JS Bach,BWV 80,Coir: Ein Feste Burg ist Unser Gott;Munchener Chor & Orchester,Karl Richter
Bach’s arrangement of Martin Luther’s “A Mighty Fortress Is Our God”

From Martin Luther: Hymns, Ballads, Chants, Truth page 26-27:
A paraphrase of Psalm 12, this hymn was written in 1523, the same time as many of Luther’s other psalm-hymns. It was published in the first Lutheran hymnal, Achtliederbuch, of 1524. Luther’s version of the psalm reflects much of his own experience in the early days of the Reformation. Though several different tunes were used for this text with various levels of success, the present tune dates from 1524 and is possibly by Luther himself.

Prelude: Ach Gott vom Himmel
George Friedrich Kauffmann, 1679-1735
Publisher: Bärenreiter-Verlag, Kassel

LYRICS – O LORD, LOOK DOWN FROM HEAVEN, BEHOLD
Martin Luther 1524

1. O Lord, look down from heav’n, behold
and let Thy pity waken;
How few are we within Thy fold,
Thy saints by men forsaken!
True faith seems quenched on ev’ry hand,
men suffer not Thy Word to stand;
Dark times have us o’er taken.

2. With fraud which they themselves invent
Thy truth they have confounded;
Their hearts are not with one consent on Thy pure doctrine grounded.
While they parade with outward show,
they lead the people to and fro.
In error’s maze astounded.

3. May God root out all heresy
and of false teachers rid us
Who proudly say: “Now, where is he
that shall our speech forbid us?
By right or might we shall prevail;
what we determine cannot fail;
We own no lord and master.

4. Therefore saith God, “I must arise,
the poor My help are needing;
To Me ascend My people’s cries,
and I have heard their pleading.
For them My saving Word shall fight
and fearlessly and sharply smite.
The poor with might defending.

5. As silver tried by fire is pure from all adulteration,
So through God’s Word shall men endure
each trial and temptation.
Its light beams brighter through the cross,
and, purified from human dross,
It shines through ev’ry nation.

6. Defend Thy truth, O God,
and stay this evil generation;
And from the error of its way
keep Thine own congregation.
The wicked ev’rywhere abound
and would Thy little flock confound;
But Thou art our Salvation.

IF GOD WERE NOT BESIDE US NOW – By Martin Luther 1524

From Martin Luther: Hymns, Ballads, Chants, Truth page 17-18:
Luther’s friend Justus Jonas in 1524 wrote an eight-stanza paraphrase of Psalm 124. In contrast to the smooth-flowing style of Jonas, Luther also undertook the paraphrasing of the same psalm, his being shorter, more rugged, and closer to the text of the psalm. After Luther’s version was published in Walter’s Wittenberg hymnal of 1524, both his and Jonas’ paraphrases were included in early Lutheran hymnals. Walter’s tune is the one most associated with this text.

Tr. F. Samuel Janzow, 1913-2001
Setting by Richard Hillert
Publisher: Concordia Publishing House (1979)

LYRICS – IF GOD WERE NOT BESIDE US NOW
By Martin Luther 1524

1. If God were not beside us now,
so Israel is saying,
If God were not beside us now,
our state would be dismaying.
We are a weak and shrinking band
looked down upon on ev’ry hand
By those bent to destroy us.

2. So set against us in their will,
that if God’s help had tarried,
They would have ground us in their mill
and long since had us buried,
Like victims of a rolling tide
when sudden dark waves inland ride
To trample all beneath them.

3. Thank be to God,
who did not let their eager jawbones snatch us.
Like birds our souls escaped their net,
no snare of their can catch us.
Their traps are broken, we are free;
God stands us beside us with the key
To His good earth and heaven.

“A person who gives this some thought and yet does not regard music as a marvelous creation of God, must be a clodhopper indeed and does not deserve to be called a human being; he should be permitted to hear nothing but the braying of asses and the grunting of hogs.” – Martin Luther

As quoted by Carl F. Schalk in “Luther on Music”. More thoughts on Martin Luther’s views on music and the quoted text in context follows:

MARTIN LUTHER ON MUSIC:

Martin Luther was exposed to church music at an early age, giving him reasonable skill and a deep love for music. He referred to music, as quoted by Carl F. Schalk in Luther on Music, as a “wonderful creation and gift of God.” Unlike previous Catholic thought, Luther felt that devotion to the beauty of music positively influenced moral or ethical development. He said, as quoted in A Compend of Luther’s Theology (edited by Hugh Thomson Kerr, Jr., Ph.D.), originally taken from his “Spiritual Hymn Booklet” (Works of Martin Luther), “I am not of the opinion that all arts are to be cast down and destroyed on account of the Gospel, as some fanatics protest; on the other hand I would gladly see all arts, especially music, in the service of Him who has given and created them.” Luther believed that music had strong educational and ethical power, so he wanted the entire congregation to participate in the music of the services. In addition, according to Luther, music was one of the primary methods of counteracting the Devil’s work. Perhaps, as suggested by Joyce L. Irwin in Neither Voice nor Heart Alone, Luther connected music so strongly to theology because of the Gospel’s need to be communicated orally–a function that could be accomplished successfully through sung text.

Luther’s views on education were greatly influenced by his devotion to music. For example, he believed that teachers who were unable to sing were not worthy of teaching. Luther also felt that schoolboys should be instructed in singing each day after lunch. In this way, he felt, as stated by John Butt in Music Education and the Art of Performance in the German Baroque, that the students’ “moral, devotional, temperamental, and intellectual disposition” would be improved.

