The Essential Luther

by Martin Luther, Tryntje Helfferich (Translator)

"This is a wonderful anthology. Its texts not only span the whole of Luther's reforming career, but also cover the theological, political, and social issues that mattered most to him and his age. Best of all, the original integrity of the texts remains perceptible, even when abridged. This valuable collection will be a great teaching tool and also a most useful resource for anyone interested in Luther or the Protestant Reformation." —Carlos Eire, Yale University, author of Reformations: The Early Modern World, 1450-1650 (Yale University Press)

CONTENTS:

Thematic Table of Contents
General Introduction
1. Preface to the Complete Edition of the Latin Writings (1545)
2. Disputation on the Power of Indulgences (The Ninety-Five Theses) (1517)
3. Sermon on Indulgence and Grace (1518)
4. Disputation Held at Heidelberg (1518)
5. To the Christian Nobility of the German Nation (1520)
6. The Babylonian Captivity of the Church (1520)
7. On the Freedom of a Christian (1520)
8. Preface to the New Testament (1522)
9. Preface to the Epistle of St. Paul to the Romans (1522)
10. On Married Life (1522)
11. On Secular Authority: To What Extent It Must Be Obeyed (1523)
12. That Jesus Christ Was Born a Jew (1523)
13. Against the Heavenly Prophets Concerning Images and the  Sacrament (1525)
14. Against the Robbing and Murdering Hordes of  Peasants (1525)
15. The Bondage of the Will (1525)
16. The German Mass and Order of Divine Service (1526)
17. How Christians Should Regard Moses (1527)
18. Concerning Rebaptism (1528)
19. Hymns (pre-1529)
20. On the War against the Turks (1529)
21. The Small Catechism (1529)
22. Commentary on St. Paul's Epistle to the Galatians (1535)
23. The Schmalkald Articles (1537)
24. Letter to Landgrave Philipp of Hesse (1539)
25. On the Jews and Their Lies (1543)
Suggestions for Further Reading
Index

Genres: Theology, Religion, Nonfiction, Philosophy

370 pages, Kindle Edition

First published September 13, 2006

About the author

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.

Reviews

[Jordan B Cooper · Rating 5 out of 5]

The selections are short, but well-chosen. The introductions to each section are informative and concise. This is definitely one of the better Luther readers available.

[Jonathan Wilcox · Rating 5 out of 5]

A collection of Martin Luther’s essays. The translations are good, and the editor/publisher includes an explanatory paragraph at the beginning of each essay. This gives necessary background information to help the reader understand the writings better. I highly recommend this for anyone who wants to study Martin Luther.

[Stephen · Rating 5 out of 5]

Tryntje Helfferich has created an excellent little volume of Luther’s writings. Luther was a voluminous writer, but this book captures a breadth of topics, not shying away from even those that Lutherans have disavowed in centuries since. The documents are presented in chronological order, but the table of contents also groups the documents by theme (law & gospel, faith & works, how to read the scriptures, etc.) so the reader can concentrate on a specific theme. Helfferich freshly translated each work into clear, readable, modern language. Each document comes with a superb introduction placing the writing in its historical context and highlighting the main points Luther attempts to make. The general introduction itself is another superior piece of writing that provides the reader with an overview of Luther’s life and philosophy. This book is a wonderful work that anyone interested in theology should have on his or her shelf.

[Adam Carnehl · Rating 5 out of 5]

An outstanding edition of Luther's most important works beautifully translated into English and ably introduced and annotated. Tryntje Helfferich has given students, pastors, and scholars the new, standard, one-volume edition of Luther in the English language. Containing 24 different pieces (often abridged in places), Helfferich carries us through Luther's career from his 95 theses to his final, very controversial writings about Jews. The selection and notes are quite balanced; the editor clearly thinks Luther is a force to be reckoned with, but she avoids panegyric or polemic. Rather, she presents him with all his mistakes and excesses, all his powers and passions.

