Luther and the Reform of Marriage and Family Life

Martin Luther was a reformer not only of Christian doctrines and church practices, but also of marriage and family life. This article investigates how Luther transformed the medieval concept of marriage and reconstructed family life as a sacred sphere in which the believer can exercise faith and Christian duties coram Deo, examining Luther’s criticism of celibacy, his view of sexuality and women, and his pastoral insights on the responsibilities of husbands in relation to wives and parents in relation to children, thereby demonstrating that Luther’s inuence permeated the broader sphere of human life in the early sixteenth century.