Martin Luther

On Wednesday nights at church I have been going to a church history class. For the most part it has been interesting although it not an in depth study. There isn't enough time in 1 hour a week to get too in depth.
Tonight the subject was Martin Luther. I really didn't know much about Martin Luther except that he is credited with founding the Lutheran denomination and that he caused some people to get upset way back when.
The documentary that we watched was from PBS and we only watched about 1 hour of it, we wll watch the restof it next week. For the most part it was interesting and I did learn a lot. Martin Luther started out becoming a monk and really got into the life of a monk. He seemed to enjoy the rigid lifestyle and went as far as to sleep outdoors in the snow without a blanket until his fellow monks would drag him indoors so he wouldn't die. The film said that in later life Luther complained about the monk hood ruining his health. It seems that some people don't think that maybe their actions cause some of their problems.
The most inspiring thing I learned tonight is how Luther became disillusioned with the Catholic Church and discovered on his own the gift of salvation. I was encouraged by the fact that over 400 years ago Martin Luther would search the scriptures and find that salvation is a free gift. There doesn't need to be anyone to intercede or hoops to jump through-it is a simple gift.
The message of the Bible has not changed. The verses in the Bible that I read are the same verses that Martin Luther read. Salvation: a free gift of eternal life that is made possible through the life of Jesus Christ.

Liz