-^}' THIRD AMERICAN EJUIIOJl, -^
:\<Z -f .

Luther's Own Statements
CONCERNING

His Teaching and its Results.

TAKEN KXCIAJSIVF.lv

FROM THE EARLIEST AND REST EDITIONS

OF

LUTHER'S German and Latin Works.

HENRY O'CONNOR, SJ.

" Most strange, but yet most truly will I speak."

—

Shnkespear,\ Measure for i\reasure, Act V.

Nfav York, Cincinnati, and Chicago:

BEnsrZIOEK. BROTHEieS,
Printers to the Holy A/>os/oizc See,

Ccipyri.icht, 1884, by Benzigek Brothers.

All rights reserved.
[ j

Price 15 Cents.



LUTHER'S OWN STATEMENTS

"A marvel of industrious and patient re-

search."

The Right Rev. Tobias Mullen,

Bishop of Erie, U. S.

"Though modest and unpretending in ap-

pearance this little work may be, it is in reality,

in matter and value, worth many volumes on

the same subject. ... a book to be preserved

for reference, and studied by lovers of truth;

that is, by men who will welcome and embrace

the truth wheii shown it."

The R'ght Rev. Thomas HENDHic:;Ei?i,

Blihop o/ Pravidevce-.



Luther's Own Statements
CONCERNING

His Teaching and its Results.

TAKEN EXCLUSIVELY

FROM THE EARLIEST AND BEST EDITIONS

OF

LUTHER'S German and Latin Works.

BY

HENRY O'CONNOR, S.J.

Most strange, but yet most truly will I speak."

—

Shakespeare^ Measure for Measure, Act V.

THIRD EDITION.

New York, Cincinnati, and St. Louis :

Printers to the Holy Apostolic See,

Copyright, 1S84, by Benziüer Brothers.

All rights resarved.



APPROBATIONS,

I. ENGLAND.

1. His Eminence Cardinal MANNING, Arch-
bishop of Westminster, August 25th, 1884

:

'I thank you for your courtesy in sending me your work

on Luther: and still more for the work itself, which has the

special value of making Luther bear witness against himself.

No hand could destroy him so surely as his own. It is

the best comment I have seen on the Lutheran
Centenary and it will open many eyes.

2. His Eminence Cardinal NEWMAN: "I was
much pleased to receive the gift of your valuable book.^'

3. The Most Rev. GEORGE ERRINGTON,
Archbishop of Trebizond : " I have had much satis-

faction in examining the work. . . .which. . . .will be. . . .

very useful. .. .through the selections made of the Arch-

heretic's doctrines and practises, and the critical style in

which all possibility of throwing doubt upon the authen-

ticity of the passages adduced in confirmation is removed."

4. The Right Rev. WILLIAM BERNARD
ULLATHORNE, O.S.B., Bishop of Birming-
ham : " My own opinion has always been that the only

way of rightly exposing that infamous man is by giving his

own words from his authentic writings. This you have

done very well."



5. The Right Rev. BERNARD O'REILLY,
Bishop of Liverpool: "It is plain that no one can

question the accuracy of the quotations."'

6. The Right Rev. JOHN CUTHBERT
HEDLEY, O.S.B., Bishop of Newport and
Minevia, and Editor of the Dublin Reviav, June 30th,

1884: '•'Your book "will always have its value as an excellent

handbook of Evidence : I think I may say, as the most

valiuihlc. jnthlication in English ivhich the recent

comniemoratioii has hrought fortli.''''

7. The Right Rev. ROBERT CORN-
THWAITE, Bishop of Leeds : " It is a most inter-
esting sul)ject."

8. The Right Rev. ARTHUR RIDDELL,
Bishop of Northampton : " I'he evidence adduced

ought to be accepted by all, even the most prejudiced in

his favour.

