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Martin Luther

1483-1546

The night of November 10, 1483, in a small village in Eisleben, Germany, it was cold and quiet. The people in the village had just finished celebrating Saint Martin's Day. It was a painful night for Margaretta Luther, as she gave birth to her first child. Margaretta and her husband Hans named the new-born baby Martin after Saint Martin. They took little Martin to the Catholic Church to be baptised right after he was born.

Hans and Margaretta Luther were peasants who worked very hard. They knew that hard work and discipline was important. They taught Martin to work hard and to obey his parents. As a child, if Martin disobeyed his parents he received a bad punishment.

Martin worked hard at school studying reading, writing, music, and Latin. He was much younger than the other children when he started going to school. His father wanted him to get a head start in his education. He went to a small country school with students of all ages in one, big classroom.

The hardest subject for Martin to study was Latin. Learning a new language was very difficult for Martin, especially when he had spoken German his whole life. It was very important for Martin to learn Latin, because many important books were written only in that language. Many of the peasants couldn't understand Latin. They couldn't read important books like the Bible.

Martin would go to the Catholic Church on Sundays for mass, and his family went to all the feasts and celebrations. All the peasants would listen to priests read from the Bible at mass. Since the peasants couldn't understand Latin, they needed the priests to translate the Bible for them into German. The peasants trusted the leaders of the Catholic Church to teach them the truths found in the Bible.

Some of the leaders of the Catholic Church were not very honest. They taught the peasants that God was a hard judge who would punish anyone who sinned. They told the peasants that if you sinned you had to be punished for your sin. These leaders tricked the people into paying money to the church in order to be forgiven of their sins. They called these payments indulgences.

Martin Luther grew up believing that God was a harsh judge. No one explained to him the forgiveness that God gave until he was in his twenties. He spent many years of his life trying to earn his salvation by doing many good works. He became a monk in order to stay away from the sinful ways of the world.

When he started studying the Bible, he found that God wasn't the harsh judge that he had thought. Rather, he was a forgiving God who showed mercy to those who accept Him. Martin Luther wrote:

"If you have a true faith that Christ is your Savior, then at once you have a gracious God, for faith leads you in and opens up God's heart and will, that you should see pure grace and overflowing love. This is to behold God in faith that you should look upon his fatherly, friendly heart, in which there is no anger nor ungraciousness. He who sees God as angry does not see him rightly but looks only on a curtain, as if a dark cloud had been drawn across his face."

After Luther began to understand the truths of the Bible, his life began to change. Instead of trying to do good in order to earn his salvation, he now wanted to help other people understand God's love. He didn't want the Catholic Church to deceive the peasants anymore. He wanted the Catholic Church to teach only the pure truths found in the Bible. He wanted the Church to tell the peasants of God's love and forgiveness.

Martin Luther is known as the Father of the Protestant Reformation. The Protestant Reformation began on October 31, 1517 when Luther challenged the teachings of the Catholic Church. Many leaders in the Catholic Church continued to decieve the peasants, so Luther decided to help the peasants learn about God and Bible without the Catholic Church. He translated the Bible from Latin into German, so the peasants could read the Bible on their own. Many new churches started during the Protestant Reformation that taught the truths of the Bible, and showed people God's mercy and forgiveness.

Martin Luther dedicated his whole life to telling people about God and the Bible. He spent many years of his life writing books about God, and translating the Bible. He was a great man with a dream of changing the world for the better. His life is an excellent example to everyone who wants to make a difference in the world. His dedication and commitment to his dream shows us an example of a great man and a true hero.

For further reading on history of Martin Luther see:

Bainton, R.H. Here I Stand, A Life of Martin Luther: New York: Abingdon-Cokesbury Press

The Ninety-five Theses: web address: http://www.bibleclass.com/lib/95.htm

The Spiritual Pilgrim: web address: http://www2.cybernex.net/~mhodges/west/contents.htm