According to a web article by J. Paul Rajashekar, “Luther wrote six different pieces of literature on the subject between 1528 through 1542: On War Against Turk (1529); A Sermon Against the Turks (1529); A Book on Life and Customs of the Turks (1530, originally compiled by one George von Muhlbach between 1475 and 1481, with a preface by Luther); Appeal to Prayer Against the Turks (1541); Refutation of the Qur?an (1542, originally published by Recaldo da Montecroce in 1320 with Luther?s preface and additional refutation); and finally, his Preface to Theodor Bibliander?s (1504-1564) revised Latin translation of Peter the Venerable?s Qur?an, published in Basel in 1543. The publication of the Latin translation of the Qur?an was made possible by the direct intervention of Luther.”
This would make a relevant and important research project for some enterprising student.
Peter Leithart
Peter J. Leithart is President of Theopolis Institute. He is the author of numerous books on theology, literature, and culture, including Theopolitan, Defending Constantine, and Baptized Body.
More from History
Continue reading related articles
Realness of Things Past
Greg Anderson began thinking about the thesis of his Realness of Things Past while working on a book on the “state” in classical Greece. He discovered there was no such thing as an Athenian “state,” and that conclusion led him to question the way historians do history. Instead of running…
The Power of the Margins
David Martin (1929-2019) was a secularization skeptic. He acknowledged that modern societies typically undergo a process of "differentiation," in which various sectors of social and political life free themselves from the oversight of religious authority. He acknowledged that in many modern societies religious institutions and values are "marginalized." But he…
Zwinglian Symbolism
Nathan Mitchell (writing in the Oxford History of Christian Worship , 324) denies that Zwingli taught a "mere symbolist" according to which the Supper "simply served to remind believers of the great benefits bestowed on them through Christ's passion and death." Zwingli wasn't a symbolist "in any modern sense." Mitchell…
In Medias Res
Your weekly digest for all things Theopolis.