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61-1061: From the time of Martin Luther , who published the first part of his postil under the title Enarrationes epistolarum et evangeliorum quas postillas vocant (Wittenberg, 1521), every annual cycle of sermons on the lessons, whether consisting of homilies or formal sermons, is termed a postil . A few of the most famous Lutheran postils are those of M. Luther ( Kirchenpostille , Wittenberg, 1527; Hauspostille , 1542, 1549), P. Melanchthon ( Evangelien-Postille , Germ., Nuremberg, 1549; Lat., Hanover, 1594), M. Chemnitz ( Evangelien-Postille , Magdeburg, 1594), L. Osiander ( Bauern-Postille , Tübingen, 1597), and J. Arndt ( Evangelien-Postille , Leipzig, 1616). By 1530 postils were commonly used in Catholic preaching, at least in Germany. The two (in Latin) by Thomas Stapleton proved popular. Frymire has tabulated

122-544: A Dominican friar , was sent to Germany by the Roman Catholic Church to sell indulgences to raise money in order to rebuild St. Peter's Basilica in Rome. Tetzel's experiences as a preacher of indulgences, especially between 1503 and 1510, led to his appointment as general commissioner by Albrecht von Brandenburg, Archbishop of Mainz , who, already deeply in debt to pay for a large accumulation of benefices, had to contribute

183-633: A lay group , and Eisenach in 1498. The three schools focused on the so-called " trivium ": grammar, rhetoric, and logic. Luther later compared his education there to purgatory and hell . In 1501, at age 17, Martin entered the University of Erfurt , which he later described as a beerhouse and whorehouse. He was made to awaken at 4 a.m. for "a day of rote learning and often wearying spiritual exercises." He received his master's degree in 1505. In accordance with his father's wishes, Luther enrolled in law but dropped out almost immediately, believing that law

244-726: A "common understanding of justification by God's grace through faith in Christ," the Catholic Church has never lifted the 1521 excommunication. The enforcement of the ban on the Ninety-five Theses fell to the secular authorities. On 17 April 1521, Luther appeared as ordered before the Diet of Worms . This was a general assembly of the estates of the Holy Roman Empire that took place in Worms ,

305-414: A former nun, set a model for the practice of clerical marriage , allowing Protestant clergy to marry. In two later works, Luther expressed anti-Judaistic views , calling for the expulsion of Jews and the burning of synagogues . These works also targeted Roman Catholics , Anabaptists , and nontrinitarian Christians . Based upon his teachings, despite the fact that Luther did not directly advocate

366-526: A more conciliatory approach. Luther made certain concessions to the Saxon, who was a relative of the Elector and promised to remain silent if his opponents did. The theologian Johann Eck , however, was determined to expose Luther's doctrine in a public forum. In June and July 1519, he staged a disputation with Luther's colleague Andreas Karlstadt at Leipzig and invited Luther to speak. Luther's boldest assertion in

427-785: A regular series of lessons, have no postils; in the Roman Catholic Church the term has been kept, especially through Leonard Goffiné ( Hand-Postill oder christ-catholische Unterrichtungen von allen Sonn- and Feyr-Tagen des gantzen Jahrs (Mainz, 1690; popular, illustrated ed., reissued twenty-one times by H. Herder, Freiburg-im-Breisgau, 1875–1908; Eng. transl., T. Noethen, New York, n.d.). Martin Luther Bible Translators Theologians Martin Luther OSA ( / ˈ l uː θ ər / LOO -thər ; German: [ˈmaʁtiːn ˈlʊtɐ] ; 10 November 1483 – 18 February 1546)

488-458: A renewed attack on Archbishop Albrecht of Mainz, whom he shamed into halting the sale of indulgences in his episcopates, and a Refutation of the Argument of Latomus , in which he expounded the principle of justification to Jacobus Latomus , an orthodox theologian from Louvain . In this work, one of his most emphatic statements on faith, he argued that every good work designed to attract God's favor

