Martin Luther - Misplaced Pages

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Revision as of 23:09, 19 May 2007 by SlimVirgin (talk | contribs) (→Works)(diff) ← Previous revision | Latest revision (diff) | Newer revision → (diff) For other people named Martin Luther, see Martin Luther (disambiguation). Martin Luther (November 10, 1483 – February 18, 1546) was a German monk, theologian, and church reformer. The key tenets of Luther's theology — that the Bible is the sole source of religious authority; that grace is the only means of salvation; and that the church is a community of believers, rather than a hierarchical structure of clergy against laity — helped to inspire the Protestant Reformation and change the course of Western civilization. Luther's translation of the Bible into the vernacular had a significant impact on both the church and on German culture. The translation made the text more accessible to ordinary people, 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. Luther is also known for his writings about the Jews, the nature and consequences of which are the subject of scholarly debate. His statements that Jews' homes should be destroyed, their synagogues burned, money confiscated, and liberty curtailed were revived and given widespread publicity by the Nazis in Germany in 1933–45. As a result of this and his revolutionary theological views, his legacy remains controversial.

Early life and the development of his ideas

Birth and education

Luther's mother, Margarethe, also by Cranach.

Luther was born to Hans and Margarethe Luther (née Lindemann) 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 Martin to schools in Mansfeld and in 1497, Magdeburg, where he attended a school operated by a lay group called the Brethren of the Common Life. In 1498, he attended school in Eisenach. At the age of seventeen in 1501, he entered the University of Erfurt, receiving his Bachelor's degree after just one year in 1502, and his Master's in 1505.

In accordance with his father's wishes, he enrolled in law school at the same university, but the course of his life changed, he said, during a thunderstorm in the summer of that year. A lightning bolt struck near him as he was returning to school. Terrified, he cried out, "Help! Saint Anna, I will 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, devoting himself to fasts, long hours in prayer, pilgrimage, and frequent confession. Luther tried to please God through this dedication, but it only 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, his superior, concluded that Luther needed more work to distract him from excessive introspection and ordered him to pursue an academic career. In 1507, he was ordained to the priesthood, and in 1508 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

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 view the use of terms such as penance and righteousness by the Roman Catholic Church in new ways. He became convinced that the church had lost sight of what he saw as several of the central truths of Christianity, the most important of which, for Luther, was the doctrine of justification — God's act of declaring a sinner righteous — by faith alone. He began to teach that salvation or redemption is a gift of God's grace, attainable only through faith in Jesus as the messiah.

"This one and firm rock, which we call the doctrine of justification," he wrote, "is the chief article of the whole Christian doctrine, which comprehends the understanding of all godliness."

Luther came to understand justification as entirely the work of God. Against the teaching of his day that the righteous acts of believers are performed in cooperation with God, Luther wrote that Christians receive that righteousness entirely from outside themselves; that righteousness not only comes from Christ, it actually is the righteousness of Christ, imputed to us (rather than infused into us) through faith. "That is why faith alone makes someone just and fulfills the law," he wrote. "Faith is that which brings the Holy Spirit through the merits of Christ." Faith, for Luther, is a gift from God. He explained his concept of "justification" in the Smalcald Articles:

The first and chief article is this: Jesus Christ, our God and Lord, died for our sins and was raised again for our justification (Romans 3:24-25). He alone is the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world (John 1:29), and God has laid on Him the iniquity of us all (Isaiah 53:6). All have sinned and are justified freely, without their own works and merits, by His grace, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, in His blood (Romans 3:23-25). This is necessary to believe. This cannot be otherwise acquired or grasped by any work, law, or merit. Therefore, 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 (Mark 13:31).

The 95 Theses and the start of the Reformation

Further information: The 95 Theses and Reformation Day

On October 31, 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. In Roman Catholic theology, an "indulgence" is the remission of temporal punishment because of sins which have already been forgiven; the indulgence is granted by the church when the sinner confesses and receives absolution.

Luther enclosed in his letter to Albert a copy of his "Disputation of Martin Luther on the Power and Efficacy of Indulgences," which came to be known known as the 95 Theses (95 statements). He is also said to have nailed a copy of the statements to the door of the Castle Church in Wittenberg that same day — church doors acting as the bulletin boards of Luther's day — an event now seen as sparking the Protestant Reformation.

In the treatise, Luther challenged the teachings of the Roman Catholic Church on the nature of penance, the authority of the Pope, and the point of indulgences. He objected to a saying attributed to Johann Tetzel, a papal commissioner for indulgences that "s soon as the coin in the coffer rings, the soul from purgatory springs." He insisted that, since pardons were God's alone to grant, those who claimed that indulgences absolved buyers from all punishments and granted them salvation were in error. Christians, he said, must not slacken in following Christ on account of such false assurances.

The 95 Theses were quickly translated from Latin 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.

Response of the papacy

In contrast to the speed with which the theses were distributed, the response of the papacy was painstakingly slow.

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

Leo 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".

Widening breach

Luther's writings circulated widely, reaching France, England, and Italy as early as 1519, and students thronged to Wittenberg to hear him speak. 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 Franz von Sickingen offered to place Luther under their protection.

This periodof Luther's career was one of the most creative and productive. Three of his 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.

Excommunication

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, including the 95 Theses, within 60 days.

That fall, Johann Eck proclaimed the bull in Meissen and other towns. Karl von Miltitz, a papal nuncio, attempted to broker a solution, but Luther, who had sent the pope a copy of On the Freedom of a Christian in October, publicly set fire to the documents from the Pope (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.

As a consequence, Luther was excommunicated by Leo X on January 3, 1521, in the bull Decet Romanum Pontificem.

Exile

The Diet of Worms

Main article: Diet of Worms

Enforcement of the ban of the 41 sentences fell to the secular authorities. Luther appeared, as ordered, on April 17, 1521, before the Diet of Worms (Reichstag zu Worms). This was a general assembly (a Diet) of the estates of the Holy Roman Empire that took place in Worms, a town on the Rhine. It was conducted from January 28 to May 25, 1521, with Emperor Charles V presiding over the proceedings. Prince Frederick III, Elector of Saxony, obtained an agreement that if Luther appeared he would be promised safe passage to and from the meeting.

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 taught what they contained. Luther requested time to think about his answer. He 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 five days, private conferences were held to determine the Luther's fate. The Emperor presented the final draft of the Edict of Worms on May 25, 1521, declaring Luther an outlaw, banning his literature, and requiring his arrest: "We want him to be apprehended and punished as a notorious heretic".

Exile at Wartburg Castle

The room in Wartburg where Luther translated the New Testament into German. There is an original first edition of the translation under the case on the desk.

