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104-709: Martin Luther had controversies with " Sacramentarians ", and he published against them, for example, in his The Sacrament of the Body and Blood of Christ—Against the Fanatics and Confession Concerning Christ's Supper . Philipp I of Hessen arranged the Marburg Colloquy in 1529, but no agreement could be reached concerning the doctrine of Real Presence . Subsequently, the Wittenberg Concord of 1536

208-557: A Dominican friar , was sent to Germany by the Roman Catholic Church to sell indulgences to raise money in order to rebuild St. Peter's Basilica in Rome. Tetzel's experiences as a preacher of indulgences, especially between 1503 and 1510, led to his appointment as general commissioner by Albrecht von Brandenburg, Archbishop of Mainz , who, already deeply in debt to pay for a large accumulation of benefices, had to contribute

312-639: A lay group , and Eisenach in 1498. The three schools focused on the so-called " trivium ": grammar, rhetoric, and logic. Luther later compared his education there to purgatory and hell . In 1501, at age 17, Martin entered the University of Erfurt , which he later described as a beerhouse and whorehouse. He was made to awaken at 4 a.m. for "a day of rote learning and often wearying spiritual exercises." He received his master's degree in 1505. In accordance with his father's wishes, Luther enrolled in law but dropped out almost immediately, believing that law

416-761: A "common understanding of justification by God's grace through faith in Christ," the Catholic Church has never lifted the 1521 excommunication. The enforcement of the ban on the Ninety-five Theses fell to the secular authorities. On 17 April 1521, Luther appeared as ordered before the Diet of Worms . This was a general assembly of the estates of the Holy Roman Empire that took place in Worms ,

520-969: A confidential letter of Johann Stössel which fell into the elector 's hands opened his eyes. The heads of the Philippist party were imprisoned and roughly handled, and the Torgau Confession of 1574 completed their downfall. By the adoption of the Formula of Concord their cause was ruined in all the territories which accepted it, although in some others it survived under the aspect of a modified Lutheranism, as in Nuremberg , or, as in Nassau, Hesse , Anhalt, and Bremen, where it became more or less definitely identified with Calvinism . It raised its head once more in Electoral Saxony in 1586, on

624-535: A more conciliatory approach. Luther made certain concessions to the Saxon, who was a relative of the Elector and promised to remain silent if his opponents did. The theologian Johann Eck , however, was determined to expose Luther's doctrine in a public forum. In June and July 1519, he staged a disputation with Luther's colleague Andreas Karlstadt at Leipzig and invited Luther to speak. Luther's boldest assertion in

728-508: A party in early Lutheranism . Their opponents were called Gnesio-Lutherans . Philippists was the designation usually applied in the latter half of the sixteenth century to the followers of Philipp Melanchthon . It probably originated among the opposite or Flacian party , and was applied at first to the theologians of the universities of Wittenberg and Leipzig , who were all adherents of Melanchthon's distinctive views, especially those in which he approximated to Roman Catholic doctrine on

832-463: A renewed attack on Archbishop Albrecht of Mainz, whom he shamed into halting the sale of indulgences in his episcopates, and a Refutation of the Argument of Latomus , in which he expounded the principle of justification to Jacobus Latomus , an orthodox theologian from Louvain . In this work, one of his most emphatic statements on faith, he argued that every good work designed to attract God's favor

936-767: A short commentary on Galatians and his Work on the Psalms . This early part of Luther's career was one of his most creative and productive. Three of his best-known works were published in 1520: To the Christian Nobility of the German Nation , On the Babylonian Captivity of the Church , and On the Freedom of a Christian . Archbishop Albrecht did not reply to Luther's letter containing

1040-545: A strict nature, and the work for concord went on more and more definitely along the lines of eliminating Melanchthonism. The Philippists, fully alarmed, attempted not only to consolidate in Electoral Saxony but to gain ascendency over the entire German Evangelical Church. They met their downfall first in Electoral Saxony. The conclusion of the Altenburg Colloquy prompted the elector, in Aug., 1569, to issue orders that all

1144-413: A tendency to bring into account the necessary connection of justification and regeneration : namely, that justification as possession of forgiving grace by faith is indeed not conditioned by obedience; but also that the new life is presupposed by obedience and works springing out of the same justification. But neither Major nor Menius was sufficiently firm in his view to stand against the charge of denying

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1248-582: A town on the Rhine . It was conducted from 28 January to 25 May 1521, with Emperor Charles V presiding. Prince Frederick III, Elector of Saxony , obtained a safe conduct for Luther to and from the meeting. Johann Eck, speaking on behalf of the empire as assistant of the Archbishop of Trier , presented Luther with copies of his writings laid out on a table and asked him if the books were his and whether he stood by their contents. Luther confirmed he

1352-578: A whore and bath attendant. He had several brothers and sisters and is known to have been close to one of them, Jacob. Hans Luther, Martin's father, was ambitious for himself and his family. He was determined to see Martin, his eldest son, become a lawyer. He sent Martin to Latin schools in Mansfeld, then Magdeburg in 1497, where he attended the Brethren of the Common Life , a school operated by

