As we continue our preparation for Thanksgiving, let’s examine the life of Martin Luther, Father of the Protestant Reformation. Luther is famous for making the following statements: “Faith is a living, daring confidence in God’s grace, so sure and certain that a man could stake his life on it a thousand times”; “Faith must trample under foot all reason, sense, and understanding”; and “Reason is a whore, the greatest enemy faith has.” From these statements, it would appear that nothing could keep this man down. But his road to these beliefs was a bit unusual. In 1505, at the age of twenty-two, Luther was struck by lightning and became a monk “to find salvation, not because of it.” He did not actually experience salvation until he was thirty-two, three years after he had earned his Doctorate in Theology.

God waited between one and three years following Luther’s now famous 1517 visit to Wittenberg, Germany (where he nailed his Ninety-Five Theses to the door of the Castle Church, sparking the Protestant Reformation) before exalting him before the populace. During and after that trip, Luther adamantly opposed the Pope’s sale of indulgences, published and disseminated his Ninety-Five Theses and other writings, and continued to lecture on the doctrine of justification. In 1521, he was excommunicated by Pope Leo X because he refused to recant forty-one sentences from his published writings. Luther was unyielding in his efforts to bring the truth and a common man’s Bible to the masses.

His universal process was in full swing as he hid in one place, then another throughout Germany. First, he retreated to Worms, then Whartburg, then Wittenberg where he was blamed for the Peasant’s War in 1524. Each move seemed to deepen his state of depression. Then, in 1525, he married a former nun (Katharina von Bora) only to discover that she suffered from an anxiety disorder.

In Tony Headley’s article, “Luther on Depression,” several excellent points are made about Luther’s fight with all the dark conditions he faced. Luther’s persistent depression, his wife’s anxiety disorder, and his continual exposure to the suffering of others motivated him to study the symptoms, causes, and possible treatments of this state of mind. Luther believed that spiritual (demonic) activity could cause Christians to have depressive thoughts. However, he stressed that a believer could not become possessed by the demon stimulating the depression.

Luther formatted a spiritual approach to combating depression. First, a believer needs assurance of Christ’s work in their atonement. Second, he needs to rely on the input and companionship of another believer who does not suffer from depression. Third, he must resist demonically induced thoughts (identified as such because these gloomy and depressive thoughts are not realistic) through a reliance on Scripture and a relationship with Deity. Headley summarized Luther’s approach with these three phrases: “Eat, don’t fast”; “Be realistic—improvement may be slow”; and “Time is a great healer.”

Luther’s approach illustrates his grace-filled receipt of God’s provision in dealing with these emotional pressures. Luther came to know the Scriptural truth that perseverance is necessary to produce character and hope. Unfortunately, at the time of his death, Luther was still battling depression due to his daughter’s death, the plagues of Whittenberg, and the faithlessness of his fellow Germans. He believed that these negatives pointed to the End of days, so he dwelled on his death as he rewrote his will multiple times.

Smile, none of you have it quite as bad as Luther. Thanksgiving is coming. Be grateful.

Love Dad