Martin Luther Persuasive Essay Example For Students

Martin Luther Persuasive Essay Martin Luther was a German theologian and religious reformer that had a great impact on not only religion but also on politics, economics, education and language. Martin Luther was born in the town of Eisleben, Germany, on November 10, 1483, (Encarta 1). His father Hans Luther, was a worker in the copper mines in Mansfield. His mother was Margaret. Martin grew up in a home where parents prayed faithfully to the saints and taught their children to do the same. His father and mother loved their children dearly, but were also very strict with them. Luther said, my father once whipped me so that I ran away and felt ugly toward him until he was at pains to win me back. ?My mother once beat me until the blood flowed, for having stolen a miserable nut. (Luther 31)When Martin was five years old, he went to school in Mansfeld, where his parents had moved about a year after he was born. The subjects taught at this school was the Ten Commandments, the Creed, the Lords Prayer, church music, together with some Latin and arithmetic. (Catholic Encyclopedia 1) The sad part of the instruction was that Martin and his fellow pupils learned little about the love of God. They learned to know Jesus, not as the Friend of sinners, but as the Judge. They feared Jesus, but did not love him. The schoolmasters in my days were tyrants and executioners; the schools were jails and hells! And in spite of fear and misery, floggings and tremblings, nothing was learned, Luther said. (Luther 31)Despite the conditions at Mansfield, Martin learned rapidly, for he was a bright boy and studied diligently. At the age of twelve he was admitted to the Latin High School at Magdeburg, sixty miles from his home. Here, for the first time, Luther found a Bible. Most of his teachers at Magdeburg were members of the Brethren of the Common Life. This is the first place where he feels his first desire to enter into the religious community. The next year his father transferred him to a school on Eisenach, wishing him to become a lawyer. Here a young woman, Mrs. Ursala Cotta, took a special liking to him. At one time, when a group of boys was singing before her house, she i nvited Martin in and offered him free lodging. He accepted. He received free meals in another house where he taught a young child of the family. Luther was now free to devote more time to his studies. Since the Cotta family was a cultured family, Luthers stay in this home taught him to appreciate such things as music and art and helped him to develop especially his remarkable talent for music. By the time Luther was far enough advanced to enter the university his father had become a prosperous man. He went from being a miner to being the owner of many small foundries. He could now afford to give Martin a college education. Recognizing the gifts of his son, the father intended that his son should become a lawyer and therefore sent him to the University of Erfurt in 1501 at the age of seventeen. (Encarta 2) Here again the young student prayed and studied constantly. To increase his knowledge, Luther spent much time at the library. Discipline was as strict as it had been at Megdeberg and Eisenach. The students were awakened at 4:00 AM. Lectures began as the sun rose and continued until 5:00 PM. The first meal of the day was at 10:00 AM. The students hurried from class to class, pausing only for the briefest of conversations before the next lecture commenced, whispering quietly to each other in the required Latin, (Luther 34). In 1505 at the age of twenty-one he was awarded th e Master of Arts degree. (Encarta 2). He now had the right to teach and was able to register for a law course. To please his father, Martin remained on at the University to read law, but he soon lost interest in that subject. More and more he studied religion and worried over his sinful condition. But no matter how hard he tried to please God, he couldnt find peace of soul. One day a friend was torn from him by sudden death. Luther was so shaken that he became fearful and deeply disturbed. A little later, while returning to Erfurt from a visit to his parents, he was overtaken by a violent thunderstorm. Almost frantic with fear, young Luther then and there determined to become a monk and no longer wanted to follow his fathers wishes. He said, St. Anne help me! I will become a monk, (Luther 35). Upon his return to the University, Martin sold his books, said farewell to his friends, and, deaf to their pleadings entered the Augustinian monastery at Erfurt. After spending a few weeks as a candidate to enter the Order of Augustinian Eremites and having the senior friars watch him to see if he would be a suitable person to enter the monastery, he was formally admitted to the trial period of one year. After that one year was up the superiors would make a decision to see if he should remain with the cloister. Rough Draft Science report 2 EssayWhen Pope Leo X in Rome heard of the affair in Germany, he was furious and threatened Luther with excommunication if he not take back what he did within sixty days. But Luther remained firm, for he felt that he was right and that he had acted for the glory of God. In 1521 Luther was ordered to appear before Emperor Charles V at the Diet of Worms for trial. At this convention the highest officials of the Church and of the State were present, and Luther was again asked to recant. He refused firmly, asserting that he would have to be convinced by Scripture and clear reason in order to do so and that going against conscience is not safe for anyone, (Encarta 2). Not one opponent could bring forward a word from the Bible to show that Luther was not mistaken. Luther, therefore, refused to change anything that he had said or written. The emperor then condemned Luther. Luther was now declared an outlaw; anyone might have killed him without fear of punishment. Although his life was in great danger, Luther was unafraid and began the return journey to Wittenburg on April 26, 1521. (Luther 91). While he was riding through a forest on May 4, 1521, a band of masked men rushed upon him, took him prisoner, and brought him to a castle, the Wartburg. (Luther 91). At midnight a heavy drawbridge was lowered, and Luther disappeared behind the massive castle walls. Only a few persons knew where Luther was, and they kept their secret well. Some people thought that Luther was dead. What they did not know was that some of his friends had secretly kidnapped him and had brought him to a safe place. On May 26, 1521, Charles V issued a singularly violent proclamation to the electors, princes, and people of Germany. This proclamation, known as the Edict of Worms, called upon the Germans to forsake the dissident whose teachings threatened to divide the nation, (Luther 93 ). Meanwhile Luther, disguised as a knight, lived at the Wartburg. Here he translated the New Testament into the German language so that the common people might easily read and understand the Word of God. Since printing with movable type had been invented shortly before this time, copies were soon in the hands of many people. Luther remained in seclusion at the Wartburg for almost a year. Then he returned to Wittenburg and again appeared in his pulpit. He preached eight powerful sermons to clear away certain errors into which many had fallen and to show them what the new way of life was really like. He warned them against using force in their struggle against the Pope and his followers. Their sole weapon, he urged, was to be the powerful Word of God. From Wittenburg Luther went to a number of other towns and communities everywhere counseling to use the liberty from the Papal oppression for only one purpose- to become better Christians. Luther lived in constant danger of being arrested and killed. But although his friends were worried, no one ever touched him. That he remained alive seems like a miracle. On June 13, 1525, Luther married Katherine von Bora, a former nun. (Luther 114). The wedding ceremony took place in the Black Cloister in Wittenburg, now changed into a dwelling place for Luther. Martin and Katherine were blessed with three boys and three girls. Luther loved home life, and he took time to play with his children, to make music with them, and to write letters to them when he was away from home. He was also interested in gardening and in the problems of running a household. He had many visitors. Although Luther was a man of modest means, he was very generous. His kindness and generosity to others sometimes worried his wife, especially since Luther was extremely hospitable and would freely give shelter, food, and even gave money to the unfortunate. By 1537 Luthers health had begun to go downhill. In 1546, Luther was asked to settle a controversy between two young counts who ruled the area of Mansfeld, where he had been born, (Encarta 3). After he resolved the conflict he died of a heart attack on February 18, 1546, in Eisleben, (Encarta 3).