549-730: A short commentary on Galatians and his Work on the Psalms . This early part of Luther's career was one of his most creative and productive. Three of his best-known works were published in 1520: To the Christian Nobility of the German Nation , On the Babylonian Captivity of the Church , and On the Freedom of a Christian . Archbishop Albrecht did not reply to Luther's letter containing

610-572: A town on the Rhine . It was conducted from 28 January to 25 May 1521, with Emperor Charles V presiding. Prince Frederick III, Elector of Saxony , obtained a safe conduct for Luther to and from the meeting. Johann Eck, speaking on behalf of the empire as assistant of the Archbishop of Trier , presented Luther with copies of his writings laid out on a table and asked him if the books were his and whether he stood by their contents. Luther confirmed he

671-562: A whore and bath attendant. He had several brothers and sisters and is known to have been close to one of them, Jacob. Hans Luther, Martin's father, was ambitious for himself and his family. He was determined to see Martin, his eldest son, become a lawyer. He sent Martin to Latin schools in Mansfeld, then Magdeburg in 1497, where he attended the Brethren of the Common Life , a school operated by

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732-402: Is a sin. All humans are sinners by nature, he explained, and God's grace alone (which cannot be earned) can make them just. On 1 August 1521, Luther wrote to Melanchthon on the same theme: "Be a sinner, and let your sins be strong, but let your trust in Christ be stronger, and rejoice in Christ who is the victor over sin, death, and the world. We will commit sins while we are here, for this life

793-473: Is captive to the Word of God. I cannot and will not recant anything since it is neither safe nor right to go against conscience. May God help me. Amen. At the end of this speech, Luther raised his arm "in the traditional salute of a knight winning a bout." Michael Mullett considers this speech as a "world classic of epoch-making oratory." Eck informed Luther that he was acting like a heretic, saying, Martin, there

854-448: Is nevertheless an undercurrent of challenge in several of the theses, particularly in Thesis 86, which asks: "Why does the pope, whose wealth today is greater than the wealth of the richest Crassus , build the basilica of St. Peter with the money of poor believers rather than with his own money?" Luther objected to a saying attributed to Tetzel that, "As soon as the coin in the coffer rings,

915-537: Is no one of the heresies which have torn the bosom of the church, which has not derived its origin from the various interpretation of the Scripture. The Bible itself is the arsenal whence each innovator has drawn his deceptive arguments. It was with Biblical texts that Pelagius and Arius maintained their doctrines. Arius, for instance, found the negation of the eternity of the Word—an eternity which you admit, in this verse of

976-541: Is not a place where justice resides." In the summer of 1521, Luther widened his target from individual pieties like indulgences and pilgrimages to doctrines at the heart of Church practice. In On the Abrogation of the Private Mass , he condemned as idolatry the idea that the mass is a sacrifice, asserting instead that it is a gift, to be received with thanksgiving by the whole congregation. His essay On Confession, Whether

1037-507: Is proper." Over the next three years he deployed a series of papal theologians and envoys against Luther, which served only to harden the reformer's anti-papal theology. First, the Dominican theologian Sylvester Mazzolini drafted a heresy case against Luther, whom Leo then summoned to Rome. The Elector Frederick persuaded the pope to have Luther examined at Augsburg, where the Imperial Diet

1098-456: The Diet of Worms . When Luther died in 1546, Pope Leo X's excommunication was still in effect. Luther taught that salvation and, consequently, eternal life are not earned by good deeds; rather, they are received only as the free gift of God's grace through the believer's faith in Jesus Christ , who is the sole redeemer from sin. Luther's theology challenged the authority and office of

1159-500: The Ephesians 2:8–10 . Against the teaching of his day that the righteous acts of believers are performed in cooperation with God, Luther wrote that Christians receive such righteousness entirely from outside themselves; that righteousness not only comes from Christ but actually is the righteousness of Christ, imputed to Christians (rather than infused into them) through faith. "That is why faith alone makes someone just and fulfills

