Martin Luther, Part 2!

Qualities for Leadership

     Martin Luther has been described as  strong and massive.  He could not be diverted from his purpose.  One of his most famous quotes, "Here stand I.  I can do no other.  So help me God." (Funk and Wagnalls, p.  337)  has been quoted in many of the references about him.  He felt strongly about his view of God and salvation through faith alone, yet he worried and questioned how he could be right when men for fifteen hundred years had a different view.  This is one of his greatest strengths in that he held strong on his views, but was not foolish to believe everyone else is wrong.  He sincerely strove to find answers to the questions he sought.  He could inspire the common man and give him a voice.  He helped strengthen German language and culture, and was seen as a hero by priests looking to reform the church, merchants, peasants, humanists and German naturalist.


Turning Points


When Martin Luther was a young man, he was riding his horse home when a bolt of lightning struck very close to him.  He prayed to St. Anne, asking for safety, and in return he would become a monk.  Keeping his word, he did become a monk, then a doctor of theology and professor of Biblical Studies.  While studying in the monastery, he did not feel the deep comfort from God that he sought, and proclaimed that he hated God.   He thought God was asking too much to get rid of his  sins. But by reading Paul's writing in the Bible, he became convinced that he does not have to do anything for forgiveness of sin, except to have faith.  This led to his abhorrence of the Catholic church selling indulgences for the forgiveness of sin.  Another turning point was posting the 95 Theses of Catholic heresies on the castle door in Wittenburg.  He would not retract his writing and became an outlaw of the King and excommunicated from the church.

Role of Failure

Because he could not find comfort in his religious study, he kept reading and studying until he could find the answers that he sought.  Once he realized how much his belief would affect the church,  he did only what his conscience would allow and that was to criticize the church he loved.  He tirelessly debated and wrote pamphlets about his belief, yet he could not change the mind of the Pope and the church.  He could, however, change the minds of the peasants, merchants and other priests interested in reform.  Reaching out to those who would listen, he developed a great following. When he realized some of his followers were taking his words to the extreme and becoming violent, he was horrified.  He quickly denounced the violence but then realized that the church and government were retaliating mercilessly on the peasants.  He could inspire the masses, but he could not control them.  He would struggle with this for the rest of his life. 

Martin Luther

In these times of fear and anger toward Muslims, I chose a leader who also dealt with issues concerning religion and radicals.  In his time, the Catholic church was the only established church in Europe.  In the time of the Middle Ages,  power struggles were common between the kings and  the Pope.  In the case of Martin Luther, both the king and the church were against him, yet he is most known for unification of German people and culture as well as translating the Bible into German. He also helped solidify the German language and influenced the writing of the English King James version of the Bible.

Martin Luther was born in 1483 and became a priest in the Catholic church.  He became very upset with the indulgences that were being sold by the Catholic Church.  The indulgences allowed parishioners to pay money to have  their sins forgiven.  In Martin Luther's eyes, this was not right. To stop these indulgences was to write 95 thesis of heresies in the Catholic church and nailed them to a door in Wittenberg, Germany.  The Pope, Leo X and Holy Roman Emperor Charles V both wanted Luther to retract his writing, but Luther refused.  He was excommunicated by the Pope and considered an outlaw by the Emperor but he did not yield.

He translated the Bible into German to make it accessible to the common man. It was clear to Luther that all believers are members of the priesthood, not just priests.  As more and more people began to follow his teaching, they began a group called "Lutherans" and broke away from the Catholic church. It was not the intent of Luther to break away from the Catholic church yet he saw no other choice but to begin a new church.  Luther struggled with radicals in his group who wanted to turn against the upper classes as well as the church.  Revolts by radicals began a war, the Peasants War, in parts of Germany but Luther quickly condemned them.

Resources:

Bainton, R. (1995).  Here i stand: a life of martin luther. 
      New York:  Penguin.

Ganss, H. (1910). Martin Luther. In The Catholic 
      Encyclopedia. New York:  Robert Appleton Company.
      Retrieved September 28, 2010 from New Advent:  
      http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/09438b.htm

Grosvenor, G. (1971). Great religions of the world.
      Washington, DC: The National Geographic Society

Luther Tour. (2010). Retrieved September 27 from Luther
      Tour:  http://www.luthertour.com/

Martin Luther. (1975). Funk and wagnalls. New York:
      Rand McNally & Company.

Martin Luther. (2008). In English Bible History.  
      Retrieved September 27 from Great Sites:
      http://www.greatsite.com/timeline-english-bible- 
      history/martin-luther.html