Many on these forums attempt to use Sola Scriptura in order to discredit the gifts of the Holy Spirit. However, what many do not know is that the historical account shows that Luther, the author of Sola Scriptura, seemed to operate in several gifts himself.
Martin Luther
Martin Luther was a German Catholic theologian, and subsequently a reformer, because of his encounter with the Holy Scriptures. Early in his association with the Catholic priesthood, Luther faced a stubborn spiritual dilemma:he earnestly sought spiritual peace and could not find it in the prescribed penances advocated by church leaders. Reverently, but persistently, he continued to try,but with no success
One day he was reading the epistle to the Romans. Suddenly, God made the apostle Paul’s statement, “The just shall live by faith” (Romans 1:17) real to Luther. At last, he experienced the inner assurance he had been seeking. This discovery changed his life. But another dilemma appeared:he began noticing other discrepancies between the practices of the Church and the clear statements of the Bible.
Consequently, as the truths of Scripture dawned on him, he began to publicly express his differences with the practices of the Catholic Church. On October 31, 1517, he nailed his famous 95 theses to the door of the Wittenberg Castle Church. Initially, he respectfully only sought to discuss his concerns.
Most of Luther’s friends and church leaders perceived his action as a serious confrontation of Catholic authority. As a consequence, Pope Leo X excommunicated Luther in 1520. Regrettably, there followed determined efforts to murder Luther. Church leaders believed it would benefit both God and the Church by exterminating this notorious heretic. But German officials shielded Luther from assassination, largely because of their nationalistic loyalties, rather than strong religious convictions.
Luther’s innovative theological ideas and his break with the Catholic Church eventually led to his becoming the primary leader of the German Reformation. This opened the door for many of Luther’s affiliates to reexamine the prevailing theological positions of the Church.1
After Luther’s expulsion from the Catholic Church, Lutheranism continued to rush toward a determined Protestant ideology, undoubtedly according to God’s design. This transformation continued even after Luther’s death in 1546. The pent-up longing for relevant ministry to the real-life needs of the populace — so long denied them but now at least promised — suddenly came flooding forth, demanding even more. Some of Luther’s contemporaries even accused him of being only a “half reformer” because of his hesitancy to make major adjustments beyond his own initial rediscoveries.
In many instances, the new Protestant populations grew, often becoming so dominant these Protestants displaced local governments and/or often transformed existing Catholic churches into Lutheran congregations. In these churches, they politely sidelined Catholic icons so the former Catholic Cathedral might function as a Lutheran worship center. We can observe the results of this transformation today. In Rothenberg, Germany, at least two former Catholic churches, both just off the city square, have undergone the re-orientation from Catholicism to Lutheranism.
An interesting commentary on Luther’s theology continues to surface in the annals of church history. The original source is the German church historian R. Kuntze (1859) who wrote: “Luther was easily the greatest evangelical man after the apostles, full of inner love to the Lord like John, hasty in deed like Peter, deep in thinking like Paul, cunning and powerful in speech like Elijah, uncompromising against God’s enemies like David; prophet and evangelist, speaker in tongues and interpreter in one person, equipped withal the gifts of grace, a light and pillar of the church”2 (emphasis mine).
It is possible that this statement, implying that Luther might have had some form of charismatic experience,wasmadeon February 18, 1846, as a memorialat the third centennial anniversary of Luther’s death. At this point, however, one cannot be sure of its original intent because of the absence of corroborating testimony. Was this meant to indicate that Luther had experienced a personal Pentecost? Or was this statement intended only as a panegyric, lauding Luther’s pioneering Protestant convictions? Or could this declaration be based on biographical information not yet fully documented?
Regrettably, there is not enough evidence at this point to be absolutely certain. However, since the Pentecostal experience has historically cut across many denominational boundaries, it is not unreasonable to suppose that Luther, in his role as an apostle of Protestantism, may have privately enjoyed a Pentecostal experience. Certainly, the terminology used hererelating to tongues,interpreter of tongues, prophet, etc.does suggest that the tongues experience was not unknown to Luther’s biographers and perhaps even to Luther himself.
One fact in history is very clear, however, Luther did have encounters with the Anabaptist prophets of Zwickau who reportedly were experiencing the gifts of the Spirit in their congregations. Luther, however, evidently considered them Schwarmers or fanatics because he believed they were unnecessarily aggressive in their evangelization efforts.3
Nonetheless, A.J. Gordon, in his book, The Ministry of Healing, quotes Luther: “How often has it happened and still does, that devils have been driven out in the name of Christ, also by calling on his name and prayer that the sick have been healed?”4
To illustrate Luther’s belief in divine deliverance, Gordon observes further that healings did occur when Luther prayed for the sick and for the possessed: “In 1541, when Myconius lay speechless in the final stages of consumption, Luther prayed and he was restored to health. Melancthon lay near death of a fever, face sunken and eyes glassy, knowing no one. But Luther sought God and he [Melancthon] began to mend from that hour. ‘I should have been a dead man,’ said Melancthon, ‘had I not been recalled from death itself by the coming of Luther.’ ” [Regarding Luther’s deliverance ministry, A.J. Gordon continues] “When called to deal with a demon-possessed girl, Luther laid hands on her, quoting ‘the works I do shall he do also,’[John 14:12] and prayed for her, whereupon she completely recovered.”5