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Martin Luther Quotes
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Martin Luther, O.S.A. was a German professor of theology, composer, priest, monk, and a seminal figure in the Protestant Reformation.

Luther came to reject several teachings and practices of the Roman Catholic Church. He strongly disputed the Catholic view on indulgences as he understood it to be, that freedom from God's punishment for sin could be purchased with money. Luther proposed an academic discussion of the practice and efficacy of indulgences in his Ninety-five Theses of 1517. His refusal to renounce all of his writings at the demand of Pope Leo X in 1520 and the Holy Roman Emperor Charles V at the Diet of Worms in 1521 resulted in his excommunication by the Pope and condemnation as an outlaw by the Emperor.

Luther taught that salvation and, consequently, eternal life are not earned by good deeds but are received only as the free gift of God's grace through the believer's faith in Jesus Christ as redeemer from sin. His theology challenged the authority and office of the Pope by teaching that the Bible is the only source of divinely revealed knowledge from God and opposed sacerdotalism by considering all baptized Christians to be a holy priesthood. Those who identify with these, and all of Luther's wider teachings, are called Lutherans, though Luther insisted on Christian or Evangelical as the only acceptable names for individuals who professed Christ.

His translation of the Bible into the German vernacular made it more accessible to the laity, an event that had a tremendous impact on both the church and German culture. It fostered the development of a standard version of the German language, added several principles to the art of translation, and influenced the writing of an English translation, the Tyndale Bible. His hymns influenced the development of singing in Protestant churches. His marriage to Katharina von Bora, a former nun, set a model for the practice of clerical marriage, allowing Protestant clergy to marry.

In two of his later works, Luther expressed antagonistic views towards Jews, writing that Jewish homes and synagogues should be destroyed, their money confiscated, and liberty curtailed. Condemned by virtually every Lutheran denomination, these statements and their influence on antisemitism have contributed to his controversial status.

✵ 10. November 1483 – 18. February 1546
Martin Luther photo
Martin Luther: 214   quotes 387   likes

Martin Luther Quotes

“The will is not free to strive toward whatever is declared good.”

Martin Luther

Thesis 10
Disputation against Scholastic Theology (1517)

“The heathen really make their self-invented notions and dreams of God and idol. Ultimately, they put their trust in that which is nothing. So it is with all idolatry. For it happens not merely by erecting an image and worshipping it, but rather it happens in the heart. For the heart seeks help and consolation from creatures, saints, or devils. It neither cares for God, nor looks to Him for anything better than to believe that He is willing to help.”

Martin Luther Luther's Large Catechism

"On Infant Baptism," Large Catechism (1529)

God , Dreams , Help , Heart

“…God commanded in the law [Deut. 22:22-24] that adulterers be stoned... The temporal sword and government should therefore still put adulterers to death... Where the government is negligent and lax, however, and fails to inflict the death penalty, the adulterer may betake himself to a far country and there remarry if he is unable to remain continent. But it would be better to put him to death, lest a bad example be set...”

Martin Luther
Death , God , Law , Penalty

“… a penny saved is better than a penny earned.”

Martin Luther book Table Talk

The Duty of a Husband and Wife (17 March 1539), No. 4408. LW 54:337 http://books.google.com/books?id=zsbXAAAAMAAJ&q=%22penny+saved+is+better+than+a+penny+earned%22&dq=%22penny+saved+is+better+than+a+penny+earned%22&lr=
Table Talk (1569)

“Heretics cannot themselves appear good unless they depict the Church as evil, false, and mendacious. They alone wish to be esteemed as the good, but the Church must be made to appear evil in every respect.”

Martin Luther

Dictata super Psalterium (Dictations on the Psalter). This is Luther's first major work from the years 1513 to 1515. (See What Luther Says, Ewald Martin Plass, ed., vol. 3, p. 1590. http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&lr=&tbs=bks%3A1&q=%22This+is+Luther%27s+first+major+work.+It+was+begun+in+the+summer+of+1513%22&btnG=Search&aq=f&aqi=&aql=&oq=&gs_rfai=)
Denifle, Heinrich, Luther and Lutherdom http://www.archive.org/details/cu31924029249567, p. 15; primary source: D. Martin Luthers Werke: kritische Gesamtausgabe, Weimar, Herman Bohlau, 1883, Vol. 3, p. 445. http://books.google.com/books?id=9YkVtSs8WdUC&pg=PA1&dq=%22Dictata+Super+Psalterium%22&hl=en&ei=Ms4qTJ3VGIe5nAewp8iqAQ&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=1&ved=0CCQQ6AEwADgK#v=onepage&q=%22Dictata%20Super%20Psalterium%22&f=false

Appearance , Evil , Falseness

“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.”

