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Martin Luther (November 10, 1483 – February 181546) was a German monk, priest, professor, theologian, and church reformer. His teachings inspired the Reformation and deeply influenced the doctrines and culture of the Lutheran and Protestant traditions, as well as the course of Western civilization.

Martin Luther's life and work are closely tied to the end of the Middle Ages and the beginning of the Modern Era in the West. His translation of the Bible furthered the development of a standard version of the German language and added several principles to the art of translation. His translation significantly influenced the English King James Version of the Bible. Due to the recently developed printing press, his writings were widely read and influenced many subsequent Reformers and thinkers, giving rise to diversifying Protestant traditions in Europe and elsewhere. Luther's hymns, including his best-known "A Mighty Fortress is Our God," inspired the development of congregational singing within Christianity. His marriage on June 13, 1525, to Katharina von Bora reintroduced the practice of clerical marriage within many Christian traditions. Today, nearly seventy million Christians belong to Lutheran churches worldwide, with some four hundred million Protestant Christians tracing their history back to Luther's reforming work.

Luther is also known for his writings about the Jews, the nature and consequences of which are the subject of much debate among scholars; in fact, many scholars characterize these writings as anti-Semitic or anti-Judaic. His statements that Jews' homes should be destroyed, their synagogues and schools burned, money confiscated, and rights and liberties curtailed were revived and given widespread publicity by the Nazis in Germany in 1933–45. As a result of this, coupled with his revolutionary theological views, his legacy remains controversial.

Early life

Luther was born to Hans and Margarethe Luther (Ziegler) on November 10, 1483, in Eisleben, Germany. He was baptized the next morning, on the feast day of St. Martin of Tours. His family moved to Mansfeld in 1484 where his father operated copper mines. Hans Luther was determined to see his eldest son become a lawyer. He sent his son Martin to schools in Mansfeld and in 1497, Magdeburg. Martin attended a school there operated by a lay group called the Brethren of the Common Life. In 1498, he attended school in Eisenach.

In 1501, at the age of seventeen, he entered the University of Erfurt where he played the lute and was nicknamed "the philosopher." He received a B.A. in 1502 and an M.A. in 1505, placing second out of seventeen candidates. In accordance with his father's wishes, Luther enrolled in the law school at the same university.

According to Luther, the course of his life changed during a thunderstorm in the summer of 1505. A lightning bolt struck near him as he was returning to school. Terrified, he cried out, "Help! Saint Anna, I'll become a monk!" He left law school, sold his books, and entered the Augustinian monastery in Erfurt on July 17, 1505.

Monastic and academic life

Luther dedicated himself to monastic life. He devoted himself to fasts, long hours in prayer and pilgrimage, and constant confession. Luther tried to please God through this dedication, but it instead increased his awareness of his own sinfulness. He would later remark, "If anyone could have gained heaven as a monk, then I would indeed have been among them." Luther described this period of his life as one of deep spiritual despair. He said, "I lost hold of Christ the Savior and Comforter and made of him a stock-master and hangman over my poor soul."

Johann von Staupitz, Luther's superior, concluded that the young monk needed more work to distract him from excessive rumination and ordered him to pursue an academic career. In 1507 he was ordained to the priesthood, and in 1508 he began teaching theology at the University of Wittenberg. He received a Bachelor's degree in biblical studies on March 9, 1508, and another Bachelor's degree in the Sentences by Peter Lombard in 1509. On October 19, 1512, he was awarded his Doctor of Theology and, on October 21, 1512, was received into the senate of the theological faculty of the University of Wittenberg, having been called to the position of Doctor in Bible. He spent the rest of his career in this position at the University of Wittenberg.

Justification by faith

Main article: Theology of Martin Luther

From 1510 to 1520, Luther lectured on the Psalms, the books of Hebrews, Romans and Galatians. As he studied these portions of the Bible, he came to understand terms such as penance and righteousness in new ways. He began to teach that salvation is a gift of God's grace through Christ received by faith alone. The first and chief article is this, Luther wrote, "Jesus Christ, our God and Lord, died for our sins and was raised again for our justification… herefore, it is clear and certain that this faith alone justifies us… Nothing of this article can be yielded or surrendered, even though heaven and earth and everything else falls."

Another essential aspect of his theology was his emphasis on the "proper distinction" between Law and Gospel. He believed that this principle of interpretation was an essential starting point in the study of the scriptures, and that failing to distinguish properly between Law and Gospel was at the root of many fundamental theological errors.

The 95 Theses

On 31 October 1517 Luther wrote to Albert, Archbishop of Mainz and Magdeburg, protesting the sale of indulgences in his episcopal territories and inviting him to a disputation on the matter. He enclosed the 95 Theses, a copy of which, according to tradition, he posted the same day on the door of the Castle Church in Wittenberg.

Luther had already preached against indulgences, but he wrote the 95 Theses partly in reaction to the promotion of indulgences by Johann Tetzel, papal commissioner for indulgences in Germany, to raise funds for the renovation of St. Peter's Basilica in Rome. In thesis 28 Luther objected to a saying attributed to Tetzel: "As soon as the coin in the coffer rings, the soul from purgatory springs". The 95 Theses not only denounced such transactions as worldly but denied the pope's right to grant pardons on God's behalf in the first place: the only thing indulgences guaranteed, Luther said, was an increase in profit and greed, because the pardon of the Church was in God's power alone.

While Luther did not deny the pope’s right to grant pardons for penance imposed by the Church, he made it clear that preachers who claimed indulgences absolved buyers from all punishments and granted them salvation were in error. The final two theses exhorted Christians not to slacken in following Christ, but to be confident of entering heaven through many tribulations rather than through an assurance of peace.

Others had attacked abuses in the Church, but Luther's approach unleashed a doctrinal revolution in the reform movement. By rejecting papal and ecclesiastical practices that Luther deemed were in conflict with Scripture, he asserted the primacy of scriptural authority over the Church; and by dismissing the scriptural mandate for papal authority, the power of the keys (Matt:16:18–19), “which he does not possess”, he took, possibly unintentionally, a step towards the break with Rome.

The 95 Theses were quickly translated into German, printed, and widely copied, making the controversy one of the first in history to be fanned by the printing press. Within two weeks, the theses had spread throughout Germany; within two months throughout Europe. In contrast, the response of the papacy was painstakingly slow.

Response of the papacy

Archbishop of Mainz and Magdeburg, Albert, who with the pope’s consent was using part of the indulgence income to pay his bribery debts, did not reply to Luther’s letter; instead, he had the theses checked for heresy and forwarded to Rome.

