Martin Luther King Essay, Research Paper
Grace Kim H2$-07
Bronx Science 5/26/00
Martin Luther (1483-1546)
Martin Luther was a German theologian and a major leader of the
Protestant Reformation. He is often called the father of Protestantism, whose
widespread influence, aside from religion, politics, economics, education, and
language, has established him as one of the crucial figures in modern European
History. Even one of the primary branches of Protestantism – Lutheranism- is
named after him. (Manns, 1983)
Luther, was born in Eisleben on November 10, 1483. He was descended
from the peasantry, a fact that he often emphasized. In 1501, at age 18, he
enrolled into the University of Erfurt. Receiving a bachelor?s degree in 1502 and
having achieved his master?s degree in 1505, Luther intended to start studying
law. However, shortly after this, Luther suddenly discarded his studies, sold all
his books, and joined the Augustinian monastery in Erfurt (Erikson, 1962). In the
fall of 1506, Luther made his profession as a monk, and he was then selected for
priesthood by his superiors. Six years later, in 1512, he received his doctorate
and took over a study of biblical theology, which he held until his death. In 1510,
Luther visited Rome on business for his order and was shocked to find
corruption in high ecclesiastical places. (Erikson, 1962)
He had proficient knowledge of the scholastic theology of his day. Yet, he
made the study of the Bible, especially the epistles of Saint Paul, the center of his
work. Luther found that his teachings diverged increasingly from the traditional
beliefs of the Roman church. He soon came to believe that Christians were not
saved through their own efforts but by God?s grace of salvation. This realization
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marked a crucial point in Luther?s life. It set him strongly and decisively against
some of the major tenets of the Catholic church, which had emphasized man?s
role in his own salvation. (Bainton, 1950) Likewise he was also against many
church practices that emphasized justification by good works. His approach to
theology led to a conflict between him and church officials, causing the dramatic
events of the Protestant Reformation.
The doctrine of Indulgences, (the pardon from the priest of temporary
punishments for sins committed) especially aroused Luther?s fury. Luther then
published and posted his Ninety-five Theses on October 31, 1517, on the door of
the castle church at Wittenberg. (Bainton, 1950)
Luther soon became a public and controversial figure. This publication
told of the Latin propositions opposing the manner in which indulgences were
being sold in order to raise money for the building of Saint Peter?s in Rome
(Marius, 1999). Regardless of the manner in which his propositions were made
public, they unleashed a storm of controversy. His composition was immediately
translated into German and expansively distributed throughout Germany,
stirring a storm of protest against the sale of indulgences. When the sale of
indulgences was seriously impaired, the papacy sought to silence Luther.
Luther was first confronted at a meeting of his order held in Heidelberg
on April 26, 1518, but he used the Heidelberg disputation to defend his theology
and to win new converts. On August of 1518, Luther was summoned to Rome to
answer charges of heresy, even though he had not taught against any clearly
defined medieval doctrines.
In July, 1519, at the Leipzig debate, Luther questioned the authority of the
papacy as well as the nonsense of church councils and insisted on the primary of
Scripture. After this debate Luther became considerably more outspoken and
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expressed his beliefs with intensifying certainty. In 1520, he wrote three
pamphlets of great significance. (Marius, 1999)
The first was the ?Address to the Christian Nobility of the German
Nation? (Bainton, 1950), which called upon the Germans to reform the church <
and society, since the papacy and church councils neglected to do so.
The second, ?The Babylonian Captivity of the Church?, clearly put Luther
in the status of a heterodox, because it attacked the entire sacramental system of
the medieval church (Bainton, 1950). Luther sustained there were only two
sacraments, baptism and the Lord?s Supper, or at most three, with repentance
possibly considered as a third, rather than seven sacraments. He also denied the
doctrines of transubstantiation and the sacrificial Mass.
The third pamphlet, ?The Freedom of the Christian Man? (Bainton, 1950),
was written for the Pope. It was not argumentative and distinctly taught the
doctrine of justification by faith alone.
Even before these publications were published, a plan for
excommunication was drawn up to go into effect in January 1521. In December
1520, Luther proclaimed his opposition of papal authority by publicly burning
the statement. Although, already condemned by the church, Luther still received
a hearing before an imperial diet at Worms in April, 1521. At the Diet of Worms,
he was asked to recant his teachings, but he stood firm and determined, even
defying, the emperor?s authority, who had placed him under imperial ban, and
ordered that all his books be burned (Oberman, 1982). Shortly after, he stayed at
the Wartburg castle in hiding for nearly a year. Here, he wrote a series of
pamphlets attacking Catholic practices and began his German translation of the
Bible. He returned to Wittenberg to deal with issues that had come about during
his absence, and remained there for the rest of his life. He married Catherine von
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Bora, a former nun, in 1525, and had six children.
In 1525, when peasants of south Germany revolted and refused to heed
his call to negotiate their grievances peacefully, he attacked them spitefully in a
pamphlet entitled ?Against the Murdering Horde of Peasants?. An argument
with the Swiss reformer Ulrich Zwingli over the Lord?s Supper split the
Protestant movement when an effort to resolve the differences at a meeting in
Marburg, failed in 1529.
Throughout his lifetime, Luther maintained an overwhelming work load,
writing, teaching, organizing the new church, and even providing overall
leadership for the German Reformation. Among his more important theological
writings were the Samcald Articles published in 1538, which clearly defined the
differences between his theology and that of the Roman Catholic Church.
At Worms, Luther had stood alone. When the Evangelicals presented the
Augsburg Confession to Charles V and the Diet of Augsburg in 1530, many
theologians, princes, and city councils subscribed to that classic Protestant
statement of faith. By the time of Luther?s death, a large part of northern Europe
had left the Roman Catholic church for new Evangelical communities.
Luther never thought of himself as the founder of a new church body,
however. He devoted his life to reforming the church and restoring the Pauline
doctrine of justification to the central position in Christian theology. In 1522,
when his followers first began to use his name to identify themselves, he pleaded
with them not to do this. He wrote: ?Let us abolish all party names and call
ourselves Christians, after him whose teaching we hold… I hold, together with
the universal church, the one universal teaching of Christ, who is our only
master.? (Oberman, 1982)
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Martin Luther died at Eisleben on February 18, 1546 during a trip. He was
buried at the castle church at Wittenberg. Nonetheless, Luther left behind a
movement that quickly spread throughout the Western world. His doctrines,
especially justification by faith and the final authority of the Bible, were adopted
by other reformers and are shared by many Protestant denominations today. As
the founder of the 16th century Reformation, he is one of the major figures of
Christianity and of Western civilization.
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