Martin Luther Warning: You are not logged in. Your IP address will be publicly visible if you make any edits. If you log in or create an account, your edits will be attributed to your username, along with other benefits.Anti-spam check. Do not fill this in! ===Translation of the Old Testament: 1534–1535=== {{Main|Luther Bible}} [[File:Lutherbibel.jpg|thumb|Luther's 1534 Bible]] Luther had published his German translation of the New Testament in 1522, and he and his collaborators completed the translation of the Old Testament in 1534, when the whole Bible was published. He continued to work on refining the translation until the end of his life.<ref>Mullett, 145; Lohse, 119.</ref> Others had previously translated the Bible into German, but Luther tailored his translation to his own doctrine.<ref>Mullett, 148–150.</ref> Two of the earlier translations were the Mentelin Bible (1456)<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.wdl.org/en/item/18191/ |title=Mentelin Bible |newspaper=The Library of Congress |access-date=2 June 2018|year=1466 }}</ref> and the Koberger Bible (1484).<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.wdl.org/en/item/18183/ |title=Koberger Bible |website=World Digital Library |access-date=2 June 2018|date=1483 }}</ref> There were as many as fourteen in High German, four in Low German, four in Dutch, and various other translations in other languages before the Bible of Luther.<ref>{{cite journal|journal=[[Journal of Hebrew Scriptures]] |title=The Contested History of a Book: The German Bible of the Later Middle Ages and Reformation in Legend, Ideology, and Scholarship |last=Gow |first=Andrew C. |volume=9 |year=2009 |issn=1203-1542 |doi=10.5508/jhs.2009.v9.a13 |doi-access=free }}</ref> Luther's translation used the variant of German spoken at the Saxon chancellery, intelligible to both northern and southern Germans.<ref>Wilson, 183; Brecht, 2:48–49.</ref> He intended his vigorous, direct language to make the Bible accessible to everyday Germans, "for we are removing impediments and difficulties so that other people may read it without hindrance."<ref>Mullett, 149; Wilson, 302.</ref> Published at a time of rising demand for German-language publications, Luther's version quickly became a popular and influential Bible translation. As such, it contributed a [[Early New High German#Chancery languages|distinct flavor]] to the German language and literature.<ref>Marius, 162.</ref> Furnished with notes and prefaces by Luther, and with woodcuts by [[Lucas Cranach the Elder|Lucas Cranach]] that contained anti-papal imagery, it played a major role in the spread of Luther's doctrine throughout Germany.<ref>Lohse, 112–117; Wilson, 183; Bainton, Mentor edition, 258.</ref> The Luther Bible influenced other vernacular translations, such as the [[Tyndale Bible]] (from 1525 forward), a precursor of the [[King James Version|King James Bible]].<ref>Daniel Weissbort and Astradur Eysteinsson (eds.), ''Translation – Theory and Practice: A Historical Reader'', Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2002, {{ISBN|0-19-871200-6}}, 68.</ref> When he was criticised for inserting the word "alone" after "faith" in {{bibleverse||Romans|3:28|NKJV}},<ref>Mullett, 148; Wilson, 185; Bainton, Mentor edition, 261. Luther inserted the word "alone" (''allein'') after the word "faith" in his translation of [[Epistle to the Romans|St Paul's Epistle to the Romans]], 3:28. The clause is rendered in the [[Authorised King James Version|English Authorised Version]] as "Therefore we conclude that a man is justified by faith without the deeds of the law".</ref> he replied in part: "[T]he text itself and the meaning of St. Paul urgently require and demand it. For in that very passage he is dealing with the main point of Christian doctrine, namely, that we are justified by faith in Christ without any works of the Law. ... But when works are so completely cut away—and that must mean that faith alone justifies—whoever would speak plainly and clearly about this cutting away of works will have to say, 'Faith alone justifies us, and not works'."<ref>Lindberg, Carter. "The European Reformations: Sourcebook". Blackwell Publishing Ltd., 2000. p. 49. Original sourcebook excerpt taken from ''Luther's Works''. St. Louis: Concordia/Philadelphia: Fortress Press, 1955–86. ed. Jaroslav Pelikan and Helmut T. Lehmann, vol. 35. pp. 182, 187–189, 195.</ref> Luther did not include [[First Epistle of John]] {{Bibleverse-nb|1 John|5:7–8|KJV}},<ref name="Metzger1994">{{Cite book| edition = 2| publisher = Deutsche Bibelgesellschaft| isbn = 978-3-438-06010-5| last = Metzger| first = Bruce M.| title = A textual commentary on the Greek New Testament: a companion volume to the United Bible Societies' Greek New Testament (fourth revised edition)| location = Stuttgart| date = 1994| pages = 647–649}}</ref> the [[Johannine Comma]] in his translation, rejecting it as a forgery. It was inserted into the text by other hands after Luther's death.<ref>{{cite book |last= Criticus |first= (Rev. William Orme)|date= 1830|title= Memoir of The Controversy respecting the Three Heavenly Witnesses, I John V.7 |location= London |publisher= (1872, Boston, "a new edition, with notes and an appendix by Ezra Abbot") |page= 42|author-link= William Orme (minister)}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last= White|first= Andrew Dickson |date= 1896|title= A History of the Warfare of Science with Theology, Vol. 2 |location= New York|publisher= Appleton|page= 304|author-link= Andrew Dickson White}}</ref> Summary: Please note that all contributions to Christianpedia may be edited, altered, or removed by other contributors. If you do not want your writing to be edited mercilessly, then do not submit it here. You are also promising us that you wrote this yourself, or copied it from a public domain or similar free resource (see Christianpedia:Copyrights for details). Do not submit copyrighted work without permission! Cancel Editing help (opens in new window) Discuss this page