"

9. The Right Rev. EDWARD G. BAG-
SHAWE, Bishop of Nottingham : "I have received
your learned woik on Luther, and have already read a great

part of it with deepi nterest. In the conflict of assertions

it is just what is wanted, and if it can only get sufficiently

known, will do the greatest service."

10. The Right Rev. HERBERT VAUGHAN,
Bishop of Salford : " It will do much good if people

will read it candidlv.
''

11. The Right Rev. EDMUND KNIGHT,
Bishop of Shrewsbury : " I have been reading your

' INIartin Luther' with the greatest interest. You have

certainly made that ' unclean spirit' confess his own iniq-

uity, and I thmk to all who read it only one conclusion

can remain He is, in fact, 'twice slain."''



12. The Right Rev. ROBERT COFFIN,
C.SS.R., Bishop of Southwark: "It seems to me

most conclusive, and calculated to open the eyes of all those

who arc not blinded by prejudice.
''

II. IRELAND.

13. His Eminence Cardinal MAC CABE,
Archbishop of DubHn : "Accept my thanks for your

brochure on Luther : It is well to have the wicked man

condemned from his own testimony. Mischief has been

sometimes done by our zealous accusers. So it is well

that we should have the Apostle of Revolt giving his own

character.

"

14. The Right Rev. BARTHOLOMEW
WOODLOCK, Bishop of Ardagh : " It contains
'reliable evidence^ of the truly revolutionary and diabolical

work which the unhappy man .... unfortunately ....

achieved .... to the ruin of so many souls, and the

devastation of many fair fields in Christendom."

15. The Right Rev. THOMAS CARR,
Bishop of Galway, and formerly Editor of the Irish

Ecclesiastical Record : " I shall read it more than once,

as I regard it with great interest, on account of the

authentic exposition of Luther's doctrines which it con-

tains."

16. The Right Rev. MICHAEL LOGUE,
Bishop of Raphoe : " It must have cost you much

labour to have got so much and such rare information,

bearing on the life of Luther, condensed into such moderate

space."



III. SCOTLAND.

17. The Most Rev. CHARLES EYRE, Arch-
bishop of Glasgow : " With the greatest interest 1

perused it carefuUy.

"

18. The Right Rev. JOHN MACDONALD,
Bishop of Aberdeen : " By your care and trouble in

pubhshing this pamphlet, containing as it does so much

in so concise a form, you have saved much trouble to, and

laid under no small obligation, thc^c who would wish to

know Luther as the great ' doctor' zr\<^. authority he wished

to be considered, but who might find it inconvenient, or

rather impossible, to have access to the original sources

from which you have drawn.'^

19. The Right Rev. ANGUS MACDONALD,
Bishop of Argyll and the Isles : " It must have in-

volved a great deal of labour.

"

20. The Right Rev. GEORGE RIGG, Bishop
of Dunkeld : ''I beg to thank you for your kindness in

sending me your valuable work on the Archheretic, of whom

so much has been made lately. I am sure it will do great

good and open the minds of many who wish to see the

truth."

IV. AMERICA.

21. The Most Rev. JAMES GIBBONS, Arch-
bishop of Baltimore.—"The Most. Rev. Archbishop
directs me to say that what he was able to see of your

work met his entire approval. (Signed), D.
J.

O'CONNELL.

"

22. The Most Rev. WILLLAM H. ELDER,
Archbishop of Cincinnati : " I have looked at it

enough to see how valuable it will prove. I do bless your

work most cordially. I will ..... .encourage its circulatioii

9,s much as I can,

"



23. The Most Rev. CHARLES J. SEGHERS,
Archbishop of Oregon : " I acknowledge the receipt

of your work on Luther, and beg to thank you for the in-

formation I derived from the perusal of it. Well done !

The inference one has to draw from a study of the character

of that Reformer, is that it is a great pity he did not begin

with reforming his own self
^^

24. The Most Rev. PETER RICHARD
KENRICK, Archbishop of St. Louis : " I have
carefully read it, and cannot but admire the zeal that

prompted so laborious an undertaking as the examination

of the Reformer's voluminous works, and the clear light in

which you have placed the absence of anything like a

Divine Commission in his character."''

