Did Luther fear women?

A young Christian sister of mine was reading some material for a course she is taking and that material claimed Luther feared women.  She said there were no references indicating how this conclusion was drawn.  Furthermore, the author did not define what he meant by "fear".

Having read Luther for many years, this statement does not appear valid to me.  While the good doctor "feared" Katie from time to time, I don't recall ever reading anything which indicated a general fear of women.

In an attempt to provide some quick assistance to my friend, I collected some statements about Luther and from Luther on women.  I thought I would share them on this blog.

Quoting at length Heiko A. Oberman from his "Luther: Man Between God and the Devil" (1982), published by Doubleday:

"Instead of glorifying virginity and celibacy Luther discovered marriage and the houshold to be a worthwhile, fulfilling profession. From our present-day perspective his respect for the woman as housewife and mother does not do justice to her other gifts. The woman of today has long since proven herself outside the family.

"The complaint that women are restricted to 'children, church and, kitchen' does not, however, apply to the distribution of roles in Luther's marriage. Catherine's perceptible independence may have tempted him to sigh: 'If I ever have to find myself a wife again, I will hew myself an obedient wife out of stone.' But his patriarchal irony should not cause us to jump to conclusions. The oft-criticized traditional roles passed down to us date back to the Middle Ages and have persisted in large parts of Europe--with or without Luther's assistance. Luther did not consider it unmanly for fathers to wash diapers and make beds. People may sneer, but 'God rejoices with all angels and creatures.' Conversely, he had his reasons for leaving the family finances and the administration of their property to his wife. Even if men could bear children the world would go to rack and ruin without women, because they know all about 'spending and saving'--and that is what politics and government are all about!

 "There were also limits to his reevaluation of woman: he thought her less 'intelligent' than the man and felt she should not 'rule the roost' in politics and ecclesiastical government. Nonetheless, Luther disposed of two gross prejudices that had shaped the clerical image of women. The first, which the 'Hammer against the Witches' ('Malleus Maleficarium'; circla 1487) had once again drummed into the Inquisitors, was that women were sexually insatiable hyenas and thus a constant danger to men and their society. The second prejudice reduced women to 'bearing children,' the procreation of the human race and the reproduction of the male. Luther was familiar with and disgusted by both of these contemptuous theses. And though he advocated a distribution of roles because he believed women could not cope with pressure as well as men, he thought they were under the same burdens and of equal value as creatures." pages 276-277.

From Luther's own "Table Talk" (i.e., his own words):

"God denied to women all authority in public affairs, as we see, because they have not the strength for office in either the state or the church."

"Women have by nature the art of speech, which men acquire only by great industry. But it is in household affairs that this is true; in public life this rhetorical ability does not avail. For that, men have been created, not women."

"My advice to all who wish to marry is that they should not treat the matter as a joke. And do not follow simply the inclinations of the flesh, but pray, pray. For once having taken a wife, it is not permitted to draw back if the affair should turn out badly; for the wife given in marriage is herself a dowry. Simply pray, for it is necessary. If moreover the wife should be disagreeable, she must be borne with, for she belongs in the home."

"Many good things come from a wife: the blessing of the Lord, children, community of all things and other things so good that they might overwhelm a man. Suppose there were no women, not only the house and household but even the state would perish. Even if we could beget children without women we could not get along without them."

Are those the words of a man who "feared women"? Again, it depends on what the author meant by fear. Luther exalted marriage, family, and the wife/mother of the household. Yes, he clung to the EXISTING view that women had no role in the political or church leadership role but not out of fear.