meta_pixel
Tapesearch Logo
5 Minutes in Church History with Stephen Nichols

Luther and Columbus

5 Minutes in Church History with Stephen Nichols

Ligonier Ministries

Christianity, History, Religion & Spirituality

4.81.7K Ratings

🗓️ 15 March 2023

⏱️ 5 minutes

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

What does the Protestant Reformation have to do with the exploration of the New World? Today, Dr. Stephen Nichols discusses the overlap between these two pivotal moments in history and the impact that they had on the church.

Read the transcript: https://www.5minutesinchurchhistory.com/luther-and-columbus/

A donor-supported outreach of Ligonier Ministries. Donate: https://www.5minutesinchurchhistory.com/donate/

Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0

Well, welcome back to another episode of Five Minutes in Church History.

0:10.1

On this episode, let's start with a pop quiz.

0:13.4

Do you know the year in which Columbus sailed to the new world?

0:18.4

You might have learned that little rhyme in blank year, Columbus sailed the ocean blue.

0:26.6

What year was it?

0:27.9

If you said 1492, you were right, and 1492, Columbus sailed the ocean blue.

0:34.4

Well, here's another question for you.

0:37.5

How old was Martin Luther when Columbus said sail?

0:42.2

Well, to help you with this, I've written my own rhyme.

0:45.2

Might not be as catchy as that one, but here goes, when Columbus sailed the ocean wide,

0:51.8

Martin Luther was only nine.

0:55.0

Now, songwriters call that an approximate rhyme, but we'll just move on.

1:01.2

The issue here is that we think of these two significant times in history, the age of

1:07.0

the reformation, and the age of exploration, as two separate movements or two separate

1:12.7

entities when the reality is, the two came along at the exact same time.

1:19.0

In one sense, they sort of grew up together, the reformation, and the age of exploration.

1:26.0

Here's another sort of two dates that come together to show how this works.

1:30.8

Of course, we know Luther stood behind the Deet of Verms in 1521.

1:37.6

There he was in front of Charles V, the young Holy Roman Emperor, and he was on trial for

1:44.6

his life, and he made his courageous, here I stand, speech.

1:49.5

Well, two years later, 1523, that same Holy Roman Emperor, Charles V, declared that Spain

1:58.4

is exploring the New World with the singular purpose to convert the Native Americans or

...

Transcript will be available on the free plan in -703 days. Upgrade to see the full transcript now.

Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from Ligonier Ministries, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.

Generated transcripts are the property of Ligonier Ministries and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.

Copyright © Tapesearch 2025.