Martin Luther (1483 to 1546)

However, Martin Luther was not an only child. He is the oldest son and has several brothers and sisters. His father had ambitions for himself and his family and was determined to see Martin, his eldest son, become a lawyer. He then sent Martin to Latin schools in Mansfeld, then Magdeburg in 1497, where he attended a school run by a lay group called the Brotherhood of Living Together, and Eisenach in 1498. All three schools focus on the so-called "trivium": grammar, rhetoric, and logic. Luther then compared his education there to Purgatory and Hell.

He entered the University of Erfurt in 1501, when he was 17 years old, and studied arithmetic, astronomy, geometry, and philosophy. Religious and theological affairs were further away from young Luther. He then earned his master's degree in 1505. Luther had enrolled in law school in order to fulfill his father's wishes, but soon he dropped out and entered St. Augustine's Monastery (Augustinerkloster in German) in Erfurt in central Germany on July 17, 1505.

Luther was interested in theology and philosophy. Of the several philosophers who got Luther's attention, the famous one was Aristotle. He found that there was no philosophy that satisfied him because, in philosophy, which studied reason and science, nothing could match the love of God. God is beyond all human understanding and power. He believed that humans could learn about God only through divine revelation, and thus the Scriptures became increasingly important to him. The extraordinary moment that we usually encounter from religious leaders is the story of his past when he felt he was called by God and made him a spiritual leader. Luther also had a moment like that. One time in July 1505, Luther was caught in the middle of a huge storm only a few hours on horseback from Erfurt and lightning almost hit him. Then he screamed, "Help! Saint Anna, I will be a monk!" And then he told his father that he was afraid of death and divine judgment. His father was furious when Luther decided that because he remembered his father's ambition for Luther.. Although at that time a friend of Luther thought that his decision to become a monk was due to the death of his two friends. Those attending the farewell dinner escorted him to the door of his destination Black Klausura. "This day you see me, and then, not ever again," he said.

He entered the monastery of St. Augustine at Wittenberg and studied theology even after graduating from law school. At that time no one imagined Luther would become one of Roman Catholic's worst nightmares. Jerome Scultetus, Bishop of Brandenburg, ordained Luther at the Cathedral of Erfurt on April 3, 1507. And In 1508, the first dean of the newly founded University of Wittenberg, von Staupitz, appointed Luther to teach theology. Simultaneously that year on March 9, 1508, he received a bachelor's degree in theology, and in 1509 another undergraduate degree namely Sententiarius which enabled him to teach the subject of Sententiae by Petrus Lombardus in 1509. In 1512, 19 October, he obtained a Doctor of Theology Degree at Wittenberg University and earned a senate position. In 1512 on October 19, he successfully obtained a Doctor of Theology Degree at the University of Wittenberg as well as becoming a Professor and getting a senate position.

Luther gave many lectures in the 1510s about several books in the Bible, one of which was Romans written by the Apostle Paul. This makes Martin Luther's thought which is very important is the doctrine of justification by faith alone, which comes from the writings of the Apostle Paul. He began to tell that salvation or redemption was a gift from God's grace, which could be achieved only through faith in Jesus as the Messiah. Luther's re-understanding of "Christ and his salvation" was the first of two points on which the Protestant Reformation was based. His protests against the sale of indulgences were based on this.

In 1512, Pope Leo X adopted a new practice of indulgence in which the forgiveness of sins could be obtained by anyone. There are only two conditions: want and have money. The criticisms issued by Martin Luther occurred when he learned about this, namely the practice of selling confession papers by the church. One statement made with Johann Tetzel, a German Dominican monk and preacher, is that "As soon as the coins in the casket clink, the soul of purgatory (also stated as 'to heaven') comes out." made Luther disagree with that. He believes that, because forgiveness is bestowed by Allah alone, those who claim that indulgences exempt buyers from all penalties and grant them salvation are mistaken. Christians, he argued, should not slack off in following Christ because of such false guarantees. The confession letter should be a sacred thing, because it is a form of church grace for sins that have been committed. Luther's frustration with this practice led him to write Ninety-five Theses, for which on October 31, 1517, Martin Luther nailed his letter of protest or Ninety-five Theses to the Church of Wittenberg, and sent a copy of it to Archbishop Mainz. In 1518 a copy of it was reproduced and translated by his friends from Latin to German to be widely distributed in the Wittenberg area.

The church was then one of the foremost messengers. Within two weeks, the whole of Germany was aware of the writing and two months after that the spread reached almost all of Europe. Roman Catholics would not accept this. In 1518, after Pope Leo X was convinced by Friedrich III, Elector of Saxony, Luther then checked in Augsburg, where the Imperial Assembly was held. The Papal Legate, Cardinal Cajetan, asked Luther several questions that caused him to defend himself. Instead of simply writing his thesis, Luther's confrontation with the Church made him an enemy of the pope. The initial instructions that Cajetan received were to arrest Luther if he did not want to retract his teachings, but the legate did not. Luther slipped away from the city at night, unnoticed by Cajetan.

