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German Protestant Religious Reformer ("Der Reformator")

Martin Luther (1483-1546), a former Augustinian monk and theology professor, began the Protestant Reformation by nailing his "Ninety-Five Theses" to the church door in Wittenberg, Germany in 1517. Or did he?

Although his original intent was only to reform the Roman Catholic Church, Luther's actions led to a split in the Church, dividing it into the Protestant and Catholic branches. There is no historical proof that he nailed the 95 Theses to the church door in Wittenberg, but his 1517 protest cast waves all around the world. Today's Lutheran Church (of which there are now several divisions, or "synods") bears the name of the great Reformer ( Reformator in German). Most of the countries of northern Europe soon became Protestant. Germany itself is today about evenly divided between Catholics and Protestants.

Besides his religious reforms, Luther also had an impact on standardizing the German language through his translation of the Bible into German. He was a leader in translating the Bible into the language of the people, rather than the traditional Latin.

Luther's Early Life
Martin Luther was born on November 10, 1483 in the town of Eisleben in what is now the German federal state of Saxony-Anhalt (in East Germany before 1990). He was the son of Hans Luder (Luther), a farmer, and his wife, Margaretha née Lindemann. Hans would later prosper in a copper mining boom in nearby Mansfeld.

From Luder to Luther
Martin Luther was born with the surname "Luder" or "Ludher." His given name was for St. Martin of Tours. The family spelled its last name several different ways, but in 1512 Martin chose the current spelling of Luther, which is pronounced LOO-TAIR in German.

In 1484 the family moved to Mansfeld, where Hans became a well-to-do businessman and a member of the city council. An ambitious man, Hans wanted his son to become a lawyer. In 1501, the 19-year-old Martin went to Erfurt to study at the university there. After receiving his master's degree in 1505, Luther began his law studies, but soon decided he did not want to pursue that profession. He dropped out of the university to become an Augustinian monk in Erfurt, a move that greatly displeased his father.

One explanation for this career change is probably apocryphal: While returning from home to the university on horseback in 1505, a bolt of lightning struck close to him. Terrified, he cried out, "Help! Saint Anna, if you let me live, I will become a monk!" ("Heilige Anna, hilf! Lässt du mich leben, so will ich ein Mönch werden.")

Luther's Excommunication
Following Luther's "Ninety-Five Theses" challenge in Wittenberg, the Church took various steps to counter his rebellion, but Luther refused to recant. In June 1520, the pope issued a papal bull ( Bannbulle) that threatened to excommunicate Luther. After Luther publicly burned the pope's edict in December, he was excommunicated in January 1521.

Luther's name was becoming well known throughout Germany and Europe. By the end of 1520, he had published at least 81 pamphlets calling not only for religious reforms, but also for more political and social justice. Translated into many languages, Luther's words found resonance with people who were suffering under the unjust social and econonomic conditions of the time. There was also growing tension between the various principalities and the central powers of Europe.

The Diet of Worms (Reichstag zu Worms)
Ordered to defend himself against heresy at the secular Diet of Worms (a special parliament in the German city of Worms on the Rhine), Luther may or may not have said the famous words later attributed to him: "Hier stehe ich." ("Here I stand.") But on April 17, 1521, appearing before the members of the Diet, he defiantly responded to the heresy charges by saying: "I cannot and will not recant anything, since it is neither safe nor right to go against conscience. May God help me. Amen."

The Diet of Worms was not impressed. In the Edict of Worms, signed by Emperor Charles V ( Kaiser Karl V.), it condemned the "notorious heretic" and made it a crime for anyone in the Holy Roman Empire to shelter Luther or to read or print his writings. The Edict allowed anyone to kill him without facing punishment, but also granted Luther free passage, a clause that the emperor would later regret - when his realm began to be split apart by the Protestant/Catholic division.

Luther was offered protection by Frederick III ("Frederick the Wise"), the Elector of Saxony. Safely ensconced in the Wartburg Castle at Eisenach (incognito as "Junker Jörg"), Luther began his translation of the New Testament into German and continued to attack the archbishop, finally shaming him into stopping the sale of indulgences. (Johann Tetzel had died in undeserved disgrace in 1519.) But the Reformation that Luther had set in motion was soon radicalized and began to cause unrest and violence.

The German Peasants War - Deutscher Bauernkrieg (1524-1526)
The peasants Luther had encouraged were soon engaged in rebellion and violence in his name. The widespread burning of convents, monasteries, bishops' palaces, and libraries in Thuringia particularly enraged Luther. His response was published in a pamphlet entitled "Against the Murderous, Thieving Hordes of Peasants" ( Wider die mörderischen Rotten der Bauern). Written after his return to Wittenberg, the pamphlet explained his teachings, condemned the violence as the devil's work, and called for the nobles to put down the rebellion.

The peasant revolts (which were not limited to just farmers and peasants) had spread like wildfire before being diminished by Luther's condemnation. Estimates of the number of people killed in the uprisings range from 75,000 to 130,000. Very few of the revolts led to the political, religious and economic reforms the people wanted. Feudalism and monarchial rule would last centuries longer in Germany and Europe.

After the Peasants War, the Reformation was less of a people's movement and more of a time when the new Protestant Church could flourish under the nobles and secular rulers in Germany and other parts of Europe. Luther now began to organize his new religion. With the support of the Elector, Luther helped spread his doctrines in Saxony, from whence Lutheranism spread to other states, principalities and regions. (Frederick's successor, his brother John the Constant [Johann der Beständige], was a zealous Lutheran.) Although it was not what he had originally intended, the loss of funding from the Catholic Church and the political situation forced Luther to use a state-supported model for his new religion. In 1527 the Lutheran Church was established as the state church in Saxony.

Marriage
One of the tenets of Lutheranism was that priests could marry. In 1525 Luther himself (a former monk) took a wife. On June 13, 1525, Luther married Katharina von Bora, one of 12 nuns he had helped escape from a convent two years earlier. Katharina was 26, Luther 41 years old. Ironically, the couple's first home was a former monastery, a gift from John the Constant. They would have six children, four of whom lived to adulthood.

Martin Luther King Jr.
There are several German connections for the American civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr. Besides sharing his name with the 16th century German reformer, King also visited East and West Berlin in 1964. King's father toured Biblical lands and attended a world Baptist conference in Berlin in 1934. After that trip, he renamed himself and his son after Luther. For more, see our Martin Luther King Jr. bio.

German Mass
Luther published a German church service ( Gottesdienstordnung) in early 1526, basing it on the Catholic mass but omitting "everything that smacks of sacrifice." The Lutheran service became a celebration in which everyone received the wine as well as the bread, but some other reformers still considered Luther's service too similar to the Catholic mass.

Because he felt there was a need to educate both congregations and pastors, Luther introduced the catechism to teach the basics of the Protestant faith in 1529. He also introduced changes concerning the saints, Christmas, and other Catholic celebrations, eliminating or adapting them for Lutheranism. For instance, since there were no longer saints, Saint Nicholas ( Sankt Nikolaus) was replaced by the Christkindl (a Christmas child angel) as the bringer of gifts for children, in order to bring the Christmas celebration closer to the birth of Christ. But the legends concerning Luther and the Christmas tree are mostly just that - legends.

Luther and the German Language
Because he felt that the Catholic Latin Mass, the Latin Bible, and other Latin religious aspects were too far removed from the common people, Luther introduced German versions of the Bible, the mass, and hymns. It was the hymns in particular that he felt best brought together worship and family life. He wrote many hymns himself, including "A Mighty Fortress is Our God" ("Ein' feste Burg ist unser Gott").

Luther's German translation of the New Testament appeared in 1522. Later, he and his collaborators completed the translation of the Old Testament and published the entire German Bible in 1534.

Augsburg Confession
Although there had been disagreements in the efforts to establish doctrinal unity, in 1530 the Augsburg Confession ( Augsburger Bekenntnis, Confessio Augustana) was a major step in establishing the Lutheran Church. But some Reformation leaders and regions refused to sign the Augsburg Confession, and the Protestant faith was divided into various denominations almost from the very beginning.

The Speyer Protestation
The term "Protestant" arose from the Protestation at Speyer. On April 19, 1529 six rulers ( Fürsten) and 14 Imperial Free Cities, representing the non-Catholic ( evangelisch) minority, petitioned the Reichstag at Speyer against the Imperial Ban ( Reichsacht) of Charles V against Martin Luther, as well as the proscription of his works and teachings, and called for the unhindered spread of the Lutheran faith. These "Protestants" ( Protestanten) thus lent their name to the Protestant faith.

Luther's Anti-Semitism
As a church leader and religious writer, Martin Luther often expressed anti-Jewish, anti-Judaic views, including Von den Juden und Ihren Lügen ( On the Jews and Their Lies). Modern scholars still debate the issue, but most agree that his anti-Jewish rhetoric contributed significantly to the development and continuation of anti-Semitism in Germany. Luther's influence persisted long after his death. Throughout the 1580s, riots led to the expulsion of Jews from several German Lutheran states. In his last sermon, delivered at Eisleben, his place of birth, only three days before his death, Luther called for the expulsion of Jews from all German territory.

