Martin Luther was born November 10, 1483, at Eisbleben in Saxony, now Germany; he was The son of a poor peasant miner and was reared in an atmosphere of simple strict reverence for God.
His parents were Catholics; he received instruction in that religion but had no Biblical instruction in accord with the Bible. Growing up there, he went through the school system.
His father moved to Mansfield so that his son could have a more adequate education. He wanted his son to study law.
Luther entered the University of Erfurt in 1501; his companions knew him as “an earnest, companionable, and music-loving student. The sudden death of a close friend caused him to break off the study of law and enter a monastery of Augustinian hermits in Erfurt in 1505.
In 1507, he was ordained to the priesthood of the Roman Catholic Church. The next year he was sent by his superiors to Wittenburg to study in preparation for a future professorship in the University, which had been established there by Frederick III, Elector of Saxony, who was to become a staunch friend and protector of Luther.
Luther was awarded the doctor of theology degree in 1512 and began at once to lecture on the Bible, Old, and New Testament: Like Psalms, An Old Testament book consisting of a collection of 150 Psalms, and Romans, Galatians, Hebrews, and Titus in the new testament.
Luther had a deep sense of his own sinfulness, and his first diversion from the Catholic system was in believing that salvation is a new relation to God, based not on any work of merit on man’s part but on absolute trust or faith in God.
Luther made a trip to Rome shortly after beginning this professorship and returned, greatly disenchanted by what he had witnessed in the holy city of Rome.
In 1517, Luther spoke out against one of the greatest abuses, the sale of indulgences.