But heretics and reformers were nothing new to Leo X, whose brother’s government had once been ousted from Florence in thrall to the rebel monk Savonarola, and he responded over the next three years, “with great care as is proper”, by deploying a series of papal theologians and envoys against Luther. Perhaps he hoped the matter would die down of its own accord, because in 1518 he dismissed Luther as "a drunken German" who "when sober will change his mind".

That year, the Dominican theologian Sylvester Mazzolini wrote a refutation of Luther’s theses as heretical; and the subsequent controversy served only to enlarge Luther's doctrinal assault on the papacy. Leo summoned Luther to Rome; but the Elector Frederick persuaded him to accept a submission from Luther at Augsburg instead, where cardinal legate Cajetan, in October 1518, was obliged to listen to an unrepentant Luther inform him that the papacy was not in fact part of the original and immutable essence of the Church. Luther appealed first “from the pope not well informed to the pope who should be better informed” and then, in November, to a general council.

The Saxon papal nuncio Karl von Miltitz fared better, winning concessions from Luther at Altenburg in January 1519 and a promise to remain silent as long as his opponents did. One opponent, however, was the theologian Johann Eck, who clashed with Luther later that year in a debate at Leipzig (June 27 – July 18, 1519) during which Luther insisted that the power of the keys belonged not to popes but to the whole Church, defined as the congregation of the faithful. Eck afterwards called Luther "the Saxon Hus" and from that moment devoted himself to his downfall.

Widening breach

The disputation at Leipzig (1519) brought Luther into contact with the humanists, particularly Melanchthon, Reuchlin and Erasmus. Luther's writings circulated widely, soon reaching France, England, and Italy as early as 1519. Students thronged to Wittenberg to hear Luther. He published a short commentary on Galatians and his Work on the Psalms. At the same time, he received deputations from Italy and from the Utraquists of Bohemia. Ulrich von Hutten and knight Franz von Sickingen offered to place Luther under their protection.

This period of Luther's life was unparalleled in his career both by way of creativity and productivity. Three of Luther's best known works were published in 1520: To the Christian Nobility of the German Nation, Prelude on the Babylonian Captivity of the Church and Freedom of a Christian.

Luther issued his To the Christian Nobility of the German Nation in August of 1520. In this work, he urged the laity, as members of the priesthood of all believers to reform the church. In this work, Luther first refers to the Pope as the Antichrist.

Luther redefined the term sacrament in his work, Prelude on the Babylonian Captivity of the Church. For Luther, a sacrament was a Means of Grace instituted by Christ Himself and made up of a visible element combined with the Word of God. Luther concluded that only Baptism and the Lord's Supper could be called sacraments by this definition at that even these sacraments were "taken captivity" by the Pope through doctrines such as the sacrifice of the Mass and withholding the cup in the Lord's Supper.

In his devotional work, On the Freedom of a Christian Luther's theology of grace is stated fully for the first time. "A Christian is perfectly free, subject to none" and "A Christian is the most dutiful slave, subject to all." Luther argued that Christians are fully redeemed by God's grace. When they act according to God's will, they are bound by no law. Yet as God's children, they are compelled to spend their whole lives in service of God and their neighbors.

Excommunication and Diet of Worms

On June 15, 1520, the Pope warned Martin Luther with the papal bull Exsurge Domine that he risked excommunication unless he recanted 41 sentences drawn from his writings within 60 days. On July 10, Luther responded:

As for me, the die is cast; I despise alike the favor and fury of Rome; I do not wish to be reconciled with her; or even to hold any communication with her. Let her condemn and burn my books; I, in turn, unless I can find no fire, will condemn and publicly burn the whole pontifical law, that swamp of heresies.

That autumn, Johann Eck proclaimed the bull in Meissen and other towns. Miltitz attempted to broker a solution; but Luther, who sent the pope a copy of On the Freedom of a Christian in October, publicly set fire to the bull and decretals at Wittenberg on December 10 1520, an act he defended in Why the Pope and his Recent Book are Burned and Assertions Concerning All Articles. Luther was finally excommunicated by Leo X on January 3, 1521, in the bull Decet Romanum Pontificem.

Enforcement of the ban now fell to the secular authorities. Luther duly appeared on April 17, 1521, before the Diet of Worms, which Emperor Charles V had opened on January 22. Johann Eck, speaking on behalf of the empire as assistant of the Archbishop of Trier, presented Luther with a table filled with copies of his writings and asked him if the books were his and if he still believed in what they taught. Luther requested time to think about his answer, which was granted. Luther prayed, consulted with friends and mediators and gave his response to the diet the next day:

Unless I shall be convinced by the testimonies of the Scriptures or by clear reason… I neither can nor will make any retraction, since it is neither safe nor honourable to act against conscience. God help me. Amen.

Over the next days, private conferences were held to determine the fate of Luther, who left Worms on 26 April. The emperor presented the final draft of the Edict of Worms on May 25, 1521, declaring Martin Luther an outlaw, banning his literature, and requiring his arrest: "We want him to be apprehended and punished as a notorious heretic".

Exile at the Wartburg Castle

Luther was protected on his return journey to Wittenberg by the safe-conduct secured in advance of the diet by Frederick the Wise, who, careful to avoid openly protecting Luther, now arranged for him to be taken into safe custody on his way home by a company of masked horsemen and carried to Wartburg Castle at Eisenach, where he stayed for about a year. He grew a wide, flaring beard, took on the garb of a knight, and assumed the pseudonym Junker Jörg (Nobleman George).

His time at the Wartburg was a very productive period in his career. During this period of exile, Luther translated the New Testament from Greek into German. It was printed in September 1522. He issued an essay on the practice of Confession Concerning Confession, in which he rejected laws by the church, forcing people to go to private confession, although he affirmed the value of private confession and absolution. He wrote a polemic against Archbishop Albert of Mainz for attempting to continue the sale of indulgences, bringing such pressure against him that he stopped the sale. In a polemical treatise against Jacobus Latomus, Luther discussed the relationship between the law and grace in Christ emphasizing that the sinner receives God's grace as a gift and it is God's grace, not some indwelling quality in man, that results in the sinner's salvation. He also discussed the reality of sin in the life of the baptized Christian, and how God's grace in Christ is the constant need of every person.