Martin Luther book Table Talk

3930
Table Talk (1569)

Food , Drink , Learning , Painting

“We believe that the very beginning and end of salvation, and the sum of Christianity, consists of faith in Christ, who by His blood alone, and not by any works of ours, has put away sin, and destroyed the power of death.”

Martin Luther

Source: Dictionary of Burning Words of Brilliant Writers (1895), p. 224

Death , Faith , Christ

“To say that the cross emblazoned with the papal coat of arms, and set up by the indulgence preachers, is equal in worth to the cross of Christ is blasphemy.”

Martin Luther Ninety-five Theses

Thesis 79
Ninety-five Theses (1517)

Christ

“As to why some are touched by the law and others not, so that some receive and others scorn the offer of grace…[this is the] hidden will of God, Who, according to His own counsel, ordains such persons as He wills to receive and partake of the mercy preached and offered.”

Martin Luther book On the Bondage of the Will

Source: On the Bondage of the Will (1525), p. 169

God , Law , Personality

“The true Gospel has it that we are justified by faith alone, without the deeds of the Law.”

Martin Luther

Source: Commentary on the Epistle to the Galatians (1535), Chapter 2

Faith , Law

“Here you should be guided by the words of St. Paul, I Corinthians 7 [:4–5], “The husband does not rule over his own body, but the wife does; likewise the wife does not rule over her own body, but the husband does. Do not deprive each other, except by agreement,” etc. Notice that St. Paul forbids either party to deprive the other, for by the marriage vow each submits his body to the other in conjugal duty. When one resists the other and refuses the conjugal duty she is robbing the other of the body she had bestowed upon him. This is really contrary to marriage, and dissolves the marriage. For this reason the civil government must compel the wife, or put her to death. If the government fails to act, the husband must reason that his wife has been stolen away and slain by robbers; he must seek another. We would certainly have to accept it if someone’s life were taken from him. Why then should we not also accept it if a wife steals herself away from her husband, or is stolen away by others?”

Martin Luther

The Estate of Marriage, 1522, translated by Walther I. Brandt, from Luther's Works, Vol. 45, pp. 32-34); as quoted in Martin Luther: Execute Adulterers, Witches, Frigid Wives, & Prostitutes, Pagadian Diocese http://www.pagadiandiocese.org/2017/10/30/martin-luther-execute-adulterers-witches-frigid-wives-prostitutes/, October 26, 2017, Dave Armstrong

Life , Death , Marriage

“I know God only as he became human, so shall I have him in no other way.”

Martin Luther

Das Marburger religionsgesprach 1529: Versuch einer Rekonstruction (Leipzig, 1929), p. 27; also LW 38, 3-90

God , Way

“We are beggars: this is true.”
Wir sind bettler. Hoc est verum.

Martin Luther book Table Talk

"The Last Written Words of Luther," Table Talk No. 5468, (16 February 1546), in Dr. Martin Luthers Werke (1909) as translated by James A. Kellerman, Band 85 (TR 5) 317–318 http://www.iclnet.org/pub/resources/text/wittenberg/luther/beggars.txt
Table Talk (1569)

“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.””

Martin Luther

Against the Roman Papacy, An Institution of the Devil ( Wider das Papstum zu Rom vom Teuffel Gestifft, A. D. 1545) http://books.google.com/books?id=GLAMHQAACAAJ&dq=luther+1545+%22+das+papstum+%22&lr=

Hell

“On coming to the house, they (the Magi), saw the child with his mother Mary, and they bowed down and worshiped him.”

