Early Life
Martin Luther was born in November 10, 1483. He was born in Eisleben which was a small town near German nowadays. Back then, Saxony was under the control of the Holy Roman Emperor and the Roman pope. The Roman Catholicism (the religion Luther was born as) focused on things like heaven and hell, demons, sin and judgement.
Luther was born in a middle-class peasant family. He was the eldest out of his seven siblings. This picture was his house in Eisenach. Luther was a stubborn man. He also believed in things such as demons.
When Martin was 21, he got a Master of Arts degree from the University of Erfurt. Hans Luther (Martin's father) was very proud of Martin. He considered him well educated. In May 1505, Luther entered law school because of his father's wishes. But what his father didn't know was that in less than a year's time, Martin's life was going to take a big turn.
That year, while Martin was on his way back to university from his parents' home, he was caught in a thunderstorm. He cried out desperately after being nearly hit from a bolt of lightning, "Help me, St. Anne, and I'll become a monk!". The thunderstorm subsided leaving Martin uninjured, and then after a month, he entered into a monastery.
But going into the monastery wasn't easy for Luther. He wasn't able to blend into the lives of monks but he still tried his very best at it. After a journey to the holy city of Rome as a representative of his monastery, Luther was shocked by the ignorance and careless behavior of the Roman priests. And then he began to doubt the Church's teachings on relics and merits.
Luther's superior, Johann von Staupitz, tried to convince the monk to stop worrying and just simply love God. But Luther couldn't love someone he feared so much. Later after that, Luther confessed his true feelings: "Love God? I hated him!". Then after that, Staupitz told him to get a doctorate in theology at the local University of Wittenburg, hoping that he'll be able to focus on other things.
During his time at the university, Luther was struck by the idea that faith was all he needed in order to save himself from the fear and doubtness of God.
Picture from: http://www.religionfacts.com/christianity/people/luther/bio.htm