Although his stay at Wartburg kept him hidden from public view, Luther often received letters from his friends and allies asking for his views and advice. For example, Philipp Melanchthon wrote to him and asked how to answer the charge that the reformers neglected pilgrimages, fasts and other traditional forms of piety. Luther replied on August 1, 1521: "If you are a preacher of mercy, do not preach an imaginary but the true mercy. If the mercy is true, you must therefore bear the true, not an imaginary sin. God does not save those who are only imaginary sinners. Be a sinner, and let your sins be strong, but let your trust in Christ be stronger, and rejoice in Christ who is the victor over sin, death, and the world. We will commit sins while we are here, for this life is not a place where justice resides. We, however, says Peter (2 Pet 3:13) are looking forward to a new heaven and a new earth where justice will reign."

Meanwhile, some of the Saxon clergy, notably Bartholomäus Bernhardi of Feldkirchen, had renounced the vow of celibacy. Others, including Melanchthon, had assailed the validity of monastic vows. Luther wrote Concerning Monastic Vows, at the Wartburg Castle. Though more cautious than others at this point, Luther concurred, on the ground that the vows were generally taken for the purpose of receiving salvation as a result of a monastic life. With the approval of Luther in his Concerning the Abrogation of the Private Mass, but against the firm opposition of their Prior, the Wittenberg Augustinians began changing their worship practices at the Augustinian cloister. They did away with many elements of the Mass. Their violence and intolerance, however, were displeasing to Luther, and early in December he spent a few days among them. Returning to the Wartburg, he wrote his A Sincere Admonition by Martin Luther to All Christians to Guard Against Insurrection and Rebellion. In Wittenberg, Andreas Karlstadt and the ex-Augustinian Gabriel Zwilling demanded the abolition of the private mass, communion in both kinds, the removal of pictures from churches, and the abrogation of the magistracy, and the destruction of what they considered to be idolatrous images in the form of statuary and other works of art.

Return to Wittenberg

Around Christmas 1521 Anabaptists from Zwickau added to the anarchy. Thoroughly opposed to such radical views and fearful of their results, Luther secretly returned to Wittenberg on March 6, 1522, and the Zwickau prophets left the city. For eight days in Lent beginning on March 9, Invocavit Sunday, and concluding on the following Sunday, Luther preached eight sermons that would become known as the Invocavit Sermons. In these sermons Luther counseled careful reform that took into consideration the consciences of those who were not yet persuaded to embrace reform. Luther took great concern to protect the faith of the most fragile believer insisting that what carried the gospel to them must not be taken away by his fellow reformers.

Communion in one kind (the consecrated bread) was restored for a time, the consecrated cup given only to those of the laity who desired it. He was thought by his hearers John Agricola and Jerome Schurf to have accomplished his goal of quelling unrest. The canon of the mass, giving it its sacrificial character, was now omitted. Since the former practice of penance had been abolished, communicants were now required to declare their intention to commune and to seek consolation in Christian confession and absolution. This new form of service was set forth by Luther in his Formula missæ et communionis (Form of the Mass and Communion, 1523), and in 1524 the first Wittenberg hymnal appeared with four of his own hymns. Since, however, his writings were forbidden in that part of Saxon ruled by Duke George, Luther declared, in his Temporal Authority: to What Extent It Should Be Obeyed, that the civil authority could enact no laws for the soul.

Marriage and family

On April 8, 1523, Luther wrote Wenceslaus Link: "Yesterday I received nine nuns from their captivity in the Nimbschen convent." Luther had arranged for Torgau burgher Leonhard Koppe on April 4 to assist twelve nuns to escape from Marien-thron Cistercian monastery in Nimbschen near Grimma in Ducal Saxony. He transported them out of the convent in herring barrels. Three of the nuns went to be with their relatives, leaving the nine that were brought to Wittenberg. One of them was Katharina von Bora. All of them but she were happily provided for. In May and June 1523, it was thought that she would be married to a Wittenberg University student, Jerome Paumgartner, but his family most likely prevented it. Dr. Caspar Glatz was the next prospective husband put forward, but Katharina had "neither desire nor love" for him. She made it known that she wanted to marry either Luther himself or Nicholas von Amsdorf. Luther did not feel that he was a fit husband considering his being excommunicated by the pope and outlawed by the emperor. In May or early June 1525, it became known in Luther's circle that he intended to marry Katharina. Forestalling any objections from friends against Katharina, Luther acted quickly: on the evening of Tuesday, June 13, 1525, Luther was legally married to Katharina, whom he would soon come to affectionately call "Katy". Katy moved into her husband's home, the former Augustinian monastery in Wittenberg, and they began their family: the Luthers had three boys and three girls:

• Hans, born June 7, 1526, studied law, became a court official, and died in 1575.
• Elizabeth, born December 10, 1527, died on August 3, 1528.
• Magdalena, born May 5, 1529, died in her father's arms September 20, 1542. Her death was particularly hard to bear for Luther and his wife.
• Martin, Jr., born November 9, 1531, studied theology but never had a regular pastoral call before his death in 1565.
• Paul, born January 28, 1533, became a physician. He fathered six children before his death on March 8, 1593 and the male line of the Luther family continued through him to John Ernest, ending in 1759.
• Margaretha, born December 17, 1534, married George von Kunheim of the noble, wealthy Prussian family, but died in 1570 at the age of 36. Her descendants have continued to the present time.

Peasants' War

The Peasants' War (1524–25) was in many ways a response to the preaching of Luther and others. Revolts by the peasantry had existed on a small scale since the 14th century, but many peasants mistakenly believed that Luther's attack on the Church and the hierarchy meant that the reformers would support an attack on the social hierarchy as well, because of the close ties between the secular princes and the princes of the Church that Luther condemned. Revolts that broke out in Swabia, Franconia, and Thuringia in 1524 gained support among peasants and disaffected nobles, many of whom were in debt at that period. Gaining momentum and a new leader in Thomas Münzer, the revolts turned into an all-out war, the experience of which played an important role in the founding of the Anabaptist movement. Initially, Luther seemed to many to support the peasants, condemning the oppressive practices of the nobility that had incited many of the peasants. As the war continued, and especially as atrocities at the hands of the peasants increased, the revolt became an embarrassment to Luther, who now professed forcefully to be against the revolt; since Luther relied on support and protection from the princes, he was afraid of alienating them. In Against the Murderous, Thieving Hordes of Peasants (1525), he encouraged the nobility to visit swift and bloody punishment upon the peasants. Many of the revolutionaries considered Luther's words a betrayal. Others withdrew once they realized that there was neither support from the Church nor from its main opponent. The war in Germany ended in 1525 when rebel forces were put down by the armies of the Swabian League.

Catechisms

In 1528 Luther took part in the Saxon visitation of parishes and schools to determine the quality of pastoral care and Christian education the people were receiving. Luther wrote in the preface to the Small Catechism,

Mercy! Good God! what manifold misery I beheld! The common people, especially in the villages, have no knowledge whatever of Christian doctrine, and, alas! many pastors are altogether incapable and incompetent to teach.

