The Man Who Rejected Heaven: Who is Martin Luther?

Throughout history, hundreds of research articles have been written in his name and millions of people have followed him, Martin Luther is seen as one of the most influential people of the 16th century. So, what are the reasons why Martin Luther was so famous and his ideas were embraced by so many people?

The Life of Martin Luther

Born in Eisleben, Germany on November 10, 1483, Martin Luther graduated from the Philosophy department of Erfurt University and decided to continue his education in the field of Law. Martin Luther, who continued his education in the field of Law for a while, left law and philosophy aside after an incident and decided to become a monk. The event that changes him so much is when he is struck by lightning one evening while walking on the road to Erfurt with his friend Alexis. Impressed by this event, Martin Luther decides to devote himself to God. Luther, who took this decision at the age of 21, entered a monastery and became a priest in the same year. A year later, he completed his doctorate at the University of Wittenberg and started to teach at the same university.

Martin Luther (10 November 1483 – 18 February 1546) was a German priest, theologian, author, hymnwriter, professor, and Augustinian friar. He was the seminal figure of the Protestant Reformation, and his theological beliefs form the basis of Lutheranism.

During a trip to Rome in 1511, he witnessed many corruptions of the Catholic Church, the practices of forgiving sins, and selling pardons (indulgences) in order to enter heaven. These practices are quite strange, and it also clearly states that such practices are fraudulent and against them. These ideas, which started as little gossip that he shared with his environment, reached the ears of the Papal authority. Martin Luther is told to avoid such irreligious rhetoric, even threatened with excommunication (excommunication), but he does not give up. He goes so far that, on the morning of October 31, 1517, he hangs his 95-item text, "Theses on the Power of Indulgence", in which he criticized the Catholic church and the Pope, on the door of the Wittenberg Palace Church.

According to the Catholic sect, his theses, in which he criticizes many issues from the rule of non-marriage of priests to sales of indulgences, spread rapidly among the people and ignited the fuse of the Reformation movement, albeit unknowingly. The theses he wrote spread so rapidly among the people that the church authority, who thought that this questioning could not prevent him, claimed that Luther was irreligious and should be tried. This request of the church is met and Martin Luther is forced to appear in the historical court, where he will become even stronger.

Martin Luther, who was put on trial for many crimes such as irreligion, agitating the public, and opposing the church and Papal authority, is asked to defend himself. He asks only one question: "Why do you sell only heaven to people and not hell?" One of the judges, who was very surprised by this question, said, "Who would buy Hell?" Martin Luther replied, "I'm taking it, I'm willing to pay whatever it is." The judges, finding this answer too funny, sell hell to Luther for free. Out of court, Martin Luther turned to the crowd waiting for the trial to end and said, “I bought my hell, it's mine from now on. I won't take anyone there, don't be afraid!” says.

The fear of the people, which has been suppressed by the church for years with the fear of hell, disappears and people begin to protest freely against the Pope and the church's decisions. Thus, Protestantism, originating from the word "Protest", which originally came from Italian and whose written use was first encountered in a manifesto published by the German states, means "to testify in favor of something or a principle", thus spread.