The apprehension of Luther was the last thing Frederick III, Elector of Saxony wanted, so he had him discreetly intercepted on his way home by masked horsemen and escorted to the security of the Wartburg Castle at Eisenach, where Luther grew a beard and lived incognito for nearly eleven months, pretending to be a knight called Junker Jörg.

During his stay at Wartburg — "my Patmos", as he called it — Luther translated the New Testament from Greek into German, and poured out doctrinal and polemical writings, including in October a renewed attack on Archbishop Albert of Mainz, whom he shamed into halting the sale of indulgences in his episcopates, and a "Refutation of the argument of Latomus," in which he expounded the principle of justification to a philosopher from Louvain. In a letter to Melanchthon of 1 August 1521, he wrote:

… 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.

In On the Abrogation of the Private Mass, in the summer of 1521, Luther widened his target from individual pieties like indulgences and pilgrimages to doctrines at the heart of Church practices. His essay Concerning Confession rejected the Roman Catholic Church's requirement of confession, although he affirmed the value of private confession and absolution. In the introduction to his New Testament — published in September 1522 and selling 5,000 copies in two months — he explained that good works spring from faith; they do not produce it.

In Wittenberg, Andreas Karlstadt, later supported by the ex-Augustinian Gabriel Zwilling, enacted a divisive programme of reform which exceeded anything envisaged by Luther and provoked disturbances, including a revolt by the Augustinian monks against their prior, the smashing of statues and images in churches, and denunciations of the magistracy. After secretly visiting Wittenberg in early December 1521, Luther wrote A Sincere Admonition by Martin Luther to All Christians to Guard Against Insurrection and Rebellion; but Wittenberg became more volatile after Christmas when a band of visionary zealots, the so-called Zwickau prophets, arrived preaching the equality of man, adult baptism, Christ’s imminent return, and other revolutionary doctrines. Luther decided it was time to act.

Return to Wittenberg

Marriage and family

Katharina von Bora, Luther's wife, by Lucas Cranach the Elder, 1526.

On the evening of June 13, 1525, Luther married Katharina von Bora, one of a group of 12 nuns he had helped escape from the Nimbschen Cistercian convent in April 1523, arranging for them to be smuggled out in herring barrels. "Suddenly, and while I was occupied with far other thoughts," he wrote to his friend Link, "the Lord has plunged me into marriage." Katharina was twenty-six years old, Luther forty-two.

A few priests and former monks had already married, including Andreas Karlstadt and Justus Jonas, but Luther’s marriage set the seal of approval on clerical marriage. He had long condemned vows of celibacy on biblical grounds, but his decision to marry surprised many, not least Melanchthon, who called it reckless.Luther had written to Spalatin on November 30, 1524, "I shall never take a wife, as I feel at present. Not that I am insensible to my flesh or sex (for I am neither wood nor stone); but my mind is averse to wedlock because I daily expect the death of a heretic." Melanchthon reveals in a letter that Luther had been living on the plainest food, and that his mildewed bed was not properly made for months at a time.

Luther and Katharina moved into a former monastery "The Black Cloister," a wedding present from the new elector John Frederick, and embarked upon what appears to have been a happy and successful marriage. Between bearing six children, Katharina, whose judgement Luther respected, helped earn the couple a living by farming the land and taking in boarders. Luther confided to Stiefel on August 11, 1526: "Catharina, my dear rib ... is, thanks to God, gentle, obedient, compliant in all things, beyond my hopes. I would not exchange my poverty for the wealth of Croesus."

Matrimony had no softening effect on his temper, as Erasmus noted, and Luther soon found himself embroiled in further controversies and crises.

Peasants' War

Despite his victory in Wittenberg, Luther was unable to stifle radicalism further afield. Preachers such as Zwickau prophet Nicholas Storch and Thomas Munzer — whose rallying cry was "let not your sword grow cold from blood" — helped instigate the Peasants' War in 1524, during which many atrocities were committed, often in Luther's name.

There had been revolts by the peasantry on a smaller scale since the 14th century; many of them now believed that Luther's attack on the Church and the hierarchy meant that the reformers would support an attack on the upper classes in general, because of the close ties between the secular princes and the princes of the Church. Revolts broke out in Swabia, Franconia, and Thuringia in 1524, gaining support from disaffected nobles too, many of whom were in debt. Gaining momentum and a new leader in Thomas Münzer, the revolts turned into war.

Luther sympathized with the peasants' grievances, as he showed in his response to the Twelve Articles in May 1525, but he reminded them to obey the temporal authorities and became enraged at the widespread burning of convents, bishops’ palaces, and libraries. In Against the Murderous, Thieving Hordes of Peasants (1525), he condemned the violence as the devil's work and called for the nobility to put down the rebels like mad dogs:

Whosoever can, should smite, strangle, and stab, secretly or publicly, and should remember that there is nothing more poisonous, pernicious, and devilish than a rebellious man."

Without Luther's backing for the uprising, many rebels laid down their weapons; others felt betrayed. Their defeat by the Swabian League at the Battle of Frankenhausen on May 25, 1525, followed by Munzer’s execution, brought the revolutionary stage of the Reformation to a close. Thereafter, radicalism found a refuge in the anabaptist movement, while Luther's Reformation flourished under the wing of the secular powers.

Catechisms

Luther's signature

In 1528, Luther visited parishes and schools in Saxony to determine the quality of pastoral care and Christian education. He wrote in the preface to The Small Catechism: "Quotation|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, he prepared the Small Catechism and Large Catechism, 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, and the Large Catechism by the pastors; both remain popular instructional materials among Lutherans. 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 Bondage of the Will and the Catechism."

Luther's translation of the Bible

Main article: Luther Bible

Luther translated the Bible into German to make it more accessible to ordinary people, a task he began alone in 1521 during his stay in the Wartburg castle. He was not the first translator of it into German, but he was by far the greatest, according to Philip Shaff, who writes that, had Luther done nothing but this, he would remain one of the "greatest benefactors of the German-speaking race."

His translation of The New Testament was published in September 1522 and, in collaboration with Johannes Bugenhagen, Justus Jonas, Caspar Creuziger, Philipp Melanchthon, Matthäus Aurogallus, and George Rörer, the Old and New Testaments together 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 influential on William Tyndale's translation, a precursor of the King James Bible. Philip Schaff, the 19th century theologian, said of the work:

The richest fruit of Luther's leisure in the Wartburg, and the most important and useful work of his whole life, is the translation of the New Testament, by which he brought the teaching and example of Christ and the Apostles to the mind and heart of the Germans in life-like reproduction. It was a republication of the gospel. He made the Bible the people's book in church, school, and house.

Liturgy and church government

A rare early printing of Luther's hymn, *Ein' feste Burg ist unser Gott* (A Mighty Fortress is Our God).

