“A mighty fortress is our God, a bulwark never failing; Our helper He, amid the flood of mortal ills prevailing.” Here is the classic English translation of the first two lines of Martin Luther's famous hymn “A Mighty Fortress is Our God.“ Indeed, it is famous among Christians who unashamedly identify themselves with the Protestant Reformation of the 16th century, which until today continually inspires them to appreciate their roots in the ancient paths (Jeremiah 6:16) of biblical Christianity over against that which is only built on man-made traditions.
"My Mighty Fortress"
“That hymn is more than a piece of music; it is an event in European history,” says a church historian. But at a more personal level, it also reflects some of the major points of the life of this German Protestant reformer. In fact, the phrase “mighty fortress“ was on Luther's lips when he lifted up his voice to God in prayer early in the morning right before he faced the officials of the Holy Roman Empire at the Diet of Worms in January 1521. “My God, stand by me, against all the world’s wisdom and reason,“ he prayed in fear and trembling. “Stand by me, O God, in the name of Your dear Son Jesus Christ, who shall be my defense and shelter, yes, my Mighty Fortress, through the might and strength of Your Holy Spirit. Amen.”
"The Dark Night of Soul"
Prior to his writing of this hymn, Luther was struggling through what he called ”the dark night of the soul,” referring to his experience of serious periods of depression and physical ailments that baffled him in the middle of 1527, almost a decade after the publication of his 95 theses. These intensified all the more in August that year when a plague hit Wittenberg. The only professor left in the town, th...
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... grace alone), sola fide (by faith alone), solus Christus (through Christ alone), and soli Deo gloria (glory to God alone). God, indeed, and He alone, was his Mighty Fortress, and so of the rest of those who remain faithful to the battlecry of the Reformation.
References:
* David Calhoun. “A Mighty Fortress is Our God: The Life of Martin Luther“ in his lecture series Reformation and Modern Church History, Covenant Theological Seminary, St. Louis, MO, Spring 2006.
* Heiko A. Oberman. Luther: Man Between God and the Devil, trans. Eileen Walliser-Schwarzbart (New York, NY: Doubleday, 1992).
* Matthew Spinka. Advocates of Reform: From Wycliff to Erasmus (Louisville, KY: Westminster John Knox Press, 1953, reissued 2006).
* Walther von LoewenichLuther: The Man and His Work, trans. Lawrence W. Denef(Minneapolis, MN: Augsburg Publishing House, 1986).
Edwards, Jonathan. "Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God." The Heath Anthology of American Literature. Ed. Paul Lauter. Canada: DC Heath and Company, 1990. 584-595.
Kittelson, James M. Luther the Reformer: The Story of the Man and His Career. Minneapolis: Fortress Press, 2003.
Bainton, Roland H. Here I Stand: A life of Martin Luther. New York. Abington Printing Press. 1950
Roland H. Bainton opens the door to the life of Martin Luther one the greatest theologians of all time. Dr. Bainton, who was a minister along with serving as a faculty member for forty-two years at Yale’s school of Divinity. Mr. Bainton celebrates the life of this great Christian leader, by bringing to life one of the greatest events in the history of the Christian church and society which was the Great Reformation of the fifteen hundreds. The church-history changing act of nailing his 95 theses to the church door of Wittenberg on October 31, 1517 set Luther on course to become a man worthy of study by those who follow him and seek biblical truth. In Dr. Bainton’s work “Here I Stand” we will investigate Martin Luther’s stand
First, before exploring Luther’s rejection of the peasant revolt, one must examine his explanation of Christian freedom. Written in 1520, The Freedom of a Christian proclaimed the new freedom to be found in salvation by faith alone. His doctrine liberated people from works but also from the laws of the Old Testament. Salvation was found in the promise of Go...
The. The Age of Reform. New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1972. Josephson, Matthew. The.
In this essay Martin Luther comments upon the role of good works in a Christian's life and the overall goal of a Christian in his or her walk. He writes seventeen different sections answering the critics of his teachings. I will summarize and address each one of these sections in the following essay.
The Reformation was the 16th-century religious, political, intellectual and cultural upheaval that splintered Catholic Europe, setting in place the structures and beliefs that would define the continent in the modern era. It was important because it divided the continent between catholics and protestants. New ideas were introduced and was the subject of tension between catholics and protestant for the next centuries. On Oct. 31, 1517, Martin Luther posted on the door of the castle church at Wittenberg his 95 theses, inviting debate on matters of practice and doctrine. Luther's action was not as yet a revolt against the church but a movement for reform within. It was, however, much more than an objection to the money-grabbing and secular policies of the
Luther, Martin. "The German Mass and Order of Divine Service, January 1526." The German Mass and Order of Divine Service, January 1526. Hanover.edu, n.d. Web. 06 Mar. 2014. .
Theme in “Defender of the Faith” can be interpreted in many varying ways, some of which are life-long lessons and others to the relation between faith and the individual.
During Luther’s early life he faced a severe inner crisis. When he sinned he looked for comfort in confession and followed the penance, the fasting, prayer and observances that the church directed him. But, he found no peace of mind and worried about his salvation. But reading St. Paul’s letters he came to believe that salvation came though faith in Christ. Faith is a free gift, he discovered, it cannot be earned. His studies led him to a conclusion that, “Christ was the only mediator between God and a man and that forgiveness of sin and salvation are given by god’s grace alone” (Martin Luther, 01). Historians agree that, “this approach to theology led to a clash between Luther and the Church officials, precipitating the dramatic events of Reformation”.
Luther started his education at a Latin school in Mansfield. There he received training in the Latin language and learned about the Ten Commandments, the Lord’s Prayer and morning and evening prayers. In 1497 Luther was sent to a school in Magdeburg run by the Brethren of the Common Life, a lay monastic group whose focus on personal piety had a lasting influence on him. In 1501 he enrolled at the University of Erfurt, the best University of the time in Germany. Luther took course in the liberal arts and received the baccalaureate degree in 1502. He obtained his master’s degree three years later. Since Luther graduated from the arts faculty he could chose to pursue graduate work in one of the three disciplines law, medicine, or theology. Due...
Brecht, Martin, and Wolfgang Katenz. "Luther, Martin." The Oxford Encyclopedia of the Reformation. Oxford University Press, 1996. Web. 3 Dec. 2011. .
Luther preaches grace and in so free choice is abolished, suggesting that divine grace and human freedom are contradictory concepts. Because reconciliation between God and humans is made possible through the death of Jesus, God’s gift, it is foolish to assume that the exercise of freedom could have any relevance to salvation. Human freedom in Luther’s eyes is derived from the notion that individual’s are already saved through God’s righteousness and confirmed with the works of Christ, you are saved because of your possession of faith. "We reach the conclusion that faith alone justifies us and fulfils the laws; and this because faith brings us the spirit gained by the merits of Christ. The spirit, in turn, gives us the happiness and freedom at which the law aims.
The Story of Christianity is a very informative summation; a continuation of Volume 1 which covered the beginning of the church up to the Protestant Reformation, while Vol. 2 dealt with the Protestant Reformation up to more modern time period. This author delivers a more comprehensive and deeper look into the development of Christianity, which includes particular events which had transpired throughout the world; particularly how Christianity has expanded into Central and South America. Gonzalez opens up this book with the “Call for Reformation,” where he shares with his readers the need for reform; the papacy had started to decline and was corrupt, in addition to the Great Schism, which had further weakened the papacy (p.8). The author explains how the church was not the only issue but that the church’s teachings were off track as well, seeing that the people had deviated from...