Martin Luther Essay -- essays research papers

Martin LutherMartin Luther was a German theologian and religious reformer, who started theProtestant Reformation, and whose vast influence during his time period do himone of the crucial figures in late European history. Luther was born inEisleben on November 10, 1483 and was descended from the peasantry, a fact thathe often stressed. Hans Luther, his father, was a copper miner. Luther receiveda sound primary and lowly education at Mansfeld, Magdeburg, and Eisenach. In1501, at the age of 17, he enrolled at the University of Erfurt, receiving abachelors degree in 1502 and a masters degree in 1505 . He wherefore intended tostudy law, as his father had wished. In the summer of 1505, he abandoned hisstudies and his law plans, sold his books, and entered the Augustinian monasteryin Erfurt. The decision surprised his friends and appalled his father. subsequently inhis life, Luther explained his suprising decision by recollecting severalbrushes with death that had occurred at the time , making him aware of thefleeting character of life. In the monastery he observed the rules imposed on anovice but did not find the peace in God he had expected. Nevertheless, Luthermade his profession as a monk in the fall of 1506, and his superiors selectedhim for the priesthood. Ordained in 1507, he approached his first celebration ofthe mass with awe. After his ordination, Luther was asked to study theology inorder to become a professor at one of the many new German universities staffedby monks. In 1508 he was assigned by Johann von Staupitz, vicar-general of theAugustinians and a friend and counselor, to the new University of Wittenberg(founded in 1502) to tumble introductory lectures in moral philosophy. He receivedhis bachelors degree in theology in 1509 and returned to Erfurt, where hetaught and studied.In November 1510, on behalf of seven Augustinian monasteries, he made a visitto Rome, where he performed the religious duties customary for a pious visitorand was shocked b y the worldliness of the Roman clergy. Soon after resuming hisduties in Erfurt, he was reassigned to Wittenberg and asked to study for thedegree of doctor of theology. In 1512, after receiving his doctorate, he tookover the chair of biblical theology which he held till his death.Although still changeable of Gods love and his own salvation, Luther wasactive as a preacher, teacher... ...ependence ofrulers from papal supervision won him the support of many princes. His fame madeWittenberg an intellectual center.By 1537, Luthers health had begun to deteriorate, and he felt burdened bythe resurgence of the papacy and by what he perceived as an attempt by Jews totake advantage of the confusion among Christians and open up the question ofJesus messiahship. Apprehensive about his own responsibility for this situation,he wrote a violent polemic against the Jews, as well as polemics against thepapacy and the radical fell of the reformers, the Anabaptists. In the winter of1546, Luther was a sked to settle a controversy between two young counts whoruled the area of Mansfeld, where he had been born. Old and sick, he went there,resolved the conflict, and died on February 18, 1546, in Eisleben. Luther leftbehind a movement that quickly spread throughout the Western world. Hisdoctrines, especially justification by faith and the final chest of drawers of theBible, were adopted by other reformers and are shared by many Protestantdenominations today. As the founder of the 16th-century Reformation, he is oneof the major figures of Christianity and of Western civilization.