Luther - Key Topic 2 - Luther's Early Challenge to The Catholic Church

When was Luther born?

10th November 1483

Where was Luther born?

Eisleben, Saxony

What were Luther's family like on his father's side?

They were successful Thuringian farmers in Electoral Saxony

What was the job of Luther's father?

Luther's father was a copper miner who supervised several mine shafts and entered monastery

Where did Luther's family move to after his birth?

Mansfield - a centre of mining in Germany

What were Luther's family like on his mother's side?

- His mother's family background was urban, professional and highly educated

- Luther's maternal cousins were doctors, lawyers, mayors, magistrates and teachers

When did Luther decide to become a monk?

1505

How was Luther's decision to become a monk described?

It was a very sudden thing, done reluctantly and in fear

Why did Luther become a monk? (4 points)

- He already had the education provided to the clergy

- A serious accident with a knife nearly cost him his life and many of his friends had died of the plague -> made him decide to focus on salvation

- Had been experiencing acute depression for six months before his decision

- He was caught in a lightning strike/storm and was shaken by it + promised to become a monk if he survived - it validated a decision he had already made to become a monk

Why did Luther claim he became a monk?

Divine intervention - he claimed God had sent him to be a vehicle for change

When did Luther join the Erfurt branch of the reformed Augustinian order?

1505

What type of order were the Augustinians?

Open order

What did the Augustinians do?

They worked in the community as teachers and lecturers

When is Luther ordained as a priest + takes first mass?

1507

When does Luther transfer to the Augustinian friary at Wittenberg?

1511

Following three years of probation, Luther took vows of what?

Poverty, chastity and obedience

Within how many years after taking vows of poverty, chastity and obedience was Luther ordained a priest?

Within 2 years

How was Luther a conscientious monk?

- Subjected himself to extreme discipline

- Removed blankets from his icy cold cell

- Fasted until he was a skeleton

- Prayed for hours at a stretch

- Confessed his sins at exhausting length

What was Luther's life in Wittenberg like?

Exceptionally busy - he had multiple duties in the Augustinian friary as a reader at meals, official preacher in town church, vicar to 11 outlying friaries and fishpond inspector

What was Luther professor of at the University of Wittenberg?

Biblical Theology

What did his role as Professor of Biblical Theology involve?

Directing student's studies, giving lectures twice a week, and presiding over the disputations every Friday

Did most Witteberg lecturers take the Scholastic or Humanist ad fontes approach?

Scholastic

What was the scholastic approach?

Belief in following what medieval commentators said about the Bible

Did Luther take the Humanist ad fontes approach or Scholastic approach?

Humanist ad fontes approach

What was the humanist ad fontes approach?

Belief in a return to the Bible itself

What did Luther base his lectures on?

Detailed examination of the Bible and the works of St Augustine

What career did Luther have prior to priesthood?

Lawyer

What were Luther's three great works?

- Address to the Christian Nobility of the German Nation

- The Babylonian Captivity

- The Freedom of the Christian Man

When did Luther write his three great works?

Between 1520 and 1521

What did Luther's three great works lead to?

His excommunication from the Catholic Church

What did Luther write to criticise the selling of indulgences?

His 95 Theses

Who did Luther marry?

Katharine Von Bora

How many children did Luther have?

Six

Where was Luther sent to when he was kidnapped?

Wartburg castle to live privately

What did Luther do while at Wartburg castle?

He translated the new testament to English

When was Luther sent to Rome on business?

November 1510

What was the business Luther was sent on connected to?

He was sent to Rome on business connected with his order and the level of trust Staupitz placed on him.

What did Luther choose to treat his trip to Rome as?

A pilgrimage

What did Luther do during his pilgrimage to Rome?

- Visited relics

- Attended services and confessions

- Climbed the Scala Scanta (holy stairs up to Pontius Pilate's palace in Jerusalem) on his knees while praying

What did Luther tour while in Rome and how did this impact his approach to salavation?

He toured the catacombs beneath Rome, this did not bring him the spiritual relief he wanted, it instead pushed him towards the Augustinian approach to salvation.

How did Luther feel about Rome's clergy during his trip to Rome?

He did not see the Pope however the insincerity of Rome's clergy did not impress him.

What did the 95 theses oppose?

selling indulgences

What were the 95 theses?

A list of statements and questions up for debate

What did the 95 theses later become the basis for?

The Protestant Reformation

What did the first two theses contain?

The first 2 contained Luther's central idea of God wanting people to seek repentance through faith alone.

