Martin Luther Quotes
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God works by contraries so that a man feels himself to be lost in the very moment when he is on the point of being saved.
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The devil is not only a liar, but also a murderer, he constantly seeks our life, and wreaks his anger whenever he can afflict our bodies with misfortune and harm. Hence it comes that he often breaks men's necks or drives them to insanity, drowns some, and incites many to commit suicide, and to many other terrible calamities. Therefore there is nothing for us to do upon earth but to pray against this arch enemy without ceasing. For unless God preserved us, we would not be safe from him even for an hour.
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When I was a child there were many witches, and they bewitched both cattle and men, especially children.
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The will of man without the grace of God is not free at all, but is the permanent prisoner and bondslave of evil since it cannot turn itself to good.
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If the gospel was of a nature to be propagated or maintained by the power of the world, God would not have intrusted it to fishermen. To defend the gospel appertains not to the princes and pontiffs of this world.
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If anyone could have gained heaven as a monk, then I would indeed have been among them.
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We need not invite the Devil to our table; he is too ready to come without being asked. The air all about us is filled with demons.
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On the Ninety-five Theses:
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In Matthew 12:23 Christ says: 'Either make the tree good, and its fruit good; or make the tree bad and its fruit bad,' as if to say: 'Let the one who wishes to have good fruit begin by planting a good tree.' Therefore, let the person who wishes to do good works being not with the works but with the believing, for this alone makes a person good.
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A mighty fortress is our God, a bulwark never failing; Our helper He, amid the flood of mortal ills prevailing: For still our ancient foe doth seek to work us woe; His craft and power are great, and, armed with cruel hate, On earth is not his equal.
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The Christian gospel is a two-way road. On the one hand, it seeks to change the souls of men, and thereby unite them with God; on the other hand, it seeks to change the environmental conditions of men so the soul will have a chance after it is changed.
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Anyone who is to find Christ must first find the church. How could anyone know where Christ is and what faith is in him unless he knew where his believers are?
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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.
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Riches, understanding, beauty, are fair gifts of God.
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The inner man cannot be forced to do out of his own free will, what he should do, except the grace of God change the heart and make it willing.
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A just law is a man-made code that squares with the moral law or the law of God. An unjust law is a code that is out of harmony with the moral law. To put it in the terms of Saint Thomas Aquinas, an unjust law is a human law that is not rooted in eternal and natural law.
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There can be no doubt that the Virgin Mary is in heaven. How it happened we do not know.
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I've got so much work to do today, I'd better spend two hours in prayer instead of one.
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I would take to be quite a fool any man who would make a book full of laws and statutes for an apple tree telling it how to bear apples and not thorns, when the tree is able by its own nature to do this better than the man with all his books can describe and demand.
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We find no rest for our weary bones unless we cling to the word of grace.
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Jews and papists are ungodly wretches; they are two stockings made of one piece of cloth.
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All laws and philosophy merely tell us what should be done, but they do not provide the strength to do it.
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What shall we do with...the Jews?...set fire to their synagogues or schools and bury and cover with dirt whatever will not burn, so that no man will ever again see a stone or cinder of them.
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In a word, the Holy Scripture is the highest and best of books, abounding in comfort under all afflictions and trials. It teaches us to see, to feel, to grasp, and to comprehend faith, hope, and charity, far otherwise than mere human reason can; and while evil oppresses us, it teaches how these virtues throw light upon the darkness, and how, after this poor, miserable existence of ours on earth, there is another and an eternal life.