Martin Luther, Protestant Reformation Top Millennium Lists

     CHICAGO (ELCA) -- Martin Luther's action to nail his 95 theses to a church door in Wittenberg, Germany, in 1517, which challenged some practices of the Roman Catholic Church and sparked the Protestant Reformation, was the most significant religious story of the past 1,000 years, according to results of a questionnaire compiled by the Religion Newswriters Association (RNA).
     The RNA is a professional association of reporters, editors and writers in the United States and Canada who regularly cover religion for the secular media.
     In addition, Luther was ranked third on separate lists of the 100 most influential people of the past 1,000 years compiled by Life magazine and by "Biography of the Millennium," a program that aired on Arts & Entertainment, a cable television network.
     Luther, born Nov. 10, 1483, in Eisleben, Germany, is known as the father of Protestantism.  He studied law before becoming an Augustinian monk in 1505 and was ordained a priest in 1507.  While he studied for a doctor of theology degree, he discovered significant differences between what he read in the Bible and the theology and practices of the Roman Catholic Church.  In particular, Luther said the Scriptures said faithful people are saved by the grace of God and not by any specific things they may do to earn salvation.  He objected to the Roman Catholic Church's practice of the sale of indulgences.
     On October 31, 1517, Luther posted 95 theses or challenges to the Catholic Church.  Luther hoped the church would reform its practices, but instead his action ignited a serious conflict, and those who followed his teachings left the Roman Catholic Church.  His name became synonymous with the followers of his teachings, and the word "Lutheran" is still part of the names for several church bodies in the world today.
     In the United States the 5.2-million member Evangelical Lutheran Church in America is the country's largest Lutheran denomination, and the largest Lutheran church in the world that bears his name.
     Luther also made the Scriptures and worship liturgy available to people in their own language.  The result of his actions and refusal to recant them was excommunication from the Catholic Church.
     "Luther's nailing of 95 theses to a church door in Wittenberg, Germany, in 1517, sparked a Protestant Reformation whose results are still being felt," said the RNA. "The turmoil of those days would move the Catholic Church to begin a Counter Reformation, beginning with decrees by the Council of Trent (1545-1563), which would serve as a backdrop to King Henry VIII's decision to break from Rome and create the Church of England."
     Luther "began the Reformation that transformed political and religious alliances for centuries," Life magazine said. "His early works stressed salvation by God's grace and Christian spirituality.  He argued against papal authority in affairs of state, and when he refused to recant was excommunicated by the Catholic Church in 1521 -- an act that gave rise to all Protestant churches."
     Life's list of the top 100 people of the millennium placed Thomas Edison, inventor, first, and Christopher Columbus, explorer, second.
     Biography noted that Luther's books were ordered destroyed and that Luther "was put under the ban of the Empire" after he was summoned to appear before the Diet of Worms, an official body called by Emperor Charles V to examine Luther.  Its members called on Luther to recant his beliefs, but he refused.
     "The drawing up of the Augsburg Confession, where he was represented by (Philipp) Melanchthon, marks the culmination of the German Reformation," Biography said, adding that Luther's translation of the Bible became a landmark of German literature.
     The Augsburg Confession is a founding document for the Lutheran church.
     Biography named Johannes Gutenberg, inventor of the first printing press, first, and placed Isaac Newton, mathematician and physicist, second.

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