Martin Luther’s Exegetical Discovery –
The western world was changed when Martin Luther reinterpreted Romans 1:17. Luther began his spiritual journey as a Catholic Augustinian monk and understood this verse, like all good Catholics, to say “For in it (the Gospel) the righteousness of God (righteous requirements of God) is revealed…” Luther saw the Gospel as being equivalent to the Law. He became aware of his own sinfulness, measured against the Gospel/Law, and was never able to do enough penance to aleve his conscience and feel like he had gained God’s favor. He once told a friend that this verse caused him to hate God, which of course made him go back to his confessor and add blasphemy to his list of sins. One biographer has said that he “beat importunately against Paul in that place (Rom. 1:17) trying to discern what Paul (or what God) wanted.” Later, he had what historians have called his “tower experience” where he determined that the righteousness of God is not what was required by God, but what was given by God, and that salvation was not an achievement, but a gift. Luther said, “Thereupon, I felt that I had been born again and entered Paradise through wide open doors.” (Historical side note: this is the first time the phrase “born again” appears in the historical record) Luther started the Protestant Reformation on October 31, 1517 with his 95 theses because of this exegetical discovery. You might be wondering why I chose this to put on my top 10 list of historical events. Sure its important, but is it worthy of a historical top 10 list for all of time? The Protestant Reformation opened the vice grip that the Catholic Church held over Europe throughout the Middle Ages. It changed the patterns of settlement in the New World. It influenced the founding of the American nation and the ideas that surrounded it. It gave rise to ideas of individuality with Luther’s theology of the priesthood of the believer and gave rise to nationalism when he wrote A Letter to the Christian Princes of the German Nation. He changed the western world with a belief in a universal calling which would later be called the Protestant work ethic. Luther said that God specifically called everyone to whatever job they did. This was much different than the ideas that existed before. Previously people thought that work was a sign of sin, as tilling the earth was one of Adams punishments after the fall. Now people found pleasure in work because God called them to it. The Protestant Reformation lit the European continent on fire for centuries and grew to something bigger than any one man, even Luther himself, could control. The Reformation was a result of what historians call a zeitgeist, basically meaning that it was a consequence of the atmosphere of the historical period and not the effects of one person or event, but Luther’s exegetical discovery was the spark that lit Europe on fire.
