Christian Liberty [Paperback]

Martin Luther (Author), Harold J. Grimm (Editor), W. A. Lambert (Translator)

Book Description

Publication Date: May 1985 | ISBN-10: 0800601823 | ISBN-13: 978-0800601829

This booklet is a reprint of Martin Luther's 1520 dissertation on the subject of Christian freedom, a positive and unequivocal statement of his evangelical theology as applied to Christian life.

Product Details

• Paperback
• Publisher: Fortress Pr (May 1985)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0800601823
• ISBN-13: 978-0800601829
• Product Dimensions: 7.2 x 4.8 x 0.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.6 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,324,704 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The Fire and Hammer of the Word of God (Jeremiah 23:29), February 8, 2005

By 

Jonathan A Blevins (Duluth, MN) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Christian Liberty (Paperback)

Martin Luther's treatise "Christian Liberty" (or "The Freedom of a Christian") is perhaps the most powerful and concise presentation of the Christian life ever written. I cannot recommend this work highly enough. I rank this among the very best of Luther's works (and that is really saying something). If an inexpensive copy were still in publication I would buy every copy to give as gifts to friends and family. The power, discernment, brevity and readability of this work make a true gem among Reformation writings (and Christian writings in general). Here you will find the essence of the spirit of the Reformation distilled into a guide for practical, biblical living.

With the clarity and bold authority of a true prophet, Luther sets forth the whole of the Christian life in two theses: "A Christian is a perfectly free lord of all, subject to none. A Christian is a perfectly dutiful servant of all, subject to all." We are free from sin and the law (subject to none) but slaves to Christ in love (subject to all). As Paul writes in Romans 6:22, "But now...you have been set free from sin and have become slaves of God."

Luther writes as a shepherd of the common people and the tone and content differ greatly from his better-known debate-oriented works (ie. Bondage of the Will, 95 Theses). The doctrine of justification by grace alone through faith alone in Christ alone is the heart and soul of Luther's message, founded upon a firm conviction in the authority of scripture alone.

He writes, "One thing, and only one thing, is necessary for Christian life, righteousness, and freedom. That one thing is the most holy Word of God, the gospel of Christ."

And again, "It ought to be the first concern of every Christian to lay aside all confidence in works and increasingly to strengthen faith alone and through faith to grow in the knowledge, not of works, but of Christ Jesus, who suffered and rose for him.... No other work makes a Christian.... 'This is the work of God, that you believe in Him whom He has sent' (John 6:29)."

And regarding our service to God, "...In this way the stronger member may serve the weaker, and we may be sons of God, each caring for and working for the other, bearing one another's burdens and so fulfilling the law of Christ. This is a truly Christian life. Here faith is truly active through love. That is, it finds expression in works of the freest service, cheerfully and lovingly done, with which a man willingly serves another without hope of reward; and for himself he is satisfied with the fullness and wealth of his faith."

This volume is currently out-of-print, but this treatise has been published in a number of other individual volumes and in at least one very worthy compilation entitled "Martin Luther's Basic Theological Writings" (ed. Timothy F. Lull, 1989) which also contains a number of other infinitely worthy works such as Luther's "Small Catechism," the stirring "Meditation of Christ's Passion," and the thesis chapters of the foundational "Bondage of the Will." I cannot vouch for any other volume than this one and the one detailed above, but any version of this monumental treatise is bound to bless you. It is the fire and the hammer of the Word of God to consume the adversaries and break apart the stone hearts of impenitant men.

8 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Read It!, September 13, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Christian Liberty (Paperback)

Concise and easy to read. This is one of Luther's best efforts at explaining the nature of the Christian life. I'm not Lutheran, but I enjoyed reading it.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great Tract!, November 30, 2002

By 

Kendal B. Hunter (Provo, UT United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Christian Liberty (Paperback)

Not being Lutheran, I welcome the opportunity to study the man who came in third place in the "Person of the Millennium" poll.

This slim book contains his discourse on "Christian Liberty," that is, the relationship to faith and works. All the hearsay finally dies with this book, since you hear Luther's own words on the matter.

He asserts that Christian Liberty is paradoxical, that the Christian is a perfectly free lord to all, but also a perfectly dutiful servant, subject to all. This paradox comes because of man dual nature: spirit and element. His main point is that by the Atonement, we all become free, but because of the atonement, we have an obligation to serve other people in charity.

I like this edition. The translation is actually a translation, and Mr. Grimm block the text into paragraphs for easier reading. Moreover, he provides the scriptural references that Luther merely alludes to. Thus, the book becomes lecture notes for our review and pondering.

The cover illustration is eye-catching. It shows Luther taking his stand before some potentate. It reflects the energy that you feel in the words, the drive that empowered a man to shake all of Europe. It shows the energy that drove this man to liberty.