Another major belief that Luther held about music was the importance of balance between strict adherence to rules and freedom in composition. He felt that standard compositional practices should not inhibit creativeness or musical expression. He did not, however, support the idea of random composition or, in essence, complete musical freedom. He strongly encouraged a balance between the two.

Foreword to Georg Rhau’s Collection, “Symphoniae iucundae”.

“I, Doctor Martin Luther, wish all lovers of the unshackled art of music grace and peace from God the Father and from our Lord Jesus Christ!

I truly desire that all Christians would love and regard as worthy the lovely gift of music, which is a precious, worthy, and costly treasure given to mankind by God.

The riches of music are so excellent and so precious that words fail me whenever I attempt to discuss and describe them…. In summa, next to the Word of God, the noble art of music is the greatest treasure in the world. It controls our thoughts, minds, hearts, and spirits…

Our dear fathers and prophets did not desire without reason that music be always used in the churches. Hence, we have so many songs and psalms.

This precious gift has been given to man alone that he might thereby remind himself that God has created man for the express purpose of praising and extolling God.

However, when man’s natural musical ability is whetted and polished to the extent that it becomes an art, then do we note with great surprise the great and perfect wisdom of God in music, which is, after all, His product and His gift; we marvel when we hear music in which one voice sings a simple melody, while three, four, or five other voices play and trip lustily around the voice that sings its simple melody and adorn this simple melody wonderfully with artistic musical effects, thus reminding us of a heavenly dance, where all meet in a spirit of friendliness, caress and embrace.

A person who gives this some thought and yet does not regard music as a marvelous creation of God, must be a clodhopper indeed and does not deserve to be called a human being; he should be permitted to hear nothing but the braying of asses and the grunting of hogs.”

– Martin Luther

MORE THOUGHTS ON MARTIN LUTHER AND MUSIC:

Martin Luther not only exerted a powerful influence on religious and cultural life in the 16th Century. Luther also revolutionized music (then dominated by the Church) in his time. Essentially, the modern Christian hymn was created by Luther with the assistance of coworkers in order to bring the message of the Scriptures home to congregations. Luther was an ardent music lover who played the lute, flute, and sang with an accurate if not very powerful tenor voice. After his challenge to Pope Leo (” 95 Theses”), during his enforced hiding in the Wartburg Castle, Luther completed his German vernacular translation of the New Testament in 1521. He returned to Wittenberg, overseeing mass publication of this work (the Old Testament was completed in succeeding years). By 1523 Luther had translated parts of the Latin Mass into German (“Deudsche Messe”). He also composed melodies and limited harmonizations for these German translations, but recognized that these could not have the same effect as new works conceived in German (he referred to his efforts as somewhat mechanical, “as though done by apes”, a typical bit of self-ironic humor). Therefore, he composed new hymn texts, providing about half with melodies (the exact number is still controversial). He brought in a skilled professional musician, Johann Walter, to harmonize them and urged his friends to compose new hymns. The first congregational hymn book, “Geystliche Gesangkbuchlein”, was already brought out in a mass printing in 1524. This hymn book was commissioned by Luther in four-part harmony “in order to give the young men something in place of their drinking and fleshly songs”. In other words, from now on, the congregation members themselves were to participate musically in the church service; young would-be pastors were not accepted for training before they could demonstrate musical competence. Just as the mass publications of the Bible for individual study brought about expansion of literacy in the Reformation areas (which at first included France, Netherlands, Poland and Hungary, besides Scandinavia) , so did the mass distribution of hymnbooks foster musical literacy among all strata of society. Congregational part singing retained its hold even in areas that were subsequently won back to the Roman Catholic Church, such as Bavaria. Luther exerted other powerful musical influences: opening up the use of instruments, as well as melodies of all origins in church music, and careful matching of music to simple and understandable texts (instead of the polyphonic music and often interwoven Latin texts previously characteristic of the church services.) Thus was born the relatively short and pungent thematic construction of German music, in contrast with the longer more cantabile Italian lines, and the complex Russian melodic structures. Luther remained musically active to the end. One year before he died Luther supervised and wrote the introduction to Johann Walter’s hymnbook of 1545.

The following selection is taken from the Preface to the Complete Edition of Luther’s Latin Writings. It was written by Luther in Wittenberg, 1545. This english edition is availble in Luther’s Works Volume 34, Career of the Reformer IV (St. Louis, Concordia Publishing House, 1960), p. 336-337. In the first few lines of this selection, Luther writes, “during that year;” the immediate context indicates he is refering to the year of Tetzel’s death (July, 1519). This puts the date for Luther’s conversion, in his own view, two years after the posting of the ninety-five theses.

(Excerpt) of Luther’s Account of his Conversion

Meanwhile, I had already during that year returned to interpret the Psalter anew. I had confidence in the fact that I was more skilful, after I had lectured in the university on St. Paul’s epistles to the Romans, to the Galatias, and the one to the Hebrews. I had indeed been captivated with an extraordinary ardor for understanding Paul in the Epistle to the Romans. But up till then it was not the cold blood ab out the heart, but a single word in Chapter 1, “In it the righteousness of God is revealed,” that had stood in my way. For I hated that word “righteousness of God,” which, according to the use and custom of all the teachers, I had been taught to understand philosophically regarding the formal or active righteousness, as they call it, with which God is righteous and punishes the unrighteous sinner.