A theologian named Johann Eck insisted on exposing Luther's doctrine in a public forum. Luther then appeared at the public debate in Leipzig in 1519 which Eck held. He said, "the layman armed with scripture is superior to the Pope and his board of cardinals." As a result, Luther was immediately threatened with ex-communication. During the same debate, the term Lutheran became popular.

Luther was later warned that he would be subject to ex-communication with Pope Leo X's Exsurge Domine papal bull if Luther did not immediately retract within 60 days of all the 41 sentences in his various writings and the Ninety-five Theses he wrote. Instead, he produced three other treatises. The first was entitled "To the Christian Nobility of the German Nation" which argued that all Christians were priests and urged the rulers to take the path of the Reformation of the church. Second, the "On the Babylonian Captivity of the Church", which reduced the seven sacraments to just two in the form of baptism and Holy Communion. Third, "On the Freedom of a Christian" which tells Christians that they have been freed from the Law and have been replaced by the bonds of love to it. But in December 1520, Luther, who had sent a copy of "On the Freedom of a Christian" to the pope in October, publicly burned the edicts and bullets in Wittenberg with a fire made by his students when he canceled classes. Luther was excommunicated by Pope Leo X on January 3, 1521, via the bull Decet Romanum Pontificem.

Luther's judgment is not over. The Emperor of the Holy Roman Empire, Charles V, summoned Luther on April 18, 1521 to attend the Diet of Worms, a trial he initiated to urge Luther to change the views contained in his Ninety-five Theses, including his other writings. The trial was held in Worms, a city in Germany. But Luther did not move and did not change anything. And on the 26th of that month, Luther left Worms. Then on May 8, 1521, Charles released the Edict of Worms, and on 25 May 1521, together with the support of the rulers of Worms, Charles officially signed the edict, which meant banning Luther's writing and declaring him a "convict heretical." This made him a cursed and wanted person.

After the Diet of Worms, Luther was threatened with insecurity. Frederick III or Frederick the Wise who is the determinant of the heir to the throne of the Holy Roman Empire ensures that Luther can leave and return safely from the trial. At that time Luther was not arrested at Worms. They took him to Wartburg Castle. Luther fled for 10 months there. During his exile, Luther wrote numerous letters to supporters at Wittenberg. Lutherans are increasing in number, there are even three pastors who decided to marry in protest. In 1522 Luther was safe to return to his residence at Wittenberg.

But the peace was not over. Conflict because of the Reformation initiated by Luther occurred everywhere. One of the biggest was the Peasants War of 1524 which demanded land acquisition from aristocrats and landowners. Luther himself did not support the action. Even though the war stopped in 1525, about 100,000 peasants died.

The culmination of this bloody conflict was The Thirty Years’ War in Germany between 1618 to 1648 which killed an estimated 7.5 million people. The conflict between the two sides ended with the Westfalen peace agreement. Three schools of Christianity were finally recognized: Roman Catholic, Lutheran, and Calvinist.

Luther founded church bodies for worship services and catechism as a method of conveying the foundations of Christianity to churches from 1525 to 1529. Luther wrote the German Mass liturgy for the liturgical needs of the church. He did not intend to use it as a substitute for his 1523 adaptation of the Latin Mass, but as an alternative to "simple people," a "public stimulation for people to believe and become Christians." Luther based his rule on Catholic worship, but eliminated "all things sacrificial," and Mass became a celebration in which everyone received both bread and wine. It retained the appointment of the host (banquet bread) and the cup, while equipment such as a vest, altar, and candles were made optional, allowing freedom of ritual performance.

Besides, prior to 1517, the Catholic Church controlled most religious music in Europe. The participation of ordinary people is very thin. In the church, most people hear only plain stiff songs, sung in Latin by a choir.

Luther broke these rigid barriers and changed the life of Christian music. For him, religious music is not only for priests and choirs. On the other hand, religious music is a 'beside theology' and a 'gift from God'.

He strived earnestly to develop these ideas, as firmly as his thought about the Pope or the danger of pleasure. Songs in Latin were later sidelined and replaced by communal chants in colloquial German. This style soon became an important part of the identity of his followers.

Luther married Katharina von Bora in 1525. Catherine was one of the nuns who escaped from the Sisters of Nimbschen convent in 1523. Katharina gave birth to six children of which 3 sons and 3 daughters. And she helps the couple earn a living by farming while accepting lodgers.

Martin Luther was so meritorious in making the Bible translated into German. It allows everyone to read the scriptures without depending on the church and pastors.

He translated into German and published a translation of the New Testament in 1522 and in 1534 with those who worked with him translated into German and published the entire book.

On February 18, 1546, Luther died of a stroke. He is buried at All Saints' Church in Wittenberg, the city he helped turn into an intellectual center. For many, Luther is considered to have "changed the world." The legacy he left has not faded.