Martin Luther

Martin Luther (November 10, 1483 ‒ February 18, 1546) was a German monk and theologian of Christianity credited with leading the Protestant Reformation, a movement that marked the start of Protestantism. Luther founded the Lutheran Church, the first large Protestant church.

Early life

Martin Luther studied philosophy at the University of Erfurt. In 1505, he entered into the Augustinian Order as a monk. Luther studied theology and ancient languages in Erfurt. In 1512 he became a doctor of theology in Wittenberg and began his lectures on the Psalms and the Letters of Saint Paul.

Break with Catholicism

Ninety-Five Theses

In October 1517, Luther wrote his Ninety-Five Theses. Many people think that he put them on the door of a church in Wittenberg, but no one said so at the time and so that may be a myth. Instead, he published a copy and presented it to church officials at Worms Cathedral.Kevin Wright, The Christian Travel Planner (Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson, 2008), p. 155 Luther called it The Disputation of Doctor Martin Luther on the Power and Efficacy of Indulgences. It questioned the teaching of the Catholic Church, its ideas about penance, the authority of the Pope, and the usefulness of indulgences.

The Catholic Church was selling indulgences to get out of purgatory and to go right to heaven after death. Indulgences were sold for money for the dead so that they could go to heaven faster. Poor people could not be able to go to heaven as quickly, but the priests in the church could be rich from selling them. Luther thought that all of that was wrong and against the Bible.

Five solas

After studying the Letters of Paul, especially the Letter to Romans, Luther came up with the idea sola fide. That means that only by faith can people get salvation by God. That would mean that many of the Church's customs were useless and so should be cast away. Luther at first believed that he could reform the Church from the inside and wanted to stay part of it, but the papacy considered his Theses to be as heresy and excommunicated him on June 15, 1520, with a paper saying that he did not have its permission to go to heaven. In October, Luther burned the paper in public and showed he would not obey it unless it accepted his words.

Emperor Charles V opened the imperial Diet of Worms on January 22, 1521 to hear the case. For Luther, it was the last chance to say that he had been wrong. However, he did not change his mind and so the Diet declared Luther an outlaw.Bratcher, Dennis. "The Edict of Worms (1521)," in The Voice: Biblical and Theological Resources for Growing Christians. Retrieved July 13, 2007.

Church activities

With the help of a friend, Luther hid in Wartburg Castle, near Erfurt. There, he translated the Bible. He wrote the New Testament in German, instead of the original Greek. Later, he translated the Old Testament into German from Hebrew. Until then, the Mass and the Bible were usually in Latin, which very few people understood. That made most people going to Mass not understand what the priest was saying. Luther translated the Bible so that more people could read and understand it. They now no longer depended on the priest to tell them what was in the Bible, but they could read it themselves.

Luther started his own church, the Lutheran Church, with his friend Philip Melanchthon. Luther strongly believed that his cause was righteous. He wrote harsh criticism against his enemies, especially Catholics and Jews, who he believed to be false prophets from the Devil. He rejected Jewish beliefs about the Old Testament and accused Jewish leaders of lying. He advised rulers to deal violently with the Jews in their realms. Those arguments make him controversial.

Later life

From the Bible, Luther formed firm ideas about families. Luther knew that what a child learned at home would greatly influence his life. He said in Table Talks, "Sermons very little edify children, who learn little thereby; it is more needful they be taught and well instructed in schools, and at home, and that they be learned and examined what they have learned; this way profits much; 'tis very wearisome, but very necessary." Luther also preached against the Catholic Church's refusal to let priests marry. After hearing his preaching, many nuns wrote to him to ask for help in escaping their convents. Luther helped nine nuns escape from a convent. On April 4, 1524, Luther had a friend help the nuns sneak over the wall and hid them in barrels on a wagon until they were out of the city. One of the nuns was Katherine von Bora.
After finding husbands for the nuns whose families would not accept them, Luther had to find a husband for Katherine. Katherine, however, rejected a match that Luther had arranged for her, and said that she would accept only Luther or another pastor, Nicolaus von Amsdorf, as her husband.

At first, Luther did not really like Katherine and thought that "she was proud and haughty." His feelings changed, however, and they married on June 13, 1525. Luther later said, "And thank God it hath turned out well; for I have a pious (holy, God-loving) and faithful wife, to whom one may safely commit (give) his heart." They had six children. On June 6, 1526, Luther wrote, "I am a happy husband... for from the most precious woman, my best of wives, I have received, by the blessing of God, a little son, John Luther, and, by God's wonderful grace, I have become a father." 

