Von menschen leren zu meiden. D. Marti. Luther

Luther, Martin (1483-1546)

Published by Nickel Schirlentz, Wittenberg, 1522

About this Item

In modern drab wrappers. With an attractive woodcut title border featuring carousing putti and cherubs playing instruments. A good copy, lightly soiled, with some marginal staining. Six instances of contemporary marginal manuscript annotation in German. "In this work, Luther addresses the monastic rules of fasting, obedience and celibacy, arguing that they have no foundation in scripture and that a transgression of these rules is therefore no sin. At the same time, Luther warns that a transgression of monastic rules in itself is by no means a sign of faith or internalized piety. (Kessler Catalogue) In Luther's view, monastic life is not a higher form of Christian faith; in fact, it contradicts the righteousness of faith as well as Christian liberty. Wherever the Reformation was influential this view led to the virtual collapse of monasticism and thus to momentous changes in Church life. "In 1520 [Luther] attacked monastic abuses and the way monasteries and nunneries now went beyond their original function as schools, imposing vows on young men and women, thus making them "permanent prisoners" under abbots and abbesses who turned discipline into tyranny. In his 'De captivitate Babylonica Ecclesiae' of 1520, Luther acknowledged that vows of celibacy, obedience and poverty were "a recognized mode of life," but he argued passionately that these vows were not commanded by God, obscured the divine gifts of grace and faith, increased pride, and encouraged disdain for ordinary married Christians. "Luther thus denied any special spiritual value in monasticism, whose works, he said, "in God's sight are in no way whatever superior to the works of a farmer laboring in the field, or of a woman looking after her home." He feared that the example set by monks and nuns might lead "ordinary folk" into mere outward piety instead of encouraging them to live a spiritual life of "true Godliness," through faith in the cross of Christ. He saw monasticism not as a religious life but as an illusion that perverted true religious life, and he urged those "in high places" to abolish "all vows and religious orders". In 1524 he abandoned his own vows and married a nun who like many others had left her convent. "Luther's attack on monasticism was ultimately theological. Justification by grace alone through faith disallowed the existence of any elite spiritual group that could attain degrees of holiness above that of ordinary Christians. On the contrary, the highest spiritual riches were to be found in the laity's secular vocation rather than in monasticism. Contemplation was not a work of merit for the cloisters but for all Christians as they contemplated grace, faith, and salvation. Protestantism therefore offered an alternative form of holiness, which was neither cloistered nor ascetic but a truly religious vocation outside monasticism, based on baptism and lives of ordinary work and marriage." (Oxford Encyclopedia of the Reformation). Seller Inventory # 3323

Bibliographic Details

Title: Von menschen leren zu meiden. D. Marti. ...

Publisher: Nickel Schirlentz, Wittenberg

Publication Date: 1522

Binding: Hardcover

Condition: Fine

Edition: FIRST EDITION.