Prayer is not overcoming God's reluctance. It is laying hold of His willingness.
Martin LutherRead
A theologian is born by living, nay dying and being damned, not by thinking, reading, or speculating.
Interpretation
What this quote means
True understanding comes from lived experience and personal struggle, not merely intellectual pursuits.
In this quote, Martin Luther emphasizes that genuine theological insight and wisdom stem from the realities of life, including suffering and moral challenges, rather than from academic study alone. He posits that the essence of theology is deeply rooted in personal experience and existential trials, suggesting that real enlightenment is forged in the crucible of lifeβs hardships.
Themes
TheologyExperienceWisdomLifeStruggle
In practice
Example use cases
During a seminar on personal growth, one might quote Luther to illustrate the importance of experiential learning.
More from Martin Luther
All quotes βNow 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
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I had been told I was on the road to hell, but I had no idea it was just a mile down the road with a dome on it.
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I live not in myself, but I become Portion of that around me: and to me High mountains are a feeling, but the hum of human cities torture.
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What I am trying to teach is that when we keep the temple covenants we have made and when we live righteously in order to maintain the blessings promised by those ordinances, then come what may, we have no reason to worry or to feel despondent.
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The body is a reservoir of all sorts of tensions and dark forces. And it's also the potential source of amazing energy. This thing wants to live. It is a powerful engine. The brain (is) a reservoir of images, dreams, fears, associations, language. And its potential we can't even begin to understand. Movement begins to negotiate the distance between the brain and the body and it can be surprising what we learn about each other.
Bill T. JonesRead