Martin Luther

Martin Luther (1483–1546), German monk, theologian, and the central figure of the Protestant Reformation, was professor of biblical theology at the University of Wittenberg. His posting of the Ninety-Five Theses in 1517 ignited the Reformation, and his recovery of justification by faith alone — drawn above all from Romans and Galatians — reshaped Western Christianity. Luther was first and foremost an expositor of Scripture: he lectured through the Psalms, Romans, Galatians, and Hebrews early in his career, and his translation of the Bible into German (New Testament 1522; complete Bible 1534) set the standard for the German language and put the text in the hands of ordinary readers. His Lectures on Galatians (1535) — a greatly expanded reworking of his 1519 commentary — is his best-known exegetical work, prizing the distinction between law and gospel and the freedom of the Christian conscience; it is the source drawn on in the Cloud of Witnesses layer here. Long since in the public domain, Luther's commentaries and sermons remain foundational to Lutheran and broader Protestant biblical interpretation.