RELIGIOUS ENCYCLOPEDIA
Lumber River Mission Luther, Martin
(55 m. n.n.w. of Nuremberg) Mar. 22, 1823; d. at Leipsic Sept. 21, 1902. He studied theology at Erlangen and Berlin (1841-45) and was teacher in the Munich gymnasium (1847-51). He was privatdocent at Erlangen (1851-54), extraordinary professor at Marburg (1854-56), and ordinary professor of systematic theology and New-Testament exegesis at Leipsic (1856-1902). He became constitutorial councilor (1865) and privy ecclesiastical councilor (1887). Luthardt was a voluminous writer of the Erlangen school of theologians, one of the attractions of the University of Leipsic, an eloquent preacher, and an ecclesiastical statesman.
Among his works may be mentioned: Das johanneieche Evangelium nach seiner Eigenthiimlichkeit geschildert und erklart (2 vols., Nuremberg, 1852-53, Eng. transl. by C. R. Gregory, 3 vols., Edinburgh, 1865-78); Die Lehre von den letzten Dingen (Leipsic, 1861); Die Lehre vom freien Willen und sein Verhdltniss zur Gnade (1863); Apologetische Vortrage uber die Grundwahrheiten des Christenthums (1865; Eng.
transl.. Apologetic Lectures on the Fundamental Truths of Christianity, Edinburgh, 1865); Compendium der Dogmatik (1865); Die Ethik Luther s in ihren Grundzugen (1867); Apologetische Vortrage uber die Heilswahrheiten des Christenthums (1867; Eng. transl., Apologetic Lectures on the Saving Truths of Christianity, Edinburgh, 1868); Die Ethik Aristoteles im Unterschied von der Moral des Christenthums (1869); Vortrage uber die Moral des Christenthums (1873; Eng. transl., Apologetic Lectures on the Moral Truths of Christianity, Edinburgh, 1873); Der johanneische Ursprung des vierten Evangeliums (1874; Eng. transl. hy C. R. Gregory, St. John the Author of the Fourth Gospel, Edinburgh, 1875); Die modernen Weltanschauungen und ihre praktischen Konsequenzen (1880); Licht und Leben (1885); Die antike Ethik in ihrer geschichtlichen Entwickelung als Einleitung in die Geschichte der christlichen Moral dargestellt (1887); Geschichte der christlichen Ethik (1888-93; Eng. transl., History of Christian Ethics, Edinburgh, 1889); Die vier Evangelien (1899); Die christliche Glaubenslehre (1898); and Kompendium der theologischen Ethik (1898). He was editor of the Allgemeine evangelische lu- (heranische Kirchenzeitung.
Bibliography: J. Kunze, Christoph Ernst Luthardt, Leipsic, 1903; F. J. Winter, Die Theologie des D. Luthardt, ib., 1883.
Early Life and Religious Training (§1).
Initial Changes of View (§ 2).
The Doctrine of Grace (§ 3).
The Ninety-five Theses (§ 4).
Denial of the Power of the Pope (§ 5).
Development of Views on Eucharist, Priesthood, Church, and Works (§6).
Appeal to the Laity for Reform (§ 7).
Doctrine of the Sacraments (§ 8).
At the Diet of Worms (§ 9).
In Hiding at the Wartburg (§ 10).
Opposition to Extreme Radicalism (§ ID.
LUTHER, MARTIN.
Correspondence with Other Sectaries
and Break with Erasmus (§ 12). Polemics Against Carlstadt andMunster
(§ 13). Transformations in Liturgy and Church
Government (§ 14). Eucharistic Views and Controversies
(§ 15). The Diet of Augsburg and the Question
of Civil Resistance (§ 16). The Authority of Church Councils
Denied (§ 17). Attacks on Zwingli, and Recognition
of the Bohemian Brethren (§ 18).
Luther as a Preacher and Exegete (§ 19).
Theory of Confession and the Law (§ 20).
Establishment of Consistories and the Marriage of Philip of Hesse (§ 21).
Renewed Eucharistic Controversies (§ 22).
The Death of Luther (§ 23).
Summary of Luther's Doctrinal Development (§ 24).
Theory of the Church and the World (§ 25).
The Style of Luther (§ 26).
The Personal Life of Luther (§ 27).
His Hymns (§ 28).
Martin Luther, the German Reformer, was born at Eisleben (23 m. w. of Halle) Nov. 10, 1483, and died there Feb. 18, 1546. His father, Hans, was a miner, formerly living at Mohra, while his mother, Margarete (nee Ziegler), came from a family of the middle class. At the age of six months, Luther was taken by his parents to Mansfeld, and was there brought up in an atmosphere of strictness and probity. His father's financial condition i. Early gradually improving, Luther was sent Life and to the Latin school, first at Mansfeld, Religious then at Magdeburg (probably to an Training, institution conducted by Brethren of the Common Life) in 1497, and finally, in 1498, at Eisenich, where his mother had relatives. There, wi h other poor students, he was obliged to sing ia the streets begging for bread, and there he gai led the sympathy of Ursula, the wife of Kunz Cotta. From Eisenach he went, in 1501, to the University of Erfurt, where his principal teachers were the nominalists Trutvetter and Arnoldi, and where he was a friend of at least some of the young humanistic " poet " circle. He received his bachelor's degree in 1502 and the master's degree three years later; and was destined by his relatives for a 1 >gal career.
Brought up in the strict religious atmosphere of the Roman Catholic Church, but without any knowledge of the Bii^le, Luther was terrified by thoughts of the wrath of God, intensified by the sudden death of a friend. He resolved to become a monk, and on July 17, lf>05, entered the Augus-
tinian monastery at Erfurt, to the grief of his father, and without a clear comprehension of his act. In 1507 he was ordained to the priesthood, but his theological studies brought him no inward peace, and he eagerly followed the advice of an old master of studies in the monastery, who urged him to center his hopes in the article of the forgiveness of sins. He was also aided by the instruction of Johann von Staupitz, the vicar of the order, but the decisive change was brought about by his study of the Scriptures. In 1508, at the suggestion of Johann von Staupitz, the Elector Frederick appointed Luther professor of philosophy at Wittenberg, where he received the degree of baccalaureus ad Mblia in the following year. He was then recalled for some unknown reason to Erfurt, but in 1511 (or possibly in 1510) went to Rome in the interests of his order. Returning to Wittenberg, he received the doctorate of theology on Oct. 18, 1512, and three years later was appointed Augustinian vicar for Meissen and Thuringia, being also active as a preacher both in his own monastery and in Wittenberg.
Even at this time his radical change of views had become evident. Turning from philosophy, he sought the kernel of the trust of salvation in the Bible, especially in the Epistle to the 2. Initial Romans and in the Psalms, which he Changes interpreted entirely from the New of View. Testament. He next lectured on Galatians, Hebrews, Titus, and Judges, his lectures being partly published and partly preserved in manuscript. Of the Fathers, Augustine
Luther, Martin