What did the other 93 theses directly criticise?

Many of the other 93 directly criticised the sale of indulgences.

What was the tower experience of 1519?

This was the realisation that he could be forgiven, not based upon his works, but upon his righteousness of Jesus if he could trust in Christ alone for his salvation.

Who drew this to Luther's attention? How did this impact Luther?

This was drawn to his attention by Staupitz and gave him no relief, it instead proved to him that God was pitiless.

What did Luther later write after the tower experience about God and sin?

He later wrote 'I hate this God that punishes sinners'.

Explain how the Roman Catholic Church taught people to gain salvation.

The Roman Catholic Church taught salvation could be gained by being sin free at the time of death. This could be assured by carrying out good works to counterbalance any sins.

Why did this make Luther so depressed?

The more Luther tried, the more he became convinced it was impossible. He believed humanity was weighed down by the original sin of Adam and Eve and that it was pointless to try and wipe it out. As a result, he became depressed over his lack of control over his fate.

Why did studying the Bible help Luther? What influenced Luther's views?

He became convinced that in the Bible, rather than in the teachings of the Church, lay the truth of God's will. The Latin phrase 'sola fide' (by faith alone) influenced his views.

What happened around 1516 (this key event is often called the 'Tower Experience' as Luther's study was situated at the top of the tower at Wittenberg University)?

Luther realised that salvation was secured by what he believed and not what he did. He now saw God as loving, freely offering salvation to people who believed in Him and His son, rather than being a terrible judge.

What is sola fide and how did it differ from the Church's teachings on attaining salvation?

Sola fide is the idea of by faith alone. It differs from the Church's teachings on attaining salvation as the church taught that you had to do good works to gain salvation, but sola fide taught that by having faith you would gain salvation.

Where had Tetzel reached by April 1517?

Tetzel reached the border of electoral Saxony.

How had his marketing of indulgences become more aggressive?

He urged his audiences to imagine the voices of their parents in purgatory criticising them for not wanting to save them despite having been raised by them

What was Elector Frederick of Saxony's reaction?

He was furious and banned Tetzel from his territories

What was the political basis for Frederick's anger?

Tetzel's employer was part of a rival family for power politically

What was the financial basis for Frederick's anger?

While the Pope's indulgences were being sold, all other indulgences had to be suspended meaning that Frederick faced a drastic loss in revenue

Why did Luther also have objections to the sale of indulgences?

On the basis of his study of scripture, he had doubts about the sale of indulgences

What prompted him to write the 95 Theses?

Anger at Tetzel for his outrageous promises and the excitement of Wittenbergers to make purchase

Where and when did he present the 95 Theses?

October 31st 1517 - pinned to the door of the Castle Church in Wittenberg

What were Luther's main reasons as to why indulgence selling was harmful?

- It detracted from the really important thing - preaching the Word of God as revealed in the Gospels

- It undermined the sacrament of penance and encouraged complacency - sinners did not even need to be contrite to make a purchase; many believed they could sin without fear of punishment

- It discouraged far more worthy uses for money, like giving to charity

- The poor couldn't afford such things - giving up their savings on false premises

- The pope's reputation was suffering because Rome seemed to be exploiting impoverished Germans

What were Luther's main arguments in the 95 Theses?

- The pope had no control over purgatory - God alone had that

- Souls could not therefore be released from purgatory through the purchase of papal pardons

- Forgiveness was a free gift from God for all truly repentant Christians - it cannot be purchased

How was timing a factor in the immediate popularity of the 95 Theses?

Luther had given a sermon against indulgences exactly one year before, and Carlstadt had posted his theses against indulgences in April. Both were largely ignored. This time, Tetzel's irresponsible salesmanship was causing widespread concern among the educated elite.

How was tone a factor in the immediate popularity of the 95 Theses?

Luther wrote the propositions in a hurry and to provoke an academic debate, and his language was theoretical, combative and colloquial. He wrote in a way that ordinary people could understand.

How was appeal for German nationalists, anti-papalists and the poor a factor in the immediate popularity of the 95 Theses?

When Luther made the point several times, that Germans were being tricked into handing over their savings to a foreign power, Rome, he was expressing the frustrations and prejudices of many people. It was a very popular theme.

How was authorship a factor in the immediate popularity of the 95 Theses?

Luther was a friar of a reformed order and a respected Professor of Theology at a reputable university founded by one of the electors, no less. His credentials were impeccable.