Though I lived as a monk without reproach, I felt that I was a sinner before God with an extremely disturbed conscience. I could not believe that he was placated by my satisfaction. I did not love, yes, I hated the righteous God who punishes sinners, and secretly, if not blasphemously, certainly murmuring greatly, I was angry with God, and said, “As if, indeed, it is not enough, that miserable sinners, eternally lost through original sin, are crushed by every kind of calamity by the law of the decalogue, without having God add pain to pain by the gospel and also by the gospel threatening us with his righteousness and wrath!” Thus I raged with a fierce and troubled conscience. Nevertheless, I beat importunately upon Paul at that place, most ardently desiring to know what St. Paul wanted.

At last, by the mercy of God, meditating day and night, I gave heed to the context of the words, namely, “In it the righteousness of God is revealed, as it is written, ‘He who through faith is righteous shall live.'” There I began to understand that the righteousness of God is that by which the righteous lives by a gift of God, namely by faith. And this is the meaning: the righteousness of God is revealed by the gospel, namely, the passive righteousness with which merciful God justifies us by faith, as it is written, “He who through faith is righteous shall live.” Here I felt that I was altogether born again and had entered paradise itself through open gates. There a totally other face of the entire Scripture showed itself to me. Thereupon I ran through the Scripture from memory. I also fount in other terms an analogy, as, the work of God, that is what God does in us, the power of God, with which he makes us wise, the strenght of God, the salvation of God, the glory of God.

And I extolled my sweetest word with a love as great as the hatred with which I had before hated the word “righteousness of God.” Thus that place in Paul was for me truly the gate to paradise. Later I read Augustine’s The Spirit and the Letter, where contrary to hope I found that he, too, interpreted God’s righteousness in a similar way, as the righteousness with which God clothes us when he justifies us (Augustine passage included below). Although this was heretofore said imperfectly and he did not explain all things concerning imputation clearly, it nevertheless was pleasing that God’s righteousness with which we are justified was taught.

Selections from Augustine’s The Spirit and the Letter to which Luther Refers:

Chapter 15 [IX.] – The Righteousness of God Manifested by the Law and the Prophets.

Here, perhaps, it may be said by that presumption of man, which is ignorant of the righteousness of God, and wishes to establish one of its own, that the apostle quite properly said,” For by the law shall no man be justified,”46 inasmuch as the law merely shows what one ought to do, and what one ought to guard against, in order that what the law thus points out may be accomplished by the will, and so man be justified, not indeed by the power of the law, but by his free determination. But I ask your attention, O man, to what follows. “But now the righteousness of God,” says he, “without the law is manifested, being witnessed by the law and the prophets.”47 Does this then sound a light thing in deaf ears? He says, “The righteousness of God is manifested.” Now this righteousness they are ignorant of, who wish to establish one of their own; they will not submit themselves to it.48 His words are, “The righteousness of God is manifested:” he does not say, the righteousness of man, or the righteousness of his own will, but the “righteousness of God,” – not that whereby He is Himself righteous, but that with which He endows man when He justifies the ungodly. This is witnessed by the law and the prophets; in other words, the law and the prophets each afford it testimony. The law, indeed, by issuing its commands and threats, and by justifying no man, sufficiently shows that it is by God’s gift, through the help of the Spirit, that a man is justified; and the prophets, because it was what they predicted that Christ at His coming accomplished. Accordingly he advances a step further, and adds, “But righteousness of God by faith of Jesus Christ,”49 that is by the faith wherewith one believes in Christ for just as there is not meant the faith with which Christ Himself believes, so also there is not meant the righteousness whereby God is Himself righteous. Both no doubt are ours, but yet they are called God’s, and Christ’s, because it is by their bounty that these gifts are bestowed upon us. The righteousness of God then is without the law, but not manifested without the law; for if it were manifested without the law, how could it be witnessed by the law? That righteousness of God, however, is without the law, which God by the Spirit of grace bestows on the believer without the help of the law, – that is, when not helped by the law. When, indeed, He by the law discovers to a man his weakness, it is in order that by faith he may flee for refuge to His mercy, and be healed. And thus concerning His wisdom we are told, that “she carries law and mercy uponher tongue,”50 – the “law,” whereby she may convict the proud, the “mercy,” wherewith she may justify the humbled. “The righteousness of God,” then, “by faith of Jesus Christ, is unto all that believe; for there is no difference, for all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God”51 – not of their own glory. For what have they, which they have not received? Now if they received it, why do they glory as if they had not received it?52 Well, then, they come short of the glory of God; now observe what follows: “Being justified freely by His grace.”53 It is not, therefore, by the law, nor is it by their own will, that they are justified; but they are justified freely by His grace, – not that it is wrought without our will; but our will is by the law shown to be weak, that grace may heal its infirmity; and that our healed will may fulfil the law, not by compact under the law, nor yet in the absence of law.

Chapter 16 X.] – How the Law Was Not Made for a Righteous Man.