Martin Luther

Matthew 2:11

Housing

“Faith is born and preserved in us by preaching why Christ came, what he brought and gave to us, and the benefits we obtain when we receive him. This happens when Christian liberty — which he gives to us — is rightly taught and we are told in what way as Christians we are all kings and priests and therefore lords of all.”

Martin Luther

Source: The Freedom of a Christian (1520), p. 70

Faith , Way , Christ

“Is Christ only to be adored? Or is the holy Mother of God rather not to be honoured? This is the woman who crushed the Serpent's head. Hear us. For your Son denies you nothing.”

Martin Luther

Weimar edition of Martin Luther's Works, English translation edited by J. Pelikan [Concordia: St. Louis], Vol. 51, 128-129

God , Christ

“A person must take care to exercise moderate discipline over the body and subject it to the Spirit by means of fasting, vigils, and labor. The goal is to have the body obey and conform — and not hinder — the inner person and faith. Unless it is held in check, we know it is the nature of the body to undermine faith and the inner person.”

Martin Luther

Source: The Freedom of a Christian (1520), pp. 71-72

Faith , Exercises , Nature , Personality

“Let us keep to Christ, and cling to Him, and hang on Him, so that no power can remove us.”

Martin Luther

Source: Dictionary of Burning Words of Brilliant Writers (1895), p. 433

Christ

“Man is by nature unable to want God to be God. Indeed, he himself wants to be God, and does not want God to be God.”

Martin Luther

Thesis 17
Disputation against Scholastic Theology (1517)

God , Nature

“To turn one's eyes away from Jesus means to turn them to the Law.”

Martin Luther

Source: Commentary on the Epistle to the Galatians (1535), Chapter 2

Law

“Luther'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”

Martin Luther

“…women and girls begin to bare themselves behind and in front, and there is nobody to punish and hold in check, and besides, God’s word is mocked.”

Martin Luther

To His Housewife (An Seine Hausfrau), end of July 1545, De Wette, vol. v (Fünfter Theil, 1828), p. 753. No. MMCCLXXXVI http://books.google.com/books?vid=0SgD2vFniuUDWUSHsu8FSM5&id=Ez96yjkxWYoC&pg=PA752&dq=Dr.+Martin+Luthers+Briefe,+Sendschreiben McGiffert, p. 374 (English tr.).
McGiffert, Arthur Cushman. Martin Luther: The Man and His Work http://books.google.com/books?vid=OCLC01594761&id=ySbbvfFlGLMC&pg=PP15&lpg=PA1&dq=%22Arthur+Cushman+McGiffert+%22 (Century, 1911), from Google Books. Reprint from Kessinger Publishing (July 2003), ISBN 076617431X

Women , God , Girl

“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.”

Martin Luther

Whether Soldiers Can Also Be in a State of Grace (1526)

Bee , Change , Madness

“I will first discuss images according to the Law of Moses, and then according to the gospel. And I say at the outset that according to the Law of Moses no other images are forbidden than an image of God which one worships. A crucifix, on the other hand, or any other holy image is not forbidden. Heigh now! you breakers of images, I defy you to prove the opposite!”

Martin Luther

Source: Against the Heavenly Prophets in the Matter of Images and Sacraments (1525), pp. 85-86

God , Law

“There can be no doubt that the Virgin Mary is in heaven. How it happened we do not know.”

Martin Luther

Weimar edition of Martin Luther's Works (Translation by William J. Cole) Vol. 10, p. 268

“I approached the task of destroying images by first tearing them out of the heart through God’s Word and making them worthless and despised. This indeed took place before Dr. Karlstadt ever dreamed of destroying images. For when they are no longer in the heart, they can do no harm when seen with the eyes. But Dr. Karlstadt, who pays no attention to matters of the heart, has reversed the order by removing them from sight and leaving them in the heart. For he does not preach faith, nor can he preach it; unfortunately, only now do I see that. Which of these two forms of destroying images is best, I will let each man judge for himself.”

Martin Luther

Source: Against the Heavenly Prophets in the Matter of Images and Sacraments (1525), pp. 84-85

God , Faith , Dreams , Tear

“Peace is more important than all justice; and peace was not made for the sake of justice, but justice for the sake of peace.”

