Arguably one of the most recognizable names in Church history, Martin Luther rattled the cages of legalistic and heretical Catholic authorities and allowed for the masses to encounter God in a more direct way. path from that point on. The New Westminster Dictionary of Spirituality describes him as "an Augustinian friar eremite and professor of theology at Wittenberg, who became the principal guide and spokesman of the Protestant Reformation, giving his name to the strongest wing of that movement... primarily seen as the Church. leader, reformer and innovator. Martin Luther's life and theology forever changed and shaped the way Christians view and value faith and work through his writings and participation in the Reformation. On November 10, 1483, Hans Luder's wife Margarethe gave birth to their second son, Martin. , At Eisleben, in Saxony, and the next day, which happened to be the feast of Saint Martin of Tours, Martin Luther was baptized. A year later, Martin's family moved to Mansfield, near present-day Berlin, where his father worked in the copper mine. Hans wanted a better life for his eldest son (two of his brothers had succumbed to the plague) and wanted Martin to become a lawyer, so Hans worked diligently to give Martin an education that would enable him to succeed in law school. Hans sent his son to Latin schools in Mansfeld which taught Martin Luther the basics of rhetoric, logic and grammar. These lessons were further explored when Luther attended Madgeburg in 1497 and Eisenach in 1498. Luther entered the University of Erfurt in 1501, where he participated in a program of rigorous spiritual exercises and rote memorization to obtain a master's degree four years later. Following his earthly statement......in the middle of the article......the assertion that the Reformation was "a great blessing to the world" and that it had "proved it even to the Church of Rome", who was to admit that because of his "love for the word of God", Luther's Reformation was immortal. It goes without saying that the Church would not be where it is today in terms of theological soundness and focus on God if not for the life and work of Martin Luther.BibliographyFord, David. Modern Theologians: An Introduction to Christian Theology in the Twentieth Century. New York, NY, USA: B. Blackwell, 1989. Luther, Martin. “On Christian Liberty.” (2003).Pelikan, Jaroslav. Christian tradition; a history of the development of the doctrine. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1971. Sheldrake, Philip. The New Westminster Dictionary of Christian Spirituality. Louisville, KY: Westminster John Knox Press, 2005.