On this date, October 31, 1517 German Augustinian monk Martin Luther, 31, nailed to the door of the castle church in Wittenberg (Germany) a list of 95 theological points he wished to debate ... and touched off the Protestant Reformation!

Martin Luther (November 10, 1483 – February 18, 1546) was a German monk, theologian, and church reformer. He is also considered to be the founder of Protestantism.

Luther's theology challenged the authority of the papacy by emphasizing the Bible as the sole source of religious authority. According to Luther, salvation was attainable only by faith in Jesus as the Messiah, a faith unmediated by the church. These ideas helped to inspire the Protestant Reformation and changed the course of Western civilization.

From 1510 to 1520, Luther lectured on the Psalms, the books of Hebrews, Romans and Galatians. As he studied these portions of the Bible, he came to view the use of terms such as penance and righteousness by the Roman Catholic Church in new ways. He became convinced that the church had lost sight of what he saw as several of the central truths of Christianity, the most important of which, for Luther, was the doctrine of justification — God's act of declaring a sinner righteous — by faith alone. He began to teach that salvation or redemption is a gift of God's grace, attainable only through faith in Jesus as the messiah.

Luther is also known for his writings about the Jews, the nature and consequences of which are the subject of scholarly debate. His statements that Jews' homes should be destroyed, their synagogues burned, money confiscated, and liberty curtailed, were revived and given widespread publicity by the Nazis in Germany in 1933–45.
The most famous of his writings on the Jews are contained in his book, The Jews and Their Lies. I have a copy of this book in my library.

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I normally post on this blog on Tuesday through Saturday, however I was unable to do so yesterday as I was knee deep in research for an article for the current issue of The Torch which I have titled Blood Linage dealing with the transfer of the Davidic Throne in Israel to Ireland in 583 B.C. This occurred under the guidance of Jeremiah the prophet who was known in Irish tradition as Ollam Folla. The daughter of King Zedekiah, (Tea Tephi) inherited the right to rule at the death of her brothers who were all killed by Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon in the plains of Jericho. In Ireland she married, Eochaid, a prince of the Tuatha de Danaan.

Anyway I have more more written on this in the current issue of The Torch, If you would like a sample copy write to: Thomas Robb Ministries / P.O. Box 354 / Bergman, AR 72615. A dollar or two to help on printing and postage is appreciated but not necessary.

I finished this article late last Monday nights and then took it to the printer on Tuesday and it is being assembled with the cover etc. and hopefully will be in the mail by the first part of next week. It will still be about 2-3 weeks for those of you who are subscribers to get it in your mail box.

Don’t forget the Christmas Fellowship Conference on December 1 and 2. This is our smaller event of the year, but one that everyone really enjoys. We have speeches, games, music and wonderful fellowship. Come if you can!

God bless!