June 30 - The Lutheran Church

Luther lived from November 10, 1483 – February 18, 1546. He actively soldiered for reform for 30 years before his death.

Europe was ready for something to happen, the printing press, invented in 1440, was having a vast impact (it is often seen as the birth of individualism, no one could ever learn for themselves/by themselves/ on their own), the Bible was translated in to simple English. The influence of the Pope was weakening as individual, increasingly autonomous, local magistrates were open to breaking from the authority of the Pope. Penance was snowballing into a pillar of the Catholic Church's budget for building projects, because the Church depended on this income they became increasingly willing to accept money for satisfaction of sins committed. Between 1100-1500, the divide between clergy and laity was radically solidified. By the time Luther began positing the priesthood of all believers, this was a shocking assertion. Luther did not challenge the unification of church/state but wanted to see this order be reduced to a local authority. Luther was an Augustinian monk and sees the visible church as having the saved AND unsaved (for the Catholic Church, just being a part of the Church is being part of salvation), Luther still resides in Christendom. Worship changes as The Word becomes a focus, preaching of the gospel, and focus on scripture. Less focused on the ceremony of the Eucharist. The Eucharist has a dual nature: bread-wine/body-blood. Transition from the monastery to finding the sacred in family and vocation:

chastity - marriage as a sanctifying institution
obedience - priesthood of all believers/local authority
poverty - sacredness of vocation and production