wfn.org | Augsburg, Luther and the Fuggers

[FRANK_IMHOFF.parti@ecunet.org (FRANK IMHOFF)]

History fused with theological, political and economic implications

GENEVA, 23 October 1999 (lwi) - Would Martin Luther's nailing his 95
theses on the door of Wittenberg's castle church, on 31 October 1517,
have been just a marginal, local event in history , if it had not been
for Jakob Fugger of Augsburg, one of the richest men of his time? There
are many reasons to say yes, even though historical watersheds on this
scale can never be explained from one dimension.

In any case, the choice of Augsburg for the ceremony confirming the
Joint Declaration on the Doctrine of Justification is a reminder of the
theological, political and economic ins and outs of the Reformation
period. There is hardly another city where they are so clearly visible.

The Augsburg Confession, the Confessio Augustana (CA), has become world
famous as the Lutheran churches spread to every continent. In 1530 it
was read out in Augsburg, before the Emperor and the Holy Roman Empire,
as an offer of unity from the Protestant princes and the free cities of
the Empire. Emperor Charles V, however, used his power to try to have it
rejected. Today the CA is the fundamental confession of the Lutheran
churches, many of which even include its name in theirs.

But even before Luther's posting of his theses in little Wittenberg
became a major political event, Jakob Fugger had taken notice of it. The
attack on the sale of indulgences had a direct bearing on the economic
interests of the Fuggers, since they had one of the biggest banks and
business firms of their time. Only by means of credit from the Fuggers
had Charles become Emperor.

Only with credit, which he had to repay with income from the sale of
indulgences by the preacher Tetzel, had Albrecht of Brandenburg been
able to buy himself worldly and church offices. It was in Fugger's house
in Augsburg that the papal legate Cajetan met with Luther in 1518 to try
to silence this annoying critic. And it was the theologian Johannes Eck,
who was
supported by the Fuggers and gained his fame with theses in
justification of the five per cent interest rate, who was put up against
Luther.

Thus it was in Augsburg that Martin Luther's ideas took on the political
and economical explosiveness which gained him recognition for his
teaching on justification by God's grace alone. Four hundred fifty years
of political tensions, wars and reciprocal condemnations between the
Lutheran and Roman Catholic churches were the consequences. This history
of suffering, which has so heavily affected the credibility of the
Christian churches, is now coming to an end with the confirmation, again
in Augsburg, of the Joint Declaration.

In view of a successful conference on the social consequences of the
doctrine of justification, held last year in Wittenberg by the Lutheran
World Federation (LWF), the Joint Declaration also takes on importance
for future cooperation among the churches on social and economic issues.
These are fundamental changes.

When Ishmael Noko and Idris Cardinal Cassidy, together with other LWF
and Vatican representatives, place their signatures on the Common
Statement confirming the Joint Declaration in St. Anne's Church in
Augsburg, they will not be far away from the grave of one of Luther's
most decisive opponents during the early Reformation. Jakob Fugger died
in 1525 and was buried in St. Anne's.

(The LWF is a global communion of 128 member churches in 70 countries
representing 58 million of the world's 61.5 million Lutherans. Its
highest decision making body is the Assembly, held every six or seven
years. Between Assemblies, the LWF is governed by a 49-member Council
which meets annually, and its Executive Committee. The LWF secretariat
is located in Geneva, Switzerland.)

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Lutheran World Information
Assistant Editor, English: Pauline Mumia
E-mail: pmu@lutheranworld.org
http://www.lutheranworld.org/