Sydney Smith 
Denysha Taylor 
Luther had a very strict view that people should be punished. He did not believe that people could escape their bad choices. He states that, “People should not be able to escape consequences of sin through penance or absolution; if they have sinned, they should suffer the consequences, which could be eternal damnation. (96)” Luther was very strict with his views and did not let others change his mind. He was devoted to what he believed and fought hard against others to prove that he was right.
I believe that the fall goes great with Luther because he talks about our sins and how we can not make up for them. He is truly defining the fall of man. Also, he does not give an alternative for a way to overcome our sin. Man must try to live a perfect life. The fall of man fits this so well, however, he does not go into how others can receive redemption. Luther is a perfect example of a priest who believes that we must live the right way, or we will never make it to Heaven. I think that his believes are the definition of the fall of man and he just did not understand that there is redemption with Jesus.
Jessica Weeden
6:21 pm, 09.21.13
Hillary, this is very interesting. I enjoyed reading your thoughts and how you associated Luther with the fall. That makes sense to me now as I can see your connections from Luther addressing the consequences of sin and poor choices. That is definitely a fall association! Originally, I connected him more to redemptions simply because of how he believed salvation was by faith and not works- which provides an option for addressing salvation.
Jacey Ferrara
6:55 pm, 09.21.13
Hillary,
I also agree that Luther teaches us about the fall! I think it’s interesting that Luther believed that you essentially had to live a perfect life in order to make it to Heaven. And yet, in his interactions with Erasmus, Luther is described as “mean, disrespectful, and dogmatic” (98). I wonder if Luther thought of himself as safe and going to Heaven? He is such an interesting person to study!
Rachel Easley
10:05 pm, 09.21.13
Hey Hillary! I really enjoyed your blog post and the way it related to personal, saving faith and how that tied and, in many ways, contradicted with Luther. It is depressing to think of how far deviated we are from God and His perfection but the comfort we find as Christians in the sacrifice of Jesus helps counteract that. To believe that we are simply far away and there’s no way to solve it is a horrible way to live life, indeed. I think one of the most freeing parts of the gospel is the room to fail because we have been covered by Jesus’ blood.
Denysha Taylor
7:07 am, 09.22.13
Hilary,
Thank you for your thoughts on Luther! I agree that he is quite strict in his views of absolute punishment and that nothing on earth can give saving grace. In fact, I’ve always found it ironic that Luther is considered to be apart of the Reformation movement. Reformation is about change and improvement, but if something is so absolute then how can it be improved upon by living an upstanding life? (On a side note, I guess agree more with Erasmus as far as Luther’s doctrine is concern.) Personally I have always thought Luther to be a complex guy because I felt as if he didn’t realize how contradicting his views were. But considering how twisted the church had become in his time, I think I can understand why he advocated absolutes so strongly. The church forgot the bottom line: God is LORD, which I agree with completely.
Meredith Thornton
9:17 pm, 09.22.13
Wow Hillary, I’m kind of with Jess on this. I really liked your post, and I’d never really thought of Luther from this angle before. I love the way you drew your connections, I can completely understand your thought process.
Haley Conaway
9:46 pm, 09.22.13
I can see how you would classify Luther with the fall. There was a lot of emphasis on the fallenness and depravity of man during the Medieval period- there was an obsession with penance and confession and going through the church to be made “right” with God again. However, the Renaissance is marked by personal religion rather than through the church, and Luther was a leader in this agenda. While many of Luther’s ideals are more strict and conservative than those you find today, he was actually very revolutionary and liberal in his beliefs about the Bible and faith in Christ’s righteousness for sanctification. The ideas of the fall that you talk about may have been more leftovers from the previous time period. However, Luther does talk a lot about the fallenness of man and His need for Jesus. I’m not sure you can be a Christian without the recognition of your need for a Savior, so I definitely agree that on those grounds, Luther could be classified with the fall. 🙂
Anna Pierce
1:53 pm, 09.23.13
This is a great blog because it is concise and to the point about how Luther can be associated with the fall. His belief that you cannot be saved by works alone but by faith is a great example about how people of that day believed in the infallibility of the church. Luther saw the corruptness of the church and he saw how they had fallen from the scriptures.
Nicole Flores
2:26 pm, 09.23.13
This is very interesting! I wonder if Luther believed that he was perfect or if he believed that he too, was apart of that fall. I also wonder if he believed that man was incapable to be good, that man was destined to fall. Thank you for this post! Now I want to study Luther more!
Matt McMahon
6:16 pm, 09.23.13
I thought that this was a good post. It really makes some interesting points about Luther. I believe he was strict but I also think in many ways he fits into the idea of Redemption because of his efforts to make changes in the church. I think you make a good argument for categorizing it under the Fall though
Kami Earle
11:54 pm, 09.23.13
I think this is a great reminder of just how wonderful Jesus as our saving grace is. I originally related Luther with redemption, seeing as that is what he chooses to focus on, but in a much less pleasant way than we see redemption. But I definitely see how he is connected with the fall. I’m just glad we see our Savior as our redeemer now, instead of ourselves.
Kasey Morgan
7:57 am, 09.24.13
I think Luther is also an interesting character from our book. He looks on humans almost with disdain, which I find ironic. The idea that man could even come close to living a perfect life is something that everyone struggles with. Obviously we cannot make that happen for us. The fact that Luther believes that there is no redemption except ourselves almost gives this hope for man. He is almost saying that some of us CAN be perfect. Then everyone realizes that you can’t. Only Jesus is. I wonder if Luther thought his life was perfect enough to get into heaven?