25. The Right Rev. TOBIAS MULLEN,
Bishop of Erie : " You have rendered a great service to

the cause of religious and historical truth bj the publication

of Luther's Own Statements, extracted from his authentic

writings. Whoever desires to know what the wretched

heresiarch really taught will consult this work

—

A marvel

of industrious and patient research.'

26. The Right Rev. JOSEPH DWENGER,
Bishop of Fort Wayne.—"His Lordship thinks the
book will accomplish a great deal of good. [Signed), Jno.

F. Lang, S."

27. The Right Rev. KILIAN FLASCH,

Bishop of La Crosse.—"Your efficient work displays
a patient painstaking that is truly admirable. (Signed),

E.
J.

FiTZPATRicK, Respectfully, for the Bishop of La

Crosse."

28. The Right Rev. D. MANUCY, Bishop of
Mobile: "I congratulate you on the production of so

useful a work and wish it the extensive circulation it de-

.serves."



29. The Right Rev. THOMAS HEN-
DRICKEN, Bishop of Providence: "Though
modest and unpretending in appearance this Httle work

may be, it is in reality in matter and value icorth

many volumes on the same subject ... .a book to be

preserved for reference, and studied by lovers of truth_, that

is, by men wlio will welcome and embrace the truth when

shown it.^''

V. SOUTH AFRICA.

30. The Right Rev. JAMES RICARDS,
Bishop of Retimo, and Vicar Apostolic of the Eastern

Vicariate : "I thank you very much for your able brochure

on Luther. I consider it unanswerable and will treasure it

as a safe book of reference, in case I have to sustain any

more attacks from the followers of the unfortunate rebel.
'^



CONTENTS.

VAGE

Preface • i >**•»» » 3— 6
Introduction .•»»»••, 7— 8

PART I.—LUTHER AND HIS TEACHING.

CHAPTER. PAGE

I. Luther Rejects the Authority of the Pope , 9— 13

II. Luther Admits the Authority of the Devil . 13—19

HI. Luther proclaims His Own Authority and

Infallibility 19—2c

IV. Luther acts with Authority and Infallibility 21—34

V. Luther's Intolerance against those who re-

fuse TO submit to his Authority and

Infallibility ...•%!• 34—40

PART II.—RESULTS OF LUTHERS TEACHING.

chapter. PAtiK

I. Political Results i . . • • • 41--50

II. Moral Results 50—57

Conclusion ^ i |i • • « t i 5S--6^



PREFACE TO THE THIRD ENGLISH EDITION.

1. The extraordinary interest taken in everything connected

with the Lutheran Centenary had entirely subsided before the

first Edition of this httle pamphlet had been published. It was,

nevertheless, the opinion of friends, competent to judge, that,

owing to the almost unique character of the original sources

from which the information had been derived, and to the most

scrupulous accuracy in translating and quoting, the book might

be of some service to the public. Two English Editions ap-

peared, and later on two American Editions were published by

Benziger Brothers. The favourable reception accorded to the

work far surpassed the most sanguine expectations. The issue

of this third English Edition is due to the encouragement re-

ceived from so many quarters.

2. I am glad of the opportunity thus afforded of publicly

admitting the truth of a remark made to me in a friendly spirit

by a Protestant author, viz., that in general the style of writing

was incompara'f .ly coarser at Luther's time than it is at present.

But while impartially conceding this much, I must distinctly

assert that the degree of coarseness which we repeatedly come

across in Luther's works is entirely incompatible with the

character of a true Reformer. Luther surpasses himself in vul-

garity in his femous work "against the Popery of Rome, in-

stituted by the Devil." This exti;avagant and unseemly volume

was published only one year previous to Luther's death. Some

passages will be found quoted in the first Chapter of this little

work. I defy any one to lay his hand on one single unbecoming

word in the letters and writings of Ignatius of Loyola, the great

Catholic Reformer of the sixteenth century.

