Martin Luther was born on November 10, 1483 to peasant stock – and was called home to the Lord on February 18, 1546. Luther was a Christian theologian and Augustinian monk whose teachings inspired the Protestant Reformation and deeply predisposed the doctrines of Protestant and other Christian traditions. Martin Luther was born to Hans Luther and Margaretha (Luder) Luther in Eisleben, Germany. He was baptized the next day on the feast of St. Martin of Tours, after whom he was named. Luther’s call to the Church to return to the teachings of the Bible resulted in the formation of new traditions within Christianity and the Counter-Reformation in the Roman Catholic Church, culminating at the Council of Trent.
In retrospect, Luther was a German theologian, professor, pastor, and church reformer who began the Protestant Reformation with the publication of his Ninety-Five Theses on October 31, 1517. In his publication, Luther attacked the Church’s sale of indulgences and other fallacies of the Church’s doctrines. He advocated a theology that rested on God’s gracious activity in Jesus Christ, rather than in human works. Most Protestants outline their history back to Luther in one way or another.
In January 1521, the pope excommunicated Luther. In March, he was summoned by Emperor Charles V to Worms to defend himself. During the Diet of Worms, Luther refused to retract his position. Whether he actually said, “Here I stand, I can do no other” is uncertain. What is known is that he did refuse to recant and on May 8th was placed under Imperial Ban.
From 1533 to his death in 1546 he served as the Dean of the theology faculty at Wittenberg. He died in Eisleben on 18 February 1546.