Renewers of the Church - John Calvin, Teresa of Avila, Francis of Assisi, John Wesley, Bede, Philipp Melanchthon, Columba, Pachomius (Paperback)

Please note that the content of this book primarily consists of articles available from Wikipedia or other free sources online. Pages: 81. Chapters: John Calvin, Teresa of Avila, Francis of Assisi, John Wesley, Bede, Philipp Melanchthon, Columba, Pachomius, Anthony the Great, Julian of Norwich, Bridget of Sweden, John of the Cross, Martin Luther, Nicolaus Ludwig Zinzendorf, Nikolaj Frederik Severin Grundtvig, Charles Wesley, Christian Renatus von Zinzendorf, Hans Nielsen Hauge, Clare of Assisi, Johann Konrad Wilhelm Lohe, John Hyatt, Guido de Bres, Aidan of Lindisfarne, Gunnar Rosendal, Massie L. Kennard, Felix Neff. Excerpt: Martin Luther (10 November 1483 - 18 February 1546) was a German priest and professor of theology who initiated the Protestant Reformation. He strongly disputed the claim that freedom from God's punishment of sin could be purchased with money. He confronted indulgence salesman Johann Tetzel with his Ninety-Five Theses in 1517. His refusal to retract all of his writings at the demand of Pope Leo X in 1520 and the Holy Roman Emperor Charles V at the Diet of Worms in 1521 resulted in his excommunication by the pope and condemnation as an outlaw by the emperor. Luther taught that salvation is not earned by good deeds but received only as a free gift of God's grace through faith in Jesus Christ as redeemer from sin. His theology challenged the authority of the pope of the Roman Catholic Church by teaching that the Bible is the only source of divinely revealed knowledge and opposed sacerdotalism by considering all baptized Christians to be a holy priesthood. Those who identify with Luther's teachings are called Lutherans. His translation of the Bible into the language of the people (instead of Latin) made it more accessible, causing a tremendous impact on the church and on German culture. It fostered the development of a standard version of the German language, added several principles to the art of translation, and influenced the translation int...