Martin Luther

Christianity

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Martin Luther (November 10, 1483 - February 18, 1546) German religious reformer and theologian began the Protestant Reformation and founded the Lutheran Church as a branch of Christianity dominant in Germany and Scandinavia.

From the perspective of Roman Catholic scholars, Luther remains a monk who overeacted and caused a great deal of needless trouble. To Mainline Protestants, Luther was a great reformer --a witness to and agent of Jesus Christ who God mysteriously chose to bestow a gift of deep insight into scripture and the true nature of the Catholic church, not unlike the kind of conversion experience given to St. Paul. "Luther, and with him all the Reformers of the sixteenth century, German, Swiss, and British alike, believed that God spoke to them in the Scriptures in exactly the same way He had spoken to his prophets and apostles."

History

Pre-Monk Years

In 1505, Martin Luther was a law student caught outside in the middle of a thunderstorm. A bolt of lightning struck the ground near him. Terrified, he cried out to St. Anne for protection and promised to become a monk if he survived the storm. He did survive, and then left law school to join an Augustinian monastery.

Years in the Catholic Monastery

On February 27, 1507, after two years in the Monastery, Luther was ordained a Roman-Catholic priest. In later life he recounted how wonderfully awesome an experience his first celebration of Mass as a Roman-Catholic priest was. In the fall of 1508, his Monastery superior Johann von Staupitz requested that Luther begin graduate studies in theology at the then new University of Wittenberg. Sometime after 1509, Luther was sent to Rome on monastic business and became, what is now famously so, disappointed by what he saw as a terrible worldliness.

Years as scholar in Wittenberg

In October 1512, Luther received a doctorate of theology from the University of Wittenberg and soon after assumed a Wittenberg professorship in Bible studies endowed by his Augustinian order. Lecture notes exist for courses he taught, including Psalms (1513-1515 and 1519), Romans (1515-1516), Galatians (1516-1517), and Hebrews (1517-1518). During this time Luther rose to the level of district vicar of his Roman-Catholic Augustian Order in 1515, later even overseeing the administration of Augustianian monasteries in Saxony. Also sometime during these years, Luther later tells of having had religious experiences that were the foundations of what-have-turned-out-to-be two important theological viewpoints: (1) evangelical purpose of the Gospels (believed to have occcured around 1514) and (2) his replacement of scholastic theology with what he called the "theology of the cross" (probably 1518, but scholarship exists that makes the case for an earlier date of development).

Founding of Protestantism

Martin Luther tried to revive the Catholic Church on October 31, 1517, when he nailed the 95 Theses or issues to the door of his Wittenberg Church in what is now Germany. The source of Luther's complaint was a project to rebuild St. Peter's Basilica in Rome, for which church officials were offering indulgences in exchange for donations. Martin Luther objected and produced a list of 95 complaints to spark public debate.

Here were four of Luther's most important Theses:

• Thesis 82^a: Scilicet. Cur Papa non evacuat purgatorium propter sanctissimam charitatem et summam animarum necessitatem ut causam omnium iustissimam, Si infinitas animas redimit propter pecuniam funestissimam ad structuram Basilice ut causam levissimam?

• Thesis 82: Why does not the pope empty purgatory, for the sake of holy love and of the dire need of the souls that are there, if he redeems an infinite number of souls for the sake of miserable money with which to build a Church? The former reasons would be most just; the latter is most trivial.

• Thesis 86^a: Item. Cur Papa, cuius opes hodie sunt opulentissimis Crassis crassiores, non de suis pecuniis magis quam pauperum fidelium struit unam tantummodo Basilicam sancti Petri?

• Thesis 86: Why does not the pope, whose wealth is to-day greater than the riches of the richest, build just this one church of St. Peter with his own money, rather than with the money of poor believers?

Pope Leo X spent his time on the beauty flourishing during the Renaissance, and was a patron of the great artist Raphael. Pope Leo X probably never recognized the significance of Martin Luther and his followers. Some historians feel that if the pope had responded more seriously, then the subsequent schism in Germany would not have occurred.

But German nobles did not like the flow of money to Rome, and they backed Martin Luther in order to cut off the donations by Germans to support Rome.

