In Luther House, Luther’s approach to Scripture is memorialized, “The gospel is so clear that it does not need a great deal of interpretation, but it wants to be carefully looked at and reply taken to heart.” Rawlings notes the far-reaching magnitude of Luther’s New Testament translation, “The appearance of Luther’s New Testament in 1522 remains one of the most noteworthy and far-reaching events in the history of the Christian world, indeed, in the history of the world. His Bible introduced mass media, unified a nation, and set the standard for future translations.” Luther’s mission was based on his belief in sola scriptura, that the Bible alone was the final authority for the Christian faith, not Church traditions. This view required Luther to produce a Bible understood by all Germans.
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Luther would turn over in his grave if he knew the Bible-ish Christianity of today. Luther’s story of courage in the face of exile, oppression, and persecution inspires us to appreciate the Bible. We have so many diversions today that impede our spiritual growth and distract us from studying God’s word. We need to turn the tide and return to the Bible as sola scriptura, which means we should show the Scriptures respect by investing our time into knowing them better. For Luther, the study of the Bible was his central focus, not a sidebar issue, a Bible-centric approach to Christianity: For some years now I have read through the Bible twice every year. If you picture the Bible to be a mighty tree and every word a little branch, I have shaken every one of these branches because I wanted to know what it was and what it meant. (LW 54:165)
In Leadership is an Art, Max DePree says, “The first job of a leader is to describe reality accurately.” As Christians we need to understand the reality of Biblical illiteracy, first in our own lives and families, but also in the church. Then we must collectively ask God for a revival of interest and commitment to the Holy Scriptures.