Since the 1980s, Lutheran Church denominations have repudiated Martin Luther's anti-Jewish statements.

On 18 February 1546, aged 62, Luther died in Eisleben. His tomb is in the Castle Church in Wittenberg, beneath the pulpit. (See photo above.)

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Martin Luther (1483-1546), a former Augustinian monk and theology professor, began the Protestant Reformation by nailing his "Ninety-Five Theses" to the church door in Wittenberg, Germany in 1517. Or did he? Although his original intent was only to reform the Roman Catholic Church, Luther's actions led to a split in the Church, dividing it into the Protestant and Catholic branches.

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Andrews

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German theologian, professor, pastor, and church reformer. Luther began the Protestant Reformation with the publication of his Ninety-Five Theses on October 31, 1517. In this publication, he attacked the Church's sale of indulgences. He advocated a theology that rested on God's gracious activity in Jesus Christ, rather than in human works. Nearly all Protestants trace their history back to Luther in one way or another. Luther's relationship to philosophy is complex and should not be judged only by his famous statement that "reason is the devil's whore."

Given Luther's critique of philosophy and his famous phrase that philosophy is the "devil's whore," it would be easy to assume that Luther had only contempt for philosophy and reason. Nothing could be further from the truth. Luther believed, rather, that philosophy and reason had important roles to play in our lives and in the life of the community. However, he also felt that it was important to remember what those roles were and not to confuse the proper use of philosophy with an improper one.

Properly understood and used, philosophy and reason are a great aid to individuals and society. Improperly used, they become a great threat to both. Likewise, revelation and the gospel when used properly are an aid to society, but when misused also have sad and profound implications.

Table of Contents

1. Biography

Martin Luther was born to peasant stock on November 10, 1483 in Eisleben in the Holy Roman Empire - in what is today eastern Germany. Soon after Luther's birth, his family moved from Eisleben to Mansfeld. His father was a relatively successful miner and smelter and Mansfeld was a larger mining town. Martin was the second son born to Hans and Magarete (Lindemann) Luther. Two of his brothers died during outbreaks of the plague. One other brother, James, lived to adulthood.

Luther's father knew that mining was a cyclical occupation, and he wanted more security for his promising young son. Hans Luther decided that he would do whatever was necessary to see that Martin could become a lawyer. Hans saw to it that Martin started school in Mansfeld probably around seven. The school stressed Latin and a bit of logic and rhetoric. When Martin was 14 he was sent to Magdeburg to continue his studies. He stayed only one year in Magdeburg and then enrolled in Latin school in Eisenach until 1501. In 1501 he enrolled in the University of Erfurt where he studied the basic course for a Master of Arts (grammar, logic, rhetoric, metaphysics, etc.). Significant to his spiritual and theological development was the principal role of William of Occam's theology and metaphysics in Erfurt's curriculum. In 1505, it seemed that Han's Luther's plans were about to finally be realized. His son was on the verge of becoming a lawyer. Han's Luther's plans were interrupted by a thunderstorm and vow.

In July of 1505, Martin was caught in a horrific thunderstorm. Afraid that he was going to die, he screamed out a vow, "Save me, St. Anna, and I shall become a monk." St. Anna was the mother of the Virgin Mary and the patron saint of miners. Most argue that this commitment to become a monk could not have come out of thin air and instead represents an intensification experience in which an already formulated thought is expanded and deepened. On July 17 th Luther entered the Augustinian Monastery at Erfurt.

The decision to enter the monastery was a difficult one. Martin knew that he would greatly disappoint his parents (which he did), but he also knew that one must keep a promise made to God. Beyond that, however, he also had strong internal reasons to join the monastery. Luther was haunted by insecurity about his salvation (he describes these insecurities in striking tones and calls them Anfectungen or Afflictions.) A monastery was the perfect place to find assurance.

Assurance evaded him however. He threw himself into the life of a monk with verve. It did not seem to help. Finally, his mentor told him to focus on Christ and him alone in his quest for assurance. Though his anxieties would plague him for still years to come, the seeds for his later assurance were laid in that conversation.

In 1510, Luther traveled as part of delegation from his monastery to Rome (he was not very impressed with what he saw.) In 1511, he transferred from the monastery in Erfurt to one in Wittenberg where, after receiving his doctor of theology degree, he became a professor of biblical theology at the newly founded University of Wittenberg.

In 1513, he began his first lectures on the Psalms. In these lectures, Luther's critique of the theological world around him begins to take shape. Later, in lectures on Paul's Epistle to the Romans (in 1515/16) this critique becomes more noticeable. It was during these lectures that Luther finally found the assurance that had evaded him for years. The discovery that changed Luther's life ultimately changed the course of church history and the history of Europe. In Romans, Paul writes of the "righteousness of God." Luther had always understood that term to mean that God was a righteous judge that demanded human righteousness. Now, Luther understood righteousness as a gift of God's grace. He had discovered (or recovered) the doctrine of justification by grace alone. This discovery set him afire.

In 1517, he posted a sheet of theses for discussion on the University's chapel door. These Ninety-Five Theses set out a devastating critique of the church's sale of indulgences and explained the fundamentals of justification by grace alone. Luther also sent a copy of the theses to Archbishop Albrecht of Mainz calling on him to end the sale of indulgences. Albrecht was not amused. In Rome, cardinals saw Luther's theses as an attack on papal authority. In 1518 at a meeting of the Augustinian Order in Heidelberg, Luther set out his positions with even more precision. In the Heidelberg Disputation, we see the signs of a maturing in Luther's thought and new clarity surrounding his theological perspective - the Theology of the Cross.

After the Heidelberg meeting in October 1518, Luther was told to recant his positions by the Papal Legate, Thomas Cardinal Cajetan. Luther stated that he could not recant unless his mistakes were pointed out to him by appeals to "scripture and right reason" he would not, in fact, could not recant. Luther's refusal to recant set in motion his ultimate excommunication.

Throughout 1519, Luther continued to lecture and write in Wittenberg. In June and July of that year, he participated in another debate on Indulgences and the papacy in Leipzig. Finally, in 1520, the pope had had enough. On June 15 th the pope issued a bull ( Exsurge Domini - Arise O'Lord) threatening Luther with excommunication. Luther received the bull on October 10 th. He publicly burned it on December 10 th.

In January 1521, the pope excommunicated Luther. In March, he was summonsed by Emperor Charles V to Worms to defend himself. During the Diet of Worms, Luther refused to recant his position. Whether he actually said, "Here I stand, I can do no other" is uncertain. What is known is that he did refuse to recant and on May 8 th was placed under Imperial Ban.

This placed Luther and his duke in a difficult position. Luther was now a condemned and wanted man. Luther hid out at the Wartburg Castle until May of 1522 when he returned to Wittenberg. He continued teaching. In 1524, Luther left the monastery. In 1525, he married Katharina von Bora.

From 1533 to his death in 1546 he served as the Dean of the theology faculty at Wittenberg. He died in Eisleben on 18 February 1546.

2. Theology

a. Theological Background: William of Occam

The medieval worldview was rational, ordered, and synthetic. Thomas Aquinas embodied it. It survived until the acids of war, plague, poverty, and social discord began to eat away its underlying presupposition - that the world rested on the being of God.

All of life was grounded in the mind of God. In the hierarchy of Being that establishes justice, the church was understood as the connection between the secular and divine. However, as the crises of the late middle ages increased, this reassurance no longer assuaged.

William of Occam recognized the shortcomings of Thomas's system and cut away most of the ontological grounding of existence. In its place, Occam posited revelation and covenant. The world does not need to be grounded in some artificial, unknowable, ladder of Being. Instead, one must rely on God's faithfulness. We are contingent upon God alone.

This contingency would be terrible and unbearable without the assurance of God's covenant. In terms of God's absolute power ( potentia absoluta), God can do anything. He can make a lie the truth, he can make adultery a virtue and monogamy a vice. The only limit to this power is consistency-God cannot contradict his own essence. To live in a world ordered by whim would be terrible; one would never know if one was acting justly or unjustly. However, God has decided on a particular way of acting ( potentia ordinata). God has covenanted with creation, and committed himself to a particular way of acting.

While rejecting some of Thomas, Occam did not reject the entire scholastic project. He, too, synthesized and depended heavily upon Aristotle. This dependence becomes significant in the covenantal piety of justification. The fundamental question of justification is where does one find fellowship with God, i.e., how does one know one is accepted by God? The logic of Aristotle taught Thomas and Occam that "like is known by like." Thus, union or fellowship with God must take place on God's level. How does this happen? Practice.

