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Martin Luther and the Reformation This essay is concerned with Martin Luther (1483-1546) and his concept of Christianity. Consequently, Luther was initially loyal to the papacy and after many theological conflicts, he tried to reconcile with the church. But this was a paradox not to endure because in his later years, Luther waged a continual battle with the papacy. Martin Luther, although he was not a politician, saw himself as a professor of the Holy …

…rid himself of the current prejudices of his place and time. In an age when such differences mattered more than life, it was inevitable that the Church should encourage the Emperor to root out the Reformation with fire and the sword. Many were burned and executed and, to his dying day, Luther expected to be arrested at any time for trial as a heretic. When he died (1546) he was full of foreboding about the future.