Because “for a righteous man the law was not made;”54 and yet “the law is good, if a man use it lawfully.”55 Now by connecting together these two seemingly contrary statements, the apostle warns and urges his reader to sift the question and solve it too. For how can it be that “the law is good, if a man use it lawfully,” if what follows is also true: “Knowing this, that the law is not made for a righteous man?”56 For who but a righteous man lawfully uses the law? Yet it is not for him that it is made, but for the unrighteous. Must then the unrighteous man, in order that he may be justified, – that is, become a righteous man, – lawfully use the law, to lead him, as by the schoolmaster’s hand,57 to that grace by which alone he can fulfil what the law commands? Now it is freely that he is justified thereby, – that is, on account of no antecedent merits of his own works; “otherwise grace is no more grace,”58 since it is bestowed on us, not because we have done good works, but that we may be able to do them, – in other words, not because we have fulfilled the law, but in order that we may be able to fulfil the law. Now He said, “I am not come to destroy the law, but to fulfil it,”59 of whom it was said, “We have seen His glory, the glory as of the only-begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth.”60 This is the glory which is meant in the words, “All have sinned, and come short of the glory of God;”61 and this the grace of which he speaks in the next verse, “Being justified freely by His grace.”62 The unrighteous man therefore lawfully uses the law, that he may become righteous; but when he has become so, he must no longer use it as a chariot, for he has arrived at his journey’s end, – or rather (that I may employ the apostle’s own simile, which has been already mentioned) as a schoolmaster, seeing that he is now fully learned. How then is the law not made for a righteous man, if it is necessary for the righteous man too, not that hemay be brought as an unrighteous man to the grace that justifies, but that he may use it lawfully, now that he is righteous? Does not the case perhaps stand thus, – nay, not perhaps, but rather certainly, – that the man who is become righteous thus lawfully uses the law, when he applies it to alarm the unrighteous, so that whenever the disease of some unusual desire begins in them, too, to be augmented by the incentive of the law’s prohibition and an increased amount of transgression, they may in faith flee for refuge to the grace that justifies, and becoming delighted with the sweet pleasures of holiness, may escape the penalty of the law’s menacing letter through the spirit’s soothing gift? In this way the two statements will not be contrary, nor will they be repugnant to each other: even the righteous man may lawfully use a good law, and yet the law be not made for the righteous man; for it is not by the law that he becomes righteous, but by the law of faith, which led him to believe that no other resource was possible to his weakness for fulfilling the precepts which “the law of works”63 commanded, except to be assisted by the grace of God.

For sourced quotes please refer to wikiquote.org

• All who call on God in true faith, earnestly from the heart, will certainly be heard, and will receive what they have asked and desired.
• Anyone who is to find Christ must first find the church. How could anyone know where Christ is and what faith is in him unless he knew where his believers are?
• Be a sinner and sin strongly, but more strongly have faith and rejoice in Christ.
• Be thou comforted, little dog, Thou too in Resurrection shall have a little golden tail.
• Beautiful music is the art of the prophets that can calm the agitations of the soul; it is one of the most magnificent and delightful presents God has given us.
• Blood alone moves the wheels of history.
• Even if I knew that tomorrow the world would go to pieces, I would still plant my apple tree.
• Every man must do two things alone; he must do his own believing and his own dying.
• Everything that is done in the world is done by hope.
• Faith is a living and unshakable confidence, a belief in the grace of God so assured that a man would die a thousand deaths for its sake.
• Faith is a living, daring confidence in God’s grace, so sure and certain that a man could stake his life on it a thousand times.
• Faith is permitting ourselves to be seized by the things we do not see.
• Faith must trample under foot all reason, sense, and understanding.
• First I shake the whole Apple tree, that the ripest might fall. Then I climb the tree and shake each limb, and then each branch and then each twig, and then I look under each leaf.
• For in the true nature of things, if we rightly consider, every green tree is far more glorious than if it were made of gold and silver.
• For where God built a church, there the Devil would also build a chapel.
• Forgiveness is God’s command.
• God writes the Gospel not in the Bible alone, but also on trees, and in the flowers and clouds and stars.
• God writes the gospel not in the Bible alone, but on trees, and flowers, and clouds, and stars.
• Grant that I may not pray alone with the mouth; help me that I may pray from the depths of my heart.
• I am afraid that the schools will prove the very gates of hell, unless they diligently labor in explaining the Holy Scriptures and engraving them in the heart of the youth.
• I am more afraid of my own heart than of the pope and all his cardinals. I have within me the great pope, Self.
• I cannot and will not recant anything, for to go against conscience is neither right nor safe. Here I stand, I can do no other, so help me God. Amen. *NOTE – It is accepted historically that Martin Luther did not actually say “Here I Stand” – but the rest of the phrase is accurate.*
• I feel much freer now that I am certain the pope is the Antichrist.
• I have held many things in my hands, and I have lost them all; but whatever I have placed in God’s hands, that I still possess.
• I more fear what is within me than what comes from without.
• I shall never be a heretic; I may err in dispute, but I do not wish to decide anything finally; on the other hand, I am not bound by the opinions of men.
• If he have faith, the believer cannot be restrained. He betrays himself. He breaks out. He confesses and teaches this gospel to the people at the risk of life itself.
• If I am not allowed to laugh in heaven, I don’t want to go there.
• If you are not allowed to laugh in heaven, I don’t want to go there.
• If you young fellows were wise, the devil couldn’t do anything to you, but since you aren’t wise, you need us who are old.
• Justice is a temporary thing that must at last come to an end; but the conscience is eternal and will never die.
• Let the wife make the husband glad to come home, and let him make her sorry to see him leave.
• Music is the art of the prophets and the gift of God.
• My heart, which is so full to overflowing, has often been solaced and refreshed by music when sick and weary.
• Next to the Word of God, the noble art of music is the greatest treasure in the world.
• Nothing good ever comes of violence.
• Our Lord has written the promise of resurrection, not in books alone, but in every leaf in springtime.
• Peace if possible, truth at all costs.
• Peace is more important than all justice; and peace was not made for the sake of justice, but justice for the sake of peace.
• People must have righteous principals in the first, and then they will not fail to perform virtuous actions.
• Pray, and let God worry.
• Prayer is a strong wall and fortress of the church; it is a goodly Christian weapon.
• Reason is a whore, the greatest enemy that faith has.
• Reason is the enemy of faith.
• The Bible is the cradle wherein Christ is laid.
• The fewer the words, the better the prayer.
• The God of this world is riches, pleasure and pride.
• The Lord commonly gives riches to foolish people, to whom he gives nothing else.
• The man who has the will to undergo all labor may win to any good.
• The reproduction of mankind is a great marvel and mystery. Had God consulted me in the matter, I should have advised him to continue the generation of the species by fashioning them out of clay.
• The will is a beast of burden. If God mounts it, it wishes and goes as God wills; if Satan mounts it, it wishes and goes as Satan wills; Nor can it choose its rider… the riders contend for its possession.
• There is no more lovely, friendly and charming relationship, communion or company than a good marriage.
• To gather with God’s people in united adoration of the Father is as necessary to the Christian life as prayer.
• War is the greatest plague that can affect humanity; it destroys religion, it destroys states, it destroys families. Any scourge is preferable to it.
• War is the greatest plague that can afflict humanity, it destroys religion, it destroys states, it destroys families. Any scourge is preferable to it.
• Whatever your heart clings to and confides in, that is really your God.
• When I am angry I can pray well and preach well.
• When schools flourish, all flourishes.
• You are not only responsible for what you say, but also for what you do not say.
• You should not believe your conscience and your feelings more than the word which the Lord who receives sinners preaches to you.

