Martin Luther's contributions to the Protestant Reformation

Martin Luther was an important figure in the Roman Catholic Church who forever altered Christian thought. Martin Luther's contributions to church history will forever be remembered. The purpose of this discussion is to provide a biography of the martin Luther and to explain his importance in reformation and the development of Christian thought.

Biography

Martin Luther was born in the year 1483 in Eislenberg, in the eastern Region of Germany to Marguerite and Han's Luther (Ritter & Riches, 1963). Luther's father Han's was a miner but he wanted his son to get an education and become a lawyer.

To this end, Martin Luther was sent to several different schools including the University of Erfur't (Ritter & Riches, 1963). While at the University he began to excel as a scholar and it seemed that he would become a lawyer.

However, Martin Luther's endeavor to become a lawyer was cut short by a storm that endangered Martin Luther's life in the year 1505. Martin Luther promised God that if he would be saved from the storm, he would become a monk (Ritter & Riches, 1963).

He was saved from the storm and later on that year he became a monk at the Augustinian Monastery in Erfurt (Ritter & Riches, 1963).

Several biographers have asserted that Martin Luther was always vacillating over whether or not he made the right decision by joining the monastery instead of becoming a lawyer (Ritter & Riches, 1963). It has also been asserted that martin Luther was never very secure in his salvation and joining the monastery was one of the ways that he sought to reassure himself. Five years after joining the monastery, Luther was sent to Rome with a group of monks from his monastery (Ritter & Riches, 1963). It was upon visiting Rome that Martin Luther began to question the tenets of the faith. Luther also recognized a great deal of corruption within the Catholic Church.

Eventually Martin Luther left the Monastery in Erfurt and joined another Monastery in Wittenberg. While living in Wittenburg, Luther earned a degree and theology and gained employment as a professor at the University of Wittenburg (Ritter & Riches, 1963). While lecturing at the University, Luther began to form and express some of his opinions concerning salvation (Ritter & Riches, 1963). One of the issues that Martin Luther had with the concept of salvation and the Catholic Church had to do with the concept of grace as opposed to deeds being the justification for salvation (Ritter & Riches, 1963). It was during a series of lecture on Romans that Martin Luther came to the epiphany that Grace was a gift from God.

In 1517 Martin Luther produced one of his most studied works, the Disputation on the Power and Efficacy of Indulgence also referred to as the Ninety-Five Theses. The work called into question the selling of indulgences by the church and it also presented the idea of justification by grace (Ritter & Riches, 1963).

Key to Martin Luther's assertions was the theology of the cross. This theory posits that salvation comes as a result of the grace of god and not as a result of the deeds that one performs, which was the stance of the church (Ritter & Riches, 1963). The theology of the cross presented salvation as a gift that merely has to be accepted as opposed something that has to be earned. Luther asserted that the teachings of the church were leaving people confused and unsure concerning their salvation and that this teaching needed reformation.

A copy of the work was presented to the Archbishop Albrecht of Mainz. The assertions presented in the Theses were viewed as an insult to the church and seen as an attack against the leadership of the church and the belief system of the Church. According to Sobolewski (2001)

Acting according to an evangelical theology that had emerged from his lectures in Bible at Wittenberg since 1513 and reacting to the recent indulgence preaching of John Tetzel, OP, (1465-1519) in Juterborg and Zerbst near Wittenberg, Luther submitted the theses to Archbishop Albrecht of Mainz (1490-1545). The archbishop had authorized this preaching to finance curial fees for the multiple Episcopal offices that made him the most powerful churchman in the Holy Roman Empire.

Intended to begin an academic disputation, Luther's theses, as stated in a companion letter to Albrecht, were to remedy a gross misunderstanding of the Catholic faith among the people that the indulgence-preachers promoted. By that preaching, Luther emoted to Albrecht, "O great God! The souls committed to your care, excellent Father, are thus directed to death (Sobolewski,2001, pg 57-58)."

To present his position to the church, Martin Luther met with the Augustinian Order in Heidelberg (Sobolewski,2001). This became known as the Heidelberg disputation. During this disputation Luther was told that he needed to retract the statements made in the theses. However Martin Luther refused to take back any of the positions that he presented. The catholic authorities were very dismayed by his decision and he was viewed as a traitor and eventually he was excommunicated (Sobolewski,2001).

In addition to being excommunicated Martin Luther was labeled a heretic and criticized severely for the stances that he took. At the time of his assertions and throughout the centuries following his death, Martin Luther was viewed by many as a heretic who had no respect for authority or the teachings of the Catholic Church (Sobolewski,2001). His stance on the aforementioned issues was viewed as a revolt against the Church. Luther was even accused of being possessed with demonic spirits because of his positions on the teachings and practices of the Catholic Church. One author asserted that "His revolt was caused by monkish envy of the Dominican, Tetzel; he lusts after wine and women, is without conscience, and approves any means to gain his end. He thinks only of himself. He is a liar and a hypocrite, cowardly and quarrelsome (Sobolewski, 2001-page 18)."

Conclusion

The purpose of this discussion was to provide a biography of the martin Luther and to explain his importance in reformation and the development of Christian thought. The research found that Martin Luther was born in eastern Germany in the 15th century. The research discovered that Martin Luther originally studied to become a Lawyer but had a near death experience which influenced his decision to become a monk. While living in a monastery and studying theology Martin Luther came to certain revelations concerning the nature of salvation. He was so compelled but his new found perceptions on salvation and other issues that he developed the 95 theses that spell out these issues. When the theses was presented to the church authorities, it was rejected and Martin Luther was asked to recant his assertions. His refusal eventually led to his excommunication and the churches rejection of his beliefs at the time.

Throughout the centuries Martin Luther's assertions have been challenged and he has often been referred to as a heretic. However the theology of the cross that he presented so many centuries ago has now become commonly accepted as fact. In addition, his theology of the cross has been studied and upheld by many theologians in and outside of the Catholic Church.

Overall Martin Luther's thoughts challenged conventional ways of thinking associated with Catholic teachings. Although Martin Luther was not the first or the last to challenge the doctrines of the Catholic church, he was certainly one of the most vocal and his dedication to his beliefs were instrumental in the reformations that eventually took place throughout Christendom.