Did Martin Luther cease to be a Christian when he made the same suggestion, in September 1531, to King Henrys envoy, Robert Barnes?
[3] Nearly a decade later, Luther counselled Philip of Hesse to take Margaret von der Sale as a second wife. He justified the idea from the Old Testament, as the Mormons would in a later century. Furthermore, he suggested public denial. (Generally, he had written in an earlier letter, he favored monogamy, remarking that “a Christian is not free to marry several wives unless God commands him to go beyond the liberty which is conditioned by love.”) [4] But when Philip actually did marry Margaret in March of 1540, he did so – contrary to Luther’s counsel – publicly. Indeed, the marriage was performed by Philip’s Lutheran chaplain and in the presence of Luther’s chief lieutenants, Philip Melanchthon and Martin Bucer. Needless to say, a storm of controversy broke out. Writing to John Frederick of Saxony on 10 June 1540, Luther declared, “I am not ashamed of the counsel I gave even if it should become known throughout the world.
