Protest and Struggle Led by Martin Luther Paving the Way for Personal Religious Freedom
Martin Luther, a German monk, launched a reformation in 1517 by hammering 95 indictments to the door of All Saints' Church at Wittenberg. His theological protest against the Church aimed to recover the historic meaning of the Christian gospel.
Luther's work, particularly 'Secular Authority: To What Extent It Should Be Obeyed' (1523), aimed to reconstruct the medieval approach to religious belief. His central belief was that the pathway to peace with God was not through good works, religious rituals, or scholastic reasoning, but through heartfelt faith in Jesus Christ.
This defiance delivered a challenge to the conscience of the West like no other since the Sermon on the Mount. Luther criticized the use of violence and coercion to preserve spiritual unity in Christendom. His stance challenged the political and religious authority of the time, including popes, councils, bishops, and kings.
The American model of religious liberty, enshrined in the Constitution, was inspired by Luther's achievements. In the 17th century, the insights of Martin Luther were taken for granted in important defenses of religious freedom, including those by William Penn, Roger Williams, Pierre Bayle, and John Locke. James Madison, the mind behind the First Amendment, acknowledged Luther's influence in a letter to F.L. Schaeffer, dated 1821.
Luther's work led to a redefinition of faith and the dignity of the human person, emphasizing the role of individual conscience. He argued that the state had no mandate from heaven to intrude into spiritual matters, and the soul was not under Caesar's power. Luther rejected the concept of a radical separation of church and state, but other reformers did advocate for it.
The Reformation's appeal to the absolute authority of the individual conscience was acknowledged in a UNESCO document from 1947, citing it as one such event responsible for the development of human rights. At the Diet of Worms in 1521, Luther declared that his conscience was captive to the Word of God, refusing to recant his beliefs.
Today, the Catholic Church, once a fierce opponent of religious liberty, is one of its most vigorous defenders on the world stage. Joseph Loconte, an associate professor of history at the King's College in New York City and the author of 'God, Locke, and Liberty: The Struggle for Religious Freedom in the West,' highlights this transformation.
John Courtney Murray, an architect of Vatican II's support for the rights of conscience, wrote that the demand for freedom from coercion is made with special force in what concerns religion. Charles Malik, the prime author of Article 18, was a delegate to the original UN Commission on Human Rights and a student of the Reformation. The language of Article 18 in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights pays homage to Luther's vision, stating that everyone has the right to freedom of thought, conscience, and religion.
Luther's vision remains essential today, as we continue to strive for religious freedom and individual conscience in a diverse and complex world. His legacy serves as a reminder of the power of one man's courage to shape history and inspire future generations.
