Martin Luther was a German monk and a Christian theologian whose teachings inspired the Protestant Reformation. Martin dedicated himself to monastic life; he devoted himself to fasts, long hours of prayer, and constant confession. The more he tried to do for God, the more aware he became of his sinfulness. In 1507 Luther was ordained into the priesthood. In 1508 he began teaching theology at the University of Wittenberg. Luther engrossed himself in the teachings of the Scripture and in the early church. Eventually terms like penance and righteousness new meaning to Luther. After his nailing of the 95 Theses he began to study the bible even harder. This convinced him that the Church had lost sight of several central truths.
On Halloween of 1517, Luther nailed his 95 Theses to the church door at Wittenberg, accusing the Roman Catholic Church of unorthodox religious. Many people say that this act was the starting point of the Protestant Reformation Luther's action was in great part a response to the selling of indulgences by Johann Tetzel, a Dominican priest. Luther's charges also directly challenged the position of the clergy in regard to individual salvation. Before long, Luther’s 95 had been copied and published all over Europe. Luther's Protestant views were condemned as unorthodox by Pope Leo X in the bull Exsurge Domine in 1520. Consequently Luther was summoned to either renounce or reaffirm them at the Diet of Worms on 17 April 1521. When he appeared before the assembly, Johann von Eck, by then assistant to the Archbishop of Trier, acted as spokesman for Emperor Charles the Fifth. He presented Luther with a table filled with copies of his writings. Eck asked Luther if he still believed what these works taught. He requested time to think about his answer. Granted an extension, Luther prayed, consulted with friends and mediators and presented himself before the Diet the next day. When the counselor put the same question to Luther the next day, the reformer...