“Formerly the whole Evangelical Lutheran Church was unanimous in the conviction that Luther was the divinely commissioned Reformer of the Church and the herald of divine truth. But now (many) deny him this honor. They maintain, of course without the least proof, that he erred in various articles of faith, and do not hesitate to dispute his vocation as a Reformer. How easily, under such circumstances, may not even faithful Lutherans be led to waver in their faith, especially when great scholars and distinguished theologians utter such censures. To defend ourselves successfully against these false accusations we have no better means than that of a more intimate acquaintance with his writings and his life.

“We hope, therefore, to meet a general want of our Church in this small volume. May God graciously own it as a means to lead us the more joyfully to thank Him for what we possess in Luther. When we contemplate his history, the wonderful ways in which he was led, and the glorious success of his work, we see most clearly that he was called by God himself to be the deliverer and restorer of His Church, and that as such he was divinely authenticated and sealed. When we examine his doctrine we find that it harmonizes perfectly with the Holy Scriptures, so that he preached nothing but the pure word of God. – Hermann Fick

Book Contents

• Preface.
• 1 Prophecies Concerning The Antichrist And Concerning Dr. Luther.
• 2 Luther’s Birth and Childhood.
• 3 Luther at School in Magdeburg.
• 4 Luther at School in Eisenach.
• 5 Luther studies at Erfurt.
• 6 Luther Becomes a Monk.
• 7 Luther’s Monastic Labor.
• 8 Luther’s Ordination as Priest.
• 9 Luther’s Conflicts in the Cloister.
• 10 How Luther Was Consoled In The Cloister.
• 11 Luther is called to Wittenberg.
• 12 Luther’s Pilgrimage to Rome.
• 13 Luther becomes Doctor of the Holy Scriptures.
• 14 Tetzel’s Scandalous Indulgence Traffic.
• 15 The Elector’s Prophetic Dream op Luther.
• 16 Luther’s Ninety-Five Theses. — Beginning of the Reformation.
• 17 Negotiations with Cajetan and Miltitz.
• 18 The Leipzig Disputation.
• 19 Luther burns the Papal Bull.
• 20 Luther goes to Worms.
• 21 Luther at the Diet.
• 22 Luther at the Wartburg.
• 23 Luther returns to Wittenberg.
• 24 The Peasant War.
• 25 Luther’s Marriage.
• 26 The Marburg Conference.
• 27 The Presentation of the Augsburg Confession.
• 28 Reformatory Labors.
• 29 The last Years of Luther’s Life.
• 30 Luther’s Last Days, Death and Burial.

Publication Information

• Lutheran Library edition first published: 2019-08-08
• Updated: 2019-10-06 (v5)
• Copyright: CC BY 4.0