1220-680: The Messiah . "This one and firm rock, which we call the doctrine of justification", he writes, "is the chief article of the whole Christian doctrine, which comprehends the understanding of all godliness." Luther came to understand justification as entirely the work of God. This teaching by Luther was clearly expressed in his 1525 publication On the Bondage of the Will , which was written in response to On Free Will by Desiderius Erasmus (1524). Luther based his position on predestination on St. Paul's epistle to

1281-516: The Ninety-five Theses . He had the theses checked for heresy and in December 1517 forwarded them to Rome. He needed the revenue from the indulgences to pay off a papal dispensation for his tenure of more than one bishopric . As Luther later notes, "the pope had a finger in the pie as well, because one half was to go to the building of St. Peter's Church in Rome". Pope Leo X was used to reformers and heretics, and he responded slowly, "with great care as

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1342-610: The Roman Catholic Church ; in particular, he disputed the view on indulgences . Luther attempted to resolve these differences amicably, first proposing an academic discussion of the practice and efficacy of indulgences in Ninety-five Theses , which he authored in 1517. In 1520, Pope Leo X demanded that Luther renounce all of his writings, and when Luther refused to do so, excommunicated him in January 1521. Later that year, Holy Roman Emperor Charles V condemned Luther as an outlaw at

1403-524: The Smalcald Articles : The first and chief article is this: Jesus Christ, our God and Lord, died for our sins and was raised again for our justification (Romans 3:24–25). He alone is the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world ( John 1:29), and God has laid on Him the iniquity of us all ( Isaiah 53:6). All have sinned and are justified freely, without their own works and merits, by His grace, through

1464-459: The University of Wittenberg . He received two bachelor's degrees, one in biblical studies on 9 March 1508, and another in the Sentences by Peter Lombard in 1509. On 19 October 1512, he was awarded his Doctor of Theology . On 21 October 1512, Luther was received into the senate of the theological faculty of the University of Wittenberg , succeeding von Staupitz as chair of theology. He spent

1525-506: The papal bull (edict) Exsurge Domine that he risked excommunication unless he recanted 41 sentences drawn from his writings, including the Ninety-five Theses , within 60 days. That autumn, Eck proclaimed the bull in Meissen and other towns. Von Miltitz attempted to broker a solution, but Luther, who had sent the pope a copy of On the Freedom of a Christian in October, publicly set fire to

1586-560: The "Invocavit Sermons". In these sermons, he hammered home the primacy of core Christian values such as love, patience, charity, and freedom, and reminded the citizens to trust God's word rather than violence to bring about necessary change. Do you know what the Devil thinks when he sees men use violence to propagate the gospel? He sits with folded arms behind the fire of hell and says with malignant looks and frightful grin: "Ah, how wise these madmen are to play my game! Let them go on; I shall reap

1647-682: The Bible into German from Latin made the Bible vastly more accessible to the laity, which had a tremendous impact on both the church and German culture. It fostered the development of a standard version of the German language , added several principles to the art of translation, and influenced the writing of an English translation, the Tyndale Bible . His hymns influenced the development of singing in Protestant churches. His marriage to Katharina von Bora ,

1708-485: The Catholic Church in new ways. He became convinced that the church was corrupt in its ways and had lost sight of what he saw as several of the central truths of Christianity. The most important for Luther was the doctrine of justification —God's act of declaring a sinner righteous—by faith alone through God's grace. He began to teach that salvation or redemption is a gift of God's grace , attainable only through faith in Jesus as

1769-529: The New Testament— Joseph knew not his wife till she had brought forth her first-born son ; and he said, in the same way that you say, that this passage enchained him. When the fathers of the Council of Constance condemned this proposition of Jan Hus— The church of Jesus Christ is only the community of the elect , they condemned an error; for the church, like a good mother, embraces within her arms all who bear

1830-527: The Pope has the Power to Require It rejected compulsory confession and encouraged private confession and absolution , since "every Christian is a confessor." In November, Luther wrote The Judgement of Martin Luther on Monastic Vows . He assured monks and nuns that they could break their vows without sin, because vows were an illegitimate and vain attempt to win salvation. Luther made his pronouncements from Wartburg in

