Читать книгу The Reformation: History in an Hour - Edward Gosselin A - Страница 6

Origins of the Protestant Reformation

On 31 October 1517, the 34-year-old German monk, Martin Luther (pictured above c. 1520), posted his condemnation against Roman Catholic theological declarations on the door of Wittenberg Castle Church. Luther therein attacked, among other things, a system of Church-sponsored intercession in exchange for money as a means of getting into Heaven. Described by a contemporary as ‘a man of middle stature, with a voice which combined sharpness and softness’, Luther believed in a God who condemns sinful men, without exception, and was consumed by years of self-doubt as to whether he himself would ever get into Heaven.

Martin Luther c.1520, by Lucas Cranach the Elder