. By June he was repatriated, and he and his brother Georg entered a Catholic seminary. On June 29, 1951, they were ordained by Cardinal Faulhaber of Munich. His dissertation (1953) was on Saint Augustine, and his Habilitationsschrift (second dissertation) was on Saint Bonaventure. He gained a doctorate of theology in 1957 and became a professor of Freising college in 1958.
Ratzinger was a professor at the University of Bonn from 1959 until 1963, when he moved to the University of Münster. During his theological career, Ratzinger has taken both liberal and conservative sides. In 1966, he took a chair in dogmatic theology at the University of Tübingen, where he was a colleague of Hans Küng but was confirmed in his traditionalist views by the liberal atmosphere of Tübingen and the Marxist leanings of the student movement of the 1960s.
At the Second Vatican Council (1962–1965), Ratzinger served as a peritus or chief theological expert to Josef Cardinal Frings of Cologne, Germany. Ratzinger was a liberal theological adviser at the Second Vatican Council but became more conservative after the 1968 student movement prompted him to defend the faith against secularism. In 1969 he returned to Bavaria, to the University of Regensburg.
Archbishop and Cardinal
In 1972, he founded the theological journal Communio with Hans Urs von Balthasar, Henri de Lubac and others. Communio, now published in seventeen editions (German, English, Spanish and many others), has become one of the most important journals of Catholic thought.
In March 1977 Ratzinger was named archbishop of Munich and Freising, and in the consistory that June was named a cardinal by Pope Paul VI. At the time of the 2005 Conclave, he was one of only 14 remaining cardinals appointed by Paul VI, and one of only three of those under the age of 80 and thus eligible to participate in that conclave.
On November 25, 1981 Pope John Paul II named Ratzinger prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, formerly known as the Holy Office of the Inquisition, which was renamed in 1908 by Pope Pius X. He resigned the Munich archdiocese in early 1982, became cardinal-bishop of Velletri-Segni in 1993, vice-dean of the College of Cardinals in 1998, and was elected dean in 2002. In office, Ratzinger usually took traditional views on topics such as birth control and inter-religious dialogue. As Prefect, Ratzinger wrote a 1986 letter to bishops that identified homosexuality as a "tendency ordered toward an intrinsic moral evil" and "an objective disorder."
Election to the Papacy
On January 2, 2005, TIME magazine quoted unnamed Vatican sources as saying that Ratzinger was a frontrunner to succeed John Paul II should the pope die or become too ill to continue as Pontiff. On the death of John Paul II, Financial Times gave the odds of Ratzinger becoming pope as 7-1, the lead position, but close to his rivals on the liberal wing of the church.
Piers Paul Read wrote in The Spectator on March 5, 2005:
There can be little doubt that his courageous promotion of orthodox Catholic teaching has earned him the respect of his fellow cardinals throughout the world. He is patently holy, highly intelligent and sees clearly what is at stake. Indeed, for those who blame the decline of Catholic practice in the developed world precisely on the propensity of many European bishops to hide their heads in the sand, a pope who confronts it may be just what is required. Ratzinger is no longer young — he is 78 years old: but Angelo Roncalli was the same age when he became pope as John XXIII. He turned the Church upside-down by calling the Second Vatican Council and was perhaps the best-loved pontiff of modern times. As Jeff Israely, the correspondent of Time, was told by a Vatican insider last month, "The Ratzinger solution is definitely on." (Angelo Roncalli was 76, not 78.)
However, it is important to note that Ratzinger's election to the papal office was by no means certain. In conclaves men who are considered papabile often are not elected to office. At times men considered certain to win the election did not win. This is expressed in the saying, "He who enters the conclave as Pope leaves as a Cardinal."
Benedict has repeatedly stated he would like to retire to a Bavarian village and dedicate himself to writing books, but more recently, he told friends he was ready to "accept any charge God placed" on him. After the death of John Paul II on April 2, 2005, Ratzinger ceased functioning as prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith. As pope, it will be up to him to decide who will follow him in the post of prefect.
