So! In honor of Martin Luther and Reformation Day (or Halloween), here are seventeen facts about Luther. I was going to do 500 facts, but I thought that was going a little overboard and not worth the effort. So you're getting seventeen because it's 2017 and 1517. That's the next best. :)
Here are some facts about Martin Luther and his role in the Reformation...
#1 - Changed the spelling of his last name
Luther was born Martin Luder on November 10, 1483, but ended up changing the spelling of his last name to Luther around 1512.
#2 - Vowed to become a monk in a lightning storm
The story goes that Luther was walking on a road in 1505 when a large storm overtook him Fearing for his life, he begged St. Anna to spare his life and promised to become a monk if he survived. He survived (obviously) and fulfilled his vow.
#3 - Posting documents on church doors was normal
It was kinda like an olden-times bulletin board for the community. Putting a document on a church door was a common way of instigating debate and discussion among the clergy. The theses themselves were even written in Latin - the language of the clergy.
#4 - Promoted faith instead of indulgences
Originally, the main thing Luther questioned about the church was their selling of indulgences. Indulgences were basically pieces of paper the church sold that gave the buyer of the paper forgiveness for all of their sins - past and future. Luther believed the problem with this was because of the lack of faith involved in gaining forgiveness - he believed only faith could bring forgiveness.
#5 - Didn't condemn the pope as much as you might think in the theses
In his famous theses, Luther took a decided stand against the selling of indulgences (especially if it caused poorer families to starve their families, etc.) but he was actually pretty favorable towards the pope. Thesis 50 expressed Luthe'rs assumption that the pope didn't know how indulgences were being sold. As Luther would find out, however, the pope knew full well how they were being sold.
#6 - Probably never said "Here I stand"
This famous quote is taken from the Diet of Worms - which is not a type of eating where you only consume worms. A diet is a parliament or trial, and Worms is the city where this particular trial was held (pronounced Vorms). Though Luther probably never actually said that, he did say, "I am bound by the Scriptures that I have quoted and my conscience is captive to the Word of God. I cannot and I will not retract anything, since it is neither safe nor right to go against conscience."#7 - Was ambushed for his own safety
On his way back to his home in Wittenburg from the Diet of Worms, he was ambushed by a group of soldiers who took him to the Wartburg castle. A man named Frederick arranged this ambush in the hopes of keeping Luther safe from the Holy Roman Emperor and the pope. Almost no one knew where he was. During the next eleven months at Wartburg, Luther translated the New Testament into German.
#8 - Had an alias
While at the Wartburg castle, Luther would occasionally venture outside of the walls. When he did this, he disguised himself with some noble's clothes and a sword, and called himself "Junker Jorg."
#9 - Was Excommunicated
Pope Leo XI excommunicated Luther in 1521 because of what Luther said about the church, the clergy of the church, and the pope.
#10 - Spent 10 years lecturing on one book
The lucky book was Genesis and Luther lectured on it at the University in Wittenberg from 1535-1545. (That's a long time!!)
#11 - Married a former nun
She was named Katharina von Bora and was sixteen years younger than Luther. Together Katharina and Martin had six children (and at least one miscarriage).
#12 - Died at sixty-three
Luther died in the same town he was born - Eislaben - which was also the place he preached his last sermon.
#13 - Reportedly, last words were in German and Latin
The last words of Luther are said to be, "Wir sind bettler; hoc est verum." The first phrase is German, and the second is Latin. It translates to "We are beggars; this is true."
#14 - Attributed with saying some interesting things
One of the most interesting things Luther supposedly said was "I routed the devil with a fart." In his later years, he used a lot more "dirty" (not curse words per se, but not the nicest terms either) language in his writings. He also wrote some pretty hateful things about the Jews.
#15 - Preferred to call Lutherans "Evangelical"
This is because the word "evangelical" is derived from the Greek word meaning good news, and he preferred that to the using of his own name to describe his followers.
#16 - Respected the role of government in society
But he also said that a Christian prince would be "a rare bird in heaven."
#17 - Had a concern for the poor
He refused to glorify self-chosen poverty and thought it was a citizen's (especially if the said citizen was a Christian) duty to help those who were living in poverty.
That's it! Hope you enjoyed, and have a great Halloween. (Gorging on candy and all that other super godly stuff. ;) )
~Anna
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