In response, Luther prepared the Small and Large Catechisms. They are instructional and devotional material on the Ten Commandments; the Apostles' Creed; the Lord's Prayer; Baptism; Confession and Absolution; and the Lord's Supper. The Small Catechism was supposed to be read by the people themselves, the Large Catechism by the pastors. Luther, who was modest about the publishing of his collected works, thought his catechisms were one of two works he would not be embarrassed to call his own:

Regarding to collect my writings in volumes, I am quite cool and not at all eager about it because, roused by a Saturnian hunger, I would rather see them all devoured. For I acknowledge none of them to be really a book of mine, except perhaps the one On the Bound Will and the Catechism.

The two catechisms are still popular instructional materials among Lutherans.

Luther's German Bible

Luther translated the Bible into German to make it more accessible to the common people, a task he began alone in 1521 during his stay in the Wartburg castle, publishing The New Testament in September 1522 and, in collaboration with Johannes Bugenhagen, Justus Jonas, Caspar Creuziger, Philipp Melanchthon, Matthäus Aurogallus, and George Rörer, the whole Bible in 1534. He worked on refining the translation for the rest of his life. The Luther Bible contributed to the emergence of the modern German language and is regarded as a landmark in German literature. The 1534 edition was also profoundly influential on William Tyndale's translation, a precursor of the King James Bible.

Liturgy and Church government

Martin Luther’s German Mass of 1526 provided for weekday services and for catechetical instruction. He strongly objected, however, to making a new law of the forms and urged the retention of other good liturgies. While Luther advocated Christian liberty in liturgical matters in this way, he also spoke out in favor of maintaining and establishing liturgical uniformity among those sharing the same faith in a given area. He saw in liturgical uniformity a fitting outward expression of unity in the faith, while in liturgical variation, an indication of possible doctrinal variation. He did not consider liturgical change a virtue, especially when it might be made by individual Christians or congregations: he was content to conserve and reform what the Church had inherited from the past. Therefore Luther, while eliminating and condemning those parts of the mass indicating the Eucharist was a propitiatory sacrifice and the Body and Blood of Christ by transubstantiation, retained the use of an eastward altar, stole, chasuble and alb. However, Luther is reported to have said, that later on, more changes would have to be made to the liturgy, which during his lifetime would still have offended the faithful people.

The gradual transformation of the administration of baptism was accomplished in the Baptismal Booklet. In May, 1525, the first Evangelical ordination took place at Wittenberg. “Luther had long since rejected the Roman Catholic sacrament of ordination, and had replaced it by a simple calling to the service of preaching and the administration of the sacraments. The laying-on of hands with prayer in a solemn congregational service was considered a fitting human rite.”

To fill the vacuum of the lack of higher ecclesiastical authority — few bishops in the German lands embraced Luther’s doctrine — “as early as 1525… held that the secular authorities should take part in the administration of the Church, making appointments to ecclesiastical office and directing visitations” of clergy and churches. These tasks were not inherent powers of the “secular authorities as such, and Luther gladly would have had them vested in an evangelical episcopate” had a larger number of bishops become evangelicals. “He… declared in 1542 that the Evangelical princes themselves ‘must be necessity-bishops,’” and envisioned ecclesiastical powers being exercised in congregational meetings of Christians, "but determined to be guided by the course of events and to wait until parishes and schools were provided with the proper persons." The discoveries of the Saxon visitation (1527–29) showed that parishes and schools were not ready for such responsiblity, necessitating the retention of ecclesiastical forms as they were at the beginning of the Reformation.

Melanchthon's Instruction for the Visitors of Parish Pastors, facilitated the Saxon visitation. The visitation accordingly took place in 1527–29, "Luther the preface to Melanchthon's Unterricht der Visitatoren an die Pfarrherrn, and as a visitor in one of the districts after Oct., 1528, while, as a result of his observations, he wrote both his catechisms in 1529. At the same time he took the keenest interest in education, conferring with Georg Spalatin in 1524 on plans for a school system, and declared that it was the duty of the civil authorities to provide schools and to see that parents sent their children to them. He also advocated the establishment of elementary schools for the instruction of girls." In the meantime, Lutheran churches in Scandinavia and many of the Baltic States, as well as the Moravians, continued to maintain the Historic Episcopate and apostolic succession, even though they had adopted Luther's anti-papal theology.

Eucharist controversy

Part of a series on
Lutheranism
Background Christianity Start of the Reformation Reformation Protestantism
Doctrine and theology Bible Old Testament New Testament Creeds Apostles' Creed Nicene Creed Athanasian Creed Book of Concord Augsburg Confession Apology of the Augsburg Confession Luther's Small / Large Catechism Smalcald Articles Treatise on the Power and Primacy of the Pope Formula of Concord Distinctive theological concepts Theology of Martin Luther Justification Law and Gospel Sola gratia Sola scriptura Christology Sanctification Two kingdoms catholicity Two states of the Church Priesthood of all believers Divine Providence Marian theology Theology of the Cross Sacramental Union Other relevant topics Homosexuality
Sacraments and worship Baptism Eucharist Confession Confirmation Matrimony Anointing of the Sick Holy Orders Divine Service Matins Vespers Liturgical calendar Calendar of saints Lutheran hymn Lutheran hymnwriters Normative principle Lutheran art
Organization Confessional Evangelical Lutheran Conference Global Confessional & Missional Lutheran Forum International Lutheran Council Lutheran World Federation Denominations Lutheranism by region
Movements History of Lutheranism Crypto-Lutherans Gnesio-Lutherans Lutheran orthodoxy Pietists Radical Pietism Haugeans Laestadians Finnish Awakening Old Lutherans Neo-Lutherans High church Lutherans Confessional Lutheranism
Key figuresMissionaries John Campanius Bartholomäus Ziegenbalg Hans Egede Johann Heinrich Callenberg Johann Phillip Fabricius Paul Henkel John Christian Frederick Heyer Karl Graul Martti Rautanen Wilhelm Sihler F. C. D. Wyneken Hans Paludan Smith Schreuder Lars Olsen Skrefsrud Ludwig Ingwer Nommensen Onesimos Nesib Paul Olaf Bodding Johann Flierl Christian Keyser Jens Christensen Bible Translators Martin Luther Casiodoro de Reina Kjell Magne Yri Onesimos Nesib Aster Ganno Kristian Osvald Viderø Jákup Dahl Bartholomäus Ziegenbalg Johann Phillip Fabricius William Tyndale John Rogers George Constantine Jozef Roháček Johannes Avetaranian Guðbrandur Þorláksson Ludvig Olsen Fossum Hans Egede / Paul Egede Otto Fabricius Nils Vibe Stockfleth Olaus Petri / Laurentius Petri Martti Rautanen Primož Trubar Jurij Dalmatin Ludwig Ingwer Nommensen Sebastian Krelj Mikael Agricola Norwegian Bible Society Swedish Bible Society Samuel Ludwik Zasadius Stanislovas Rapolionis Laurentius Andreae Hans Tausen Olaf M. Norlie Jonas Bretkūnas Hans Paludan Smith Schreuder Antonio Brucioli Mikołaj Jakubica Matthias Bel Johann Ernst Glück William F. Beck Theologians Martin Luther / Katharina von Bora Philip Melanchthon Johannes Bugenhagen Johannes Brenz Justus Jonas Hans Tausen Laurentius Petri Olaus Petri Mikael Agricola Matthias Flacius Martin Chemnitz Johann Gerhard Abraham Calovius Johannes Andreas Quenstedt Johann Wilhelm Baier Philipp Spener David Hollaz August Hermann Francke Henry Muhlenberg Lars Levi Laestadius Charles Porterfield Krauth C. F. W. Walther Søren Kierkegaard Albrecht Ritschl Wilhelm Herrmann F. W. Stellhorn Rudolf Otto Ernst Troeltsch Rudolf Bultmann Paul Tillich Hermann Sasse Dietrich Bonhoeffer Wolfhart Pannenberg Robert Jenson
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Martin Luther's views on the Eucharist, the sacrament of the Last Supper, were put to the test in October 1529 at the Marburg Colloquy, an assembly of Protestant theologians gathered by Philip I, Landgrave of Hesse, to establish doctrinal consistency in the emerging Protestant states. Agreement was achieved on most points, the exception being the nature of the Eucharist, an issue crucial to Luther.

