Martin Luther: Difference between revisions

[[File:Augustinerkloster Erfurt 19-05-2011 DSCF6253.jpg|thumb|left|In July 1505, Luther entered [[St. Augustine's Monastery (Erfurt)|St. Augustine's Monastery]] in [[Erfurt]]]]

[[File:Lutherhaus, Wittenberg.jpg|thumb|Luther's residence at the [[University of Wittenberg]], where he began teaching [[theology]] in 1508]]

Martin Luther was born on 10 November 1483 to Hans Luder (or Ludher, later Luther)<ref name=Marty1>[[Martin E. Marty|Marty, Martin]]. ''Martin Luther''. Viking Penguin, 2004, p. 1.</ref> and his wife Margarethe (née Lindemann) in [[Eisleben]], [[House of Mansfeld|County of Mansfeld]], in the [[Holy Roman Empire]]. Luther was [[Baptism|baptized]] the next morning on the feast day of [[Martin of Tours]].

 

 

===Monastic life===

Luther dedicated himself to the [[Rule of Saint Augustine|Augustinian order]], devoting himself to [[fasting]], long hours in [[prayer]], [[pilgrimage]], and frequent [[Confession (religion)|confession]].<ref name=Bainton40>Bainton, Roland. ''Here I Stand: a Life of Martin Luther''. New York: Penguin, 1995, 40–42.</ref> Luther described this period of his life as one of deep spiritual despair. He said, "I lost touch with Christ the Savior and Comforter, and made of him the jailer and hangman of my poor soul."<ref name=Kittelson79>Kittelson, James. ''Luther The Reformer''. Minneapolis: Augsburg Fortress Publishing House, 1986, 79.</ref>

 

===Lectures on Psalms and justification by faith===

{{Main|Sola fide}}

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 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 (theology)|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 [[Divine grace|grace]], attainable only through faith in Jesus as the [[Messiah]].<ref name=Wriedt>Wriedt, Markus. "Luther's Theology," in ''The Cambridge Companion to Luther''. New York: Cambridge University Press, 2003, 88–94.</ref> "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."<ref>Bouman, Herbert J.A. [https://web.archive.org/web/20090403013639/http://www.quodlibet.net/articles/dorman-luther.shtml "The Doctrine of Justification in the Lutheran Confessions"], ''Concordia Theological Monthly'', 26 November 1955, No. 11:801.</ref>

 

 

===Breach with the papacy===

Archbishop Albrecht did not reply to Luther's letter containing the ''Ninety-five Theses''. He had the theses checked for heresy and in December 1517 forwarded them to Rome.<ref>Michael A. Mullett, ''Martin Luther'', London: [[Routledge]], 2004, {{ISBN|978-0-415-26168-5}}, 78; Oberman, Heiko, ''Luther: Man Between God and the Devil'', New Haven: Yale University Press, 2006, {{ISBN|0-300-10313-1}}, 192–193.</ref> He needed the revenue from the indulgences to pay off a papal dispensation for his [[Benefice#Pluralism|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".<ref>Mullett, 68–69; Oberman, 189.</ref>

 

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.<ref>Brecht, 2:27–29; Mullett, 133.</ref> His essay ''On Confession, Whether the Pope has the Power to Require It'' rejected compulsory [[Confession (religion)|confession]] and encouraged private confession and [[Absolution#Lutheran Churches|absolution]], since "every Christian is a confessor."<ref>Brecht, 2:18–21.</ref> 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.<ref>Marius, 163–164.</ref>

 

Luther made his pronouncements from Wartburg in 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 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''.<ref>Mullett, 135–136.</ref> 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,{{clarify|date=May 2018}} [[Believer's baptism|adult baptism]], and Christ's imminent return.<ref>Wilson, 192–202; Brecht, 2:34–38.</ref> When the town council asked Luther to return, he decided it was his duty to act.<ref>Bainton, Mentor edition, 164–165.</ref>

 

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.<ref>Marius, 169.</ref> 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.<ref>Mullett, 141–43.</ref>

 

