[wagglebee]

Luther gave the German people what they wanted. The Bible translated into their own language

Have you got a shred of evidence to back this up?

This is like saying that it's necessary to translate the KJV into ebonics because that is what black people want.

EVERY German who could read and write in the early 15th century could read and write Latin and usually Greek. Luther's translation into German is totally different from English translations because modern German DID NOT EXIST. NOBODY was demanding a German Bible.

I will concede that literacy grew at a very fast rate after Luther's Bible was published and most Lutherans had one within a few decades, but the demand DID NOT preceed the Bible.

One last question that nobody in the "Protestants gave the Bible to the masses" crowd has ever been able to answer. If God considered reading the Bible to be necessary for salvation, WHY did He do this knowing that the printing press wouldn't exist for FOURTEEN CENTURIES AFTER THE RESURRECTION?

[marajade]

How many people in Germany died because of it?

[markomalley]

EVERY German who could read and write in the early 15th century could read and write Latin and usually Greek. Luther's translation into German is totally different from English translations because modern German DID NOT EXIST. NOBODY was demanding a German Bible.

You forget about Johannes Mentelin, who produced the first printed German Bible in 1466, about 70 years before Luther did his work (in fact, 18 years before Luther was born).