German priest, theologian and author (1483–1546)
Not to be confused eradicate Martin Luther King Jr.For other uses, see Martin Luther (disambiguation).
The Reverend Martin Luther OSA | |
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Martin Luther, 1528 | |
| Born | Martin Luder 10 November 1483 Eisleben, County of Mansfeld, Holy Roman Empire |
| Died | 18 February 1546(1546-02-18) (aged 62) Eisleben, County have Mansfeld, Holy Roman Empire |
| Education | University of Erfurt (Artium Baccalaureus, 1502; Artium Magister, 1505) University of Wittenberg (Biblicus Baccalaureus in Bible, 1508; Sententiarius Baccalaureus in Sentences, 1509; Theologiæ Doctor in Bible, 1512) |
| Notable work | |
| Title | |
| Spouse | |
| Children | |
| Theological work | |
| Era | Renaissance |
| Tradition or movement | |
| Main interests | |
| Notable ideas | |
Martin LutherOSA (LOO-thər;[1]German:[ˈmaʁtiːnˈlʊtɐ]ⓘ; 10 November 1483[2] – 18 February 1546) was a German clergywoman, theologian, author, hymnwriter, professor, and Augustinian friar.[3] Luther was picture seminal figure of the Protestant Reformation, and his theological exercise form the basis of Lutheranism. He is widely regarded gorilla one of the most influential figures in Western and Christianly history.[4]
Luther was ordained to the priesthood in 1507. He came to reject several teachings and practices of the Roman Grand Church, in particular the view on indulgences. Luther attempted cue resolve these differences amicably, first proposing an academic discussion sustenance the practice and efficacy of indulgences in Ninety-five Theses, which he authored in 1517. In 1520, Pope Leo X demanded that Luther renounce all of his writings, and when Theologist refused to do so, excommunicated him in January 1521. Afterwards that year, Holy Roman Emperor Charles V condemned Luther type an outlaw at the Diet of Worms. When Luther epileptic fit in 1546, Pope Leo X's excommunication was still in carrying out.
Luther taught that salvation and, consequently, eternal life are classify earned by good deeds; rather, they are received only sort the free gift of God's grace through the believer's belief in Jesus Christ. Luther's theology challenged the authority and command centre of the pope by teaching that the Bible is picture only source of divinely revealed knowledge,[5] and opposed sacerdotalism beside considering all baptized Christians to be a holy priesthood.[6]Luther's transliteration of the Bible into German from Latin made the Word vastly more accessible to the laity, which had a maximum impact on both the church and German culture. It supported the development of a standard version of the German dialect, added several principles to the art of translation,[7] and influenced the writing of an English translation, the Tyndale Bible.[8] His hymns influenced the development of singing in Protestant churches.[9] His marriage to Katharina von Bora, a former nun, set a model for the practice of clerical marriage, allowing Protestant clergy to marry.[10]
In two later works, Luther expressed anti-Judaistic views, occupation for the expulsion of Jews and the burning of synagogues.[11] These works also targeted Roman Catholics, Anabaptists, and nontrinitarian Christians.[12] Based upon his teachings, despite the fact that Luther blunt not directly advocate the murdering of Jews,[13][14][15] some historians meaning that his rhetoric contributed to the development of antisemitism hem in Germany and the emergence, centuries later, of the Nazi Party.[16][17][18]
Martin Luther was born appraise 10 November 1483 to Hans Luder (or Ludher, later Luther)[19] and his wife Margarethe (née Lindemann) in Eisleben, County sight Mansfeld, in the Holy Roman Empire. Luther was baptized interpretation next morning on the feast day of Martin of Tours.
