If Ever A Monk Got To Heaven By His Monkery: The Life Of Martin Luther -- By: William VanDoodewaard

Journal: Reformed Presbyterian Theological Journal
Volume: RPTJ 04:1 (Fall 2017)
Article: If Ever A Monk Got To Heaven By His Monkery: The Life Of Martin Luther
Author: William VanDoodewaard


If Ever A Monk Got To Heaven By His Monkery:
The Life Of Martin Luther

William VanDoodewaard

Professor of Church History
Puritan Reformed Theological Seminary

The Late Medieval World

To step into late medieval Saxony is to step into another world—a world very different from that of the present day, and yet at once very much the same. It was an agrarian world with peasant farms dotting hillsides and filling valleys. The narrow dirt or stone streets of towns and cities were walled by two- and three-story homes. Shops and businesses stood at street level. The pungent mixture of wood-smoke, manure, and sewage odors mingled with the better smells of baking and cooking. Soaring above the streets, pointing heavenward, were the steeples and spires of the churches, which loomed large and glorious at the center of every community and reflected the central reality of medieval Christendom in all of life. In the streets, shops, churches, and countryside were men, women, and children with hopes and dreams, sin and sufferings. Many of them were deeply religious. In the midst of this highly devout world, the centuries-long, slow loss of Biblical Christianity, centered on the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ, was hidden to most. The incredible church buildings, soaring, glorious architecture, rich artistic beauty, drama, pageantry and ritual, crowds of people, pilgrimages and acts of devotion, all masked a loss of true spiritual life.

Yet, the veneer of medieval “Christendom” was thin. Among bishops and priests, sexual immorality was rampant; even the worst cases often led to a temporary suspension, followed by a quick reshuffling to a new location in the Church. Added to this were bribery, greed, gluttony, misuse of church funds, manipulation of church offices for self-promotion, and wealth-promotion. William Langland, a 14th century English writer depicts the religious reality as follows:

A heap of hermits with their hooked staves went to Walshingham on pilgrimage, with their wenches following after. These great long loafers, who loathed work, were clothed in clergy’s capes to distinguish them from laymen, and behaved as hermits for the sake of an easy life. I found the friars there too … preaching to the people for what they could get for their bellies. In their greed for fine clothes, they glossed the gospel to suit themselves … their money and their merchandise of preaching march together … the worst mischief on earth is mounting up fast … There also preached a pardoner … he brought forth a document with bishops’ seals on it, and said that he had power to absolve all the people from broken fasts and broken vows. The laymen believed him and liked his words. They came up kneeling to kiss his documents. He blinded their eyes wi...

You must have a subscription and be logged in to read the entire article.
Click here to subscribe
visitor : : uid: ()