Martin Luther

On Marriage (1530)

Peaceful , Peace , Justice

“Our preaching does not stop with the law. That would lead to wounding without binding up, striking down and not healing, killing and not making alive, driving down to hell and not bringing back up, humbling and not exalting. Therefore, we must also preach grace and the promise of forgiveness — this is the means by which faith is awakened and properly taught. Without this word of grace, the law, contrition, penitence, and everything else are done and taught in vain.”

Martin Luther

Source: The Freedom of a Christian (1520), pp. 78-79

Faith , Law , Forgiveness , Hell

“Now when God sends forth his holy Gospel, He deals with us in a twofold manner, the first outwardly, then inwardly. Outwardly he deals with us through the oral word of the Gospel and through material sings, that is, baptism adndthe sacrament of the altar. Inwardly He deals with us through the Holy spirit, faith, and other gifts. But whatever their measure of order the outward factors should and must procede. The inward experience follows and is effected by the outward. God has determined to give the inward to no one except through the outward.”

Martin Luther

Luthers Works, 40 p. 146 as quoted in Against the Idols: The Reformation of Worship from Erasmus to Calvin https://books.google.com/books?id=95sDFZbl4S4C&pg=PA55&source=gbs_toc_r&cad=3#v=onepage&q=Calvin&f=falseby Carlos M. N. Eire, p. 72

God , Faith , Singing

“The believing man hath the Holy Ghost; and where the Holy Ghost dwelleth, He will not suffer a man to be idle, butstirreth him up to all exercises of piety and godliness, and of true religion, to the love of God, to the patient suffering of afflictions, to prayer, to thanksgiving, and the exercise of charity towards all men.”

Martin Luther

Source: Dictionary of Burning Words of Brilliant Writers (1895), p. 320

Love , Men , God , Religion

“Although indulgences are the very merits of Christ and of His saints and so should be treated with all reverence, they have in fact nonetheless become a shocking exercise of greed. For who actually seeks the salvation of souls through indulgences, and not instead money for his coffers? This is evident from the way indulgences are preached. For the commissioners and preachers do nothing but extol indulgences and incite the people to contribute. You hear no one instructing the people about what indulgences are, or about how much they grant, or about the purpose they serve. Instead, all you hear is how much one must contribute. The people are always left in ignorance, so that they come to think that by gaining indulgences they are at once saved.”

Martin Luther

Tractatus de indulgentiis per Doctorem Martinum ordinis s. Augustini Wittenbergae editus., or, A Treatise on Indulgences Published by Doctor Martin of the Order of St. Augustine in Wittenberg. To Archbishop Albrecht of Mainz (31 October 1517) Luther's "forgotten" treatise was found in the Mainz archives “among the papers making up the correspondence between Archbishop Albrecht and the Mainz University faculty in December 1517” and published by F. Herrmann in the Zeitschrift für Kirchengeschichte (ZKG) in 1907, vol. 28, pp. 370-373. Catholic Luther scholar Jared Wicks S. J. believes this early treatise to be of considerable historical significance: "This document is the short treatise sketching a tentative theology of indulgences which Luther sent to Archbishop Albrecht of Mainz and Magdeburg on that fateful October 31, 1517. The other two documents of Luther's intervention are well known. First, there was the respectful, though urgent letter to the Archbishop in which Luther related the misunderstandings being spread by Tetzel's preaching and in which he begged the Archbishop to issue new instructions which would bring Tetzel under control. Secondly, there was the list of Latin theses on the doctrine and practice of indulgences which Luther intended to use as the basis of a theological discussion of the many vexed questions in this area. The third document sent to Albrecht, Luther's treatise, has not received the attention it deserves from historians and theologians studying the beginning of the Reformation. This is most regrettable, since the treatise depicts in orderly and succinct fashion Luther's understanding of indulgences in 1517 and reveals his conception of their limited role in Christian living. The treatise gives us the theological standpoint on which Luther based his intervention, and it shows in miniature the rich Augustinian spirituality of penance and progress that he had forged in his early works. ...[T]he great tragedy of 1517 was that the barbed [95] theses spread over Germany in a matter of weeks, and this penetrating little treatise fell into dusty oblivion."
Martin Luther's Treatise on Indulgences, Theological Studies 28 (1967), pp. 481-482, 518. http://www.google.com/search?tbm=bks&hl=en&q=%22forgotten+document+in+luther%27s%22&btnG=#hl=en&q=%22forgotten%20document%20in%20luther%27s%22&um=1&bpcl=35466521&psj=1&ie=UTF-8&sa=N&tab=pw&psj=1&ei=Y-6JUJ-mL4eo8gShuYDIBQ&bav=on.2,or.r_gc.r_pw.r_qf.&fp=e5b835ba41618e18&biw=1232&bih=702 http://www.google.com/search?tbm=bks&hl=en&q=%22forgotten+document+in+luther%27s%22&btnG=#hl=en&q=%22forgotten+document+in+luther%27s%22&um=1&bpcl=35466521&psj=1&ie=UTF-8&tbo=u&tbm=bks&source=og&sa=N&tab=wp&psj=1&bav=on.2,or.r_gc.r_pw.r_qf.&fp=4fa257fccf8e3a83&biw=1232&bih=702

