Luther

luther. martin luther was a brillant academic. a roman catholic monk who lived early in the 16th century. he was responsible for starting the reformation movement. majority of his supporters were peasants but there were nobles, who were simple minded, perhaps not fully understanding, fell into the mob, into a bloody massacre of catholics. into a revolution. we filipinoes can not lay claim to inventing people power. or mob rule after all. i find that the reformation has many parallels to jose rizals cause of reformation (rather than revolution).

the manipulation was earlier demonstrated by the church itself by intimidation (the inquisition was upheld), reinforced by superstitions. the sale of indulgences, pilgrimages, granted powers of holy relics, a saint for each ailment.

martin was also against church policy disallowing suicide victims to be buried in hallowed ground, never to be granted the last rites inside the church. he believed that judgement lies with jesus alone. not to the beureaucrats who ran the church.

however, martin was not perfect. he is known to have had episodes of talking with unseen spirits. he joined the brotherhood because he thought god ordered him to, during a thunderstorm. he also believed that there is salvation outside the roman church. refering to the church which followed the greek tradition. but not outside faith in jesus. in other words, he believes in condemning all peoples who werent christian (by virtue of having not heard of jesus at all, people are to spend eternity in hell). makes sense?

lastly, martin translated the bible to german. which allowed the common folk to read, understand, and finally reinterpret it. this made the roman catholic church heirarchy furious because they claimed sole authority. we know how this ended. these days there are numerous interpretations. each carefully translated to suit an agenda against women, homosexuals, other religions and minorities.

not until the second vatican council (300 years later), did the roman catholic church attempted to make any improvements in its policies. and even any attempt to reconcile with the offshoot churches. even now as we speak, the church encourages graven images, praying to saints, relics, and making big business out of it. today, religion is undoubtedly one of the most profit making enterprises in the world.

rating 3 of 5 ***
very inspirational