He is widely regarded as one of the most influential figures in Western and Christian history. Luther was ordained to the priesthood in He came to reject several teachings and practices of the Roman Catholic Church , in particular the view on indulgences. Luther attempted to resolve these differences amicably, first proposing an academic discussion of the practice and efficacy of indulgences in Ninety-five Theses , which he authored in In , Pope Leo X demanded that Luther renounce all of his writings, and when Luther refused to do so, excommunicated him in January When Luther died in , Pope Leo X's excommunication was still in effect.
Luther taught that salvation and, consequently, eternal life are not earned by good deeds; rather, they are received only as the free gift of God's grace through the believer's faith in Jesus Christ. Luther's theology challenged the authority and office of the pope by teaching that the Bible is the only source of divinely revealed knowledge, [ 5 ] and opposed sacerdotalism by considering all baptized Christians to be a holy priesthood. It fostered the development of a standard version of the German language , added several principles to the art of translation, [ 7 ] and influenced the writing of an English translation, the Tyndale Bible.
In two later works, Luther expressed anti-Judaistic views , calling for the expulsion of Jews and the burning of synagogues. Luther was baptized the next morning on the feast day of Martin of Tours. In , his family moved to Mansfeld , where his father was a leaseholder of copper mines and smelters [ 20 ] and served as one of four citizen representatives on the local council; in , he was elected as a town councilor.
He had several brothers and sisters and is known to have been close to one of them, Jacob. Hans Luther, Martin's father, was determined to see Martin, his eldest son, become a lawyer. He sent Martin to Latin schools in Mansfeld, then Magdeburg in , where he attended the Brethren of the Common Life , a school operated by a lay group , and Eisenach in Luther later compared his education there to purgatory and hell. In , at age 17, Martin entered the University of Erfurt , which he later described as a beerhouse and whorehouse.
In accordance with his father's wishes, Luther enrolled in law but dropped out almost immediately, believing that law was an uncertain profession. Philosophy proved to be unsatisfying to Luther because it offered assurance about the use of reason but none about loving God , which Luther believed was more important.
