Facts about Luther

Luther’s role in the evolution of German nationalism and politics is more problematic.

Meanwhile, both Lutheran and Catholic camps established political and military alliances.

Luther, in characteristic fashion, drew a circle with chalk on the table and wrote within, "This is my body."

Despite this advantage, controversy and division became increasingly common, as Luther clashed with other reformers.

Luther requested time to think about his answer.

Luther’s old associate, Andreas Carlstadt, having taken a parsonage outside of Wittenberg, attacked the use of all "externals" in religion, such as art or music.

The Luther Bible is regarded as a landmark in German literature.

Luther made numerous references to the Turks, but his most extensive treatment was his On War Against the Turks, his 1529 response to Suleiman the Magnificent’s siege of Vienna (Works, Volume 46: 155-205).

At the same time, there were points of tension between humanist and Lutheran reform programs, which led to their eventual separation.

Affirming an ethical rather than a dogmatic interpretation of Christian faith, Erasmus and his party came to view themselves as a "third church" alternative to Romanism and Lutheranism.

Luther actually counseled secret bigamy as an alternative to divorce and remarriage, doing so as early as 1521 for women with impotent husbands.

Luther's first known comment on the Jewish people is in a letter written to George Spalatin, Fredrick the Wise’s court chaplain, in 1514.

In 1510, Luther went on a pilgrimage to Rome.

Luther traveled incognito to Heidelberg, having been warned of the possibility of assassination along the road.

Maintaining themselves in the former Augustinian monastery in Wittenberg which Fredrick the Wise deeded over to them and which Katherine von Bora expertly managed, the Luthers had a happy home life and six children.

Paralleling the ancient Israelite prophets Ezra, Nehemiah, and Malachi who reconstructed Judaism after its Babylonian captivity, Luther sought to restore Christianity’s foundation of faith following what he termed "the Babylonian Captivity of the Church."

Many have claimed that the Lutheran legacy of political quietism facilitated the rise of Nazism in twentieth century Germany.

Unfortunately, Luther was less effective as a manager than he was as an instigator of the Reformation.

Unfortunately, Luther’s monastic sojourn accentuated rather than resolved his anxiety.

Erasmus provided discreet support for Luther, intervening on his behalf with princes of the state and church, while attempting to be outwardly neutral.

Thomas Mьntzer (1488-1525), an early follower of Luther, was even more radical.

The Peasants' War (1524–1525) was in many ways a response to the preaching of Luther and others.

Luther's 1534 Bible translation was also profoundly influential on William Tyndale, who, after spending time with Martin Luther in Wittenberg, published an English translation of the New Testament.

According to Luther, "Faith is enough for the Christian man.

Luther was an unyielding proponent of Christian liberty, but unleashed forces that accentuated ideological chaos, the triumph of nationalism and religious intolerance.

At around about the time that he was writing his lectures on the Psalms, Luther experienced what he himself describes as the pivotal event of his life.

The archbishop, who forwarded the theses to Rome, lodged formal charges against Luther in early 1518.

At this juncture, the Wittenberg town council issued a formal invitation for Luther to return.

Luther felt responsible to provide nine of them, whom he sheltered in Wittenberg, with husbands and succeeded with all except one, Katherine von Bora.

Luther’s return from Wartburg Castle marked a turning point in his career.

Initially, Luther seemed to many to support the peasants, condemning the oppressive practices of the nobility that had incited many of the peasants.

Rejecting both the papal monarchy and spiritualist theocracies, Luther sought to steer a "middle way" between papists to the right and sectaries to the left.

Some have suggested that since Luther relied on support and protection from the princes, he was afraid of alienating them.

Ever against this, Luther held that human beings could be saved by faith alone (sola fides).

To Luther, all political revolution was rebellion against God in that it threatened the social order that God had ordained.

Luther translated the Bible into German to make it more accessible to the common people.

Here, Luther was a pioneer in reviving the Hebraic dimension of Christian faith that held that God’s word trumped all else.

The second important influence upon Luther’s upbringing was education.

The Swiss, who affirmed the view of Christ’s spiritual rather than bodily presence, attempted to convince Luther that the element of the sacrament "signified" Christ’s body.

By serving others, Staupitz reasoned, Luther might best address his own problems.

Having resolved his inner conflicts by means of an "evangelical breakthrough," Luther began a public ministry that altered the course of Christianity and European history.

In 1507, Luther was ordained to the priesthood.

Whereas Erasmus and other humanists viewed Luther as a source of tumult, radical spiritualists regarded him as a "halfway" reformer.

Luther famously told Bucer, "You have a different spirit than we."

On October 19, 1512, Martin Luther became a doctor of theology, more specifically Doctor in Biblia, and became university professor of Bible.

Disagreement over the nature of human beings, Luther’s virulent polemics, and the mutual roles of theology and ethics doomed any hopes of mounting a common cause.