Despite his victory in Wittenberg, Luther was unable to stifle radicalism further afield. Preachers such as [[Thomas Müntzer]] and Zwickau prophet [[Nicholas Storch]] found support amongst poorer townspeople and peasants between 1521 and 1525. There had been [[Popular revolts in late-medieval Europe|revolts by the peasantry]] on smaller scales since the 15th century.<ref>Michael Hughes, ''Early Modern Germany: 1477–1806'', London: Macmillan, 1992, {{ISBN|0-333-53774-2}}, 45.</ref> Luther's pamphlets against the Church and the hierarchy, often worded with "liberal" phraseology, led many peasants to believe he would support an attack on the upper classes in general.<ref>A.G. Dickens, ''The German Nation and Martin Luther'', London: Edward Arnold, 1974, {{ISBN|0-7131-5700-3}}, 132–133. Dickens cites as an example of Luther's "liberal" phraseology: "Therefore I declare that neither pope nor bishop nor any other person has the right to impose a syllable of law upon a Christian man without his own consent".</ref> Revolts broke out in [[Franconia]], [[Swabia]], and [[Thuringia]] in 1524, even drawing support from disaffected nobles, many of whom were in debt. Gaining momentum under the leadership of radicals such as Müntzer in Thuringia, and Hipler and Lotzer in the south-west, the revolts turned into war.<ref>Hughes, 45–47.</ref>

 

 

===Marriage===

Luther married [[Katharina von Bora]], one of 12 nuns he had helped escape from the Nimbschen [[Cistercian nuns|Cistercian convent]] in April 1523, when he arranged for them to be smuggled out in herring barrels.<ref>Wilson, 232.</ref> "Suddenly, and while I was occupied with far different thoughts," he wrote to Wenceslaus Link, "the Lord has plunged me into marriage."<ref>Schaff, Philip, [http://www.ccel.org/s/schaff/history/7_ch04.htm ''History of the Christian Church, Vol VII, Ch V''] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170823185716/http://www.ccel.org/s/schaff/history/7_ch04.htm |date=23 August 2017 }}, rpt. Christian Classics Ethereal Library. Retrieved 17 May 2009; Bainton, Mentor edition, 226.</ref> At the time of their marriage, Katharina was 26 years old and Luther was 41 years old.

 

 

===Organising the church: 1525–1529===

By 1526, Luther found himself increasingly occupied in organising a new church. His biblical ideal of congregations choosing their own ministers had proved unworkable.<ref>MacCulloch, 164.</ref> According to Bainton: "Luther's dilemma was that he wanted both a confessional church based on personal faith and experience and a territorial church including all in a given locality. If he were forced to choose, he would take his stand with the masses, and this was the direction in which he moved."<ref>Bainton, Mentor edition, 243.</ref>

 

 

===Catechisms===

Luther devised the catechism as a method of imparting the basics of Christianity to the congregations. In 1529, he wrote the [[Luther's Large Catechism|''Large Catechism'']], a manual for pastors and teachers, as well as a synopsis, the [[Luther's Small Catechism|''Small Catechism'']], to be memorised by the people.<ref>Marty, 123.</ref> The catechisms provided easy-to-understand instructional and devotional material on the [[s:Luther's Small Catechism#I. THE TEN COMMANDMENTS,|Ten Commandments]], the [[s:Luther's Small Catechism#II. THE CREED,|Apostles' Creed]], [[s:Luther's Small Catechism#III. THE LORD’S PRAYER,|The Lord's Prayer]], [[s:Luther's Small Catechism#IV. THE SACRAMENT OF HOLY BAPTISM,|baptism]], and the [[s:Luther's Small Catechism#VI. THE SACRAMENT OF THE ALTAR,|Lord's Supper]].<ref>Brecht, 2:273; Bainton, Mentor edition, 263.</ref> Luther incorporated questions and answers in the catechism so that the basics of Christian faith would not just be [[Rote learning|learned by rote]], "the way monkeys do it", but understood.<ref>Marty, 123; Wilson, 278.</ref>

 

 