All people are born, it was argued, with potential. Even though all creation suffers under the condemnation of the Fall of Adam and Eve, there remains a divine spark of potentiality, a syntersis. This potential must be actualized. It must be habituated. Habituation was important for both Thomas and Occam; however, Occam slightly modifies Thomas and that modification has important implications in Luther's search for a gracious God.

From Thomas's perspective the divine spark is infused with God's grace, giving one the power to be contrite ( contritio) and co-operate with God. This co-operation with God's grace merits God's reward ( meritum de condign). However, Occam asked an important question: if the process begins with God's infusion of grace, can it truly merit anything? He answered, no! Therefore you should do the best can. By doing your best, even as minimal as it is, this will merit ( meritum de congruo) an infusion of grace: facienti quod in se est Deus non denegat gratiam (God will not deny his grace to anyone who does what lies within him.) Doing one's best meant rejecting evil and doing good.

Within this context of covenant Luther struggled to prove that he was good enough to merit God's grace. However, he failed to convince himself. He might have been contrite, but was he contrite enough? This uncertainty afflicted ( Anfectungen) him for years.

b. Theology of the Cross

Luther's attempts to prove his worthiness failed. He continued to be plagued by uncertainty and doubt concerning his salvation. Finally, during his Lectures on Paul's Epistle to the Romans he found solace. Instead of storehouses of merit, indulgences, habituation, and "doing what is within one," God accepts the sinner in spite of the sin. Acceptance is based on who one is rather than what one does. Justification is bestowed rather than achieved. Justification is not based on human righteousness, but on God's righteousness-revealed and confirmed in Christ.

In St. Paul, Luther finally found a word of hope. He finally found a word of assurance and discovered the graciousness of God. The discovery of God's graciousness pro me (for me) revolutionizes all aspects of Luther's life and thought. From now on, Luther's response to the trials of his life and the crises of the late medieval period was to be certain of God, but never to be secure in human society.

A tautology of Luther's theology becomes: one must always "Let God be God." This frees human beings to be human. We do not have to achieve salvation; rather, it is a gift to be received. Salvation thus is the presupposition of the life of the Christian and not its goal. This belief engendered his rejection of indulgences and his movement to a theologia crucis (Theology of the Cross).

Why were indulgences rejected? Simply put, they epitomize everything that from Luther's perspective was wrong with the church. Instead of dependence upon God, they placed salvation in the hands of traveling salesmen hocking indulgences. They embody his rejection of all types of theology that are based in models of covenant.

The import of the Theology of the Cross was the discovery of God's passive righteousness and theological models based in Testament. From the author of Hebrews, Luther takes an understanding of Jesus Christ as the last will and testament of God. God has written humanity in the will as heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ (See Romans 8).

The rejection of covenant model theologies and the movement to testament is a fundamental aspect of Luther's theologia crucis. It is a rejection of any type of a theology of glory ( theologia gloriae). The rejection of the theology of glory has a profound impact on Luther's anthropology of a Christian.

This rejection is illustrated by Luther's small but significant alteration of Augustinian anthropology. In that system, human beings are partim bonnum, partim malum or partim iustus, partim peccare (partly good/just, partly bad/sinner). The goal of a Christian's life is to grow in righteousness. In other words, one must work to decrease the side of the equation that is bad and sinful. As one decreases the sin in oneself, the good and just aspects of one's being increase.

Luther's anthropology, however, is an outright and total rejection of progress; because no matter how one understands it, it is a work and thus must be rejected. Luther's alternative characterization of Christian anthropology was simul iustus et peccator (at once righteous and sinful.) Now, he begins to speak of righteousness in two ways: coram deo (righteousness before God) and coram hominibus (before man). Instead of a development in righteousness based in the person, or an infusion of merit from the saints, a person is judged righteous before God because of the works of Christ. But, absent the perspective of God and the righteousness of Christ, based on one's own merit-a Christian still looks like a sinner.

c. The Law and the Gospel

The distinction between the Law and the Gospel is a fundamental dialectic in Luther's thought. He argues that God interacts with humanity in two fundamental ways - the law and the gospel. The law comes to humanity as the commands of God - such as the Ten Commandments. The law allows the human community to exist and survive because it limits chaos and evil and convicts us of our sinfulness. All humanity has some grasp of the law through the conscience. The law convicts us our sin and drives us to the gospel, but it is not God's avenue for salvation.

Salvation comes to humanity through the Good News (Gospel) of Jesus Christ. The Good News is that righteousness is not a demand upon the sinner but a gift to the sinner. The sinner simply accepts the gift through faith. For Luther the folly of indulgences was that they confused the law with the gospel. By stating that humanity must do something to merit forgiveness they promulgated the notion that salvation is achieved rather than received. Much of Luther's career focused on deconstructing the idea of the law as an avenue for salvation.

d. Deus Absconditus - The Hidden God

Another fundamental aspect of Luther's theology is his understanding of God. In rejecting much of scholastic thought Luther rejected the scholastic belief in continuity between revelation and perception. Luther notes that revelation must be indirect and concealed. Luther's theology is based in the Word of God (thus his phrase sola scriptura - scripture alone). It is based not in speculation or philosophical principles, but in revelation.

Because of humanity's fallen condition, one can neither understand the redemptive word nor can one see God face to face. Here Luther's exposition on number twenty of his Heidelberg Disputation is important. It is an allusion to Exodus 33, where Moses seeks to see the Glory of the Lord but instead sees only the backside. No one can see God face to face and live, so God reveals himself on the backside, that is to say, where it seems he should not be. For Luther this meant in the human nature of Christ, in his weakness, his suffering, and his foolishness.

Thus revelation is seen in the suffering of Christ rather than in moral activity or created order and is addressed to faith. The Deus Absconditus is actually quite simple. It is a rejection of philosophy as the starting point for theology. Why? Because if one begins with philosophical categories for God one begins with the attributes of God: i.e., omniscient, omnipresent, omnipotent, impassible, etc. For Luther, it was impossible to begin there and by using syllogisms or other logical means to end up with a God who suffers on the cross on behalf of humanity. It simply does not work. The God revealed in and through the cross is not the God of philosophy but the God of revelation. Only faith can understand and appreciate this, logic and reason - to quote St. Paul become a stumbling block to belief instead of a helpmate.

3. Relationship to Philosophy

Given Luther's critique of philosophy and his famous phrase that philosophy is the "devil's whore," it would be easy to assume that Luther had only contempt for philosophy and reason. Nothing could be further from the truth. Luther believed, rather, that philosophy and reason had important roles to play in our lives and in the life of the community. However, he also felt that it was important to remember what those roles were and not to confuse the proper use of philosophy with an improper one.

Properly understood and used, philosophy and reason are a great aid to individuals and society. Improperly used, they become a great threat to both. Likewise, revelation and the gospel when used properly are an aid to society, but when misused also have sad and profound implications.

The proper role of philosophy is organizational and as an aid in governance. When Cardinal Cajetan first demanded Luther's recantation of the Ninety-Five Theses, Luther appealed to scripture and right reason. Reason can be an aid to faith in that it helps to clarify and organize, but it is always second-order discourse. It is, following St. Anselm, fides quarenes intellectum (faith seeking understanding) and never the reverse. Philosophy tells us that God is omnipotent and impassible; revelation tells us that Jesus Christ died for humanity's sin. The two cannot be reconciled. Reason is the devil's whore precisely because it asks the wrong questions and looks in the wrong direction for answers. Revelation is the only proper place for theology to begin. Reason must always take a back-seat.

Reason does play a primary role in governance and in most human interaction. Reason, Luther argued, is necessary for a good and just society. In fact, unlike most of his contemporaries, Luther did not believe that a ruler had to be Christian, only reasonable. Here, opposite to his discussion of theology, it is revelation that is improper. Trying to govern using the gospel as one's model would either corrupt the government or corrupt the gospel. The gospel's fundamental message is forgiveness, government must maintain justice. To confuse the two here is just as troubling as confusing them when discussing theology. If forgiveness becomes the dominant model in government, people being sinful, chaos will increase. If however, the government claims the gospel but acts on the basis of justice, then people will be misled as to the proper nature of the gospel.

Luther was self-consciously trying to carve out proper realms for revelation and philosophy or reason. Each had a proper role that enables humanity to thrive. Chaos only became a problem when the two got confused.One cannot understand Luther's relationship to philosophy and his discussions of philosophy without understanding that key concept.

4. References and Further Reading

a. Primary Sources
Key Primary Sources in English:

1525, Against the Robbing and Murdering Hordes of Peasants (LW:45).
Written before the Peasant's War, it was published afterward.

1530, Larger Catechism (LW:34).
A summary of Christian doctrine, to be used in instruction.

1531, Dr. Martin Luther's Warning to His Dear German People (LW:45).
Luther's first expression of a right to resist tyranny.

1536, Disputation Concerning Justification (LW: 34).
A mature presentation of Luther's doctrine on Justification.

