Martin Luther By: Katlyn Birgensmith

Basic Information Born: November 10 th, 1483 –To a miner’s family –In Saxony, in Central Germany Died- February 18 th, 1546 Profession(s) –Decided to be a Lawyer; didn’t become one –German monk –Theologian –Church reformer –The founder of Protestantism Not a lawyer because… –He was struck by lightning –In his terror he cried out to St. Anne that he would enter a monastery Life in the Monastery –Wanted to pursue every possible opportunity to purify himself in the sight of God –Flailed (beat/cut) himself –Denied himself things

Luther as a Priest At the first mass –Almost didn’t perform transubstantiation Left the Church for a short time –Taught at Whitenburg University in Saxony Luther’s views –He began to understand that he only needed to rely on God’s mercy and that faith would be enough to remove sin –Felt that a true Christian did not need the Bible and the Sacraments to worship properly Luther returned to the Church shortly there after He tried to present his ideas to the Church officials What he saw disgusted him Friar Johann Tetzel was selling corrupt indulgences to relieve time in purgatory This caused Luther to “break” with the Church He published his 95 Thesis's and posted it on the Church door Luther felt that the Pope, Priests, and Friars did not truly have the power to grant indulgences and that Jesus would have done it for free

The 95 Thesis's Published on October 31 st, 1517 It described that the Pope could only right the sins that he or Canon law committed It was written in Latin so that the Priests could read it It was not intended for the average person Shortly after, it got printed in German so that everyone could read it This document was against Pope Leo X

Other Writings An Address to the Christian Nobility of the German Nation –Purpose: to convince the German people to reject the Pope’s authority The Babylonian Captivity –Attacked the seven sacraments –Only accepted the Baptism and the Eucharist as true Sacraments The Liberty of the Christian Man –Insisted only the individual’s faith could bring salvation

The Diet of Worms????????? A diet is a meeting. Worms is a city. Purpose: to get Luther to recant his actions Martin Luther threw the edict in a fire This got Martin Luther excommunicated

Charles V of Spain v. Frederick III Charles thought that Martin Luther should be arrested He also thought that all of Luther’s works should be burned Frederick wanted to protect Luther, (he did many times) Frederick was also a very strong supporter of Lutheranism

How did Luther ultimately gain safety? He was falsely kidnapped He hid in a castle for almost a year This plan worked

Luther's basic insights are enduring and helpful for later generations. The most important are these... (1) Humankind is entrapped in the ancient temptation to play God (Genesis 3:5), violating the first of all divine commandments, "You shall have no other gods." (2) Liberation from this original sin comes through faith of at least two people... one who tells another of Christ as the source of freedom from sin, and one who, so addressed, affirms faith in Christ alone. (3) The Christian life is one in which, though we are sinners by nature, we are at the same time saints by God's grace and love. (4) The Christian life is lived in two realms that belong equally to God... church and society. This calls for Christian commitment to education, fair economic practices, and a life of mission to the ungodly. And so, the church is born again and again, vigilant against the sin of idolatry (playing God) and confident that trust in Christ alone (justification by faith) is the only source of freedom and salvation. The Christian thus freed is called to serve all God's children in the world.