Interesting Martin Luther Quote list

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If anyone out there has any interesting quotes by Martin Luther… Please add them to this thread. I am looking for quotes by him that show contradiction/fallacy in his teaching. I’ll start with one of my favorites, which was also the source for my signature line:

“I never approved of a schism, nor will I approve of it for all eternity. . . . That the Roman Church is more honored by God than all others is not to be doubted. St, Peter and St. Paul, forty-six Popes, some hundreds of thousands of martyrs, have laid down their lives in its communion, having overcome Hell and the world; so that the eyes of God rest on the Roman church with special favor. Though nowadays everything is in a wretched state, it is no ground for separating from the Church. On the contrary, the worse things are going, the more should we hold close to her, for it is not by separating from the Church that we can make her better. We must not separate from God on account of any work of the devil, nor cease to have fellowship with the children of God who are still abiding in the pale of Rome on account of the multitude of the ungodly. There is no sin, no amount of evil, which should be permitted to dissolve the bond of charity or break the bond of unity of the body. For love can do all things, and nothing is difficult to those who are united.”
Martin Luther to Pope Leo X, January 6, 1519

more than a year after the Ninety-Five Theses***
 
I haven’t read anything of his. Thanks for this post. I saw a documentary on him on PBS (obviously very anit Catholic) that was informative. though it was meant to put him in a positive light, he sounded a little…crazy.
I would probably be to my advantage to learn more about him and what he said so as to better understand our Protestant brothers and sisters. Any suggested reading?
 
“I would rather drink blood with a Papist than wine with a Zwinglian”

-Martin Luther
 
Here’s an interesting one:

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. Peter 3:13) are looking forward to a new heaven and a new earth where justice will reign. It suffices that through God’s glory we have recognized the Lamb who takes away the sin of the world. No sin can separate us from Him, even if we were to kill or commit adultery thousands of times each day. Do you think such an exalted Lamb paid merely a small price with a meager sacrifice for our sins? Pray hard for you are quite a sinner.

Let Your Sins Be Strong: A Letter From Luther to Melanchthon Letter no. 99, 1 August 1521, From the Wartburg
 
“Reason is the devil’s whore.” – Luther

Not sure the source, a fuller quote may be this…

“And I sat in my heap of pain until the words emerged and opened out, 'The just shall live by faith. My pain vanished, my bowels flushed and I could get up. I could see the life I’d lost. No man is just because he does just works… This I know; reason is the devil’s whore, born of one stinking goat called Aristotle, which believes that good works make a good man. But the truth is that the just shall live by faith alone. I need no more than my sweet redeemer and mediator, Jesus Christ.”

This article explains Luther wasn’t necessarily against all philosophy (but he did hate Aristotle). Another famous quote:

“Unless I am convinced by the testimony of the Scriptures or by clear reason, I am bound by the Scriptures I have quoted and my conscience is captive to the Word of God. May God help me. Amen.” (Diet of Worms, 1521)

So Luther had a place for reason it seems when it agreed with him.

Phil P
 
**“We concede – as we must – that so much of what they [the Catholic Church] say is true: that the papacy has God’s word and the office of the apostles, and that we have received Holy Scriptures, Baptism, the Sacrament, and the pulpit from them. What would we know of these if it were not for them?” **
Sermon on the gospel of St. John, chaps. 14 - 16 (1537), in vol. 24 of LUTHER’S WORKS,
St. Louis, Mo., Concordia, 1961, 304
 
Letter to Melanchthon, August 1,1521 Luther’s Works, vol. 48
"If you are a preacher of grace, then preach a true and not a fictitious grace; if grace is true, you must bear a true and not a fictitious sin. God does not save people who are only fictitious sinners. Be a sinner and sin boldly, but believe and rejoice in Christ even more boldly… as long as we are here [in this world] we have to sin… No sin will separate us from the Lamb, even though we commit fornication and murder a thousand times a day."
 
“Heretics are not to be disputed with, but to be condemned unheard, and whilst they perish by fire, the faithful ought to pursue the evil to its source, and bathe their heads in the blood of the Catholic bishops, and of the Pope, who is the devil in disguise.”
 
The man was quite disturbed, Lutherans admittably do not follow all of what he taught. I heard him described as two rugs sown tegether, one protestant, one Catholic. He just couldn’t pick one sometimes.
 
“[Catholics] say that we must believe in Christ and that faith is the foundation of salvation, but they say that this faith does not justify unless it is “formed by love.” This is not the truth of the Gospel; it is a falsehood and pretense … For faith that takes hold of Christ, the Son of God, and is adorned by Him is the faith that justifies, not a faith that includes love. … we refuse to concede … that faith formed by love justifies.” (LW 26, 88-90)

We refuse to concede that faith formed by love justifies? What the???
 