1456-469: A will; and that in the position that there was a spontaneous cooperation of human powers released by grace there was an actual lapse into the Roman Catholic view. The suspicions now entertained against Melanchthon and his school were quickened by the renewed outbreak of the sacramentarian controversy in 1552. Joachim Westphal accused Melanchthon of agreement with John Calvin , and from this time

1560-402: Is a sin. All humans are sinners by nature, he explained, and God's grace alone (which cannot be earned) can make them just. On 1 August 1521, Luther wrote to Melanchthon on the same theme: "Be a sinner, and let your sins be strong, but let your trust in Christ be stronger, and rejoice in Christ who is the victor over sin, death, and the world. We will commit sins while we are here, for this life

1664-477: Is captive to the Word of God. I cannot and will not recant anything since it is neither safe nor right to go against conscience. May God help me. Amen. At the end of this speech, Luther raised his arm "in the traditional salute of a knight winning a bout." Michael Mullett considers this speech as a "world classic of epoch-making oratory." Eck informed Luther that he was acting like a heretic, saying, Martin, there

1768-452: Is nevertheless an undercurrent of challenge in several of the theses, particularly in Thesis 86, which asks: "Why does the pope, whose wealth today is greater than the wealth of the richest Crassus , build the basilica of St. Peter with the money of poor believers rather than with his own money?" Luther objected to a saying attributed to Tetzel that, "As soon as the coin in the coffer rings,

1872-542: Is no one of the heresies which have torn the bosom of the church, which has not derived its origin from the various interpretation of the Scripture. The Bible itself is the arsenal whence each innovator has drawn his deceptive arguments. It was with Biblical texts that Pelagius and Arius maintained their doctrines. Arius, for instance, found the negation of the eternity of the Word—an eternity which you admit, in this verse of

1976-553: Is not a place where justice resides." In the summer of 1521, Luther widened his target from individual pieties like indulgences and pilgrimages to doctrines at the heart of Church practice. In On the Abrogation of the Private Mass , he condemned as idolatry the idea that the mass is a sacrifice, asserting instead that it is a gift, to be received with thanksgiving by the whole congregation. His essay On Confession, Whether

2080-519: Is proper." Over the next three years he deployed a series of papal theologians and envoys against Luther, which served only to harden the reformer's anti-papal theology. First, the Dominican theologian Sylvester Mazzolini drafted a heresy case against Luther, whom Leo then summoned to Rome. The Elector Frederick persuaded the pope to have Luther examined at Augsburg, where the Imperial Diet

2184-754: The Consensus Dresdensis of 1571, a cleverly worded document; and when on the death of John William, in 1574, August assumed the regency in Ernestine Saxony and began to drive out not only strict Lutheran zealots like Heshusius and Wigand, but all who refused their subscription to the Consensus, the Philippists thought they were on the way to a victory which should give them all Germany. But the unquestionably Calvinist work of Joachim Cureus , Exegesis perspicua de sacra cœna (1574), and

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2288-525: The Electorate of Saxony in 1586, on the accession of Christian I , but on his death five years later it came to a sudden and bloody end with the murder of Nikolaus Krell as a victim to this unpopular revival of Calvinism . In Denmark crypto-Calvinism was represented by Niels Hemmingsen . In Sweden, crypto-Calvinism, which was resisted by Archbishop Olaus Martini , was supported by Duke Charles , uncle of Catholic king Sigismund III Vasa . Calvinism

2392-505: The Ephesians 2:8–10 . Against the teaching of his day that the righteous acts of believers are performed in cooperation with God, Luther wrote that Christians receive such righteousness entirely from outside themselves; that righteousness not only comes from Christ but actually is the righteousness of Christ, imputed to Christians (rather than infused into them) through faith. "That is why faith alone makes someone just and fulfills

2496-578: The Ernestine branch of the Saxon house (now extruded from the electoral dignity) and the Albertine branch ; the jealousy between the new Ernestine University of Jena and the electoral universities of Wittenberg and Leipzig , in both of which the Philippists had the majority; and the bitter personal antagonism felt at Wittenberg for Flacius, who assailed his former teachers harshly and made all reconciliation impossible. The actual conflict began with

2600-626: The Holy Roman Empire . Luther was baptized the next morning on the feast day of Martin of Tours . In 1484, his family moved to Mansfeld , where his father was a leaseholder of copper mines and smelters and served as one of four citizen representatives on the local council; in 1492, he was elected as a town councilor. The religious scholar Martin Marty describes Luther's mother as a hard-working woman of "trading-class stock and middling means", contrary to Luther's enemies, who labeled her

2704-694: The Messiah . "This one and firm rock, which we call the doctrine of justification", he writes, "is the chief article of the whole Christian doctrine, which comprehends the understanding of all godliness." Luther came to understand justification as entirely the work of God. This teaching by Luther was clearly expressed in his 1525 publication On the Bondage of the Will , which was written in response to On Free Will by Desiderius Erasmus (1524). Luther based his position on predestination on St. Paul's epistle to