The theologians, including Zwingli, Karlstadt, Jud, and Œcolampadius, differed among themselves on the significance of the words of institution spoken by Jesus at the Last Supper: "This is my body which is for you", "This cup is the new covenant in my blood" (1 Corinthians 11:23–26). Whereas Luther insisted on the Real Presence of Jesus at the Eucharist, other theologians believed God to be only symbolically present: Zwingli, for example, denied Jesus's ability to be in more than one place at a time. But Luther, who affirmed the doctrine of Hypostatic Union, that Jesus is one and the same as God, was clear:

For I do not want to deny in any way that God’s power is able to make a body be simultaneously in many places, even in a corporeal and circumscribed manner. For who wants to try to prove that God is unable to do that? Who has seen the limits of his power?

In taking the words of institution at face value, Luther saw no reason to define the mystery of the Eucharist in terms such as consubstantiation, the notion that the substance of Christ's body and blood are present alongside that of the bread and the wine, or impanation, that God was literally made bread. Although his doctrine has been described as both of those, he simply taught that the body and blood of Christ are present, essence unchanged, in, with, and under the forms of bread and wine. Luther clearly broke away from the Thomistic doctrine of transubstantiation but he never denied the real presence of Jesus in the Eucharist. He used "the analogy of the iron put into the fire whereby both fire and iron are united in the red-hot iron and yet each continues unchanged", a process which he called the "Sacramental Union".

While recognising the commemorative element of "do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of me", Luther also took issue with Zwingli's view that the Eucharist is merely memorial. And he disagreed that the benefit of the sacrament is conditional on good works, asserting rather that it is conditional on faith alone, laying stress on the words "given for you" and therefore on the atonement and forgiveness through the death of Jesus.

Luther was convinced that God had blinded Zwingli's eyes so that he could not see the true significance of the Lord's Supper, denouncing Zwingli and his followers as "fanatics" and "devils" and refusing to call his opponents brethren, though he wished them peace and love.

Despite these disagreements on the Eucharist, the Marburg Colloquy paved the way for the signing in 1530 of the Augsburg Confession and for the formation of the Schmalkaldic League the following year by leading Protestant nobles such as Philip of Hesse, John Frederick of Saxony, and George, Margrave of Brandenburg-Ansbach. Nevertheless, interpretations of the Eucharist differ among Protestants to this day.

Augsburg Confession

Charles V, the Holy Roman Emperor, convened an Imperial Diet in Augsburg in 1530 with the goal of uniting the empire against the Ottoman Turks, who had besieged Vienna the previous autumn.

To achieve unity, Charles required a resolution of the religious controversies in his realm. Luther, despised by emperor and empire, was left behind at the Coburg fortress while his elector and colleagues from Wittenberg attended the diet. The Augsburg Confession, a summary of the Lutheran faith authored by Philipp Melanchthon but influenced by Luther, was read aloud to the emperor. It was the first specifically Lutheran confession included in the Book of Concord of 1580, and is regarded as the principal confession of the Lutheran Church.

Luther and antisemitism

See also: Martin Luther and the Jews and On the Jews and Their Lies

It has been suggested that this article be merged with Martin Luther and the Jews. (Discuss) Proposed since January 2007.

In his 60,000-word treatise, On the Jews and Their Lies, published in 1543 as Von den Juden und ihren Lügen, Luther wrote "First to set fire to their synagogues or schools and to bury and cover with dirt whatever will not burn, so that no man will ever again see a stone or cinder of them..." "Second, I advise that their houses also be razed and destroyed..." "Third, I advise that all their prayer books and Talmudic writings, in which such idolatry, lies, cursing and blasphemy are taught, be taken from them..." "Fourth, I advise that their rabbis be forbidden to teach henceforth on pain of loss of life and limb..." "Fifth, I advise that safe-conduct on the highways be abolished completely for the Jews. For they have no business in the countryside, since they are not lords, officials, tradesmen, or the like. Let them stay at home..." "Sixth, I advise that usury be prohibited to them, and that all cash and treasure of silver and gold be taken from them and put aside for safekeeping..." "Seventh, I commend putting a flail, an ax, a hoe, a spade, a distaff, or a spindle into the hands of young, strong Jews and Jewesses and letting them earn their bread in the sweat of their brow, as was imposed on the children of Adam..." and recommended that these "poisonous envenomed worms" be forced into labor or expelled "for all time."

There is little doubt among historians that Luther's rhetoric may have contributed to, or at the very least foreshadowed, the actions of the Nazis when Adolf Hitler came to power in Germany in 1933, although the extent to which it played a direct role in the events leading to the Holocaust is debated. At the heart of the debate is whether it is anachronistic to view Luther's sentiments as an example, or early precursor, of racial anti-Semitism — hatred toward the Jews as a people — rather than anti-Judaism — contempt for Judaism as a religion.