QUOTES FROM WIKIQUOTE:

Sourced

* Wir sein pettler. Hoc est verum.
o We are beggars: this is true.
o “The Last Written Words of Luther,” Table Talk No. 5468, 1546-02-16, in James A. Kellerman, Tr., Dr. Martin Luthers Werke, (Weimar: Hermann Boehlaus Nachfolger, 1909), Band 85 (TR 5) 317–318. [1]

* By God’s grace, I know Satan very well. If Satan can turn God’s Word upside down and pervert the Scriptures, what will he do with my words — or the words of others?
o Confession Concerning Christ’s Supper, Part 3. Robert E. Smith, tr. Dr. Martin Luthers Werke: Kritische Gesamtsusgabe. (Weimar: Herman Boehlaus Nachfolger, 1909), pp.499-500. [2]

* Faith is a living, bold trust in God’s grace, so certain of God’s favor that it would risk death a thousand times trusting in it. Such confidence and knowledge of God’s grace makes you happy, joyful and bold in your relationship to God and all creatures. The Holy Spirit makes this happen through faith. Because of it, you freely, willingly and joyfully do good to everyone, serve everyone, suffer all kinds of things, love and praise the God who has shown you such grace.
o An Introduction to St. Paul’s Letter to the Romans from Dr. Martin Luthers Vermischte Deutsche Schriften. Johann K. Irmischer, ed. Vol. 63(Erlangen: Heyder and Zimmer, 1854), pp.124-125. (EA 63:124-125)[3]

* 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 (sin boldly), 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.
o Letter 99, Paragraph 13. Erika Bullmann Flores, Tr. from: Dr. Martin Luther’s Saemmtliche Schriften Dr. Johann Georg Walch Ed. (St. Louis: Concordia Publishing House, N.D.), Vol. 15, cols. 2585-2590. [4]

* What does it mean to have a god? or, what is God? Answer: A god means that from which we are to expect all good and to which we are to take refuge in all distress, so that to have a God is nothing else than to trust and believe Him from the [whole] heart; as I have often said that the confidence and faith of the heart alone make both God and an idol. If your faith and trust be right, then is your god also true; and, on the other hand, if your trust be false and wrong, then you have not the true God; for these two belong together faith and God. That now, I say, upon which you set your heart and put your trust is properly your god.
o Large Catechism 1.1-3, F. Bente and W.H.T. Dau, tr. Triglot Concordia: The Symbolical Books of the Ev. Lutheran Church (St. Louis: Concordia Publishing House, 1921), 565. [5]

* But since the devil’s bride, Reason, that pretty whore, comes in and thinks she’s wise, and what she says, what she thinks, is from the Holy Spirit, who can help us, then? Not judges, not doctors, no king or emperor, because [reason] is the Devil’s greatest whore.
o The original German is “Vernunft … ist die höchste Hur, die der Teufel hat”.
o Martin Luther’s Last Sermon in Wittenberg … Second Sunday in Epiphany, 17 January 1546. Dr. Martin Luthers Werke: Kritische Gesamtausgabe. (Weimar: Herman Boehlaus Nachfolger, 1914), Band 51:126, Line 7ff
o Martin Luther (1483-1546). The Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy.

* When we are inclined to boast of our position [as Christians] we should remember that we are but Gentiles, while the Jews are of the lineage of Christ. We are aliens and in-laws; they are blood relatives, cousins, and brothers of our Lord. Therefore, if one is to boast of flesh and blood the Jews are actually nearer to Christ than we are.
o That Jesus Christ Was Born a Jew Luther’s Works, American Edition (Philadelphia: Fortress Press, 1962), Volume 45, Page 201

* I cannot forbid a person to marry several wives, for it does not contradict Scripture.
o Letter to Chancellor Gregory Brück (An Den Kanzler Brück), 1524-01-13, in Dr. Martin Luther’s Briefe, Sendschreiben und Bedenken: volständig aus den verschiedenen Ausgaben seiner Werke und Briefe, aus andern Büchern und noch unbenutzten Handschriten gesammelt. From the Wilhelm Martin Leberecht De Wette Collection of Luther’s Letters (Berlin: Georg reimer, 1826) vol. 2, p. 459 (Letter DLXXII; Latin text).

