er.

When eighteen years of age he entered the university of Erfurt, then a
center of humanistic learning. He made marvelous progress in his
studies until he took his degree. His father had intended him for the
law, but Luther determined to devote himself to the Church, much to his
father's disappointment. Accordingly he became an Augustinian monk when
twenty-two years of age. Unlike many of his brethren, he kept up his
studies while in the monastery, and was called to a professorship in the
new university at Wittenberg in 1508, where he found an ample field for
his remarkable powers. Two years later, he went as a delegate to the
papal court at Rome, where his eyes were opened to the condition of the
Church in her holiest sanctuaries. Returning to Wittenberg, he continued
his studies and his lectures, and drew about him a great number of
students. His lectures and his writings against the practices of the
Church became so pronounced that he was summoned before the Diet of
Worms and commanded to retract. This he refused to do in the memorable
words: "Here I stand; I cannot do otherwise. God help me! Amen." On his
return from Worms, fearing for his safety, his friends took him prisoner
and confined him in the Wartburg castle at Eisenach. During the nine
months of his confinement he translated the Bible into German.[54]
Luther took great pains to make the language so pure and plain that it
could be understood by the common people, to whom he appealed. He was
never ashamed of his humble origin. When he came to be the honored
friend and trusted adviser of princes and kings, he was wont to say, "I
am a peasant's son; my father, grandfather, and remote ancestors were
nothing but veritable peasants."

The language of Luther's translation of the Bible became the standard
German, which was to supplant the many dialects.

His great watchword was, "Make the people acquainted with the Word of
God." But the Bible was of little use to the masses so long as they
could not read. Luther therefore set himself sturdily to the improvement
of the schools, which were in a deplorable condition. He urged the
principle of parental responsibility for the education of children.
"Believe me," said he, "it is far more important that you exercise care
in training your children than that you seek indulgences, say many
prayers, go much to church, or make many vows." His pedagogy constitutes
the foundation of the German common school system of to-day.