2. Life
of
Luther
• Mar$n
was
an
educated
boy
who
went
to
college
to
earn
two
degrees
in
law
• He
was
almost
struck
by
lightening
one
day
and
decided
to
leave
law
studies
and
enter
the
monastery,
a
place
where
he
could
study
the
bible
and
devote
his
life
to
God
3. Luther
studies
the
bible
• As
Luther
read
the
bible,
he
began
to
disagree
with
the
teachings
of
the
Roman
Catholic
Church
– The
church
said
that
you
can
only
win
favor
with
God
by
doing
good
deeds
– Luther
interpreted
the
Bible
as
saying
that
“salva$on
is
a
giF
of
God's
grace,
received
by
faith
alone
and
by
trust
in
Christ's
death
on
the
cross
as
the
only
means
to
that
salva$on."
4. Luther
defies
the
Catholic
Church
• Luther
par$cularly
had
a
problem
with
penance
through
the
sale
of
indulgences
– Penance
is
forgiveness
of
sins
by
God
given
by
a
priest
– Indulgences
were
papers
you
could
buy
from
the
church
that
gave
penance
• He
compiled
a
list
of
95
things
that
were
wrong
with
the
Catholic
Church
and
nailed
them
to
the
door.
– This
list
is
known
as
the
95
theses
5. Excommunica$on
• Luther’s
ac$ons
angered
the
church
so
they
excommunicated
him.
– Excommunica=on
means
you
are
no
longer
part
of
the
church
• Years
later
Luther
was
summoned
before
the
Diet
of
Worms.
– The
Diet
was
a
general
assembly
of
the
estates
of
the
Holy
Roman
Empire
that
occurred
in
Worms,
Germany.
• They
ordered
he
be
arrested,
so
his
friends
helped
him
hide.
6. Reforma$on
• While
in
hiding,
Luther
worked
to
translate
the
en$re
bible
into
Germans
so
more
people
could
read
it.
• Luther’s
theories
about
Chris$anity
greatly
influenced
the
forming
of
other
Chris$an
groups
.
• These
new
Chris$an
denomina$ons
formed
as
part
of
the
Protestant
Reforma=on
and
were
separate
from
the
power
of
the
Catholic
Church.
