Luther's Works, Volume 37: Word and Sacrament III

Luther's Works #37

by Martin Luther

This volume contains Luther's most extensive exposition of his understanding of the Lord's Supper. Directed against the more radical representatives of the sixteenth century reformation movement, this exposition is contained in the two major treatises appearing in an English translation in this volume. The translation and the wealth of historical commentary provided in this volume is a good starting point for a reassessment of the reformation contribution to our understanding of the Lord's Supper.

Genres: Theology, Reference

432 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1976

About the author

Martin 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.

Reviews

[Glenn Crouch · Rating 4 out of 5]

This volume continues Luther's works on the Lord's Supper and contains two of his later writings on this matter.

Having previously read vol 36 which contained earlier writings on the same matter, I found this volume a little harder going. The Introduction supplied is very useful in explaining what else was happening and what Zwingli and others had been saying/writing - plus whilst I've read all these arguments back-to-back, there was of course some time between each writing.

However, I think in both writings included in this volume, Luther makes his point very well but doesn't seem to stop there - I did find both of them very repetitious. Of course there are many gems still to be found - I'm just concerned that I've probably missed some because I was getting a bit bored with the same arguments over and over again :)

I would point out that the concluding section (The Third Part) of the second writing, is a a brilliant statement of faith from Luther and very much worth re-reading.

Now onto Volume 38!

[Valerie R · Rating 4 out of 5]

Excellent statements regarding the debates between Martin Luther and Protestants Zwingli and Oecolampadius regarding Christ's institution of Communion at the Last Supper. Clear, solid debate requires supporting an assertion with proof. Who did and who didn't?

I could do without the snarky attitude, but that's Luther. 4 stars due to frequent repetetiveness.

[Daniel · Rating 2 out of 5]

Martin Luther's rants against the Zwinglians, which, to put it mildly, were not very edifying. His summary of his beliefs at the end of the volume was really good, however.