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 t is claimed that there have been more books
written about Martin Luther than anyone else other than Jesus Christ.
The name Martin Luther inevitably shows in the top ten on those lists
pundits compile about who were the most influential in shaping our modern
world. He is one of those few who can be indisputably proclaimed a "hinge
of history."
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Yet Luther never wanted to be a renowned world shaper. He was more concerned
to save his own soul and entered a monastery to get away from the world
and seek his own salvation. But in finding his salvation he rediscovered
foundations of Biblical Christianity that shook the late Medieval world
and challenged its assumptions about religious authority, what God was
like, how we are to approach him, and how God saves us. So hear from the
man who rocked the world in the 16th century and did much to pave the
way for the modern world.
Peasant Parents, Strict Parents
"I am the son of a peasant; my father, my grandfather, and all my
ancestors were genuine peasants. . . . My father was a poor miner and
my mother carried the wood from the forest on her back; they both worked
their flesh off their bones in order to bring up their children."
"My mother once beat me up with a cane for stealing a nut until
the blood came. Such strict discipline drove me to the monastery, although
she meant well. . . . My father once flogged me so cruelly that I fled
away from him, and came to bear a grudge against him. It was a long time
until he again won my confidence."
As a Child, the Name of Christ Made Him Cringe
"From early childhood I was accustomed to turn pale and tremble whenever
I heard the name of Christ mentioned, for I was taught to look upon Him
as a stern and wrathful Judge." "We were taught that we ourselves
had to atone for our sins, and since we could not make sufficient amends
or do acceptable works, our teachers directed us to the saints in heaven,
and made us call upon Mary the Mother of Christ and implore her to avert
from us Christ's wrath, and make Him inclined to be merciful to us."
As a Monk He Tried So Hard, but to No Avail
"I kept the rule of my order so strictly that I may say that if ever
a monk got to heaven by his monkery, it was I. All my brothers in the
monastery who knew me will bear me out. If I had kept on any longer, I
should have killed myself with vigils, prayers, readings and other works."
The Gates of Paradise Opened with His Great Discovery:
Justification by Faith
"As I meditated day and night on the words 'as it is written, the
righteous person shall live by faith,' I began to understand that the
righteous person lives by the gift of a passive righteousness, by which
the merciful God justifies us by faith. This immediately made me feel
as though I had been born again, and as though I had entered through open
gates into paradise itself. God accepts Christ's righteousness, which
is alien to our nature, as our own. Though God does not actually remove
our sins -- we are at the same time righteous and sinful -- he no longer
counts our sins against us. And now, where I had once hated the phrase,
'the righteousness of God,' I began to love and extol it as the sweetest
of phrases, so that this passage in Paul became the very gate of paradise
to me."
Luther's Self Understanding Grows Through Friendship
with his Fellow Theologian and Colleague -- Philip Melanchthon
"I prefer the books of Magister Philippus to my own. I am rough,
boisterous, stormy, and altogether warlike. I am born to fight against
innumerable monsters and devils. I must remove stumps and stones, cut
away thistles and thorns, and clear the wild forests. But Magister Philippus
comes along softly and gently, sowing and watering with joy according
to the gifts which God has abundantly bestowed upon him."
Dare One Man Stand Against the Power of Christendom and Rome? "Just
Show Me from Scripture," He Pleads Before the Diet of Worms in 1521
"If convicted, I am willing and ready to revoke any error and shall
be the first one to throw my books into the fire."
"Unless I can be instructed and convinced with evidence from the
Holy Scriptures or by clear and distinct grounds of reasoning. . . then
I cannot and will not recant because it is neither safe nor wise to act
against conscience."
Luther on the Bible
"No clearer Book has been written in this wide world than the Bible.
Compared with all other books it is like the sun over all other lights.
Don't let them lead you out of and away from it, much as they may try
to do so. For if you step out, you are lost; they take you wherever they
wish. If you remain within, you will be victorious."
When Peasants Rose Up in Revolt, Luther Came Down
Hard for "Law And Order"
"Wrongs perpetrated by those in authority are no excuse for rebellion.
