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A Selection of the Most Celebrated Sermons of Martin Luther ... (Never Before Published in the United States) to Which Is Prefixed, a Biographical History of His Life
212 pages, Paperback
Published October 7, 2018
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About the author
Martin Luther
5,064 books815 followersMartin Luther (1483-1546) was a German monk, theologian, university professor and church reformer whose ideas inspired the Protestant Reformation and changed the course of Western civilization.
Luther's theology challenged the authority of the papacy by holding that the Bible is the only infallible source of religious authority and that all baptized Christians under Jesus are a spiritual priesthood. According to Luther, salvation was a free gift of God, received only by true repentance and faith in Jesus as the Messiah, a faith given by God and unmediated by the church.
Luther's confrontation with Charles V at the Diet of Worms over freedom of conscience in 1521 and his refusal to submit to the authority of the Emperor resulted in his being declared an outlaw of the state as he had been excommunicated from the Roman Catholic Church. Because of the perceived unity of the medieval Church with the secular rulers of western Europe, the widespread acceptance of Luther's doctrines and popular vindication of his thinking on individual liberties were both phenomenal and unprecedented.
His translation of the Bible into the vernacular, making it more accessible to ordinary people, had a tremendous political impact on the church and on German culture. It furthered the development of a standard version of the German language, added several principles to the art of translation, and influenced the translation of the English King James Bible. His hymns inspired the development of congregational singing within Christianity. His marriage to Katharina von Bora set a model for the practice of clerical marriage within Protestantism.
Much scholarly debate has concentrated on Luther's writings about the Jews. His statements that Jews' homes should be destroyed, their synagogues burned, money confiscated and liberty curtailed were revived and used in propaganda by the Nazis in 1933–45. As a result of this and his revolutionary theological views, his legacy remains controversial.
Luther's theology challenged the authority of the papacy by holding that the Bible is the only infallible source of religious authority and that all baptized Christians under Jesus are a spiritual priesthood. According to Luther, salvation was a free gift of God, received only by true repentance and faith in Jesus as the Messiah, a faith given by God and unmediated by the church.
Luther's confrontation with Charles V at the Diet of Worms over freedom of conscience in 1521 and his refusal to submit to the authority of the Emperor resulted in his being declared an outlaw of the state as he had been excommunicated from the Roman Catholic Church. Because of the perceived unity of the medieval Church with the secular rulers of western Europe, the widespread acceptance of Luther's doctrines and popular vindication of his thinking on individual liberties were both phenomenal and unprecedented.
His translation of the Bible into the vernacular, making it more accessible to ordinary people, had a tremendous political impact on the church and on German culture. It furthered the development of a standard version of the German language, added several principles to the art of translation, and influenced the translation of the English King James Bible. His hymns inspired the development of congregational singing within Christianity. His marriage to Katharina von Bora set a model for the practice of clerical marriage within Protestantism.
Much scholarly debate has concentrated on Luther's writings about the Jews. His statements that Jews' homes should be destroyed, their synagogues burned, money confiscated and liberty curtailed were revived and used in propaganda by the Nazis in 1933–45. As a result of this and his revolutionary theological views, his legacy remains controversial.
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Displaying 1 of 1 review
September 17, 2024
Half finished. Very radical and works-centered. Loved it, but right now I'm focused on identity and not faith-works theology.
The best conclusion protestants rediscovered in Pauline letters:
"The greater our faith is, the more ready and willing our minds are to do those things that God commands".
More clippings:
"The Lord in his word defines all works that go before justification to be evil, and of no importance, and requires that man before all things be justified".
"If he do works which outwardly seem good, they are no better than the offering of Cain".
"Again, nothing is necessary in order to accomplish good works but justification; and he that hath attained it performs good works, and not any other".
"To believe those things to be true which are preached of Christ, is not sufficient to constitute thee a Christian, but thou must not doubt that thou art of the number of them unto whom all the benefits of Christ are given and exhibited; which he that believes must plainly confess, that he is holy, godly, righteous, the son of God, and certain of salvation; and that by no merit of his own, but by the mere mercy of God poured forth upon him for Christ’s sake: which he believes to be so rich and plentiful, as indeed it is, that although he be as it were drowned in sin, he is notwithstanding made holy, and become the son of God".
"A son is free and willing, a servant is compelled and unwilling: a son liveth and resteth in faith, a servant in works".
"I must love him above all things, for he is jealous, and cannot suffer any thing to be loved above him, but under him he permits us to love any thing".
"The love of the creature must be far inferior to the love of the Creator".
The best conclusion protestants rediscovered in Pauline letters:
"The greater our faith is, the more ready and willing our minds are to do those things that God commands".
More clippings:
"The Lord in his word defines all works that go before justification to be evil, and of no importance, and requires that man before all things be justified".
"If he do works which outwardly seem good, they are no better than the offering of Cain".
"Again, nothing is necessary in order to accomplish good works but justification; and he that hath attained it performs good works, and not any other".
"To believe those things to be true which are preached of Christ, is not sufficient to constitute thee a Christian, but thou must not doubt that thou art of the number of them unto whom all the benefits of Christ are given and exhibited; which he that believes must plainly confess, that he is holy, godly, righteous, the son of God, and certain of salvation; and that by no merit of his own, but by the mere mercy of God poured forth upon him for Christ’s sake: which he believes to be so rich and plentiful, as indeed it is, that although he be as it were drowned in sin, he is notwithstanding made holy, and become the son of God".
"A son is free and willing, a servant is compelled and unwilling: a son liveth and resteth in faith, a servant in works".
"I must love him above all things, for he is jealous, and cannot suffer any thing to be loved above him, but under him he permits us to love any thing".
"The love of the creature must be far inferior to the love of the Creator".
Displaying 1 of 1 review