Of course Martin Luther could not be accused of hiding his real self.
“I sit here at ease, hardened and unfeeling—alas! praying little, grieving little for the Church of God, burning rather in the fierce fires of my untamed flesh. It comes to this: I should be afire in the spirit; in reality I am afire in the flesh, with lust, laziness, idleness, sleepiness. It is perhaps because you have all ceased praying for me that God has turned away from me…. For the last eight days I have written nothing, nor prayed nor studied, partly from self-indulgence, partly from another vexatious handicap [constipation and piles]…. I really cannot stand it any longer…. Pray for me, I beg you, for in my seclusion here I am submerged in sins” (E.G. Rupp and Benjamin Drewery, eds, Martin Luther: Documents of Modern History, pp. 72-73).
8 replies to "Real Stuff from Luther"
I need to read his books…
I am always struck by the transparency of Luther.
What did Luther know?
Apparently not much. All that he railed against, the Protestant church has hung onto for dear life.
Spirituality ladder-climbing religious projects are the norm in American Protestantism. All that Luther stood for (at the risk of life and limb) has gone by the wayside in favor of the same old tired bit of me and lot of God stuff.
Piles. ewww! He wasn’t holding his hair back when he vomited….
Martin Luther is just simply NOT read enough by Evangelical Christians! He is not perfect of course, his written work on the Jews is aweful, but hey that’s Luther at his worst, perhaps. Myself I would call his “Simul Iustus et Peccator” – Simultaneously Sinner & Saint! To be some of his best biblical understanding, Rom. 7:13-25. And of course his doctrine of the “theologia crucis” verses or contra the “theologia gloriae” to be just profound!
New reality show: Real Reformers!
Btw, today.. we simply must place the dispensational “schema” with this new or today’s “Reformers”! I am more toward the PD or Progressive myself. Time is surely “ticking” as we watch modern Israel, and also todays Gentile Church Apostasy!
[…] Martin Luther had his down days too: “I sit here at ease, hardened and unfeeling—alas! praying little, grieving little for the Church of God, burning rather in the fierce fires of my untamed flesh. It comes to this: I should be afire in the spirit; in reality I am afire in the flesh, with lust, laziness, idleness, sleepiness. It is perhaps because you have all ceased praying for me that God has turned away from me…. For the last eight days I have written nothing, nor prayed nor studied, partly from self-indulgence, partly from another vexatious handicap [constipation and piles]…. I really cannot stand it any longer…. Pray for me, I beg you, for in my seclusion here I am submerged in sins” (E.G. Rupp and Benjamin Drewery, eds, Martin Luther: Documents of Modern History, pp. 72-73). […]