Essentially, Luther sought to recover core New Testament teachings that he claimed had been obscured by corruption and worldly traditions of medieval Catholicism.

Luther produced three hugely influential tracts during 1520 that further amplified his thinking and set his agenda for ecclesiastical reform.

Luther and the reformers regarded themselves as defenders of women and the goodness of marriage, rejecting the longstanding tradition of ascetic sexuality.

Luther did not have extensive contact with Jews.

Reform in Wittenberg was firmly in Luther’s hands.

Luther worked on refining the translation for the rest of his life, having a hand in the edition that was published in the year of his death, 1546.

Luther died 2:45 a.m. on February 18, 1546, in Eisleben, the city of his birth.

News of Christians being induced to Judaize in Moravia finally set Luther off.

Later that year, Luther wrote another set of 95 theses which he expected would have no more impact than the previous set did.

Declaring himself to be a predestinarian, Luther upheld humankind’s absolute dependence on God’s grace.

Luther’s books, which contained "these errors," were "to be examined and burned."

To do so, Philip of Hesse invited the two major leaders of German and Swiss Protestantism, Martin Luther and Ulrich Zwingli (1484-1531) to his castle at Marburg.

Martin Luther (November 10, 1483 – February 18, 1546) was the first and most prominent leader of a reform movement in sixteenth century Christianity, subsequently known as the Protestant Reformation.

Luther’s response was to burn the bull publicly on December 10, 1520.

Luther maintained that only two of them, baptism and the Lord’s Supper, were instituted by Christ.

Controversy over Luther’s 95 theses was less due to their theological content than to the fact that they struck a political nerve.

Pope Leo X initially dismissed Luther as "a drunken German who wrote the Theses," and, "when sober will change his mind."

Traditionally, Luther is remembered to have ended by speaking the words, "Here I stand.

Nevertheless, Luther’s anxiety and fear of God as a severe judge was at least in part the result of his experience at home and in school.

Hence, many feel there is a big difference between Luther and Lutheranism, just as there is between Christ and Christianity.

Luther earned his bachelor's degree in biblical studies on March 9, 1508 and a bachelor's degree in the Sentences by Peter Lombard, the main textbook of theology in the Middle Ages, in 1509.

Luther, himself, later stated that the harshness and severity of the life he led compelled him later to run away to a monastery and become a monk.

Luther commented that he did not think his book would "make the Turk a gracious Lord …should it come to his attention" (205).

Several months after publishing On the Jews and Their Lies, Luther wrote another attack on Jews titled Schem Hamephoras, in which he explicitly equated Jews with the Devil.

Luther’s next tract, on the Babylonian Captivity of the Church, addressed the seven sacraments of the medieval church.

In 1542, Luther wrote the preface to a refutation of the Qur'an.

Luther termed Carlstadt and Mьntzer, and others of their persuasion, Schwarmer or "fanatics."

Essentially, Luther attempted to show that the doctrine of justification by faith alone (sola fides) was not incompatible with Christian love and service.

In all of these calls, Luther voiced sentiments that were widely held among Germans.

Over the next few days, private conferences were held to determine Luther's fate.

Luther’s supporters have argued that Luther was vitriolic towards just about everyone, including his own parishioners, good friends, allies, opponents, and himself during his life.

Luther was not the first monk to marry and he hesitated for some time, as he expected to be martyred.

Luther’s third major tract of 1520, The Freedom of a Christian, laid out his ethical vision.

Due to the intervention of Luther’s territorial ruler, Fredrick the Wise, the proceedings were transferred to Germany.

Luther was the central figure of the Protestant Reformation.

Luther appealed to German national pride in opposing Rome, as exemplified in his early Appeal to the Christian Nobility of the German Nation.

Accounting himself, "justified and acceptable to God, although there are in me sin, unrighteousness, and horror of death," Luther insisted, "Good works do not produce a good man, but a good man does good work."

Luther did not invent antisemitism; he inherited it.

Luther's disappearance during his return trip was planned.

Luther’s doctrine of justification by faith alone, sola fides, remains his most lasting theological contribution.

Unfortunately, for those pursuing conciliation, Luther was drawn into a debate between the Universities of Leipzig and Wittenberg.

Luther’s outlook changed dramatically in his later years.

Today, Luther stands in the direct line of some 58 million Lutherans and indirectly of some 400 million Protestants.

Erasmus, given his international repute, was pressed to take a definitive stance on Luther, which led to an irreparable split.

Luther previously regarded God’s righteousness as an impossible standard by which human beings were punished.

Luther’s interview with Cardinal Cajetan, the papal legate, at Augsburg, was inconclusive.

At the Second Diet of Speyer, the Emperor’s representative attempted to re-establish Catholicism in Lutheran territories drew a "protest" from Lutheran princes; henceforth, the name "Protestantism" was applied to the evangelical movement.

After 8:00 p.m. on that day, Luther suffered chest pains.

Luther’s legacy with respect to modern antisemitism and the Holocaust is controversial.