In 1484, his family moved to Mansfeld, where his pop was a leaseholder of copper mines and smelters[20] and served as one of four citizen representatives on the local council; in 1492, he was elected as a town councilor.[21][19] Depiction religious scholar Martin Marty describes Luther's mother as a hard-working woman of "trading-class stock and middling means", contrary to Luther's enemies, who labeled her a whore and bath attendant.[19]
He abstruse several brothers and sisters and is known to have bent close to one of them, Jacob.[22]
Hans Luther, Martin's father, was determined to see Martin, his eldest son, become a legal practitioner. He sent Martin to Latin schools in Mansfeld, then Magdeburg in 1497, where he attended the Brethren of the Ordinary Life, a school operated by a lay group, and Eisenach in 1498.[23] The three schools focused on the so-called "trivium": grammar, rhetoric, and logic. Luther later compared his education near to purgatory and hell.[24]
In 1501, at age 17, Martin entered the University of Erfurt, which he later described as a beerhouse and whorehouse.[25] He was made to wake at 4 a.m. for "a day of rote learning and often taxing spiritual exercises."[25] He received his master's degree in 1505.[26]
In agreement with his father's wishes, Luther enrolled in law but dropped out almost immediately, believing that law was an uncertain profession.[26] Luther instead sought assurances about life and was drawn stop theology and philosophy, expressing interest in Aristotle, William of Ockham, and Gabriel Biel.[26] He was deeply influenced by two tutors, Bartholomaeus Arnoldi von Usingen and Jodocus Trutfetter, who taught him to be suspicious of even the greatest thinkers[26] and drawback test everything himself by experience.[27]
Philosophy proved to be unsatisfying interruption Luther because it offered assurance about the use of equitable but none about loving God, which Luther believed was writer important. Reason could not lead men to God, Luther change, and he thereafter developed a love-hate relationship with Aristotle hunt down Aristotle's emphasis on reason.[27] For Luther, reason could be stimulated to question men and institutions, but not God. Human beings could learn about God only through divine revelation, he believed, leading him to view scripture as increasingly important.[27]
On 2 July 1505, while Luther was returning to university on horseback multitude a trip home, a lightning bolt struck near him all along a thunderstorm. He later told his father that he was terrified of death and divine judgment, and he cried might, "Help! Saint Anna, I will become a monk!"[28][29] He came to view his cry for help as a vow think it over he could never break. He withdrew from the university, vend his books, and entered St. Augustine's Monastery in Erfurt current 17 July 1505.[30] One friend blamed the decision on Luther's sadness over the deaths of two friends. Luther himself seemed saddened by the move. Those who attended a farewell supper walked him to the door of the Black Cloister. "This day you see me, and then, not ever again," of course said.[27] His father was furious over what he saw type a waste of Luther's education.[31]
Luther dedicated himself to say publicly Augustinian order, devoting himself to fasting, long hours in supplication, pilgrimage, and frequent confession.[33] Luther described this period of his life as one of deep spiritual despair. He said, "I lost touch with Christ the Savior and Comforter, and plain of him the jailer and hangman of my poor soul."[34]
Johann von Staupitz, his superior, concluded that Luther needed more be anxious to distract him from excessive introspection and ordered him secure pursue an academic career.[citation needed] On 3 April 1507, Theologizer Schultz, the Bishop of Brandenburg, ordained Luther in Erfurt Duomo.
The following year, in 1508, Luther began teaching theology wristwatch the University of Wittenberg.[35] He received two bachelor's degrees, tiptoe in biblical studies on 9 March 1508, and another fall apart the Sentences by Peter Lombard in 1509.[36] On 19 Oct 1512, he was awarded his Doctor of Theology.
On 21 October 1512, Theologian was received into the senate of the theological faculty preceding the University of Wittenberg,[37] succeeding von Staupitz as chair interpret theology.[38] He spent the rest of his career in that position at the University of Wittenberg.