Benedict speaks ten languages, including German, Italian, English, and ecclesiastical Latin. He is also fluent in French and is an associate member of the French Académie des sciences morales et politiques since 1992. He is an accomplished pianist with a preference for Mozart and Beethoven.
He is the eighth German pope, but only the third (after Clement II and Victor II) to come from the territory of modern-day Germany. The last Germanic (Dutch-German) pope, Adrian VI, was elected in 1522 and died in 1523. He is also the oldest cardinal to become pope since Clement XII in 1730, who, like Ratzinger, was elected at age 78.
In April 2005, he was identified as one of the 100 most influential people in the world by TIME magazine. On April 19, 2005 he was elected as the successor to Pope John Paul II on the second day of the papal conclave.
On his first appearance at the balcony of St. Peter's Basilica after becoming pope, he was announced with the words:
Annuntio vobis gaudium magnum;
habemus Papam:
Eminentissimum ac Reverendissimum Dominum,
Dominum Josephum
Sanctae Romanae Ecclesiae Cardinalem Ratzinger
qui sibi nomen imposuit Benedicti XVI
Which translates to: "I announce to you great joy: We have a Pope! The most Eminent and Reverend Lord, the Lord Joseph, Cardinal of the Holy Roman Church Ratzinger, who takes to himself the name of Benedict the sixteenth."
At the balcony, his first words to the crowd, before he gave the traditional Urbi et Orbi blessing, were:
Dear brothers and sisters, after the Great Pope John Paul II, the cardinals have elected me, a simple, humble worker in the Lord's vineyard. I am comforted by the fact that the Lord knows how to work and act even with insufficient instruments. And above all, I entrust myself to your prayers. With the joy of the risen Lord and confidence in His constant help, we will go forward. The Lord will help us and Mary, His most holy mother, will be alongside us. Thank you.
In a pre-conclave Mass in St. Peter's Basilica, he declared, "We are moving toward a dictatorship of relativism which does not recognize anything as definitive and has as its highest value one's own ego and one's own desires." For some Catholics who had hoped for a more "moderate" choice, the selection of Cardinal Ratzinger caused immediate consternation because of the views that Benedict took as Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger on the necessity of Jesus and the Catholic Church for salvation, on other religions, and on social issues such as homosexuality and abortion. To others, Cardinal Ratzinger represented a type of "Orthodox Catholicism" which they hope to see a continuation of during his reign.
Teachings
Pope Benedict XVI has taken positions similar to Pope John Paul II, and has been a staunch defender of Catholic Doctrine. He has made it clear that he intends to maintain traditions, and not give in to modern pressures to change policy on such issues as birth control, abortion, and same-sex marriage. Benedict XVI does not believe in relativism, an idea where morals are relative and not universal. Instead he believes morals are universal and unchanging, and therefore should not change as times change.
Controversies
Before becoming pope, Ratzinger was known for his stance involving American politics. During the 2004 presidential campaign, he expressed the view that people would be "cooperating in evil" if they backed a political candidate because he supports abortion rights or euthanasia. {1}
Regarding the scandal of sexual abuse by priests in the United States, he was sometimes seen by critics as minimizing the abuse. In 2002 he told Catholic News Service that "less than 1 percent of priests are guilty of acts of this type." {2} Opponents saw this as ignoring the crimes committed by those who did abuse; others saw it as merely pointing out that this should not taint other priests who live respectable lives.
Other controversial statements include a 2000 document in which he argued that, "Only in the Catholic church is there eternal salvation." {3}
Gay rights advocates have widely criticized his letter to the Bishops of the church in 1986, On the Pastoral Care of Homosexual Persons in which he stated that homosexuality is a “strong tendency ordered toward an intrinsic moral evil; and thus the inclination itself must be seen as an objective disorder.” In an earlier letter dated September 30, 1985, Ratzinger reprimanded Seattle Archbishop Raymond Hunthausen for his liberal views on women, gays, and doctrinal issues, stating, "The Archdiocese should withdraw all support from any group, which does not unequivocally accept the teaching of the Magisterium concerning the intrinsic evil of homosexual activity." Archbishop Hunthausen was temporarily relieved of his authority. {4
Pope Benedict XVI (1927- )
His Holiness Pope Benedict XVI (officially Benedictus XVI), born Joseph Alois Ratzinger (Latin: Iosephus Ratzinger) April 16, 1927, was elected Pope of the Roman Catholic Church on April 19, 2005. As such, he is Bishop of Rome, Sovereign of the Vatican City State and head of the Roman Catholic Church.