1536, Disputation Concerning Man (LW: 34).
His anthropology, but also gives a glimpse of his understanding of the proper role of philosophy and reason.

b. Secondary Sources
Key Secondary Sources in English on the Life and Thought of Luther:

Pelikan, Jaroslav. The Christian Tradition: A History of the Development of Doctrine. Volume 4: Reformation of Church and Dogma (1300-1700). Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1984.
Part of a five volume history of doctrine, Pelikan looks at the doctrinal issues at work in the reformation. He is not as concerned with history as he is with theological development.

Author Information

David M. Whitford
Claflin University
U. S. A.

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German theologian, professor, pastor, and church reformer. Luther began the Protestant Reformation with the publication of his Ninety-Five Theses on October 31, 1517. In this publication, he attacked the Church's sale of indulgences. He advocated a theology that rested on God's gracious activity in Jesus Christ, rather than in human works.

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shawn bourque

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alex c
Catholic beliefs and denied the power of Rome to determine what is right and wrong in matters of faith.

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Evan capps
the 95 thesses will help me a great deal with this trial.This will help because i wil know martins rights and wrongs. And use them to help him from the cardinales.
https://www.history.com/topics/reformation/martin-luther-and-the-95-theses

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Mark Lopez
This shows the role of the defense attorney. It gives description about how to handle a case and as well as assessing the case. Defense attorney defends a person from being guilty. In order to know how to protect your person you need to know the case.

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Role of the Defense Attorney

The word "attorney" brings to mind courtroom dramas and Perry Mason. In fact, the role of a defense attorney is not much different from what you see on television. Whether he deals with criminal or civil cases, a defense attorney is an advocate for the accused, charged with protecting his client's interests and making sure the law works as it should.

Assessing the Case

A criminal defense attorney's role begins long before he sets foot in a courtroom for trial. He must have a firm understanding of every detail of his client's case. Some large law firms have investigators on retainer to do the work of interviewing the state's witnesses and potential witnesses for the accused. Other attorneys will do this work themselves, as well as analyze crime scenes and police reports. After all information is gathered, it's the defense attorney's job to determine his client's odds of acquittal or conviction, and to begin planning how to best present the case to the court.

Handling Pleas

It's not unusual for the prosecutor -- the state's lawyer -- to contact the defense attorney early on in a case and make an offer for a plea bargain. This typically involves the defendant pleading guilty, but to a lesser crime than the one the state has charged him with. In exchange, the state saves time and money because it does not have to go to trial. The defendant receives a lighter sentence. It's the defense attorney's role to determine if accepting the deal is in his client's best interests, based on the investigation he's already done. He might also negotiate with the prosecutor to try to get an even better deal.

Trying the Case

Ultimately, it's the accused's decision whether to accept a deal or to go to trial. His attorney's role is to advise him which he thinks is the best option, but in the end, it's the defendant's choice. If a case goes to trial, the complexity of the attorney's job depends on whether a jury or a single judge hears the case. If a jury is involved, the attorney's role becomes one of assessing how each prospective juror will feel about his client and the charges his client is facing. Through voir dire, a process of questioning and rejecting or approving jurors, he'll attempt to create a panel that is sympathetic to his client. This is something like a chess match, because the prosecutor simultaneously does the same. When trial begins, the attorney's role shifts to presenting evidence and testimony according to his state's rules of court in an effort to exonerate his client.

Public Defenders

A public defender's role is identical to that of a private defense attorney, but he may not always have the ability to devote the same extensive time to it as a lawyer practicing in the private sector. Public defenders are employed by the state to represent defendants who cannot afford to pay an attorney to defend their rights. At any given time, there may be many such defendants in the court system, and a public defender must divide his time and attention among all of those assigned to him.

Civil Defense Attorneys

The primary difference between a criminal defense attorney and a civil defense attorney is that the latter defends his client against charges leveled by someone other than the government. His client doesn't face jail time or a criminal record, but rather the possibility of having to pay financial damages or restitution for wrongdoing, such as if he violated someone's rights or broke the terms of a contract. In one respect, a civil defense attorney's job is harder, however, at least at the trial stage. The state must prove criminal charges beyond any reasonable doubt. A civil litigant or his attorney only has to prove that there's a probability the client committed the act he's accused of.

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The word "attorney" brings to mind courtroom dramas and Perry Mason. In fact, the role of a defense attorney is not much different from what you see on television. Whether he deals with criminal or civil cases, a defense attorney is an advocate for the accused, charged with protecting his client's interests and making sure the law works as it should.

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manuel soto https://work.chron.com/role-defense-attorney-3061.html
the defense attorney work to help people with there case and to handle there case to defend who ever they are defending.

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https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/prosecuting%20attorney

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Iris Villalobos
Martin luther went on to become one of Western history's most significant figures. luther spent his early years in relative anonymity as a monk and scholar.

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David garcia

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Jayden Pompa

From what I learned from this website was that Martin Luther was a catalyst his words and his actions left a movement.  I will use this I trial by saying Martin Luther started this movement to the way churches are begging handled the right way because people would pay for their sins.

https://www.britannica.com/biography/Martin-Luther

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Leo X was the last of the Renaissance popes before the dawn of the Reformation, but his role in the indulgence controversy left the indelible impression of his pontificate. Born Giovanni de'Medici in Florence on December 11, 1475, he was the second son of Lorenzo the Magnificent, patriarch of the powerful mercantile Medici family that had by the fifteenth century become prominent bankers and Florentine politicians. Leo's father set him on a course to ecclesiastical service at an early age. He was named apostolic protonotary in 1483 and cardinal deacon of Santa Maria in Dominica in 1489. He received the best of humanist education in his father's house, the most prominent of his tutors being Marsilio Ficino and Pico della Mirandola. After studying theology and canon law at Pisa between 1489 and 1492, he took up residence as cardinal in Rome. He would return to Florence later that year after the death of his father and live with his older brother, Pietro, until the family was exiled in 1494 as a result of the uprising spearheaded by Girolomo Savanarola.

The tumultuous exile of the Medicis from Florence led the young cardinal to travel across the Europe of his day, visiting France, Holland, and Germany between 1494 and 1500, which exposed him to the flourishing Renaissance humanism outside of Italy. When his brother Pietro died in 1503, Leo became the head of the Medici family and soon took a central role in Italian politics. He was named legate of Bologna and Romagna in October 1511, which left him in charge of the papal forces there. He was imprisoned in Ravenna in 1512 by the French, but escaped and would help reestablish the Medicis in Florence with a peaceful revolution that ended their exile on September 14, 1512. The course of events established Leo as an adroit political mind and made him a candidate for the papal tiara vacated when the reigning pontiff, Julius II, died on February 21, 1513. A conclave opened on March 4 to choose a replacement. Composed of 25 cardinals-excluding the nine associated at the time with the council in Pisa-the conclave selected Leo in part because the older cardinals believed his recurrent ill health would lead to a short tenure and in part because his political wherewithal might help Rome drive the Spanish and the French out of papal lands in Naples and Milan. Leo was elected on March 11 at the age of 37. His reign proved far from peaceful, as evidenced by the fact that several cardinals hatched a plot to poison him in 1517, for which one was killed, numerous others imprisoned, and the Roman curia filled with new cardinals supportive of his rule.

The primary electoral capitulation Leo made was to bring to completion the Fifth Lateran Council, which his predecessor had convened in 1512. Lateran V began in opposition to a rival council in Pisa, which was convoked under the leadership of nine dissident cardinals and supported by French royalty and clergy. Julius designated it a conciliabalum, or "pseudo-council," and under pressure called a council of his own in Rome. There were numerous goals for the Lateran council, including the healing of the Pisan schism, eradication of heresy, pacification of Christian princes at odds with Rome, preparation of a crusade, and the general reform of Christendom, specifically that of the papacy, cardinals, and curia. In March 1514, Leo published a bull, Supernae dispositionis arbitrio, addressing the reform of the curia, but never sought to enforce its measures. He carried the council through to its end on March 16, 1517.

One significant outcome of Lateran V brokered by Leo was the end to the Pragmatic Sanction of Bourges. A measure taken in 1438 at the height of the conciliar controversy to insure administrative and fiscal independence for the French church in exchange for its support of then-pope Eugenius IV against the Council of Basel, the Pragmatic Sanction had caused continual tensions between Rome and France. During the course of the council, Leo negotiated a plan that would give the French king the right to nominate all French bishops, abbots, and priors, while granting the pope the prerogative of naming all vacant French benefices in the curia as well as other French-related benefices. The new agreement was reached in the 1516 Concordat of Bologna, ratified by the council six months later with the bull Primitiva, and would remain in effect until the 1780 French Revolution.

