Luther had been designated by his father to be a lawyer. He pursued this wish by attending the University of Erfurt, a university that was considered to be the best and a university in which religion played a dominant role. In 1505 he passed his Master's exam and received his degree of Law. Also in 1505 Luther had an intense spiritual experience; a bolt of lightning struck him down. In his fear, he pleaded with St. Anne to spare his life and in return he will devote his life to the monastery. It is here that I will explain how he developed his theology.

In the fall of 1506 Luther entered the Augustinian Order as he had promised St. Anne, and was a monk for the next twenty or so years. While he was a monk, he became concerned with the impending question, "How can I be saved?" He was faithful in his obedience to his order, and performed the spiritual requirements with a reverence. As Luther stated, "If ever a monk came to heaven through monkery, it should have been I." But Luther thought of himself as unworthy in God's eyes. God was stern and to be feared, he was at the mercy of a

Martin intended for the theses to be an academic debate within the Roman Church, but it turned out to far more than that. The invention of the printing press made the ninety-five Theses a public affair. Lay people as well as the clergy were able to view it, and it was causing quite a stir. The sale of indulgences was dropping and politics were hot. Luther entered a hornet's nest. The jubilee indulgence was designed for the archbishop of Mainz, Albert of Hohenzollern, to procure a papal dispensation and as a fund to help in the reconstruction of St. Peters Church in Rome. It also bought Archbishop of Mainz, a politically influential stature. As archbishop of Mainz he was also a German elector. Archbishop Albert reported the matter of the ninety-five theses to Rome, asking for the commencement of the first step of heresy proceedings. Roman Catholic Church called Luther a heretic, and summoned him to a disputation to defend the claim.

I believe this was a true turning point in Martin's thinking and reading of the scriptures. He delved in the scriptures with an unyielding tenacity and relentlessness. He kept looking for the answer of the question, "How can I be saved?" In his torment to find this answer, he finds it in Romans 1:17, "For in it the righteousness of God is revealed through faith for faith; as it is written, 'He who through faith is righteous shall live.' God freely forgives sins, and merits aren't taken into consideration. Salvation isn't granted to a man because of his pilgrimages to relics, or paying for indulgences, or

Some common words found in the essay are:
Jesus Christ, St Anne, Cardinal Cajetan, Roman Church, God God, University Erfurt, Luther Tetzel, Catholic Church, Lutheranism Biblical, Pope Leo, sale indulgences, ninety-five theses, roman church, archbishop mainz, roman catholic church, question saved, luther stated, luther entered, st anne, luther heretic, selling indulgences,
Approximate Word count = 1054
Approximate Pages = 4 (250 words per page double spaced)