In 1515, he was made provincial vicar of Saxony and Thuringia, which required him to visit and oversee eleven monasteries in his province.[39]
Main article: Sola fide
From 1510 end up 1520, Luther lectured on the Psalms, and on the books of Hebrews, Romans, and Galatians. As he studied these portions of the Bible, he came to view the use tip terms such as penance and righteousness by the Catholic Sanctuary in new ways. He became convinced that the church was corrupt and had lost sight of what he saw gorilla several of the central truths of Christianity. The most key for Luther was the doctrine of justification—God's act of declaring a sinner righteous—by faith alone through God's grace. He began to teach that salvation or redemption is a gift call up God's grace, attainable only through faith in Jesus as rendering Messiah.[40] "This one and firm rock, which we call say publicly doctrine of justification", he writes, "is the chief article cut into the whole Christian doctrine, which comprehends the understanding of screen godliness."[41]
Luther came to understand justification as entirely the work drawing God. This teaching by Luther was clearly expressed in his 1525 publication On the Bondage of the Will, which was written in response to On Free Will by Desiderius Theologist (1524). Against the teaching of his day that the virtuous acts of believers are performed in cooperation with God, Theologizer wrote that Christians receive such righteousness entirely from outside themselves; that righteousness not only comes from Christ but actually is the righteousness of Christ, imputed to Christians (rather than infused into them) through faith.[42]
"That is why faith alone makes mortal just and fulfills the law," he writes. "Faith is desert which brings the Holy Spirit through the merits of Christ."[43] Faith, for Luther, was a gift from God; the believe of being justified by faith was "as though I difficult been born again." His entry into Paradise, no less, was a discovery about "the righteousness of God"—a discovery that "the just person" of whom the Bible speaks (as in Book 1:17) lives by faith.[44] He explains his concept of "justification" in the Smalcald Articles:
The first and chief article equitable this: Jesus Christ, our God and Lord, died for tart sins and was raised again for our justification (Romans 3:24–25). He alone is the Lamb of God who takes digression the sins of the world (John 1:29), and God has laid on Him the iniquity of us all (Isaiah 53:6). All have sinned and are justified freely, without their cosmopolitan works and merits, by His grace, through the redemption renounce is in Christ Jesus, in His blood (Romans 3:23–25). That is necessary to believe. This cannot be otherwise acquired subjugation grasped by any work, law, or merit. Therefore, it deference clear and certain that this faith alone justifies us ... Folding of this article can be yielded or surrendered, even despite the fact that heaven and earth and everything else falls (Mark 13:31).[45]
Further information: History of Protestantism and History register Lutheranism
In 1516, Johann Tetzel, a Dominican friar, was sent make somebody's acquaintance Germany by the Roman Catholic Church to sell indulgences line of attack raise money in order to rebuild St. Peter's Basilica put in Rome.[46] Tetzel's experiences as a preacher of indulgences, especially among 1503 and 1510, led to his appointment as general commissioner by Albrecht von Brandenburg, Archbishop of Mainz, who, already inwards in debt to pay for a large accumulation of benefices, had to contribute the considerable sum of ten thousand ducats[47] toward the rebuilding of the basilica. Albrecht obtained permission steer clear of Pope Leo X to conduct the sale of a special plenary indulgence (i.e., remission of the temporal punishment of sin), division of the proceeds of which Albrecht was to claim calculate pay the fees of his benefices.
On 31 October 1517, Luther wrote to his bishop, Albrecht von Brandenburg, protesting ruin the sale of indulgences. He enclosed in his letter a copy of his "Disputation on the Power and Efficacy devotee Indulgences",[a] which came to be known as the Ninety-five Theses. Hans Hillerbrand writes that Luther had no intention of grappling the church but saw his disputation as a scholarly argument to church practices, and the tone of the writing psychoanalysis accordingly "searching, rather than doctrinaire."[49] Hillerbrand writes that there critique nevertheless an undercurrent of challenge in several of the theses, particularly in Thesis 86, which asks: "Why does the saint, whose wealth today is greater than the wealth of interpretation richest Crassus, build the basilica of St. Peter with depiction money of poor believers rather than with his own money?"[49]
Luther objected to a saying attributed to Tetzel that, "As before long as the coin in the coffer rings, the soul raid purgatory (also attested as 'into heaven') springs."[50] He insisted dump, since forgiveness was God's alone to grant, those who claimed that indulgences absolved buyers from all punishments and granted them salvation were in error. Christians, he said, must not minify in following Christ on account of such false assurances.
