University of Richmond UR Scholarship Repository Master's Teses Student Research 5-1996 Practicing what he preached : how Martin Luther lived out his "universal priesthood of all believers" David C. Mayes Follow this and additional works at: htp://scholarship.richmond.edu/masters-theses Recommended Citation Mayes, David C., "Practicing what he preached : how Martin Luther lived out his "universal priesthood of all believers"" (1996). Master's Teses. Paper 731. Tis Tesis is brought to you for free and open access by the Student Research at UR Scholarship Repository. It has been accepted for inclusion in Master's Teses by an authorized administrator of UR Scholarship Repository. For more information, please contact PRACTICING WHAT HE PREACHED: HOW MARTIN LUTHER LIVED OUT HIS "UNIVERSAL PRIESTHOOD OF ALL BELIEVERS" by DAVID CHRISTOPHER MAYES B.A., University of Richmond, 1994 A Thesis Submitted to the Graduate Faculty of the University of Richmond in Candidacy for the degree of MASTER OF ARTS in History May, 1996 Richmond, Virginia LIBRARY UNIVERSITY OF RICHMOND VIRGINIA 23173 © Copyright by David Christopher Mayes 1996 All Rights Reserved I certify that I have read this thesis and find that, in scope and quality, it satisfies the requirements for the degree of Masters of Arts. Dr. Barbara A. Sella readw ay THESIS ABSTRACT THESIS TITLE: Practicing What He Preached: How Martin Luther Lived Out His "Universal Priesthood of All Believers" AUTHOR: David Christopher Mayes DEGREE: Master of Arts INSTITUTION: University of Richmond YEAR DEGREE AWARDED: 1996 THESIS DIRECTOR: Dr. John R. Rilling When Martin Luther entered the monastery in 1505 as an Augustinian monk, he left the corrupted, inherently less-spiritual"world" for the religiously- oriented, celibate life in a cloister-the highest, most holy road one could take as a Christian. Mter a number of years he discovered that he was no more certain about his salvation or God's acceptance of him than the day he had become a monk. The only way to please God came through faith, which a farmer or housewife could have as equally as a monk or a nun. Therefore, he left the monastery to return to the world and championed the cause of the married "commoners, II whom, he declared, were no less holy or pleasing to God than the thousands of monks, nuns, and priests who filled Europe's churches and cloisters. Luther accomplished this through his writings, his preachings, and especially his lifestyle as he married a former nun, Katherina von Bora, raised children, and managed a home. TABLE OF CONTENTS ~ Table of Contents iv List of Illustrations v List of Abbreviations vi Foreword vii Introduction 1 Part One: Life Outside the Walls 4 Life Inside the Walls 9 Luther's Reflections on Monasticism 19 Luther's Reflections on Celibacy 29 Part Two: "Boldly Follow Me!" . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41 The Language of the Common Man . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. 48 The Education of Youth, The Bane of "Know-Nothing"......... 59 Part Three: A New Beginning 66 The Doctor and His Wife 72 A Citizen of Wittenberg 77 Suffering and Sorrow 92 Conclusion 104 Armotated Bibliography 105 iv ILLUSTRATIONS The Land of Luther . . . . . . . .. .. . . . . . . . . .. . ... . . . .. . . . . . . .. . . . . . .. . . . . . . .. . .. .. . . . .. 3 Drawing by Jeff Smith Center of Wittenberg . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 78 Drawing by Jeff Smith v ABBREVIATIONS Bainton, Here I Stand Bainton, Roland H. Here I Stand: A Life of Martin Luther. New York: Mentor, 1977. Harrington, Reordering Harrington, Joel. Reordering Marriage and Society in Reformation Germany. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1995. w Luther, Martin. Luther Deutsch: Die Werke Luthers in Auswahl. 11 vols. Gottingen: Vandenhoeck and Ruprecht, 1991. LW Luther, Martin. Luther's Works. 