Martin Luther

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MARTIN LUTHER: THE RELUCTANT REVOLUTIONARY PROF. M. M. NINAN The hierarchial system of Roman Empire at the time of Martin Luther can be represented as follows. The highest authority on earth was the Pope. He wielded the power of life and death over all creation and this was expressed in visible form as inquisition and the ultimate burning with fire. The decisions of Pope were practically executed by the KingsA similar system existed even in India and the Noble. He also wielded the power over heaven and hell. He could pardon the dwellers of hell and release them to heaven. It was this power that Martin Luther inadvertedly shattered. He really never intended to do that nor planned it. In the beginning of his career, he often repeated it. For this Martin was excommunicated and the freedom struggle within the church started off. It was reflected in the socio-political life of invigorating the mood for freedom struggle which initiated the freedom movement of the peasants of Germany which culminated in the Peasant War of 1524-1525. The Peasants' War The struggle for freedom has always been a fundamental basis of Judaeo Christian tradition. After all it was YHVH who started the slave resurgence of the Hebrews who were slaves in Egypt. Moses was the first liberator and that was liberation from the slavery in this material realm. In fact the Jews never believed in a heaven or hell. It all came late. Thus Christianity remained a basis of almost all resurgence of freedom in every age. It left the Christian arena to the secular arena only under Karl Marx 400 years later. It was this that was reflected in the freedom struggle of the peasants of Germany. They have witnessed a resurgence of freedom struggle from under the domination of the church by Martin Luther. Some of the Charismatic leaders of the church always led the struggle and often were indeed martyred. There were always some who were conservatives and objected to any struggle for freedom since it often led to violence. There were others who taught that this caste system is ordained by God and so should be respected and any attempt to disrupt this stable system is evil. We can see both these teachings in the Bible. We see the communes of early Apostolic Period. We hear Paul teaching to be submissive to the masters. 62
MARTIN LUTHER: THE RELUCTANT REVOLUTIONARY PROF. M. M. NINAN We must be aware that slavery was supported by the Roman Catholic Church under the pretension that all Patriarchs, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob had slaves. Slavery was part of the social structure. A freedom struggle inevitably made an imbalance in the society. This is the same argument presented by the Indian Hindu theologists against any violation of caste system. In Hinduism, God incarnated whenever the balance of the social system was violated to restore order.. Since basis of all rationalist struggle was based on selfish motives and not on love it inevitably led to violence. Yet to cease to struggle or oppose injustice is a gross misinterpretation of who God is. Yet it was the very Christianity which led to colonisation and slave trade. Yet eventually, it was the Christian morality that led to the emancipation of slaves. Deep within the Christian morale is the struggle for freedom and justice. We have seen this Christian diochotamy in the Agrarian Freedom Struggle in Kerala. I am sure it was there everywhere.. The early 1500s was a time of many changes in Germany. In general, the economy was good, and the peasant farmers were able to provide for themselves and their families reasonably well. Peasants were the lowest members of society and had few rights. Generally they worked mines or farmed land and raised livestock belonging to a prince or nobleman, could not marry without permission, did not own any land, and were taxed heavily. They were much the same level as plebeians, or commoners, townsmen who worked for craftsmen or merchants at subsistence levels or were unemployed. In Europe they were all Christians both the exploited and the exploiter. The exploited looked forward to an escape by the power of God through faith through the Gideons of the nation. But they all invariably failed within the Christian movement sabotaged by fellow Christians, that 400 years later Karl Marx could say, “Religion is the Opium of Man” We should remember that Luther himself originally belonged to this class. His father was a miner. He had a bringing up which reflected this broken society. With the help of the rare education he came to rise in the ladder. We should not forget that he was protected by Lords and Princes. So he had a double obligation - both to the lower middle class and to the Higher Oppressors. It is this double character that was reflected in his change of opinions and outbursts we see in his dealing with the peasant struggles. The Peasant War of Germany of the period was another repetition of these events. Reformation and its success brought in a new expectation of God’s intervention in history - here and now. There was heightened end-time expectations -Christ is coming back to establish this egalitarian society on earth. Among them those who led this struggle was Thomas Müntzer. http://www.newadvent.org/ the Catholic Encyclopedia describes the social situation of the period thus: “….the restive peasants, victims of oppression and poverty, after futile and sporadic uprisings, lapsed into stifled but sullen and resentful malcontents; the unredressed wrongs of the burghers and labourers in the populous cities clamoured for a change, and the victims were prepared to adopt any method to shake off disabilities daily becoming more irksome; the increasing expense of living, the decreasing economic advancement, goaded the impecunious knights to desperation, their very lives since 1495 being nothing more than a struggle for existence……” WAR OF PEASANTS Reformation was an uprising against the long sustained religious hierarchy of Papacy and Rome. This brought about a development of freedom movement even within the feudal lords. The new inspiration of freedom found its expression among the peasantry of Germany. The revolt originated in opposition to the heavy burdens of taxes and duties on the German serfs, who had no legal rights and no opportunity to improve their lot.. Inspired by changes brought by the Reformation, 63
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Martin Luther

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