In 1520, Pope Leo X announced the papal bull Exsurge Domine, which required Luther to withdraw 41 of his 95 Theses or be excommunicated. Luther refused and was then excommunicated by the Catholic Church.

It was then up to German authorities to take any legal action against Luther. The 21-year-old Holy Roman Emperor Charles V ordered him to stand trial before an assembly (a "Diet") of estates of the Holy Roman Empire that met in Worms, a small town in what is now Germany. This famous assembly is therefore known as the "Diet of Worms." The verdict (the "Edict of Worms") was "guilty". Luther was declared an outlaw who should be arrested.

But Luther had already left the trial before the verdict was rendered. He hid at Wartburg Castle at Eisenach, where Frederick the Wise, Elector of Saxony, protected him. Luther took the pseudonym Junker Jorg (Nobleman George), grew a wide beard and dressed like a knight. While in hiding he translated the New Testament from Greek into German in 1522. (By 1534, Luther had translated all of the Old Testament from Hebrew to German also.)

Luther translated Romans 3:28 by adding an extra German word for "alone" (alleine or alleyn) after the phrase: "justified by faith": "So halten wir nun dafür, daß der Mensch gerecht werde ohne des Gesetzes Werke, alleyn durch den Glauben." Luther believed that man is justified by faith alone, and that salvation comes only from faith. The Catholic Church (and Eastern Orthodox Church) taught that man is justified by faith, good works and confession to the Church authorities.

The printing press and Luther's influence on history

A remarkable invention awaited Luther's German translation of the Bible: in 1447 the German Johannes Gutenberg had already invented the movable-type printing press. This enabled Luther's translation to be printed for the public in September 1522. The Christian world would never be the same again. (The Gutenberg Bible, which put the Latin Vulgate in book format, had been printed in 1455 and it is the oldest existing book in the West.)

Charles V tried to stop the spread of Lutheranism. In 1544, Charles V sent armies against the German princes, but the Peace of Augsburg in 1555 gave each German ruler the right to choose the religion for his state. The princes in southern Germany selected Roman Catholicism, but the princes in northern Germany chose Lutheranism. After World War II, when Germany split into West and East Germany, the West German part contained the predominantly Roman Catholic regions and the East German part consisted of the mostly Lutheran regions.

Martin Luther continued to write, and taught at a German university for his financial support. Luther's writings in defense of his religious views were often harsh and passionate. After first reaching out to the Jews, when they did not embrace his Christianity, in 1543 he published a tract entitled On the Jews and Their Lies which called for the burning of synagogues and Jewish schools, the destruction of their prayer books, their homes razed and their money and property confiscated.

Historians debate the impact Luther's writings may have had on German thought leading into the Nazi Holocaust of World War II. Luther harshly criticized many peoples in addition to Jews; a pamphlet of his in 1545, the year before he died, was entitled "Against the Roman Papacy an Institution of the Devil,". It is also recorded that at a round table discussion he said he believed in burning witches. Some of Luther’s writings seem quite vulgar by today's standards, but much of it was also in response to vulgar accusations against his religious views.

Freedom of a Christian Man

Freedom of a Christian Man. This pamphlet--published in both German and Latin in 1520--succintly set forth his views on ecclesiastical (church) reform. The title became a popular slogan that was widely echoed throughout the Reformation. Luther also published two other tracts in 1520 that filled out his thought and complemented Freedom of a Christian Man. These were Babylonian Captivity of the Church (which questioned sacramental teachings) and Open Letter to the Christian Nobility. Freedom of a Christian Man was a document of principles of piety, telling how a Christian should live

Impact

Lutheranism has only 70 million adherents today, which is only about 7% of the Catholic population. But nearly all Christians, even Catholics, have sung a famous hymn written by Luther: "A Mighty Fortress is Our God." Moreover, hundreds of millions of Christians worldwide agree with Luther that justification is by faith alone and belong to Protestant congregations that first sprung into being because of Luther's stand.

Luther passed away in February, 1546, having lived his latter years in poor health. He had many children, some of whom preceded him in death, by the former nun Katharina von Bora.

Quotes

Quotes attributed to Luther include,

• You should not believe your conscience and your feelings more than the word which the Lord who receives sinners preaches to you.