Luther's German Mass of 1526 provided for weekday services and for catechetical instruction. He strongly objected to making a new law of the forms and urged the retention of other good liturgies. While advocating Christian liberty in liturgical matters, 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. He eliminated and condemned those parts of the Roman Catholic Mass that taught that the Eucharist was a propitiatory sacrifice and the body and blood of Christ by transubstantiation, but retained the use of historic liturgical forms and customs.

Eucharist controversy

File:PICT4309.JPG

Statue of Martin Luther outside the St. Mary's Church, Berlin.

Luther's views on the Eucharist — the sacrament of the Lord's 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 unity 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, Andreas Karlstadt, [[Leo Jud[[, and Johannes Oecolampadius, differed on the significance of the words 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). Luther insisted on the Real Presence of the body and blood of Christ in the consecrated bread and wine, but the 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 both man and 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?

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 Georg, Margrave of Brandenburg-Ansbach. According to Luther, agreement in the faith was not necessary prior to entering political alliances. Nevertheless, interpretations of the Eucharist differ among Protestants to this day.

Augsburg confession

Main article: 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, still under the Imperial Ban, 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 Lutheran confession included in the Book of Concord of 1580, and is regarded as the principal confession of the Lutheran Church.

Philip of Hesse controversy

In 1539, Luther became involved in controversy surrounding the bigamy of Philip I, Landgrave of Hesse, who wanted to marry one of his wife's ladies-in-waiting. Luther ruled that polygamy was acceptable, noting that the patriarchs of the Old Testament had had more than one wife, and so Philip entered into the second marriage in secret. Philip's sister made news of the marriage public a few weeks later, scandalizing Germany.

Luther and antisemitism

Luther, the Pope, and the Council of Trent

Luther was known for his bitter attacks on the Pope, which grew more vitriolic in his later years. In the context of the opening of the Council of Trent — the nineteenth Ecumenical Council of the Roman Catholic Church, convened three times between 1545 and 1563 in the city of Trent, Italy, in response to the Protestant Reformation — he wrote Against the Papacy Established by the Devil. One commentator observed:

Perhaps no one in history abhorred the Church and all she stands for more than Martin Luther. His diatribes against the papacy and the structure of the Church in general are well known. Popes, bishops, and cardinals are 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 on witchcraft

Luther shared some of the superstitions about witchcraft that were common in his time. He believed that it was inimical to Christianity. In his Small Catechism, he taught that it was a sin against the second commandment, and that, with the help of the devil, witches were able to steal milk simply by thinking of a cow. He is reported to have said in a "table talk" that he would burn them himself:

On 25 August 1538 there was much discussion about witches and sorceresses who steal chicken eggs out of nests, or steal milk and butter. Doctor Martin said: "One should show no mercy to these ; I would burn them myself, for we read in the Law that the priests were the ones to begin the stoning of criminals."

Final years and death

File:Lutherunderpulpit.jpg

His tombstone in the Castle Church in Wittenberg.

Luther had been suffering from ill health for years, including constipation, hemorrhoids, dizziness, fainting spells, and roaring in the ears. From 1531–1546, his health deteriorated further. The years of struggle with Rome, the antagonisms with and among his fellow reformers, and the scandal which ensued from the bigamy of the Philip of Hesse incident, in which Luther had played a leading role, all may have contributed. In 1536, he began to suffer from kidney and bladder stones, and arthritis, and an ear infection ruptured an ear drum. In December 1544, he began to feel the effects of angina.

His physical health made him short-tempered and even harsher 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."

His last sermon was delivered at Eisleben, his place of birth, on February 15, 1546, three days before his death. It was "entirely devoted to the obdurate Jews, whom it was a matter of great urgency to expel from all German territory," according to Léon Poliakov. James Mackinnon writes that it concluded with a "fiery summons to drive bag and baggage from their midst, unless they desisted from their calumny and their usury and became Christians." Luther said, "we want to practise Christian love toward them and pray that they convert," but also that they are "our public enemies ... and if they could kill us all, they would gladly do so. And so often they do."

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.

The negotiations were successfully concluded on February 17, 1546. After 8:00 p.m., he 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. 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. (It was believed at the time that sudden cardiac arrest or stroke was a sign that Satan had taken a man's soul; Luther's companions stressed that he had gradually weakened and commended himself into God's hands.)

An apoplectic stroke deprived him of his speech, and he died shortly afterwards at 2:45 a.m., February 18, 1546, aged 62, in Eisleben, the city of his birth. He was buried in the Castle Church in Wittenberg, beneath the pulpit.

A piece of paper was later found on which he had written his last statement. The statement was in Latin, apart from "We are beggars," which was in German.

1. No one can understand Vergil's Bucolics unless he has been a shepherd for five years. No one can understand Vergil's Georgics, unless he has been a farmer for five years.
2. No one can understand Cicero's Letters (or so I teach), unless he has busied himself in the affairs of some prominent state for twenty years.
3. Know that no one can have indulged in the Holy Writers sufficiently, unless he has governed churches for a hundred years with the prophets, such as Elijah and Elisha, John the Baptist, Christ and the apostles.
Do not assail this divine Aeneid; nay, rather prostrate revere the ground that it treads.
We are beggars: this is true.

Recent trends in research

In recent years, there has been significant translation and discovery of some of Luther's most controversial works. These publications have augmented the large body of Luther’s work that was translated and published by various Lutheran Church organizations and their related publishing companies. The new publications present a more controversial picture of this very prolific writer and his complex personality.

An English translation of On the Jews and Their Lies was published commercially in 1971, and revealed to many readers a side of Luther they had not previously known. Another of Luther's works was Vom Schem Hamphoras, which contains graphic "toilet talk" against the Jews; this was translated and published independently as part of The Jew In Christian Theology by Gerhard Falk in 1971.

There is no known English translation of Against the Papacy at Rome Founded by the Devil (1545), but it has been described as "one of Luther's most coarse and vehement works." It is said to contain scatological satires of the Pope, along with illustrations by Cranach, who is known for painting Luther’s portrait.

Against Hanswurst (1541) was translated as part of Luther's Works and is described as "rivaling his anti-Jewish treatises for vulgarity and violence of expression."

Since some of these works are only now being revealed, and the only English descriptions are often secondary sources, researchers disagree as to their relevance. However, the trend has been toward translation, publication and review, rather than silent archiving.

Scholars point out that the coarseness of Luther's language, now being given renewed exposure as a result of the new translations, needs to be viewed in the context of the times. The Internet Medieval Sourcebook observes that "Luther used violent and vulgar language throughout his career: he was not a man to say 'manure' when he meant 'shit.' We do not expect religious figures to use this sort of language in the modern world, but it was not uncommon in the early 16th century."