1891-575: The Savior and Comforter, and made of him the jailer and hangman of my poor soul." Johann von Staupitz , his superior, concluded that Luther needed more work to distract him from excessive introspection and ordered him to pursue an academic career. On 3 April 1507, Jerome Schultz, the Bishop of Brandenburg , ordained Luther in Erfurt Cathedral . The following year, in 1508, Luther began teaching theology at

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1952-470: The benefit. I delight in it." But when he sees the Word running and contending alone on the battle-field, then he shudders and shakes for fear. The effect of Luther's intervention was immediate. After the sixth sermon, the Wittenberg jurist Jerome Schurf wrote to the elector: "Oh, what joy has Dr. Martin's return spread among us! His words, through divine mercy, are bringing back every day misguided people into

2013-565: The bull and decretals in Wittenberg on 10 December 1520, an act he defended in Why the Pope and his Recent Book are Burned and Assertions Concerning All Articles . Luther was excommunicated by Pope Leo X on 3 January 1521, in the bull Decet Romanum Pontificem . And although the Lutheran World Federation , Methodists and the Catholic Church's Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity agreed (in 1999 and 2006, respectively) on

2074-421: The considerable sum of ten thousand ducats toward the rebuilding of the basilica. Albrecht obtained permission from Pope Leo X to conduct the sale of a special plenary indulgence (i.e., remission of the temporal punishment of sin), half of the proceeds of which Albrecht was to claim to pay the fees of his benefices. On 31 October 1517, Luther wrote to his bishop, Albrecht von Brandenburg, protesting against

2135-529: The context of rapid developments at Wittenberg, of which he was kept fully informed. Andreas Karlstadt, supported by the ex-Augustinian Gabriel Zwilling , embarked on a radical programme of reform there in June 1521, exceeding anything envisaged by Luther. The reforms provoked disturbances, including a revolt by the Augustinian friars against their prior, the smashing of statues and images in churches, and denunciations of

2196-451: The debate was that Matthew 16:18 does not confer on popes the exclusive right to interpret scripture, and that therefore neither popes nor church councils were infallible. For this, Eck branded Luther a new Jan Hus , referring to the Czech reformer and heretic burned at the stake in 1415. From that moment, he devoted himself to Luther's defeat. On 15 June 1520, the Pope warned Luther with

2257-697: The decision on Luther's sadness over the deaths of two friends. Luther himself seemed saddened by the move. Those who attended a farewell supper walked him to the door of the Black Cloister. "This day you see me, and then, not ever again," he said. His father was furious over what he saw as a waste of Luther's education. Luther dedicated himself to the Augustinian order , devoting himself to fasting , long hours in prayer , pilgrimage , and frequent confession . Luther described this period of his life as one of deep spiritual despair. He said, "I lost touch with Christ

2318-567: The development from 1520 (Catholic and Lutheran). The term postil fell into disuse during the period of Pietism and the Enlightenment , but was revived by Claus Harms ( Winter-Postille , Kiel, 1812; Sommer-Postille , 1815). It has again become common through W. Löhe ( Evangelien-Postille , Frommel 1848; Epistel-Postille , 1858), and M. Stuttgart ( Herzpostille , Bremen, 1882, 1890; Hauspostille , 1887–88; Pilgerpostille , 1890). Reformed Churches , which disregard

2379-472: The door of All Saints' Church in Wittenberg on 31 October 1517. Scholars Walter Krämer, Götz Trenkler, Gerhard Ritter, and Gerhard Prause contend that the story of the posting on the door, although it has become one of the pillars of history, has little foundation in truth. The story is based on comments made by Luther's collaborator Philip Melanchthon , though it is thought that he was not in Wittenberg at

2440-548: The law," he writes. "Faith is that which brings the Holy Spirit through the merits of Christ." Faith, for Luther, was a gift from God; the experience of being justified by faith was "as though I had been born again." His entry into Paradise, no less, was a discovery about "the righteousness of God"—a discovery that "the just person" of whom the Bible speaks (as in Romans 1:17) lives by faith. He explains his concept of "justification" in