55 vols. eds. Helmut T. Lehmann, Jaroslav Pelikan. Philadelphia: Fortress Press, 1967. Oberman, Luther Oberman, Heiko Augustinus. Luther: Man Between God and the DevU. New York: Image Books, 1992. SML Sermons of Martin Luther, 8 vols. ed. John Nicholas Lenker, trans. John Nicholas Lenker and others. Grand Rapids: Baker Books, 1983. TT Luther, Martin. Three Treatises. (To the Christian Nobility of the German Nation, The Babylonian Captivity ofthe Church, The Freedom of a Christian). trans. Charles M. Jacobs, A. T. W. Steinhauser, W. A. Lambert, revised by James Atkinson, Frederick C. Ahrens, Abdel Ross Wentz, Harold J. Grimm. Muhlenberg, Pa.: Fortress Press, 1970. vi FOREWORD In the summer of 1530, Martin Luther spent several months in the city of Coburg, about a five days journey from his hometown of Wittenberg. When he could be found in such locales, he was usually directly or indirectly involved in some kind of religious council that decided on theological issues, and this occasion was no exception. In early June of that year Luther learned of his father's death, and along with the general discontent of being away from his family, the reports of strained relations during the council's meetings, and the approaching hotter weather, Luther took the liberty to divert his attention to more pleasant things. At some point on the day of June 19, his thoughts turned to his four-year-old son John (also called Hanschen or Hans), and so Luther sat down to write him a letter: Grace and peace in Christ! My beloved son. I am pleased to learn that you are doing well in your studies, and that you are praying diligently. Continue to do so, my son, [and] when I return home I shall bring you a nice present from the fair. I know of a pretty, beautiful, [and] cheerful garden where there are many children wearing little golden coats. [They] pick up fine apples, pears, cherries, [and] yellow and blue plums under the trees; they sing, jump, and are merry. They also have nice ponies with golden reins and silver saddles. I asked the owner of the garden whose children they were. He replied: "These are the children who like to pray, study, and be good." Then I said: "Dear sir, I also have a son, whose name is Hanschen Luther. Might he not also [be permitted] to enter the garden, so that he too could eat such fine apples and pears, and ride on these pretty ponies, and play with these children?" Then the man answered: "If he too likes to pray, study and be good, he too may enter the garden .... And he showed me there a lovely lawn in the garden, all prepared for dancing, where many gold whistles and drums and fine silver crossbows were hanging. But it was still so early [in the morning] that the children had not yet eaten; therefore I couldn't wait for the dancing. So I said to the man: "Dear sir, I shall hurry away and Write about all this to my dear son Hanschen so that he will certainly study hard, pray diligently, and be 1 good in order that he too may get into this garden." This "garden" was, of course, an allegory of heaven, and as for the "present from the fair," Luther may well have remembered to buy it. But if he 1 LW 49, 323-34. vii failed to, or if he forgot to during any of the times he traveled, he would write back to his wife, Katherina, and remind her to have something ready to give the children just in case. And this is a side of Martin Luther that a contemporary of his could observe for some twenty years. He lived a total of sixty-three years: twenty- two as a youth and student, twenty as a monk and highly public figure, and twenty-one as a husband and father. Oddly enough, it is this final third that authors so commonly neglect. Roland Bainton, one of this century's greatest scholars on Luther and the Reformation, claimed that [t)he last sixteen years of Luther's life. from the Augsburg Confession in 1530 to his death in 1546, are commonly treated more cursorily by biographers than the earlier period, if indeed they are not omitted altogether. There is a measure of justification for this comparative neglect because the last quarter of Luther's 2 life was neither determinative for his ideas nor crucial for his achievements. Granted, Bainton's general objective in his book was something other than discussing in-depth the details of Luther's marriage and family. But if we determine the man's "achievements" to be defined by his publications and participation in Church council's, then our parameters are rather narrow when it comes to the value of a person. We lose so much of our understanding of Luther if our interest in him drops off sometime around 1525-1530. Does it seem possible Luther would agree with Bainton that, in essence, his writings and public appearances were of more importance to him than raising his sons or comforting his family after the loss of two daughters? The span of this paper covers most of Luther's life and addresses a fairly wide range of topics. The theme is to trace Luther's transforming concept of the so-called sinful "world" as well as that of the holy life inside the walls of the Church; and to watch him subsequently declare and live out his 2 Bainton, Here I Stand, 292. Vlll