Luther began his career as an Augustinian Monk in the Roman Catholic Church. Consequently, Luther was initially loyal to the papacy, and even after many theological conflicts, he attempted to bring about his reconciliation with the Church. But this didn't last long because Luther waged battle with the papacy. On a mission to Rome in 1510--11 he was appalled by the corruption he found there. Money was greatly needed at the time for the rebuilding of St Peter's, and papal emissaries sought everywhere to raise funds by the sale of indulgences. The system was grossly abused, and Luther's indignation at the shameless traffic, carri

Luther died in Eisleben, and was buried at Wittenberg. Endowed with broad human sympathies, massive energy, manly and affectionate simplicity, and a rich, if sometimes coarse, humour, he was undoubtedly a spiritual genius. His intuitions of divine truth were bold, vivid, and penetrating, if not necessarily philosophical and comprehensive; and he possessed the power of kindling other souls with the fire of his own convictions. His voluminous works include "Von den guten Wercken" (1520, Of Good Works), and "Widder die hymelischen Propheten von den Bildern und Sacrament". Luther provided Christianity with a degree of freedom not found in Catholicism. Luther dared to defy the mighty and authoritative Roman Catholic Church. From this the Protestant Reformation was born.

As professor of biblical exegesis at Wittenberg (1512--46), he began to preach the doctrine of salvation by faith rather than works; and on 31 October 1517 drew up a list of 95 theses on indulgences denying the pope any right to forgive sins, and nailed them on the church door at Wittenberg. Tetzel retreated from Saxony to Frankfurt-an-der-Oder, where he published a set of counter-theses and burnt Luther's. It is usually considered to be the original document of the Reformation. Basically, this document exposed all the wrongs of the Catholic Church from indulgences to immoral behavior of priests. The Wittenberg students retaliated by burning Tetzel's, and in 1518 Luther was joined in his views by Melanchthon. Luther's ideas and reforms on Christianity were in direct conflict with the Catholic Church. These ideas, reforms, and thoughts on faith was the spark plug that started the Protestant Reformation.

As the central figure of a violent religious rebellion in Germany, Martin Luther brought forth his principal theological doctrine about Christianity. According to Luther, mankind is justified by faith alone, and not by works. On the concept of this belief in a personal faith instead of the power of the Roman Catholic Church, Luther favored the abolition of many rituals and challenged the supreme authority of the pope. For York-9 this, Luther paid the ultimate penalty the Roman Catholic Church could inflict, he was excommunicated. Luther then went before the Diet of Worms, where he took a firm stand concerning his beliefs and was placed under the ban of the Holy Roman Empire. All of this entails considerably more details concerning Luther's concept of Christianity.

Concerning Luther and the Reformation, Paul Tillich states: "The turning point of the Reformation and of church history in general is the experience of an Augustinian monk in his monastic cell-Martin Luther. Martin Luther did not merely teach different doctrines; others had done that also, such as Wyclif. But none of the others who protested against the Roman system were able to break through it. The only man who really made a breakthrough, and whose breakthrough has transformed the surface of the earth, was Martin Luther. . . . He is one of the few great prophets of the Christian Church, and his greatness is overwhelming, even if it was limited by some of his personal traits and his later development. He is responsible for the fact that a purified Christianity, a Christianity of the Reformation, was able to establish itself equal terms with the Roman tradition" (Tillich 227). Tillich's York-4 main emphasis, then, is not on Luther as the founder of Lutheranism, but as the person who broke through the system of the Church of Rome. Luther shattered the theological restraints and distortions of the Roman Catholic religion.

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