Luther on Marriage and Intimacy

3 Commentsby   |  02.20.11  |  Renaissance/Premodern (Part II)

The Renaissance was a time of great intellectual growth and development, but it was also a time of great growth for religion and beliefs of the religious leaders. One of the most forward thinkers of the time was Martin Luther. In my studies over his work and beliefs, I found his thoughts on marriage and intimacy to be quite uncharacteristic for his time period. Luther was by no means prude about what he believed for marriage and physical intimacy between two people. In fact, he celebrated sexual enjoyment while many people in the church hushed that kind of talk about what went on in the bedroom. This is one reason that he was one of the most forward thinkers of his time. One thing I found really out of character for someone of that time was that Luther basically condoned affairs outside of marriage, stating that a man could sleep with a household maid if his wife would not please him as he wished. In the same sense, the wife could turn to her husband’s brother and if any children were fathered, they would be considered her husband’s. Luther’s views on marriage and sex weren’t always seen with great pleasure by the rest of the world during his time, but are completely applicable now. And while I don’t agree with him condoning affairs outside of marriage, I do agree that he was far beyond his time.

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3 Comments

  1. Adrienne Lackey
    4:05 pm, 02.21.11

    This is an interesting point that you have made. I have never really stopped to think about it, But Luthers ideas were very radical for the time in which he was living. It is as if he sort of had a 21st century style of thinking. I often wonder how thinkers such as Luther would be reacted to if they were alive today. Would their ideas and theories still be seen as radical or would they jsut bled in with the rest of the new age philosophers?

  2. Bradye McQueen
    6:43 pm, 02.21.11

    Great point! These actions are typical of today’s culture (at least in America) although they are not necessarily “condoned” by most of the culture. How interesting that such an influential thinker had such radical thoughts about this important area of life.

  3. Garrett Beach
    7:14 pm, 02.21.11

    Yes he was far ahead of his time when today’s culture is examined, but I still feel as though his ideas are a little bit off base. Sex should be celebrated, yes. However, call me old fashioned, but I feel as though sex was meant to be shared between a husband and a wife only. Going outside marriage for sex, ideally, should not happen.

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