3. The pamphlet being stereotyped, it is impossibl-e for me to

arrange the different parts of each Chapter or Section in chrono-



logical order, as The Dublin Reviezv suggested. I may, how-

ever, remark that, in the first part of the work, out of about one

hundred and fifteen quotations from Luther's works, there are

only three, the date of which cannot be ascertained by a careful

reader. In some instances a slight knowledge of Latin or

German would be necessary for the purpose. As to the second

part, the Political Results of Luther's teaching are given m strict

chronological order. The last Chapter which deals with the

Moral Results, is the only one in which, generally speaking, it will

be found impossible to verify the date of Luther's sayings. It will

be sufficient to remark that the Reformer's complaints as to the

sad state of morality among his followers steadily increased, and

were never as loud as towards the end of his life.

4. In deference to a second wish expressed by The Dublin

Review, I herewith give the translation of Luther's celebrated

Latin letter to Melarichton, only a fragment of which seems to

be preserved. It covers three pages in De Wette (IL, 34-37).

The preface which is reprinted from the first and second edition

of this pamphlet contains some information as to the high

esteem in which De Wette's collection of Luther's letters is

deservedly held.

In the letter just mentioned, Luther, after dealing with the

question of celibacy, and of Communion under one kind,

touches on the calamities which are in store for Germany on

account of its "unbelief, impiety and hatred of the Gospel." He

then continues : " But this affliction will then be laid down at our

door, as if we [the believers in the new Gospel] had provoked

God by being heretics, and we shall be the reproach of men and

the outcast of the people, but they [those who do not believe in

the new Gospel] will make ei^cuse for their sins and will

justify themselves [they will consider themselves to be just on

account of their good works], so that he [God] will show that

reprobates are not changed for the better either by goodness or

by wrath : and many will be scandalized. May, may the will of

the Lord be done. Amen."

" If you [Melanchton] are a preacher of grace, do not preach

fictitious, but real grace. If it is really grace, bear the weight



of real, not of imaginan^ sin. God does not save imaginary

sinners."

" Be a sinner, and sin mightily, but trust and rejoice more

mightily in Christ, who is the conqueror of sin, of death, and

of the world. Sins must be committed, as long as we are in this

state. This life is not the abode of justice, but, as Peter says,

we await a new heaven and a new earth, in which justice

dwells. It is sufficient that, through the riches of glory, we have

acknowledged the Lamb of God that taketh away the sin of the

world ; sin will not separate us from it [the Lamb], not even if in

one single day we were to commit .... murder, a thousand, a

thousand times over. Do you believe that the price and ran-

som paid for our sins, in such and so great a Lamb is so

trifling.?

''

" Pray powerfully, for you are a most powerful sinner. The

feast of Peter, the Apostle, in the year 1521." (De Wette

IL, 36-37.)

I am of the opinion that, if we merely consider the words

just quoted, it would be an exaggeration to say that Luther

ordered his disciple to sin, or that he even positively advised him

to do so. To my mind the words mean : "As far as the certain-

ty of our own salvation is concerned, it does not matter one bit

whether we sin or not, as long as we put our trust in Christ."

Thus, whereas Christ preaches hatred of every sin, Luther pro-

claims indifference towards every kind of sin, with the only ex-

ception of unbelief.

5. Nine years later Luther's language is considerably bolder.

In a letter to Jerome Weiler, dated November 6th, 1530, he

points out the way of overcoming temptations to despondency

:

"We must," he says, "occasionally indulge more freely in drink,

play, jest, and we must even commit some sin out of hatred and

contempt of the Devil, in order not to allow him to trouble our

conscience about very trifling matters, otherwise we shall be

overcome, if we are too anxiously careful not to sin. ... I wish

I could lay my hands on some signal kind of sin, just to mock

the Devil, that he may understand that I neither acknowledge

nor am conscious of any sin. We must put the whole deca-



logue out of sight and mind, we, I say, whom the Devil thus

attacks and annoys." (De Wette IV., i88.) The Reformer re-

marks in conclusion that he will not be condemned for his sins,

since Christ has suffered for them.

