The Good & the Bad of the Protestant Reformation

    Martin Luther brought about the Protestant Reformation in the early 16th century, but that does not mean he would agree with the modern Protestant. So how would the modern Protestant disagree with Luther?

    Predestination. Predestination is a concept that Luther came up with that most Protestants today wouldn’t agree with. This is the idea that people who live by the Christian faith were predetermined by God to be Christian, at least by the end of their life, and from the moment of their birth, these people would be declared worthy of Heaven. This idea somewhat implies that God has favorites, which is part of why Protestants as individuals have to consider whether or not they agree with this idea. Luther claimed his theory was legitimate to explain his ideas that even your faith did not constitute your good work, even your faith is only there by God's grace, and that your sins could never be washed away, but by believing in the Lord, those sins were covered up making you worthy of Heaven. 

     On the other side of the fence, there are some ideas that were developed among Protestants after the passing of Luther. Namely, the rapture. Luther would have disagreed with the idea of rapture. The concept of the rapture was not widely believed until the 1800s and later. Today the rapture is a more common concept than ever.

     Luther brought about many things, including the individualization of theological beliefs. Luther would not have approved of many things modern Protestants believe. Tradition was broken away from because of Luther, which opened the floodgates to every opinion ever. Interestingly enough, culture still widely affects individual beliefs. A Protestant in the Ozarks would likely support the idea of the rapture even though Christianity as a whole does not.

     Individualization can be a dangerous idea because, before the Protestant Reformation, people looked at their culture, history, and traditions, far more closely to understand why they were to believe a set of ideals they were brought up with. In modern times, people do this less often. They agree with the first thing they hear and like the sound of, or get a sense of identity out of breaking away from ideals. Neither is smart. But, some find great comfort in their beliefs and need to believe certain things for a reason. Most of these people do look closely into theology to support their beliefs and this may not be possible for as many people if it wasn’t for Luther.