摘要
This paper describes and analyzes Martin Luther＇s views on marriage and family primarily from his own writings. Luther elevated marriage and family life to a place of respect and honor in the church and society at a time when singleness and celibacy were celebrated as ways of reaching a higher state of spirituality. Martin Luther＇s teachings were so radically different from the traditional Catholic views of his days that the church became furious with him and tried almost everything in their power to silence him. Although Luther is known primarily for his views on Justification, but it is his teachings on marriage and family that has been more consequential. Many in the West who have never heard the name of Martin Luther, today enjoy a more biblical view on marriage and family because of his influence. He advocated divorce according to biblical principles, at a time when divorce was almost impossible; he encouraged priests to marry by showing that there was no conflict between their calling and marriage; he denounced celibacy, blaming it for encouraging lust rather than aiding chastity; he restored marriage and family life back to the arena of spirituality and respectability in society. Luther lived out his own advice by getting married and living an exemplary married life. What made Luther so effective was the passionate intensity with which he advocated these reforms. He wrote and spoke with such power and backed up his words with such a bold and courageous life, although living in the shadow of constant threats, that centuries after his death, the power and conviction of his ideas still resonate.
