Martin Luther

Martin Luther, a 16th-century monk and theologian, was one of the most significant figures in Christian history. His beliefs helped birth the Reformation—which would give rise to Protestantism as the third major force within Christendom, alongside Roman Catholicism and Eastern Orthodoxy. His denunciation of the Catholic church’s doctrine and practices triggered a series of proceedings that culminated in the Edict of Worms, a document that proclaimed him a heretic and declared war on Protestantism. But his actions had already set the Reformation in motion, which would introduce new religious, political, and economic trajectories to Europe and the world.

Lutheranism is one of the five major strands of Protestantism. It is rooted in the teachings of the 16th-century theologian Martin Luther. Lutheranism’s tenets—at odds with many aspects of Roman Catholicism and Eastern Orthodoxy—include the rejection of the hierarchical split between clergy and laity, in favor of Scripture as the ultimate authority in matters of faith (sola scriptura); the recognition of only two of the seven traditionally recognized sacraments, namely baptism and the Eucharist; and the understanding that sinners are saved solely by God’s grace (sola gratia), by way of their faith in Christ (sola fide). Lutheranism now has over 65 million adherents.

Martin Luther’s understanding of faith departed from the prevailing Catholic belief system in many ways: he believed that salvation is a gift God alone grants to sinners who passively affirm their faith in Christ, rather than something a sinner can actively obtain through the performance of good works; that the Eucharist is a sacrament that undergoes consubstantiation as opposed to transubstantiation; and that the church is an egalitarian “priesthood of all believers” and not hierarchically divided between laity and clergy. His translation of the Bible into German vernacular lessened the laity’s dependence on what he saw as a predatory ecclesiastical authority.

Martin Luther’s teachings had consequences for Western civilization beyond just spawning a new Christian movement. His rhetoric was appropriated by people seeking other types of social reform, such as peasants during the Peasants’ War (1524–25). His translation of the Bible into the vernacular came to bear heavily on the development of the German language. And as Max Weber famously argued, the Protestant belief that emerged from Luther’s teachings paved the way for the emergence of capitalism, a paradigmatic shift that had implications that were perhaps even more far-reaching than the Reformation itself.

Martin Luther did have a family, which reflects one of the radical aspects of his interpretation of Christianity: that he, even as an ordained priest, could marry and have sex. In 1525 he married Katherina von Bora, a former nun remembered by Luther’s students as being well versed in theology. By all accounts, Katherina and Luther had a warm and loving family life, raising five children together. The death of their daughter Magdalene affected Luther profoundly, and that loss—along with the death of a close friend of his not long before—may explain the fixation on death that characterizes his later writings.