As pontiff, Leo became known for his patronage of the arts in Renaissance Rome and the luxurious lifestyle associated with it. He infamously said, "God has given us the papacy, let us enjoy it." Under his tenure, Leo continued the project of rebuilding St. Peter's Basilica, begun under Julius II, and commissioned famed Renaissance artists Michelangelo and Raphael for the task. Raphael was also charged with decorating the pontifical palaces and painting the tapestries in the Sistine Chapel. In addition to his role as purveyor of art, Leo spared no expense in collecting rare books, manuscripts, and gems. He enjoyed hunting and would take an extensive papal entourage with him to join in the activities. The papal household itself was quite large and cost upwards of 100,000 ducats a year. His expenditures exhausted the papal treasury and put it 400,000 ducats in debt by the end of his pontificate.

Leo's reign saw the start of the Reformation as a result of his handling of the indulgence controversy. Due to the debt associated with his pontificate, the Medici pope had been unable to commit sufficient resources to Julius's project of rebuilding St. Peter's. When the archbishopric of Mainz became available and Albrecht of Brandenburg sought the see, Leo saw an opportunity to resume the St. Peter's project by authorizing the sale of indulgences in Albrecht's territories. Half of the proceeds would go to repaying Albrecht's debt to the Fugger bankers for the loan he needed to purchase the see, while the other half would go to rebuilding St. Peter's. In 1515, Leo renewed the decree authorizing the sale of indulgences first published by his predecessor. As a result, Albrecht commissioned the noted preacher of indulgences, Leipzig Dominican John Tetzel, to proclaim the sale and it was Tetzel whom Luther chiefly targeted in the 1517 95 Theses.

Upon receiving an opinion of the theses from the faculty at Mainz, Albrecht filed charges against Luther with Rome. The investigation into Luther's teaching began in summer 1518, when Leo's court summoned the Augustinian monk and Wittenberg professor to answer for himself, before sending Cardinal Cajetan to interview Luther in Augsburg. Leo directed Cajetan to seize Luther and bring him to Rome, though Frederick the Wise persuaded Cajetan to relent. The proceedings against Luther would resume again in earnest in 1519 after Leo published a bull, Cum postquam, that rejected Luther's criticisms of the papal authority to grant indulgences. Later that year at Leipzig, Luther came to denounce papal authority in the church and the papal decretals supporting it, leading to an escalation of the controversy.

The 95 Theses did not directly attack Leo, but they did call into question the right of the papacy to grant indulgences, a point that Luther's opponents repeatedly raised in their rejoinders. Luther sought to distract attention from the question of papal authority, even dedicating his explanation of the theses on indulgences, the 1518 Resolutiones, to the pope himself. In response to the diplomatic efforts of Karl von Miltitz, a papal chamberlain, Luther agreed to write a letter to the sitting pope expressing remorse for the indulgence affair, which he drafted in 1519 but never sent. A year later, Miltitz prevailed upon Luther to try one last time to mend the breach with Leo by sending him a conciliatory letter, attached to the 1520 treatise The Freedom of a Christian. The so-called "Open Letter to Leo X," composed in German rather than Latin and intended for popular publication, directed blame for the affair at the Roman curia, which Luther believed to be manipulating the pope and not to have the church's best interests in mind.

Leo's court finally brought Luther to the point of condemnation in 1520, when it published the bull Exsurge Domine threatening him with excommunication if he did not appear in Rome within sixty days and recant of his teachings. The bull detailed a list of 41 errors, largely enumerated by Luther's Leipzig combatant, John Eck, and was received in Wittenberg in October. On December 10, in accordance with the deadline stipulated, Luther and the Wittenberg students burned the bull along with the books of canon law in a symbolic gesture of defiance. Leo then followed through with the threat of excommunication in the January 1521 bull Decet Romanum pontificem, a judgment that would lead to Luther's trial at Worms in April 1521 and his declaration by Charles V as a heretic and outlaw in the May 1521 Edict of Worms.

Leo would die of pneumonia later that year on December 1 and was buried in Santa Maria Sopra Minerva. The legacy he left behind would remain permanently connected with his failures to stint the Reformation. His pontificate did not bring about the reforms anticipated by Lateran V, but instead deepened the fiscal and political problems in Rome. This precipitated the decision to authorize the sale of indulgences that stimulated the onset of the Reformation. His attempt to prosecute Luther's teaching on indulgences and ultimately to excommunicate him did not eradicate Lutheran doctrine, but instead further splintered the Western church.

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Leo X was the last of the Renaissance popes before the dawn of the Reformation, but his role in the indulgence controversy left the indelible impression of his pontificate. Born Giovanni de'Medici in Florence on December 11, 1475, he was the second son of Lorenzo the Magnificent, patriarch of the powerful mercantile Medici family that had by the fifteenth century become prominent bankers and Florentine politicians.

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Julianna
https://www.biography.com/people/martin-luther-9389283
1517 octber 31

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Clarissa Chavez
Emperor Charles V failed to achieve his dream of a universal empire, due to the political realities of Western Europe. He also failed to stop the Reformation. At the age of just 19, Charles V was the richest and most powerful person of his time, but all the power in the world did not stop Martin Luther from ripping the heart out of his Catholic empire. I can use this in trial because I have other witnesses that I never did any harm to Martin Luther even though his actions affect me and my Catholic empire.

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Michelle
https://lutheranreformation.org/history/the-leipzig-debate/

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KAYLIE FRANCO

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Online Courses for College Credit, Exam Prep & K-12 | Study.com

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Take online courses on Study.com that are fun and engaging. Pass exams to earn real college credit. Research schools and degrees to further your education.

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Ignatius Loyola was in 1491 borned in a wealth noble family.

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Ignatius Loyola was in 1491 borned in a wealth noble family.

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Hailey Serna

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darleen flores
i am a saint and venerated in the Catholic Church

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Julian Lewandowski

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Brooklyn

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Ignatius Loyola was educated as a knight. Ignatius Loyola joined the army.

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Ignatius Loyola was educated as a knight. Ignatius Loyola joined the army.

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Her great-grandfather Geoffrey Boleyn was a hatter

The Boleyn family had humble origins in the Norfolk village of Salle. Early ancestors were relatively prosperous peasants, with Anne's great-great-grandfather, Geoffrey Boleyn, several times finding himself hauled before the manorial court for trespassing on his lord's land, ploughing through field boundaries and taking water from the manor without payment.

He was affluent enough to set up his younger son, another Geoffrey Boleyn, as a hatter in London in the 1430s. This second Geoffrey made a success of his career, joining the prestigious Mercer's Company in 1435 and growing wealthy.

In 1457 he served as Lord Mayor of London while his second wife, Anne Hoo, was the daughter of a baron. He also purchased the manor of Blickling in Norfolk, becoming a solid member of the gentry by the time of his death.

Anne nearly married her Irish cousin, James Butler, 9th Earl of Ormond

Anne originally returned from France early in 1522 to marry her cousin, James Butler. Both her father, Sir Thomas Boleyn, and James's father, Piers, claimed the Earldom of Ormond, which had belonged to her great-grandfather.

Anne's uncle, the Earl of Surrey, suggested to the king that the dispute be settled by a marriage between Anne and James. The Boleyns were unenthusiastic, however, and the proposal was eventually dropped. Thanks to Anne's relationship with the king, an agreement was finally reached in 1528 with Thomas Boleyn becoming Earl of Ormond and Piers Butler Earl of Ossory.

Anne's mother, Elizabeth Howard, was rumoured to have been Henry VIII's mistress

While it is well known that Anne's sister, Mary, was the king's mistress, there were also contemporary rumours that their mother, Elizabeth Howard, had shared the king's bed. In 1533 Elizabeth Amadas, who was the wife of a London goldsmith, declared publicly that Thomas Boleyn "was bawd both to his wife and his two daughters", while Sir George Throckmorton told Henry to his face that "it is thought you have meddled both with the mother and sister".

Later in the 16th century it was claimed by the Jesuit Nicholas Sander that Anne was Henry VIII' s own daughter. Elizabeth was some years older than Henry, and it is improbable that she actually was his mistress, particularly since he denied it to Throckmorton, declaring "never with the mother" when challenged.

Anne nearly died of the sweating sickness

The sweating sickness, which may have been a type of influenza, plagued Tudor England, and was notable for the speed in which it could kill an otherwise young and healthy victim. As Cardinal du Bellay, the French ambassador, put it, "it is the easiest in the world to die of".

Henry VIII was terrified of the disease and when, in June 1528, one of Anne's ladies succumbed to the sweat, he fled 12 miles away, before ordering Anne home to Kent. Henry's precautions, although unchivalrous, were sensible, since Anne did indeed prove to have been infected.

Both she and her father became ill at Hever, with Henry sending his second-best doctor (since his first was unavailable) to treat her. Given the dangerous nature of the disease, Anne and her father were both lucky to survive - her brother-in-law, William Carey, died in the outbreak, as did many other members of the court.

