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Luther's Spirituality (Classics of Western Spirituality book cover
Luther's Spirituality (Classics of Western Spirituality
2007
First Published
4.07
Average Rating
336
Number of Pages
This volume in the Classics of Western Spirituality offers a unique selection of texts, some newly translated, by Martin Luther. These texts represent the varieties of ways Luther understood how one believed and behaved as a Christian. This comprehensive collection includes both his critique of late medieval spiritualities that he inherited and his various constructive proposals. The book is designed for the reader to discover the rich complex of issues that Luther contributes to the discussion of spirituality. The collection is divided into three sections of fresh and modified Luther’s Spirituality in a Late-Medieval Context, Teaching the New Spirituality, and The New Path to Prayer which also includes various songs. The volume includes Luther’s spiritual classics like the German edition of the Freedom of a Christian, the Magnificat, The Sermon at Coburg on Cross and Suffering, letters of consolation, biblical prefaces and commentaries like Psalm 117 and 118, a Simple Way to Pray, and selections from the Large Catechism. There is nothing like it on the market. †
Avg Rating
4.07
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Author

Martin Luther
Martin Luther
Author · 71 books

Martin Luther (1483-1546) was a German monk, theologian, university professor and church reformer whose ideas inspired the Protestant Reformation and changed the course of Western civilization. Luther's theology challenged the authority of the papacy by holding that the Bible is the only infallible source of religious authority and that all baptized Christians under Jesus are a spiritual priesthood. According to Luther, salvation was a free gift of God, received only by true repentance and faith in Jesus as the Messiah, a faith given by God and unmediated by the church. Luther's confrontation with Charles V at the Diet of Worms over freedom of conscience in 1521 and his refusal to submit to the authority of the Emperor resulted in his being declared an outlaw of the state as he had been excommunicated from the Roman Catholic Church. Because of the perceived unity of the medieval Church with the secular rulers of western Europe, the widespread acceptance of Luther's doctrines and popular vindication of his thinking on individual liberties were both phenomenal and unprecedented. His translation of the Bible into the vernacular, making it more accessible to ordinary people, had a tremendous political impact on the church and on German culture. It 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. Much scholarly debate has concentrated on Luther's writings about the Jews. His statements that Jews' homes should be destroyed, their synagogues burned, money confiscated and liberty curtailed were revived and used in propaganda by the Nazis in 1933–45. As a result of this and his revolutionary theological views, his legacy remains controversial.

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