Works

Collected works in German

D. Martin Luthers Werke, Kritische Gesamtausgabe. 65 vols. Weimar: Verlag Hermann Böhlausn Nochfolger, 1883-1966.
D. Martin Luthers Werke, Kritische Gesamtausgabe, 3 Band]. Weimar: Verlag Hermann Böhlaus Nachfolger, 1885.
D. Martin Luthers Werke, Kritische Gesamtausgabe, 13 Band]. Weimar: Verlag Hermann Böhlaus Nachfolger, 1889.
D. Martin Luthers Werke, Kritische Gesamtausgabe, 25 Band]. Weimar: Verlag Hermann Böhlaus Nachfolger, 1902.

Translated collected works

Luther's Works. 55 Volumes. Various translators. St. Louis, Minneapolis: Concordia Publishing House, Fortress Press, 1957-1986.
Select works Vol. II, tr. Henry Cole. London: W. Simkin and R. Marshall, 1826.
Select works Vol. III, tr. Henry Cole. London: W. Simkin and R. Marshall, 1826.
Martin Luther's Writings (Largest Online English Luther Library)

Luther's German Bible translation

D. Martin Luthers Werke, Kritische Gesamtausgabe. Die Deutsche Bibel. 12 vols. Weimar: Verlag Hermann Böhlaus Nochfolger, 1906-61.
Die Luther-Bibel von 1534. Kolorierte Faksimileausgabe, 2 Bände und Begleitband (v. Stephan Füssel), Taschen Verlag, 2002 (Rezension und einige schöne Auszüge)
Biblia Germanica. Luther-Übersetzung 1545, Ausgabe letzter Hand. Faksimilierte Handausgabe nach dem im Besitz der Deutschen Bibelgesellschaft befindlichen Originaldruck; einspaltig. Mit zahlreichen Initialen und Holzschnitten des Meisters MS, an deren Gestaltung Luther selbst mitgewirkt hat. Deutsche Bibelgesellschaft, 1967. ISBN 3-438-05501-5
D. Martin Luther. Die gantze Heilige Schrifft. Der komplette Originaltext von 1545 in modernem Schriftbild. Hrsg. von Hans Volz unter Mitarbeit von Heinz Blanke; Textredaktion Friedrich Kur. Rogner & Bernhard, München 1972 (Neuausgabe: Ed. Lempertz, Bonn 2004), ISBN 3-933070-56-2
Die Luther-Bibel. Originalausgabe 1545 und revidierte Fassung 1912 (CD-ROM), Digitale Bibliothek 29, Berlin 2002, ISBN 3-89853-129-5 (Es handelt sich um Luthers frühneuhochdeutschen Text.)
Wikisource Lutherbibel
Die Bibel (lateinisch/deutsch)
Luthers Biblia 1545
Audio Bibel in der Lutherübersetzung zum Download
Lutherbibel von 1984
Text der Lutherbibel von 1912
Lutherdeutsch.de

Letters in German

D. Martin Luthers Werke, Kritische Gesamtausgabe. Briefwechsel. 18 vols. Weimar: Verlag Hermann Böhlaus Nachfolger, 1930-85.
Dr. Martin Luthers Sämmtliche Werke. Briefwechsel. Ed. Ernst Ludwig Enders. Calw and Stuttgart.
Dr. Martin Luthers Sämmtliche Werke. Briefwechsel, Bierter Band. Ed. Ernst Ludwig Enders. Calw and Stuttgart, 1891.
Dr. Martin Luthers Sämmtliche Werke. Briefwechsel Fünster Band. Ed. Ernst Ludwig Enders. Calw and Stuttgart, 1893.
Dr. Martin Luthers Sämmtliche Werke. Briefwechsel, Sechster Band. Ed. Ernst Ludwig Enders. Calw and Stuttgart, 1895.
Dr. Martin Luthers Sämmtliche Werke. Briefwechsel, Achter Band. Ed. Ernst Ludwig Enders. Calw and Stuttgart, 1898.
Dr. Martin Luthers Sämmtliche Werke. Briefwechsel, Echutee Band. Ed. Ernst Ludwig Enders. Calw and Stuttgart, 1903.

Letters in English

Luther's Correspondence and Other Contemporary Letters, 2 vols., tr.and ed. by Preserved Smith, Charles Michael Jacobs, The Lutheran Publication Society, Philadelphia, Pa. 1913, 1918. Vol. 1 (1507-1521) and Vol. 2 (1521-1530) from Google Books. Reprint of Vol. 1, Wipf & Stock Publishers (March 2006). ISBN 1-59752-601-0
The Letters of Martin Luther, tr. Margaret, A. Currie. London: MacMillian, 1908.
Luther's Letters to Women, ed. K. Zimmermann, tr. Malcolm. London: Chapman and Hall, 1865.
A Simple Rite for the Ministry of a Pastor with a Demonically-Afflicted Person (Letter to Severin Schulze, June 1, 1545) from Luther: Letters of Spiritual Counsel. Philadelphia: The Westminster Press, 1960, p. 52.)

Original works online

Commentaries

A manual of the Book of psalms: Or, The Subject-contents of All the Psalms, tr. Henry Cole. London: R.B. Seeley and W. Burnside, 1837.
Commentary on the Epistle to the Galatians, tr. Theodore Graebner. Grand Rapids, Michigan: Zondervan Publishing House, 1949.

Sermons

A Selection of the Most Celebrated Sermons of Martin Luther, ed. K. Zimmermann, tr. Malcolm. New York: S. & D. A. Forbes, 1830

Autobiography

The Life of Luther Written by Himself, ed. M. Michelet. tr. William Hazlitt. London: George Bell and Sons, 1904.

Music

Luther: Hymns, Ballads, Chants, Truth. 4 CD recording. St. Louis: Concordia Publishing House, 2005.
Martin Luther's Spiritual Songs, tr. Richard Massie. Chester: Hatchard & Son, 1854.
The Hymns of Martin Luther: Set to their original melodies; with an English version. ed. Bacon, Leonard Woolsey and Allen, Nathan H. Publisher Unknown, Year published, Unknown.
List of Luther's Hymns

Table talk

D. Martin Luthers Werke, Kritische Gesamtausgabe. Tischreden. 6 vols. Weimar: Verlag Hermann Böhlaus Nochfolger, 1912-21.
Luther's table talk; or, Some choice fragments from the familiar discourse of that godly man. ed. & trans. Charles Heel et al. London: A. & R. Spottiswoode. 1832
Luther's Table Talk: A Critical Study. New York: Columbia University Press, 1907. ISBN 0-7905-3865-2 from Google Books

8Table Talk. London: Religious Tract Society. 18-?.