She was not the only Anne Boleyn at court

Anne was a popular name in the Boleyn family, with her great-grandmother, Anne Hoo, being one of the first Anne Boleyns. Queen Anne Boleyn also had an aunt called Anne Boleyn, who married Sir John Shelton.

She was close to her niece and with her sister Alice Boleyn, Lady Clere, was appointed to the household of Princess Elizabeth. As part of her role, Lady Shelton was also placed in charge of her niece's stepdaughter, Princess Mary, who refused to recognise the royal marriage.

In February 1534 Anne wrote to Lady Shelton to ensure that Mary no longer used her title of princess, telling her to "slap her face as the cursed bastard that she was" if she persisted. Lady Shelton lived in terror that people would think she had poisoned the elder princess if she fell ill, and she gradually began to befriend her charge.

She and Anne had become estranged by the time of the queen's arrest in May 1536.

Jane Seymour was Anne's second cousin

Surprisingly, Anne's mother, Elizabeth Howard, was the first cousin of Jane 's mother, Margery Wentworth. The cousins were raised together at Sheriff Hutton Castle in Yorkshire, under the governance of Elizabeth Howard's mother, Elizabeth Tylney, Countess of Surrey, who was the half-sister of Margery's mother.

While there, both Elizabeth Howard and Margery Wentworth attracted the attention of the poet John Skelton. He called Elizabeth "lusty to look on, pleasant, demure and sage", while Margery was "benign, courteous, and meek".

There is little evidence for a relationship between Anne and Jane, although both were close to their mutual cousin, Sir Francis Bryan, who was responsible for first securing a court post for Jane.

She came to blows with Jane Seymour early in 1536

Anne Boleyn was uncomfortably aware of the growing relationship between Henry and her maid, Jane Seymour, in the early months of 1536. As he had done early in his relationship with Anne, Henry gave Jane his picture, which she wore around her neck.

When the queen saw this, she snatched it from her rival so violently that she hurt her hand. Jane Dormer, who later served Princess Mary, also claimed that there was often scratching and blows between Anne and Jane.

Anne unwittingly caused the arrest of Sir Francis Weston

Mark Smeaton, a musician in Anne's household, was arrested on 30 April 1536 and interrogated. A series of arrests followed, with Anne taken to the Tower on 2 May, accused of adultery and incest. While there, she spoke unguardedly, mentioning conversations that she had had with Mark Smeaton and another of the accused men, Henry Norris - all of which was noted down and reported to Henry by the lieutenant of the Tower.

Anne unwittingly also brought Sir Francis Weston into the investigation, when she claimed that he had once professed his love for her. Weston, who was a popular young man at court, had not previously been included in the investigation, but this was enough to ensure that he, and four other men, were executed on 17 May 1536. Anne was beheaded two days later.

Watch: Tracy Borman on what Elizabeth I thought of her mother - in less than 60 seconds

Anne Boleyn's sister, Mary, may have given birth to a daughter of Henry VIII

Relatively little is known about Anne Boleyn's sister, Mary, though she was at the heart of the Tudor court. But we do know, explains Tudor historian Suzannah Lipscomb, that while married to William Carey Mary conducted a discreet affair with Henry VIII, and that years later, when her sister, Anne, was queen, she married a lowly man 12 years her junior for love, writing about him, rather pointedly, "I had rather beg my bread with him than be the greatest queen christened".

Reviewing Alison Weir's 2011 book Mary Boleyn: 'The Great and Infamous Whore', Lipscomb told HistoryExtra: "Arguably the greatest question about Mary is whether she bore Henry VIII's children. Weir argues decisively that Henry Carey was not Henry VIII's son, pointing out that this is based on just one fragment of malicious gossip from John Hale, vicar of Isleworth. Weir provocatively, though, asserts the 'strong possibility' that Katherine Carey was Henry's daughter, although the evidence she provides confirms that it is quite simply that - a possibility."

Elizabeth Norton is the author of The Anne Boleyn Papers and The Boleyn Women. To visit her website, click here.
This article was first published by HistoryExtra in 2014

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11 things you (probably) didn't know about Anne Boleyn

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Anne Boleyn is the most famous of Henry VIII's six wives, executed by a French swordsman on 19 May 1536 after being arrested for adultery and incest. But did you know that she nearly died of the sweating sickness, and was the second cousin of Jane Seymour, who became the king's third wife after Anne Boleyn's execution?

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Isaac Navarro

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https://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/martin-luther-excommunicated

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Published: Monday, March 25, 2019 @ 5:34 PM

- Mark Geragos' name typically comes up when celebrities are in trouble, but who is he exactly?

The defense attorney has worked for clients accused of murder, abuse and lying to police, but according to a report from The Wall Street Journal and an unnamed source to The Associated Press, he could be a co-conspirator in a federal extortion case involving Michael Avenatti.

>> Read more trending news

Geragos has not commented on WSJ's report.

Here are things to know about Mark J. Geragos' career, which includes a client list made up of Nate Dogg, Winona Ryder, Diddy, and Barry Bond's personal trainer Greg Anderson.
﻿Defended Winona Ryder
After Oscar-nominated actress Winona Ryder faced shoplifting charges after being detained by security officers in December 2001. Geragos represented her in the six-day trial, according to The New York Times.

In November 2002, Ryder was found guilty of grand theft and vandalism for taking more than $5,500 worth of designer goods from a Beverly Hills Saks Fifth Avenue. She was found not guilty of commercial burglary, but was as sentenced to three years' probation, 480 hours of community service, $3,700 in fines and $6,355 in restitution to the store. She was ordered to get drug counseling and psychological counseling.
﻿Defended Scott Peterson
﻿Defended Michael Jackson

Geragos unsuccessfully defended Scott Peterson's death penalty case after becoming his attorney in May 2003. Peterson was found guilty of first-degree murder for the death of his wife, Laci Peterson, and second-degree murder for the death Laci Peterson's unborn son.

In February 2003, the King of Pop hired Geragos when accusations emerged that he may have molested a boy. He was ultimately fired from Jackson's legal team in April 2004, reportedly because he was too busy with the Peterson case.
﻿Defended Chris Brown
Jackson was found not guilty on all charges in 2005.

When Chris Brown faced assault charges after brutally attacking singer Rihanna, he enlisted Geragos' help. Geragos reached a plea deal for his client in 2009, and Brown was sentenced to five years of probation and had to serve 180 days in jail or the equivalent in "labor-oriented service."
﻿Defended Jussie Smollett

Under the plea deal, Brown pleaded guilty to one count of assault with the intent of doing great bodily injury. Brown had several run-ins with the law after, violating his probation -- resulting in jail time -- and being accused of rape. No charges were filed after that accusation. Geragos represented him in a number of trials and has said he considers the singer a son.

"Empire" actor Jussie Smollett hired Geragos to represent him against the 16 felony disorderly conduct charges he faces after he allegedly staged homophobic and racist attack in January. Smollett allegedly coordinated with two brothers who Chicago police say he paid to attack him. Smollett has pleaded not guilty.

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Who is Mark Geragos, defense lawyer to Michael Jackson, Winona Ryder,

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Published: Monday, March 25, 2019 @ 5:34 PM - Mark Geragos' name typically comes up when celebrities are in trouble, but who is he exactly? The defense attorney has worked for clients accused of murder, abuse and lying to police, but according to a report from The Wall Street Journal and an unnamed source to The Associated Press, he could be a co-conspirator in a federal extortion case involving Michael Avenatti.

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Some clients present enormous challenges for lawyers.

Thinkstock Images/Comstock/Getty Images

Trial lawyers, public defenders, corporate and transactional attorneys all have one thing in common: clients. The term "legal representation" itself means an attorney represents the best interests of his client. With that representation comes the dual obligation to uphold the law and meet clients' needs. However, many lawyers find the hardest part of their jobs involves dealing with their clients.

Overzealousness

Lawyers often must deal with arm-chair attorneys -- the clients who believe they know more about the law than the licensed attorney they hired to represent them. In many cases, the lawyer must suffer in silence while his client insists on filing discovery materials or motions that do nothing but add to the paper trail and court filings. Lawyers who deal with overzealous clients temper their responses and sometimes simply disregard their clients' demands, which can create strain between the lawyer and his client.

Moral Dilemma

Lawyers who represent clients accused of criminal acts or civil wrongdoing face a moral dilemma, which can be the hardest part of their job as an attorney. While the lawyer is paid to represent her client and minimize any liability or penalty the client may be facing, the attorney in many cases must put aside her personal beliefs and assumptions in the interest of providing effective legal representation. For example, if an attorney agrees to represent a doctor who is accused of not warning the patient of the risks and ended up with scars from a botched surgery, the attorney hired to represent the doctor should suppress her belief that the doctor may have, indeed, failed to render the standard of care necessary.

Interpretation

On the other hand, some clients know absolutely nothing about the law, and they rely heavily on their lawyers to explain every single detail about their cases. The time and energy a lawyer takes to ensure that her client has a complete understanding of applicable laws may be better used to handle other more pertinent matters. However, in the interest of providing the best possible legal advice, some lawyers provide their clients with painstaking, lengthy explanations about the law and the strategy they're using.

