Martin Luther was born in Eisieben, Germany, on November 10,1483, St. Martin’s Day. He was the son of Has Luther, a coal miner, and Margarethe. Martin’s parents were of the middle class and were unbending in their disciplinary acts. He attended the best schools in his region but all of them held to the barbaric discipline system of the times. This had a big impact on Martin’s personality. But he did receive some positive influence from his home environment. His parents were very pious people and brought him up to be one too. His parents also gave him a strong sense of superstition.
At the age of 14 Luther went to grammar school at Magdeburg. There he got attracted to the Church and particularly the Lollards. Then in 1498 he moved to Eisenach and came in contact with a warmer church life than he was use too. He also made some important friends here including Fran Ursula Cotta. He really started going into the Church works when he attended the University at Erfurt. He was a very diligent student and quickly rose through the academic ranks. Meanwhile his father upon hearing of his son’s achievements had great hopes for him.
Luther was preparing to be a lawyer to some prince or town after he received his degree in philosophy. But halfway through his training he decided to quit and take up life permanently in an Augustine monastery. Historians speculate on why such a successful young man would want to join the monastery. Historians believe a string of events led Luther to choose the path of the Church. Being superstitious, Luther might have thought that this was god trying to get him to join the monastery. Luther made hid decision to go into the monastery during a thunderstorm. A bolt of lightening hit just a few feet away from him and threw him up into the air.
He saw this as an act of god and joined the monastery. Later he and his father would look back and wonder whether it was God or the devil. His methods of teaching were a bit unorthodox but had a natural talent for speaking to the masses that listen to him. He often used vulgar language in his classes and had liberal ideas that he preached. His vulgarity came from a few things. First of all he was constipated and often talked about it in class. He related dirt to sin and obsessive about being clean. He like many other people of his time was driven by worries of being saved.
He always felt that he did not do enough to receive salvation. He felt unworthy of receiving salvation and this left him unsure of his afterlife. He looked for ways to prove his worthiness to the Lord. He thought that no mere mortal could approach the majesty and holiness of God. There for he thought one couldn’t obtain salvation from doing many good works, but rather through faith in the almighty. This revelation of Luther’s gave him great relief. It told him that the God freely gives people his grace if only one has faith. So Luther stopped worrying about doing penance for his sins.
He came to an understanding of salvation called “justification by faith”. As he meditated on his new philosophy he thought of all the ideas that would later pit him against the Catholic Church. Luther was one of the greatest contributors of the Reformation. He posted his 95 theses on the Church door for the world to see. He was not afraid of the Church and openly spoke out against its evils. He didn’t take back his word when it was certain he could die during his appearance before the emperor at the Diet of Worms. He started Lutheranism and inspired others to speak out against the Church.