Gilles demarteau biography of martin luther

Martin Luther was a German monk who began the Protestant Reformation in the 16th century, becoming one of the most influential and controversial figures in the history of Christianity. Luther called into question some of the basic tenets of Roman Catholicism, and his followers soon split from the Roman Catholic Church to begin the Protestant tradition.

His actions set in motion tremendous reform within the Church. Luther was born on November 10, , in Eisleben, Saxony, located in modern-day Germany. His parents, Hans and Margarette Luther, were of peasant lineage. However, Hans had some success as a miner and ore smelter, and in the family moved from Eisleben to nearby Mansfeld, where Hans held ore deposits.

Hans Luther knew that mining was a tough business and wanted his promising son to have a better career as a lawyer. At age seven, Luther entered school in Mansfeld. At 14, Luther went north to Magdeburg, where he continued his studies. In , he returned to Eisleben and enrolled in a school, studying grammar, rhetoric and logic. He later compared this experience to purgatory and hell.

Gilles demarteau biography of martin luther

In , Luther entered the University of Erfurt , where he received a degree in grammar, logic, rhetoric and metaphysics. At this time, it seemed he was on his way to becoming a lawyer. In July , Luther had a life-changing experience that set him on a new course to becoming a monk. Caught in a horrific thunderstorm where he feared for his life, Luther cried out to St.

The decision to become a monk was difficult and greatly disappointed his father, but he felt he must keep a promise. The first few years of monastic life were difficult for Luther, as he did not find the religious enlightenment he was seeking. A mentor told him to focus his life exclusively on Jesus Christ and this would later provide him with the guidance he sought.

At age 27, Luther was given the opportunity to be a delegate to a Catholic church conference in Rome. The profound influence of the initiator of the Reformation had after is seen in a letter written to him in , shortly after he was taken by prince Frederick, by the influential German humanist, Nikolaus Gerbel. Men of stature, like prince Frederick, went out of their way, even at the risk of their own lives, to protect him, a testimony to the attractiveness of his passionate personality.

After completing a German translation of the New Testament, Luther would come out of hiding and return to Wittenberg in March , where he would live out the rest of his days. In the years preceding Luther had continued his work in preaching and teaching in Wittenberg, and in married the runaway nun Catharina von Bora. From Luther would dedicate himself to caring for his family, teaching at Wittenberg and producing some of his best and also most controversial theological works — a testimony that his passion never wavered.

This latter half of his career, nonetheless, testifies of the love he had for his family in particular, but also the faithful at 77 Mullet, Luther, , Schoeck and B. University of Toronto Press, Toronto, , Brill: Leiden, , Abington Press: Nashville, Broadberry, S. Et al. British economic growth : DeRusha, M. Erasmus, D. Collected Works, vol.

University of Toronto Press, Toronto, Galler, J. Logic and Argumentation in the Book of Concord. Proquest: Ann Arbor, MI, Hendrix, S. Martin Luther — Visionary Reformer. His thinking, while remarkably consistent, does develop over time. He nuances his positions on various issues as he faces challenges which his own Reformation theology generated.

Thus, knowing what issues he is facing and when is important when reading him. The benchmark biography of Luther in English is the three volumes by the German historian, Martin Brecht. These look rather forbidding: nearly pages of text, excluding notes. It was my first introduction to the Reformation and remains a favourite. Bainton was a radical thinker himself, not doctrinally sympathetic to Luther but rather emotionally so: he knew what it was like to be a beleaguered outside, a man at war with his times.

Thus, he writes on Luther with considerable passion. A more recent short biography is that by the distinguished Lutheran historian, Martin Marty, in the Penguin Brief Lives series. Here I stand, I can do no other. God help me. Luther took a stand that his highest authority was going to be the Word of God, regardless of what the church taught.

To protect his life, his friends kidnapped him and hid him away in Wartburg Castle. Here he hid for ten months in disguise. He grew a beard and took the name Junker Jorge, or Knight George. He was not simply laying low. During his time in exile, Luther undertook the translation of the New Testament into the language of the German people. Remember, at this time Scripture was only available in Latin.

Reading and studying Scripture was something reserved only for the academics and the elite. Luther did not simply take the Vulgate and translate the Latin into German. He translated his German New Testament out of the original Greek. Within three months Luther had translated the whole of the New Testament. This is an amazing feat, and is even more so considering the monumental impact that this translation would have on the German people.

For the first time, an ordinary believer could read the Bible for themselves. Luther was helped by his friend and fellow reformer Phillip Melanchthon a much better Greek scholar and, having begun the New Testament in November or December of , completed it in March of — just before he left Wartburg Castle to return to Wittenberg. After some revising, the German New Testament was made available in September of Luther immediately set to work on translating the Old Testament.

The first five books, the Pentateuch, appeared in and the Psalms were finished in By the entire Bible had been translated. This was not the first German translation, but it was the finest and became the primary Bible of the German people. Luther knew that for the people to return to the truth of the Gospel — that we are saved by grace through faith in Jesus Christ, they needed Scripture in their own language.

If Luther had done nothing else, had never preached a sermon, had never written a treatise, had never insulted a pope, had never taken a stand at Worms, his translating of Scripture into German would have propelled the Reformation onward. Because the Bible was no longer in a foreign language, but the language of the people, the Reformation was not dependent on the works of any of the Reformers but depended instead on the Word of God.

The people consumed the Word at an phenomenal rate. On Wittenberg printer sold about a hundred thousand copies in 40 years, which is an enormously large number at that age, and these copies were read and reread by millions of Germans. I deserve nothing better; for all my wish has been to lead souls to the Bible, so that they might afterwards neglect my writings.

Great God! Translating Scripture into the language of the common people would become a hallmark of the Protestant Reformation, with translations in Spanish, French, English, and other languages close behind. And take hold it did. Thanks in large part to the preaching, teaching, and writing of Luther the theology of the Reformation spread throughout Germany and to other countries in Europe.