The firstborn was John Luther. The next was a daughter, Elizabeth, but she died when she was just eight months old, and Luther wrote in a letter, "My little daughter Elizabeth is taken from me, and hath left me with a bleeding and almost womanly heart, so sad am I on her account. I never thought the heart of a father was so tender towards his children. Pray the Lord for me." A third child, Magdalene, also died young. Then came Martin, then Paul, and finally Margaret. It was for his children that Luther wrote the Small Catechism, a book showing the basics of Lutheran beliefs.

Death

Luther died in 1546 of natural causes.

Antisemitism

Despite his historical contributions to Christianity and important role in European history, Luther held highly problematic views about Jews. Halpérin, Jean, and Arne Sovik, eds. Luther, Lutheranism and the Jews: A Record of the Second Consultation between Representatives of The International Jewish Committee for Interreligious Consultation and the Lutheran World Federation Held in Stockholm, Sweden, 11–13 July 1983. Geneva: LWF, 1984.
 Oberman, Heiko A. The Roots of Anti-Semitism in the Age of Renaissance and Reformation. James I. Porter, trans. Philadelphia: Fortress Press, 1984. .
 Tjernagel, Neelak S. Martin Luther and the Jewish People. Milwaukee: Northwestern Publishing House, 1985. .
 Wallmann, Johannes. "The Reception of Luther's Writings on the Jews from the Reformation to the End of the 19th Century." Lutheran Quarterly 1 (Spring 1987) 1:72–97.

 Gritsch, Eric W. Martin Luther's Anti-Semitism: Against His Better Judgement. Grand Rapids, Michigan: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 2012. . On the Jews and Their Lies (1543), a 65,000-word thesis written by Luther, a 16th-century Christian reformer, consists of accusations of "Jewish conspiracy against Christianity" and incitement to extreme violence towards Jews. The claims in Luther's 16th-century book are still being promoted by some influencers.

In his book, he classified Jews as the biggest threat to Christianity and called for these actions against them:"Luther, Martin", JewishEncyclopedia.com; cf. Luther's Works, Americaan Edition, 55 vols., (St. Louis and Philadelphia: Concordia Publishing House and Fortress Press, 1955–86) 47:267.

 First, to set fire to their synagogues or schools [...] This is to be done in honor of our Lord and of Christendom, so that God might see that we are Christians [...]
 Second, I advise that their houses also be razed and destroyed.
 Sixth, I advise that [...] all cash and treasure of silver and gold be taken from them [...]
 But if we are afraid that they might harm us [...] then let us emulate the common sense of other nations such as France, Spain, Bohemia [...] eject them forever from the country.

In his sermon Warning against the Jews on February 18, 1546, Luther said,Martin Brecht, Martin Luther, 3 vols. (Minneapolis: Fortress Press, 1993), 3:371.

Meanwhile, Luther was a folk hero in Nazi Germany,Richard Steigmann-Gall, The Holy Reich: Nazi Conceptions of Christianity, 1919–1945, (Cambridge University Press, 2003), p.138. and his teachings were widely circulated among the public. Luther's statues were also built across Nazi Germany, along with regular celebrations of "German Luther Day", a national holiday designated by Adolf Hitler in 1933.


It is important to note, however, that modern-day Lutherans do not uphold Luther's anti-semitism; the Lutheran Church–Missouri Synod "deeply regrets, deplores, and repudiates" it. Similarly, the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America does not approve of Luther's attacks against Jewish people.

Johannes Wallman (1930–2021), a professor of church history at the Ruhr-Universität Bochum, wrote in 1987:

Richard Steigmann-Gall, a history professor at Kent State University, wrote in his 2003 book The Holy Reich: Nazi Conceptions of Christianity, 1919–1945:

Movies

Since the time of the silent movies, 28 movies about Luther that have been made. The newest one, Luther, was released in 2003.

Related pages

 Jan Hus
 John Calvin
 Huldrych Zwingli
 Anti-Judaism and antisemitism
 Comparison among Protestants

References

Other websites

 Martin Luther - Eine Bibliographie (German) 
 Full text in English of the 95 theses 
 Disputatione pro declaratione virtutis indulgentiarum (95 Theses, in Latin, at Wikisource)
 Project Wittenberg, a collection of Luther's text
 Repository of Luther's works at Project Gutenberg

Category:Racism in Europe
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