Martin Luther Martin Luther example essay topic

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 Margaretha 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, flagellation's, 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 recounted 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 us of our sins because Christ's death on the cross. Third of all, his problems with the sell of indulgences.

Luther's first public challenge of papal power came in 1517, over the selling of indulgences. Luther's question at had was whether the pope had the power or the authority to use merits of Jesus Christ and the saints to those in Purgatory, thus freeing their souls from the pains of purgatory. Luther hated this practice, due to his belief that indulgences did nothing to save souls and only lined the pockets of the clergy. He also did not like it because the cleared deeds not yet committed, thus they also encouraged sin.

Luther became even more outraged when he took a trip to Rome in 1510 and saw the pappy's greed and corruption. On October 31 Luther preached a sermon against indulgences and posted the ninety-five thesis to the door of the Castle's Church of all saints as a open invitation to debate them. These theses condemned the church's greed and worldliness as an abuse and asked for theological debate. Soon the theses were copied and printed. Within two weeks they spread throughout Germany, and within two months throughout all of Europe.

Finally, Luther's death and legacy. Luther died in his hometown of Eisleben, which was the same town where he was born, on February 18, 1546. "Know that no one can have indulged in the Holy Writers sufficiently, unless he has governed churches for a hundred years with prophets, such as Elijah and Elisha, John the Baptist, Christ, and the apostles... We are beggars: this is true". [The last words of Martin Luther] Martin Luther's fearless rebellion led to the Protestant Reformation and the Change of World History. Thanks to the printing press, Luther's pamphlets were well-read throughout Germany.

Since Protestant countries were no longer bound to the powerful Roman Catholic Church an expanded freedom of thought developed which most likely contributed to Protestant Europe's rapid intellectual advancement in the 17th and 18th centuries. In conclusion, Martin Luther was and is a very important part of history not only because he gave people freedom of choice but the chance for people to believe what they want to believe rather then being told what to believe. Due to his efforts he changed the course of World History and started a reformation that would still be talked about through today's world. If it had not been for him who knows where we would be today and even though I am Catholic he has helped change the corrupt practices of the catholic church and has turned it into what it is today which I am thankful and grate full of..