2808-521: The Ninety-five Theses . He had the theses checked for heresy and in December 1517 forwarded them to Rome. He needed the revenue from the indulgences to pay off a papal dispensation for his tenure of more than one bishopric . As Luther later notes, "the pope had a finger in the pie as well, because one half was to go to the building of St. Peter's Church in Rome". Pope Leo X was used to reformers and heretics, and he responded slowly, "with great care as

2912-678: The Peace of Augsburg (1555) had given religious freedom in Germany only to Lutherans, and it was not officially extended to Calvinists until the Treaty of Westphalia in 1648. While Bullinger , Zwingli 's successor, had, in 1549, accepted Calvin's much less radical view of Christ's presence in the Lord's Supper (that is, that the Eucharist was more than a sign and that Christ was truly present in it and

3016-677: The Protestant Reformation , and his theological beliefs form the basis of Lutheranism . He is widely regarded as one of the most influential figures in Western and Christian history . Luther was ordained to the priesthood in 1507. He came to reject several teachings and practices of the Roman Catholic Church ; in particular, he disputed the view on indulgences . Luther attempted to resolve these differences amicably, first proposing an academic discussion of

3120-536: The Smalcald Articles : The first and chief article is this: Jesus Christ, our God and Lord, died for our sins and was raised again for our justification (Romans 3:24–25). He alone is the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world ( John 1:29), and God has laid on Him the iniquity of us all ( Isaiah 53:6). All have sinned and are justified freely, without their own works and merits, by His grace, through

3224-464: The University of Wittenberg . He received two bachelor's degrees, one in biblical studies on 9 March 1508, and another in the Sentences by Peter Lombard in 1509. On 19 October 1512, he was awarded his Doctor of Theology . On 21 October 1512, Luther was received into the senate of the theological faculty of the University of Wittenberg , succeeding von Staupitz as chair of theology. He spent

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3328-583: The papal bull (edict) Exsurge Domine that he risked excommunication unless he recanted 41 sentences drawn from his writings, including the Ninety-five Theses , within 60 days. That autumn, Eck proclaimed the bull in Meissen and other towns. Von Miltitz attempted to broker a solution, but Luther, who had sent the pope a copy of On the Freedom of a Christian in October, publicly set fire to

3432-564: The "Invocavit Sermons". In these sermons, he hammered home the primacy of core Christian values such as love, patience, charity, and freedom, and reminded the citizens to trust God's word rather than violence to bring about necessary change. Do you know what the Devil thinks when he sees men use violence to propagate the gospel? He sits with folded arms behind the fire of hell and says with malignant looks and frightful grin: "Ah, how wise these madmen are to play my game! Let them go on; I shall reap

3536-489: The Catholic Church in new ways. He became convinced that the church was corrupt in its ways and had lost sight of what he saw as several of the central truths of Christianity. The most important for Luther was the doctrine of justification —God's act of declaring a sinner righteous—by faith alone through God's grace. He began to teach that salvation or redemption is a gift of God's grace , attainable only through faith in Jesus as

3640-545: The German principalities with prayers for the preservation of the doctrine of justification and the doctrine of the adoration of the Sacrament. Paul Eber was one of the main Philippist opponents of eucharistic adoration. Controversy about crypto-Calvinism inside of Lutheran Church divides into two stages: 1552–1574 and 1586–1592. It was the most bitter of all controversies after Luther's death. Crypto-Calvinists had gained

3744-529: The Lord's Supper as a danger to Lutheran faith and identity. Martin Luther Bible Translators Theologians Martin Luther OSA ( / ˈ l uː θ ər / LOO -thər ; German: [ˈmaʁtiːn ˈlʊtɐ] ; 10 November 1483 – 18 February 1546) was a German priest, theologian , author, hymnwriter , professor, and Augustinian friar . Luther was the seminal figure of

3848-712: The Lutheran side. The Colloquy of Worms in 1557 was an attempt to achieve unity among Lutherans, but it failed. During these controversies the State Church of the Electorate of the Palatinate , where Philippism predominated, changed from the Lutheran to the Reformed faith under Frederick III (1560). The Heidelberg Catechism , which was written there, was also meant to form bridges between Lutherans and Reformed in Germany – one of its authors, Zacharias Ursinus ,

3952-534: The New Testament— Joseph knew not his wife till she had brought forth her first-born son ; and he said, in the same way that you say, that this passage enchained him. When the fathers of the Council of Constance condemned this proposition of Jan Hus— The church of Jesus Christ is only the community of the elect , they condemned an error; for the church, like a good mother, embraces within her arms all who bear

4056-477: The Philippist Georg Major at Wittenberg and Justus Menius at Gotha put forth the proposition that good works were necessary to salvation , or as Menius preferred to say "the new obedience, the new life, is necessary to salvation," they were not only conscious of the danger that the doctrine of justification by faith alone would lead to antinomianism and moral laxity but they manifested

