Born in 1483, Martin Luther eventually assumed a leading role in the Reformation, a Renaissance religious upheaval caused by dissatisfaction with the Roman Catholic Church. Martin Luther had originally decided to become a lawyer but in 1505, after an intense religious experience, he joined the priesthood. As a priest Martin Luther contributed a clear and simple version of Church teachings on what a Christian should believe and how he should live in Small Catechism of 1529.
Martin Luther was disturbed by the Church's interpretation of man's realtionship with God. After a long period of studying the Bible, Martin Luther came up with his own interpretation of man's relationship with God. Martin Luther said that man's personal relationship with God is based on individual acceptance of God's gift of love. God did not love man for his own abilities and accomplishments. But Martin Luther was to evolve other ideas as well. As a priest Martin witnessed the selling of Church indulgences where money was paid by the so-called sinner to the Church for God's forgiveness. This flew in the face of his idea of man's relationship with God and Martin Luther decided to protest what he felt was Church corruption in his 95 Theses. On October 31, 1517, Martin Luther nailed upon his church, Castle Church, in Wittenberg, Germany 95 statements or proofs of Church corruption. For this act as well as for others, Martin Luther was excommunicated from the Roman Cathiolic Church in 1521. No longer able to carry out his ideas of reform within the Church, Martin Luther became a leader and midwife to a new relgious movement known as Protestantism.