In last week’s study, we talked about how Luther ended up in the monastery and priesthood, and how tortured he was under the thought that God hated him so much because of his sin. Remember, the idea in the Roman church is that your sins must be purged from you. You only go straight to heaven when you die if you are perfect; otherwise, you go to purgatory.
In regards to Purgatory, Roman doctrine divides all people into two camps, as we do: those who will be saved and those who will not. Those who are not saved will go to hell, but Purgatory is the place for those who will be saved but still have sin that isn’t atoned for. Of course, we know that this doctrine is to be found nowhere in the Scriptures, but because the Roman Catholic Church and the Pope are supposed to be infallible by the adherents to the religion, the tradition of Purgatory stands. It sounds like a confusing concept to us, but it’s essential to understand this to understand the Reformation.
In the Christian Church, we have the understanding that only saints will dwell in joy with Christ for eternity. A saint is someone who is holy and righteous. And actually, every Christian believes this to be true. In our Lutheran tradition, and the historic Christian tradition, we understand that, through Baptism, through the giving of faith, Christ has made each of saints in Christ’s name. We are made holy as Christ is holy, and He dwells with us. Where Christ dwells, there is righteousness.
However, in the Roman Catholic Church, while you indeed must be a saint to go to heaven, while you must be perfect, this is not a perfection that all people in Christ have. Rather, most people on the earth must go to Purgatory first so that their sins can be burned away from them, purifying them for the righteousness of heaven. Only a very small few people go directly to heaven when they die in this life. It is those people the Roman church calls “saints.” These people, people like Pope John Paul II, Mother Theresa, or St. Patrick, apparently achieved a level of perfection in this life that you haven’t. All of their sins were atoned for by Christ, and they made up for the consequences of those sins on their own. They went straight to heaven, even with extra good works that were not required. Those extra good works were like extra credit.
You remember in class the kid who never got 100% on a test, but a 115%? Imagine this: in the Roman church, a saint is a person who received a 2000%, but only needed 100% to get to heaven. They skipped Purgatory completely. In fact, since they only needed 100%, the other 1900% extra they scored gets put into a treasure box in heaven. When the Pope wants to, he can ask God to open the treasure box and apply the extra credit to you, to a loved one, to one who is alive now, or one who is dead and is being purged in Purgatory. This is a brief overview, and I simplified it a bit, but this is basically where Purgatory stands.
Now, Luther learned this doctrine of Purgatory and meriting salvation; every Catholic Christian did as it was part of the Church. So, when he was so plagued with his sins, anyone who had preached the Gospel to him would have been rejected because he knew there were only two possible ends for him: hell for all he had done wrong or Purgatory, potentially for millions of years. The God who would do this wasn’t a God he loved, but it was the God he served.
Imagine that, Luther knew of this God and knew that He was real and true, but he didn’t love God. But despite that, because God was the Lord of all things, Luther still served Him because that’s what he promised St. Anne he would do. Luther was so plagued with his sin that it became for him a terrifying prospect, never being sure of his own salvation. Would he go to hell or would it Purgatory for a near eternity?
One day in 1510, the Augustinian Order of monks, Luther’s order, told Luther to go to Rome on business. You almost can see the relief on their faces: finally, Luther would find a bit of penance in this thousand-mile journey over mountains and rivers, snow and ice. Remember, good Catholics would have to make up for their sins, do penance. And while Luther was in Rome, perhaps he would see the relics of the saints, crawl up holy stairs, do things to earn even more forgiveness and worry a little less. Only good Christians would try to make up for their sins; wouldn’t this be an opportunity for Luther to prove to himself that he would be saved, even if it were through fire?
So, looking forward to the destination, desiring greatly to partake of the holiness of the city, said to be the center of all western Christendom, a city almost as holy as the ground Jesus Himself walked, Luther and another monk left Erfurt, Germany in November and walked to Rome, arriving in January. The journey was done, but Luther’s journey was just beginning. Rome would be a turning point for Luther, and for the entire world.
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