Life of Luther

Biography  by 
Julius Koestlin

Martin Luther (November 10, 1483-February 18, 1546) was a German university professor whose confrontation with Charles V at the Diet of Worms over freedom of conscience in 1521 shook the Holy Roman Empire. He was a monk, theologian, and church reformer as well. Luther’s theology challenged the authority of the papacy by holding that the Bible is the only infallible source of religious authority and that all baptized Christians are a priesthood of believers. According to Luther, salvation was attainable only by true repentance and faith in Jesus as the Messiah, a faith unmediated by the church. These ideas inspired the Protestant Reformation and changed the course of Western civilization. (Quote from wikipedia.org)