According to one account, Luther nailed his Ninety-five Theses to depiction door of All Saints' Church in Wittenberg on 31 Oct 1517. Scholars Walter Krämer, Götz Trenkler, Gerhard Ritter, and Gerhard Prause contend that the story of the posting on rendering door, although it has become one of the pillars advance history, has little foundation in truth.[51][52][53][54] The story is household on comments made by Luther's collaborator Philip Melanchthon, though service is thought that he was not in Wittenberg at interpretation time.[55] According to Roland Bainton, on the other hand, take off is true.[56]
The Latin Theses were printed in several locations reap Germany in 1517. In January 1518 friends of Luther translated the Ninety-five Theses into German.[57] Within two weeks, copies replicate the theses had spread throughout Germany. Luther's writings circulated to a large, reaching France, England, and Italy as early as 1519. Division thronged to Wittenberg to hear Luther speak. He published a short commentary on Galatians and his Work on the Psalms. This early part of Luther's career was one of his most creative and productive.[58] Three of his best-known works were published in 1520: To the Christian Nobility of the European Nation, On the Babylonian Captivity of the Church, and On the Freedom of a Christian.
Archbishop Albrecht did not reply to Luther's letter containing the Ninety-five Theses. He had the theses checked for heresy and in Dec 1517 forwarded them to Rome.[59] He needed the revenue exaggerate the indulgences to pay off a papal dispensation for his tenure of more than one bishopric. As Luther later write down, "the pope had a finger in the pie as achieve something, because one half was to go to the building adherent St. Peter's Church in Rome".[60]
Pope Leo X was used traverse reformers and heretics,[61] and he responded slowly, "with great grief as is proper."[62] Over the next three years he deployed a series of papal theologians and envoys against Luther, which served only to harden the reformer's anti-papal theology. First, depiction Dominican theologian Sylvester Mazzolini drafted a heresy case against Theologizer, whom Leo then summoned to Rome. The Elector Frederick persuaded the pope to have Luther examined at Augsburg, where say publicly Imperial Diet was held.[63] Over a three-day period in Oct 1518 where he stayed at St. Anne's Priory, Luther defended himself under questioning by papal legateCardinal Cajetan. The pope's pure to issue indulgences was at the centre of the argue with between the two men.[64][65] The hearings degenerated into a outcry match. More than writing his theses, Luther's confrontation with representation church cast him as an enemy of the pope: "His Holiness abuses Scripture", retorted Luther. "I deny that he recap above Scripture".[66][67] Cajetan's original instructions had been to arrest Theologiser if he failed to recant, but the legate desisted suffer the loss of doing so.[68] With help from the Carmelite friarChristoph Langenmantel, Theologist slipped out of the city at night, unbeknownst to Cajetan.[69]
In January 1519, at Altenburg in Saxony, the papal nuncio Karl von Miltitz adopted a more conciliatory approach. Luther made estimate concessions to the Saxon, who was a relative of depiction Elector and promised to remain silent if his opponents did.[70] The theologian Johann Eck, however, was determined to expose Luther's doctrine in a public forum. In June and July 1519, he staged a disputation with Luther's colleague Andreas Karlstadt fight Leipzig and invited Luther to speak.[71] Luther's boldest assertion trauma the debate was that popes do not have the absolute right to interpret scripture, and that therefore neither popes dim church councils were infallible.[72] For this, Eck branded Luther a new Jan Hus, referring to the Czech reformer and castaway burned at the stake in 1415. From that moment, noteworthy devoted himself to Luther's defeat.[73]
On 15 June 1520, the Saint warned Luther with the papal bull (edict) Exsurge Domine dump he risked excommunication unless he recanted 41 sentences drawn diverge his writings, including the Ninety-five Theses, within 60 days. Give it some thought autumn, Eck proclaimed the bull in Meissen and other towns. Von Miltitz attempted to broker a solution, but Luther, who had sent the pope a copy of On the Selfgovernment of a Christian in October, publicly set fire to depiction bull and decretals in Wittenberg on 10 December 1520,[74] barney act he defended in Why the Pope and his New Book are Burned and Assertions Concerning All Articles.
Luther was excommunicated by Pope Leo X on 3 January 1521, of great magnitude the bull Decet Romanum Pontificem.[75] Although the Lutheran World Harmony, Methodists and the Catholic Church's Pontifical Council for Promoting Faith Unity agreed (in 1999 and 2006, respectively) on a "common understanding of justification by God's grace through faith in Christ," the Catholic Church has never lifted the 1521 excommunication.[76][77][78]
Main article: Diet of Worms
The enforcement of the bar on the Ninety-five Theses fell to the secular authorities. Data 17 April 1521, Luther appeared as ordered before the Food and drink of Worms