Even Martin Luther preached after his break with Rome on the Feast of the Visitation (July 2, 1532) –

“She, the Lady above heaven and earth, must have a heart so humble that she might have no shame in washing the swaddling clothes or preparing a bath for St. John the Baptist, like a servant girl. What humility! It would surely have been more just to have arranged for her a golden coach, pulled by 4,000 horses, and to cry and proclaim as the carriage proceeded: ‘Here passes the woman who is raised FAR ABOVE all women, indeed above the WHOLE human race.’”

Five years later, preaching on the same feast day, Luther said –

“She was not filled with pride by this praise…this immense praise: ‘No woman is like unto thee! Thou art more than an EMPRESS or a QUEEN…blessed above all nobility, wisdom, or saintliness!’”

**“We are compelled to concede to the papists that they have the Word of God; that we received it from them, and that without them we should have had no knowledge of it at all.” **
**“The veneration of Mary is inscribed in the very depths of the human heart.” **[Martin Luther, Weimar edition of Martin Luther’s Works (Translation by William J. Cole) 10, III, p.313.]

"Is Christ only to be adored? Or is the holy Mother of God rather not to be honoured? This is the woman who crushed the Serpent’s head. Hear us. For your Son denies you nothing." [Martin Luther, Weimar edition of Martin Luther’s Works, English translation edited by J. Pelikan, Volume 51, 128-129.]Luther made this statement in his last sermon at Wittenberg in January 1546.
 
*Mary the Mother of God

*Throughout his life Luther maintained without change the historic Christian affirmation that Mary was the Mother of God:

"She is rightly called not only the mother of the man, but also the Mother of God … It is certain that Mary is the Mother of the real and true God."1

*Perpetual Virginity

*Again throughout his life Luther held that Mary’s perpetual virginity was an article of faith for all Christians - and interpreted Galatians 4:4 to mean that Christ was “born of a woman” alone.

"It is an article of faith that Mary is Mother of the Lord and still a Virgin."2

*The Immaculate Conception

*Yet again the Immaculate Conception was a doctrine Luther defended to his death (as confirmed by Lutheran scholars like Arthur Piepkorn). Like Augustine, Luther saw an unbreakable link between Mary’s divine maternity, perpetual virginity and Immaculate Conception. Although his formulation of the doctrine of the Immaculate Conception was not clear-cut, he held that her soul was devoid of sin from the beginning:

"But the other conception, namely the infusion of the soul, it is piously and suitably believed, was without any sin, so that while the soul was being infused, she would at the same time be cleansed from original sin and adorned with the gifts of God to receive the holy soul thus infused. And thus, in the very moment in which she began to live, she was without all sin…"3

*Assumption

*Although he did not make it an article of faith, Luther said of the doctrine of the Assumption:

"There can be no doubt that the Virgin Mary is in heaven. How it happened we do not know."4

*Honor to Mary

*Despite his unremitting criticism of the traditional doctrines of Marian mediation and intercession, to the end Luther continued to proclaim that Mary should be honored. He made it a point to preach on her feast days.

"The veneration of Mary is inscribed in the very depths of the human heart."5

"Is Christ only to be adored? Or is the holy Mother of God rather not to be honoured? This is the woman who crushed the Serpent’s head. Hear us. For your Son denies you nothing."6 Luther made this statement in his last sermon at Wittenberg in January 1546.
 
I am a Lutheran, LCMS to be exact. Catholics board commonly use ad hominem attacks on Luther to discredit him. I feel I need to clarify some things about Luther and Lutherans in general:
  1. Luther was fallible.
    a. He was an admitted sinner, and struggled at times with his theology.
    b. He spoke in a very harsh tone, but if you look at the writings of the day it was normal to speak so vitriolic. Remember people were being killed over this, and he himself had to go into hiding.
    c. Lutherans DO NOT believe that Luther was infallible, and his theology while very good was not perfect.
  2. Luther was troubled.
    a. Most of his younger years thought he was going to hell.
    b. The Catholic Church did an inadequate job of teaching salvation in Luther’s times; if they would have he wouldn’t have been so troubled.
    c. The Pope was corrupt, he was angry with this.
    d. The Catholic Church was corrupt, he was angry with this.
    e. Luther’s spiritual journey was about salvation, not revolution.
  3. Luther DID NOT want a schism in the church.
    a. This is clear from what was posted.
  4. Luther realized what the outcome of sola scriptura would be.
    a. He knew full well that instead of one Pope that everyman would see himself has a pope.
    b. He believed that the Catholic Church was so corrupt, that the ensuing theological anarchy would be better than leaving scripture to the Catholic Church alone.
    c. He regretted many things that happened, but always stood by his decision because he believed that Catholic teachings (about Justification and Sanctification) were sending people to hell.
I would implore the Catholics on this board to argue theology over ad hominem attacks. Every time a Protestant mentions a wicked pope, the Catholic always points to him being theologically correct despite the Pope’s horrid sins. We are all sinners, Popes and Luther included.

