The Great Controversy The Great Controversy | Page 121

Chap. 7 - Luther’s Separation From
Rome
Foremost among those who were called to lead the church from the
darkness of popery into the light of a purer faith, stood Martin Luther.
Zealous, ardent, and devoted, knowing no fear but the fear of God, and
acknowledging no foundation for religious faith but the Holy Scriptures,
Luther was the man for his time; through him God accomplished a great
work for the reformation of the church and the enlightenment of the
world.
Like the first heralds of the gospel, Luther sprang from the ranks of
poverty. His early years were spent in the humble home of a German
peasant. By daily toil as a miner his father earned the means for his
education. He intended him for a lawyer; but God purposed to make
him a builder in the great temple that was rising so slowly through the
centuries. Hardship, privation, and severe discipline were the school in
which Infinite Wisdom prepared Luther for the important mission of his
life.
Luther’s father was a man of strong and active mind and great force
of character, honest, resolute, and straightforward. He was true to his
convictions of duty, let the consequences be what they might. His
sterling good sense led him to regard the monastic system with distrust.
He was highly displeased when Luther, without his consent, entered a
monastery; and it was two years before the father was reconciled to his
son, and even then his opinions remained the same.

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