Luther was the “intensified self” of the German nation. This man it is a recent fashion in the Church of England to revile—and would to God that they who revile him would render to mankind but one of the very least of his many services! He gave to the Germans their Bible; he gave them the perfection of their language; he gave them the sense of their unity; he gave them the conviction of their freedom before God; he gave them the prayers which rise night and morning from thousands of hearts; he gave them the burning hymns, rich in essential truth, and set to mighty music, which are still daily poured forth by millions of voices; he gave them the example of a family life, pure, simple, and humbly dependent upon God. “To have lifted the load of sin from many consciences—to have reconciled nature and duty, purity and passion—to have made woman once more the faithful helpmeet of God’s servants as of other men—to have been the founder of countless sweet and peaceful homes—is no small part of Luther’s true glory.” But his highest glory—the glory he valued most—was to have fulfilled the vow of the Doctorate—juro me veritatem evangelicam pro virili defensurum—and to have given to the people whom he loved an open Bible which could be closed no more.
Frederic W. Farrar, History of Interpretation Bampton Lectures 1885 (Grand Rapids: Baker, 1961), 323.
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