Midterm Report: Martin Luther - Sara Kate Martin, Olivia Garrett, Ashley Wyatt, Emily Mannella - Section 9

Martin Luther was the child of Margaret and Hans Luther and was born on November 10^th, 1483 in the Holy Roman Empire. Hans Luther wanted a stable life for Martin, so he sent him to school at the age of seven. In school Martin studied Master of Arts, so he could become a lawyer. However, one trip changed everything for Martin. In July of 1505, Martin got caught in a thunderstorm, in which he was sure that he would die. So, he cried out to St. Anna and promised her that he would become a monk in exchange for her saving his life. He survived the storm and became a monk at the Augustinian monastery that same year. He was able to get his Doctor of Theology degree and then began studying Psalms from the Bible. Through his studies he discovered God’s righteousness. This is when his interest in Philosophy began, and he started questioning the Roman Catholic church.

During Martin Luther’s time, many were already questioning the Roman Catholic Church. Translations of the Bible were becoming easily accessible. Luther believed the Bible to be the ultimate religious authority and that one could reach salvation only by faith and God’s divine grace; however, the Church taught that “good deeds” saved your soul and sold “indulgences” to supposedly provided salvation to sinners. Indulgences were banned in Germany, but the Church continued this corrupt practice.

Martin Luther’s 95 Theses, also known as the Disputation on the Power and Efficacy of Indulgences, was pinned to the door of the All Saints’ Church October 31, 1517, marking the beginning of the Protestant Reformation. Johann Tetzel, a friar, sold indulgences to renovate the St. Peter’s Basilica in Rome. The actions of Tetzel inspired Thesis 86, which states “Why does not the pope, whose wealth today is greater than the wealth of the richest Crassus, build the basilica of St. Peter with his own money rather than with the money of poor believers?”

The 95 Theses left a lasting impact. It supported the idea that all believers were equal. Therefore, you did not need priests. It also called out the Church for being greedy and over-taxing. Obviously, this did not sit well with the Church. The Church issued his writings as heretical and ordered that any of Martin Luther’s writings be burned. They also declared anyone who followed Luther’s teachings or writings heretics.

Luther wrote other works that sparked the attention of the church. In November 1518, the Pope declared Luther’s writings heretical and ordered two papal commissions to examine his work. The first stated his writings were heretical, meaning they opposed the views of the Church. The second stated his writings were “scandalous and offensive to pious ears.” Luther was given 120 days to recant, but Luther refused. He was ordered to recant several times, yet he again refused and went into hiding in Eisenach, Germany for a year and began translating the New Testament into German. The translation which took ten years to complete.