Martin Luther

Life

Luther was born on November 10, 1483, in Eisleben, Saxony. His father, Hans Luder, worked in mining, and his mother was Margarethe Lindemann. In the summer of 1505, while he was studying law at the University of Erfurt at his father's wish, he was caught in a thunderstorm near Stotternheim. This experience led him to enter the Augustinian order. In 1507 he celebrated his first Mass as a priest, and he later taught as a professor of theology at the University of Wittenberg.

On October 31, 1517, Luther posted the Ninety-five Theses, criticizing the sale of indulgences, certificates said to remit the punishment due for sin. In June 1520 Pope Leo X issued a bull demanding that Luther recant. Luther publicly burned the bull that December and was excommunicated in January 1521. In April of the same year, he again refused to recant at the Diet of Worms, convened by Emperor Charles V, and was declared an outlaw. He then lived in hiding at Wartburg Castle under the protection of Frederick III, Elector of Saxony. In 1525 he married Katharina von Bora, a former nun, and they had six children. He died on February 18, 1546, in his hometown of Eisleben and was buried in Wittenberg. His excommunication was never lifted during his lifetime.

Ministry and Achievements

• Understanding of justification: Justification refers to God's declaring a person righteous. Luther taught that people are justified not by their own merit but by the grace of God through faith (justification). The Lutheran Church summarizes his thought as "faith alone, grace alone, Scripture alone." This summary became the foundation of the Protestant principles commonly known as the Five Solas. The doctrine of the priesthood of all believers, which holds that every believer is a priest before God, is also regarded as one of his principal teachings.
• Bible translation: During his stay at the Wartburg, he translated the New Testament into German from the Greek text published by Erasmus. This translation is regarded as one of his most important achievements.
• Formation of a church: His reform became the starting point of Protestantism, which separated from the Roman Catholic Church. His followers formed the Lutheran Church.

Influence on the Korean Church

Korean Protestant denominations generally regard the Reformation, which began with Luther, as their common root. Among them, Presbyterianism follows the tradition of John Calvin, who was active after Luther.

Karl Gützlaff, who in 1832 became the first Protestant missionary to visit the Korean coast, was a Lutheran pastor. He is said to have distributed Bibles in Classical Chinese and to have attempted to translate the Lord's Prayer into the Korean script. Organized Lutheran mission work in Korea began in 1958, when missionaries of the Lutheran Church–Missouri Synod in the United States arrived together with the Korean pastor Won Yong Ji; this mission developed into the Lutheran Church in Korea. Although small, this denomination has influenced other denominations through a variety of ministries, notably the Lutheran Hour broadcast on CBS (Christian Broadcasting System), publishing through Concordia, and the Bethel Bible study program.

Assessment

• Protestants regard him as the figure who opened the way for the Reformation by restoring the authority of Scripture and salvation by faith. Luther himself, however, is said to have preferred to be called a preacher, doctor, and professor rather than a "reformer."
• On the Catholic side, a papal commission concluded in 1520 that his teachings were heretical, a judgment that led to his excommunication.
• The most serious criticism concerns his antisemitism (hatred of and discrimination against Jews). In 1543, late in life, Luther wrote On the Jews and Their Lies, in which he urged the persecution of Jews, including the burning of synagogues. This work was later exploited by German antisemitism and Nazi propaganda. Modern Lutheran churches are reported to have formally apologized for it.