Fees

Keeping legal fees manageable for clients is another difficult job for lawyers. A lawyer's time is valuable and, therefore, they should be compensated fairly. However, clients who balk at attorneys' fees and complain about the number of hours an attorney bills them can become tiresome for some lawyers who are doing their best to provide adequate representation. Lawyers also represent clients who cannot afford their fees. The duty to provide the same quality of legal representation can be challenging for lawyers who realize they won't be paid for their time.

About the Author

Ruth Mayhew has been writing since the mid-1980s, and she has been an HR subject matter expert since 1995. Her work appears in "The Multi-Generational Workforce in the Health Care Industry," and she has been cited in numerous publications, including journals and textbooks that focus on human resources management practices. She holds a Master of Arts in sociology from the University of Missouri-Kansas City. Ruth resides in the nation's capital, Washington, D.C.

Photo Credits

Thinkstock Images/Comstock/Getty Images

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Trial lawyers, public defenders, corporate and transactional attorneys all have one thing in common: clients. The term "legal representation" itself means an attorney represents the best interests of his client. With that representation comes the dual obligation to uphold the law and meet clients' needs.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
Some clients present enormous challenges for lawyers.

Thinkstock Images/Comstock/Getty Images

Trial lawyers, public defenders, corporate and transactional attorneys all have one thing in common: clients. The term "legal representation" itself means an attorney represents the best interests of his client. With that representation comes the dual obligation to uphold the law and meet clients' needs. However, many lawyers find the hardest part of their jobs involves dealing with their clients.

Overzealousness

Lawyers often must deal with arm-chair attorneys -- the clients who believe they know more about the law than the licensed attorney they hired to represent them. In many cases, the lawyer must suffer in silence while his client insists on filing discovery materials or motions that do nothing but add to the paper trail and court filings. Lawyers who deal with overzealous clients temper their responses and sometimes simply disregard their clients' demands, which can create strain between the lawyer and his client.

Moral Dilemma

Lawyers who represent clients accused of criminal acts or civil wrongdoing face a moral dilemma, which can be the hardest part of their job as an attorney. While the lawyer is paid to represent her client and minimize any liability or penalty the client may be facing, the attorney in many cases must put aside her personal beliefs and assumptions in the interest of providing effective legal representation. For example, if an attorney agrees to represent a doctor who is accused of not warning the patient of the risks and ended up with scars from a botched surgery, the attorney hired to represent the doctor should suppress her belief that the doctor may have, indeed, failed to render the standard of care necessary.

Interpretation

On the other hand, some clients know absolutely nothing about the law, and they rely heavily on their lawyers to explain every single detail about their cases. The time and energy a lawyer takes to ensure that her client has a complete understanding of applicable laws may be better used to handle other more pertinent matters. However, in the interest of providing the best possible legal advice, some lawyers provide their clients with painstaking, lengthy explanations about the law and the strategy they're using.

Fees

Keeping legal fees manageable for clients is another difficult job for lawyers. A lawyer's time is valuable and, therefore, they should be compensated fairly. However, clients who balk at attorneys' fees and complain about the number of hours an attorney bills them can become tiresome for some lawyers who are doing their best to provide adequate representation. Lawyers also represent clients who cannot afford their fees. The duty to provide the same quality of legal representation can be challenging for lawyers who realize they won't be paid for their time.

About the Author

Ruth Mayhew has been writing since the mid-1980s, and she has been an HR subject matter expert since 1995. Her work appears in "The Multi-Generational Workforce in the Health Care Industry," and she has been cited in numerous publications, including journals and textbooks that focus on human resources management practices. She holds a Master of Arts in sociology from the University of Missouri-Kansas City. Ruth resides in the nation's capital, Washington, D.C.

Photo Credits

Thinkstock Images/Comstock/Getty Images

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Trial lawyers, public defenders, corporate and transactional attorneys all have one thing in common: clients. The term "legal representation" itself means an attorney represents the best interests of his client. With that representation comes the dual obligation to uphold the law and meet clients' needs.

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Pope Leo X's Infamous Indulgence

Warlike Pope Julius II died in 1513, and his successor, Giovanni de' Medici, took the name Pope Leo X. If Julius loved to fight, Leo preferred amusement. His self-indulgence destroyed the unity of the western church when he bartered sin for money in the most infamous indulgence of church history.

From birth, Leo had been earmarked for the church. At the age of seven, he was made a monk. By thirteen he was a cardinal. In between, the boy had been abbot. He became pope before turning forty.

His tastes were costly. He was only too happy to spend lavishly on himself and voluptuous entertainment. Humanists with few morals swarmed at a papal court where wit mattered more than a witness. Plays and shows, ballets and games abounded. No chance for a hunt was turned down. The papal treasury funded preeminent artists such as Raphael. Julius left a full treasury. Leo drained it in eight short years.

Selling "Salvation"

St. Peter's Basilica was being rebuilt, but there was no money. Leo decided to solve the problem in time-honored fashion. , he declared that anyone who contributed to the cathedral would be granted an indulgence. Although in theory, an indulgence was only a remission of penalties meted out in this world by the church, in practice, it was hawked as if it covered the actual guilt of sins and could release souls from Purgatory. The gist of the indulgence was as follows:

"...[I] absolve you ...from all thy sins, transgressions, and excesses, how enormous soever they be...and remit to you all punishment which you deserve in purgatory on their account and I restore you...to the innocence and purity which you possessed at baptism; so that when you die the gates of punishment shall be shut... and if you shall not die at present, this grace shall remain in full force when you are at the point of death."

Sent to preach the indulgence in Germany was a Dominican named Tetzel. Tetzel got above himself in his promises, implying that the indulgence even covered the future sins which the buyer was now harboring in his heart. Frederick the Wise refused to allow the indulgence to be preached in his territory of Saxony, mostly because he was reluctant to allow Saxon coin to leave his financially-depleted realm. Tetzel came as near the border of Saxony as he could. Folk from Wittenberg crossed over and bought the prized papers.

Sparking the Reformation

Afterward a few doubted the efficacy of the writs. They solicited the opinion of a middle-aged monk named Martin Luther. Luther refused to confirm their value. Instead, in an accepted tradition, he posted theses for debate on the door of Wittenberg castle church where a large crowd was expected. The sequel is well known. From those Ninety-Five theses, the Reformation was born when Leo refused to see a problem with the disgraceful sales.

Bibliography:

1. Bainton, Roland H. Here I Stand. New York: Mentor, 1950.

2. Begni, Ernesto. Vatican; Its history--its treasures. New York: Letters and Arts, 1914.

3. Brusher, J. Popes Through the Ages. Princeton, New Jersey: Van Nostrand, 1964.

4. Durant, Will. The Reformation. New York: Simon and Schuster, 1957.

5. Eerdman's Handbook to the History of Christianity. Editor Tim Dowley. Berkhamsted, Herts, England: Lion Publishing, 1977.

6. "Indulgences" and "Leo X." New Schaff-Herzog Encyclopedia of Religious Knowledge. Grand Rapids: Baker Book House, 1954.

7. "Indulgences" and "Leo X." The Oxford encyclopedia of the Reformation. Editor in chief Hans J. Hillerbrand. New York : Oxford University Press, 1996.

8. Kent, W. H. "Indugences." The Catholic Encyclopedia. New York: Robert Appleton, 1914.

9. "Leo X." The Oxford Dictionary of the Christian Church. Edited by F. L. Cross and E. A. Livingstone. Oxford, 1997.

10. Loffler, Klemens. "Leo X." The Catholic Encyclopedia. New York: Robert Appleton, 1914.

11. Mee, Charles L., jr. White Robe, Black Robe. New York, Putnam, 1972.

12. Montor, Artaud de. The Lives and Times of the Popes. New York: The Catholic publication society of America, 1910 - 11.

13. Various encyclopedia articles.

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Pope Leo X's Infamous Indulgence Warlike Pope Julius II died in 1513, and his successor, Giovanni de' Medici, took the name Pope Leo X. If Julius loved to fight, Leo preferred amusement. His self-indulgence destroyed the unity of the wester...

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This website will help me with my research in many different ways. First, it tells me that Leo’s indulgence is “The most infamous indulgence in Church history” which tells me a reason Luther put his 95 theses. Second, it gives a quote basically saying “Hey, give me money, and you won’t have to go through pain because you did sins”, which could be useful on my side. Last of all, St. Peter’s Basilica was being rebuilt, and the Pope thought of a way to raise money. He told people they could buy themselves out of their sins, and since I’m the Pope, I could use this in MY defense because Pope Leo X was just raising money.

