True History - Veritas Card #27 (Orange Card) - Martin Luther Begins the Reformation

Martin Luther Begins the Reformation - 1517

    I bet you didn't know that October 31 is a memorable day. The world celebrates Trick or Treaters but, there is a more important celebration to this day. We call it 'Reformation Day' and the reason we can celebrate it is because, on that day, in the year 1517, the Reformation began. Here is how it happened;
   There was a young man who was troubled because of some things he saw in the church that were inconsistent with Scripture. He wrote those things down and took them to a church building in Wittenberg, Germany, nailing them to the door. The writing is called the '95 Theses'. It was a document that had 95 points that concerned Martin Luther, who was a monk at that time. He wrote the document in the Latin language, and the main argument in this document concerned the selling of 'indulgences' (slips of paper that indicated that people could earn their way into heaven by buying these papers).
   Martin Luther believed in what is called 'Sola Fide' which means 'Faith alone'. He learned this from the teachings of Wycliffe and Huss. After Martin Luther got a hold of the writings of Scripture, he learned that a person is saved by faith in Jesus Christ alone, not in any good works or efforts on the part of the person. He also believed in 'sola Scriptura', which means 'Scriptures alone'. The Roman Catholic church, during this time period, did not believe in Scriptures alone, or faith alone for salvation. They understood salvation as faith plus works, which is in opposition to what the Scriptures teach.
   A couple of years later, Martin Luther got in trouble for what he believed in. He was asked to recant his positions on what he believed in, and if he didn't recant, he would be excommunicated (made to leave the church). What would you do if you were Martin Luther? What do you think he did? Well, he stood up for what he believed in and did not recant. A year later, at something called, 'The Diet of Worms' (I know this is a really strange name!), he was asked again to recant (change his mind about what he said). Those who asked him to recant gave him 24 hours to reconsider his position. Again, he did not recant, but stood up for what he knew to be true.
   We are grateful for what Martin Luther did, as he stood up for what the Bible taught, when church leaders were teaching opposing thoughts. His courage caused many other people to join in with him. This was the beginning of the Reformation, which changed the course of church History forever.