Benedict will be formally installed as pontiff during the Mass of Papal Installation on April 24, 2005.
At 78 years old, he is the oldest pope elected since Pope Clement XII in 1730. He is the first German pope since Adrian VI (1522–1523), who lived in what is now the Netherlands, a conglomerate of German provinces at the time of his papacy. Benedict is the eighth German pope in history; the first was Gregory V. The last Benedict, Benedict XV, served as pontiff from 1914 to 1922, reigning during World War I.
Pope Benedict XVI was appointed prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith by Pope John Paul II in 1981, made a Cardinal Bishop of the episcopal see of Velletri-Segni in 1993, and was elected Dean of the College of Cardinals in 2002, becoming titular bishop of Ostia.
Before he was elected to the papacy, Pope Benedict XVI was already one of the most influential men in the Vatican and a close associate of the late John Paul II. He also presided over the funeral of John Paul II and the Conclave in 2005 which elected him. After John Paul II's death, he was the highest-ranking official in the Catholic Church.
Some see Benedict as a traditionalist, others as merely orthodox, but almost all observers agree that he is a staunch defender of Catholic doctrine. He is a critic of homosexuality, same-sex marriage, euthanasia, and abortion.
He has spoken about the unique role of the Catholic Church in salvation and has called all other Christian churches and ecclesial communities deficient. As a cardinal, he wrote Truth and Tolerance, a book in which he denounces the use of tolerance as an excuse to distort the truth.
Benedict also participated as a priest in the Second Vatican Council and has continued to defend the council, including Nostra Aetate, the document on respect of other religions and the declaration of the right to religious freedom. He was viewed during the time of the council as a liberal. As the Prefect for the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, Benedict most clearly spelled out the Catholic Church's position on other religions in the document Dominus Iesus which also talks about the proper way to engage in ecumenical dialogue.
Early Life and Works
Ratzinger was born in Marktl am Inn, in Bavaria, the son of a police officer. In 1937 Ratzinger's father retired and settled in the town of Traunstein. When Ratzinger turned 14 in 1941, he joined the Hitler Youth, as was required of all Germans of that age by a 1938 law. According to National Catholic Reporter correspondent and biographer John Allen, Ratzinger was an unenthusiastic member who refused to attend any meetings.
In 1943, at the age of 16, he and the rest of his class were drafted into the Flak or anti-aircraft corps, responsible for guarding a BMW plant outside Munich. This plant manufactured aircraft engines and used slave labor from the Dachau concentration camp. He was then sent for basic infantry training and was posted to Hungarian border area, where he worked setting up anti-tank defenses in preparation for the Red Army assault.
After two years of service in the German military, Ratzinger's desertion came days before the surrender of German forces in Europe. While desertion in wartime formally carried a death penalty, the threat of encountering any penalty from the broken and distracted German military was minimal. After being shipped back to Bavaria, he deserted in May 1945 and returned to Traunstein.
The complete nature of Ratzinger's military service during the period of National Socialist Germany is uncertain. Current information suggests he was not a part of a combat unit (although a reference to the Landsturm has been made, this formation existed only until 1918). From the duties described, the formation Ratzinger was assigned to was a second rate unit, quite possibly Volkssturm or RAD. His brother, Georg Ratzinger, however, was two years older than him, and served as a Heer radio operator, seeing action on the Italian front from 1944 until the end of the war.
