Prayer is not overcoming God's reluctance. It is laying hold of His willingness.
Martin LutherRead
Anyone who can be proved to be a seditious person is an outlaw before God and the emperor; and whoever is the first to put him to death does right and well. Therefore let everyone who can, smite, slay and stab, secretly or openly, remembering that nothing can be more poisonous, hurtful, or devilish than a rebel.
Interpretation
What this quote means
The quote expresses strong condemnation of rebellion against authority, suggesting that such individuals are deserving of death.
Martin Luther's quote articulates a vehement stance against rebellion and sedition, portraying those who oppose established authority as not just criminals, but as morally and spiritually reprehensible. It reflects a deep conviction that obedience to both God and earthly rulers is paramount, and to rebel is to embrace a state of being fundamentally harmful to society and divine order. Luther advocates for a drastic response to rebellion, illustrating the intense societal and religious pressures of his time regarding authority and dissent.
Themes
RebellionAuthorityObedienceSeditiousExecution
In practice
Example use cases
In a historical debate about the consequences of disobedience to government, this quote underscores the importance of loyalty.
More from Martin Luther
All quotes →Now if I believe in God's Son and remember that He became man, all creatures will appear a hundred times more beautiful to me than before. Then I will properly appreciate the sun, the moon, the stars, trees, apples, as I reflect that he is Lord over all things. ...God writes the Gospel, not in the Bible alone, but also on trees, and in the flowers and clouds and stars.
Martin LutherRead
It is the part of a Christian to take care of his own body for the very purpose that, by its soundness and wellbeing, he may be enabled to labour, and to acquire and preserve property, for the aid of those who are in want, that thus the stronger member may serve the weaker member, and we may be children of God, and busy for one another, bearing one another's burdens, and so fulfiling the law of Christ.
Martin LutherRead
Reason is the greatest enemy that faith has; it never comes to the aid of spiritual things, but more frequently than not struggles against the divine Word, treating with contempt all that emanates from God.
Martin LutherRead
We will win our freedom because the sacred heritage of our nation and the eternal will of God are embodied in our echoing demands.
Martin LutherRead
In a mouse we admire God's creation and craft work. The same may be said about flies.
Martin LutherRead
Similar quotes
Do things for people not because of who they are or what they do in return, but because of who you are.
Harold S. KushnerRead
The more clearly we can focus our attention on the wonders and realities of the universe about us, the less taste we shall have for destruction.
Rachel CarsonRead
Work, apart from devotion or love of God, is helpless and cannot stand alone.
RamakrishnaRead
How many things there are concerning which we might well deliberate whether we had better know them.
Henry David ThoreauRead
Although it is difficult to pinpoint the physical base or location of awareness, it is perhaps the most precious thing concealed within our brains. And it is something that the individual alone can feel and experience. Each of us cherishes it highly, yet it is private.
Dalai LamaRead
Watch, O Lord, with those who wake, or watch or weep tonight, and give your angels charge over those who sleep. Tend your sick ones, O Lord Jesus Christ; rest your weary ones; bless your dying ones; soothe your suffering ones; pity your afflicted ones; shield your joyous ones; and all for your love's sake. Amen.
Saint AugustineRead