Introduction
Martin Luther is associated with bringing the reformation of Protestants. During his burial on 22nd Feb 1846 at his church in Wittenberg Pastor Johan Bugenhage who was his friend and a colleague preached the gospel in Rev 14.6 concerning an angel who had carried the gospel to preach to the people on the earth and he said that Luther was such an angel. From that time and during the centuries that followed on imitation of the pastor the followers of Luther (Lutherans) saw him as an angel. In this paper, I am going to explain the reasons that made Lutherans identify Luther as an angel and give roles that sols played in apocalyptic expectations (Petrides et al).
Reasons as to why Lutherans identified Luther as one of the apocalypse angels
An Apocalypse refers to the disclosure of something that had been hidden from most of the people for quite a long period and it can also refer to revelation, final battle, or the idea of the end of the world. On the other hand, Angel refers to a bodiless creature that is created by God and delivers messages in short they refer to a messenger. Luther was referred to as an angel of the apocalypse because he preached the everlasting gospel and informed the church on all the fury of hell (Cunningham &Ole para 3) since as it is recorded in the book of revelation the angel was given the keys of the bottomless pit.
In addition, Luther awakened the church intellectually and he used to believe that he was living in the end times and therefore all that he did and preached portrayed this. Moreover, he taught that Christ is the only way to salvation which is a gift of God and not as a result of works.
Roles of sola scriptura in apocalyptic expectations
Top of Form
Sola scripture means scripture alone. It is one of the main beliefs of Protestants, to them the whole authority is in scripture and the bible is very clear and has all the truth required for salvation. On the other hand, apocalyptic expectations are a mixture of fears and hopes that are very profound. Sola scripture has made most of the Christians believe the bible and everything written in it for instance all that will happen in the end times that is they believe in apocalyptic expectations. This has made people do what is good in fear of what might happen to them. In addition, most people have been motivated to read the bible and translate it into their vernacular language for better understanding. However, there has been a lot of resistance by the Catholic Church as they stated that the bible is not clear and has to be illustrated (Landes para 12).
Identification of Luther as one of the angels of the apocalypse
According to my, I think that though identification of Luther as one of the apocalyptic angels carried some irony since Luther himself was not comfortable with the book of revelation and said that his spirit cannot accommodate the book of revelation, Luther encouraged such identifications as he kept on preaching the gospel. In addition, he was so much involved in the reformation of the church and believed that he was living in the end times. Moreover, such identifications could make him more popular and therefore reach many people.
Conclusion
Martin Luther is one of the theologians and he brought the reformation of the church and had many followers who identified him as one of the apocalypse angels because of his works. Sola Scriptura is one of the main beliefs of the Protestants churches today.
Works Cited
Cunningham, Andrew, and Ole Peter, Grell. The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse Religion, War, Famine, and Death in Reformation. New York. Cambridge University, 2000. Print.
Landes, Richard. Apocalyptic Expectations around the year 1000.Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1995. Print.
Petrides, C. A and Wittreich, Joseph. The Apocalypse in English Renaissance Thought and literature patterns. Manchester: Manchester University Press, 1984. Print.