Need well-studied Lutheran to find a source...

[ahs]

I recently ran across an article that discussed Luther’s teaching against contraception…which I have no doubt he held. But there is one quote in particular that I want to send to a friend, but not until I can find the actual source (don’t want to get called out for making something up and not being able to back up the quote).

Here is the quote:

“How great, therefore, the wickedness of [fallen] human nature is! How many girls there are who prevent conception and kill and expel tender fetuses, although procreation is the work of God! Indeed, some spouses who marry and live together…have various ends in mind, but rarely children.”

And all I can find is that it came from “AE, 3”…but I’ve got no idea what “AE” stands for.
Anyone familiar with the primary source and a link to it?

Thanks.

 

[Louishacker]

I went searching the web and found this: "Luther’s Works:
American Edition [hereinafter AE] (St. Louis: Concordia Publishing House and Philadelphia: Fortress Press, 1955

It is a multivolume set of all of Luther’s works in English. Ihhave seen the sey in the seminary library.

 

[ahs]

I went searching the web and found this: "Luther’s Works:
American Edition [hereinafter AE] (St. Louis: Concordia Publishing House and Philadelphia: Fortress Press, 1955

It is a multivolume set of all of Luther’s works in English. Ihhave seen the sey in the seminary library.

Thanks for the info. Dang, so I guess we are just supposed to take it at someone’s word that this is accurate? I’m not doubting it…seen it quoted more than one place, and I have no doubt that Luther’s views would have been quite similar to that expressed in *Casti connubii *and Humane vitae… but if I’m going to use this quote I want to be able to at least cite the right source and KNOW that it is accurate.

 

[JonNC]

Thanks for the info. Dang, so I guess we are just supposed to take it at someone’s word that this is accurate? I’m not doubting it…seen it quoted more than one place, and I have no doubt that Luther’s views would have been quite similar to that expressed in *Casti connubii *and Humane vitae… but if I’m going to use this quote I want to be able to at least cite the right source and KNOW that it is accurate.

Luther’s Works is considered accurate. The the 2 publishing houses mention: Concordia Publishing House and Fortress Press are the publishing houses of the LCMS and the ELCA respectively.

Jon

 

[hn160]

I recently ran across an article that discussed Luther’s teaching against contraception…which I have no doubt he held. But there is one quote in particular that I want to send to a friend, but not until I can find the actual source (don’t want to get called out for making something up and not being able to back up the quote).

Here is the quote:

“How great, therefore, the wickedness of [fallen] human nature is! How many girls there are who prevent conception and kill and expel tender fetuses, although procreation is the work of God! Indeed, some spouses who marry and live together…have various ends in mind, but rarely children.”

And all I can find is that it came from “AE, 3”…but I’ve got no idea what “AE” stands for.
Anyone familiar with the primary source and a link to it?

Thanks.

This comes from Luther’s Works A.E. Vol. 4 on Genesis 25:4:
How great, therefore, the wickedness of human nature is! How many girls there are who prevent conception and kill and expel tender fetuses, although procreation is the work of God! Indeed, some spouses who marry and live together in a respectable manner have various ends in mind, but rarely childre
Luther, Martin: Pelikan, Jaroslav Jan (Hrsg.) ; Oswald, Hilton C. (Hrsg.) ; Lehmann, Helmut T. (Hrsg.): Luther’s Works, Vol. 4 : Lectures on Genesis: Chapters 21-25. Saint Louis : Concordia Publishing House, 1999, c1964 (Luther’s Works 4), S. 4:304

 

[ahs]

So sorry, I lost track of my own thread!! Thanks so much for the info JonNC and hn160. That was just what I was looking for!

 

[TertiumQuid]

And all I can find is that it came from “AE, 3”…but I’ve got no idea what “AE” stands for.

This a problem rampant on the Internet, and in many cases particular to Roman Catholic apologetic Internet pages. If one goes back 10 or more years on the Internet, online Roman Catholic apologists frequently took their Luther quotes from secondary sources, and many of these secondary sources were out-of-print or referenced old out-of-print editions of Luther’s works in German or Latin. Needless to say, I spent a lot of time and money locating sources in regard to Luther.

From my toil over this sort of stuff, I eventually took the time to put together a little guide on interpreting references to Luther’s works. It could probably be updated at this point, but it will help anyone wishing to try and understand what the references mean:

Cracking the Code: Editions of Luther’s Works

Some Internet apologists are getting better with citations. It’s a lot easier now to cite Luther. It’s also a lot easier now to look up many of the old references mentioned. I also save a lot of time and money these days, thanks to Al Gore inventing the Internet.

Regards,

James