Martin Luther
MARTIN LUTHER
Martin Luther, born in Eisleben, Saxony, in 1483, was sent to the University of Erfurt. There he entered the monastery of the Augustinians and met an old man of his order with whom he discussed many things, especially the remission of sins.
Here he learned the full meaning of Paul’s statement, “We are justified by faith.” Through his readings of the prophets and apostles and the exercise of faith in prayer, Luther came to believe the truth of Paul’s statement and realized the error of what was being taught by the church’s schoolmen. In his four years at Erfurt, Luther also read Augustine, Gabriel, Cameracensis, Oceam, Aquinas, Scotus, and Gerson, preferring Augustine above the others.
In 1508, at the age of twenty-six, Luther began teaching and preaching at the University of Wittenberg, impressing many educated men with his scholarship. Three years later he traveled to Rome about a disagreement among the monks and was granted his doctorate at the expense of the Duke of Saxony on his return. Luther soon began to compare the Epistle to the Romans and the Psalms, showing people the difference between the law and the Gospel. He also argued against the error that said men could earn remission of their sins through works, leading his listeners and readers to God’s remission of sins, through love of Jesus, not through indulgences or pilgrimages.
All this time, Luther changed nothing in the ceremonies, carefully observing the rules of his order. The only way he differed from other priests was in stressing the role of faith in the remission of sins.
In 1516, Pope Leo X began selling pardons, by which he gained a large amount of money from people who were eager to save the souls of their loved ones. His collectors assured the people that for every ten shillings they gave, one specified soul would be delivered from the pains of purgatory. The pope’s collector in Germany was a Dominican friar named Tetzel.
On September 30, 1517, Luther put his objections to this practice on the temple adjoining the castle of Wittenberg. Tetzel immediately called him a heretic, burning his objections and his sermons on indulgences. Luther replied that he was not totally against indulgences but preferred they be used in moderation. Soon Maximilian (the German emperor), Charles (the king of Spain), and the pope contacted Duke Frederick of Saxony and asked him to silence Luther. The duke conferred with many educated men on the problem, including Erasmus, who supported Luther but urged a little more moderation in his writing and preaching. Duke Frederick communicated his concern to Luther but took no action to silence him. The argument continued, but in 1518, Luther wrote to the pope, totally submitting himself to his authority.
On August 7, 1518, Luther was ordered to appear before the pope in Rome. The University of Wittenberg and Duke Frederick immediately sent letters back to the pope requesting that Cardinal Cajetan in Augsburg hear Luther. The pope told Cajetan to call Luther before him in Augsburg and bring him to Rome by force, if necessary.
Early in October, Luther traveled to Augsburg at the request of the cardinal, waiting there three days to receive a promise of safe conduct from the emperor. When Luther came before him, Cajetan rather gently demanded three things of him:
That he repent and revoke his errors.
That he promise not to revert back to them.
That he not do anything that would trouble the church.
When Luther asked exactly where he had erred, the cardinal showed him Clement’s papal bull on indulgences and maintained that faith isn’t necessary to someone who receives the sacrament.
In his written reply to the cardinal, Luther stated that the pope was to be obeyed as long as what he says agrees with the scriptures, but that the pope may make mistakes, and any faithful Christian has the right to disagree with him if he is using better reason or better authority for his opinions. He also stated that no one is righteous and that a person receiving the sacrament must believe.
The cardinal told Luther to go away until he was ready to repent. Luther waited for three days in Augsburg then sent a message to the cardinal that he would keep silent on the pardons if his enemies would do the same. He asked that every other point of conflict be referred to the pope for his decision. After three more days of waiting, Luther left Augsburg; but before he went, he sent a letter of explanation to the cardinal, along with an appeal to the pope, which he had published before leaving town.
In January 1519, Emperor Maximilian died. In October 1520, he was succeeded by Charles, king of Spain, who received the crown through the efforts of Duke Frederick. In November of that year, two cardinals arrived from Pope Leo to see Frederick and make two demands of him: that all Luther’s books be burned and that Luther either be killed or sent to Rome. Frederick refused, asking for permission to carry on an investigation by educated men, which would determine if Luther was actually in error. If he was proved wrong and refused to recant, Frederick would no longer protect Luther; until then, he would.
In 1521, Luther attended the Diet of Worms at the request of the emperor and with his assurance of safe conduct. The fourth day after he arrived, he was ordered to appear before the emperor and other nobles of the German state, which he did. Told to keep silent until he was asked to speak, Luther was presented with two questions:
Were the books gathered there his?
Would he recant them or stand on what he’d written?
Luther replied that the books were his work but asked for time to answer the second question. Brought back the next day, he said it was impossible to categorically defend what he’d written, since he knew he was a fallible man, but he would be willing to be shown where he had made any errors. Asked for a simple yes or no answer to the two questions, Luther said he would stand on what he’d written until proven wrong by the scriptures.
Unable to move him, the council sent Luther home under his safe-conduct pass. He was kept in hiding for a while but eventually returned to Wittenberg, where he died at the age of sixty-three after continuing to write and preach for an additional twenty-nine years.