Small and Large Catechism

"The Large Catechism." Concordia: The Lutheran Confessions: A Reader's Edition of the Book of Concord. Tr. W. H. T. Dau and G. F. Bente. Rev. and Updated by P. T. McCain, R. C. Baker, G. E. Veith and E. A. Engelbrecht. St. Louis: Concordia Publishing House, 2005, 375-470.
Triglot Concordia. tr. and ed. F. Bente and W. H.T. Dau. St. Louis: Concordia Publishing House, 1921.
"Enchiridion: The Small Catechism." Concordia: The Lutheran Confessions: A Reader's Edition of the Book of Concord. Tr. W. H. T. Dau and G. F. Bente. Rev. and Updated by P. T. McCain, R. C. Baker, G. E. Veith and E. A. Engelbrecht. St. Louis: Concordia Publishing House, 2005, 333-374.
Triglot Concordia. tr. and ed. F. Bente and W. H.T. Dau. St. Louis: Concordia Publishing House, 1921.

Smalcard articles

"The Smalcald Articles." Concordia: The Lutheran Confessions: A Reader's Edition of the Book of Concord. Tr. W. H. T. Dau and G. F. Bente. Rev. and Updated by P. T. McCain, R. C. Baker, G. E. Veith and E. A. Engelbrecht. St. Louis: Concordia Publishing House, 2005, 279-313.

Triglot Concordia. Tr. and ed. W. H. T. Dau and G. F. Bente. St. Louis: Concordia Publishing House, 1921.

Notes

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)

