Christian Lessons from the Life of the Great Theologian Dr. Martin Luther

In 1501, at the age of nineteen, he entered the University of Erfurt — which he later described as a beerhouse and whorehouse.[14] The schedule called for waking at four every morning for what has been described as "a day of rote learning and often wearying spiritual exercises."[14] He received his master's degree in 1505.[15]

In accordance with his father's wishes, Luther enrolled in law school at the same university that year but dropped out almost immediately, believing that law represented uncertainty.Luther sought assurances about life and was drawn to theology and philosophy, expressing particular interest in Aristotle, William of Ockham, and Gabriel Biel. Philosophy proved to be unsatisfying, offering assurance about the use of reason but none about loving God, which to Luther was more important. Reason could not lead men to God, he felt, and he thereafter developed a love-hate relationship with Aristotle over the latter's emphasis on reason.

For Luther, reason could be used to question men and institutions, but not God. Human beings could learn about God only through divine revelation, he believed, and Scripture therefore became increasingly important to him.

He later attributed his decision to an event: on 2 July 1505, he was on horseback during a thunderstorm and a lightning bolt struck near him as he was returning to university after a trip home. Later telling his father he was terrified of death and divine judgment, he cried out, "Help! Saint Anna, I will become a monk!"

He came to view his cry for help as a vow he could never break. He left law school, sold his books, and entered a closed Augustinian friary in Erfurt on 17 July 1505. One friend blamed the decision on Luther's sadness over the deaths of two friends. Luther himself seemed saddened by the move.

Luther dedicated himself to monastic life, devoting himself to fasting, long hours in prayer, pilgrimage, and frequent confession. He would later remark, "If anyone could have gained heaven as a monk, then I would indeed have been among them." Luther described this period of his life as one of deep spiritual despair. He said, "I lost touch with Christ the Savior and Comforter, and made of him the jailer and hangman of my poor soul."

Johann von Staupitz, his superior, concluded that Luther needed more work to distract him from excessive introspection and ordered him to pursue an academic career. In 1507, he was ordained to the priesthood, and in 1508 began teaching theology at the University of Wittenberg.

He received a Bachelor's degree in Biblical studies on 9 March 1508, and another Bachelor's degree in the Sentences by Peter Lombard in 1509. On 19 October 1512, he was awarded his Doctor of Theology and, on 21 October 1512, was received into the senate of the theological faculty of the University of Wittenberg, having been called to the position of Doctor in Bible.

In 1516–17, Johann Tetzel, a Dominican friar and papal commissioner for indulgences, was sent to Germany by the Roman Catholic Church to raise money to rebuild St Peter's Basilica in Rome.[1] Roman Catholic theology stated that faith alone, whether fiduciary or dogmatic, cannot justify man;[2] and that only such faith as is active in charity and good works (fides caritate formata) can justify man.[3] The benefits of good works could be obtained by donating money to the church.

On 31 October 1517, Martin Luther wrote to Albrecht, Archbishop of Mainz and Magdeburg, protesting the sale of indulgences. He enclosed in his letter a copy of his "Disputation of Martin Luther on the Power and Efficacy of Indulgences," which came to be known as The 95 Theses.

Hans Hillerbrand writes that Luther had no intention of confronting the church, but saw his disputation as a scholarly objection to church practices, and the tone of the writing is accordingly "searching, rather than doctrinaire." Hillerbrand writes that there is nevertheless an undercurrent of challenge in several of the theses, particularly in Thesis 86, which asks: "Why does the pope, whose wealth today is greater than the wealth of the richest Crassus, build the basilica of St. Peter with the money of poor believers rather than with his own money?"

Luther objected to a saying attributed to Johann Tetzel that "As soon as the coin in the coffer rings, the soul from purgatory [also attested as 'into heaven'] springs." He insisted that, since forgiveness was God's alone to grant, those who claimed that indulgences absolved buyers from all punishments and granted them salvation were in error. Christians, he said, must not slacken in following Christ on account of such false assurances. He saw no Scriptural basis for the sale of indulgences. He began the back to the Bible movement that was the Reformation.

