Martin Luther A Development of His Theology essays

Martin Luther A Development of His Theology essays Martin Luthers development of his theology, Lutheranism, took many years of Biblical studies, monastic living and inner soul searching. 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 Masters 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 Gods eyes. God was stern and to be feared, he was at the mercy of a relentless judge, and he had no possibility of appeal. How could this God be the just God that is spoken of in the scriptures, when He set forth-impossible requirements for a human to achieve to attain salvation? He was deeply troubled in the fact that he went against his fathers wishes for him to be a lawyer for he broke the fourth commandment: honor thy father and mother. It seemed to Martin that the harder he tried to attain salvation and get close to his God, the farther away he was. In Luthers search for inner-spirituality, another Augustinian Monk assisted him by telling him to look no further than the death of Jesus Christ on the cross for his salvat...