• Justice is a temporary thing that must at last come to an end; but the conscience is eternal and will never die.

• My conscience is captive to the Word of God, I cannot and I will not recant anything, for to go against conscience is neither right nor safe. Here I stand; I can do no other. God help me. Amen."

• We are saved by faith alone, but the faith that saves is never alone.

• If he have faith, the believer cannot be restrained. He betrays himself. He breaks out. He confesses and teaches this gospel to the people at the risk of life itself.

• I have held many things in my hands, and I have lost them all; but whatever I have placed in God's hands, that I still possess.

• To gather with God's people in united adoration of the Father is as necessary to the Christian life as prayer.

• Peace if possible, truth at all costs.

• You are not only responsible for what you say, but also for what you do not say.

• I am more afraid of my own heart than of the pope and all his cardinals. I have within me the great pope, Self.

• Where God built a church, there the Devil would also build a chapel.

• I am afraid that the schools will prove the very gates of hell, unless they diligently labor in explaining the Holy Scriptures and engraving them in the heart of the youth.

• If you young fellows were wise, the devil couldn't do anything to you, but since you aren't wise, you need us who are old.

See also

• Priesthood of all believers
• Lutheranism

Further reading

• Atkinson, James. Martin Luther: Prophet to the Church Catholic, (2nd ed. 2004) ISBN 0-8028-1260-0
• Bainton, Roland H. Here I Stand: A Life of Martin Luther (1978; reprinted 1995) excerpt and text search
• Beard, Charles. Martin Luther and the Reformation in Germany Until the Close of the Diet of Worms (1896) 468 pages; complete text online this Charles Beard is not the American historian
• Brecht, Martin. Martin Luther. (3 vols. 1985–93), the most complete and intensive study; by a leading German scholar
• Brown, Christopher Boyd. Singing the Gospel: Lutheran Hymns and the Success of the Reformation. (2005) excerpt and text search
• Dickens, A. G. Martin Luther and the Reformation (1969), basic introduction
• Edwards, Jr., Mark U. Luther's Last Battles: Politics and Polemics, 1531-46 (1983).
• Ganss, Henry G. "Martin Luther," in Catholic Encyclopedia (1910) vol 9, a thorough but hostile short biography from a Catholic perspective.
• Hillerbrand, Hans J. ed. The Oxford Encyclopedia of the Reformation. (OUP 1996); the book is online at many academic libraries; excerpt and text search
• Junghans, Helmar. Martin Luther: Exploring His Life and Times, 1483–1546. (book plus CD ROM) (1998)
• Köstlin, Julius. "Martin Luther," New Schaff-Herzog Encyclopedia of Religious Knowledge, (1911) 8:69-79, short older biography by leading German scholar
• MacCulloch, Diarmaid. The Reformation (2005), influential recent survey of the entire movement; excerpt and text search
• McKim, Donald K., ed. The Cambridge Companion to Martin Luther (2003), 320pp; 18 essays by scholars; online edition at Questia; also excerpt and text search
• Mullett, Michael A. Martin Luther (2004) online edition
• Ranke, Leopold von. History of the Reformation in Germany (1905) 792 pp; by Germany's foremost scholar complete text online free
• Ritter, Gerhard. Luther, His Life and Work (1963)online edition
• Schwiebert, Ernest G. Luther and His Times: The Reformation from a New Perspective (1950), 914pp, stresses the role of universities
• Smith, Preserved. The Life and Letters of Martin Luther. (1911) complete edition online free

Primary sources

• Luther, Martin. Martin Luther: Selections From His Writings, edited by John Dillenberger (1958) excerpt and text search
• Luther, Martin. Martin Luther's Basic Theological Writings (with CD-ROM), edited by Jaroslav Jan Pelikan, Timothy F. Lull, and William R. Russell (2005) excerpt and text search
• Luther, Martin. The Letters of Martin Luther (1908) full text online free
• Luther, Martin. Conversations with Luther...Table Talk (1915) full text online free
• Luther, Martin.

External links

• Project Wittenberg, extensive online collection of primary sources by Luther and his colleagues

External links

• "Is Luther's Doctrine of Justification Compatible with Orthodox Catholic Theology?"
• "Righteousness by Faith"