Section 04

Martin Luther

Chief Pioneer

Leader

Born Nov. 10, 1483

Eldest of seven

Was a monk

Inner Struggle for Assurance

Monastic life

Studied Theology

Ordained priest in 1507

First mass

Clergy distressed him

The Light Breaks

Believed Justification by faith

Good works was by faith only

New birth

Rejected scholastic nominalistic philosophy

Busy with preaching

Outer conflict

Moral reform of the Church

Created 95 thesis

Luther drafted them

Sent copies to Pope

Was charged with heresy and contumacy

Conflict deepens

Luther’s critics did not keep silent

Articles of faith came from Scripture not Pope or Church

Christian and evangelical

All Hussites without knowing it

Luther Advances Attack

Declared that the noblest of all good works is to believe in Christ.

Protested against limiting “good works”

Luther held that Christendom had suffered.

He held that Pope is a cause of offence to Christendom.

Lutheranism in Sixteenth Century

In Germany reached its greatest extent in 1566

Scandinavia, Iceland, and Finland

In Denmark

Imposed on Norway

Prevailed in Sweden

The East Coast of the Baltic

Spreads to central Europe

Wide Dissemination of writings

Views stimulated churches

Luther’s teachings were influential

Writings spread widely in western Europe

Reformed Churches were more prominent

Writings were circulated in Great Britain

In Venice were read in limited circles

In Spain, Erasmus and his type of reform were more popular