* But the Jews are so hardened that they listen to nothing; though overcome by testimonies they yield not an inch. It is a pernicious race, oppressing all men by their usury and rapine. If they give a prince or magistrate a thousand florins, they extort twenty thousand from the subjects in payment. We must ever keep on guard against them.
o Table Talk, Hazlet, tr., p. 43

* They are splendidly built ( Italian Hospitals ), the best food and drink are at hand, the attendants are very diligent, the physicians are learned, the beds and coverings are very clean, and the bedsteads are painted. As soon as a sick man is brought in, all his clothes are taken off in the presence of a notary and are faithfully kept for him. He is then laid in a handsomely painted bed with clean sheets. Two physicians are fetched at once. Attendants come with food and drink, served in immaculate glass vessels; these are not touched with as much as a finger but are brought on a tray.
o Table Talk, August 1, 1538, No. 3930. Luther’s Works, American Edition, vol. 54, p.296. Concordia Publishing House and Fortress Press, 1967. ISBN 0800603540 cf. Ludwig Von Pastor, vol.5:65

* I think these things ( firearms ) were invented by Satan himself, for they canâ€t be defended against with (ordinary) weapons and fists. All human strength vanishes when confronted with firearms. A man is dead before he sees whatâ€s coming.
o ibid. P.232, 1537-03-19, No 3552

* For the history of the centuries that have passed since the birth of Christ nowhere reveals conditions like those of the present. There has never been such building and planting in the world. There has never been such gluttonous and varied eating and drinking as now. Wearing apparel has reached its limit in costliness. Who has ever heard of such commerce as now encircles the earth? There have arisen all kinds of art and sculpture, embroidery and engraving, the like of which has not been seen during the whole Christian era. In addition men are so delving into the mysteries of things that today a boy of twenty knows more than twenty doctors formerly knew.
o Sermon for the Second Sunday in Advent, Luke 21:25-36 (1522), in John Nicholas Lenker, ed., Sermons of Martin Luther: Church Postils (Baker Book House, 1989), ISBN 0-80105-626-8 [6]

* …women and girls begin to bare themselves behind and in front, and there is nobody to punish and hold in check, and besides, Godâ€s word is mocked.
o To His Housewife (An Seine Hausfrau), end of July 1545, De Wette, vol. v (Fünfter Theil, 1828), p. 753. No. MMCCLXXXVI [7] McGiffert, P.374 (English tr.).
o McGiffert, Arthur Cushman. Martin Luther: The Man and His Work (Century, 1911), from Google Books. Reprint from Kessinger Publishing (July 2003), ISBN 076617431X

* Few are the women and maidens who would let themselves think that one could at the same time be joyous and modest. They are all bold and coarse in their speech, in their demeanor wild and lewd. That is now the fashion of being in good cheer. But it is specially evil that the young maiden folk are exceedingly bold of speech and bearing, and curse like troopers, to say nothing of their shameful words and scandalous coarse sayings, which one always hears and learns from another.
o Denifle vol.1, part 1, p.305.
o Denifle, Heinrich, Luther and Lutherdom, vol.1, part 1, , tr. from 2nd rev. ed. of German by Raymund Volz, Somerset, England: Torch Press, 1917. Denifle give as his source for this quote: Lutherâ€s works, Erlangen edition, vol. vi, p.401.( 67 vols. ).

* “For He that is mighty hath done great things for me, and Holy is His Name” (Luke 1:49). Luther comments:
* The “great things” are nothing less than that she became the Mother of God, in which work so many and such great good things are bestowed upon her as pass man’s understanding. For on this there follows all honor, all blessedness, and her unique place in the whole of mankind, among whom she has no equal, namely, that she had a child by the Father in Heaven, and such a child. She herself is unable to find a name for this work, it is too exceedingly great; all she can do is break out in the fervent cry: “They are great things,” impossible to describe or define. Hence men have crowded all her glory into a single word, calling her the Mother of God. No one can say anything greater of her or to her, though he had as many tongues as there are leaves on the trees, or grass in the fields, or stars in the sky, or sand by the sea. It needs to be pondered in the heart, what it means to be the Mother of God.
o Commentary on the Magnificat (Das Magnificat), A.D. 1521
o Luther’s Works, American Edition, vol. 21, p.326, ed. Jaroslav Pelikan, Concordia Publishing House, 1956. ISBN 057006421X

* On coming to the house, they (the Magi), saw the child with his mother Mary, and they bowed down and worshiped him. (Matthew 2:11)
* [This] adoration, too, was not the same as the worship of God. In my opinion they did not yet recognize him as God, but they acted in keeping with the custom mentioned in Scripture, according to which Kings and important people were worshiped; this did not mean more than falling down before them at their feet and honoring them.
o Sermon on The Gospel for the Festival of the Epiphany, 1522.
o Luther’s Works, American Ed., Hans J. Hillerbrand, Helmut T. Lehmann eds., Philadelphia, Concordia Publishing House/Fortress Press, 1974, ISBN 0800603524 (Sermons II), vol. 52:198

* Religion is not ‘doctrinal knowledge,’ but wisdom born of personal experience.
o Holborn, Hajo; A HISTORY OF MODERN GERMANY: The Reformation; 1959/1982 Princeton university Press.

