The Table Talk of Martin Luther

This historic book may have numerous typos and missing text. Purchasers can usually download a free scanned copy of the original book (without typos) from the publisher. Not indexed. Not illustrated. 1857 edition. Excerpt: ... MEMOIR Iiaetijt Luther, the illustrious German divine and reformer of tbe church, was the son of John Lotter, or Lauther, (which name our reformer changed to Luther,) and of Margaret Lindeman, and was born atEisleben.atown of Saxony, in the countyof Mansfeldt, November 10th, 1483. His father's extraction and condition were originally but mean, and his occupation that of a miner j* it is probable, however, that by his application and industry he improved the circumstances of his family, for we find him afterwards raised to the magistracy of a considerable rank and dignity in his province. Luther was initiated very early into letters; and, having learned the rudiments of grammar while he continued at home with his parents, was, at the ago of thirteen, sent to a school at Magdeburg. Here he remained only one year, for the circumstances of his parents were at that time so very low, and so insufficient to maintain him, that he was forced, as Melchior Adam relates, "Mendicato vivere pane," to beg his * "I am a peasant's son, and my father, grandfather, and greatgrandfather were all common peasants. My father went to Mansfeldt, where he got employment in the mines; and there I was born. That I should ever become bachelor of arts, doctor of divinity, and what not, seemed not to be written in the stars. How I must have surprised folks by turning monk; and then, again, by changing the brown cap for another! By so doing I occasioned real grief and trouble to my father. Afterwards I went to loggers with the pope, married a runaway nun, and had children by her. Who foresaw these things in the stars? Who could have foretold that they were to come to pass?" bread for support.* Prom Magdeburg he was removed to a school at Eisenach, a city of Thuringia,...

Martin Luther (1483, 1546) was a German monk, a theologian and church reformer, he is considered to be the founder of Protestantism. Luther was a professor of Bible at the University of Wittenberg when he posted his famous 95 Theses (1517). In addition to writing many books, Luther translated the Bible into German. Luther believed that salvation was only by faith in Jesus, unmediated by the church. He challenged papal authority by emphasing the Bible as the only source of religious authority and believed the church to be a priesthood of all believers.These ideas helped to inspire the Protestant Reformation and changed the course of Western civilization. He married Katharina von Bora thus initiating the practice of clerical marriage within Protestantism.- Publisher.