Friend is saying Martin Luther committed suicide

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I have a friend, who is saying that Martin Luther committed suicide. From what I've heard about Luther, he was grievously afflicted leading up to his death, which was NOT suicide, with many, many terrible health conditions. He finally died, shattered in health. Has anyone else heard that Luther committed suicide? Personally, I don't believe it of the man.
 

Resha Caner

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I have a friend, who is saying that Martin Luther committed suicide. From what I've heard about Luther, he was grievously afflicted leading up to his death, which was NOT suicide, with many, many terrible health conditions. He finally died, shattered in health. Has anyone else heard that Luther committed suicide? Personally, I don't believe it of the man.

Luther had some serious health issues. There is no historical support I am aware of that would support suicide. Your friend is spouting nonsense.

Slinging mud at Luther has been very common from his own lifetime until now.
 
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Of the Kingdom

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Apparently Luther was in poor health when he traveled to the town of Eisleben. In some sense he was partly responsible for his own death, because he was in no condition to travel. He died there 11 days after writing his last letter to Katie.

See: Martin Luther’s Death and Legacy

Just before he died, Luther preached what would be his last sermon from his deathbed in Eisleben. The “sermon” consisted of simply quoting two texts, one from the Psalms and one from the Gospels. Luther cited Psalm 68:19, “Blessed be the Lord, who daily bears us up; God is our salvation.” Then he cited John 3:16. Our God is indeed a God of salvation, and that salvation comes through the work of His Son.
 
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Silverback

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Apparently Luther was in poor health when he traveled to the town of Eisleben. In some sense he was partly responsible for his own death, because he was in no condition to travel. He died there 11 days after writing his last letter to Katie.

See: Martin Luther’s Death and Legacy

In his younger years Luther was a strong, and robust man. Later years were not as kind though, I have heard it said that his time as a monk took it's toll. Still, he probably exceeded life expectancy for the 16th Century.
 
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ViaCrucis

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Never heard this claim before. It's pretty well documented as far as I know, as others have pointed out, that Luther died from his failing health, having been suffering from a number of ailments for many years.

-CryptoLutheran
 
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MarkRohfrietsch

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In his younger years Luther was a strong, and robust man. Later years were not as kind though, I have heard it said that his time as a monk took it's toll. Still, he probably exceeded life expectancy for the 16th Century.
Yes, I would have to do some research, but I would think somewhere around 40-45 would have been considered a good, old age.
 
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Newtheran

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I have a friend, who is saying that Martin Luther committed suicide. From what I've heard about Luther, he was grievously afflicted leading up to his death, which was NOT suicide, with many, many terrible health conditions. He finally died, shattered in health. Has anyone else heard that Luther committed suicide? Personally, I don't believe it of the man.

The idea that Luther hanged himself was the party line for the RCC for some time, partly based on speculative writings like this "a Freudian psychoanalyst, M. Roland Dalbiez, in his study Luther's Anguish, attributes him "... a very serious neurosis of anguish, so grave that one may wonder whether it has not been due to a border-state between neurosis on the one hand and “suicide raptus” on the other, a teleological anti-suicidal automatism""

There is no authentic historical evidence I know of that corroborates this.
 
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