* Holy Christendom has, in my judgment, no better teacher after the apostles than St. Augustine.
o [8]
o Luther’s Works, American Ed., Robert H. Fischer, Helmut T. Lehman, eds., Concordia Publishing House/Fortress Press, 1959, ISBN 0800603370 (Word and Sacrament III), vol. 37:107

* And I myself, in Rome, heard it said openly in the streets, “If there is a hell, then Rome is built on it.” That is, “After the devil himself, there is no worse folk than the pope and his followers.”
o Against the Roman Papacy, An Institution of the Devil ( Wider das Papstum zu Rom vom Teuffel Gestifft, A. D. 1545)[9]
* Lutherâ€s Works, Church and Ministry III, American Ed., Helmut T. Lehman, Eric W. Gritsch, eds., Augsburg Fortress Press, 1966, Vol. 41:279. ISBN 0800603419 ISBN 9780800603410.

* A mighty fortress is our God,
A bulwark never failing;
Our helper He amid the flood
Of mortal ills prevailing.
o Psalm. Ein feste Burg ist unser Gott (translated by Frederic H. Hedge), Reported in Bartlett’s Familiar Quotations, 10th ed. (1919).

* Tell your master that if there were as many devils at Worms as tiles on its roofs, I would enter.
o Psalm. Ein feste Burg ist unser Gott (translated by Frederic H. Hedge), Reported in Bartlett’s Familiar Quotations, 10th ed. (1919). “On the 16th of April, 1521, Luther entered the imperial city [of Worms]… On his approach… the Elector’s chancellor entreated him, in the name of his master, not to enter a town where his death was decided. The answer which Luther returned was simply this”. Bunsen, Life of Luther.

* Here I stand; I can do no otherwise. God help me. Amen!
o Speech at the Diet of Worms (1521), Reported in Bartlett’s Familiar Quotations, 10th ed. (1919).

[edit] Table Talk (1569)

* Superstition, idolatry, and hypocrisy have ample wages, but truth goes a-begging.
o 53.

* For where God built a church, there the Devil would also build a chapel…Thus is the Devil ever God’s ape.
o 67. Compare “Where God hath a temple, the Devil will have a chapel”, Robert Burton, Anatomy of Melancholy, part III, section 4, member 1, subsection 1.

* so it is with human reason, which strives not against faith, when enlightened, but rather furthers and advances it.
o On Justification CCXCIV

* A faithful and good servant is a real godsend; but truly â€t is a rare bird in the land.
o 156.

* The Mass is the greatest blasphemy of God, and the highest idolatry upon earth, an abomination the like of which has never been in Christendom since the time of the Apostles.
o 171.

* There is no more lovely, friendly and charming relationship, communion or company than a good marriage.
o 292.

* A theologian is born by living, nay dying and being damned, not by thinking, reading, or speculating.
o 352.

* Reason is the greatest enemy that faith has: it never comes to the aid of spiritual things, but–more frequently than not –struggles against the divine Word, treating with contempt all that emanates from God.
o 353.

[edit] Unsourced

* If it were art to overcome heresy with fire, the executioners would be the most learned doctors on earth.
o To the Christian Nobility of the German States (1520)

* Hier stehe ich, ich kann nicht anders. Gott helfe mir. Amen.
o Translation: Here I stand; I can do no other. God help me. Amen.
o Speech at the Diet of Worms (April 18, 1521)

* The mad mob does not ask how it could be better, only that it be different. And when it then becomes worse, it must change again. Thus they get bees for flies, and at last hornets for bees.
o Whether Soldiers Can Also Be in a State of Grace (1526)

* Ein’ feste burg is unser Gott,
ein gute wehr und waffen.
Er hilft uns frei aus aller not,
die uns itzt hat betroffen.
o Translation: A mighty fortress is our God,
A bulwark never failing.
Our helper He amid the flood
Of mortal ills prevailing.
o Ein’ Feste Burg (1529)

* What can only be taught by the rod and with blows will not lead to much good; they will not remain pious any longer than the rod is behind them.
o The Great Catechism. Second Command (1529)

* Peace is more important than all justice; and peace was not made for the sake of justice, but justice for the sake of peace.
o On Marriage (1530)

* Justice is a temporary thing that must at last come to an end; but the conscience is eternal and will never die.
o On Marriage (1530)

* Idiots, the lame, the blind, the dumb, are men in whom the devils have established themselves: and all the physicians who heal these infirmities, as though they proceeded from natural causes, are ignorant blockheads.

* If [women] become tired or even die, that does not matter. Let them die in childbirth–that is why they are there.

* Reason must be deluded, blinded, and destroyed. Faith must trample underfoot all reason, sense, and understanding, and whatever it sees must be put out of sight and … know nothing but the word of God.
o Said to be from V, 1312

* Sin cannot tear you away from him [Christ], even though you commit adultery a hundred times a day and commit as many murders.

* There is no more lovely, friendly and charming relationship, communion or company than a good marriage.

* We are all ministers of the Gospel. Some of us just happen to be clergymen.

* Whoever wants to be a Christian should tear the eyes out of his reason.
o Said to be from V, 425

* Nothing good ever comes of violence

“Though womenfolk are ashamed to admit to this, nevertheless Scripture and experience show that among many thousands there is not a one to whom God has given to remain in pure chastity. A woman has no control over herself.  God has made her body to be with man, to bear children… He has also ordered man and woman to be in marital union. Suffice it to say that no one needs to be ashamed over how God has made and created him, not having been given the high, rare mercy to do otherwise.”

