The Hiding Place

Martin Luther

Martin Luther , who was born in 1483,remains in history known as on of the few unique forces that changed the world fundamentally by force of will and by his ideas. The people who support him call him the “Protestant hero, a freedom fighter, and a wise insightful church leader.” But there are many people who do not like and the names they call him are a “heretic, an apostate, and a profane ecclesiastical terrorist.” Often Luther called himself a simple monk or a simple Christian. He was glad that a straight-forward stand of sense of right and wrong had turned him into one of the most talked about people of his time. Little did he know that, that simple Christian and that simple stand for what is right and what is wrong changed the course of World History. I will explain Martin Luther in four main parts of his life. First, his early years; second, Luther’s struggle to find peace and his discovery of grace; third, his problems with the sell of indulgences; and finally, Luther’s death and legacy.

First of all, Martin Luther’s early years of his life. Martin Luther was born to Hans and Margaretta Luther on November 10, 1483 in Eisleben, Germany. He was baptized on the feast day of St. Martin of Tours , of which he was named of. His father owned and worked a copper mine in the nearby town of Mansfeld. Having come from peasantry, his father was determined to see his son rise up to civil service and bring more honor to the family. To achieve this goal Hans sent Martin Luther to schools in Mansfeld, Magdeburg, and Eisenach. When he was seventeen, in 1501, he entered the University of Erfurt. There he received a Bachelors degree in 1502 and a masters degree in 1505. Trying to fulfill his fathers wishes he enrolled in the law school of that university. Little did he know that all that was about to change. While riding a horse during a thunderstorm in the summer of 1505 a lightning bolt struck near him while returning to school. Being in a terrified state he cried out, “Help, St. Anne I’ll become a monk ” Luther was spared his life and so he kept his promise and entered the monastery at his law school.

Second of all, Luthers Struggle to find peace and his discovery of grace. Fulfilling his promise Martin dedicated himself to a monastic life, the effort to do good works to please God and to serve others through prayer. Yet he never felt peace with God, so he devoted himself to fasts, flagellations, long hours in prayer and pilgrimage, and constant confessions. The more he tried to devote himself to God it seemed to him that the more aware he became of his sinfulness. Luther’s superior, Johann von Staupitz, came to the conclusion that the young man needed more work to distract him from excessive meditation. In 1507 Luther was ordained to priest hood. In 1508 he began to teach theology at the Universtiy of Wittenberg. He later went on to earn his Bachelors degree in Biblical studies, a bachelors degree in the Sentences by Peter Lombard, and a degree of Doctor of Theology.

Luther started to study the scriptures in depth due to the demands of study for academic degrees and preparation for delivering lectures. Luther has recouted his that his great breakthrough came in 1513, while lecturing on the Psalms at Wittenburg. He realized that the phrase “righteousness of God” in Roman 1:17 did not mean active righteousness such as by works but passive righteousness, by which humans receive righteousness from God. Words took on new meaning to Luther such as penance and righteousness. Soon after, Luther’s study of the Bible convinced him that the church had become corrupt and lost sight of several central truths. The most important of these to Luther was the doctrine of justification by faith alone. With great happiness Luther now believed and taught that salvation is a gift from God’s grace, received by faith and trust in God’s promise to forgive