This quick study on Reformation History was given at the end of service at St. Peter–Immanuel Lutheran Church in Milwaukee, WI, on October 29, 2017. The text of the study is included and you may play the audio of the study here.
I told you last time that Charles V, newly crowned as the Emperor of the Holy Roman Empire, was a bit torn between his staunch loyal Catholicism and his indebtedness and anxiety regarding the German people. It’s true. So, when the pope demanded he take action against Luther, what would Charles do? He delayed.
Ever the politician, it was smarter to delay on action than to take an actual stand. And, quite honestly, Charles was a good politician, a visionary leader, and a fairly decent military strategist. But he was young. He was 19 years old when he was elected emperor, and life was still new to him. So, he delayed in taking action.
In the meantime, while the pope schemed and plotted, Luther continued his work. In recent years, a young man named Philip Melanchthon arrived at Wittenberg. He was a literal genius, a polymath. He started college when he was 12, completed his masters degree when he was 15 (though he didn’t actually receive it until he was 19 because he was so young), and started teaching theological studies when he was 19. He was an expert in Latin and Greek, even teaching Luther to read Greek as Luther taught Melanchthon to read Hebrew. Luther and Melanchthon had a fast friendship and were incredibly close, even despite the difference in their ages. This was both good for both of them, and bad for them. As Luther approached his death, Melanchthon started changing more and more of his doctrine. Because of their deep friendship, Luther couldn’t call him to account. It was too difficult.
A man named Ulrich Zwingli began preaching in Switzerland. He had picked up on some these Reformation ideas he had heard coming out of Germany. But, Zwingli would take things too far. He was the first “enthusiast” in Luther’s view. By enthusiast, I don’t mean someone who’s really into something. An enthusiast is someone who begins to speak opposite or against what Scripture plainly says. The German word for that is schwarmerei, the swarmers. Their theology was like a thousand buzzing gnats inside your nose. Zwingli was one of the first to deny the real presence of Christ in the Lord’s Supper, believing it to be only a symbolic act demonstrating your faith. He would get rid of all the robes in the service, all of the art, statues, and windows. He would remove most of the liturgy from the congregations, making everyone sit at tables to learn and worship. When Luther would later be hidden away, Zwingli’s liberalism would influence Luther’s colleague at the University, Andreas Karlstadt.
Karlstadt was Luther’s dear friend in the early years. But Karlstadt was also a revolutionary. He pushed and pushed and pushed Luther to keep making stands. For the most part, this would be very good. It forced Luther to clarify much of what he was thinking, and to address his criticism of the pope and Catholicism carefully and Scripturally. But Karlstadt, the reactionary, would eventually go too far. Thankfully, it would not be yet.
As these people were taking the stage in the world of the Empire, the pope finally took action. In June of 1520, he wrote a theological document called Exsurge Domine, Latin for Arise O Lord. In it, Luther’s works and writings were specifically condemned. It threatened that if Luther did not formally repent of these things, he would be excommunicated from the Church. Excommunication is tantamount to telling someone that they are going to hell. It’s serious business. Anyone else and they would have collapsed, giving into everything they were demanded to do. What did Luther do? You probably know, but we’ll talk about it next week.
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