Religious Thought, Theology and Philosophy of Religion Commons^™

Luther's Spiritual Martyrdom And Its Appeasement, Theo. Dierks

Concordia Theological Monthly

Luther had entered the monastery in order to merit eternal life and was convinced that the life of a monk was the surest way in which to obtain the grace of God. Now, the way in which Luther sought to gain salvation was according to the Catholic doctrine of justification, with this difference, that as a monk he had taken upon himself the heaviest yoke of Christ and that he had given himself exclusively into the service of God.