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The Sermons Of Martin Luther
A collection of 175 of Luther's famous sermons, covering topics like false prophets, humility, and trust. Seven volumes.
4496 pages, Paperback
First published December 1, 1983
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About the author
Martin Luther
5,137 books822 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 - 7 of 7 reviews
March 1, 2012
7-volume series: 2 down.
Volume 6: Sermons on Gospel Texts for Easter, Ascension Day, Pentecost, Trinity, and the Fourteen Sundays after Trinity
Great series of sermons. Classic Luther, clearly expositing the Gospel, while giving us a healthy dose of his personality (both brusque and humorous). Well worth the read:
Volume 7: Sermons on Gospel Texts for the 15th-26th Sundays after Trinity, the Festival of Christ's Nativity, and Other Occasions
Not quite as good as the previous volume, but, as with most things "Luther" that I've encountered, when he's good, he's fantastic, and when he's bad, he's just weird. "So what," as an example, "that I ahve golden hair, a red coat, and gold necklace, that I am learned, successful, rich, and powerful? What good is this? Against such arrogance, as the saying goes, the devil wipes his backside." I mean... what? Who says that?
Anyway, despite the oddities and occasional outright false doctrines (Luther was wrong on Mary and the angels, though not in any way that was really worth the flak he got from the Zwinglians), much of these sermons are encouraging, clear, and convicting. The sermons on the names of Christ from Isaiah 9 are especially good and worth a read.
Volume 6: Sermons on Gospel Texts for Easter, Ascension Day, Pentecost, Trinity, and the Fourteen Sundays after Trinity
Great series of sermons. Classic Luther, clearly expositing the Gospel, while giving us a healthy dose of his personality (both brusque and humorous). Well worth the read:
There is no greater virtue, whether with God or men, than love. As we known, a person devotes life and limb to what he loves, and for this reason gladly and willingly risks all that he has. Patience, chastity, temperance, and so forth are indeed praiseworthy virtues but they do not compare with love. Love includes and comprehends all other virtues. Accordingly, if one is pious and righteous, he will harm or do injustice to no one, much less defraud another. He gives each one his due, rewards and recompenses what has been earned. But if you love someone, you will surrender yourself to him completely, always willing, happy, and ready to devote yourself to him in everything requiring your counsel and help. Accordingly, Christ also says here that our Lord God gives to us not out of benevolence, fairness, or because of our deserts, but because of the greatest virtue of all, which is called love. That should make our hearts swell big, and sadness totally disappear, to perceive such sheer, undeserved love in the heart of God and to believe it with our whole heart, that God, the greatest of all givers, gives out of the best of all virtues- love! (196)
So it all boils down to this one thing: There is no greater sin in the world than that of unbelief. Other sins in this world are mere fleabites in comparison, like when my youngsters, Hans and Lena, go poop in the corner and we laugh at this as if it were something cute and okay. Faith does the same thinig: it neutralizes the stink of our own offscouring before God. To sum it all up, the sin for which the world is judged is failure to believe on the only begotten Son. For God loved the world, gave his own Son to the world as a gift, sent the light into the world; all sins would be forgiven, if only mankind would believe on the Son.
Volume 7: Sermons on Gospel Texts for the 15th-26th Sundays after Trinity, the Festival of Christ's Nativity, and Other Occasions
Not quite as good as the previous volume, but, as with most things "Luther" that I've encountered, when he's good, he's fantastic, and when he's bad, he's just weird. "So what," as an example, "that I ahve golden hair, a red coat, and gold necklace, that I am learned, successful, rich, and powerful? What good is this? Against such arrogance, as the saying goes, the devil wipes his backside." I mean... what? Who says that?
Anyway, despite the oddities and occasional outright false doctrines (Luther was wrong on Mary and the angels, though not in any way that was really worth the flak he got from the Zwinglians), much of these sermons are encouraging, clear, and convicting. The sermons on the names of Christ from Isaiah 9 are especially good and worth a read.