Martin Luther was born on November 10, 1483, in Eisleben, Germany, the son of Hans and Margaretha Luther.

Luther emphasized human fallibility, both of priests and believers, and therefore through constant preaching, hearing the Word, and continual study of the Bible, God would reveal himself in fragments.

Luther’s "evangelical breakthrough" did not come all at once, but unfolded within the context of his teaching and pastoral responsibilities.

At a deeper level, Luther took monastic vows in order to cope with a pervasive sense of personal sinfulness and accompanying fear of an all-powerful, all-righteous God.

Erikson says that Luther underwent the type of "sudden inner freedom… cleansing… kicking away" (205) comparable with Saint Paul's or Augustine's conversion.

Luther repeatedly urged Christians to "remain steadfast in their allegiance to Christ" in the face of Muslim criticism of Christian belief.

Luther's political legacy is entwined with the formation of modern democracy.

Luther initiated a Reformation in Western Civilization that, combined with the Renaissance, paved the way for the modern democratic world.

Eck asked Luther if the books were his and if he would recant their content.

Luther recognized that polygamy was contrary to natural law but held that it was justifiable as an exception in cases of great distress.

Luther was given 60 days to recant, dating from the time of publication of the bull in his district.

After two unsuccessful attempts to arrange marriages for the 26 year old former nun, Luther, at age 42, married her in 1525.

Erikson says that the revelation in the tower occurred after Luther had a dream of an early death, and that it represented recovery from a deep depression.

Once he understood that human beings were "justified" before God by faith and not works, Luther wrote, "I felt myself to be reborn and to have gone through open doors into paradise."

Luther would probably not recognize the Lutheran Church that was (against his wishes) named for him, and had never intended his legacy to be turned into a type of orthodoxy.

When the matter came before the Diet the next day, Counselor Eck asked Luther to plainly answer the question.

Luther’s attitude toward the Jews changed following his evangelical breakthrough, he saw them as God's people of the Old Testament, and he entertained hope of accomplishing their conversion.

Luther was an earthy man who spoke his mind in blunt language.

Luther saw God's hand behind historical events and was confident that God would bring about the ultimate defeat of both the Pope and Islam.

Presumably, the Sultan expected to subjugate Austria and Germany at some future time but thought that Luther might not live to see this happen (205; FN 129).

At this point, the breech between Luther and Rome was irreparable.

Luther’s spiritual crisis had thereby driven him to commit blasphemy, which for him was the unpardonable sin.

At the same time, Catholics held Luther responsible for the entire debacle.

Soon afterwards, Luther was ordered to appear in Rome to answer charges of heresy.

Luther, following Saint Paul, affirmed that one who is righteous through faith "shall live."

Luther appeared before the Diet of Worms on April 16, 1521.

Eck also baited Luther into defending the Bohemian "heretic" John Hus.

Beyond these ecological values, humans benefit in many ways, including in the role of ants in keeping potentially harmful insects, such as termites and agricultural pests, under control.

Instead the pope favored Fredrick the Wise, Luther’s territorial lord.

Luther entered the law school at Erfurt in May 1505.

Externally, Luther’s breakthrough set him on a collision course with medieval Catholicism.

Luther’s position was favorably received by colleagues at the university but did not spark any wider debate.

To Luther, Christianity had become Hellenized, subject to philosophy and humanistic manipulation.

The ambiguities in Luther’s legacy are rooted finally in his core theological doctrine of justification by faith alone.

Having studied at schools in Mansfield, Magdenburg, and Eisenach, Luther entered the University of Erfurt in 1501.

By Luther’s time, the situation had become extreme.

According to tradition, a near brush with death during a fierce thunderstorm was the immediate cause of Luther entering the cloister.

Many of his comments grew out of specific circumstances, and Luther never intended them to be turned into systematic dogmatics, which other Lutherans did, beginning with Philipp Melancthon.

Luther's disappearance during his return trip was planned.

Luther declared, "I would not exchange Katie for France or for Venice because God has given her to me and other women have worse faults."

Renaissance humanists, intellectuals, and moderate reform-minded Catholics afforded Luther an early base of support.

Luther came to regard this experience as his evangelical breakthrough, which was nothing less than the recovery of the authentic Christian gospel as one that transformed his attitude toward God.

Luther took advantage of his exile, "my Patmos" as he called it in letters, to undertake his celebrated translation of the New Testament into German.

The bull condemned 41 sentences from Luther’s writings as "heretical, offensive, scandalous for pious ears, corrupting for simple minds and contradictory to Catholic teaching."

The third wall, that no one may call a council but the pope, Luther said, "falls of itself, as soon as the first two have fallen."

By and large, Luther supported the changes taking place.

Luther’s presence and sermons succeeded in quelling unrest.

Some have held anti-Judaism to be a prototype of antisemitism, and others argue that there is a direct line from Luther’s anti-Jewish tracts to the Nazi death camps.