Martin Luther

Martin Luther (1483-1546), German religious reformer and theologian began the Protestant Reformation and founded the Lutheran Church as a branch of Christianity dominant in Germany and Scandinavia, and later also strong among their immigrants to the United States. There had been reform movements in the Roman Catholic church before him, as well as various sects and heresies, but they were not on a sufficient scale to disrupt the medieval Church. Luther was the first to definitively break the unity of Roman Catholic Christendom.

Life

Luther was born on Nov. 10, 1483, in the central German town of Eisleben in Thuringia. His father, Hans Luther, originally a peasant learned mining and was a businessman who owned several small foundries; his mother, Margaretta, also came from peasant stock. Martin was strictly brought up and strictly educated in church schools. He entered the University of Erfurt in 1501, took master of arts degree in 1505 and studied law.

Young Luther was tormented by the current picture of man's destiny. His Germany was obsessed by a cult of death, which had arisen after the Black Death more than a century before his time; however, not even death was as appalling as the judgment thereafter and the prospect of everlasting damnation. In July 1505, when Luther was returning to the university after a visit with his parents, a thunderstorm overtook him. Struck to the ground by a bolt of lightning, he cried in terror to his father's patron saint, "St. Anne, help me! I will become a monk." True to his promise, he entered the strict Augustinian order shortly thereafter.

Catholic priest and professor

Luther took his final vows and in May 1507 he was ordained a priest. He was assdigned to the town of Wittenberg the next year as an instructor in logic and physics at the University of Wittenberg; it awarded him the degree of doctor of theology in 1512. Luther rapidly advanced in his teaching career and preached regularly in the parish church. In 1510 went to Rome on business. But his fears continued to harass him. He sought to earn heaven by austerity; however, he was soon persuaded that nothing in the power of man is good enough to constitute a claim upon God. He fully explored the penitential system of the Church so that the sins which he could not expunge or eradicate might yet be forgiven, only to discover that he could not confess all of his sins. Some sins were forgotten and others not recognized, for man does not see that he is a sinner until confronted by the accusing finger of God. The mystic way of ceasing to struggle and of surrendering oneself to the wonder and the goodness of God offered no solution--for Luther, God was a consuming flame.

The solution to Luther's problems came through the study of the Bible; he was appointed to the chair of biblical study at Wittenberg. In writing lectures on Psalms, Romans, and Galatians from 1513 to 1516 Luther came to the conclusion, fundamental t Protestant theology, that man depends for his salvation on the sheer grace of God, made available through the sacrificial death of Christ. Christ is not primarily the terrible judge who condemns sinners, but the redeemer upon the cross. Man has only to believe and to accept in trust what God has done to be forgiven, even though sin is never entirely taken away. This was to become the central doctrine of Luther's creed: the doctrine of justification by faith.

The critical point at which Luther's position diverged from that of the Catholic Church was in his absolute denial of man's ability to do anything whatsoever toward his own salvation. The Church taught that through grace man is given by God the ability to fulfill His commandments. Since man is free to reject this grace, if he accepts it instead and performs good works, his deeds are meritorious. But Luther affirmed that when good deeds are performed with an eye to reward they are damnable sins.

Bibliography

• Bainton, Roland H. Here I Stand: A Life of Martin Luther (1978; reprinted 1995) excerpt and text search
• Brecht, Martin. Martin Luther. (3 vols. 1985–93) by leading German scholar
• Dickens, A. G Martin Luther and the Reformation (1969), basic introduction
• Junghans, Helmar. Martin Luther: Exploring His Life and Times, 1483–1546. (book plus CD ROM) (1998)
• MacCulloch, Diarmaid. The Reformation (2005), influential recent survey excerpt and text search
• McKim, Donald K., ed. The Cambridge Companion to Martin Luther (2003), 320pp; 18 essays by scholars; online edition at Questia; excerpt and text search
• Mullett, Michael A. Martin Luther (2004) online edition
• Ritter, Gerhard. Luther, His Life and Work (1963)online edition
• 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