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In the Beginning . . . . . . . Before Luther:
The Christian Church, as we know it today, had its beginnings outside of Jerusalem when Jesus Christ met his disciples for the last time. Jesus said, "You shall receive power, as the Holy Spirit comes upon you, and you shall be witnesses to me, both in Jerusalem, and in all Judea, and in Samaria and unto the uttermost part of the earth."
St. Paul and St. Peter were the first great missionaries to spread the word of Jesus Christ throughout the civilized world. Their travels extended into Asia Minor, into far-away Greece and Rome. The faithful who followed their teachings were prosecuted, because these new religious beliefs challenged the political powers of their day. History has recorded that many Christians were killed for their belief in Jesus and his teachings.
It was Constantine, a Roman officer, who opened the doors of respectability for the Christian. During a fierce battle, Constantine saw a vision of a Cross and a Sign in the sky. This inspired him to victory and eventually made him a national hero. Constantine was proclaimed Emperor of Rome because of his success in warfare against the enemies of his country. So moved by the Christian vision he had seen during that critical battle, Constantine issued the famous Edict of Milan. This proclamation legalized Christianity. By the year 313 AD, persecution of the Christian Church and its members had finally come to an end in Europe.
In the years that followed, Christianity flourished. The Christian Church developed into the Roman Catholic Church and the Eastern Orthodox Church, and for the next 1200 years Christianity spread out over the face of the earth. Great monuments and cathedrals were built to the Glory of God and the work of Jesus Christ. The Catholic Church of Rome was the religion and the political power that governed the social and political life of everyone in Europe.
Martin Luther was a Catholic priest who strongly questioned the abuses he saw in his religious order and the rituals of his church. On the eve of All Saint’s Day, October 31, 1517, Martin Luther posted his 95 Theses on the door of the Wittenburg Cathedral. These were Luther’s objections to what the church had done to God’s Word. The debates that followed sent a riff through the Catholic Church of Rome. Martin Luther was soon the subject of controversy and ridicule. But Luther’s writings and teachings were accepted by many, and in a few short years Lutheranism had spread through Germany and other northern European countries as well.
In 1517 Dr. Martin Luther launched the Protestant Reformation with the posting of his ninety-five theses on the door of the Wittenburg Cathedral in Germany. Luther insisted on the Word alone, and that we are saved by the Grace of God. This has been the message of the Lutheran Church throughout its history.
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