The Protestant Reformation Part 2 : Martin Luther Quiz

Answer: Eisleben in 1483

Luther was born on November 10, 1483 to thrifty, hardworking parents who brought him up with strict discipline. He was taught to fear God and to believe that heaven and hell are real places. On the outside, Luther was everything a good Roman Catholic was supposed to be. On the inside, however, he never experienced a sense that his sins were truly forgiven, and always felt only guilt and condemnation.

Answer: University of Erfurt

The University of Erfurt was the first German university to incorporate the new learning of the Renaissance and reject scholasticism, thereby keeping philosophy and theology separate. In this way, Luther had the chance to read and accept the Bible for just what it says.

Answer: He was struck by lightning

On a hot, summer day in 1505, a thunderstorm hit as he was on his way home on an open country road. Struck down in the rain, Luther's grasp of eternity became terribly vivid. Fearing for his life, Luther cried out, "St. Anne, help me and I will become a monk!". Because he was extremely serious about his salvation, Luther chose to join the most severe monastic order available, the Augustinian friars.

His father was very upset. He had wanted Martin to become a lawyer and could not understand why his son chose to become a monk.

While in the monastery, Luther struggled with the attempt to earn salvation for his soul and to make himself acceptable to God. He severely punished his body by going for days without food. He went without sleep, said many more prayers than the rules required, and confessed his sins over and over again.

While in confession, Luther finally managed to confess that he hated God, because he knew that all he was doing before God was not enough. Due to his questions for salvation, Luther was advised to go back to university.

He enrolled in Wittenberg University in 1508, and began a serious study of the Bible, particularly, the New Testament. It was in the book of Romans that Luther felt assured of his salvation when he read in chapter 1 verse 17 that "the just shall live by faith".

Answer: Tetzel

Albert of Brandenburg was a German aristocrat, who purchased the office of Archbishop of Mainz in 1517. Pope Leo X, in turn, sent Tetzel through Germany selling indulgences to reimburse Albert. Half of the money would go to Albert (which Tetzel failed to mention to the German people), and the other half would go to the pope for constructing the new St. Peter's Basilica in Rome. Tetzel proclaimed to the people that any buyer would immediately be released from all punishment for his sins, and any relatives and friends in purgatory would be immediately freed to go to heaven.

His slogan was, "The money rattles in the box; the soul from purgatory flies." His shameful selling tactics made Luther very angry.

Answer: October 31

It was the day before All Saints' Day, when the selling of indulgences was to be proclaimed again in Wittenberg, that Luther nailed his statement to the church door. He was not the first to challenge the Roman church. There were many others before him who had protested its practices; but compared to what was soon to follow Luther's protest, the earlier challenges were merely slight disturbances.

Answer: Fredrick the Wise

Luther was summoned to Rome by Pope Leo X charging him with heresy and contempt of church authority. Luther knew that going to Rome with a charge of heresy meant either life imprisonment or death. Appealing to Prince Fredrick, Luther received a hearing on German soil in the city of Augsburg.

He appeared before the pope's representative, who tried to get him to retract some of his theses, but Luther refused. He boldly said to the cardinal that popes can make mistakes, and that a papal bull (an official declaration by the pope) which was used by those who favored indulgences was contrary to Scripture and should be rejected.

The pope's response was not favorable. He condemned 41 of Luther's "errors", ordered Luther's books burned, and gave Luther 60 days to submit. Luther did not submit.

Instead, he held a bonfire outside of Wittenberg and burned many books that supported the pope along with the papal bull giving him 60 days for submission. Finally, on January 3, 1521, the pope excommunicated Luther.

Answer: Diet of Worms

In March of 1521, the Holy Roman Emperor, Charles V, summoned Luther to a hearing in front of the diet that would meet in the city of Worms and gave him a safe conduct guarantee to and from the city. During the first day of his hearing, Luther freely admitted to the emperor and diet that he had written the books piled on the table before him and that he even had written others. On the second day, the time had come for Martin Luther to take his stand.

He spoke first in German and then repeated his statement in Latin, saying, "Unless I am convicted by Scripture and plain reason - I do not accept the authority of popes and councils, for they have contradicted each other - my conscience is captive to the Word of God. I cannot and I will not recant anything, for to go against conscience is neither right nor safe.

Here I stand; I can do no other. God Help me. Amen." The emperor stood and left in anger, and in May of that same year, he issued the Edict of Worms stating that Luther was a heretic. On the way back from Worms, Luther was intercepted by a band of men on horseback, and rumor spread throughout Germany that Luther had been killed.

But contrary to the rumors, he was kept alive and hidden by Prince Fredrick in Wartburg Castle disguised as "Knight George". Though he was depressed by solitude and felt tempted and tormented, Luther still wrote about a dozen more books, and translated the New Testament from Greek into German using Erasmus's Greek New Testament text. When he was allowed to leave the castle and return to Wittenberg, Luther remained under Fredrick's protection even though he was outlawed everywhere else in the Holy Roman Empire. As time went by, more and more German princes and Free Cities took Luther's side. In 1530, the princes of Germany were given their opportunity to stand up to the Roman church and the emperor. Even under threat of execution, the princes defended their faith, and by 1555, won the right to choose whether their territory would be Roman Catholic or Lutheran. This truce was known as the Peace of Augsburg.

Answer: Katharina von Bora

Luther once said of wives, "They'll never give me one", even though he encouraged all clergy to marry which would advocate an end to the monasteries. Eventually, he set the example himself and married Katharina. She would take no other for a husband.

Answer: liberal arts

Luther strongly advocated the teaching of liberal arts because they liberate the mind making it free from dependence of dominant opinions and narrow minded views which actually hinder the study of the Bible. The liberal arts include languages, literature, philosophy, fine arts (music, painting, sculpture), history, mathematics, and science. Luther spoke against scholastism, which was the effort of the Roman church to combine Greek philosophy and Christianity.

Answer: 1546 of natural causes

Because of Luther's stand for his faith by actively opposing the practices of a religion he deemed false, Martin Luther paved the way for others to take a similar stand. Today, over 500 million people worship God through Luther's influence. Thank you for taking my quiz.