History 2403E Lecture Notes - Lecture 9: Johann Von Staupitz, Ninety-Five Theses, Thunderstorm
2 May 2018
School
Department
Course
Professor
October 31st, 2017
Martin Luther
- 95 theses began the Protestant Reformation
o divided western Europe
- July 17th 1505 – Augustinian Monastery in Erfurt, Germany
o Martin Luther asked to be admitted as a novice
▪ Not an a-typical event
▪ Many young men joined the monastic lifestyle to out of personal devotion
or as a means of advancement (for themselves or for family)
- Saxony
o Luther born in 1483 to hardworking peasant parents
▪ Hans Luther (Martin’s father) similar to Martin Guerre’s father:
prosperous peasant farmers
▪ Branched out into the mining industry
▪ Hans had married into a respectable rising urban family
• Binding of families together to increase their opportunities of
success
▪ No rags to riches story exists, takes a family working together through the
generations to generate that wealth
o Even the most secure and successful families lived in terror: what was gained
could be lost very quickly
o Hans used his prosperity to ensure his children received the best education
possible
▪ As long as you have your physical and mental health, education is key
▪ Wanted Martin, the oldest son, to be a lawyer
• Trends of the time: state governments and church government
were two organizations increasingly becoming more powerful and
well-structured
o Needed more literate and educated people
- Mansfield / Magdeburg / Eisenach / Erfurt
o At 4 years old Martin sent to Mansfield for elementary education
▪ focused on Latin, grammar, focus on memorialization of biblical and
classical texts, music
o sent to Magdeburg then to Eisenach for high school
▪ learned advanced Latin, the study of education, and rhetoric (the art of
persuasive speech)
▪ Luther’s natural abilities recognized by teachers, resulted in him further
being taught history and the classics
o University of Erfurt
▪ Received a masters degree in the arts
• Everyone prior did a 4 years bachelor’s degree in liberal arts
▪ Martin began to study law
• Superior faculties included: law, medicine and philosophy
▪ Born into a peasant family. Pressured by family to advance the family’s
fortunes (similar to Martin Guerre’s). Background as an individual
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ordinary, and request to join monastery ordinary, but motivations were
unusual.
▪ Had undergone a traumatic and shocking experience. Riding through an
open field and is caught in a massive thunderstorm in which lightning
strikes is close to Luther. In his terror, believes he is going to die and cries
out “Saint Anne save me and I will become a monk”
• The Virgin Mary’s mother
• The patron saint of miners
▪ When Luther gets back to the University of Erfurt he was determined to
keep his vow. His father Hans was livid and did everything he could to
change Luther’s mind. Had invested in his son to become a lawyer and
was the future of his family. Hans: vows made in terror are non-binding,
yet Luther was not swayed. Driven by a need to find comfort and security,
Luther knocked on the door of the Augustinian monastery.
• The most strict and demanding forms of monasticism
• Augustinians based on confession/penance
o Seeking to know one’s sins and shortcoming and seek to
make yourself right by god
• Luther deeply committed to the monastic order and abided by the
rules
o Fasted longer
o Prayed longer
o Confessed more than peers
o A super-monk
o Could not find the spiritual peace and security he thought he would achieve by
entering into the monastery
▪ Wants to ensure when he dies, he can meet God and be found right in the
eyes of God
▪ Taking the monasteries’ vows, was such a good deed, it was a virtual
guarantee of personal salvation
- Merit Theology
o A system of scales: a good and bad side
o Want to ensure that when you die, the good side weighs more than the bad side
o Two means of putting weight onto the good side of the scale
1. Accruing Merit
a. All the good and righteous deeds you do as an individual
i. The single best good deed is to be charitable
2. Receiving grace
a. An angry and merciful God
i. Need God’s forgiveness
ii. Grace received through sacraments
1. One of those seven sacraments were holy orders
2. An act of devotion and sacrifice: a straight shot at going
to heaven
3. Luther believes that merit of theology doesn’t function properly
(fundamentally flawed)
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a. A huge problem
i. Merit and Luther: is it possible for me to be altruistic?
1. “Can I be true, noble, and selfless? If not, god will
never be happy.”
4. Priests look at the weight of the sins, and assigns penance equal to the weight
of your sins. Actually, have to be sorry for actions, and not for being caught.
a. Luther’s issue: cannot remember all his sins. If you cannot confess
them, you don’t get absolution. May not initially realise that a
particular activity is wrong. Have to be aware of your actions.
Absolutions only work if you regret and are sorrowful for your actions
i. Remember every sin, know every sin, and actually be sorry or
else the confession doesn’t work, putting grace ( part of the
equation) in question of merit theology
o Martin Luther had entered the monastery as a means to be welcomed into heaven. He
should’ve found that security simply by becoming a monk.
▪ Serious doubts of the effectiveness of sacraments
▪ The system of merit theology doesn’t work
- Johann von Staupitz
o Leader of the Augustinian Monastery
o See’s Luther’s spiritual struggle and upheaval, had become a father figure
▪ Luther’s relationship with Hans is broken for a period of time. Feels
divorced from his family and cannot find spiritual peace.
o Staupitz wants to work Luther so hard, that he will not have time to think of his
spiritual struggle.
- Wittenberg
Staupitz’s two-pronged plan for Luther: to become a parish priest and get his PhD in biblical
theology
o Sends Luther to Wittenburg: wants to turn this monk into a parish priest
▪ Luther would be busy helping others’ souls, he would be so busy caring
for them, he won’t have time to worry about himself and may find wisdom
in the process.
o Send Luther back to school: Get a PhD. in biblical theology
▪ Idea of going back to the sources, biblical theology an exceedingly rare
program at the time.
• Canon Law was a common PhD in biblical studies, not theology
o Hope for Luther to find comfort and spiritual peace or to exhaust him
How did Luther’s experience in Wittenberg change his life and the western world?
Institutional and Spiritual: merges at the same moment causing the reformation
o External, institutional crisis
▪ From work as a parish priest
▪ Rooted in the sale of indulgences
- Frederick the Wise (Elector of Saxony)
o Wittenberg in located in Saxony
o Saxony is known as the Holy Roman empire
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Document Summary
95 theses began the protestant reformation: divided western europe. Pressured by family to advance the family"s fortunes (similar to martin guerre"s). Background as an individual ordinary, and request to join monastery ordinary, but motivations were unusual: had undergone a traumatic and shocking experience. Riding through an open field and is caught in a massive thunderstorm in which lightning strikes is close to luther. His father hans was livid and did everything he could to change luther"s mind. Had invested in his son to become a lawyer and was the future of his family. Hans: vows made in terror are non-binding, yet luther was not swayed. Driven by a need to find comfort and security, If not, god will never be happy. : priests look at the weight of the sins, and assigns penance equal to the weight of your sins. Actually, have to be sorry for actions, and not for being caught: luther"s issue: cannot remember all his sins.