A minority viewpoint disagrees with the attempt to link Luther's work causally to the rise of Nazi anti-Semitism, arguing that it is too simplistic an analysis. Some Lutheran church bodies have distanced themselves from this aspect of Luther's work. In 1983, the Lutheran Church - Missouri Synod, denounced Luther's "hostile attitude" toward the Jews. In 1994, the Church Council of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America announced: "As did many of Luther's own companions in the sixteenth century, we reject this violent invective, and yet more do we express our deep and abiding sorrow over its tragic effects on subsequent generations."

Final years

Luther's rhetoric became more severe in his final years concerning Jews and Christians alike. In the context of the opening of the Council of Trent in 1545, Luther wrote a pamphlet entitled, Against the Roman Papacy an Institution of the Devil. It was his bitterest attack against the institution of the papacy. In some of his later writings, popes, bishops, and cardinals were referred to as "Roman sodom." He once blessed a group of followers, saying: "May the Lord fill you with His blessings and with hatred of the Pope."

Luther's health declined in the years before his death. Throughout his years as a reformer, Luther had suffered from a variety of ailments, including constipation, hemorrhoids, heart congestion, fainting spells, dizziness and roaring in the ears. From 1531–1546 Luther experienced a series of more severe health problems, including ringing in the ears, and, in 1536–1537, Luther began to experience kidney and bladder stones, which caused him particular agony during the rest of his life. He also suffered from arthritis, and experienced a ruptured ear drum due to an inner ear infection. In December 1544, he suffered from severe angina and finally suffered a heart attack which led to his death in February 1546.

During the later years of his life, Luther remained busy and active, with lecturing at the university on the Biblical book of Genesis, serving as dean of the theological faculty, making many visitations to churches. During the final nine years of his life Luther wrote 165 treatises and nearly ten letters a day, examined many candidates for doctoral degrees in theology, hosting doctoral feats for the successful candidates. His later years were marked by continuing illnesses and physical problems, making him short-tempered and even more pointed and harsh in his writings and comments. His wife Katie was overheard saying, "Dear husband, you are too rude," and he responded, "They teach me to be rude."

Luther's final journey, to Mansfeld, was taken due to his concern for his siblings' families continuing in their father Hans Luther's copper mining trade. Their livelihood was threatened by Count Albrecht of Mansfeld bringing the industry under his own control. The controversy that ensued involved all four Mansfeld counts: Albrecht, Philip, John George, and Gerhard. Luther journeyed to Mansfeld twice in late 1545 to participate in the negotiations for a settlement, and a third visit was needed in early 1546 for their completion.

Accompanied by his three sons, Luther left Wittenberg on January 23. On February 1 he sent a tender letter to his wife:

"I wish you peace and love in Christ, and send you my poor, old, infirm love. Dear Katie, I was weak on the road to Eisleben, but that was my own fault...Such a cold wind blew from behind through my cap on my head that it was like to turn my brain to ice. This may have helped my vertigo , but now, thank God, I am so well that I am sorely tempted by lovely women and care not how gallent I am...God bless you."

The negotiations were successfully concluded on February 17. After 8:00 p.m. that day, Luther experienced chest pains. When he went to his bed, he prayed, "Into your hand I commit my spirit; you have redeemed me, O Lord, faithful God" (Ps. 31:5), the common prayer of the dying. At 1:00 a.m. he awoke with more chest pain and was warmed with hot towels. Knowing that death was imminent, he thanked God for revealing His Son to him in Whom he had believed. His companions, Justus Jonas and Michael Coelius, shouted loudly, "Reverend father, are you ready to die trusting in your Lord Jesus Christ and to confess the doctrine which you have taught in His name?" A distinct "Yes" was Luther's reply. An apoplectic stroke deprived him of his speech, and shortly thereafter of his life. He died 2:45 a.m., February 18, 1546, aged 62, in Eisleben, the city of his birth. Luther was buried in the Castle Church in Wittenberg, beneath the pulpit.

A piece of paper was found in Luther's pocket with his last known written statement:

No one who was not a shepherd or a peasant for five years can understand Virgil in his Bucolica and Georgica. I maintain that no one can undersand Cicero in his letters unless he was active in important affairs of state for twenty years. Let no one who had not guided the congregations with the prophets for one hundred years believe that he has tasted Holy Scripture thoroughly. For this reason the miracle is stupendous (1) in John the Baptist, (2) in Christ, (3) in the Apostles. Do not try to fathom this divine Aeneid, but humbly worship its footprints. We are beggars. That is true.

