Once upon a time, three hundred years ago in Germany, a boy named Martin Luther who was destined for great things was born. The era of his life was a time of much religious confusion, where the general public were uneducated and only had the Roman Catholic Church to look to for guidance and acceptance.
Luther lived his childhood with little money and few possessions; however, was constantly surrounded by love and compassion, which built him into the person he was yet to become. With little money his family had, they were determined to give Martin a better education and future, despite the difficulties it would create. He was educated thoroughly and taught Latin, leading him to a path of studying law at University.
One day he decided to take a trip home from university to visit his family. On his way home, Martin was caught in a violent thunderstorm which he thought was going to kill him. He begged and prayed to spare his life in return for him devoting his life to god. He survived the storm, and as promised, he devoted his life entirely to serving God, by becoming a monk. To truly fulfil this promise of becoming a monk, he decided to give up law.
Martin was a monk, who is man that promises to be completely loyal to God.
Luther became closer to God by preaching to the public at Church. In doing so, many people did not understand what Luther would talk about. Instead, they’d look to the Catholic church where they’d pay to have their sins forgiven, which they thought would secure their place in heaven once they died. This Catholic practise was called the Indulgences. These people lived in poverty and had little money to live by, and Martin was angered by the Catholics were taking these people’s earnings. So, Martin wrote what’s known as the 95 Theses where he stated the reasons why the Indulgences is bad and how people should truly be treated. He stapled the 95 Theses to a Church door to be seen by the public.
Luther was became officially shut out of the Catholic Church by the Pope. Three months later, Luther was called to defend himself and his beliefs at court. It was then ordered that Martin should be banned from his state, and if he was found, he should be captured punished for believing in a religion that wasn’t Catholicism and due to his refusal to take back what he said in the 95 Theses about the Catholic church. Martin spent the following months in hiding.
While in hiding, Luther spent 11 weeks translating the bible into German, so the German people could read the bible for themselves and form their own opinions instead of relying on the Catholic Church. Now all people could read the Bible and not just the smartest people at the time. Martin’s work to translate this bible transformed the world for the better, especially since this version of the Bible sold over 100,00 copies.
It was at this time, where Martin Luther’s new ‘Lutheran Church’ gained in popularity and support and started to grow into one of the largest religions in modern times. And He Lived Happily Ever After…
References
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Study.com. (2019). The Diet of Worms in 1521: Definition & Summary Video with Lesson Transcript | Study.com. [online] Available at: https://study.com/academy/lesson/the-diet-of-worms-in-1521-definition-summary-quiz.html [Accessed 31 Oct. 2019].
HISTORY. (2019). Martin Luther excommunicated. [online] Available at: https://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/martin-luther-excommunicated [Accessed 31 Oct. 2019].
Emberson, I. (2019). Timeline of Reformation History (1517-1685). [online] Protestantism.co.uk. Available at: http://protestantism.co.uk/timeline.html [Accessed 31 Oct. 2019].
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Encyclopedia Britannica. (2019). Reformation | History, Summary, & Reformers. [online] Available at: https://www.britannica.com/event/Reformation [Accessed 31 Oct. 2019].
User, S. (2019). The Trial of Martin Luther: An Account. [online] Famous-trials.com. Available at: https://www.famous-trials.com/luther/286-home [Accessed 31 Oct. 2019].