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This website will help me with my research in many different ways. First, it tells me that Leo’s indulgence is “The most infamous indulgence in Church history” which tells me a reason Luther put his 95 theses. Second, it gives a quote basically saying “Hey, give me money, and you won’t have to go through pain because you did sins”, which could be useful on my side. Last of all, St. Peter’s Basilica was being rebuilt, and the Pope thought of a way to raise money. He told people they could buy themselves out of their sins, and since I’m the Pope, I could use this in MY defense because Pope Leo X was just raising money.

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Melany
https://en.wikipedia.org/
The Cardinal is known as the prince of the church, because they are the leaders of the Catholic Church. Their jobs as cardinals are to attend the jury that the pope ask for. They make executive decisions to find out who is guilty and non guilty. They have to attend the meetings that the pope the requested and to discuss the case they need to judge. They also manage many different parts such as the Roman Curia

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johann tetzel is part of the catholic church in rome

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my artifact is the 95 theses that said the idea that going to heaven could be reached through faith and by divine grace only, Luther objected to the corrupt practice of selling indulgences.

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http://content.time.com/time/specials/packages/article/0,28804,2064099_2064107_2064159,00.html

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Emely Torres

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Early Life

Martin Luther (1483-1546) was born in Eisleben, Saxony (now Germany), part of the Holy Roman Empire, to parents Hans and Margaretta. Luther's father was a prosperous businessman, and when Luther was young, his father moved the family of 10 to Mansfeld. At age five, Luther began his education at a local school where he learned reading, writing and Latin. At 13, Luther began to attend a school run by the Brethren of the Common Life in Magdeburg. The Brethren's teachings focused on personal piety, and while there Luther developed an early interest in monastic life.

Did you know? Legend says Martin Luther was inspired to launch the Protestant Reformation while seated comfortably on the chamber pot. That cannot be confirmed, but in 2004 archeologists discovered Luther's lavatory, which was remarkably modern for its day, featuring a heated-floor system and a primitive drain.

Martin Luther Enters the Monastery

But Hans Luther had other plans for young Martin-he wanted him to become a lawyer-so he withdrew him from the school in Magdeburg and sent him to new school in Eisenach. Then, in 1501, Luther enrolled at the University of Erfurt, the premiere university in Germany at the time. There, he studied the typical curriculum of the day: arithmetic, astronomy, geometry and philosophy and he attained a Master's degree from the school in 1505. In July of that year, Luther got caught in a violent thunderstorm, in which a bolt of lightning nearly struck him down. He considered the incident a sign from God and vowed to become a monk if he survived the storm. The storm subsided, Luther emerged unscathed and, true to his promise, Luther turned his back on his study of the law days later on July 17, 1505. Instead, he entered an Augustinian monastery.

Luther began to live the spartan and rigorous life of a monk but did not abandon his studies. Between 1507 and 1510, Luther studied at the University of Erfurt and at a university in Wittenberg. In 1510-1511, he took a break from his education to serve as a representative in Rome for the German Augustinian monasteries. In 1512, Luther received his doctorate and became a professor of biblical studies. Over the next five years Luther's continuing theological studies would lead him to insights that would have implications for Christian thought for centuries to come.

Martin Luther Questions the Catholic Church

In early 16th-century Europe, some theologians and scholars were beginning to question the teachings of the Roman Catholic Church. It was also around this time that translations of original texts-namely, the Bible and the writings of the early church philosopher Augustine-became more widely available.

Augustine (340-430) had emphasized the primacy of the Bible rather than Church officials as the ultimate religious authority. He also believed that humans could not reach salvation by their own acts, but that only God could bestow salvation by his divine grace. In the Middle Ages the Catholic Church taught that salvation was possible through "good works," or works of righteousness, that pleased God. Luther came to share Augustine's two central beliefs, which would later form the basis of Protestantism.

Meanwhile, the Catholic Church's practice of granting "indulgences" to provide absolution to sinners became increasingly corrupt. Indulgence-selling had been banned in Germany, but the practice continued unabated. In 1517, a friar named Johann Tetzel began to sell indulgences in Germany to raise funds to renovate St. Peter's Basilica in Rome.

The 95 Theses

Committed to the idea that salvation could be reached through faith and by divine grace only, Luther vigorously objected to the corrupt practice of selling indulgences. Acting on this belief, he wrote the "Disputation on the Power and Efficacy of Indulgences," also known as "The 95 Theses," a list of questions and propositions for debate. Popular legend has it that on October 31, 1517 Luther defiantly nailed a copy of his 95 Theses to the door of the Wittenberg Castle church. The reality was probably not so dramatic; Luther more likely hung the document on the door of the church matter-of-factly to announce the ensuing academic discussion around it that he was organizing.

The 95 Theses, which would later become the foundation of the Protestant Reformation, were written in a remarkably humble and academic tone, questioning rather than accusing. The overall thrust of the document was nonetheless quite provocative. The first two of the theses contained Luther's central idea, that God intended believers to seek repentance and that faith alone, and not deeds, would lead to salvation. The other 93 theses, a number of them directly criticizing the practice of indulgences, supported these first two.

In addition to his criticisms of indulgences, Luther also reflected popular sentiment about the "St. Peter's scandal" in the 95 Theses:
Why does not the pope, whose wealth today is greater than the wealth of the richest Crassus, build the basilica of St. Peter with his own money rather than with the money of poor believers?
The 95 Theses were quickly distributed throughout Germany and then made their way to Rome. In 1518, Luther was summoned to Augsburg, a city in southern Germany, to defend his opinions before an imperial diet (assembly). A debate lasting three days between Luther and Cardinal Thomas Cajetan produced no agreement. Cajetan defended the church's use of indulgences, but Luther refused to recant and returned to Wittenberg.

Luther the Heretic

On November 9, 1518 the pope condemned Luther's writings as conflicting with the teachings of the Church. One year later a series of commissions were convened to examine Luther's teachings. The first papal commission found them to be heretical, but the second merely stated that Luther's writings were "scandalous and offensive to pious ears." Finally, in July 1520 Pope Leo X issued a papal bull (public decree) that concluded that Luther's propositions were heretical and gave Luther 120 days to recant in Rome. Luther refused to recant, and on January 3, 1521 Pope Leo excommunicated Martin Luther from the Catholic Church.

On April 17, 1521 Luther appeared before the Diet of Worms in Germany. Refusing again to recant, Luther concluded his testimony with the defiant statement: "Here I stand. God help me. I can do no other." On May 25, the Holy Roman emperor Charles V signed an edict against Luther, ordering his writings to be burned. Luther hid in the town of Eisenach for the next year, where he began work on one of his major life projects, the translation of the New Testament into German, which took him 10 months to complete.

Martin Luther's Later Years

Luther returned to Wittenberg in 1521, where the reform movement initiated by his writings had grown beyond his influence. It was no longer a purely theological cause; it had become political. Other leaders stepped up to lead the reform, and concurrently, the rebellion known as the Peasants' War was making its way across Germany.

Luther had previously written against the Church's adherence to clerical celibacy, and in 1525 he married Katherine of Bora, a former nun. They had five children. At the end of his life, Luther turned strident in his views, and pronounced the pope the Antichrist, advocated for the expulsion of Jews from the empire and condoned polygamy based on the practice of the patriarchs in the Old Testament.

Luther died on February 18, 1546.

Significance of Martin Luther's Work

Martin Luther is one of the most influential figures in Western history. His writings were responsible for fractionalizing the Catholic Church and sparking the Protestant Reformation. His central teachings, that the Bible is the central source of religious authority and that salvation is reached through faith and not deeds, shaped the core of Protestantism. Although Luther was critical of the Catholic Church, he distanced himself from the radical successors who took up his mantle. Luther is remembered as a controversial figure, not only because his writings led to significant religious reform and division, but also because in later life he took on radical positions on other questions, including his pronouncements against Jews, which some have said may have portended German anti-Semitism; others dismiss them as just one man's vitriol that did not gain a following. Some of Luther's most significant contributions to theological history, however, such as his insistence that as the sole source of religious authority the Bible be translated and made available to everyone, were truly revolutionary in his day.

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Martin Luther and the 95 Theses - Summary, Origins & Video | HISTORY

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Martin Luther was a German theologian who challenged a number of teachings of the Roman Catholic Church. His 1517 document, "95 Theses," sparked the Protestant Reformation. Read a summary of the document, the reasons he wrote it and watch a brief video.

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It all started with Martin Luther diselike the church and nails his 95 thesis and the door of the church.

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Desiderius Erasmus Roterodamus, known as Erasmus or Erasmus of Rotterdam, was a Dutch Christian humanist who was the greatest scholar of the northern Renaissance. Originally trained as a Catholic priest, Erasmus was an important figure in classical scholarship who wrote in a pure Latin style.

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Martin luther said that you can not by freedom from god

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martin luther 95 theses what did he do? he put a letter on the Church and it said that they should't pay for your sins.

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martin luther 95 theses what did he do - Google Search

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hackeman