November 9, 2020
Reformation Day was celebrated just a few days ago on October 31. Most Americans may have let this slip by due to focusing on Halloween. Over 9 billion US Dollars were spent on Halloween in 2019, so that speaks the attention Halloween receives.
Nevertheless, for those who love God's Word and understand the significance of Martin Luther posting his 95 theses on the door of the Wittenberg church door, the day cannot pass without them thanking God for Luther and the early Reformers.
Historians inform us that Luther wrote his theses in Latin because his intended audience was other scholars who taught at the nearby university. His intent at that point was not to break off from the Roman Catholic Church, but to instigate debate and discussion among teachers with a view to bringing needed changes to a church which had become very corrupt
. Most ordinary Germans of his day could not read Latin. So some of Luther's enterprising students took the theses, translated them in the vernacular German, and then took their translation to a printer.
Scholars date the invention of Gutenberg's printing press to 1450. By 1517 there were said to be 200 printing centers in Europe. Luther's students saw the advantage this new technology offered for spreading Luther's writings among ordinary Germans. Thus it is believed that within a matter of weeks, the 95 theses were read by Germans all over the country.
Both before and after the Diet of Worms, Luther continued to have his theological treatises published in pamphlet form, and they were quickly disseminated and eagerly read. They became the fuel of the Protestant Reformation.
After Luther translated the Bible into German, it was printed immediately and received a wide distribution. This enabled the common person to read, or hear read, the Word, and thus enabled them to interpret Scripture apart from a priest's help or distorted interpretation.
Why tell this story? Because we at Calvary Road Ministries like to believe we are today following in the footsteps of the Reformers by making effective use of the latest technology to place God's Word and biblical teaching into the hands of ordinary people. When possible, we do so with a NT translated into their mother tongue. If such does not exist, we use a widely accepted national language, i.e. Sudanese Arabic. The technologies we utilize are in digital form. We load the scripture resources onto hardware like micro SD cards and MP3 players. The former are tiny and only cost $7 when fully loaded with Gospel films and audio NTs. Two thousand of them would take up less space in a suitcase than one of the large Bibles produced by the printing press of the age of Luther and Tyndale.
Hundreds of millions in our world still lack access to the Bible. If the $9 billion spent on Halloween were diverted to purchasing scripture resources, the evangelical Protestant Church of the USA could supply a copy to all those now walking in utter darkness
We invite you to support us in this effort by making a donation via our website, www.calvaryroadministries.com
David Crane
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