From Luther’s last sermon in Wittenberg, preached on Romans 12:3 on 17 January 1546 and written down by people who heard it. The German reads “Vernunft … ist die höchste Hur, die der Teufel hat” (WA 51:126). This exact English wording is printed in Jacques Maritain’s Three Reformers (London, 1928).
“Reason is the Devil's greatest whore” Martin Luther, last sermon in Wittenberg, 17 January 1546 (WA 51:126); English as in Jacques Maritain, Three Reformers (London: Sheed & Ward, 1928), p. 32.
Can you use it?
✓ Free to use, including in commercial and paid presentations — no permission or licence needed.
Image direction — grounded in this quote’s real context; paste into your image tool
In context
Evoking the world of Martin Luther — German Reformer, theologian & preacher. Theme: "Reason is the Devil's greatest whore". Atmospheric and restrained, cinematic directional light, a muted period-appropriate palette, fine grain and texture. Compose with generous empty space for the quote and a small credit line. No lettering in the image itself.
Minimalist
Minimalist editorial slide for the quote "Reason is the Devil's greatest whore". Clean background, a single muted accent color, generous negative space, subtle paper or linen texture, no literal illustration — let the words carry it. Reserve clear space for a serif quote and a small credit line. No lettering in the image itself.
Provenance
The source
Work
Last Sermon in Wittenberg (on Romans 12:3)
Date
17 January 1546 (Second Sunday after Epiphany)
Original
German, written down by hearers · WA 51:126 · Erlangen ed. 16:142ff
Translation
Jacques Maritain, Three Reformers (London: Sheed & Ward, 1928), p. 32
Reason is the devil’s greatest whore; by nature and manner of being she is a noxious whore; she is a prostitute, the devil’s appointed whore; a whore eaten by scab and leprosy who ought to be trodden under foot and destroyed, she and her wisdom… Throw dung in her face to make her ugly. She is, and she ought to be, drowned in baptism…
Maritain’s 1928 English, abridged
Maritain footnotes this whole paragraph to “Erl., 16, 142 to 148 (1546).” His ellipses mark jumps across those pages, so the paragraph is a composite of separate sentences. The first sentence is the famous line. Fortress Press’s Luther’s Works vol. 51 translates the same sentence “for she is the foremost whore the devil has” (as quoted on Beggars All ↗).
Wikiquote’s sourced quotes for Luther list “[reason] is the Devil’s greatest whore” and give the German as “Vernunft … ist die höchste Hur, die der Teufel hat.” They cite Martin Luther’s Last Sermon in Wittenberg … 17 January 1546, Weimar edition 51:126. Wikiquote ↗
The standard English edition, Luther’s Works 51:373–374, says: “But the devil’s bride, reason, the lovely whore comes in and wants to be wise … for she is the foremost whore the devil has.” This is the passage as James Swan quotes it. Beggars All ↗
Jacques Maritain’s Three Reformers (London: Sheed & Ward, “first published September, 1928”) has the exact wording on p. 32, introduced as from “the last sermon preached at Wittenberg.” Its footnote reads “Erl., 16, 142 to 148 (1546). Cf. Denifle-Paquier, III, 277-278.” Internet Archive ↗
Swan traces the internet’s version back to p. 26 of Peter F. Wiener’s Martin Luther: Hitler’s Spiritual Ancestor, which copies Maritain word for word. Beggars All ↗
✓Public domain
Luther’s 1546 German sermon has long been in the public domain. The English wording shown here is from Maritain’s Three Reformers, first published in London in September 1928. Anything published before 1931 is public domain in the US. Other translations are a separate matter: Luther’s Works vol. 51 (Fortress Press, 1959), for example, is still in copyright.
Rights status is our research, not legal advice — and copyright varies by country and edition. For commercial or published use, confirm with the rightsholder. See terms.
Fact-check
Real line, embellished quote
Luther really said this. What goes wrong is everything people attach to it: a stitched-together paragraph, and claims that one sentence shows his whole view of reason.
✕
The long “noxious whore … throw dung in her face … to the closets” paragraphA composite, not one passage Stitched
Maritain footnotes the whole paragraph to six pages of the Erlangen edition (16:142–148), and his ellipses mark the jumps. James Swan shows how the paragraph travelled from Denifle to Maritain, then to Wiener, then online, losing its context along the way. Beggars All ↗
~
The wording “greatest whore”A translation choice Translation
The German is “die höchste Hur, die der Teufel hat” (Wikiquote ↗). Maritain’s English says “greatest”. Luther’s Works 51 says “the foremost whore the devil has”. Both translate the same sentence.
The Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy says Luther’s relationship to philosophy “should not be judged only by his famous statement that ‘reason is the devil’s whore,’” and that he gave reason important roles in life and in the community. IEP ↗
✓Luther did say it, in his last Wittenberg sermon of 17 January 1546 (WA 51:126). The long paragraph usually quoted after it is a translated composite. Wikiquote ↗
Context
What Luther meant
The sermon is on Romans 12:3, Paul’s warning not to think of oneself more highly than one ought. Luther contrasts sins anyone can see, such as usury, gluttony and adultery, with reason. Reason is subtler: it “wants to be wise” and mistakes its own ideas for the Holy Spirit. As Swan quotes the sermon, Luther’s remedy is that “Reason must be subject and obedient to this faith” (Luther’s Works 51:379). Beggars All ↗
So the target is reason that sets itself up as judge in spiritual matters, not thinking in general. The Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy says Luther believed reason was “necessary for a good and just society.” In its reading, reason is “the devil’s whore” for him only because, in theology, “it asks the wrong questions and looks in the wrong direction for answers.” IEP ↗
Vernunft … ist die höchste Hur, die der Teufel hat.
Explore
Filed under
More provenance-checked quotes on the same theme, each with its reuse status.
1483–1546 · German Reformer, theologian & preacher
Martin Luther was an Augustinian friar and Wittenberg professor whose attack on indulgences began the Protestant Reformation. He preached constantly. Many of his sermons survive only because hearers, chiefly his secretary Georg Rörer, wrote them down, and this one is among them. Luther praised reason as a gift for running earthly life, but he attacked it hard whenever it set itself above faith.
For writers & researchers
Cite this
Cite the source
Martin Luther, last sermon in Wittenberg (on Romans 12:3), 17 January 1546, in D. Martin Luthers Werke: Kritische Gesamtausgabe, vol. 51 (Weimar: Böhlau, 1914), 126; English wording from Jacques Maritain, Three Reformers: Luther—Descartes—Rousseau (London: Sheed & Ward, 1928), 32–33.
This verification page
Quotle.info. “Who really said ‘Reason is the Devil's greatest whore’?” Last verified 3 Nov 2026. https://quotle.info/who-said/reason-is-the-devils-greatest-whore/