Money , People , Way , Exercises

“Ibid, WA, 39, II:107”

Martin Luther

“I’d rather be ruled by a competent Turk than an incompetent Christian.”

Martin Luther

The earliest published source for such a statement yet located is in Pat Robertson — Where He Stands (1988) by Hubert Morken, p. 42, where such a comment is attributed to Luther without citation.
Disputed

“Out of special hatred for our faith, the devil has sent some whores here to destroy our poor young men... such a syphilitic whore can poison ten, twenty, thirty or more of the children of good people, and thus is to be considered a murderer, or worse, as a poisoner.”

Martin Luther book Table Talk

Table Talk (1569)

Faith , Whore , Children , People

“Leave the ass burdened with laws behind in the valley. But your conscience, let it ascend with Isaac into the mountain.”

Martin Luther

Source: Commentary on the Epistle to the Galatians (1535), Chapter 2, Verse 14

Mountain , Law

“Do not fight against these harmful spells. For you do not know what God wants with them. You do not know the greater divine plan behind it all.”

Martin Luther

As attributed by Kai Lehmann, curator of the exhibition "Luther und die Hexen" ("Luther and the witches"). (2013) in “Interview with Dr. Kai Lehmann, curator of the exhibition "Luther und die Hexen" ("Luther and the witches")“ https://www.luther2017.de/en/wiki/martin-luther-and-the-witches/kai-lehmann-martin-luther-firmly-believed-in-witches/
Disputed

God , Fight

“The human being, corrupted to the root, can neither desire nor perform anything but evil.”

Martin Luther

The Making of Martin Luther, By Richard Rex, p66
Attributed

Evil

“If we allow them any influence in our conscience, they become the cloak of evil, heresies and blasphemies.”

Martin Luther

Marthin Luther, Comment, ad Galat., 310. As cited by Rev. Msgr. Patrick F. O'Hare (1916), The Facts about Luther https://archive.org/details/factsaboutluther00ohar_0/page/118/mode/2up?q=%22cloak+of%22, p. 119. OCLC 4200594.

Evil

“Mother love is stronger than the filth and scabbiness on a child, and so the love of God toward us is stronger than the dirt that clings to us.”

Martin Luther book Table Talk

94
Table Talk (1569)

God , Love

“For Christ is Joy and Sweetness to a broken heart. Christ is a Lover of poor sinners, and such a Lover that He gave Himself for us. Now if this is true, and it is true, then are we never justified by our own righteousness.”

Martin Luther

Source: Commentary on the Epistle to the Galatians (1535), Chapter 3, verse 20

Heart , Joy , Christ , Lovers

“Let us not flutter too high, but remain by the manger and the swaddling clothes of Christ, in whom dwelleth all the fulness of the Godhead bodily.”

Martin Luther book Table Talk

Source: Table Talk (1569) 50

Clothes , Christ

“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.”

Martin Luther

Large Catechism 1.1-3, F. Bente and W.H.T. Dau, tr.<cite>Triglot Concordia: The Symbolical Books of the Ev. Lutheran Church</cite>(St. Louis: Concordia Publishing House, 1921), 565. http://www.iclnet.org/pub/resources/text/wittenberg/luther/catechism/web/cat-03.html

God , Faith , Confidence , Heart