Today is the birthday of Martin Luther, the German monk-turned-revolutionary who played a decisive role in radically reshaping the Church of his day, and continues to influence it now. Born 1483, he's made countless headlines this year, with October 2017 marking 500 years since he supposedly posted in 95 theses to the door of Wittenberg's Castle Church, sparking the Catholic dissent that turned into a complete schism: the Protestant Reformation.
Luther's legacy, delighted in by some and lamented by others, remains contentious. What's probably agreed on is his memorable way with words, he had an intelligent mind and an eloquent tongue, which he could utilise for rich, thoughtful theology but also brutal assaults on his opponents.
While he continues to inspire both revulsion and celebration, here are twelve quotes, according to goodreads, to remember Martin Luther.
1. We are saved by faith alone, but the faith that saves is never alone.
2. 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.
3. This life therefore is not righteousness, but growth in righteousness, not health, but healing, not being but becoming, not rest but exercise. We are not yet what we shall be, but we are growing toward it, the process is not yet finished, but it is going on, this is not the end, but it is the road. All does not yet gleam in glory, but all is being purified.
4. Whoever drinks beer, he is quick to sleep; whoever sleeps long, does not sin; whoever does not sin, enters Heaven! Thus, let us drink beer!
5. God does not need your good works, but your neighbour does.
6. True humility does not know that it is humble. If it did, it would be proud from the contemplation of so fine a virtue.
7. Be a sinner and sin boldly, but believe and rejoice in Christ even more boldly.
8. There never yet have been, nor are there now, too many good books.
9. God writes the gospel not in the Bible alone, but on trees and flowers and clouds and stars.
10. The heart overflows with gladness, and leaps and dances for the joy it has found in God. In this experience the Holy Spirit is active, and has taught us in the flash of a moment the deep secret of joy. You will have as much joy and laughter in life as you have faith in God.
11. You are not only responsible for what you say, but also for what you do not say
12. A Christian is a perfectly free lord of all, subject to none. A Christian is a perfectly dutiful servant of all, subject of all, subject to all.
