Martin Luther The Great Emancipator of Human History - The History of Martin Luther and his role in the Protestant Revolt - Works Cited Included

Essay by sweetbootieUniversity, Bachelor'sA+, January 2004

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Introduction

"When I die, I want to be a ghost, so I can continue to pester the bishops until they have more trouble with a dead Martin Luther then they could have had with 1000 living ones" - Martin Luther (3)

"Stand up for what you believe", "All of us are precious in the sight of God", "...God, it's me again...". These are common phrases for our time, but in order for this belief system to be passed onto us, a man named Martin Luther was willing to die. The fact that people believe their relationship with God is personal is the result of Martin Luther. Divisions in the Catholic Church began emerging in the late Middle Ages, "but it was the Protestant Reformation, ignited by Martin Luther, that splintered Western Christianity."(6)

Early Years

Martin Luther was born at Eisleben in Saxony on November 10, 1483 to his parents Hans Luther and Margaret Ziegler.

Luther was an alter boy; said to have had a painful childhood with failures and lingering feelings of poor self esteem. Some of these issues might be connected to Hans Luther who was a fierce judge of his son. Margaret Luther was also known to be abusive. It would be logical to assume that these early experiences with fear of failure and punishment planted the seeds for future personal torment. (1)

Martin Luther came from a family with humble beginnings. They were considered peasants with Hans working as a smelter in the copper mines. The family financial situation began to improve in 1491 when Hans was elected to the city council and in 1511 when he became owner of several mines and foundries. Hans wanted Martin to attend law school to further the family prosperity he had begun. Martin was enrolled at the University...