After reading Luther, which I haven't done in quite some time, I have to admit I'm mesmerized by him. One can only be grasped by his brazenness, his earthiness, his humor, his command of the Scriptures, his obsession with truth and authenticity. In much of this he reads as a startlingly modern writer; absent (at least in this selection) is any sense of the late-medieval decorum of the spiritual writers or of Aristotelian or Thomistic "rules" for theology and rhetoric. Luther writes with his fury and he writes to poke and prod, upset and insult. His rhetoric and his style are his own, though influenced heavily by Augustine and most especially the prophets (at their most furious). Otherwise, most of his writings are very, very different (in my opinion) from his late-medieval forebears, such as Tauler or the author of the Theologia Germanica. Luther was certainly capable of sweetness (occasionally), but his public stance or posture in his writings is not one of appreciation or contemplation, but of combat. His spirituality is a manly one, suffused with martial metaphors and battle imagery.

It is perhaps in his seriousness about the power of biblical language and his never-ending focus on our justification in Christ that his genius and enduring impact lie. To this I might add the unique focus on music in his writings and personal life; perhaps no other theologian has regarded music, including performance and composition, as seriously. And, finally, one more thing comes to mind; I don't think Luther had anything to gain by such frequent references in his writings to children, young women, and ordinary folk. Luther regarded the work of the humble, Christian washer-woman as more divine than the pope's work. This break-down between sacred/secular, clerical/lay must have been a bombshell for all Germans reading and hearing Luther in the 16th century. His insistence on the holiness of changing diapers would have been something quite new and radical. It can be argued that it still is!

As I come away from this volume, I have several questions I would have asked Dr Luther if I had been a university student boarding in his home, the former Augustinian monastery in Wittenberg:

- In the Bondage of the Will (included in this volume), how can we separate actions with divine or damnable consequences from "ordinary" or "earthly" actions, given the sacred/profane distinction doesn't carry weight any more? Do not all actions lead toward or away from God? Then how can we avoid full-on determinism, and even quite possibly the heresy of Apollinarism? What is the connection of the mind (νοῦς) to the will (θέλημα) (as in Greek the νοῦς can also mean the mind's activity, not just its passive receptivity)? Does not the terminology about "natural" versus "graced" powers lead us do a God-less place? In other words, aren't all natural powers on, closer inspection, graced ones because they are all gifts of God?

- If our faith is a gift entirely from God and not of our own doing, and, therefore, our good works do not achieve justification, then why do the New Testament writers never hesitate to talk about "rewards" for pious actions (e.g. Matt. 6:4; Rom. 2:6; 2 Cor. 5:20; Col. 3:23)? If the Bible is marked by its perspicacity, then why does the Divine Author speak so often about "reward for works" rather than "reward for faith?" Is this entirely because works are the evidence of faith, even though the emphasis in these are other verses are clearly on the work that is done, the money that is given, the human body and life that serves, etc.? How is love the fulfilling of the law (Rom. 13:10), and is this an entirely passive or an active love? If it's active, then how is it not still "law" in some sense, at least in the way defined in the Preface to the Galatians Commentary?

As I muse on these and other questions, it hits me that the New Testament emphasis is on renewal, regeneration, resurrection, transformation. The old is taken up and changed; it is not completely dissolved or nullified. The corpse is raised. The Old Adam dies but rises. The sinful mind is renewed and then transforms us (Rom. 12:2). The old wine comes into new skins. Everything is enriched and deepened and beautified. Good works apart from God do not save, but good works are never apart from God in the life of a Christian.

[James Henderson · Rating 4 out of 5]

Selections from Martin Luther's writings have been collected in this insightful collection. Both as an overview of Luther's ideas and for its breadth, it is beneficial. From his vast body of work, it contains the most well-known and significant pieces. My comprehension of his ideas' significance for the Reformation has improved since I left.

[Kendal · Rating 5 out of 5]

An eye-opening collection.

As prolific as Martin Luther was, getting a quote unquote essential selections of his text is a difficult to an impossible task. But I think she hits the bullseye with this. Not being a Lutheran not being a protestant, I didn't feel edified with what I read. It was eye-opening, and sobering. This book is a perfect one volume selection.