References

1. Ewald Plass, "Monasticism", in What Luther Says: An Anthology (St. Louis: Concordia Publishing House, 1959), 2:964.
2. Erwin Fahlbusch and Geoffrey William Bromiley, The Encyclopedia of Christianity (Grand Rapids, Michigan: Leiden, Netherlands: Wm. B. Eerdmans; Brill, 1999–2003), 1:244.
3. ^ Tyndale's New Testament, trans. from the Greek by William Tyndale in 1534 in a modern-spelling edition and with an introduction by David Daniell (New Haven, Connecticut: Yale University Press, 1989), ix–x.
4. Jacques Barzun, From Dawn to Decadence (New York: Harper Collins, 2000), 4.
5. "The last and greatest reform of all was in congregational song. In the Middle Ages the liturgy was almost entirely restricted to the celebrant and the choir. The congregation joined in a few responses in the vernacular. Luther so developed this element that he may be considered the father of congregational song." From Roland Bainton, Here I Stand: a Life of Martin Luther (New York: Penguin, 1995), 269; Martin Luther, Luther: Hymns, Ballads, Chants, Truth (4 compact discs). St. Louis: Concordia Publishing House, 2005.
6. "If he could not reform all Christendom, at any rate he could and did establish the protestant parsonage" from Bainton, 223.
7. Lutheran World Federation, Slight Increase Pushes LWF Global Membership to 66.2 Million,The Lutheran World Federation, accessed May 18 2006.
8. "Major Branches of Religions Ranked by Number of Adherents", (accessed May 22 2006).
9. Martin Luther, "On the Jews and Their Lies," Tr. Martin H. Bertram, in Luther's Works ed. Franklin Sherman (Philadelphia: Fortress Press, 1971), 47:268–272 (hereafter cited in notes as LW).
10. Uwe Siemon-Netto, "Luther and the Jews." Lutheran Witness 123 (2004) No. 4:19.
11. The Cambridge Companion to Martin Luther, ed. Donald K. McKim (New York: Cambridge University Press, 2003), 58; Encyclopaedia Britannica Online, s.v. "Anti-Semitism," by Michael Berenbaum (accessed January 2 2007).
12. Martin Brecht, Martin Luther, Trans. James L. Schaaf (Philadelphia: Fortress Press, 1985–1993), 1:3–5.
13. Encyclopædia Britannica Online, s.v. "Martin Luther" by Ernst Gordon Rupp (accessed 2006).
14. E.G. Schwiebert, Luther and His Times (St. Louis: Concordia Publishing House, 1950), 128.
15. Brecht, 1:48.
16. Schwiebert, 136.
17. Bainton, 40–42.
18. James Kittelson, Luther The Reformer (Minneapolis: Augsburg Fortress Publishing House, 1986), 53.
19. Kittelson, 79.
20. Bainton, 44–45.
21. a major Mediæval textbook of theology; Brecht, 1:93.
22. Brecht, 1:12–27.
23. Markus Wriedt, "Luther's Theology," in The Cambridge Companion to Luther (New York: Cambridge University Press, 2003), pp. 88–94.
24. Martin Luther, The Smalcald Articles in Concordia: The Lutheran Confessions (Saint Louis: Concordia Publishing House, 2005), 289, Part two, Article 1.
25. Plass, 2:732, no. 2276.
26. Preus, Robert D. "Luther and the Doctrine of Justification" Concordia Theological Quarterly 48 (1984) no. 1:11–12.
27. Bainton, 60; Brecht, 1:182; Kittelson, 104.
28. Certum est, nummo in cistam tinniente augeri questum et avariciam posse: suffragium autem ecclesie est in arbitrio dei solius. (Thesis 28)
29. Errant itaque indulgentiarum predicatores ii, qui dicunt per pape indulgentias hominem ab omni pena solvi et salvari. (Thesis 21)
30. Exhortandi sunt Christiani, ut caput suum Christum per penas, mortes infernosque sequi studeant. Ac sic magis per multas tribulationes intrare celum quam per securitatem pacis confidant. (Theses 94 and 95)
31. …quod non potestate clavis (quam nullam habet)… (Thesis 26)
32. Brecht, 1:204–205.
33. Luther, Martin (2006). Encyclopædia Britannica Online. Retrieved 18 September 2006.
34. Martin Treu, Martin Luther in Wittenberg: A Biographical Tour (Wittenberg: Saxon-Anhalt Luther Memorial Foundation, 2003), 31.
35. Papal Bull Exsurge Domine.
36. Philip Schaff, History of the Christian Church (New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, 1910), 7:99; W.G. Polack, The Story of Luther (St. Louis: Concordia Publishing House, 1931), 45.
37. Martin Luther, Proceedings at Augsburg (1518), trans. Harold J. Grimm in Luther’s Works, ed. Harold J. Grimm (Philadelphia: Fortress Press, 1957), LW 31:257.
38. Martin Luther, "The Leipzig Debate (1519)," trans. Harold J. Grimm in Luther’s Works, ed. Harold J. Grimm (Philadelphia: Fortress Press, 1957), LW 31:311.
39. Latin title is Operationes in Psalmos.
40. ^ The New Schaff-Herzog Encyclopedia of Religious Knowledge, ed. Samuel Macauley Jackson and George William Gilmore, (New York, London, Funk and Wagnalls Co., 1908–1914; Grand Rapids, Michigan: Baker Book House, 1951) s.v. "Luther, Martin," hereafter cited in notes as Schaff-Herzog, 71.
41. Lewis W. Spitz, The Renaissance and Reformation Movements, Revised Ed. (St. Louis: Concordia Publishing House, 1987), 338.
42. Martin Luther, An Open Letter to The Christian Nobility of the German Nation Concerning the Reform of the Christian Estate, 1520, trans. C. M. Jacobs, in Works of Martin Luther: With Introductions and Notes, Volume 2 (Philadelphia: A. J. Holman Company, 1915; Fort Wayne, IN: Project Wittenberg, 2006).
43. ^ Oxford Encyclopedia of the Reformation, ed. Hans J. Hillerbrand, s.v. "Luther, Martin," (by Martin Brecht, tr. Wolfgang Katenz) New York: Oxford University Press, 1996), 2:463.
44. Published November 20 1520.
45. Translated by H. G. Ganss in The Catholic Encyclopedia s.v. "Martin Luther," (by H. G. Ganss) (New York: Robert Appleton Company, 1910), 7:390; Original text may be found at: Martin Luther, "Luther an Spalatin, Wittenberg, 10 Juli, 1520," D. Martin Luthers Werke: Kritische Gesamtausgabe, Briefwechsel (Weimar, Germany: Herman Böhlaus Nachfolger, 1931), 2:137, no. 310. Hereafer cited in notes as WABr; Martin Luther, "Luther an Spalatin," Dr. Martin Luthers sämmtliche Werke in beiden Originalsprachen nach den ältischen Ausgaben kritsch und historisch bearbeitet, ed. J. K. Irmischer, C. S. T. Elspurger, H. Schmid, H. Schmidt and E. L. Enders. Briefwechsel (Stuttgart, Germany: Velag der Vereinsbuchhandlung, 1887), 2:432–433, no. 323.
46. German title is Warum des Papstes und seiner Jünger Bücher verbrannt sind.
47. Latin title is Assertio omnium articulorum.
48. Schaff-Herzog, "Luther, Martin," 72.
49. Edict of Worms, translated by De Lamar Jensen and Jacquelin Delbrouwire.
50. In German, Von der Beichte.
51. Martin Luther, "Let Your Sins Be Strong: A Letter From Luther to Melanchthon. Letter no. 99, 1 August 1521, From the Wartburg," Trans. Erika Bullman Flores (Fort Wayne, IN: Project Wittenberg, 2006), Letter 99.13. The letter was translated from Dr. Martin Luther's Saemmtliche Schriften Ed. Johann Georg Walch (St. Louis: Concordia Publishing House, N.D.), vol. 15, cols. 2585–2590.
52. Martin Luther, "Preface," Small Catechism.
53. LW 50:172–173. Luther compares himself to the mythological Saturn, who devoured most of his children. Luther wanted to get rid of many of his writings except for the two mentioned. The Large and Small Catechisms are spoken of as one work by Luther in this letter.
54. Tyndale's New Testament, xv, xxvii.
55. The German title of this work is Deutsche Messe. See the full text in image format at Martin Luther, Deutsche Messe und Ordnung Gottesdienst (Wittenberg, Germany: N.P., 1526).
56. ^ Schaff-Herzog, “Luther, Martin,” 73.
57. German title is: Taufbüchlein, 1523, 1526.
58. ^ Schaff-Herzog, "Luther, Martin", 74.
59. Martin Luther, "To Nicholas Hausmann March 29, 1527," Tr. Gottfried G. Krodel, in Luther's Works ed. Gottfried G. Krodel (Philadelphia: Fortress Press, 1972), 49:161–164; Original text found at Weimar Ausgabe Briefwechsel, 4:180–181. Hereafter cited in notes as WABr.
60. The German title of this work is Unterricht der Visitatoren an die Pfarrherrn.
61. LW 37:223–224.
62. Against the Heavenly Prophets (1525) and Confession concerning Christ's Supper (1528) as cited in The Oxford Dictionary of the Christian Church,ed. F.L. Cross (London: Oxford University Press, 1958), 337.
63. Luther, "On the Jews and Their Lies," LW 47:268–271.
64. Ronald Berger, Fathoming the Holocaust: A Social Problems Approach(New York: Aldine De Gruyter, 2002), 28; Paul Lawrence Rose, Revolutionary Antisemitism in Germany from Kant to Wagner (Princeton University Press, 1990), quoted in Berger, 28).
65. William Shirer, The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich, (New York: Simon and Schuster, 1960).
66. Berenbaum, Michael. "The World Must Know": A History of the Holocaust as told in the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum (Baltimore: John Hopkins University Press, 1993, 2000), 8–9.
67. Those expressing the minority viewpoint include:
    • Roland Bainton, 297.
    • Russell Briese, “Martin Luther and the Jews,” Lutheran Forum (Summer 2000):32.
    • Brecht, Martin Luther, 3:351.
    • Mark U. Edwards, Jr. Luther’s Last Battles: Politics and Polemics 1531–46 (Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press, 1983), 139.
    • Eric Gritsch, “Was Luther Anti-Semitic?” 12 Christian History No. 3:39.
    • James M. Kittelson, Luther the Reformer, 274.
    • Richard Marius, Martin Luther: The Christian Between God and Death (Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1999), 377.
    • Heiko Oberman, The Roots of Anti-Semitism: In the Age of Renaissance and Reformation (Philadelphia: Fortress, 1984), 102.
    • Gordon Rupp, Martin Luther, 75.
    • Siemon-Netto, "Luther and the Jews," Lutheran Witness 123 (2004) No. 4:19, 21.
68. Q&A: Luther's Anti-Semitism at Lutheran Church — Missouri Synod. Retrieved December 15 2005.
69. Declaration of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America to the Jewish Community, April 18 1994, retrieved December 15 2005.
70. LW 41:259–376.
71. LW 41:259.
72. Emanuel Valenza, "Christ Among Us? No. Heresy and Revolution, Yes!" The Angellus 8 (1985) No. 3.
73. In January of 1527, Luther was overcome by "a violent rush of blood to the heart, which well-nigh killed him." For an account of this event, see: Wilhelm Rein, The Life of Martin Luther, New York, Funk & Wagnalls (1883), pp. 139–146.
74. Some of these may have been stress related; the years of struggle with Rome, the various antagonisms with and among his fellow reformers, and the scandal which ensued from the bigamy of Philip of Hesse incident, in which Luther had played a leading role, all may have contributed to Luther's declining health.
75. Edwards, 9.
76. Spitz, 354.
77. Will Durant, The Story of Civilization, vol. VI, The Reformation Chpt. XX, page 451
78. cf. Brecht, 3:369–379.
79. The macaronic German and Latin of Luther's last written words are: "Wir sind Bettler. Hoc est verum." Heinrich Bornkamm, Luther's World of Thought, tr. Martin H. Bertram (St. Louis: Concordia Publishing House, 1958), 291.