If the rulers refuse to do right, God will find a way to punish them,
but Christians must always defend law and order against mob-rule, self-help,
and anarchy. The revolutionists cannot call upon God, since they rely
exclusively on their own fists."
"Smite, strangle, and stab the peasants, secretly or openly, for
nothing can be more poisonous, hurtful, or devilish than a rebel. It is
just as when one must kill a mad dog; if you do not strike him, he will
strike you and a whole land with you. Do not hesitate to cut, knock down,
and kill. This is a service of love, to save your neighbor from the bonds
of the devil and of hell."
The Tender Heart of a Combative Theologian Over
the Deaths of His Daughters, Magdalena and Elizabeth
"Magdalena, my little daughter, would you like to stay with your
father here, or would you willingly go to your Father in heaven?"
"I love her very much, but, dear God, if it be thy will to take
her, I submit to thee."
"Beloved Lena, you will rise and shine like a star, yea, like the
sun."
"My little daughter Elizabeth is dead. It is marvelous that how
sick at heart it has left me, so much do I grieve for her. I would never
have believed that a father's heart could be so tender for his child.
Pray the Lord for me."
"So strong is natural affection that we must sob and groan in heart,
under the oppression of killing grief. . . . Even the death of Christ
is unable to take all this away as it should."
Luther on Music and the Arts
"I am not of the opinion that all arts are to be cast down and destroyed
on account of the Gospel, as some fanatics protest. On the other hand,
I would gladly see all arts, especially music, in the service of Him who
has given and created them. Why should the devil have all the good music?"
Facing the End
"When I return from Eisleben, I shall lay me down in a coffin and
give the worms a plump doctor to feast on. I am tired of this world. So
we shall depart all the more gladly, like a weary guest from a humble
inn."
"O Lord Jesus Christ, I commend my poor soul to Thee. O Heavenly
Father, I know that, although I shall be taken away from this life, I
shall live forever with Thee. God so loved the world that He gave His
only begotten Son that whosoever believeth on Him should not perish, but
have everlasting life. Into Thy hands I commend my spirit, for Thou has
redeemed me, Thou God of truth."
His Hope in Death and Succinct Summary of His
Theology
"Without works, and only through Faith, we are made wholly safe and
secure, so that we shall not be condemned, not because of our own holiness
or purity, but because of Christ, because through faith alone do we cleave
to Him as our mercy seat--sure that in Him no wrath remains, but only
love, pardon, and forgiveness."
With the Advance of Reformation the Requirement that Pastors Be Single
Was Challenged. . . . Luther Allowed and Encouraged Pastors to Marry.
For Himself, Though, He Hesitated for a While. Here is a Sampling of His
Comments on Married Life.
"Good heavens! Will our Wittenbergers give wives to monks? They
won't force a wife on me!"
"If one could serve one's neighbor in holy orders, then one should
remain. On the other hand, if one could serve the neighbor better outside
the monastery or cloister, then one should live in the world, and monastic
vows were not binding."
"Like Abraham, I am the father of a great people for I am responsible
for all the children of the monks and nuns who have renounced their monastic
vows."
"I am not now inclined to take a wife. Not that I lack the feelings
of a man, for I am neither wood nor stone, but my mind is averse to marriage
because I daily expect the death decreed to the heretic."
"I hope to live a short time. Yet to gratify my father, who asked
me to marry and leave him descendants; and moreover so that I would confirm
by my example what I have taught, God has willed and caused my act. For
I neither love my wife nor burn for her, but esteem her."
"If I had not married her quickly and quietly, only a few friends
knowing it, they all would have prevented it; for even my best friends
cried, 'Not this one but someone else.'"
"Kate, you have a man who loves you."
"I would not surrender my Katie for France and Venice together."
" If, in a marriage, the husband shows no forbearance toward his
wife and the wife none toward her husband, then the married state will
soon become a tyranny, and everything will be ruined."
"It was a right and proper part of the Christian faith for a man
to join his wife at the wash-tub and wash the swaddling clothes."
"I am an inferior lord, she the superior; I am Aaron, she is my
Moses."
"If I can survive the wrath of the Devil in my sinful conscience,
I can withstand the anger of (my wife) Katherine von Bora."
"This life has nothing more lovely and delightful than a woman
who loves her husband." |