4160-559: The Philippists at Jena were again displaced (1568–69) by the strict Lutherans, Johann Wigand , Cölestin , Kirchner , and Heshusius , and the Jena opposition to Wittenberg was once more organized, finding voice in the Bekenntnis von der Rechtfertigung und guten Werken of 1569. The Elector August was now very anxious to restore peace in the Saxon territories, and John William agreed to call a conference at Altenburg (Oct. 21, 1568), in which

4264-547: The Philippists rested under the suspicion of Crypto-Calvinism . The more the German Lutherans entertained a dread of the invasion of Calvinism , the more they mistrusted every announcement of a formula of the Lord's Supper after the form of Luther's doctrine yet obscure. The controversy on this subject, in which Melanchthon's friend Albert Rizaeus Hardenberg of Bremen was involved with Johann Timann and then with Heshusius, leading to his deposition in 1561, elevated

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4368-535: The Pope has the Power to Require It rejected compulsory confession and encouraged private confession and absolution , since "every Christian is a confessor." In November, Luther wrote The Judgement of Martin Luther on Monastic Vows . He assured monks and nuns that they could break their vows without sin, because vows were an illegitimate and vain attempt to win salvation. Luther made his pronouncements from Wartburg in

4472-749: The Reformed doctrine of the Eucharist had become evident already in 1540, when Melanchthon had published another version of the Augsburg Confession (" Variata "), in which the article on the Real Presence differed essentially from what had been expressed in 1530. The wording is as follows: The altered edition was made the basis of negotiations with the Roman Catholics at the Colloquies of Worms and Ratisbon in 1541, and at

4576-591: The Savior and Comforter, and made of him the jailer and hangman of my poor soul." Johann von Staupitz , his superior, concluded that Luther needed more work to distract him from excessive introspection and ordered him to pursue an academic career. On 3 April 1507, Jerome Schultz, the Bishop of Brandenburg , ordained Luther in Erfurt Cathedral . The following year, in 1508, Luther began teaching theology at

4680-466: The adoption of the Book of Concord (1580). John Calvin also signed it. However, it did not have the legal status given to the original version by the Peace of Augsburg . The Real Presence for Luther was beyond any doubt: The host consecrated is Christ's body , while for Melanchthon the words spoken during the establishment by Jesus only promised that his body and blood were received. Melanchthon rejected

4784-427: The barriers which separated Lutherans and Calvinists . Melanchthon had won, by his eminent abilities as a teacher and his clear, scholastic formulation of doctrine, a large number of disciples among whom were included some of the most zealous Lutherans, such as Matthias Flacius and Tilemann Heshusius , afterward to be numbered among the vehement opponents of Philippism; both of whom formally and materially received

4888-476: The benefit. I delight in it." But when he sees the Word running and contending alone on the battle-field, then he shudders and shakes for fear. The effect of Luther's intervention was immediate. After the sixth sermon, the Wittenberg jurist Jerome Schurf wrote to the elector: "Oh, what joy has Dr. Martin's return spread among us! His words, through divine mercy, are bringing back every day misguided people into

4992-453: The bull and decretals in Wittenberg on 10 December 1520, an act he defended in Why the Pope and his Recent Book are Burned and Assertions Concerning All Articles . Luther was excommunicated by Pope Leo X on 3 January 1521, in the bull Decet Romanum Pontificem . And although the Lutheran World Federation , Methodists and the Catholic Church's Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity agreed (in 1999 and 2006, respectively) on

5096-421: The considerable sum of ten thousand ducats toward the rebuilding of the basilica. Albrecht obtained permission from Pope Leo X to conduct the sale of a special plenary indulgence (i.e., remission of the temporal punishment of sin), half of the proceeds of which Albrecht was to claim to pay the fees of his benefices. On 31 October 1517, Luther wrote to his bishop, Albrecht von Brandenburg, protesting against

5200-428: The context of rapid developments at Wittenberg, of which he was kept fully informed. Andreas Karlstadt, supported by the ex-Augustinian Gabriel Zwilling , embarked on a radical programme of reform there in June 1521, exceeding anything envisaged by Luther. The reforms provoked disturbances, including a revolt by the Augustinian friars against their prior, the smashing of statues and images in churches, and denunciations of

5304-460: The controversy over the Interim and the question of Adiaphora in 1548 and the following years. In the negotiations concerning the Leipzig Interim the Wittenberg theologians as well as Johann Pfeffinger and the intimate of Melanchthon, George of Anhalt , were on the side of Melanchthon, and thus drew upon themselves the violent opposition of the strict Lutherans , under the leadership of Flacius, who now severed his connection with Wittenberg. When

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5408-403: The debate was that Matthew 16:18 does not confer on popes the exclusive right to interpret scripture, and that therefore neither popes nor church councils were infallible. For this, Eck branded Luther a new Jan Hus , referring to the Czech reformer and heretic burned at the stake in 1415. From that moment, he devoted himself to Luther's defeat. On 15 June 1520, the Pope warned Luther with

