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Wednesday, April 3, 2013

Life and Deeds of Dr. Martin Luther – Hermann Fick (download), Part 1 of 5

[2018-02-19: added, updated, and fixed broken links, added more information, see dated material.] 
[9/1/2013 - Table of Contents replaced with complete book in framed text form below]

There are many books on the life of Martin Luther.  But one book that came from the old (German) Missouri Synod that perhaps has not received wide circulation was written by Pastor Hermann Fick about 1869 in German.  It was later published in English in 1878:
Life and Deeds of Dr. Martin Luther, by Rev. Hermann Fick
What sets this book apart from the others?  It is by a pastor of the old (German) Missouri Synod... not from today's modern theologians.  Pastor Fick was a frequent contributor to the journals of old Missouri alongside the articles of C.F.W. Walther, and Fick was one of Walther's dear friends.  It was the old (German) Missouri Synod (and Synodical Conference) which again brought Luther to our modern world for they understood the spiritual message that Luther brought – by grace through faith... not works.  There are other books from the Missouri Synod, notably from W.H.T. Dau who published his books on Luther: At the Tribunal of Caesar, The Great Renunciation, The Leipzig Debate in 1519, and Luther Examined and Reexamined.  But Dau, who succeeded A.L. Graebner in 1904, was not as true to the spiritual Luther as the fathers of the old (German) Missouri Synod.

Another important feature of this book is that it was translated into English by Prof. Matthias Loy of the old Ohio Synod.  This is the same Matthias Loy of the Ohio Synod, formerly in fellowship with the old Missouri Synod, who later became an opponent of the Missouri Synod... and the true Doctrine of Election of Grace.

[2018-02-19: The original German book that this was translated from Lutherbuch, oder Leben und Taten des theuren Mannes Gottes, Doctor Martin Luthers., available here (1892 23rd edition) in Google Books or here (1906 last edition) in HathiTrust.]

I have prepared a separate text file for ease of downloading and searching. As I did this, I was spiritually refreshed for the Life of Luther truly strengthens one's faith.
Here are download links (fixed links 2018-02-19):
2018-02-19: the former viewer of the DOCX file has been replaced by a fully HTML webpage based version of this book with a hyperlinked Table of Contents for ease of navigation:



This may be directly accessed  >> HERE  <<.

And here is a sampling of notes and quotations:
  • Saying mass ... the greatest sin of his life...denied the only perfect sacrifice, pg 39
  • "The just shall live by faith", pg 54
  • ...all who return from Rome bring a papistic conscience ... that is an epicurean faith, pg 61
  • for he pointed out the difference between the Law and the Gospel, pg 66
  • Thus the glorious light of the Gospel arose again through Martin Luther... , pg 67
  • Duke George– "...such a sermon, the tendency ... to render people presumptuous", pg 69
  • Luther – ".. To have a treasure and to acquire a treasure are two different things.", pg 90
  • "...Christian Church must undoubtedly have a head, but this head is Christ, not the pope", pg 96
  • "...what John Huss once was in Bohemia, that you, Martin, are in Saxony", pg 97
  • Luther ... ejected from the Romish Church, ... confessed the pure doctrine of God's word, pg 99
  • ...faithful witness of Jesus Christ must appear before the mighty of the earth, pg 104
  • I cannot and will not recant ... Here I stand; I cannot do otherwise; God help me! Amen, pg 110
  • the instrumentality of Luther the happy sound of the Gospel ... into every land. pg 116
  • Peasant's War: "injustice of the government does not justify ... rebellion.", pg 121
  • ... Zwinglians ... separated ... and organized a Church ...called the Reformed, pg 128
  • Against Zwingli – "but God's word ... more precious than all the world's friendship", pg 133
  • Even the emperor ... moved by this glorious Confession [at Augsburg], pg 136
  • Luther: "...our duty is simply to believe and to confess.", pg 147
  • Duke George of Brandenburg – "Rather than deny my God... have my head severed.", pg 135
  • "... the opposite party not in earnest... not of faith, justification", pg 153
  • Melanchthon ... caused Luther much sorrow in the last years of his life, pg 155
  • Luther holds fast against errors of Reformed - pg 158
  • Against Antinomians – pg 159
  • Diet at Regensburg (article of Justification), pg 163-164
  • ...earnest admonition to preach against usury, pg 165
  • ... refutation of the Koran, pg 168
In Part 2, I will highlight one particular point from this book... (Justification).
Since this will stretch out to 5 Parts, below is a hyperlinked index:
         Table of Contents
Part 1 – this Introduction – Pastor Hermann Fick's book on Luther's life.
Part 2 – Fick's summary of Luther on Regensburg (Justification); first 3 paragraphs Luther's letter
Part 3 – summary of the first "Four Articles" and last "Ten Articles" mentioned by Luther
Part 4 – balance of Luther's letter to princes on doctrine – pure Gospel preaching destroys error
Part 5 – application of Luther's counsel for today – preach pure Article of Justification

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