Select bibliography

For the works of Luther himself, see List of books by Martin Luther
For books and films about Martin Luther, see List of books and films about Martin Luther

• Bainton, Roland H. Here I Stand: a Life of Martin Luther. New York: Penguin, 1995 (1950). ISBN 0-452-01146-9.
  
• Brecht, Martin. Martin Luther. Tr. James L. Schaaf. 3 Volumes. Philadelphia: Fortress Press, 1985-1993. ISBN 0-8006-2813-6, ISBN 0-8006-2814-4, ISBN 0-8006-2815-2.
  
• Kittelson, James M. Luther the Reformer: The Story of the Man and His Career. Minneapolis: Augsburg Publishing House, 1986. ISBN 0-8066-2240-7.
  
• Oberman, Heiko A. Luther: Man Between God and the Devil. New York: Doubleday, 1989. ISBN 0-385-42278-4

External links

Dictionary definitions from Wiktionary
Textbooks from Wikibooks
Quotations from Wikiquote
Source texts from Wikisource
Images and media from Commons
News stories from Wikinews

Original writings of Luther and contemporaries

• Project Wittenberg, an archive of Lutheran documents
• Full text of the 95 Theses
• Full text of the Smalcald Articles
• Full text of the Small Catechism
• Full text of the Large Catechism
• Excerpts from Against the Murderous, Thieving Peasants
• Prelude On the Babylonian Captivity of the Church
• Commentary on The Magnificat (Luke 1:46-55), 1521

Online information on Luther and his work

• The Musical Reforms of Martin Luther
• KDG Wittenberg's Luther site (7 languages)
• Martin Luther – ReligionFacts.com
• Memorial Foundation of Saxony Anhalt (German/English)
• Martin Luther – PBS movie
• Luther – theatrical release
• Martin Luther: The Reformer Travelling Exhibition
• New Schaff-Herzog Encyclopedia of Religious Knowledge article on "Luther, Martin"
• Martin Luther - Eine Bibliographie (German)
• Works by Martin Luther at Project Gutenberg
• Martin Luther
• The "seat" of the Reformation - (BBC News)
• Catholic Encyclopedia: Martin Luther
• Jewish Encyclopedia: Martin Luther
• Luther, Martin in the 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica
• Martin Luther and the German Reformation
• The Weblog about Luther's hometown Wittenberg (in English)
• Luther's Men - Discuss Theology and Beer

 This article incorporates text from a publication in the public domain: Jackson, Samuel Macauley, ed. (1914). New Schaff–Herzog Encyclopedia of Religious Knowledge (third ed.). London and New York: Funk and Wagnalls. {{cite encyclopedia}}: Missing or empty |title= (help)

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• Articles to be merged from January 2007
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