Where and When Martin Luther Was Born
Martin Luther was a German professor of theology and an influential figure whose writings catalyzed the protestant reformation. He was born in Eisleben, Germany, on November 10, 1483. Luther was later enrolled in a school in Mansfield at the age of five, where he was trained to write the Ten Commandments, the Lord's Prayer, and Apostles Creed ( Wicks, 2016) . He later enrolled for higher education at the University of Erfurt and received a baccalaureate degree in liberal arts in 1502. His time at the university exposed him to scholasticism, which influenced his decision to abandon graduate work in law and join the monastery in Erfurt. In 1507, Martin Luther was ordained into the priesthood, where he observed the strict teachings of the mosaic rule ( Wicks, 2016) .
Luther was, however, dissatisfied with such teachings on indulgence and good deeds and wrote the “Ninety-five Theses." The teachings of Luther's writings on salvation were against the beliefs of the Roman Catholic Church. Luther's teaching on winning salvation and eternal life rested on three main ideas; God's grace of forgiveness and having faith by believing in Jesus Christ. Luther was excommunicated from the Catholic Church after refusing to renounce all of his writings. Luther’s teachings aimed at enhancing freedom for Christians (Luther, 2016). He further set the pace of protestant reformation by translating the Bible into German vernacular, which influenced the translation into the English language.
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Influences that Shaped Luther
The agony of death, while in a horrific thunderstorm, made Martin Luther cry out to St. Anne to save him, influenced his decision to serve as a monk. The terrific incident made Luther abandon his lucrative law career and entered the monastery. He was later ordained as a catholic priest, where he gained more exposure on the workings of the Catholic Church. Luther became satisfied with the Catholic teachings on indulgence towards obtaining salvation from God. As a result, Luther wrote the Ninety-five Theses, The Two Kinds of Righteousness, The Freedom of Christians, and The Pagan Servitude of the Church , which was subservient to the Catholic Church, thereby setting the pace for Protestant Reformation ( Luther, 2016) .
The early education of Martin Luther in religious matter played a vital role in shaping his interest in religion and theology. He learned about the Ten Commandments, the Lord's Prayer, and the Apostles Creed from an early age. Teachings from the Brethren of the Common Life on the importance of personal piety also exerted a lasting influence on Martin Luther. Luther's time while studying for a baccalaureate degree at the University of Erfurt also shaped hi belief on religion through thorough exposure to Scholasticism (Wick, 2016).
Luther was more convinced by faith alone in Christ. The two kinds of righteousness that he taught include alien and proper and righteousness. Alien occurs when Christ justifies sinners from the outside through baptism or repentance, thereby transforming people to live in the footsteps of Christ. The proper righteousness is attained through good work and service to one’s neighbor with love. Luther’s teachings were meant to make people stay away from sin by being righteous and living the life desired by Christ. Luther’s motivation for writing about the freedom of Christians was to bring the faithful back to Christ. By submitting to Christ through Faith, a believer will become dutiful to serve God because one’s sins or eternal damnation will be exchanged for Christ’s grace ( Kirby, 2017) . The teachings perpetrated by the medieval Church about baptism primarily influenced Luther to write "The Pagan Servitude of the Church." Luther argued that the medieval understanding of accomplishing baptism was distorting the true meaning of the holy process ( Howard, 2018).
The Political, Economic and Social Stand of the Church during the Period
The Church was undergoing some economic, political, and social turbulence at the time Martin Luther decided to write his theses to revolt against the Roman papacy. There was massive corruption perpetrated by the pope’s office. For instance, church leaders engaged in simony (the selling of church offices) and nepotism. Luther also found out that the Catholic way of obtaining justification from God, through the doctrine of indulgence and good works was misleading ( Howard, 2018) . The Church was selling indulgences to the poor to obtain remission of sins. As a result, the faithful continued to remain poor, and the pope, together with their families and close friends, increased their wealth exponentially.
The office of the pope claimed both temporal and spiritual power. However, the pope was concentrating more on worldly political issues and had no time to care for the souls of the faithful. The pope lived like kings and involved in various activities like commanding armies and making political alliances and enemies. Luther revolted, after realizing that most of the practices of the Catholic were against the teachings of Christ. Luther was convinced that justification was by faith in Christ alone through God’s grace of forgiveness.
Issues or Circumstances That Led to the Rise of Luther’s Texts
He lived at a period where the Roman Catholic Church observed strict teachings on salvation and eternal life. The Catholic Church taught that good deeds could only earn salvation and eternal life. According to Luther, “good deeds” as taught by the Church were not needed for salvation (Wick, 2016). Luther decided to conduct an academic debate on indulgences by drafting the writings to challenge the teachings of the medieval Church about justification. For instance, the medieval Church taught that baptism was merely washing away sin and that the sacrament of penance must continue it. Luther argued that penance only made man (priests) equal to God because they assumed the power to forgive sin.
References
Howard, K. C. (2018). From the Poor Clares to the Care of the Poor: Space, Place, and Poverty in Sixteenth-Century Geneva. Footnotes: A Journal of History , 2 , 260-285.
Kirby, T. (2017). Cognition and Action: Conversion and “Virtue Ethics” in the Loci Communes of Peter Martyr Vermigli. In From Rome to Zurich, between Ignatius and Vermigli (pp. 163-179). Brill.
Luther, M. (2016). The Freedom of a Christian, 1520: The Annotated Luther Study Edition . Fortress Press.
Wicks, J. (2016). Luther and his spiritual legacy (Vol. 1). Wipf and Stock Publishers.
