Fulton County tribune. (Wauseon, Ohio) 1883-1925, 1917-11-02
FOUR HUNDREDTH ANNIVERSARY
October 31st Marks The Four Hundredth Anniversary
of the Mailing of Martin Luther's Theses to the
Church Door at Wittenberg- The Be-
ginning of the Reformation
and Establishment of
Professionalism

To-Day, The 31St OF October 1911,
just four hundred years have passed
since the great work of the Reforma-
tion of the church was begun. The
man through whom God performed
this great work was DR.. Martin Luth-
er. Luther was born and reared by
Catholic parents. He was instructed
in the doctrines of that church He
was true and sincere son of that
church. He was not only lay
member, but took the VOWS, became &
monk, was ordained to the priesthood,
was made professor, and even doe
tor Of divinity in the Roman Catholic
Church. The work of Reformation
performed by him and through hm
was not the founding of a new church,
not the establishing of a new creed,
but the Reformation was actually re
forming, a restoring the church to the
early Christian standard of principles
in doctrine and practice. Luther saw
that the authority i. e. the supreme
authority of the word of God, the
Bible was no longer recognized. The
DEGREES of councils, the encyclicals of
popes, the traditions of the fathers
had usurped the place of the Bible as
the guide and rule in the church, in
spiritual life, in religious things.
ri Lat Luther protested against was
this. that the word of God should thus
be rejected, it's authority denied or be
Titled. His purpose was not to start
something new. He merely wished
r. ~ostore the Holv Scriptures to their
rightful place in the church, in the -
ligious life of the individual: The
supreme and only authentic and in
tallible authority in all things pertain
ing to God and His Kingdom.
There were other than spiritual
reasons for a reformation. Use our
Public Library to inform yourself of
them by turning to the PAGES of his
tory covering the centuries before the
&c ormation.
Throughout his great battle for
truth, for freedom of conscience in re
ligious matters Luther had only one
great weapon, the bible. The guiding
principles in his work was: Nothing
but the Bible" or "the Bible alone
This is why the Reformation
through Luther was successful Otn-
ers had tried to reform the church be-
fore Luther, but they tried to impro 70
conditions in the church without
changing the causes of existing cOnGi-
tions Luther went to the root of the
trouble, removed the cause and as q
result the effect took care of itself.
He demanded not merely an outward
observance of a few prescribed duties
not the performance of few works OF
/ penance. What he demanded was al
application of the teachings of the Bi-
| BILE to our whole life not only in church
on Sunday, but every day of our Life
at work and at play, as we'll as in
performance of church-duties. This
we see from the very first thesis which
reads in its translation: "When oul
Lord and Master Jesus Christ saith
Repent ye, ETC., He meaneth that the
whole life of believers should be re
Ipentance."
This is the first of the ninety-fvt
theses which Luther, on October 31st
1917 posted on the Church door of the
Schlosskirche in Wittenberg, in pro
test against the indulgence-traffic, th'
selling of the forgiveness of sins fQ1
money, by John Tetzel. This marked
the beginning of the Reformation.
What the Lutheran Church Stands TO
The followers of Luther were calleC
Lutherans. This was against thu
wishes of Luther and those who ap
preciated the blessed gift of the Wore
of God, restored to the church. The.
wished to call the restored or reformet
, church, "The Evangelical Church
meaning the Gospel church. But tn
name has remained the same to thi
dav. The name Lutheran bears
distinct meaning and is confession
1t means that this church has the con
victions that Luther had in his work
and bearing this name is a confessio
to the principle; "the Bible alone.
So the Lutheran church today sti
stands, for the Bible, the whole Bibl
and nothing but the Bible. The Lr
theran church upholds the Luthera
church defends the Bible from all al
; tacks from within and without Chris
tendon.
''The Lutheran church believes tha
the sacred writings of the church, bot
of the old and New Testaments, ar
not only certain, but are the inspire
Word of God, that God not only sue