5512-587: The decision on Luther's sadness over the deaths of two friends. Luther himself seemed saddened by the move. Those who attended a farewell supper walked him to the door of the Black Cloister. "This day you see me, and then, not ever again," he said. His father was furious over what he saw as a waste of Luther's education. Luther dedicated himself to the Augustinian order , devoting himself to fasting , long hours in prayer , pilgrimage , and frequent confession . Luther described this period of his life as one of deep spiritual despair. He said, "I lost touch with Christ

5616-415: The doctrine of ubiquity to an essential of Lutheran teaching. The Wittenberg pronouncement on the subject prudently confined itself to Biblical expressions and forewarned itself against unnecessary disputations, which only strengthened the suspicion of unavowed sympathy with Calvin. The strict Lutherans sought to strike a decisive blow at Philippism. This was apparent at the Weimar meeting of 1556 and in

5720-419: The doctrine of justification and going over to the Roman camp, and thus they were driven back to the general proposition of justification by faith alone. The Formula of Concord closed the controversy by avoiding both extremes, but failed to offer a final solution of the question demanded by the original motive of the controversy. The synergistic controversy , breaking out about the same time, also sprang out of

5824-477: The doctrine of the Eucharist until Joachim Westphal began, in 1552, to write against those who denied the Real Presence. When John Calvin himself answered him in 1555, there was open, inter-Protestant controversy about Eucharist, which involved Lasco , Bullinger , Ochino , Valerandus Polanus , Beza , and Bibliander on the Reformed side and Timann , Heshusius Paul von Eitzen , Schnepff , E. Alberus , Gallus , Flacius , Judex , Brenz , and Andreä on

5928-429: The doctrine of ubiquity and spoke about the personal presence of Christ in the Eucharist, without any further definitions. The theology of Melanchthon's school in general was opposed by Lutherans, who were called Flacians by their opponents. Later they were called " Gnesio-Lutherans ". Matthias Flacius had been the leader against Philippism in earlier controversies, but even Gnesio-Lutherans did not pay much attention to

6032-420: The door of All Saints' Church in Wittenberg on 31 October 1517. Scholars Walter Krämer, Götz Trenkler, Gerhard Ritter, and Gerhard Prause contend that the story of the posting on the door, although it has become one of the pillars of history, has little foundation in truth. The story is based on comments made by Luther's collaborator Philip Melanchthon , though it is thought that he was not in Wittenberg at

6136-467: The ecclesiastical power in Saxony during the rule of Elector Augustus , but the unquestionably Calvinistic work of Joachim Cureus , Exegesis perspicua de sacra cœna (1574) and a confidential letter of Johann Stössel that fell into the elector 's hands opened his eyes. The heads of the Philippist party were imprisoned and roughly handled, and the Torgau Confession of 1574 completed their downfall. Caspar Peucer , not incidentally Melanchthon's son-in-law,

6240-448: The errors of Servetus , Schwenckfeld , the Antinomians , Zwingli , and others, the principal special doctrines of the Philippists (Synergism, Majorism, see Majoristic Controversy , adiaphorism ) were denounced as dangerous errors and corruptions. It led, however, to discord among the Jena theologians themselves, since Strigel defended against Flacius Melanchthon's doctrine on sin and grace, and drew upon himself very rough treatment from

6344-447: The ethical interest which had induced Melanchthon to enunciate the doctrine of free will in opposition to his previous predestinarianism . After the clash in 1555 between Pfeffinger (who in his Propositiones de libero arbitrio had held closely to the formula of Melanchthon) and Amsdorf and Flacius, Strigel went deeper into the matter in 1559 and insisted that grace worked upon sinful men as upon personalities, not natural objects without

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6448-400: The fact that Luther did not directly advocate the murdering of Jews, some historians contend that his rhetoric contributed to the development of antisemitism in Germany and the emergence, centuries later, of the Nazi Party . Martin Luther was born on 10 November 1483 to Hans Luder (or Ludher, later Luther) and his wife Margarethe (née Lindemann) in Eisleben , County of Mansfeld , in

6552-404: The forms of doctrine shaped by Melanchthon. As long as Luther lived, the conflict with external foes and the work of building up the Evangelical Church so absorbed the Reformers that the internal differences which had already begun to show themselves were kept in the background. But no sooner was Luther dead than did the internal, as well as the external, peace of the Lutheran Church decline. It

6656-451: The free gift of God's grace through the believer's faith in Jesus Christ , who is the sole redeemer from sin. Luther's theology challenged the authority and office of the pope by teaching that the Bible is the only source of divinely revealed knowledge, and opposed sacerdotalism by considering all baptized Christians to be a holy priesthood . Those who identify Luther's wider teachings are called Lutherans, though Luther opposed

6760-406: The impetuous duke. But the ultimate outcome was the decline of the University of Jena , the deposition of the strict Lutheran professors and the replacing of them by Philippists. It seemed for the time that the Thuringian opposition to the Philippism of Electoral Saxony was broken; but with the downfall of John Frederick and the accession of his brother John William to power, the tables were turned;