I can understand why the Catholic church does not care for him even some 500 years later. I can also understand why I find him sometimes frustrating, sometimes embarrassing, and sometimes utterly delightful…

The full letter appears below with the full passages in context translated from the original German.

To Several Nuns
by Martin Luther

From Wittenberg
6 August 1524

Translated from
Briefe aus dem Jahre 1524 No. 733 -756
(Letters of the Year 1524 Nos. 733 – 756)

Weimarer Ausgabe

translated by
Erika Bullmann Flores

To the free nuns, my dear sisters in Christ, written with a
friendly disposition:

Mercy and peace in the name of Jesus Christ our Savior!

Dear sisters, I have received both of your letters and am aware
of your concerns.  I would have answered you sooner if there had
been messengers available, and I also have been very busy.

You are correct that there are two reasons for which life at the
convent and vows may be forsaken: The one is where men’s laws
and life within the order are being forced, where there is no
free choice, where it is put upon the conscience as a burden.
In such cases it is time to run away, leaving the convent and
all it entails behind. If this is your situation, where you are
not freely choosing the cloister, where your conscience is being
forced, then call your friends.  Let them help you escape and,
if the law allows, take care of you or provide for you.  If
friends and parents are unwilling to help, obtain help from
other goodly people, regardless of whether your parents become
angry, die or recover.  For the soul’s well-being and God’s will
are above all, as Christ says (Matth. 10:37): “Anyone who loves
father or mother more than me, is not worthy of me.”

However, if the sisters do allow you to leave, or at least let
you freely read and hear the Word of God, then you must remain
within and join them in their works, such as spinning cooking
and the such, even though you have no confidence in it.

The second reason is the flesh: Though womenfolk are ashamed to
admit to this, nevertheless Scripture and experience show that
among many thousands there is not a one to whom God has given to
remain in pure chastity. A woman has no control over herself.
God has made her body to be with man, to bear children and to
raise them as the words of Genesis 1:1 clearly state, as is
evident by the members of the body ordered by God Himself.
Therefore food and drink, sleep and wakefulness have all been
created by God. Thus He has also ordered man and woman to be in
marital union. Suffice it to say that no one needs to be ashamed
over how God has made and created him, not having been given the
high, rare mercy to do otherwise.  All this you will amply learn
and read and hear proper sermons about when you come out. I have
abundantly dealt with these issues in the book about monastic
vows, avoiding men’s teachings, sermons about
married life, item) in the Postil proven and established as
true. If you read these, you will find enough instruction about
various things, be it confession or whatever.

It is too much to write about here and not al all necessary,
because I am convinced that you will leave the cloister, if one
or both of these reasons pertain to you as you have written.
Once there is freedom in choosing to join an order, anyone who
is so inclined can join. Just so the Counsel of Bern in
Switzerland has opened the most famous Cloister Kînigfelden, and
any maiden can freely leave, remain or move in, and they allow
her to take with her whatever she has brought in. May the Lord
bless you, and pray for me.

Written in Wittenberg,
the day of Sixti Martyris
(Aug. 6) 1524.

Martinus Luther

“I’m like a ripe stool and the world’s like a gigantic anus, and we’re about to let go of each other.” – Martin Luther?

Some of the last words spoken by Martin Luther? I ran across this online and searched to verify it. I know Martin Luther to be crass, but THIS crass? Sure enough, it’s quoted in “The Wit of Martin Luther” which I happen to own a copy of here in China. It was purchased at a church sheet music conference hosted by Augsburg Press. So for the moment this seems legit. Can anyone find a cross reference on this? I still have my doubts…

Below are a few Luther quotations from the book. Be warned, however, much of Luther’s humor is rather colorful. Actually, much of his humor reads like junior high humor.

“I resist the devil, and often it is with a fart that I chase him away. When he tempts me with silly sins I say, ‘Devil, yesterday I broke wind too. Have you written it down on your list?'”

“Tomorrow I have to lecture on the drunkenness of Noah [Gen. 9:20-27], so I should drink enough this evening to be able to talk about that wickedness as one who knows by experience.”

Shortly before his death, Luther said to his wife Katie: “I’m like a ripe stool and the world’s like a gigantic anus, and we’re about to let go of each other.”

While away on a trip, Luther joked about his physical ailments in a letter to Katie: “I am drinking beer from Namburg which tastes to me almost like the beer from Mansfeld which you praised to me. It agrees with me well and gives me about three bowel movements in three hours in the morning.”

Video produced by the Evangelical Lutheran Church of America. Katie Luther: The Morning Star of Wittenberg looks at the life of the woman Katie Luther, the woman who helped 16th century reformer Martin Luther change the course of history. Katarina von Bora Luther (1499-1552).

Featuring the insights of noted Luther experts Dr. Kirsi Stjerna, Lutheran Theological Seminary at Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, and theologian Dr. Martin Treu, Wittenberg, Germany this video sheds new light on an often overlooked partner in the reformation.

From the author:
This is a german folk song from the 16th century. My singing sucks, I still have to rehearse the accompaniment I developed on the guitar. Singing will be next. Maybe I’ll come up with a better version soon.

Comment from poster:
You have to see that the song can be traced back to a time when Martin Luther and the prtestants seceded from the roman catholoc church wich marked the beginning of 100 Years or wars in Europe called the “religious wars”. I believe it was fashionable to ridicule priests in those days.