Shortly after returning to Traunstein, he was detained for six weeks in an Allied POW camp, as he wore a German military uniform and the Allies had taken over Traunstein. By June he was repatriated, and he and his brother Georg entered a Catholic seminary. On June 29, 1951, they were ordained by Cardinal Faulhaber of Munich. His dissertation (1953) was on Saint Augustine, and his Habilitationsschrift (second dissertation) was on Saint Bonaventure. He gained a doctorate of theology in 1957 and became a professor of Freising college in 1958.
Ratzinger was a professor at the University of Bonn from 1959 until 1963, when he moved to the University of Münster. During his theological career, Ratzinger has taken both liberal and conservative sides. In 1966, he took a chair in dogmatic theology at the University of Tübingen, where he was a colleague of Hans Küng but was confirmed in his traditionalist views by the liberal atmosphere of Tübingen and the Marxist leanings of the student movement of the 1960s.
At the Second Vatican Council (1962–1965), Ratzinger served as a peritus or chief theological expert to Josef Cardinal Frings of Cologne, Germany. Ratzinger was a liberal theological adviser at the Second Vatican Council but became more conservative after the 1968 student movement prompted him to defend the faith against secularism. In 1969 he returned to Bavaria, to the University of Regensburg.
Archbishop and Cardinal
In 1972, he founded the theological journal Communio with Hans Urs von Balthasar, Henri de Lubac and others. Communio, now published in seventeen editions (German, English, Spanish and many others), has become one of the most important journals of Catholic thought.
In March 1977 Ratzinger was named archbishop of Munich and Freising, and in the consistory that June was named a cardinal by Pope Paul VI. At the time of the 2005 Conclave, he was one of only 14 remaining cardinals appointed by Paul VI, and one of only three of those under the age of 80 and thus eligible to participate in that conclave.
On November 25, 1981 Pope John Paul II named Ratzinger prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, formerly known as the Holy Office of the Inquisition, which was renamed in 1908 by Pope Pius X. He resigned the Munich archdiocese in early 1982, became cardinal-bishop of Velletri-Segni in 1993, vice-dean of the College of Cardinals in 1998, and was elected dean in 2002. In office, Ratzinger usually took traditional views on topics such as birth control and inter-religious dialogue. As Prefect, Ratzinger wrote a 1986 letter to bishops that identified homosexuality as a "tendency ordered toward an intrinsic moral evil" and "an objective disorder."
Election to the Papacy
On January 2, 2005, TIME magazine quoted unnamed Vatican sources as saying that Ratzinger was a frontrunner to succeed John Paul II should the pope die or become too ill to continue as Pontiff. On the death of John Paul II, Financial Times gave the odds of Ratzinger becoming pope as 7-1, the lead position, but close to his rivals on the liberal wing of the church.
Piers Paul Read wrote in The Spectator on March 5, 2005:
There can be little doubt that his courageous promotion of orthodox Catholic teaching has earned him the respect of his fellow cardinals throughout the world. He is patently holy, highly intelligent and sees clearly what is at stake. Indeed, for those who blame the decline of Catholic practice in the developed world precisely on the propensity of many European bishops to hide their heads in the sand, a pope who confronts it may be just what is required. Ratzinger is no longer young — he is 78 years old: but Angelo Roncalli was the same age when he became pope as John XXIII. He turned the Church upside-down by calling the Second Vatican Council and was perhaps the best-loved pontiff of modern times. As Jeff Israely, the correspondent of Time, was told by a Vatican insider last month, "The Ratzinger solution is definitely on." (Angelo Roncalli was 76, not 78.)
However, it is important to note that Ratzinger's election to the papal office was by no means certain. In conclaves men who are considered papabile often are not elected to office. At times men considered certain to win the election did not win. This is expressed in the saying, "He who enters the conclave as Pope leaves as a Cardinal."
Benedict has repeatedly stated he would like to retire to a Bavarian village and dedicate himself to writing books, but more recently, he told friends he was ready to "accept any charge God placed" on him. After the death of John Paul II on April 2, 2005, Ratzinger ceased functioning as prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith. As pope, it will be up to him to decide who will follow him in the post of prefect.
