Martin Luther study

Why study Luther?

Why would a Baptist church need to know who Martin Luther was?
- He is the hinge between a medieval Cattholic Christendom and modern Protestantism
- Luther changed the way we think about biblical authority, sin and grace

Catholic Church background, pre-1500's

- no other church than Rome
- heretics excommunicated, burned at thee stake
- Theology determined by both Tradition and Scripture
- Theology ted by penitential systtem. This system was being abused by inclusion of indulgences

Luther becomes a monk

- Born in Germany
- father desired for him to be a lawyer<
- thunderstorm leads to decision to joinn monastery (reminder that thunderstorms were looked at w/o modern
meteorological understandings - this was a message from God)
- pilgrimage to Rome, sees how indulgencces are helping to pay for St. Peter's Basilica

• As priest for city church, notices that people of his parish are buying indulgences rather than attending confession
  - begins teaching at University of Witteenberg

• Luther struggles with sin, forgiveness
• Romans passage leads to new understanding of law and grace, righteousness
• Romans 1:17
  
  Diet of Worms
  
  - Luther nails 95 theses on door of Witttenberg
  - Little response
  - Here I Am speech
  - Frederick the Wise protection
  - In hiding at castle for year, during wwhich he translated the German New Testament - did for German language what Shakespeare did for English
  
  Changes - origins of Protestant Reformation
  
  - Worship services now in vernacular
  > - Took away all statues and stuff
  - Word of God became focus of worship raather than communion
  - Still argued in favor of infant baptissm (in fact, he thought Anabaptists were loony)
  - Argued against papal succession, in faavor of sola scriptura