Your Opinion: Luther was latecomer to German Bible translations

Dear Editor:

Learning in Retirement session on the Reformation 500th anniversary (News Tribune, Nov. 1, page B1) included a group leader's statement that Luther translated the Bible into German so that "people could be involved and understand the scriptures."

The statement correctly remembers Luther's intention.

However, Luther was a latecomer to German translations.

The earliest known Germanic version of the Bible was a 4th century Gothic translation; its Germanic vocabulary still continues in use.

German manuscript translations appeared in the 13th and 14th centuries, for example, the Augsburg New Testament of 1350.

In 1466, the Mentel Bible appeared in High German at Strasbourg, a translation from the Latin Vulgate reprinted more than 10 times. In 147879, two Low German Bibles appeared.

More than 15 complete German Bible editions plus more than 85 vernacular editions of the Gospels and the readings of the Sundays and Holy Days, and more than 10 translations of the Psalms appeared before Luther published his New Testament translation.

So, anyone who could read and had the money to buy the book, could have and pray the scriptures privately centuries before Luther. Moreover, vernacular sermons in church reached a much greater audience.