The epochal German protestor, Martin Luther

Bildnis Martin Luthers - Was mein Glauben sein soll
Originally uploaded by amras_de

Martin Luther (November 10, 1483 – February 18, 1546) was a German monk,[1] theologian, university professor, Father of Protestantism,[2][3][4][5] and church reformer whose ideas influenced the Protestant Reformation and changed the course of Western civilization,[6 says Wikipedia. ]

Luther's theology challenged the authority of the papacy by holding that the Bible is the only infallible source of religious authority[7] and that all baptized Christians under Jesus are a universal priesthood.[8] According to Luther, salvation is a free gift of God, received only by true repentance and faith in Jesus as the Messiah, a faith given by God and unmediated by the church.

At the Diet of Worms assembly over freedom of conscience in 1521, Luther's confrontation with the Holy Roman Emperor Charles V and his refusal to submit to the authority of the Emperor resulted in his being excommunicated from the Roman Catholic Church and being declared an outlaw of the state as a consequence.

1. His translation of the Bible into the vernacular of the people made the Scriptures more accessible to them, and had a tremendous political impact on the church and on German culture. It furthered the development of a standard version of the German language, added several principles to the art of translation,[9] and influenced the translation of the English King James Bible.[10]
2. His hymns inspired the development of congregational singing within Christianity.[11]
3. His marriage to Katharina von Bora set a model for the practice of clerical marriage within Protestantism.[

On one of the many parallels between the European protestor and the American protest leader of the same name: In 1934, Rev Michael King had become a widely respected leader of the local church and changed his name from Michael King to Martin Luther King, says Wikipedia. His son, Martin Luther King, Jr, born in 1929, was also re-christened. Thus a conscious dedication to a great leader of a revolution was established in the US.