6864-404: The later Colloquies in 1546 and 1557. It was printed (with the title and preface of the Invariata) in Corpus Doctrinae Philippicum in 1559; it was expressly approved by the Lutheran princes at the Convention of Naumburg in 1561, after Melanchthon's death, as an improved modification and authentic interpretation of the Confession, and was adhered to by the Melanchthonians and the Reformed even after

6968-446: The law," he writes. "Faith is that which brings the Holy Spirit through the merits of Christ." Faith, for Luther, was a gift from God; the experience of being justified by faith was "as though I had been born again." His entry into Paradise, no less, was a discovery about "the righteousness of God"—a discovery that "the just person" of whom the Bible speaks (as in Romans 1:17) lives by faith. He explains his concept of "justification" in

7072-438: The magistracy. After secretly visiting Wittenberg in early December 1521, Luther wrote A Sincere Admonition by Martin Luther to All Christians to Guard Against Insurrection and Rebellion . Wittenberg became even more volatile after Christmas when a band of visionary zealots, the so-called Zwickau prophets , arrived, preaching revolutionary doctrines such as the equality of man, adult baptism , and Christ's imminent return. When

7176-412: The ministers in his domains should hold to the Corpus doctrinæ Philippicum , intending thus to avoid Flacian exaggerations and guard the pure original doctrine of Luther and Melanchthon in the days of their union. But the Wittenberg men interpreted it as an approval of their Philippism, especially in regard to the Lord's Supper and the person of Christ. They pacified the elector, who had become uneasy, by

7280-544: The more dramatic form of words." Over the next five days, private conferences were held to determine Luther's fate. The emperor presented the final draft of the Edict of Worms on 25 May 1521, declaring Luther an outlaw , banning his literature, and requiring his arrest: "We want him to be apprehended and punished as a notorious heretic." It also made it a crime for anyone in Germany to give Luther food or shelter. It permitted anyone to kill Luther without legal consequence. Luther's disappearance during his return to Wittenberg

7384-512: The name of Christian, all who are called to enjoy the celestial beatitude. Luther refused to recant his writings. He is sometimes also quoted as saying: "Here I stand. I can do no other". Recent scholars consider the evidence for these words to be unreliable since they were inserted before "May God help me" only in later versions of the speech and not recorded in witness accounts of the proceedings. However, Mullett suggests that given his nature, "we are free to believe that Luther would tend to select

7488-539: The name, believing that those who professed faith in Christ should be called "Christian" or "Evangelic". Luther's translation of the Bible into German from Latin made the Bible vastly more accessible to the laity, which had a tremendous impact on both the church and German culture. It fostered the development of a standard version of the German language , added several principles to the art of translation, and influenced

7592-573: The negotiations between German Protestants and Catholics that resulted in the Augsburg Interim and Leipzig Interim , Melanchthon showed himself ready to yield and make concessions on matters adiaphora , he ruined his position with a large part of the Evangelical theologians. An opposition party was formed in which the leadership was assumed by Flacius in view of his learning, controversial ability, and inflexible firmness. Melanchthon, on

7696-465: The negotiations of Coswig and Magdeburg in this and the following years, which showed a tendency to work not so much for the reconciliation of the contending parties as for a personal humiliation of Melanchthon. He, although deeply wounded, showed great restraint in his public utterances; but his followers in Leipzig and Wittenberg paid their opponents back in their own coin. The heat of partizan feeling

7800-414: The other hand, the Philippists regarded themselves as the faithful guardians of learning over against the alleged "barbarism," and as the mean between the extremes. The genuine Lutherans also claimed to be representatives of the pure doctrine, defenders of orthodoxy, and heirs of the spirit of Martin Luther . Personal, political, and ecclesiastical animosities widened the breach; such as the rivalry between

7904-489: The other hand, with his faithful followers Joachim Camerarius , Georg Major , Justus Menius , Johann Pfeffinger , Paul Eber , Caspar Cruciger the Elder , Victorinus Strigel , and others saw in the self-styled genuine Lutherans nothing but a narrow and contentious class, which, ignoring the inherent teaching of Luther, sought to domineer over the church by letter and name, and in addition to assert its own ambitious self. On

8008-547: The pope: "His Holiness abuses Scripture", retorted Luther. "I deny that he is above Scripture". Cajetan's original instructions had been to arrest Luther if he failed to recant, but the legate desisted from doing so. With help from the Carmelite friar Christoph Langenmantel , Luther slipped out of the city at night, unbeknownst to Cajetan. In January 1519, at Altenburg in Saxony, the papal nuncio Karl von Miltitz adopted

8112-603: The practice and efficacy of indulgences in Ninety-five Theses , which he authored in 1517. In 1520, Pope Leo X demanded that Luther renounce all of his writings, and when Luther refused to do so, excommunicated him in January 1521. Later that year, Holy Roman Emperor Charles V condemned Luther as an outlaw at the Diet of Worms . When Luther died in 1546, Pope Leo X's excommunication was still in effect. Luther taught that salvation and, consequently, eternal life are not earned by good deeds; rather, they are received only as

