There is indeed a responsibility for the church to share the gospel in the world, but never at the expense of the church’s charity and mercy for those neighbors who are nearby.
The only hope for idol-addicted sinners who are utterly incapable of decluttering their souls is Jesus, the one at the heart of the gospel, and the only one who stands before the Father with an undivided heart.
More than a friend, Amsdorf was also an important figure in the work of religious reform, providing counsel to Luther on key occasions, shepherding the churches, and defending the faith until his death.

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This is the seventh installment in our special series on Luther’s Heidelberg Disputation. Translation of Theses 13, 14 and 15 by Caleb Keith.
The following is adapted from Called to Defend written by Valerie Locklair (1517 Publishing, 2017).
Prechers translate as a calling. Called by God, they are given a message, and for most of their hearers it is to one degree or another a message in a language from afar, with strange concepts, sometimes with a more familiar ring, sometimes with a strange sound.
The following is an excerpt from A Path Strewn with Sinners: A Devotional Study of Mark’s Gospel and His Race to the Cross written by Wade Johnston (1517 Publishing, 2017).
God preaches a concrete word to us in the present tense. We hear the Good News that Jesus is God’s mercy for us.
The following is an excerpt from Martin Luther’s Commentary on Saint Paul’s Epistle to the Galatians (1535), translated by Haroldo Camacho (1517 Publishing, 2018).
Hus held that Christ alone grants salvation and that popes do not.
The miracle of Pentecost is not obvious; it is the miracle of faith created through the preaching of the word of the cross.
In Martin Luther's Small Catechism he borrows a line from St. Augustine about what defines a "god."
I’ve always been more at home in the Old Testament than in the New Testament.
Only Jesus’ absolute absolution can satisfy a troubled conscience.
This reflection was adapted from Sexy: The Quest for Erotic Virtue in Perplexing Times (1517 Publishing, 2017).