Plass, Ewald M. "Monasticism," in What Luther Says: An Anthology. St. Louis: Concordia Publishing House, 1959, 2:964.
^ Hillerbrand, Hans J. "Martin Luther," Encyclopaedia Britannica, 2007.
Fahlbusch, Erwin and Bromiley, Geoffrey William. The Encyclopedia of Christianity. Grand Rapids, MI: Leiden, Netherlands: Wm. B. Eerdmans; Brill, 1999–2003, 1:244.
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, CT: Yale University Press, 1989, ix–x.
Bainton, Roland. Here I Stand: a Life of Martin Luther. New York: Penguin, 1995, 269.
Bainton, Roland. Here I Stand: a Life of Martin Luther. New York: Penguin, 1995, 223.
Luther, Martin. "On the Jews and Their Lies," tr. Martin H. Bertram, in Sherman, Franklin. (ed.) Luther's Works. Philadelphia: Fortress Press, 1971, 47:268–72, hereafter cited as LW.
McKim, Donald K. (ed.) The Cambridge Companion to Martin Luther. New York: Cambridge University Press, 2003, 58; Berenbaum, Michael. "Anti-Semitism," Encyclopaedia Britannica, accessed January 2, 2007.
Brecht, Martin. Martin Luther. tr. James L. Schaaf, Philadelphia: Fortress Press, 1985–93, 1:3–5.
^ Rupp, Ernst Gordon. "Martin Luther," Encyclopædia Britannica, accessed 2006.
Brecht, Martin. Martin Luther. tr. James L. Schaaf, Philadelphia: Fortress Press, 1985–93, 1:48.
Schwiebert, E.G. Luther and His Times. St. Louis: Concordia Publishing House, 1950, 136.
Bainton, Roland. Here I Stand: a Life of Martin Luther. New York: Penguin, 1995, 40-42.
Kittelson, James. Luther The Reformer. Minneapolis: Augsburg Fortress Publishing House, 1986), 53.
Kittelson, James. Luther The Reformer. Minneapolis: Augsburg Fortress Publishing House, 1986, 79.
Bainton, Roland. Here I Stand: a Life of Martin Luther. New York: Penguin, 1995, 44-45.
Brecht, Martin. Martin Luther. tr. James L. Schaaf, Philadelphia: Fortress Press, 1985–93, 1:93.
Brecht, Martin. Martin Luther. tr. James L. Schaaf, Philadelphia: Fortress Press, 1985–93, 1:12-27.
Wriedt, Markus. "Luther's Theology," in The Cambridge Companion to Luther. New York: Cambridge University Press, 2003, 88–94.
Bouman, Herbert J. A. "The Doctrine of Justification in the Lutheran Confessions", Concordia Theological Monthly, November 26, 1955, No. 11:801.
Luther's Definition of Faith
Luther, Martin. "The Smalcald Articles," in Concordia: The Lutheran Confessions. (Saint Louis: Concordia Publishing House, 2005, 289, Part two, Article 1.
[http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/3944549.stm "Luther's lavatory thrills experts," BBC News, October 22, 2004. That Luther nailed his statements to the door of the church comes from a 1546 report by Philipp Melanchthon. Some scholars have questioned the accuracy of his account, noting that no contemporaneous evidence exists for it. (See Iserloh, Erwin. The Theses Were Not Posted. Toronto: Saunders of Toronto, Ltd., 1966.) Others have countered that no such evidence is necessary, because this action was the customary way of advertising an event on a university campus of Luther's day. (See Helmar Junghans, "Luther's Wittenberg," in The Cambridge Companion to Martin Luther, ed. Donald K. McKim (New York: Cambridge University Press, 2003), 26.)
Bainton, Roland. Here I Stand: a Life of Martin Luther. New York: Penguin, 1995, 60; Brecht, Martin. Martin Luther. tr. James L. Schaaf, Philadelphia: Fortress Press, 1985–93, 1:182; Kittelson, James. Luther The Reformer. Minneapolis: Augsburg Fortress Publishing House, 1986),104.
Brecht, Martin. Martin Luther. tr. James L. Schaaf, Philadelphia: Fortress Press, 1985–93, 1:204-205.
Treu, Martin. Martin Luther in Wittenberg: A Biographical Tour. Wittenberg: Saxon-Anhalt Luther Memorial Foundation, 2003, 31.
Papal Bull Exsurge Domine.
Schaff, Philip. History of the Christian Church. New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, 1910, 7:99; Polack, W.G. The Story of Luther. St. Louis: Concordia Publishing House, 1931, 45.
Macauley Jackson, Samuel and Gilmore, George William. (eds.) "Martin Luther", The New Schaff-Herzog Encyclopedia of Religious Knowledge, New York, London, Funk and Wagnalls Co., 1908–1914; Grand Rapids, Michigan: Baker Book House, 1951), 71.
Spitz, Lewis W. The Renaissance and Reformation Movements, St. Louis: Concordia Publishing House, 1987, 338.
Brecht, Martin. (tr. Wolfgang Katenz) "Luther, Martin," in Hillerbrand, Hans J. (ed.) Oxford Encyclopedia of the Reformation. New York: Oxford University Press, 1996, 2:463.
Macauley Jackson, Samuel and Gilmore, George William. (eds.) "Martin Luther", The New Schaff-Herzog Encyclopedia of Religious Knowledge, New York, London, Funk and Wagnalls Co., 1908–1914; Grand Rapids, Michigan: Baker Book House, 1951), 72.
"Edict of Worms", translated by De Lamar Jensen and Jacquelin Delbrouwire.
Schaff-Herzog, "Luther, Martin," 72.
Luther, Martin. "Letter 82," in Luther's Works. Jaroslav Jan Pelikan, Hilton C. Oswald and Helmut T. Lehmann (eds), Vol. 48: Letters I, Philadelphia: Fortress Press, 1999, c1963, 48:246. John, author of Revelation, had been exiled on the island of Patmos.
^ Schaff, Philip, History of the Christian Church, Vol VII, Ch IV.
Luther, Martin, Encyclopædia Britannica Online, retrieved 25 September 2006.
Martin Luther, "Let Your Sins Be Strong", a Letter From Luther to Melanchthon, August 1521, Project Wittenberg, retrieved 1 October 2006.
Schaff, Philip, History of the Christian Church, Vol VII, Ch V.
In a Greek letter to his friend Camerarius. The letter was published in the original Greek by W. Meyer, in the reports of the München Academy of Sciences, Nov. 4, 1876, pp. 601-604.The text is changed in the Corp. Reform ., I. 753. Melanchton calls Luther a very reckless man ( ἀνὴρ ὡς μάλιστα εὐχερής ), but hopes that he will become more solemn ( σεμνότερος).
^ Schaff, Philip. "Luther’s Marriage. 1525.", History of the Christian Church, Volume VII. Modern Christianity. The German Reformation. § 77.
"Martin Luther", Encyclopaedia Britannica 1911.
"Luther against the Peasants, The History Guide.
Luther, Martin. "Preface", Small Catechism.
Luther, Martin. Luther's Works. Philadelphia: Fortress Press, 1971, 50:172-173. The remark indicates that he saw himself as the mythological Saturn, who devoured 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.
Shaff, Philip. "Luther's Translation of the Bible", History of the Christian Church, New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, 1910. Schaff quotes Hegel's Philosophie der Geschichte, p. 503: "Luther hat die Autorität der Kirche verworfen und an ihre Stelle die Bibel und das Zeugniss des menschlichen Geistes gesetzt. Dass nun die Bibel selbst die Grundlage der christlichen Kirche geworden ist, ist von der grössten Wichtigkeit; jeder soll sich nun selbst daraus belehren, jeder sein Gewissen daraus bestimmen können. Diess ist die ungeheure Veränderung im Principe: die ganze Tradition und das Gebäude der Kirche wird problematisch und das Princip der Autorität der Kirche umgestossen. Die Uebersetzung, welche Luther von der Bibel gemacht hat, ist von unschätzbarem Werthe für das deutsche Volk gewesen. Dieses hat dadurch ein Volksbuch erhalten, wie keine Nation der katholischen Welt ein solches hat; sie haben wohl eine Unzahl von Gebetbüchlein, aber kein Grundbuch zur Belehrung des Volks. Trotz dem hat man in neueren Zeiten Streit deshalb erhoben, ob es zweckmässig sei, dem Volke die Bibel indie Hand zu geben; die wenigen Nachtheile, die dieses hat, werden doch bei weitem von den ungeheuren Vortheilen überwogen; die äusserlichen Geschichten, die dem Herzen und Verstande anstössig sein können, weiss der religiöse Sinn sehr wohl zu unterscheiden, und sich an das Substantielle haltend überwindet er sie."