8216-553: The principal representatives of Philippism were Paul Eber and Caspar Cruciger the Younger , and of the other side Wigand, Cölestin, and Kirchner. It led to no result, although it continued until the following March. The Philippists asserted the Augsburg Confession of 1540 , the loci of Melanchthon of the later editions, and of the Corpus Philippicum, met by the challenge from the other side that these were an attack upon

8320-562: The pure teaching and authority of Luther. Both sides claimed the victory, and the Leipzig and Wittenberg Philippists issued a justification of their position in the Endlicher Bericht of 1571, with which is connected the protest of the Hessian theologians in conference at Ziegenhain in 1570 against Flacian Lutheranism and in favor of Philippism. Pure Lutheranism was now fortified in a number of local churches by Corpora doctrinæ of

8424-517: The redemption that is in Christ Jesus, in His blood (Romans 3:23–25). This is necessary to believe. This cannot be otherwise acquired or grasped by any work, law, or merit. Therefore, it is clear and certain that this faith alone justifies us ... Nothing of this article can be yielded or surrendered, even though heaven and earth and everything else falls ( Mark 13:31). In 1516, Johann Tetzel ,

8528-500: The rest of his career in this position at the University of Wittenberg. In 1515, he was made provincial vicar of Saxony and Thuringia , which required him to visit and oversee eleven monasteries in his province. From 1510 to 1520, Luther lectured on the Psalms, and on the books of Hebrews, Romans, and Galatians. As he studied these portions of the Bible, he came to view the use of terms such as penance and righteousness by

8632-436: The sale of indulgences. He enclosed in his letter a copy of his "Disputation on the Power and Efficacy of Indulgences", which came to be known as the Ninety-five Theses . Hans Hillerbrand writes that Luther had no intention of confronting the church but saw his disputation as a scholarly objection to church practices, and the tone of the writing is accordingly "searching, rather than doctrinaire." Hillerbrand writes that there

8736-412: The soul from purgatory (also attested as 'into heaven') springs." He insisted that, since forgiveness was God's alone to grant, those who claimed that indulgences absolved buyers from all punishments and granted them salvation were in error. Christians, he said, must not slacken in following Christ on account of such false assurances. According to one account, Luther nailed his Ninety-five Theses to

8840-635: The subject of free will and the value of good works , and to the Swiss Reformers' on the Lord's Supper . Somewhat later it was used in Saxony to designate a distinct party organized by Melanchthon's son-in-law Caspar Peucer , with George Cracovius , Johann Stössel , and others, to work for a union of all the Protestant forces, as a means to which end they attempted to break down by this attitude

8944-427: The term. When Luther died in 1546, his closest friend and ally, Philipp Melanchthon , became the leading Lutheran theologian of the Protestant Reformation . He was by training not a theologian but rather a classics scholar, and his theological approach became more or less irenic both toward Catholicism and toward Calvinism , an approach that his disciples, called Philippists , also followed. This attitude towards

9048-529: The time. According to Roland Bainton , on the other hand, it is true. The Latin Theses were printed in several locations in Germany in 1517. In January 1518 friends of Luther translated the Ninety-five Theses from Latin into German. Within two weeks, copies of the theses had spread throughout Germany. Luther's writings circulated widely, reaching France , England , and Italy as early as 1519. Students thronged to Wittenberg to hear Luther speak. He published

9152-545: The town council asked Luther to return, he decided it was his duty to act. Luther secretly returned to Wittenberg on 6 March 1522. He wrote to the Elector: "During my absence, Satan has entered my sheepfold, and committed ravages which I cannot repair by writing, but only by my personal presence and living word." For eight days in Lent , beginning on Invocavit Sunday, 9 March, Luther preached eight sermons, which became known as

9256-496: The use of reason but none about loving God , which Luther believed was more important. Reason could not lead men to God, Luther felt, and he thereafter developed a love-hate relationship with Aristotle over Aristotle's emphasis on reason. For Luther, reason could be used to question men and institutions, but not God. Human beings could learn about God only through divine revelation , he believed, leading him to view scripture as increasingly important. On 2 July 1505, while Luther

9360-589: The way of the truth." Luther next set about reversing or modifying the new church practices. By working alongside the authorities to restore public order, he signaled his reinvention as a conservative force within the Reformation. After banishing the Zwickau prophets, he faced a battle against both the established Church and the radical reformers who threatened the new order by fomenting social unrest and violence. Philippism The Philippists formed

9464-664: The writing of an English translation, the Tyndale Bible . His hymns influenced the development of singing in Protestant churches. His marriage to Katharina von Bora , a former nun, set a model for the practice of clerical marriage , allowing Protestant clergy to marry. In two later works, Luther expressed anti-Judaistic views , calling for the expulsion of Jews and the burning of synagogues . These works also targeted Roman Catholics , Anabaptists , and nontrinitarian Christians . Based upon his teachings, despite

