LUTHER, Martin, German religious re former: b. Eisleben, Saxony, 10 Nov. 1483; d. there, 18 Feb. 1546. Hans Luther, his father, a miner in very humble circumstances, removed with his family to Mansfeld in 1484, and in the course of time was appointed to a seat in the council. Martin was educated in the deepest respect for religion, and under the severest .discipline, his parents practising the most aus tere lives of virtue and piety. At 14 he was sent to the school at Magdeburg, whence he removed in 1499 to Eisenach. At first he ob tained his support by singing songs at the door like many other poor scholars; but was soon taken under the care of a benevolent lady named Ursula Cotta. At school he made rapid progress in Latin and in other studies; in 1501 he entered the University of Erfurt, where his mental ability soon won him distinction among his fellows. In 1505 he received the degree of master. He was orginally destined by his father for the law, but circumstances at this time turned his attention to religious truth, and he began the study of divinity. Then to the surprise and regret of his father came the young man's renunciation" and his de termination to enter the monastery of the Augustines at Erfurt in 1505. Luther regarded himself as an unprofitable servant, tortured himself with bitter reproaches and was attacked by,a severe fit of sickness, during which one of the elder brothers consoled him and promised him the forgiveness of his sins through faith in Jesus Christ, a doctrine which Luther after ward declared brought a new light into his soul. He was also much encouraged by Stau pitz, the provincial of the Order, who perceived his great talents and encouraged him to con tinue his theological studies. Staupitz himself had a singularly clear gospel conception of the cardinal doctrines of faith, repentance, the love and holiness of God, and it is no doubt true that Luther owed much of his ((insight° into truth and the opportunity to give it expression to the kindly vicar-general. It is also well to remember in considering the life and work of Luther that some of his best and most cherished works — the Epistles to the Romans and the Galatians, his edition of Tauler's 'Theologia Germanica,) and the exposition of the Seven Penitential Psalms were conceived while he was a member of his Order; as late as 1516 even, the year before his renunciation, he emphasized in a sermon the cardinal principle, Church cannot err in proclaiming the faith, only the individual within her is liable to error.)J In 1507 he was ordained priest, and in 1508, by the influence of Staupitz, Luther was called by Frederick of Saxony to the chair of philoso phy at the newly-founded University of Wit tenberg. He lectured on the Aristotelian phi
losophy at the university as well as in the mon astery, and at the same time began his activity as a preacher. In 1510 he made a journey to Rome on business of his order. In 1512 he took the degree of doctor of theology. It was shortly after this, in 1514, that Leo X issued a bull, granting an indulgence to all who should contribute to the rebuilding of Saint Peter's Church at Rome. Tetzel, a Dominican friar, was chosen by the cardinal archbishop of Mainz, who, jointly with the guardian of the Fran ciscan friars, was named commissary of the indulgence for Saxony and the north of Ger many, to preach the indulgence through this district. It was the preaching of Tetzel which was the occasion of the beginning of the Ref ormation. Tetzel was preaching at Juterbogk, a few miles from Wittenberg, when, on the eve of All Saints' day, 31 Oct. 1517, Luther affixed his 95 theses to the door of the Scholss kirche, challenging the Dominican friar. Though carefully guarded in their wording, Luther's propositions were clearly contrary, in some respects, to the current doctrine. The sixth thesis denied the power of the keys, and maintained that the Pope can only declare a sin to be forgiven by God; the 36th, that through true contrition a Christian is freed from all guilt and punishjnent; the 66th spoke not of abuses, but said of indulgences in gen eral that they were nets to catch money with; but the 71st declared anathema. to him who would reject indulgences altogether. It is clear that Luther at this time had no concep tion of the Reformation as a movement in op position to the Catholic Church, nor any idea of denying the supremacy of the chair of Saint Peter, but was worked into a fury by abuses which he thought the ecclesiastical authorities were not sufficiently active in regulating, and his zeal carried him to the breaking point with the ancient Church. His propositions were condemned as heretical as soon as they ap geared. Hoogstraaten, a Dominican of Co logne, Eck at Ingolstadt, and Prierias, an offices of the Roman court, immediately made replies to his theses; but neither argument, invective, the summons to Rome, which he did not obey, nor the mild counsels of Cardinal Cajetan at Augsburg in 1518, and of the nuncio Militz at Altenburg in 1519, were sufficient to induce him to recant. His replies were made with great boldness and determination, and even after his dispute with Eck at Leipzig in 1519, he still maintained the invalidity of indulgences and of the supremacy of the Pope. He appealed from the decision of Cardinal Cajetan to the Pope, and from the Pope to a general council.