Luther Onlinetag:typepad.com,2003:weblog-2920302010-03-13T11:28:40-08:00A website dedicated to the reformer Martin Luther (1483 - 1546)TypePadWe were simply laughed at because we were such pious monks. A Christian was taken to be nothing but a fool.tag:typepad.com,2003:post-6a00d8341c13e053ef0120a93297eb970b2010-03-13T11:28:40-08:002010-03-13T11:28:40-08:00To the present day one doesn’t know for sure where any of the apostles is buried. No doubt God didn’t wish us to know this in order that we might avoid idolatry. However, this is quite certain, that most of the martyrs were buried in Rome. But now this city has become a harlot. I wouldn’t take one thousand florins for not having seen Rome because I wouldn’t have been able to believe such things if I had been told by somebody without having seen them for myself. We were simply laughed at because we were such pious monks. A...Ted TschoppFor human society is not an end in itself but a means to teach one another about God...tag:typepad.com,2003:post-6a00d8341c13e053ef0120a92c69d5970b2010-03-12T07:20:34-08:002010-03-12T07:20:34-08:00“God placed his church in the midst of the world, among countless external activities and callings, not in order that Christians should become monks but so that they may live in fellowship and that our works and the exercises of our faith may become known among men. For human society, as Aristotle said, is not an end in itself but a means [to an end]; and the ultimate end is to teach one another about God. Accordingly Aristotle said that society isn’t made by a physician and a physician, by a farmer and a farmer, etc. There are three kinds...Ted TschoppWhat one thinks can very well make a person old...tag:typepad.com,2003:post-6a00d8341c13e053ef01310f8dc15c970c2010-03-11T08:08:43-08:002010-03-11T08:08:43-08:00What one thinks can very well make a person old, and so can work. I used to work too. Often I preached four sermons on one day. During the whole of one Lent I preached two sermons and gave one lecture every day. This was when I first preached on the Ten Commandments to a large congregation, for to preach on the catechism was then a new and uncommon thing. -- Martin Luther April 19, 1538 Vocation, Preaching, WorkTed TschoppThere is only one article and one rule of theology, and this is true faith or trust in Christtag:typepad.com,2003:post-6a00d8341c13e053ef0120a70d421c970b2009-12-04T06:33:21-08:002009-12-04T06:33:21-08:00There is only one article and one rule of theology, and this is true faith or trust in Christ. Whoever doesn’t hold this article and this rule is no theologian. All other articles flow into and out of this one; without it the others are meaningless. The devil has tried from the very beginning to deride this article and to put his own wisdom in its place. However, this article has a good savor for all who are afflicted, downcast, troubled, and tempted, and these are the ones who understand the gospel. - Martin Luther 1532Ted TschoppThus it was with the pilgrimages. New ones arose dailytag:typepad.com,2003:post-6a00d8341c13e053ef0120a70500e8970b2009-12-03T06:34:35-08:002009-12-03T06:34:35-08:00Thus it was with the pilgrimages. New ones arose daily, to Grimmenthal, to Eicha, to Birnbaum, to Regensburg, and so many “Our Dear Ladies.” There was hardly a chapel or altar that did not blossom into a place of pilgrimage. The people ran to them, as if they were mad, neglecting their employment and obedience as though, if one could grasp it, it were the devil’s delusion. Yet bishops, monasteries, and universities kept silence. If our gospel had not come, there would have been no more room or place left for a pilgrimage. And was that not a remarkably masterful...Ted TschoppThe spoken word of the gospel should preach only Christ and point only to himtag:typepad.com,2003:post-6a00d8341c13e053ef012875ffc61d970c2009-12-02T06:29:16-08:002009-12-02T06:29:16-08:00Whatever has been said in the Advent season concerning John the Baptist is also to be understood here; just as he was the forerunner of Christ and directed the people to him, so the spoken word of the gospel should preach only Christ and point only to him. For only to that end was it ordained by God, just as John was sent by God (as we have heard), so that he should be the voice in the wilderness who with his office signifies the spoken preaching of the gospel. Just as the darkness was unable, on its own, to...Ted TschoppBecause they failed to keep the first covenant, he wants to establish a new covenant they can keeptag:typepad.com,2003:post-6a00d8341c13e053ef0120a6f5d62e970b2009-12-01T07:27:34-08:002009-12-01T07:27:34-08:00The Jews claim that the promised Messiah’s advent is being delayed as a result of their sin. Quite to the contrary, God here declares that he will make a new covenant or law, unlike Moses’ covenant or law, and that he will not be prevented from doing this by the fact that they have sinned. Indeed, precisely because they failed to keep the first covenant, he wants to establish another, a new covenant, which they can keep. Their sin or their breaking of the previous covenant will not deter him. He will graciously forgive their sin and remember it no...Ted TschoppThus Andrew became the first preacher and witness to the Messiahship of Christtag:typepad.com,2003:post-6a00d8341c13e053ef0120a6eef756970b2009-11-30T06:33:30-08:002009-11-30T06:33:30-08:00"Thus Andrew, one of John’s disciples, was the first to come to Christ and make His acquaintance. After this he departed and conversed with his brother Simon. The gist of his words might have been: “Do you want to hear some wonderful news? John, our master, preached about this man, telling us that He is the Lamb of God and the Messiah.” Without a doubt John had often preached on Christ at great length. Andrew had given John’s words credence, and now he came to his brother and said: “We have found the Messiah,” the very man to whom John...Ted TschoppI divide the world into six ages: the age of Adam, of Noah, of Abraham, of David, of Christ, and of the pope. tag:typepad.com,2003:post-6a00d8341c13e053ef0128759cab74970c2009-11-13T16:00:13-08:002009-11-13T16:00:13-08:00“I divide the [history of the] world into six ages: the age of Adam, of Noah, of Abraham, of David, of Christ, and of the pope. Each of the first five has attained about a thousand years together with its posterity. The pope began about five thousand years after the creation of the world, that is, when Hildebrand openly ridiculed the marriage of priests in the time of Henry IV. That was the time when Bernard was born. But the pope won’t complete his thousand years.” CreationTed TschoppEver since the fall of Adam the world knows neither God nor his creation.tag:typepad.com,2003:post-6a00d8341c13e053ef0120a6878826970b2009-11-12T08:47:39-08:002009-11-12T08:47:39-08:00“Ah, what wretched people we are! To think that we are so cold and slothful in our attitude toward this great joy which, after all, happened for us, this great benefaction which is far, far superior to all other works of creation! And yet how hard it is for us to believe, though the good news was preached and sung for us by angels, who are heavenly theologians and have rejoiced in our behalf! Their song is the most glorious. It contains the whole Christian faith. For the gloria in excelsis is supreme worship. They wish us such worship and...Ted Tschopp