Martin Luther

Martin Luther
1483-1546
German reformer. Martin Luther was converted to Christ from the priesthood of the Roman Catholic Church by reading the Epistle of Paul to the Romans. He became professor of theology at the University of Wittenburg in 1512, and retained that position until his death in 1546.

He nailed his famous Theses, in which he denounced the unscriptural position of the Catholic Church on many doctrines, to the church door in Wittenburg in 1517. This brought protracted and endless opposition from Rome.

He was summoned to appear before the German Congress at Worms in 1521 to answer charges of heresy. Using the witness stand as a pulpit, Luther made his well-known defense of the Scriptures, which ended with the immortal statement, “Here I stand…I cannot do otherwise…God help me!” He was promptly excommunicated from the Catholic Church.

He firmly established in Europe the three great truths of the New Testament, which had been buried for centuries under ritual and dead formality. Those truths are (1) that man is justified by faith alone, (2) that every believer is a priest with direct access to God through the Lord Jesus Christ, and (3) that the Bible apart from tradition is the sole source of faith and authority for the Christian.

ARTIST’S NOTE: The background indicates the eye of the hurricane which is exactly what Luther was to the 16th Century. The colors are those of a storm–yellow, black, and variations of purple.

Ruckman ’66