The Lord here solicits our faith and does not want us to coast along thoughtlessly like swine, like careless clods who spend their Sundays and workdays sitting in the beer halls guzzling beer like cattle drink water. They say, Heck, what do I care about God, or about death? Miserable swine! They will reap what they sow. They will die and go straight into hell. Because they despise the Lord God, who not only created them but also wants to give them eternal life, they will be punished with hellfire. Nor will this in any way be an injustice. pg 179
Since we were enslaved to sin and unable to keep the Law, Christ came and entered the cesspool of sin in our place, so that he might help us get out of that cesspool... We could not fulfill the Law because we were captive and handcuffed under the devil's power, sold into the slavery of sin. That is why Christ had to come and help us. He hoisted us up on his shoulders and bore our sins; he kept and fulfilled the Law which we were unable to fulfill, overcame sin, death, and hell in our stead, and through the gospel he now says to us, I want to be your Lord; just cling to me, confessing that I am the Lord who has conquered sin, death, and hell; then I will help you so that sin must depart from you and neither death nor hell can harm you. pg 66
December 24, 2010
I was quite disappointed in the content of the book. First of all, the format is a bit odd. Every edition of each sermon he gave on a handful of Gospel readings is included one right after the other. And there isn't that much difference between their contents, just a tweak here and a tweak there, so it seems like one is reading the same thing over and over again. That made this long book seem even longer.
But then Luther himself makes every passage say the same thing. "We are saved by faith alone." He finds it in everything, even where the text doesn't justify it. Reminds me of the saying that when one is a hammer, then everything looks like a nail. Well, when you are sola fide, everything looks like justification by faith and anti-Catholic. After a while, it just gets old. Given the era in which he wrote and the state of the Church at that time, I'm sure his viewpoint was a necessary thing to balance works righteousness, but he just won't hardly touch any other topic.
I found him not to be so much a theologian as an evangelist. I didn't find his analysis that deep, and even at times I found his interpretations flawed. I didn't expect this going into the book. And at times his theology was borderline heretical; he implies a belief in soul sleep and even wanders dangerously close to a material=evil, spirit=good dualism. Also, in trying to maintain a balanced view of the role of works in the life of a Christian, it seems to me he contradicts himself from time to time.
Reading it was an education, and I feel I now have a better grasp of the origins of Protestantism. But I'm glad I'll be moving on to something else soon. I have five more books in that series, and I won't be in a hurry to get to them.
But then Luther himself makes every passage say the same thing. "We are saved by faith alone." He finds it in everything, even where the text doesn't justify it. Reminds me of the saying that when one is a hammer, then everything looks like a nail. Well, when you are sola fide, everything looks like justification by faith and anti-Catholic. After a while, it just gets old. Given the era in which he wrote and the state of the Church at that time, I'm sure his viewpoint was a necessary thing to balance works righteousness, but he just won't hardly touch any other topic.
I found him not to be so much a theologian as an evangelist. I didn't find his analysis that deep, and even at times I found his interpretations flawed. I didn't expect this going into the book. And at times his theology was borderline heretical; he implies a belief in soul sleep and even wanders dangerously close to a material=evil, spirit=good dualism. Also, in trying to maintain a balanced view of the role of works in the life of a Christian, it seems to me he contradicts himself from time to time.
Reading it was an education, and I feel I now have a better grasp of the origins of Protestantism. But I'm glad I'll be moving on to something else soon. I have five more books in that series, and I won't be in a hurry to get to them.
May 6, 2024
Just finished vol. 1 of this set. Striking to see how the early Luther was very comfortable with symbolism and typology (perhaps too comfortable). Will see if this pattern continues throughout his life, or was just a feature of his early writings.
partially-read-to-be-continued
April 13, 2025Vol 2: Read the first 128 pages
May 14, 2012
The seventh and final volume of Martin Luther's complete sermons, which consists of his 'House Postils' on gospel texts for the 15th through 26th Sundays after Trinity, the Festival of Christ's Nativity, and other occasions (including the Day of Annunciation, the Day of St. John the Baptist, the Day of St. Michael and All Angels, among others). Each sermon ranges from approximately 10-15 pages in length, and opens with the sermon text, followed by numbered paragraphs containing Luther's exposition.
