Hello Church Militant,
Thank you for your interest in this subject.
Church Militant:
(The Works of Luther, English translation by Pelikan, Concordia, St. Louis, Vol. 7, page 572)
Luther’s Works volume 7 (edited by Jaraslov Pelikan St Louis: Concordia Publishing House, 1965) does not have a “page 572”. The last text page of Luther’s works Volume 7 is 377. Apparently, your copy has an extra 195 pages, or either the
reference is bogus. The later is probably the case.
Church Militant:
Works of Luther, Vol. 11, pages 319-320; Vol. 6, page 510.)
Luther’s Works volume 6 (edited by Jaraslov Pelikan St Louis: Concordia Publishing House, 1970) does not have a “page 510”. The last text page of Luther’s works Volume 6 is 407. Apparently, your copy has an extra 103 pages, or either the
reference is bogus. The later is probably the case.
Luther’s Works Volume 11 does have pages 319-320, but does not contain anything even remotely similar to the quote you provided on those pages, nor does it occur on any other page in volume 11 (to the best of my knowledge).
Please note, the above comments are in regard to accurate citations, not in regard to whether or not Luther actually said what you have quoted him as saying.
Church Militant:
Mother of God
Martin Luther: “In this work whereby she was made the Mother of God, so many and such good things were given her that no one can grasp them… Not only was Mary the mother of Him who is born [in Bethlehem], but of Him who, before the world, was eternally born of the Father, from a Mother in time and at the same time man and God.”
Had you read the links I provided, you would have noted I never denied Luther’s use of the title “Mother of God”, nor did I deny Luther’s belief in the perpetual virginity of Mary. For my perspective on this, see:
ntrmin.org/Luthers%20Theology%20of%20Mary.htm
ntrmin.org/Respone%20to%20Armstrong%20on%20Luther%20and%20Mary.htm
Further, my original posting of these links was prompted by Frank Roman stating, * “Luther was always devoted to Mary, even after the reformation”* and his providing of a link to one of Dave Armstrong’s Mary/Luther web pages.
Simply because Luther used the title “Mother of God” and also believed in Mary’s perpetual virginity does not mean Luther was always devoted to Mary. This does not follow. A significant insight I have gleaned from studying Luther’s Mariology is that Luther didn’t really place a profound emphasis on Mariology. Author David Wright agrees:
“We must at the outset keep our subject in proper perspective. Mary was not a central or prominent issue in the sixteenth-century Reformation. It is important to emphasize the point… There was, I think, no single treatise on Mary from the Protestant side—if we except sermons and expositions of relevant biblical passages, such as the Magnificat. Surprisingly little is said about Mary in the Reformation confessions—a reticence which in turn is largely responsible for the extensive silence about Mary in the theological systematicians of the age of confessional orthodoxy.”
source: David Wright (editor), Chosen By God: Mary in Evangelical Perspective, 161
Hence, I deny the position advocated by Dave Armstrong that,
“Luther was extraordinarily devoted to the Blessed Virgin Mary”. Armstrong’s words
“extraordinarily devoted” are far too strong when one actually delves into Luther’s Works. Catholic scholar William Cole concurs:
“…it would be a mistake to think of Luther as being preoccupied with Mary” (William Cole, “Was Luther a Devotee of Mary?” Marian Studies XXI (1970), 110.)
It is striking how little Luther launches into deep theological discussions about the Virgin Mary, and even when he does, they are in most instances, sparse, inconsequential, passing references, or tangential comments. One would think that Luther’s
extraordinary devotion would be overly obvious, spelled out in detailed numerous treatises similar to St. Alphonsus Liguori (who really can be said to have been “extraordinarily devoted” to Mary beyond any reasonable doubt). Such is not the case. Treatises and passages with the depth of Luther’s early exposition on the Magnificat are few in the totality of Luther’s overall work. The main point of Luther’s exposition of the Magnificat was not even Mariological per se, but rather a treatise to understand God’s work in law and gospel.
Regards,
James Swan
