On October 31, 1517, Martin Luther nailed his issues of dispute with the practices of the Roman church upon the door of the Castle Church in Wittenberg, Germany. These points of disagreement have been called Luther's Ninety-five Theses. This action is widely considered the beginning of the Protestant Reformation- in which the protesting parties were divided from the official church of Rome as they sought to worship according to Scripture and conscience, apart from church traditions.
The Reformation was by no means perfect, nor were the instigators thereof- however, the movement has indeed borne fruit for the world and the history of the Church at large. The Reformation preserved the Biblical assertion of the priesthood of the believer which was at the time obscured under traditions within the church of Rome: this is the doctrine affirming that every believer can approach God directly, without the mediation of a priest. It also affirmed that we are saved by grace through faith in the finished work of Christ: not by any works meriting our salvation, nor relying on further representative sacrifices or intermediaries. It was the Reformation that insisted upon the bible being put in the language of the people and in the hands of the common man- not the clergy alone, as was the tradiiton of Rome at that time.
These are Scriptural truths that most of us cherish deeply. I know that I certainly do. That is why I am celebrating today as Reformation day; as a direct result of those events in history there is a copy of the Holy Scriptures, in my language, sitting on my table right now. Because of the Reformation, I recognize those Scriptures as the final authority in my life, superceded by no man, nor any tradition. These truths are precious- and due to them, I am grateful for the work and sacrifices of my long past brothers and sisters, imperfect though they were.
Happy Reformation day. When you pick up your own copy of the bible today and read it in english, thank God for the men we know as the Reformers.