2501-438: The magistracy. After secretly visiting Wittenberg in early December 1521, Luther wrote A Sincere Admonition by Martin Luther to All Christians to Guard Against Insurrection and Rebellion . Wittenberg became even more volatile after Christmas when a band of visionary zealots, the so-called Zwickau prophets , arrived, preaching revolutionary doctrines such as the equality of man, adult baptism , and Christ's imminent return. When

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2562-591: The more dramatic form of words." Over the next five days, private conferences were held to determine Luther's fate. The emperor presented the final draft of the Edict of Worms on 25 May 1521, declaring Luther an outlaw , banning his literature, and requiring his arrest: "We want him to be apprehended and punished as a notorious heretic." It also made it a crime for anyone in Germany to give Luther food or shelter. It permitted anyone to kill Luther without legal consequence. Luther's disappearance during his return to Wittenberg

2623-560: The murdering of Jews, some historians contend that his rhetoric contributed to the development of antisemitism in Germany and the emergence, centuries later, of the Nazi Party . Martin Luther was born on 10 November 1483 to Hans Luder (or Ludher, later Luther) and his wife Margarethe (née Lindemann) in Eisleben , County of Mansfeld , in the Holy Roman Empire . Luther was baptized

2684-512: The name of Christian, all who are called to enjoy the celestial beatitude. Luther refused to recant his writings. He is sometimes also quoted as saying: "Here I stand. I can do no other". Recent scholars consider the evidence for these words to be unreliable since they were inserted before "May God help me" only in later versions of the speech and not recorded in witness accounts of the proceedings. However, Mullett suggests that given his nature, "we are free to believe that Luther would tend to select

2745-508: The next morning on the feast day of Martin of Tours . In 1484, his family moved to Mansfeld , where his father was a leaseholder of copper mines and smelters and served as one of four citizen representatives on the local council; in 1492, he was elected as a town councilor. The religious scholar Martin Marty describes Luther's mother as a hard-working woman of "trading-class stock and middling means", contrary to Luther's enemies, who labeled her

2806-456: The pope by teaching that the Bible is the only source of divinely revealed knowledge, and opposed sacerdotalism by considering all baptized Christians to be a holy priesthood . Those who identify Luther's wider teachings are called Lutherans, though Luther opposed the name, believing that those who professed faith in Christ should be called "Christian" or "Evangelic". Luther's translation of

2867-538: The pope: "His Holiness abuses Scripture", retorted Luther. "I deny that he is above Scripture". Cajetan's original instructions had been to arrest Luther if he failed to recant, but the legate desisted from doing so. With help from the Carmelite friar Christoph Langenmantel , Luther slipped out of the city at night, unbeknownst to Cajetan. In January 1519, at Altenburg in Saxony, the papal nuncio Karl von Miltitz adopted

2928-508: The redemption that is in Christ Jesus, in His blood (Romans 3:23–25). This is necessary to believe. This cannot be otherwise acquired or grasped by any work, law, or merit. Therefore, it is clear and certain that this faith alone justifies us ... Nothing of this article can be yielded or surrendered, even though heaven and earth and everything else falls ( Mark 13:31). In 1516, Johann Tetzel ,

2989-494: The rest of his career in this position at the University of Wittenberg. In 1515, he was made provincial vicar of Saxony and Thuringia , which required him to visit and oversee eleven monasteries in his province. From 1510 to 1520, Luther lectured on the Psalms, and on the books of Hebrews, Romans, and Galatians. As he studied these portions of the Bible, he came to view the use of terms such as penance and righteousness by

3050-436: The sale of indulgences. He enclosed in his letter a copy of his "Disputation on the Power and Efficacy of Indulgences", which came to be known as the Ninety-five Theses . Hans Hillerbrand writes that Luther had no intention of confronting the church but saw his disputation as a scholarly objection to church practices, and the tone of the writing is accordingly "searching, rather than doctrinaire." Hillerbrand writes that there

