HIS243H1 Lecture 7: The Reformation
Document Summary
Europe is the continent of revolutions, and this was one. Martin luther: father worked his way up in mining to the middle class, and martin was sent to law school. One night after returning to university, he walked through a corn field during a lightening storm, and made a vow to the patron saint of miners that if saved he would become a monk. This is luther"s version of his own conversion myth (st paul) His father did not want him to become a monk which may have pushed him to it. He was a brilliant scholar and devoted monk fasting, mortification of the flesh, scholar of bible and other texts. Went to saxony to study, still felt sense of guilt and inability to meet his own standards. He realized all he had to do was have faith god"s mercy would save him. He began to preach this to others, to warn them of what may restrict salvation.