9568-757: Was Melanchthon's disciple. There were a number of local controversies, such as the Saligerian Controversy in Lübeck in 1568 and 1574, a controversy in Rostock in 1569, a controversy in Bremen in 1554 involving Melanchthon's friend Albert Rizaeus Hardenberg , and a controversy in Danzig in 1561–1562. The earliest of these incidents had happened with Simon Wolferinus , pastor of St. Andreas at Eisleben in 1543, while Martin Luther still lived. The controversy

9672-426: Was a misfortune not only for Melanchthon but for the whole Lutheran body, that he who had formerly stood as a teacher by the side Luther, the original leader, was now forced suddenly into the position to head not only the University of Wittenberg but the entire Evangelical Church of Germany. There was among Luther's associates, notably Nikolaus von Amsdorf , a disinclination to accept Melanchthon's leadership. When, in

9776-519: Was also about eucharistic adoration , which was defended by "Gnesio-Lutherans" and also many other Lutherans outside of the Flacian party, including Johann Hachenburg , Andreas Musculus , Jakob Rungius , and Laurentius Petri . This belief was shared by Nikolaus Selnecker , Martin Chemnitz , and Timotheus Kirchner . A feast of victory of genuine Lutheranism over Philippism was celebrated in one of

9880-543: Was an uncertain profession. Luther instead sought assurances about life and was drawn to theology and philosophy, expressing interest in Aristotle , William of Ockham , and Gabriel Biel . He was deeply influenced by two tutors, Bartholomaeus Arnoldi von Usingen and Jodocus Trutfetter, who taught him to be suspicious of even the greatest thinkers and to test everything himself by experience. Philosophy proved to be unsatisfying to Luther because it offered assurance about

9984-505: Was captured and jailed for 12 years in the Königstein Fortress for Crypto-Calvinism. Their cause was thwarted in those territories that adopted the Formula of Concord , although in some others it survived under the aspect of a modified Lutheranism, as in Nuremberg , or, as in Nassau, Hesse , Anhalt, and Bremen, where it became more or less definitely identified with Calvinism . Crypto-Calvinism raised its head once more in

10088-544: Was displayed at the Conference of Worms in 1557, where the Flacian party did not hesitate, even in the presence of Roman Catholics, to show their enmity for Melanchthon and his followers. After several well-meant attempts at pacification on the part of the Lutheran princes, the most passionate outbreak occurred in the last year of Melanchthon's life, 1559, in connection with the "Weimar Confutation" published by Duke John Frederick  [ de ] , in which together with

10192-663: Was finally banned at the Uppsala Synod of 1593 by the initiative of Bishop of Turku , Ericus Erici Sorolainen , and Bishop Olaus Stephani Bellinus . Following the Prussian Union and other Evangelical unions in Germany, today's Evangelical Church in Germany is an umbrella organisation of Lutheran, Union, and Reformed church bodies . The Leuenberg Concord (1962) made a similar irenic solution between Lutheran and Calvinist doctrines, while Confessional Lutheran church bodies still continue to see Calvinist teaching on

10296-405: Was held. Over a three-day period in October 1518 where he stayed at St. Anne's Priory , Luther defended himself under questioning by papal legate Cardinal Cajetan . The pope's right to issue indulgences was at the centre of the dispute between the two men. The hearings degenerated into a shouting match. More than writing his theses, Luther's confrontation with the church cast him as an enemy of

10400-542: Was planned. Frederick III had him intercepted on his way home in the forest near Wittenberg by masked horsemen impersonating highway robbers. They escorted Luther to the security of the Wartburg Castle at Eisenach . During his stay at Wartburg, which he referred to as "my Patmos ", Luther translated the New Testament from Greek into German and poured out doctrinal and polemical writings. These included

10504-411: Was received by faith), Calvinist theologians thought that Lutheran theology also had changed its view of the Real Presence because the issue was not discussed anymore, and Philippist teaching gave some justification to this conclusion. Beginning in the 20th century, some scholars began using the term crypto-Philippist in place of the word crypto-Calvinist. However, there is no change in the meaning of

10608-520: Was returning to university on horseback following a trip home, a lightning bolt struck near him during a thunderstorm. He later told his father that he was terrified of death and divine judgment, and he cried out, "Help! Saint Anna , I will become a monk!" He came to view his cry for help as a vow that he could never break. He withdrew from the university, sold his books, and entered St. Augustine's Monastery in Erfurt on 17 July 1505. One friend blamed

10712-617: Was signed, but this attempt at resolving the issue ultimately failed. While Lutheranism had weakened after the Schmalkaldic War and Interim controversies, the Calvinist Reformation was spreading across Europe. Calvinists wanted to help Lutherans to give up "remnants of popery ", as they saw it. By this time Calvinism had expanded its influence to southern Germany (not least because of the work of Martin Bucer ), but

10816-491: Was their author but requested time to think about the answer to the second question. He prayed, consulted friends, and gave his response the next day: Unless I am convinced by the testimony of the Scriptures or by clear reason (for I do not trust either in the pope or in councils alone, since it is well known that they have often erred and contradicted themselves), I am bound by the Scriptures I have quoted, and my conscience

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