By and large these sermons are fairly decent, though most of them are far from brilliant. Luther's exposition of Isaiah 9:6 in five sermons for the Festival of Christ's Nativity were particularly good, but the remainder of the sermons ranged from merely adequate to downright problematic. Luther's high view of Mary is clearly on display, and his hatred for 'Sacramentarians' who dare deny the transubstantiation or the transformative (as opposed to merely symbolic) power of baptism colors many of his sermons. He takes some liberties with the texts he preaches, which is, I suppose, to be expected since he had no training in expositional preaching and it was far from common at the time. Thus, unlike the great Puritan preachers or even later figures in the Reformation, Luther did not really have a large body of the sound expositional preaching of others from which to draw.
I should clarify that although this is the final volume in the series, it is the first and only volume I have read. I chose this volume as my starting place based on the following criteria: it is the shortest volume. It may be that the other volumes in the series are better. But this particular volume was not terribly impressive. I did enjoy some of Luther's prosaic--if not downright crude--phraseology, but it wasn't enough to overcome the generally lackluster quality of the sermons themselves.
[Disclosure: I was reading this alongside a volume of sermons by C.H. Spurgeon, who fully deserves his reputation as the 'Prince of Preachers.' It is entirely possible that Luther's sermons suffered in comparison to Spurgeon's excellent work. I do realize that Spurgeon benefited from the something like 300 years of expositional preaching that preceded him following Luther's break with Rome, so the comparison is not really fair. Still, some comparison is inevitable.]
By and large these sermons are fairly decent, though most of them are far from brilliant. Luther's exposition of Isaiah 9:6 in five sermons for the Festival of Christ's Nativity were particularly good, but the remainder of the sermons ranged from merely adequate to downright problematic. Luther's high view of Mary is clearly on display, and his hatred for 'Sacramentarians' who dare deny the transubstantiation or the transformative (as opposed to merely symbolic) power of baptism colors many of his sermons. He takes some liberties with the texts he preaches, which is, I suppose, to be expected since he had no training in expositional preaching and it was far from common at the time. Thus, unlike the great Puritan preachers or even later figures in the Reformation, Luther did not really have a large body of the sound expositional preaching of others from which to draw.
I should clarify that although this is the final volume in the series, it is the first and only volume I have read. I chose this volume as my starting place based on the following criteria: it is the shortest volume. It may be that the other volumes in the series are better. But this particular volume was not terribly impressive. I did enjoy some of Luther's prosaic--if not downright crude--phraseology, but it wasn't enough to overcome the generally lackluster quality of the sermons themselves.
[Disclosure: I was reading this alongside a volume of sermons by C.H. Spurgeon, who fully deserves his reputation as the 'Prince of Preachers.' It is entirely possible that Luther's sermons suffered in comparison to Spurgeon's excellent work. I do realize that Spurgeon benefited from the something like 300 years of expositional preaching that preceded him following Luther's break with Rome, so the comparison is not really fair. Still, some comparison is inevitable.]
February 24, 2015
I have read significant portions of all 7 volumes, though I cannot say I have read every sermon. One thing that can be said is that Luther was seldom dull.
Luther has an enormous range of topics, from the role of alcohol and religion to anti-Semitic rants that would be at home in 1940's Germany. He also hates Catholics, but considering the mild disagreements that had recently arisen this seems excusable.
He does have many insightful things to add to early protestant thought, but most of the heavy lifting in theology had to be left to his contemporaries.
Luther has an enormous range of topics, from the role of alcohol and religion to anti-Semitic rants that would be at home in 1940's Germany. He also hates Catholics, but considering the mild disagreements that had recently arisen this seems excusable.
He does have many insightful things to add to early protestant thought, but most of the heavy lifting in theology had to be left to his contemporaries.
January 5, 2015
Very good for getting into Luther's head. A bit hard to get though but still worth the read.
Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews