Martin Luther & Church corruption

Devon Dick

ON THE 31st of October, the Christian Church observes Reformation Day as it commemorates the life and witness of Martin Luther who published his 95 theses on October 31, 1517, which were to reform the Church and the German nation.

As a 33-year-old priest and a popular professor at Wittenberg, Luther protested the traffic in indulgences and its faulty theology. It was believed that letters of indulgences, which were sold to individuals who could not perform the required good works, could lead to the forgiveness of sins. Luther, who studied the Bible in its original languages, rejected that teaching.

I wonder what would be Luther's position on the American evangelist who broadcasts on Saturday mornings on TVJ, telling Jamaicans to send US $500 to him so that he can lend them a piece of "prosperity cloth". He lends them the prosperity cloth because they have to send it back in a matter of weeks.

Luther believed that the Scriptures were the sole authority in matters of faith and practice and he also believed in the Priesthood of all Believers. Martin Luther challenged the authority of the Pope and the edicts from the Vatican but that action has opened the door for many split-offs and now everybody is a bishop and worse, so many church leaders are behaving like popes.

Their edicts cannot be challenged. When it comes to financial statements, one must see no evil. Perhaps if there was better accountability then one would discover that it is not only politicians who forget to repay loans or who exhibit youthful exuberance in the handling of church funds. In fact, in some churches the members do not meet to plan the programmes of the church or to receive meaningful reports on what has happened or to arrive at meaningful decisions.

There was a meltdown in the financial sector in the 1990s and this was partly due to the fact that mature persons were afraid to speak the truth in love and confront wrong decisions and practices.

Unfortunately, these things are happening in the Church and no one is willing to bell the cat. Martin Luther was one who was fearless, who, when he was been tried said, "Here I stand. I can do no other". He did not recant in the face of stiff opposition but held to what was right. If one disagrees with Church procedure, practice and principles one runs the risk of being labelled as disloyal, instead of an examination to see if things are being done "decently and in order" as the Bible prescribes. Too often the asking of questions is seen as questioning people's integrity and competence. Worse, is to question a church leader's integrity. Paul questioned Peter's integrity and that was all right. The recent sexual misconduct and criminal conduct of some priests reminds us that the Church is in need of reform and renewal. Unfortunately, like politicians, the Church appears unwilling to ask the Lord to search us and see if there is any wicked ways in us. Rather, it is easier to engage in a blame game, use scriptures to force submission and claim that the world has no authority over church management. The truth is, according to Romans 13, the Church ought to subject itself to the State's rules and regulations because the State ought to be God's instrument to pour out punishment on the wicked in the here and now.

Luther championed the cause that the Bible and the worship must be in the language of the people. Luther's masterpiece was his translation of the New Testament from Greek to German and the Luther Bible remains as the authorised German Protestant Version. As a hymn writer he produced great works like A Mighty Fortress is Our God. It is taken for granted now that the Bible is in English and there are worship services in English, but there was a time when it was not so. Luther opened the gate for the translation into many languages and so The Bible Society of the West Indies is following Lutheran tradition when in 1996 it translated sections of the Bible into the local Jamaican dialect. The Church in Jamaica needs to support the translation of the Bible in the language of the people and ensure that the worship services are truly indigenous.

Luther believed that the struggle for reform in the Church and for freedom of worship must be at the heart of any struggle for national freedom. Luther correctly wanted Germany to be freed from the Roman government departments of the Vatican. The Jamaican Church has historically played a role in nation building and it should continue that role. It is still a puzzle that a nation that has the largest number of churches per square mile, according to oral tradition, should have such a high murder rate. This must be high on the agenda of the Church to tackle that problem in collaboration with the government and civil society.

Luther was not a perfect person. He claimed that the book of James was an "epistle of straw" while Revelation was "unrevealing" and Esther was a "hateful Jewish book". His anti-Semitism was displayed in his work on "the Jews and their Lies", 1543, in which he advocated that Jewish synagogues and schools should be destroyed. Perhaps it was not surprising that sections of the German Church later supported Hitler with his anti-Jewish rhetoric. Both the strengths and weaknesses of Luther show that the Church can be corrupted and that the Church in Jamaica is in need of cleansing in light of the Word of God.

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