OCTOBER 31st 1517: LESSONS FROM REFORMATION HISTORY Pt.3

Initially, Martin Luther's intention for writing the 95 theses was not to breakaway or rebel against the Catholic Church. He wanted a theological debate so they could reach an informed agreement to guide the church because questions were asked across Europe at that time.

Some of the issues that made Martin Luther's reformation to gain wide acceptance quickly were:

i- *Clergy corruption, absentee bishops, and wealthy church officials*.

That period witnessed some of the greatest ecclesiastical corruption in the history of the church. Most common was the practice of Simony- using money to buy church office/ position. Is it not happening today?

It was recorded that Albrecht of Brandenburg, in 1514,  at age 23, he bought 3 top church offices at once: Archbishop of Mainz, Archbishop of Magdeburg, and Bishop of Halberstadt which is against the canon law.

It is on record that he borrowed huge sums from the Fugger banking family to pay Rome for these offices. That debt is what pushed him to aggressively sell indulgences in his territories to pay it back. This directly triggered Luther’s 95 Theses in 1517.

Cardinal Alessandro Farnese, later Pope Paul III  held multiple bishoprics as a young man. He was Bishop of Parma, and others, collecting revenues but living in Rome. This was normal for Renaissance cardinals. Instead of focusing on pastoring, he wanted power&position at all cost.

Many German bishops were also secular princes. This was against the church's law. The Bishop of Würzburg, Bamberg, etc. acted like kings, raised armies, and lived at court. Pastoral work was delegated. They delegated confirmation to "Suffragan Bishops" for a fee while they remain in their palatial mansions.

Luther called this “wolf-bishops” because they cared more for politics/taxes than souls. Isn't this happening today?

Whatever we are seeing today has happened in history. The unfortunate thing is that we have refused to learn from history, little wonder our generation is repeating history. Truly, nothing is new under the sun.

*Lesson*: Church offices should not be for the highest bidder but for those chosen by God, for those that have been discipled and can disciple others.

ii - *The Church taxing Germany to fund Rome*

It was common knowledge across Europe that most of the churches were funding the church in Rome. It was a tax and the burden weighed on churches across Europe at that time. Isn't this similar to the church financing system adopted today where churches have financial targets?

At that time, the problem wasn't the tax per se but what they were used for. A large chunk of the monies sent to Rome funded the lavish lifestyles of Bishops. If those monies were used to help the poor across Europe, engage in missions and humanitarian services, there may be no uproar. The bishops became richer but the people became poorer.

For this reason, Martin Luther's theses gained political support as well because the political leaders of that time felt he was fighting a just cause. The Elector of Saxony (a German prince that had voting right to determine who becomes. Roman emperor), Frederick the wise protected Martin Luther. Other leaders seized the moment to take church lands from Rome.

*Lesson*: Church is not meant to run like a business franchise. It is the Lord's venture aimed at transforming lives and getting the ready for His kingdom. The franchise system of running church is fraught with corruption. Some pastors are not truthful about it.

The early church in acts of apostles were independent churches who were under apostolic oversight for doctrinal purpose. It is not on record that any of those churches were under pressure to remit a certain amount to Jerusalem, the headquarters.

iii- *Religious practice being in Latin, which most couldn’t understand*.

At that time, Latin was the language of the nobles, scholars and priests. The average German do not understand Latin liturgy. It seemed like a mystery to them so they could not connect properly. Church was mainly for elites.