Skip to Content

Detail of Epistles book with woodcarving of the Crucifixion

Books of Influence

Der Achte Teil der Bücher des Ehrnwirdigen Herrn D. Martini Lutheri

Martin Luther

1556


This document, known in English as The Eighth part of the Books of the honourable Mr Dr Martin Luther, was first published in Wittenberg, Germany by Hans Lufft.

It was written by Martin Luther (1483-1546), a great 16th century religious and political thinker. His most famous document, 95 Theses on the Power of Indulgences, accused the church of abusing its powers.

This inspired German priest triggered a series of protest movements which led to the Protestant Reformation, ending the Roman Catholic Church’s near-monopoly on faith in Western Europe.

Luther also produced not the first, but the greatest translation of the Bible from Greek and Hebrew into German. Following the invention of the printing press, the Word of God was finally comprehensible and accessible to the common people without requiring a priest’s interpretation.