Tyndale's New Testament, xv, xxvii.
Tyndale's New Testamemt, ix–x.
Schaff, Philip. History of the Christian Church, 8 vols., New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, 1910.
Schaff-Herzog, "Luther, Martin", 73.
^ Schaff-Herzog, "Luther, Martin", 74. Cite error: The named reference "Herzog74" was defined multiple times with different content (see the help page).
Luther's Works, 37:223–224.
Stöhr, Martin. "Die Juden und Martin Luther," in Kremers, Heinz et al (eds.) Martin Luther und die Juden; die Juden und Martin Luther. Neukirchener publishing house, Neukirchen Vluyn 1985, 1987 (2. Edition).p. 90. Taken from Michael, Robert. Holy Hatred: Christianity, Antisemitism, and the Holocaust. New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2006. See also Oberman, Heiko. Luther: Between Man and Devil. New Haven, 1989.
^ Noble, Graham. "Martin Luther and German anti-Semitism," History Review (2002) No. 42:1-2.
Luther, Martin. On the Jews and their Lies, 154, 167, 229, cited in Michael, Robert. Holy Hatred: Christianity, Antisemitism, and the Holocaust. New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2006.
Luther, "On the Jews and Their Lies," LW 47:268-271.
Michael, Robert. "Luther, Luther Scholars, and the Jews," Encounter, 46 (Autumn 1985) No.4:343.
Martin Luther. On the Jews and Their Lies, cited in Robert Michael, "Luther, Luther Scholars, and the Jews," Encounter 46 (Autumn 1985) No. 4:343-344.
Vincent Fettmilch, a Calvinist, reprinted On the Jews and their Lies in 1612 to stir up hatred against the Jews of Frankfurt. Two years later, riots in Frankfurt saw the deaths of 3,000 Jews and the expulsion of the rest. Fettmilch was executed by the Lutheran city authorities, but Robert Michael writes that his execution was for attempting to overthrow the authorities, not for his offenses against the Jews.
"The assertion that Luther's expressions of anti-Jewish sentiment have been of major and persistent influence in the centuries after the Reformation, and that there exists a continuity between Protestant anti-Judaism and modern racially oriented anti-Semitism, is at present wide-spread in the literature; since the Second World War it has understandably become the prevailing opinion." Johannes Wallmann, "The Reception of Luther's Writings on the Jews from the Reformation to the End of the 19th Century", Lutheran Quarterly, n.s. 1 (Spring 1987) 1:72-97.
For similar views, see:
- Berger, Ronald. Fathoming the Holocaust: A Social Problems Approach (New York: Aldine De Gruyter, 2002), 28.
- Rose, Paul Lawrence. "Revolutionary Antisemitism in Germany from Kant to Wagner," (Princeton University Press, 1990), quoted in Berger, 28);
- Shirer, William. The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich, (New York: Simon and Schuster, 1960).
- Johnson, Paul. A History of the Jews (New York: HarperCollins Publishers, 1987), 242.
- Poliakov, Leon. History of Anti-Semitism: From the Time of Christ to the Court Jews. (N.P.: University of Pennsylvania Press, 2003), 216.
- Berenbaum, Michael. The World Must Know. (Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press and the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, 1993, 2000), 8–9.
Grunberger, Richard. The 12-Year Reich: A Social History of Nazi German 1933-1945 (NP:Holt, Rinehart and Winston, 1971), 465.
Himmler wrote: "what Luther said and wrote about the Jews. No judgment could be sharper."
Ellis, Marc H. Hitler and the Holocaust, Christian Anti-Semitism", (NP: Baylor University Center for American and Jewish Studies, Spring 2004), Slide 14.
Brecht 3:351.
Johannes Wallmann, "The Reception of Luther's Writings on the Jews from the Reformation to the End of the 19th Century", Lutheran Quarterly, n.s. 1 (Spring 1987) 1:72-97.
Siemon-Netto, The Fabricated Luther, 17-20.
Siemon-Netto, "Luther and the Jews," Lutheran Witness 123 (2004) No. 4:19, 21.
Hillerbrand, Hans J. "Martin Luther," Encyclopaedia Britannica, 2007. Hillerbrand writes: "is strident pronouncements against the Jews, especially toward the end of his life, have raised the question of whether Luther significantly encouraged the development of German anti-Semitism. Although many scholars have taken this view, this perspective puts far too much emphasis on Luther and not enough on the larger peculiarities of German history."
For similar views, see:
- Bainton, Roland, 297;
- Briese, Russell. "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;
- Gritsch, Eric. "Was Luther Anti-Semitic?", Christian History, No. 3:39, 12.; *James M. Kittelson, Kittelson, James M., Luther the Reformer, 274;
- Richard. Martin Luther, 377;
- Oberman, Heiko. The Roots of Anti-Semitism: In the Age of Renaissance and Reformation (Philadelphia: Fortress, 1984), 102;
- Rupp, Gordon. Martin Luther, 75;
- Siemon-Netto, Uwe. Lutheran Witness, 19.
Berger, 28.
Rose as quoted in Berger, 28.
Wilhelm Röpke (1946). The Solution to the German Problem. G.P. Putnam's Sons. pp. pp.117. {{cite book}}: |pages= has extra text (help), as cited in Waite, Robert G. L. The Psychopathic God: Adolf Hitler, pp.251, Da Capo Press, 1993, ISBN 0-306-80514-6
^ Valenza, Emanuel. ""Christ Among Us? No. Heresy and Revolution, Yes!", The Angellus March 1985, Volume VIII, Number 3, citing "Luther," The Catholic Encyclopedia, Vol. 9, 1913.
Luther's Works 41:259-376.
Susan C. Karant-Nunn and Merry E. Wiesner-Hanks, Luther on Women: A Sourcebook, (Cambridge: Cambridge U. Press, 2003), 228.
Martin Luther, Luther's Little Instruction Book, Trans. Robert E. Smith, (Fort Wayne: Project Wittenberg, 2004), Small Catechism 1.2.
Sermon on Exodus, 1526, WA 16, 551 f.
WA Tr 4, 51-52, no. 3979 quoted and translated in Karant-Nunn, 236. The original Latin and German text is: "25, Augusti multa dicebant de veneficis et incantatricibus, quae ova ex gallinis et lac et butyrum furarentur. Respondit Lutherus: Cum illis nulla habenda est misericordia. Ich wolte sie selber verprennen, more legis, ubi sacerdotes reos lapidare incipiebant. Cf. also WA 1, 403 & 407; LW 26, 190; LW 30, 91; LW 2, 11; WA Tr 2, 504-05, no. 2529b; WA Tr 3, 131-32, no. 2982b; WA Tr 3, 445-46, no. 3601; WA Tr 4, 10-11, no. 3921; WA Tr 4, 43-44, no. 3969; WA Tr 4, 416, no. 4646; WA Tr 4, 222, no. 6836. All are quoted and translated in Karant-Nunn, 230-237.
Edwards, 9.
Spitz, 354.
Luther, Martin. Sermon No. 8, "Predigt über Mat. 11:25, Eisleben gehalten," February 15, 1546, Luthers Werke, Weimar 1914, 51:196-197.
Poliakov, Léon. From the Time of Christ to the Court Jews, Vanguard Press, p. 220.
Mackinnon, James. Luther and the Reformation. Vol. IV, (New York: Russell & Russell, 1962, p. 204.
Luther, Martin. Admonition against the Jews, added to his final sermon, cited in Oberman, Heiko. Luther: Man Between God and the Devil, New York: Image Books, 1989, p. 294.
Oberman, Heiko, Luther: Man Between God and the Devil. New York; Doubleday, 1990, 3-4
cf. Brecht, 3:369–379.
Kellermann, James A. (translator) "The Last Written Words of Luther: Holy Ponderings of the Reverend Father Doctor Martin Luther". February 16, 1546.
Original German and Latin of Luther's last written words is: "Wir sein pettler. Hoc est verum." Heinrich Bornkamm, Luther's World of Thought, tr. Martin H. Bertram (St. Louis: Concordia Publishing House, 1958), 291.
"Martin Luther", Onlineliterature.com, accessed May 2007.
Edwards, Mar U. "Luther's Last Battles", Concordia Theological Quarterly, Vol. 48, Nos. 2 & 3, April-July 1984.
Internet Medieval Sourcebook, Fordham University, retrieved May 18, 2007

