“[Luther was] alarmed to find that nothing could free him from temptation and bring him spiritual satisfaction”
V H H Green
His reaction to finding this passage in the Epistles was one purely based upon himself, Luther later himself wrote:
“At this, I felt myself straightaway born afresh and to have entered through the open gates into paradise itself.”
Luther
Luther went to the University of Whittenburg as a result of his troubles, and it was here that he staged the most important part of his protest against the Roman Catholic Church. The 95 Theses were not intended to spark the support that they did, Luther simply wanted to initiate a debate. It is important to this side of the argument, because at no point does Luther call for reform of the Church, or denounce the Pope. He simply outlines his beliefs surrounding the Sale of Indulgences; in fact he states that he doesn't’ think the Pope knows, as if he did, he would stop it. McGrath believes that it was simply an attempt at an academic debate:
“The Lutheran Reformation was initially an academic movement”
McGrath
If Luther had really been concerned with the salvation of others at this time, he would have mentioned his own revelation. Instead he only wrote of the Sale of Indulgences, he mentioned no beliefs that the Roman Catholic Church should be reformed, and so it is clear that theses were not his aims at this point.
Whilst there is obvious evidence to support the statement, there is also the argument that he was in fact not only concerned with his own salvation, but with the salvation of others also.
The most important point arguing that Luther was not solely concerned with his own salvation is that he continued to disagree with Roman Catholic doctrines. If he were only concerned with his own salvation then he would not have done so. He argued that the idea of transubstantiation was false, and wanted other changes including the Bible not to be written in Latin. This was not the way to gain salvation by Roman Catholic teachings – and at the time Luther was still a member of the Church. If he were to criticise the Church, then he could – and later would – be found to be heretical, and this was believed to mean that he would go to hell after his death. It also shows that he wasn’t only concerned with his own salvation, as it shows that he did aim to reform the Church, and not just gain salvation.
The most obvious argument, and next important to show that Luther wasn’t just concerned with his own salvation is his time in the Wartburg. After being excommunicated from the Church, and declared an outlaw by the secular authorities, Luther was taken to the Wartburg for his own safety, as now if he were arrested, he would be hanged. However, after Luther had recovered from the events of the previous few years, he left the Wartburg. This was a clear message to all that believed in his ideas, that he was concerned for them as well as himself. If he had been merely concerned with his own salvation, then he would have stayed in the Wartburg where he was safe, content with the fact hat he had found his answer to gain God’s grace.
The three Reformation Treaties also showed that Luther had concerns for others beside himself. It was important to this view, as it shows that Luther was prepared to spread his beliefs regardless of whether or not he would be found to be a heretic. Through these Treaties, he meant to criticise the Church, and he wasn’t just dealing with his own salvation, he was allowing people to access what he had, and – as he believed – save themselves also. This was the most important event from Luther turning from being self-involved to helping others, and more importantly calling for reform in the Church:
“No longer are we dealing with a desk bound academic, but with a charismatic popular reformer”
McGrath
The two major scholars which provide differing views are McGrath and Chadwick. Whilst McGrath does argue for both sides of the argument, he claims:
“It was personal to Luther. Concerned with his own salvation”
McGrath
However, it is Chadwick who provides a response to this to agree with the other side of the argument, that Luther was not solely concerned with his own salvation, and stated that his main aim was:
“the spiritual and moral reformation of Christendom”
Chadwick
It is true to say that initially, Luther was driven by his own personal desire to gain God’s grace. However, there is overwhelming evidence to suggest that he was not merely interested in his own salvation. Once he had found the answer to his question, he went on to tell people about it so that they too could find salvation. He genuinely believed that the Roman Catholic Church was wrong in many of its teachings, and he wanted people to have faith through the scriptures, and themselves rather than have it dictated to them by the Church. The Reformation itself is evidence that Luther was concerned with others as well as himself. Whilst granted safe passage to and from the Diet at Worms, it was still dangerous of him to do so. Also, to leave the Wartburg was incredibly dangerous as he was an outlaw from both religious and secular authorities, meaning he could be arrested and burned if found; he still left. He saw that the reformation protest needed his leadership, and he went with no concern for his own safety.
Therefore, whilst the claim that Luther’s overriding concern was with his own salvation was true initially when he was tormented by sin as a monk; from the point of the ninety-five theses, this claim could never be said to be true.