Be aware as well that Luther’s theology was not perfect, but that does not mean that every word out of his mouth is a lie. He affirmed much of the Catholic faith, as do Lutherans do today. In fact, many Catholics would be amazed at how much of our Sunday morning services look like the Catholic Church’s mass. We are some of the most liturgical Protestants around.

If you want to read more about Lutheran theology please visit www.lcms.org

If you have specific questions about Lutheran theology please feel free to ask me.

Much of what you read on this board about what Lutheran’s believe is incorrect.
 
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Psalm89:
Much of what you read on this board about what Lutheran’s believe is incorrect.
Click to expand...
Do at least some leaders and members of the Lutheran Church of the Missouri Synod believe that the Pope is the anti-christ? I’m just asking because that was what I was told when I was in LCMS.

P.S. Yes, it’s true, the some churches in the LCMS have retained the liturgy. Luther was very liturgical. But mostly the LCMS is going in the direction of the entertainment service.

Peace in Christ +
 
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jjanderson:
Do at least some leaders and members of the Lutheran Church of the Missouri Synod believe that the Pope is the anti-christ? I’m just asking because that was what I was told when I was in LCMS.

P.S. Yes, it’s true, the some churches in the LCMS have retained the liturgy. Luther was very liturgical. But mostly the LCMS is going in the direction of the entertainment service.

Peace in Christ +
Click to expand...
In the past Lutherans taught that the Pope is the Anti-Christ, but as far as I know only in the sense that papist teachings are wrong and can lead people to hell.

I don’t believe that any Lutheran theologian taught that the Pope is the actual anti-christ from Revelations.

When my mom was a child she said that she wasn’t even allowed to talk to Catholics for the most part. It went the other way as well, and both thought the other was going to hell. She is retired now but spent most of her teaching career in Catholic schools. She attended mass everyday with the kids, but didn’t take communion of course. My father is a retired LCMS minister and always had a great deal of respect for the Catholic church and taught us kids the same. His dispute, like mine is theological.

The LCMS church I go to is liturgical in the early service, it gets more contemporary the later it gets. 😛

I am with Luther, I will send a young Christian to a Catholic church before I send him to a most other churches if there isn’t anything else in town–especially non-denoms.
 
jimmy said:
Mary the Mother of God

Throughout his life Luther maintained without change the historic Christian affirmation that Mary was the Mother of God:

"She is rightly called not only the mother of the man, but also the Mother of God … It is certain that Mary is the Mother of the real and true God."1

Perpetual Virginity

Again throughout his life Luther held that Mary’s perpetual virginity was an article of faith for all Christians - and interpreted Galatians 4:4 to mean that Christ was “born of a woman” alone.

"It is an article of faith that Mary is Mother of the Lord and still a Virgin."2

The Immaculate Conception

Yet again the Immaculate Conception was a doctrine Luther defended to his death (as confirmed by Lutheran scholars like Arthur Piepkorn). Like Augustine, Luther saw an unbreakable link between Mary’s divine maternity, perpetual virginity and Immaculate Conception. Although his formulation of the doctrine of the Immaculate Conception was not clear-cut, he held that her soul was devoid of sin from the beginning:

"But the other conception, namely the infusion of the soul, it is piously and suitably believed, was without any sin, so that while the soul was being infused, she would at the same time be cleansed from original sin and adorned with the gifts of God to receive the holy soul thus infused. And thus, in the very moment in which she began to live, she was without all sin…"3

Assumption

Although he did not make it an article of faith, Luther said of the doctrine of the Assumption:

"There can be no doubt that the Virgin Mary is in heaven. How it happened we do not know."4

Honor to Mary

Despite his unremitting criticism of the traditional doctrines of Marian mediation and intercession, to the end Luther continued to proclaim that Mary should be honored. He made it a point to preach on her feast days.

"The veneration of Mary is inscribed in the very depths of the human heart."5

"Is Christ only to be adored? Or is the holy Mother of God rather not to be honoured? This is the woman who crushed the Serpent’s head. Hear us. For your Son denies you nothing."6 Luther made this statement in his last sermon at Wittenberg in January 1546.
Click to expand...

I understand that both Calvin and Zwingli also believed in the perpetual virginity of the Blessed Virgin Mary, and had great devotion to her. I wonder how Protestantism today has gotten so far from that.
 
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