Here’s a great quote from Martin Luther that James MacDonald used in his message this past weekend (no, I didn’t go to Harvest; I just listened to the message on the internet) -
“Martin Luther, the reformer, who boldly confronted the errors in the Catholic Church, said this about his own life and ministry – ‘I simply taught and wrote and preached God’s word. Otherwise I did nothing,’ Luther said. ‘And while I slept, the word of God so weakened the papacy that no prince or emporor ever inflicted such losses upon it.’ Luther said ‘I did nothing. The word did it all.’”
Excellent stuff. But wait! Always a good idea to check sources on this kind of stuff. Sure enough a little googling turned up the quote here, but with just a little elaboration…
“I simply taught, preached, and wrote God’s Word; otherwise I did nothing. And while I slept, or drank Wittenberg beer with my friends Philip and Amsdorf, the Word so greatly weakened the papacy that no prince or emperor ever inflicted such losses upon it. I did nothing; the Word did everything.” [emphasis added], Luthers Works, Vol. 51 p77.
Now why didn’t James quote the guy in full?!! Evidentally he and Luther have the same view of scripture, but not the same view of alcoholic beverages 