Almost 500 years ago, in a German university town, a Catholic monk took a list of theses, along with a hammer and nail, and posted them on the door of the town church for discussion.
That simple event started one of history's most monumental movements. The Lutheran Reformation often dates itself to that day -- October 31, 1517 -- when Martin Luther nailed the 95 Theses to the door of the Castle Church.
What began as a plea for a scholarly and theological debate over some questions and abuses going on in Catholic Germany, eventually led to the rise of one of the greatest theologians of all time.
Luther, the pastor of Germany, the man whose name graces thousands of churches across the world that call themselves Lutheran, was a giant among men. He was not merely a scholar, nor a pastor. He was a professor, translator, writer, pastor, father, exegete, commentator, and leader.
Luther's legacy can be felt in many areas of religious life. One of the greatest of these is his written works, which, in the American Edition fill 55 volumes. In addition, almost no one has been written about more. Thousands of studies, biographies, and critical editions of his work exist.
No one can deny that Luther's thought is influential the world over.
As such, a book such as the one under review here, What Luther Says: A Practical In-Home Anthology for the Active Christian by Ewald Plass is a must have on any shelf.
Plass has put together a wonderful anthology of 5,100 quotes from Luther's entire corpus -- books, commentaries, letters, table talk, sermons, etc. These quotes, divided into categories, range over 200 categories. To name just a few: Absolution, Affliction, Angels, Catholic Church, Church and State, Courage, Death, Education, Forgiveness, God, Gospel, Heresy, Holiness, Holy Ghost, Joy, Justification, Law and Gospel, Marriage, Miracles, Money, Papacy, Philosophy, Providence, Religion, Resurrection, Sin, Society, War, Will of God, Woman, Works, Worship, and Youth.
Each entry is provided with a brief context, indicating what is being discussed, and from where it is taken in Luther's body of writing.
The compiler, a professor at Concordia College, Milwaukee, WI in the 1940s, also includes an introduction to Luther and his writings, as well as some valuable appendices offering brief biographical sketches of some personages mentioned, a bibliography of Luther's works, a bibliography for the Luther scholar, a chronological outline of Luther's world, a general index, and an index of Scripture passages.
As you can see, this is definitely a hefty volume. And that can be a downside -- you are not going to find any pocket big enough for it. But, it beats the old 3-volume edition hands down, because everything is here in one place.
Another potential negative is the King James language in which the quotes are translated. There is some occasionally difficult grammar and sentence structure, but with Luther this is hard to avoid -- there is no new and modern translation of his entire work available as of yet. The American Edition, put out by Concordia Publishing House is still the standard English work.
It is also an expensive book, probably between $45-70 retail. But it can be found online and at Seminary bookstores with lower costs.
But those three paltry negatives cannot dissuade me from wholeheartedly recommending this book. The importance of Luther to our world cannot and should not be denied. He changed the face of Christianity in his time, and is still relevant in ours.
What Luther Says is a handy reference of primary sources that provides a wonderful overview of Luther in Luther's own words. It serves as a fine reference book for pastors and scholars looking for good quotes, and due to Luther's own earthy wit and style, is fun and interesting for any person to read.
Most importantly, What Luther Says provides solid documentation of Luther's staunch Biblical teaching. Luther lived and breathed the Reformation principles sola gratia (by grace alone), sola fide (by faith alone), sola Scriptura (by Scripture alone). And the evidence is found on every page of this book.
For another valuable source on Luther's thought and theology, check out Paul Althaus' The Theology of Martin Luther. A review on that book can be found here,
The Theology of Martin Luther
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