When a concerned Catholic priest called a spade a shovel and nailed the truth, in written word, to a wooden church door.

The day was 31 October 1517 and the setting was Castle Church in Wittenberg, modern-day Germany.

The concerned Catholic priest was Martin Luther, a compassionate clergyman who had witnessed how precious people were subjected to exploitation by means of clerical indulgences, abuses and misrepresentations of Scripture with regards to translation and accessibility thereof.  In his 95 theses he took a documented dig at how Catholic Church leadership polluted faith, crushed hope and twisted truth.  Luther could not synchronize the doctrine and practices of the Catholic Church to the doctrine and practices of the One Who is the Head of the Christian Church, the Way, Truth and Life.  As follower of Jesus Christ, Son of God Who was nailed to a wooden cross to redeem mankind from death and eternal damnation, Luther felt compelled to call a spade a shovel in his written word and then nail it to the wooden door of Castle Church in Wittenberg.  He wanted to untwist the twisted truth and in his heart, he carried a flame of hope that his action would spark remorseful inner reformation within the Catholic Church which would lead to restoration of faith and hope.  The flame of his inner hope was snuffed out when the indignant perpetrating powers-at-be demanded that he recanted.  He refused, and as a result, he was excommunicated and declared an outlaw, but his action set in motion an unstoppable transformation which became known as the Protestant Reformation.  Martin Luther became a reformer when he realigned the vision and values of the Church back to the vision and values of its Redeemer.

I scanned through the English translation of Luther’s 95 theses and the last two hit a particular nerve within my own soul:

“#94 Christians should be exhorted to be diligent in following Christ, their Head, through penalties, death, and hell.

#95 And thus be confident of entering into heaven through many tribulations rather than through the false security of peace.”

Dear reader, unlike Martin Luther, I am not a qualified Theologian, but like him, I am passionate about following Jesus, our Redeemer.  I know very little about the Catholic Church or the changes which may or may not have transpired since Luther’s time, but I have lived long enough to know that human nature is still a powerful pollutant of faith, crusher of hope and twister of truth.  I have observed how it has infiltrated church denominations within the Protestant movement, and essentially just like in the Catholic Church of Luther’s time, exploit vulnerable, precious people through clerical indulgences, abuses and misrepresentations of Scripture.  Jesus Himself rebuked the religious leaders of His time for misleading people in the very same way.

I believe that, like Luther and as fellow-followers of Jesus, we ought to find ourselves in a healthy state of epistemic ambivalence.  It is the faith-powered balance between believing Jesus and questioning our limited human understanding (our own and that of our leaders) of His word.  I have experienced the pain from epistemic dominance where faith is powered only by blind belief in a false Jesus created by the flawed Theology of a leadership and/or movement and I have witnessed the suffering forthcoming from an unhealthy state of epistemic ambivalence, where the true Jesus is on trial and subjected to arrogant interrogation.

Allow me to share with you, in closing, the simple 5-Sola-step Reformed Theology which I have embraced on my journey of faith.

1. Eternal salvation is a gift of GRACE alone (Sola Gratia)
2. It is obtained only through FAITH (Sola Fide)
3. In JESUS CHRIST alone (Solus Christus)
4. According to SCRIPTURE alone (Sola Scriptura)
5. For the GLORY OF GOD alone (Soli Deo Gloria)

Today is 31 October 2025, it is the 508th anniversary of Reformation Day and the timeless truth about Jesus Christ and His Kingdom still remain and will prevail forevermore.

May you be blessed on Reformation Day 2025!