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Martin Luther
1483–1546; became a monk 1505· Person· People
Historical recordConfirmed by archaeology, outside sources or contemporary records.
German monk and professor whose challenge to the Catholic Church in 1517 launched the Protestant Reformation.
See it on the Bible & Christianity map →What it is
Luther was born in Eisleben in 1483. Caught in a thunderstorm in 1505, he vowed to become a monk and joined the Augustinian friars in Erfurt. He became a theology professor at Wittenberg. Tormented by fear of God's judgment, he found relief in Paul: 'the righteous shall live by faith' (Romans 1:17). After the Ninety-five Theses he was excommunicated in 1521 and refused to recant at the Diet of Worms. He translated the Bible, wrote hymns, and in 1525 married former nun Katharina von Bora.
Why it matters
He broke the unity of the Western church and founded Lutheranism, about 75 to 80 million people today. His German Bible shaped the modern German language.
Life, legacy and sources
His writings fill over 100 volumes of the Weimar Edition, alongside letters, table talk and opponents' records. His harsh 1543 tract against Jews is a dark part of his legacy, since repudiated by Lutheran churches.
Questions and debates
When and how his 'tower experience' breakthrough happened, anywhere from 1513 to 1519, is debated, since it rests on his own recollection decades later.
Inside this (2)
Connections (7)
▸Letter to the Romans transformed the thinking of Martin LutherHistorical record
The connection
Luther lectured on Romans at Wittenberg in 1515–1516. Romans 1:17, 'the righteous shall live by faith', became his breakthrough: God's righteousness is a gift, not a demand. He later wrote that he felt he had 'entered paradise itself through open gates'. Romans became the backbone of his theology.
When and where
Wittenberg, lectures of 1515–1516; Luther described the breakthrough in his 1545 preface to his collected Latin works.
Historical evidence
His Romans lecture notes survive, and his 1522 preface calls Romans 'the chief part of the New Testament'.
Questions and debates
The date of the breakthrough, 1513 to 1519, is debated because Luther described it nearly 30 years later. Some scholars say his reading reflects his own anxieties more than Paul's.
▸Augustine of Hippo (Confessions, City of God) deeply influenced Martin LutherHistorical record
The connection
Luther was an Augustinian friar, and Augustine's teaching that humans cannot save themselves and depend wholly on God's grace shaped him deeply. Augustine's writings against Pelagius, especially On the Spirit and the Letter, confirmed Luther's reading of Romans. He cited Augustine more than any other church father.
When and where
Erfurt and Wittenberg, 1505–1520; Luther joined the Augustinian order in 1505 and was reading Augustine closely by 1509.
Historical evidence
Luther's handwritten notes in his copies of Augustine from 1509–1510 survive, and his writings quote Augustine constantly.
Questions and debates
Both sides claimed him: Catholics note Augustine also upheld church authority and sacraments, and say the Reformers read him selectively. Calvin answered, 'Augustine is wholly ours.'
▸Martin Luther kept only two (at first three) of The sacraments (baptism, Eucharist and the seven)Historical record
The connection
In The Babylonian Captivity of the Church (1520), Luther argued that a sacrament needs Christ's own command and a visible sign. That left baptism and the Lord's Supper; he first counted penance too, then dropped it. He kept Christ's real presence in communion but rejected transubstantiation and the Mass as a sacrifice.
When and where
Wittenberg, October 1520; his view of communion clashed with Zwingli's at the Marburg Colloquy, October 1529.
Historical evidence
Stated in Luther's own treatise and his Small and Large Catechisms (1529); the Council of Trent condemned these views in 1547.
Questions and debates
Lutherans still debate whether confession is a sacrament. Luther's Christ present 'in, with and under' the bread differs from both Catholic and Reformed views.
▸Jan Hus was hailed as a forerunner by Martin LutherHistorical record
The connection
Debating Johann Eck at Leipzig in 1519, Luther said some of Hus's condemned teachings were 'most Christian'. In 1520 he wrote, 'We are all Hussites without knowing it.' Hus's fate was also a warning: Luther went to Worms in 1521 under a safe-conduct, and his prince had him hidden afterward.
When and where
Leipzig Disputation, July 1519; Luther's letter to Georg Spalatin, February 1520; Diet of Worms, April 1521.
Historical evidence
Luther's letters and the Leipzig record contain his statements; he later published Hus's letters with a preface of his own.
Questions and debates
A legend has Hus (Czech for 'goose') predicting 'you roast a goose now, but a swan will come'; it was probably shaped later to point to Luther.
▸Martin Luther wrote Luther's Ninety-five ThesesHistorical record
The connection
As professor of theology at Wittenberg, Luther drafted 95 Latin theses to invite an academic debate on indulgences. He sent them to Archbishop Albrecht of Mainz and to his own bishop. Within weeks others had translated and printed them, making him famous across Germany.
When and where
Wittenberg, Saxony, dated October 31, 1517, the eve of All Saints' Day.
Historical evidence
Luther's dated covering letter to Albrecht survives, and Luther later recalled writing the theses.
Questions and debates
Whether he also nailed them to the Castle Church door, then a university notice board, rests mainly on Melanchthon; a note by Luther's secretary Georg Rörer, found in 2006, supports it.
▸Martin Luther proclaimed Faith alone, Scripture alone (Reformation principles)Historical record
The connection
Luther taught that sinners are justified, declared right with God, by trusting Christ, not by works or merits. He spelled it out in his 1520 treatises, rendered Romans 3:28 as 'by faith alone', and in the Smalcald Articles (1537) called it the article on which everything stands.
When and where
Wittenberg: The Freedom of a Christian, 1520; German New Testament, 1522; Augsburg Confession, article 4, 1530.
Historical evidence
Luther's writings state it repeatedly; the Augsburg Confession (1530) made it official Lutheran teaching.
Questions and debates
Whether adding 'alone' was faithful to Paul, and whether Paul's 'works of the law' meant good deeds or Jewish markers like circumcision, remains debated.
▸Martin Luther began, while hiding at the Wartburg, Luther's German BibleHistorical record
The connection
After the Diet of Worms in 1521, Elector Frederick the Wise had Luther 'kidnapped' for his safety and hidden at Wartburg Castle. Disguised as 'Junker Jörg' (Knight George), he translated the New Testament in about eleven weeks so ordinary Germans could read it. He kept revising his Bible until his death.
When and where
Wartburg Castle, Eisenach, December 1521 to February 1522; published at Wittenberg, September 1522; full Bible 1534; last revision 1545.
Historical evidence
Luther's letters from the Wartburg describe the work; manuscripts of his later Old Testament drafts and his team's revision notes survive.
Questions and debates
The story that he threw an inkpot at the devil there is a later legend; the ink stain once shown to visitors was repeatedly renewed.