马丁.路德(1483～1546年)
Luther, Martin
引发宗教改革运动的德国牧师。矿工之子，他攻读法律和哲学，後在1505年进入奥古斯丁修道院。两年後任牧师职，并在威登堡大学继续研究神学，担任圣经神学教授。1510年到罗马旅游途中，惊见教士腐化的情形，後来因恐惧宗教报应的正义而苦恼。当他依着信仰想起「称义」－－救赎是经由上帝恩典所给予的礼物－－这个理念时，他的精神危机解决了。他要求天主教会进行改革，抗议免罪罚的贩卖和其他滥权，1517年他把「九十五条论纲」贴在威登堡城堡教堂的门上。1521年路德所谴责的主要对象教宗利奥十世开除了他的教籍，而他在批判声浪中藏匿於瓦特堡。他在那里把《圣经》翻译为德语，好让一般人此後能够阅读；长久以来，他活泼的译文被视为德语历史上最伟大的里程碑。後来，路德回到威登堡，1525年娶了还俗的修女波拉为妻，抚养了六名子女。虽然他的传教是农民战争（1524～1526）的主要导火线，但他对农民的强烈谴责却导致他们战败。路德与教廷分裂导致路德宗的创立（参阅Lutheranism）。1530年由梅兰希顿拟定、路德认可的「路德宗信纲」或「奥格斯堡信纲」。路德的着作包括赞美诗和一本祈祷书，还有许多神学作品。亦请参阅Eck, Johann。
English version：
1483～1546年
Luther, Martin
German priest who sparked the Reformation. The son of a miner, he studied philosophy and law before entering an Augustinian monastery in 1505. He was ordained two years later and continued his theological studies at the University of Wittenberg, where he became a professor of biblical theology. He was shocked by the corruption of the clergy on a trip to Rome in 1510, and was later troubled by doubts centering on fear of divine retributive justice. His spiritual crisis was resolved when he hit on the idea of justification by faith, the doctrine that salvation is granted as a gift through God's grace. He urged reform of the Roman Catholic church, protesting the sale of indulgences and other abuses, and in 1517 he posted his Ninety-five Theses on the door of the castle church in Wittenberg. In 1521 he was excommunicated by Pope Leo X, the target of many of his reproaches, and under a storm of criticism he took refuge in the Wartburg. There he translated the Bible into German, in order that the common people would thenceforth be able to read it; his superbly vigorous translation has long been regarded as the greatest landmark in the history of the German language. He later returned to Wittenberg, and in 1525 he married a former nun, Katherina von Bora, with whom he raised six children. Though his preaching was the principal spark that set off the Peasants' War (1524-26), his vehement denunciation of the peasants contributed to their defeat. His break with the papacy led to the founding of the Lutheran Church (see Lutheranism); the Lutheran confession of faith, or Augsburg Confession, was produced with Luther's sanction by Philipp Melanchthon in 1530. Luther's writings included hymns and a liturgy as well as many theological works. See also Johann Eck.
