I am bound by the Scriptures

God’s Word Endures Forever: Martin Luther & the 500th Anniversary of the Reformation -- “Five hundred [and six] years ago, in 1517, Martin Luther, a German monk and university professor, posted 95 theses to the door of the Castle Church in Wittenberg, Germany.”

Martin Luther got it right when he left the Roman Catholic Church, though unfortunately he never went so far as to find the genius of full biblical New Testament Christianity. Below are some quotes of Luther from the above-linked article.

“A simple layman armed with Scripture is to be believed above a pope or cardinal without it.” (Roland H. Bainton, Here I Stand: A Life of Martin Luther, Nashville. TN: Abingdon Press, 1978, p. 182)

“Unless I am convinced by the testimony of the Scriptures or by clear reason (for I do not trust either in the pope or in the councils alone, since it is well known that they have often erred and contradicted themselves), I am bound by the Scriptures I have quoted, and my conscience is captive to the Word of God.” (Roland H. Bainton, Here I Stand: A Life of Martin Luther, Nashville. TN: Abingdon Press, 1978, p. 182)

“The neglect of Scripture, even by spiritual leaders, is one of the greatest evils in the world.  Everything else, arts or literature, is pursued and practiced day and night, and there is no end of labor and effort; but Holy Scripture is neglected as though there were no need of it…But its words are not, as some think, mere literature; they are words of life, intended not for speculation and fancy but for life and action…May Christ our Lord help us by His Spirit to love and honor His holy Word with all our hearts.  Amen. (Luther’s Works, eds. Jaroslav Pelikan and Helmut Lehmann, eds. Luther’s Works. (American edition)  Minneapolis: Fortress, 1960, Vol. 14, p. 46)

“I greatly fear that the universities, unless they teach the Holy Scriptures diligently and impress them on the young students, are wide gates of hell.” (Martin Luther, “To the Christian Nobility,” Luther’s Works, Vol. 44, p. 206)