Bibliography/further reading

Bainton, Roland H. Here I Stand: a Life of Martin Luther. New York: Penguin, 1995 (1950). ISBN 0-452-01146-9.
Berenbaum, Michael. "Anti-Semitism," Encyclopaedia Britannica, accessed January 2, 2007.
Bornkamm, Heinrich. Luther in Mid-Career 1521-1530. Tr. E. Theodore Bachmann. Philadelphia: Fortress Press, 1983. ISBN 0-8006-0692-2.
Bornkamm, Heinrich. Luther's World of Thought. Martin H. Bertram, trans. St. Louis: Concordia Publishing House, 1958. ISBN 0-7586-0832-2
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.
d'Aubigne, Jean Henri Merle. The Triumph of Truth: A Life of Martin Luther. Tr. Henry White. Ed. Mark Sidwell. Bob Jones University Press, 1996. ISBN 0-89084-876-9.
Dickens, A.G. Martin Luther and the Reformation. New York: Harper & Row, 1967. ASIN: B0007DY59M.
Haile, H.G. Luther: An Experiment in Biography. Garden City, New York: Doubleday & Co., 1980. ISBN 0-385-15960-9.
Hillerbrand, Hans J. "Martin Luther," Encyclopaedia Britannica, 2007.
Kittelson, James M. Luther the Reformer: The Story of the Man and His Career. Minneapolis: Augsburg Publishing House, 1986. ISBN 0-8066-2240-7.
Kolb, Robert. Martin Luther As Prophet, Teacher, Hero: Images of the Reformer, 1520-1620. Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Book House, 2000. ISBN 0-8010-2214-2.
Lueker, Erwin et al (eds.) "Luther, Martin", Christian Cyclopedia. St. Louis: Concordia Publishing House, 2000.
Manns, Peter. Martin Luther: An Illustrated Biography. New York: Crossroad Publishing Co., 1982. ISBN 0-8245-0510-7
Marty, Martin. Martin Luther: A Penguin Life. New York: Penguin, 2004. ISBN 0-670-03272-7
McKim, Donald K. (ed.) The Cambridge Companion to Martin Luther. New York: Cambridge University Press, 2003, 58.
Michael, Robert. Holy Hatred: Christianity, Antisemitism, and the Holocaust. New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2006.
MacCulloch, Diarmaid. The Reformation: Europe's House Divided 1490-1700. London: BBC Books, 2003. ISBN 0-7139-9370-7
Noble, Graham. "Martin Luther and German anti-Semitism," History Review (2002) No. 42:1-2.
Nohl, Frederick. Luther: Biography of a Reformer. St. Louis: Concordia Publishing House, 2003. ISBN 0-7586-0651-6
Oberman, Heiko A. Luther: Man Between God and the Devil. New York: Doubleday, 1989. ISBN 0-385-42278-4
Oberman, Heiko A. The Roots of Anti-Semitism in the Age of Renaissance and Reformation. James I. Porter, trans. Philadelphia: Fortress Press, 1984. ISBN 0-8006-0709-0
Plass, Ewald M. This Is Luther: A Character Study. St. Louis: Concordia Publishing House, 1948 . ISBN 0-570-03942-8.
Plass, Ewald M. "Monasticism," in What Luther Says: An Anthology. St. Louis: Concordia Publishing House, 1959, 2:964.
Polack, W.G. The Story of Luther. St. Louis: Concordia Publishing House, 1931.
Reu, John Michael. Luther and the Scriptures. Columbus, Ohio: The Wartburg Press, 1944. .
Reu, John Michael. Luther's German Bible: An Historical Presentation Together with a Collection of Sources. Columbus, Ohio: The Lutheran Book Concern, 1934. .
Ritter, Gerhard. Luther: His Life and Work. John Riches, trans. New York: Harper & Row, 1963. ISBN 0-313-20347-4.
Schaff, Philip. History of the Christian Church. 8 vols. New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, 1910.
Schwiebert, E.G. Luther and His Times. St. Louis: Concordia Publishing House, 1950. ISBN 0-570-03246-6.
Siemon-Netto, Uwe. The Fabricated Luther: the Rise and Fall of the Shirer Myth. Peter L. Berger, Foreword. St. Louis: Concordia Publishing House, 1995. ISBN 0-570-04800-1.
Stöhr, Martin. "Die Juden und Martin Luther," in Kremers, Heinz et al (eds.) Martin Luther und die Juden; die Juden und Martin Luther. Neukirchener publishing house, Neukirchen Vluyn 1985, 1987 (2. Edition). p. 90.
Smith, Preserved.
Tjernagel, Neelak S. Martin Luther and the Jewish People. Milwaukee: Northwestern Publishing House, 1985. ISBN 0-8100-0213-2
Todd, John M. Luther: A Life. New York: Crossroad Publishing Company, 1982. ISBN 0-8245-0479-8 (Also at )
Triglot Concordia. ed., trans. Bente, F. et al. Historical introductions by F. Bente. St. Louis: Concordia Publishing House, 1921.
Westerholm, Stephen. Israel's Law and the Church's Faith. Grand Rapids: William B. Eerdmans, 1988. ISBN 0-8028-0288-5

Audio

Martin Luther: Hymns, Ballads, Chants, Truth.

Films

1953: Martin Luther, theatrical film, with Niall MacGinnis as Luther; directed by Irving Pichel. Academy Award nominations for black & white cinematography and art/set direction. Re-released in 2002 on DVD in 4 languages.
1974: Luther, theatrical film (MPAA rating: PG), with Stacy Keach as Luther. Adapted from John Osborne's play.
1981: Where Luther Walked, documentary featuring the late Roland Bainton as guide and narrator, directed by Ray Christensen (VHS released in 1992), ISBN 1-56364-012-0
1983: Martin Luther: Heretic, TV presentation with Jonathan Pryce as Luther, directed by Norman Stone.
1983: Martin Luther: An Eye on Augsburg, a film funded by the Northern Illinois District of the LCMS with Rev. Robert Clausen as Luther.
2001: Opening the Door to Luther, travelogue hosted by Rick Steves. Sponsored by the ELCA.
2002: Martin Luther, a historical film from the Lion TV/PBS Empires series, with Timothy West as Luther, narrated by Liam Neeson and directed by Cassian Harrison.
2003: Luther, theatrical release (MPAA rating: PG-13), with Joseph Fiennes as Luther and directed by Eric Till. Partially funded by American and German Lutheran groups.

Online information on Luther and his work

Martin Luther

Works

Ninety-five Theses (1517)
Sermon on Indulgences and Grace (1518)
To the Christian Nobility of the German Nation (1520)
On the Babylonian Captivity of the Church (1520)
On the Freedom of a Christian (1520)
Against Henry, King of the English (1522)
Luther Bible (1522, 1534)
The Adoration of the Sacrament (1523)
Formula missae (1523)
Flood prayer (1523)
Against the Murderous, Thieving Hordes of Peasants (1525)
On the Bondage of the Will (1525)
The Sacrament of the Body and Blood of Christ—Against the Fanatics (1526)
Deutsche Messe (1526)
Confession Concerning Christ's Supper (1528)
On War Against the Turk (1529)
Small Catechism (1529)
Articles of Schwabach (1529)
Large Catechism (1529)
Smalcald Articles (1537)
On the Councils and the Church (1539)
On the Jews and Their Lies (1543)
Vom Schem Hamphoras (1543)
Luther's Table Talk (1566)
Weimar edition of Luther's works

List of hymns	First Lutheran hymnal (1524) Erfurt Enchiridion (1524) Eyn geystlich Gesangk Buchleyn (1524) "Es spricht der Unweisen Mund wohl" (1524) "Gott sei gelobet und gebenedeiet" (1524) "A Mighty Fortress Is Our God" (1529) "Sie ist mir lieb, die werte Magd" (1535) "Christ unser Herr zum Jordan kam" (1543)

Topics
and events

People

Luther sites

Film and theatre

Luther Monuments

Luther Monument, Washington D.C.
Luther Monument, Worms

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Categories:

Early life and the development of his ideas

Birth and education

Monastic and academic life

Justification by faith

The 95 Theses and the start of the Reformation

Response of the papacy

Widening breach

Excommunication

Exile

The Diet of Worms

Exile at Wartburg Castle

Return to Wittenberg

Marriage and family

Peasants' War

Catechisms

Luther's translation of the Bible

Liturgy and church government

Eucharist controversy

Augsburg confession

Philip of Hesse controversy

Luther and antisemitism

Luther, the Pope, and the Council of Trent

Luther on witchcraft

Final years and death

Recent trends in research

See also

Works

Notes

Bibliography/further reading