===Antinomian controversy===

Early in 1537, [[Johannes Agricola]]—serving at the time as pastor in Luther's birthplace, Eisleben—preached a sermon in which he claimed that God's gospel, not God's moral law (the Ten Commandments), revealed God's wrath to Christians. Based on this sermon and others by Agricola, Luther suspected that Agricola was behind certain anonymous [[Antinomianism|antinomian]] theses circulating in Wittenberg. These theses asserted that the law is no longer to be taught to Christians but belonged only to city hall.<ref>Cf. Luther, ''Only the Decalogue Is Eternal: Martin Luther's Complete Antinomian Theses and Disputations,'' ed. and tr. H. Sonntag, Minneapolis: Lutheran Press, 2008, 23–27. {{ISBN|978-0-9748529-6-6}}</ref> Luther responded to these theses with six series of theses against Agricola and the antinomians, four of which became the basis for [[disputation]]s between 1538 and 1540.<ref>Cf. Luther, ''Only the Decalogue Is Eternal: Martin Luther's Complete Antinomian Theses and Disputations,'' ed. and tr. H. Sonntag, Minneapolis: Lutheran Press, 2008, 11–15. {{ISBN|978-0-9748529-6-6}}</ref> He also responded to these assertions in other writings, such as his 1539 [[open letter]] to C. Güttel ''Against the Antinomians'',<ref>Cf. ''Luther's Works'' 47:107–119. There he writes: "Dear God, should it be unbearable that the holy church confesses itself a sinner, believes in the forgiveness of sins, and asks for remission of sin in the Lord's Prayer? How can one know what sin is without the law and conscience? And how will we learn what Christ is, what he did for us, if we do not know what the law is that he fulfilled for us and what sin is, for which he made satisfaction?" (112–113).</ref> and his book ''On the Councils and the Church'' from the same year.<ref>Cf. ''Luther's Works'' 41, 113–114, 143–144, 146–147. There he said about the antinomians: "They may be fine Easter preachers, but they are very poor Pentecost preachers, for they do not preach ''de sanctificatione et vivificatione Spiritus Sancti'', "about the sanctification by the Holy Spirit," but solely about the redemption of Jesus Christ" (114). "Having rejected and being unable to understand the Ten Commandments, ... they see and yet they let the people go on in their public sins, without any renewal or reformation of their lives" (147).</ref>

 

{{Main|Martin Luther and antisemitism}}

{{see also|Christianity and antisemitism}}

Luther wrote negatively about [[Jews]] throughout his career.<ref name=":2">Michael, Robert. ''Holy Hatred: Christianity, Antisemitism, and the Holocaust''. New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2006, 109; Mullett, 242.</ref> Though Luther rarely encountered Jews during his life, his attitudes reflected a theological and cultural tradition which saw Jews as a rejected people guilty of the murder of Christ, and he lived in a locality which had expelled Jews roughly 90 years earlier.<ref>Edwards, Mark. ''Luther's Last Battles''. Ithaca: Cornell University Press, 1983, 121.</ref> He considered the Jews blasphemers and liars because they rejected the divinity of Jesus.<ref>[[Martin Brecht|Brecht]], 3:341–343; Mullett, 241; Marty, 172.</ref> In 1523, Luther advised kindness toward the Jews in ''That Jesus Christ was Born a Jew'' and also aimed to convert them to Christianity.<ref>Brecht, 3:334; Marty, 169; Marius, 235.</ref> When his efforts at conversion failed, he grew increasingly bitter toward them.<ref>Noble, Graham. "Martin Luther and German anti-Semitism," ''History Review'' (2002) No. 42:1–2; Mullett, 246.</ref>

 

 

=== Final years, illness and death ===

[[File:Martin Luther's grave, Schlosskirche, Wittenburg.jpg|thumb|Luther's grave in [[Schlosskirche, Wittenberg]]]]

Luther had been suffering from ill health for years, including [[Ménière's disease]], [[vertigo]], fainting, [[tinnitus]], and a [[cataract]] in one eye.<ref name="pmid9019884">{{cite journal |author=Iversen OH |title=Martin Luther's somatic diseases. A short life-history 450 years after his death |language=no |journal=[[Journal of the Norwegian Medical Association|Tidsskr. Nor. Legeforen.]] |volume=116 |issue=30 |pages=3643–3646 |year=1996 |pmid=9019884 }}</ref> From 1531 to 1546, his health deteriorated further. In 1536, he began to suffer from [[Kidney stone disease|kidney and bladder stones]], [[arthritis]], and an ear infection ruptured an ear drum. In December 1544, he began to feel the effects of [[angina]].<ref>Edwards, 9.</ref>

==Works and editions==

{{main|Martin Luther bibliography}}

* The Erlangen Edition (''Erlangener Ausgabe'': "EA"), comprising the ''Exegetica opera latina''&nbsp;– Latin exegetical works of Luther.

* The [[Weimar edition of Martin Luther's works|Weimar Edition]] (Weimarer Ausgabe) is the exhaustive, standard German edition of Luther's Latin and German works, indicated by the abbreviation "WA". This is continued into "WA Br" ''Weimarer Ausgabe, Briefwechsel'' (correspondence), "WA Tr" ''Weimarer Ausgabe, Tischreden'' (tabletalk) and "WA DB" ''Weimarer Ausgabe, Deutsche Bibel'' (German Bible).

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* {{cite book

|title=Luther

|publisher=Methuen & Co (Lancashire Pamphlets)