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"I will preach it, teach it, write it, but I will constrain no one by force, for faith must come freely without compulsion."

— Martin Luther

I Will Preach It Teach It

I will preach it, teach it, write it, but I will constrain no one by force, for faith must come freely without compulsion.

— Martin Luther
faith freedom persuasion

About this quote

Delivered as the Second Sermon of the Invocavit series on 10 March 1522, this statement came after Luther returned from hiding at Wartburg Castle to find Wittenberg in upheaval. His colleague Andreas Karlstadt had pushed rapid, coercive reforms — removing images, abandoning liturgical vestments — that alarmed many parishioners. Luther's sermon reasserted a fundamental Reformation principle: the Word of God persuades through preaching and teaching; no external force can create genuine faith.

Source

Invocavit Sermons, 1522

Even if I knew that tomorrow the world would go to pieces, I would still plant my apple tree.
— Martin Luther
I am afraid that the schools will prove the very gates of hell, unless they diligently labor in explaining the Holy Scriptures.
— Martin Luther
Faith is a living, bold trust in God's grace, so certain of God's favor that it would risk death a thousand times trusting in it.
— Martin Luther
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