Martin Luther

MARTIN LUTHER: THE RELUCTANT REVOLUTIONARY
PROF. M. M. NINAN
Lutherhaus, Wittenberg
The Lutherhaus is a writer's house museum in Lutherstadt Wittenberg, Germany. Originally built 1504 as
part of the University of Wittenberg, the building was the home of Martin Luther for most of his adult life and
a significant location in the history of the Protestant Reformation. Luther was living here when he wrote his
95 Theses.
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This UNESCO site began in 1504, built to be a monastery for the Augustinian order. At that time,
it was known as the Black Monastery because of the color habits worn by the monks. Luther
moved into the monastery in 1508, and it is here that he wrote his treatise. The monastery was
dissolved as a result of the Reformation, but Luther continued living there and was joined by his
wife and family in 1525. After Luther's death, the former monastery was taken over by the
university and served as a residence for visiting scholars.
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In 1507, Luther was ordained to the priesthood. In 1508, he began teaching theology at the
University of Wittenberg. Luther earned his bachelor's degree in biblical studies on March 9, 1508
and a bachelor's degree in the Sentences by Peter Lombard, the main textbook of theology in the
middle Ages, in 1509. During the winter of 1508-09 he was sent to the University of Wittenberg,
(then in its infancy founded 2 July, 1502), While teaching philosophy and dialectics he also
continued his theological studies. On 9 March, 1509, under the deanship of Staupitz, he became
Baccalaureus Biblicus in the theological course, as a stepping-stone to the doctorate. His recall to
Erfurt occurred the same year.
One of the incidents of the Roman mission, which at one time was considered a pivotal point in his
career, and was calculated to impart an inspirational character to the leading doctrine of the
Reformation, and is still detailed by his biographers, was his supposed experience while climbing
the Scala Santa. According to it, while Luther was in the act of climbing the stairs on his knees, the
thought suddenly flashed through his mind: "The just shall live by faith", whereupon he immediately
discontinued his pious devotion. The story rests on an autograph insertion of his son Paul in a Bible,
now in possession of the library of Rudolstadt. In it he claims that his father told him the incident.
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