The 95 Theses were posted on the door of the local church and then were quickly translated from Latin into German, printed, and widely copied, making the controversy one of the first in history to be aided by the printing press.[9] Within two weeks, copies of the theses had spread throughout Germany; within two months throughout Europe.

Luther began the movement that ended up shaping of ideals of freedom and liberty that lie at the heart of the 21st century.

Martin Luther stands as a hero, the man who built the bridge between the two halves of the last millennium, the Medieval and the Modern. Martin Luther was born into a world dominated by the Catholic Church. For the keenly spiritual Luther, the Church's promise of salvation is irresistible - caught in a thunderstorm, terrified by the possibility of imminent death, he vows to become a monk.

Luther wrote: The first and chief article is this: Jesus Christ, our God and Lord, died for our sins and was raised again for our justification (Romans 3:24-25). He alone is the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world (John 1:29), and God has laid on Him the iniquity of us all (Isaiah 53:6). All have sinned and are justified freely, without their own works and merits, by His grace, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, in His blood (Romans 3:23-25). This is necessary to believe. This cannot be otherwise acquired or grasped by any work, law, or merit. Therefore, it is clear and certain that this faith alone justifies us...Nothing of this article can be yielded or surrendered, even though heaven and earth and everything else falls (Mark 13:31).

Luther with resounding forcefulness in 1545, the year before he died, "Let the man who would hear God speak, read Holy Scripture" (see note 5). Earlier he had said in his lectures on Genesis, "The Holy Spirit himself and God, the Creator of all things, is the Author of this book"

The Word of God that saves and sanctifies, from generation to generation, is preserved in a Book. The central part of our work is to wrestle God's meaning from a Book, and proclaim it in the power of the Holy Spirit.

Luther knew, that some would stumble over the sheer conservatism of this simple, unchangeable fact. God's Word is in a book, and as we study it the Holy Spirit in us giving life and light.

Luther was a great lover of the Holy Spirit. In 1533 he said, "The Word of God is the greatest, most necessary, and most important thing in Christendom" Cherishing the Book implied to Luther that the Holy Spirit is a beautiful person to be known and loved, not a buzz to be felt.

Prayer was the root of Luther's approach to studying God's word. Prayer is the echo of the freedom and sufficiency of God in the heart of powerless man. It is the way he conceived of his theology and the way he pursued his studies. And it is the way he died.

At 3:00 a.m. on February 18, 1546, Luther died. His last recorded words were, "We are beggars. This is true" (see note 72). God is free—utterly free—in his grace. And we are beggars—pray-ers. That is how we live, and that is how we study, so that God gets the glory and we get the grace.


FAMOUS SAYINGS OF DOCTOR MARTIN LUTHER:

All which happens in the whole world happens through hope. No husbandman would sow a grain of corn if he did not hope it would spring up and bring forth the ear. How much more are we helped on by hope in the way to eternal life!

Anyone who is to find Christ must first find the church. How could anyone know where Christ is and what faith is in him unless he knew where his believers are?

Every man must do two things alone; he must do his own believing and his own dying.

Everything that is done in the world is done by hope.

Faith is a living, daring confidence in God's grace, so sure and certain that a man could stake his life on it a thousand times.

Faith is permitting ourselves to be seized by the things we do not see.

Christian life consists of faith, love and charity.

Faith, like light, should ever be simple and unbending; while love, like warmth, should beam forth on every side, and bend to every necessity of our brethren

God writes the gospel, not in the Bible alone, but on trees and flowers and clouds and stars.

For in the true nature of things, if we rightly consider, every green tree is far more glorious than if it were made of gold and silver.

If you are not allowed to laugh in heaven, I don't want to go there.

If you young fellows were wise, the devil couldn't do anything to you, but since you aren't wise, you need us who are old.

Nothing good ever comes of violence.

Our Lord has written the promise of resurrection, not in books alone, but in every leaf in springtime.

A wicked tyrant is better than a wicked war.

War is the greatest plague that can afflict humanity, it destroys religion, it destroys states, it destroys families. Any scourge is preferable to it.

Whatever your heart clings to and confides in, that is really your God.