Thomas Müntzer

Life

Müntzer is believed to have been born around 1489 or 1490 in Stolberg in the Harz region. He enrolled at the University of Leipzig in 1506 and at the University of Frankfurt (Oder) in 1512, and in 1514 he was ordained a Roman Catholic priest in Braunschweig. In 1519 he witnessed the Leipzig Debate, in which Martin Luther, Philip Melanchthon, and others confronted Johann Eck. In May 1520, on Luther's recommendation, he became a preacher in Zwickau.

After being dismissed by the Zwickau town council in April 1521, he went to Prague. There, in November of that year, he wrote the Prague Manifesto, a fierce attack on the clergy. In the spring of 1523 he became pastor in Allstedt, a small town in Saxony, and that same year he married Ottilie von Gersen, a former nun. On July 13, 1524, at Allstedt Castle, he delivered the so-called "Sermon to the Princes," an exposition of Daniel 2, before Duke John of Saxony and his son, but he failed to win the princes' support. In August of that year he moved to Mühlhausen in Thuringia. When the German Peasants' War spread to Thuringia in 1525, he led the peasant forces, but he was defeated and captured at the Battle of Frankenhausen on May 15 and executed on May 27.

Ministry and Contributions

• German-language worship: In Allstedt he published the German Church Service and the German Evangelical Mass and conducted worship in German. These are counted among the earliest complete German-language liturgies, and they proved so popular that people flocked to Allstedt from the surrounding region.
• Theology of the Spirit and the cross: Opposing what he called a "literal faith" that relied solely on the letter of Scripture, he maintained that the elect attain true faith only when the Holy Spirit enlightens them directly. He criticized Luther for teaching only a "sweet Christ" without suffering, and he emphasized suffering and the cross. He is also reported to have criticized infant baptism.
• Social reform and apocalyptic faith: He believed that the end times were near and taught that the common people had the right to resist oppressive rulers. Regarding the uprising of 1525 as the "harvest time" of the last days, he stepped forward as both preacher and commander.

In 1524 Luther warned the princes of Saxony to beware of the "rebellious spirit at Allstedt." As the uprising grew, Luther sided with the princes who suppressed it. The two men, who had once shared a common cause, were never reconciled.

Influence on the Korean Church

No clear direct influence on the Korean church is known. In Korea he is introduced mainly in church history treatments of Luther and the Peasants' War as a leading figure of the Radical Reformation, and he is often grouped with the Anabaptists. In the lead-up to the 500th anniversary of the Reformation (2017), denominational newspapers and Christian media revisited his life.

Assessment

• Marxists such as Friedrich Engels praised him highly as a leader of peasant revolt and as the starting point of the socialist revolutionary tradition.
• Some Korean Christian media have presented his theology of the "bitter Christ" as a theological foundation for the peasant liberation movement.
• By contrast, a church history column in a Baptist newspaper argued that when the methods are wrong, a cause pursued in the name of justice is no different from injustice. The column pointed to the harm caused by agitation that exploited subjective faith and apocalyptic eschatology.
• Others regard him as a tragic figure who came into extreme conflict with his own age because he was ahead of his time. Theological assessments of him remain divided.