Prayer is not overcoming God's reluctance. It is laying hold of His willingness.
Martin LutherRead
At the center of the Christian faith is the affirmation that there is a God in the universe who is the ground and essence of all reality. A Being of infinite love and boundless power, God is the creator, sustainer, and conserver of values....In contrast to the ethical relativism of [totalitarianism], Christianity sets forth a system of absolute moral values and affirms that God has placed within the very structure of this universe certain moral principles that are fixed and immutable.
Interpretation
What this quote means
The quote emphasizes the existence of an absolute moral truth grounded in God, contrasting it with ethical relativism.
Martin Luther's quote asserts the foundational belief of Christianity in a God who embodies ultimate love and power, setting forth a framework of absolute moral values. This belief stands in opposition to the moral uncertainty presented by totalitarianism, emphasizing that certain moral principles are inherent to the universe and unchangeable, thus providing a guiding ethical compass for believers.
Themes
GodMoralityChristianityValuesEthicsAbsolute
In practice
Example use cases
This quote can be used in a religious sermon to emphasize the importance of divine moral principles.
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
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