Lutherans teach that salvation is a free, unearned gift from God, bestowed on humans if only they believe in Him. This was earth-shattering, radical news at a time, and for many it still is today! The Catholic establishment abhorred Luther's teaching of salvation without any ?good works?. If people do not work to earn salvation, so they assured, this would promote idleness and cause all kinds of societal ills. Criticism grew quickly. In 1520 Luther responds: Good works are still done by believers. But these Good Works follow salvation and do not cause it. Good Works, Luther assured, are happily done by the already-rescued soul in gratitude ? not to earn its salvation. The entire concept of ?vocation?, of one's profession, of one's ?job? as a calling from God, originates here. Writing to be easily understood by the common man, Luther's fresh and engaging style has lost nothing of its clarity and vigor: we ?moderns? readily understand it. And his message is as relevant as ever.
Martin Luther changed the course of Western civilization by initiating the Protestant Reformation. As a priest and theology professor, he confronted indulgence salesmen with his 95 Theses in 1517. Luther strongly disputed their claim that freedom from God's punishment of sin could be purchased with money. His refusal to retract all of his writings at the demand of Pope Leo X in 1520 and the Holy Roman Emperor Charles V at the Diet of Worms meeting in 1521 resulted in his excommunication by the pope and condemnation as an outlaw by the emperor.
Luther taught that salvation is a free gift of God and received only by grace through faith in Jesus as redeemer from sin, not from good works. His theology challenged the authority of the pope of the Roman Catholic Church 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.
His translation of the Bible into the language of the people (instead of Latin) made it more accessible, causing a tremendous impact on the church and on German culture. It fostered the development of a standard version of the German language, added several principles to the art of translation, and influenced the translation into English of the King James Bible. His hymns inspired the development of singing in churches. His marriage to Katharina von Bora set a model for the practice of clerical marriage, allowing Protestant priests to marry.
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