In this letter Luther 7tot only allows, hut even wishes hisfriend

to sin, when he is subject to the temptation of despondency.

Now, every sin is contrary to the will of God. Therefore,

Luther, the self-constituted Lawgiver of the sixteenth century,

allows and recommends what God, the supreme Lawgiver of all

ages, past, present, and future, forbids.

DiTTON Hall, near Widnes,

August, 1885.



PREFACE.

I.

—

Works Consulted.

1. Nearly two-thirds of the matter contained in this

pamphlet is laken from the original editions of Luther's own

Works, as published in Wittenberg^ under the very eyes of the

Reformer of Germany himself Two hundred of such

original Works of Luther have been kindly lent to me. The]

were printed between 1513 and 1546, and are bound to-

gether in chronological order, in 15 volumes. / may

safely say, that very few such extefisive collections of tiie

oldest editions of Luther's Works exist in ihe whole oj

England or America.

2. The remaining part is, in great measure, taken from

De Wette's collection of Luther's Letters, in 5 volumes :
*' Dr. Martin Luthers Briefe, Sendschreiben und Bedenken

von Dr. Wilhelm Mavtin Leberecht de Wette, Berlin,

bei G. Reimer." 1825-1828.

De Wette was a Professor of Protestant Divinity at Basle,

in Switzerland, and a staunch supporter of Luther. In his

introductory remarks he assures us, that whenever it was

in any way possible, he invariably consulted Luthers f?ianu-

scripts and the first editions that Luther himself had revised.

Kostlin, a learned Protestant Professor ai the University

of Halle-Wittenberg, and perhaps the most prominent

among Luther's scientific supporters in Germany, says :
" The collection of Luther's ' Letters, Epistles and Consider-

ations ' by De Wette deserves special mention."

(Herzog, Real Encyklopädie für protestantische Theologie

und Kirche. Zweite Auflage, Artikel, Luther). In fact, the

accuracy and trustworthiness of this most critical work i^

fully acknowledged by all writers of history.



3- A certain amount of information is also taken from
the complete edition of Luther's German Works. This was

published at Erlangen in 1826, etc., and comprises no less

than 67 volumes. A German Protestant periodical says of
this Erlangen edition : *' TJie most i77conirovertible superi-

ority of this edition is certainly the restoration of the

primitive^ correct text, in accordance with the original editions

printed in Wittenberg itself, under Liither's own eye."

(Kurze Geschichte und Charakteristik aller Gesammtausgaben

von Dr. M. Luthers Werken abgedruckt aus der Zeit-

schrift für Protestantismus und Kirche N. F. Band XIX).

In the article already quoted Köstlin says : *'// certainly

deserves the first place " (Herzog, Artikel, Luther).

4. The Walch edition is referred to in the " Moral

Results" of Luther's Teaching. This edition was published

by Gebauer, Halle, in 24 volumes, between 1740 and 1753.

The work was carried on under the supervision of Professor

D. Johann Georg Walch, of Jena. The Protestant periodical

I quoted above says, that with the exception of the Erlangen

edition, it is "undeniably the most complete and the

most convenient " edition.

5. One or two passages are also taken from Aurifaber's

Latin edition of Luther's Letters. Aurifaber was one of

Luther's most devoted personal friends.

6. One of the most important quotations is from " D.

Martini Lutheri Opera Latina. curavit Dr, Henricus Schmidt,

Frankofurti ad M. et Erlangi," 1865-1873,

7. The Latin edition of Jena has also been consulted.

8. I give only six references which are not taken from

Luther's own writings ; one of them comes from Karl

Hagen, a celebrated German Protestant Historian; the

Dthers are chiefly from Köstlin, Luther's famous German

:hampion. These passages do not contain any new evidence

:oncerning Luther; they merely confirm the accuracy of the

statements made by the Reformer. 1 am, therefore, fully

entitled to state, that the evidetice concerning Luther is

" exclusively " derived from his own writings.

