Martin Luther Biography Essay

The Life of Martin Luther

Martin Luther is one of the most influential people in Christian history. He called into question the basic tenets of Catholicism and changed the course of the history of Christianity. Luther was born on November 10, 1483 in Eisleben, Germany. His parents, Hans and Margarette Luther, were peasants but were successful miners. Luther’s father worked hard for Luther’s education and at the age of seven was put into school. He compared his school experience to “purgatory and hell”. In 1501 it seemed Luther was on his way in becoming a lawyer until he cried out to the patron saints of miners during a storm and was saved. He then committed to becoming a monk. Historians say “this was not a spontaneous act, but an idea already formulated in Luther’s mind. The decision to become a monk was difficult and greatly disappointed his father, but he felt he must keep a promise” (“Martin Luther Biography”).

In the beginning of Luther’s spiritual journey he did not have the spiritual awakening that he seeked. All he saw was

corruption and immorality in the Catholic Church. He tried to repress his feelings and turmoil by continuing his studies at the University of Wittenberg and received his doctorate in Theology and became a professor at the university. In 1513 he finally had his religious Enlightenment. While preparing a lecture on Paul’s Epistle to the Romans, he read, “The just will live by faith” (New King James Version Romans 1;17). He dwelled on this statement for some time. Finally, he realized the key to spiritual salvation was not to fear God or be enslaved by religious dogma but to believe that faith alone would bring salvation. This period marked a major change in his life and set in motion the Reformation.
In 1517, Luther was lecturing on two books of the Bible about grace while the Catholic Church was increasing its efforts to sell indulgences. Pope Leo X had torn down the old St. Peter’s Basilica and had started to build a new one. Leo’s extravagant lifestyle left the church funds depleted and there was no money for the new Basilica. He increased the sale of indulgences, “believing the people would be happy to have more opportunities to release themselves or their loved ones from the penalties of sins” (Somervill 44). Leo sent out many salesmen all over Europe, Johann Tetzel was one of his best in Germany. Celebrations would be set up whenever Tetzel would come. He would preach and then prepare his blank indulgences, that year he visited 20 miles outside of Wittenberg and when people returned with their indulgences Luther became enraged.
On October 31, 1517 Luther he nailed a large piece of to the door of the Castle Church. He called it Disputation on the Power and Efficacy of Indulgences. He invited students and debates to a debate and began with these words:
Out of love and zeal for truth and the desire to bring it to light, the following theses will be publicly discussed at Wittenberg under the chairmanship of the reverend father Martin Luther, Master of Arts and Sacred Theology and regularly appointed Lecturer on these subjects at that place. He requests that those who cannot be present to debate orally with us will do so by letter. (Somervill 46)

There were 95 topics of discussion. He wanted to discuss penance, confession, guilt, humility, purgatory, hell, heaven and of course indulgences. Number 52 said: “It is vain to trust in salvation by indulgence letters, even though indulgence commissary, or even the pope, were to offer is soul as security” (Luther 95 Theses). Luther’s 95 Theses caused an uproar through Europe. He had intended an academic discussion, but he could not control the thousands of copies printed and circulated.
In 1518 Luther was charged with heresy.

He had gained a mass following and gained many enemies. Many priests wrote claims against Luther’s 95 Theses. Luther refused to go to Rome and answer to his charges of heresy. He met with Cardinal Cajetan where he refused to recant for his “sins” three times. On October 20 1518 he escaped Rome and returned to Wittenberg. For many months the pope ignored Luther because of the trouble in Spain with Charles I becoming emperor after Maximilian I died. In June, Luther had a debate against the pope’s representative Johann Eck, on the first day of the debate a procession of 200 people followed Luther to Leipzig and Charles I, now Charles V, became emperor. Luther became famous everywhere and his books sold by the thousands. The pope tried to oppress this movement by trying to convict Luther of heresy and decreed his books be burned in public, but Luther in response would burn the pope’s

book.
At the height of his fame, Luther was scheduled to appear at Charles V Imperial Diet. The diet opened on January 28. Cardinal Alexander persuaded Charles to allow him to issue an imperial edict against Luther. However on February 19, the princes warned Charles that condemning Luther without a hearing might cause a revolution. Charles agreed and allowed Luther to appear at the diet. He could travel under safe passage, “no one could seize or arrest him for any reason” (Somervill 63).
In January 1521, Martin Luther was officially excommunicated from the Roman Catholic Church. On May 8, 1521, the council released the Edict of Worms, banning Luther’s writings and declaring him a “convicted heretic.” This made him a condemned and wanted man. Friends helped him hide out at the Wartburg Castle. While in seclusion, he translated the New Testament into the German language, to give ordinary people the opportunity to read God’s word. The German Bible is “Luther’s noblest achievements, unfortunately untranslatable because every nation has his own direct version” (Bainton 255). Though still under threat of arrest, Martin Luther returned to Wittenberg Castle Church, in Eisenach, in May 1522. Miraculously, he was able to avoid capture and began organizing a new church, Lutheranism. He gained many followers and got support from German princes. When a peasant revolt began in 1524, Luther denounced the peasants and sided with the rulers, whom he depended on to keep his church growing. Thousands of peasants were killed, but Luther’s church grew over the years. In 1525, he married Katharina von Bora, a former nun who had abandoned the convent and taken refuge in Wittenberg. Together, over the next several years, they had six children.
He died in 1546 at age 62 after battling not only the stress of being a fugitive, but heart problems, arthritis and digestive disorders. His actions fractured the Roman Catholic Church into new sects of Christianity and set in motion reform within the church.