One of Martin Luther’s greatest achievements was undoubtedly the German Bible, which brought to a nation of many dialects one modern language. Sequestered for his own safety under dire conditions, Luther translated the New Testament in just eleven weeks, followed in later years by his translation of the Old Testament. It was Luther’s desire that his translation reflect a “spoken” language as opposed to a more formal “written” German. He said: “We must ask the mother in the home, the children on

Martin Luther’s 95 Theses were written in 1517 and, as legend has it, nailed to the door of Castle Church in Wittenberg, Germany. Later, when he refused to recant his writings, he was declared an outlaw by the Holy Roman Empire. In hiding at Wartburg Castle, Luther would complete the initial translation of the New Testament into German in a remarkably short eleven weeks! Martin Luther went on to translate the entire Bible, and, by his death in 1546, more than half a million copies were in circul