This week marks the 506th anniversary of Martin Luther’s famous nailing of the
95 theses to the cathedral door at Wittenburg, an event that shook the foundations of Christendom in the 16th
century. The Medieval period was getting the final nails put in its coffin because Martin Luther was willing to go
back over the biblical text and be surprised by deeper meaning. As he restudied God’s Word to the Apostle Paul in
Romans, he was hungry for God to show him larger truth than what he had previously understood, and so let
God expand his horizons beyond human tradition. He wasn’t branching off into heresy or straying into false
doctrine, but listening to the Spirit (Rev. 3:6), and his discoveries launched a deep renewal of the faith and mission
of the church. That’s the spirit of the Reformation that’s worth reviving today!
This week marks the 506th anniversary of Martin Luther’s famous nailing of the
95 theses to the cathedral door at Wittenburg, an event that shook the foundations of Christendom in the 16th
century. The Medieval period was getting the final nails put in its coffin because Martin Luther was willing to go
back over the biblical text and be surprised by deeper meaning. As he restudied God’s Word to the Apostle Paul in
Romans, he was hungry for God to show him larger truth than what he had previously understood, and so let
God expand his horizons beyond human tradition. He wasn’t branching off into heresy or straying into false
doctrine, but listening to the Spirit (Rev. 3:6), and his discoveries launched a deep renewal of the faith and mission
of the church. That’s the spirit of the Reformation that’s worth reviving today!
