Martin Luther’s 95 Theses:
October
31, 1517
Germany
I chose
this artifact because this marked a significant change in the world as we now
know it and opened the doors for many great thinkers by giving them the courage to express
their creativity and theories. Martin Luther's 95 thesis to me represents the
start of reformative thinking which is huge in the history of learning and
creativity. Martin Luther was born in 1483 in the central region of Germany.
After earning a “bachelor’s degree in liberal arts and a master’s degree in
law,” Luther’s life took a dramatic swing of events due to a life threatening
event. He found himself caught in a lightening storm so big that he was sure
his life would soon end and therefore pled with God for protection with a
promise that he would “dedicate the remainder of his life to God’s service” if
he were to survive the storm. He did miraculously survive the storm,
and shortly after he began to study theology and joined the “Order of Saint
Augustine” to become a monk. Luther was incredibly smart and was invited to
join the prestigious “Wittenburg University, where he studied theology and
graduated with a doctorate in 1512” where he became a professor of theology. (S,D,H pg. 49) Luther was obviously smart and well educated, but his fame didn’t really come
until he began thinking out of his prescribed boundaries which were dictated by
the authoritative figures in the church. On a trip to Rome, Luther began to realize
that practices within the church weren’t as consistent with the doctrine he had
studied in the Bible which caused a lot of controversy in his mind. Luther observed
these wrong practices and after thoughtful study and meditation, he put
together perhaps his most famous work known as the 95 theses, which he posted
on the door of the chapel at Wittenburg University. His work outlined his
disagreements to the church’s practices and he posted it on “October 31, 1517,
the day before All Saints’ Day, so that the large crowds coming to the church
would be sure to see the document.” (S,D,H pg. 50) This artifact is the product of
learning as it was a work which was produced after careful observation and
thoughtful meditation as I have defined learning to be. I love how he used this
artifact to facilitate incredible amounts of religious and non religious
reformative thinking.