| Martin Luther
(1483-1546) was a German university professor whose confrontation
with Charles V over freedom of conscience in 1521 shook the Holy
Roman Empire. He was a monk, theologian, and church reformer.
Luther's theology challenged the
authority of the papacy by holding that the Bible is the only
infallible source of religious authority and that all baptized
Christians are a priesthood of believers. According to Luther,
salvation was free gift from God, attainable only by true repentance
and faith in Jesus as the Messiah and Son of God, a faith unmediated
by the church. These ideas inspired the Protestant Reformation and
changed the course of Western civilization.
Luther's refusal to submit to the
authority of Charles V resulted in his being declared an outlaw of
the state as he had been excommunicated from the Roman Catholic
Church. Because of the perceived unity of the medieval Roman
Catholic Church with the secular rulers of |
Western
Europe, the widespread acceptance of Luther's doctrines and popular
vindication of his thinking on individual liberties were both
phenomenal and unprecedented.
His translation of the Bible into
German, making it more accessible to ordinary people, had a
tremendous political impact on the church and on German culture. It
furthered the development of a standard version of the German
language, added several principles to the art of translation, and
influenced the translation of the English King James Bible His hymns
inspired the development of congregational singing within
Christianity. Luther's marriage to Katharina von Bora, a former nun,
set a model for the practice of clerical marriage within
Protestantism.
You may wish to read more about
Martin Luther at the
PBS website. |
|
Designed by Luther, this text
explains the symbolism in his own words.
"Grace and peace from the Lord. As you desire to know
whether my painted seal, which you sent to me, has hit the mark, I
shall answer most amiably and tell you my original thoughts and
reason about why my seal is a symbol of my theology. The first
should be a black cross in a heart, which retains its natural color,
so that I myself would be reminded that faith in the Crucified saves
us. For one who believes from the heart will be justified" (Rom.
10:10). Although it is indeed a black cross, which mortifies and
which should also cause pain, it leaves the heart in its natural
color. It does not corrupt nature, that is, it does not kill but
keeps alive. "The just shall live by faith" (Rom. 1:17) but by faith
in the crucified. Such a heart should stand in the middle of a white
rose, to show that faith gives joy, comfort, and peace. In other
words, it places the believer into a white, joyous rose, for this
faith does not give peace and joy like the world gives (John 14:27).
That is why the rose should be white and not red, for white is the
color of the spirits and the angels (cf. Matthew 28:3; John 20:12).
Such a rose should stand in a sky-blue field, symbolizing that such
joy in spirit and faith is a beginning of the heavenly future joy,
which begins already, but is grasped in hope, not yet revealed. And
around this field is a golden ring, symbolizing that such
blessedness in Heaven lasts forever and has no end. |
Such
blessedness is exquisite, beyond all joy and goods, just as gold is
the most valuable, most precious and best metal.This is my
compendium theoligae [summary of theology]. I have wanted to
show it to you in good friendship, hoping for your appreciation. May
Christ, our beloved Lord, be with your spirit until the life
hereafter. Amen." *
* Martin Luther,
Letter to Lazarus Spengler, July 8, 1530, as included in the
translation by Amy Marga from "Luthers Siegel: Eine elementare
Deutung seiner Theologie," in Luther 67 (1996):66–87. |
