Butler citizen. [volume] (Butler, Pa.) 1877-1922, 1883-06-27
Luther's 4OOth Birthday.

The 400th anniversary of the birth
Of Martin Luther, which falls in the
present year, is an event which appeals
with peculiar interest to the whole
Christian Church world The Lutheran
Church in the meetings of its ministers
and elsewhere, retraces with peculiar
pride and loving interest the life of
the great reformer whose name the
Church bears. But Luther's life and
work belong to all churches, and all
people have reaped benefit from the
labors of the aggressive founder of a
new church who dared to defy the
thunder of the Pope and the instru-
ments of the Roman Catholic Church.
There were reformers contemporary
with Luther,as sincere, as self-denying,
as learned as he was. The sufferings
of some of them in the cause of the
true faith were even greater than his.
By precept and example they carried
the departure from the false doctrines
of the Church of Rome even farther
than Luther did. They were persist
ent unto the end of their lives. wander
ing about with price upon their heads
to teach their disciples, and dying at
last upon the stake or as fugitives from
the fury of their prosecutors. But the
Reformation needed leader different
from these. They were persistent and
courageous, but to organize the forces
that had long recognized the evils of
the Romish Church, and to call halt
upon their practice that would be heard
and needed even at Rome itself, there
was needed leader, aggressive, COM
bative, of forceful personal character,
who could compel following and
thunder back in reply to the bulls of
the Pope The man was furnished for
the hour in the person of Martin
Luther. When he arose the threaten
ed turning back of the hands upon the
dial Cf the century was not carried
out.
That was nearly 400 years ago. The
400th anniversary of his birth falls at
time when man, striving to pierce the
future, is proue to conclude that the
worlds work is about concluded. Ex-
cepting the birth of Christ nearly all the
important events whose influence are
distinctly felt at the present day have
occurred within these 400 years.
The Reformation ITSELF the discovery of
America, the fall of feudalism, the
growth of thought, the uprising of the
common people and the startling dis
coveries in science and triumphs in in
vention that have been crowded into
the last of these four centuries, seem to
leave no unexplored fields for man to
tread. Our lines have fallen into quiet
places, when leisure is allotted for con-
sideration of the great deeds that have
been done, and for study Of the lives
of the great actors, such as Luther, in
these events.
The permanency of the peace and it's
security is probably but fancied. The
end of the rope is not yet reached.
The world at times must pause to
breathe, that the race may be renewed
with redoubled speed. Feudalism is
dead, but we know that is traditions
are not dead. The common people,
but half aware of their power, still
blindly grope in the search for relief
from the inherited conditions of their
lot. Perhaps after the Reformation of
Luther the next great event of the
world may be the bloodless reforma-
tion ending in the downfall of the tot
tering thrones of the kings. Even
now the crimes in Ireland and Russia
indicate that this reformation is going
on in those countries, as it is peacefully
under way in England and Germany.
Everywhere the people are retaining
the power which was originally of
them, and one lesson of Luther's con-
test with the Church of Rome is that
no authority, however firm, powerful
and wide-reaching, can endure when
the people choose to claim their own.
Never again will their be corporation,
political boss or ring, that
can WELD as wide an authority as the
Pope did before Luther was done with
him, and the lesson of the Reformation
is that the remedy follows surely the
seizure of the rights of the people
Phila Press.