How was use of the printing press a factor in the immediate popularity of the 95 Theses?

Had the Theses been written a hundred years earlier, at a time when the only means of disseminating them would have meant copying them out laboriously by hand, their spread would have been slower and more local. The fact that the Theses were printed quickly and in such numbers made them difficult to suppress.

Who was Albert of Mainz?

- Member of the Hohenzollern family

- Started the sale of indulgences

- Wanted to be Archbishop of Mainz

- Brother of one of the seven electors

- Employed Jakob Fugger to lend him money and Tetzel to sell the indulgences

What caused the Lutheran problem to not die down?

The whole affair might even have died down, had it not been for the way in which Rome and the Dominican order reacted.

On the same day he pinned up his These, what did Luther send to Archbishop Albert of Mainz?

On the same day that he pinned up his Theses, Luther sent a copy of them, with a covering letter, to his bishop and to Archbishop Albert of Mainz.

What was the tone of Luther's letter?

Polite - but it had an edge

What concerns did Luther express in his letter to Albert?

Luther expressed his grave concerns about Tetzel, but he also went further and queried the scriptural basis of indulgences, and then fairly bluntly criticised Albert's own behaviour.

How did Albert react to Luther's letter?

Albert did not reply to Luther. He had the letter and the copy of the Theses checked for signs of heresy, and then despatched both to Rome on 13 December, asking for action to be taken. Clearly, papal power was being challenged.

When did Albert have Luther's letter dispatched to Rome?

13th December 1517

What was underpinning Albert's reaction to the letter from Luther?

- His concern at the reception given to the 95 Theses

- Would be in serious debt to the Fuggers if Albert's sale of indulgences collapsed

Thirty years later, who did Luther blame for what happened afterwards?

Luther said the 'entire blame' for what happened after rested on Albert. He said that if he had 'at the outset quenched the outbursts of Tetzel, things would not have grown to such a furfore'

The issue now lay in Rome's hands. Over the next two years how many attempts were made to silence Luther?

Four attempts

What four attempts were made to silence Luther?

1. Through his own order, the Augustinians

2. Through meeting with the Cardinal Cajetan at Augsburg

3. Through direct negotiation with Frederick the Wise, conducted by the papal chamberlain Karl von Miltitz

4. Through debate with Dr John Eck, a Dominican academic

When did Leo receive Albert's dispatch?

Early 1518

How long had Albert sat on the letter for?

A month

What did Leo probably view the indulgence controversy as?

Leo may well have viewed the indulgence controversy as just another squabble between two orders.

Was rivalry between the Dominicans and Augustinians common? How did the Dominicans feel about Tetzel being attacked?

Rivalry between the Dominicans and the Augustinians was long-standing, and the Dominican order was furious that Tetzel, one of their own, had been attacked.

What concerns did Leo have at the time that made Luther seem inconsequential?

He was as bankrupt as ever, he had recently been at war in Italy, he had thwarted a plot by cardinals to assassinate him, and he was trying to pull Christian Europe together to mount a crusade.

Who was this crusade against?

Against an increasingly aggressive Ottoman Empire that had almost doubled its size in the preceding decade.

Was it in Leo's nature to get involved?

It was not in Leo's nature to get involved with matters.

What was Leo's response to Luther?

He put his theologians to work preparing a case against Luther, and meanwhile asked the prior general of the Augustinian order to silence the troublesome monk. There would be time later to escalate the discipline if necessary.

When was the meeting with the Augustinian order?

April 1518

Who did the prior general delegate the task to?

The head of the Augustinians in Germany, Johann von Staupitz

Why were Germany's Augustinians congregating in Heidelberg?

For their three yearly meeting

Why did Staupitz invite Luther?

To make a presentation about freewill, sin and grace

Why was the meeting a positive one for Luther?

He drew strength from those who he met on route and from the fact his own order didn't reject him

What did Leo issue orders of in relation to Luther?

For Luther to be brought to Rome on charges of heresy (would've been executed)

How did Frederick the Wise intervene?

Frederick the Wise requested Luther to be interviewed by Cardinal Cajetan

What were the political reasons why Leo agreed to Frederick's request?

Frederick was the senior elector and his vote was crucial in the next election

What religion was Frederick the Wise?

Catholic

Who did Frederick use as a go-between between him and Luther?

Spalatin

How many relics did Frederick add to his collection post-Luther's outburst?

1500 relics

What was Cajetan's reputation?

Renowned biblical scholar and head of the Dominican order