3111-412: The soul from purgatory (also attested as 'into heaven') springs." He insisted that, since forgiveness was God's alone to grant, those who claimed that indulgences absolved buyers from all punishments and granted them salvation were in error. Christians, he said, must not slacken in following Christ on account of such false assurances. According to one account, Luther nailed his Ninety-five Theses to

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3172-525: The time. According to Roland Bainton , on the other hand, it is true. The Latin Theses were printed in several locations in Germany in 1517. In January 1518 friends of Luther translated the Ninety-five Theses from Latin into German. Within two weeks, copies of the theses had spread throughout Germany. Luther's writings circulated widely, reaching France , England , and Italy as early as 1519. Students thronged to Wittenberg to hear Luther speak. He published

3233-536: The town council asked Luther to return, he decided it was his duty to act. Luther secretly returned to Wittenberg on 6 March 1522. He wrote to the Elector: "During my absence, Satan has entered my sheepfold, and committed ravages which I cannot repair by writing, but only by my personal presence and living word." For eight days in Lent , beginning on Invocavit Sunday, 9 March, Luther preached eight sermons, which became known as

3294-496: The use of reason but none about loving God , which Luther believed was more important. Reason could not lead men to God, Luther felt, and he thereafter developed a love-hate relationship with Aristotle over Aristotle's emphasis on reason. For Luther, reason could be used to question men and institutions, but not God. Human beings could learn about God only through divine revelation , he believed, leading him to view scripture as increasingly important. On 2 July 1505, while Luther

3355-559: The way of the truth." Luther next set about reversing or modifying the new church practices. By working alongside the authorities to restore public order, he signaled his reinvention as a conservative force within the Reformation. After banishing the Zwickau prophets, he faced a battle against both the established Church and the radical reformers who threatened the new order by fomenting social unrest and violence. Divine grace#Grace in

3416-536: Was a German priest, theologian , author, hymnwriter , professor, and Augustinian friar . Luther was the seminal figure of the Protestant Reformation , and his theological beliefs form the basis of Lutheranism . He is widely regarded as one of the most influential figures in Western and Christian history . Luther was ordained to the priesthood in 1507. He came to reject several teachings and practices of

3477-538: Was an uncertain profession. Luther instead sought assurances about life and was drawn to theology and philosophy, expressing interest in Aristotle , William of Ockham , and Gabriel Biel . He was deeply influenced by two tutors, Bartholomaeus Arnoldi von Usingen and Jodocus Trutfetter, who taught him to be suspicious of even the greatest thinkers and to test everything himself by experience. Philosophy proved to be unsatisfying to Luther because it offered assurance about

3538-405: Was held. Over a three-day period in October 1518 where he stayed at St. Anne's Priory , Luther defended himself under questioning by papal legate Cardinal Cajetan . The pope's right to issue indulgences was at the centre of the dispute between the two men. The hearings degenerated into a shouting match. More than writing his theses, Luther's confrontation with the church cast him as an enemy of

3599-528: Was planned. Frederick III had him intercepted on his way home in the forest near Wittenberg by masked horsemen impersonating highway robbers. They escorted Luther to the security of the Wartburg Castle at Eisenach . During his stay at Wartburg, which he referred to as "my Patmos ", Luther translated the New Testament from Greek into German and poured out doctrinal and polemical writings. These included

3660-516: Was returning to university on horseback following a trip home, a lightning bolt struck near him during a thunderstorm. He later told his father that he was terrified of death and divine judgment, and he cried out, "Help! Saint Anna , I will become a monk!" He came to view his cry for help as a vow that he could never break. He withdrew from the university, sold his books, and entered St. Augustine's Monastery in Erfurt on 17 July 1505. One friend blamed

3721-485: Was their author but requested time to think about the answer to the second question. He prayed, consulted friends, and gave his response the next day: Unless I am convinced by the testimony of the Scriptures or by clear reason (for I do not trust either in the pope or in councils alone, since it is well known that they have often erred and contradicted themselves), I am bound by the Scriptures I have quoted, and my conscience

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