MARTIN LUTHER

MARTIN LUTHER

Giant of the Reformation

Martin Luther was born on November 10, 1483, in Eisleben, Germany. As a young man, lightning nearly struck him, and he pledged to become a monk if God would spare his life. He made good on his promise and entered a monastery. On April 3, 1507, Luther was ordained a priest and later became a professor at the University of Wittenberg.

Still Luther felt tormented by his sins and did not sense God’s favor. The harder he worked to be "good," the worse he felt until one day he read Romans 1:17: "The just shall live by faith."

He had not realized that one cannot earn God’s favor. It is a gift from God, received by faith alone. After Martin accepted God’s gift, his first question was, "Why didn’t I learn this from my church?"

He looked around. The people were told that to please God they must buy "indulgences" (written pardons for sin) and obey church rules. This brought money into the church treasury and kept the people under control for the government. But it was a fraud.

Luther first tried to convince church leaders that they had to teach the truth. A few agreed, and Duke Frederick of Saxony sympathized. But most church and state leaders saw Luther’s ideas as a threat to their power.

The struggle came to a head with Luther’s trial in the city of Worms. He refused to take back what he had written unless the Bible proved him wrong. He might have been executed shortly thereafter had not Duke Frederick protected him.

As the Reformation gained momentum, it turned violent when peasants revolted with their new-found "freedom." In the end, wealthy landowners won and slaughtered thousands of peasants.

Luther died in 1546, but his church reforms lived on as the Lutheran church.