Historical Figure
Martin Luther
d. 1546
German priest, theologian and author (1483–1546)
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Biography
Martin Luther was a German priest, theologian, author, hymnwriter, professor, and former Augustinian friar. Luther was the seminal figure of the Protestant Reformation, and his theological beliefs form the basis of Lutheranism. He is widely regarded as one of the most influential figures in Western and Christian history.
Timeline
The story of Martin Luther, told in moments.
Posts the Ninety-Five Theses on the door of the Castle Church in Wittenberg. He's angry about the sale of indulgences, which promise reduced time in purgatory for cash. The theses are written in Latin. They're translated, printed, and distributed across Germany within weeks, thanks to the printing press. He didn't intend a revolution. He gets one.
Summoned to the Diet of Worms before Emperor Charles V. Asked to recant his writings. "Here I stand. I can do no other." Whether he said those exact words is debated. He refuses to recant. The Emperor declares him an outlaw. On the ride home, armed men kidnap him. It's staged. Frederick the Wise has him hidden in Wartburg Castle.
Translates the New Testament into German in 11 weeks while hiding in Wartburg. He works from the Greek, not the Latin Vulgate. He wants every farmer and maid to read scripture in their own language. The translation helps standardize the German language itself. He completes the full Bible in 1534.
Marries Katharina von Bora, a former nun who escaped her convent in a fish barrel. He's 41. She's 26. They have six children. "Before I was married, the bed was not made for a whole year and became foul with sweat," he writes. "But I worked so hard and was so tired I just fell in." Katharina takes charge.
Dies in Eisleben, the same town where he was born. He is 62. His excommunication was never lifted. His later writings include vicious antisemitic tracts calling for the expulsion of Jews and the burning of synagogues. Lutheranism becomes one of the dominant forces in European Christianity. Germany splits along religious lines for centuries.
In Their Own Words (20)
My whole heart and soul are stirred and incensed against the Turks and Mohammed, when I see this intolerable raging of the Devil. Therefore I shall pray and cry to God, nor rest until I know that my cry is heard in heaven.
Statement while being confined to residence at Coburg, as quoted in History of the Christian Church, (1910) by Philip Schaff, Vol. VII : Modern Christianity : The German Reformation, § 123. Luther at the Coburg; though it mentions Muhammad, this remark might actually be directed at those responsible for his confinement, as he makes allusions to dwelling in the "empire of birds" and his location as a "Sinai" and regularly uses other uncomplimentary comparisons of those involved in suppressing his ideas to figures unpopular to himself and his contemporaries., 1910
Regarding the plan to collect my writings in volumes, I am quite cool and not at all eager about it because, roused by a Saturnian hunger, I would rather see them all devoured. For I acknowledge none of them to be really a book of mine, except perhaps the one On the Bound Will and the Catechism.
Letter to Wolfgang Capito (9 July 1537), 1537
Our stubbornness is right, because we want to preserve the liberty which we have in Christ. Only by preserving our liberty shall we be able to retain the truth of the Gospel inviolate.
Chapter 2, 1535
Some will object that the Law is divine and holy. Let it be divine and holy. The Law has no right to tell me that I must be justified by it.
Chapter 2, 1535
We refuse to have our conscience bound by any work or law, so that by doing this or that we should be righteous, or leaving this or that undone we should be damned.
Chapter 2, 1535
Artifacts (15)
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