Benedict speaks ten languages, including German, Italian, English, and ecclesiastical Latin. He is also fluent in French and is an associate member of the French Académie des sciences morales et politiques since 1992. He is an accomplished pianist with a preference for Mozart and Beethoven.
He is the eighth German pope, but only the third (after Clement II and Victor II) to come from the territory of modern-day Germany. The last Germanic (Dutch-German) pope, Adrian VI, was elected in 1522 and died in 1523. He is also the oldest cardinal to become pope since Clement XII in 1730, who, like Ratzinger, was elected at age 78.
In April 2005, he was identified as one of the 100 most influential people in the world by TIME magazine. On April 19, 2005 he was elected as the successor to Pope John Paul II on the second day of the papal conclave.
On his first appearance at the balcony of St. Peter's Basilica after becoming pope, he was announced with the words:
Annuntio vobis gaudium magnum;
habemus Papam:
Eminentissimum ac Reverendissimum Dominum,
Dominum Josephum
Sanctae Romanae Ecclesiae Cardinalem Ratzinger
qui sibi nomen imposuit Benedicti XVI
Which translates to: "I announce to you great joy: We have a Pope! The most Eminent and Reverend Lord, the Lord Joseph, Cardinal of the Holy Roman Church Ratzinger, who takes to himself the name of Benedict the sixteenth."
At the balcony, his first words to the crowd, before he gave the traditional Urbi et Orbi blessing, were:
Dear brothers and sisters, after the Great Pope John Paul II, the cardinals have elected me, a simple, humble worker in the Lord's vineyard. I am comforted by the fact that the Lord knows how to work and act even with insufficient instruments. And above all, I entrust myself to your prayers. With the joy of the risen Lord and confidence in His constant help, we will go forward. The Lord will help us and Mary, His most holy mother, will be alongside us. Thank you.
In a pre-conclave Mass in St. Peter's Basilica, he declared, "We are moving toward a dictatorship of relativism which does not recognize anything as definitive and has as its highest value one's own ego and one's own desires." For some Catholics who had hoped for a more "moderate" choice, the selection of Cardinal Ratzinger caused immediate consternation because of the views that Benedict took as Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger on the necessity of Jesus and the Catholic Church for salvation, on other religions, and on social issues such as homosexuality and abortion. To others, Cardinal Ratzinger represented a type of "Orthodox Catholicism" which they hope to see a continuation of during his reign.
Teachings
Pope Benedict XVI has taken positions similar to Pope John Paul II, and has been a staunch defender of Catholic Doctrine. He has made it clear that he intends to maintain traditions, and not give in to modern pressures to change policy on such issues as birth control, abortion, and same-sex marriage. Benedict XVI does not believe in relativism, an idea where morals are relative and not universal. Instead he believes morals are universal and unchanging, and therefore should not change as times change.
Controversies
Before becoming pope, Ratzinger was known for his stance involving American politics. During the 2004 presidential campaign, he expressed the view that people would be "cooperating in evil" if they backed a political candidate because he supports abortion rights or euthanasia. {1}
Regarding the scandal of sexual abuse by priests in the United States, he was sometimes seen by critics as minimizing the abuse. In 2002 he told Catholic News Service that "less than 1 percent of priests are guilty of acts of this type." {2} Opponents saw this as ignoring the crimes committed by those who did abuse; others saw it as merely pointing out that this should not taint other priests who live respectable lives.
Other controversial statements include a 2000 document in which he argued that, "Only in the Catholic church is there eternal salvation." {3}
Gay rights advocates have widely criticized his letter to the Bishops of the church in 1986, On the Pastoral Care of Homosexual Persons in which he stated that homosexuality is a “strong tendency ordered toward an intrinsic moral evil; and thus the inclination itself must be seen as an objective disorder.” In an earlier letter dated September 30, 1985, Ratzinger reprimanded Seattle Archbishop Raymond Hunthausen for his liberal views on women, gays, and doctrinal issues, stating, "The Archdiocese should withdraw all support from any group, which does not unequivocally accept the teaching of the Magisterium concerning the intrinsic evil of homosexual activity." Archbishop Hunthausen was temporarily relieved of his authority. {4
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