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On the 31st of October 1517, Luther nailed his 95 Theses to the Castle Church door changing the course of history which accused the Catholic Church of heresy upon heresy. This was the starting point of the Protestant Reformation. This was Luther’s first hit against the Catholic Church, challenging the position of the clergy in regard to individual salvation.
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Luther had nailed the 95 Theses to the door of the Castle Church and in response to Luther’s actions, the pope handed Luther a papal bull officially stating he was being excommunicated from Rome. In protest, Luther burned the Papal Bull along with the Book of Church Law and many other books on December 10th, 1520. He is said to have yelled ‘Because you, godless book, have grieved or shamed the holiness of the Father, be saddened and consumed by the eternal flames of Hell.’
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One of Luther’s friends, Frederick the Wise, was worried that the Church may seize him on his way back from Diet, so Frederick decided to kidnap Luther in the presence of masked horsemen, who carried him to the castle of Wartburg, where he stayed there about a year. While there, Luther worked hard on his unfinished translation of the Bible.
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Luther finished translating the New Testament into German at Wartburg Castle. This was, by far one of his most important works. Luther brought the teaching and example of Christ and the Apostles to the mind of others. Luther had made the Bible the people’s book in Churches, schools and houses. His version of the Bible was the beginning of a new era when people all over the world translated the Bible for others especially French, Dutch and English.
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In Germany there were peasants who were inspired by the Reformation to demand rights and freedom from oppression by nobles and landlords. Some peasant groups organized armies. Martin Luther surprisingly contributed to its defeat. Some one hundred thousand peasants were killed. Luther believed that the peasants were nobodies. “They live like animals” Luther said. Luther lived in a society where the hierarchy was very high and there was a major difference between the peasants and the nobles.
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