9. I have not taken any of my quotations from the Table



Talk, which, though published in the two best Protestant

editions of Luther's Works, was nevertheless not written by

Luther.

IL—Accuracy and Trustworthiness.
1. Not a single second-hand quotation is to be found

from beginning to end of my little work.

2. / liave not quoted any one passage, either in this

preface or in the body of the work, which I have not seen

with my own eyes in the book referred to.

3. Not one of my quotations has been taken from a

Catholic author. Even the editions of Luther's Works or

Letters which I have consulted are all published by Luther's

friends and admirers.

4. I have taken special care not to quote anything, that

would have a different meaning, if read li'ith the full context.

In several instances I have studied the work quoted from

beginning to end; in many other cases I have carefully

looked over the whole work ; in every case I have at least

satisfied myself that 1 was quoting in harmony with the

context.

5. In every single case the translation from the German

or the Latin is my own. The fact that I have spent seventeen

years, either in Germany, or in the almost exclusive society

of Germans, will guarantee a sufficient knowledge of German

for the task which I have undertaken. The translation

itself is both literal and accurate.

6. Exact foot-note references are given for every passage

quoted. The old Wittenberg editions^ are, however, as a

rule, not paged. I have, therefore, counted the pages

myself, the title-page itself being looked upon as the first

page. I can, of course, only answer for copies of the same

edition as my own. The same work of Luther was often

published three or four times during the same year.

7. The references are interesting from a scientific point of

view, inasmuch as they are reliable and trustworthy copies

of the original titles. It is not necessary to remark that in

the old German Works the titles are printed in German

characters; moreover the commas arc a \\nQ.({). This does

not apply to Luther's Latin Works.



6

I have also enabled the reader to detect when a new line

begins in the original title-pages. The signs of a new line

are

:

a. A considerable distance intervening between two
words.

/). A hyphen (-), which in the old prints is ( = ).
c. The mere separation of one word into two parts

(Lu ther), when the hyphen is left out in the title-pages.

In the first case the new line begins with a word, in the two

latter instances it begins with the last syllable or syllables of

a word.

8. The proof sheets have been corrected up to the point

of inability of finding any further inaccuracy, either in the

quotations, or in the translation, or in the rciexcnces.

9. It is evident that the statements made in this work

can be disproved only by showing, that the references are

falsely given, or that the context does not support the mean-

ing attributed to the passages quoted. No other manner of

dealing with the question can be accepted as either scientific

or conclusive.



INTRODUCTION.

r. This pamphlet does not pretend to be a Life oj

Luther.

2. My only and sole purpose is to inquire into the
question, whether, in any sense of the word, Luther can be

looked upon as a Reformer commissioned by Almighty God.

3. Now, God is a Being of Infinite Dignity, Tfui/i, and

Holiness.

4. Whenever, therefore, we read in the Bible that either

Prophets or Apostles act as the chosen instruments of

Heaven, we also find

—

a. That the manner in which they teach is in accordance

(vith the supreme Dignity of Him who sends them
;

l>. That the doctrines which they inculcate are worthy of

the God of all Truth; and,

c. That the results of their teaching are such as to entitle

them to be revered as the messengers of a God of Infinite

Holiness.

5. If, therefore, Luther's character as a Reformer can

stand this three-fold test, we must look upon him as a vessel

of election chosen by God to do a great work in His Church.

[f, however, Luther's teaching is not in accordance with this

three-fold standard, we cannot reasonably admit his claims.

6. Now, as to the manner in which Luther taught

:

a. We find him rejecting the authority of the Pope with
an amount of diplomacy and coarse?tess, utterly inconsistent

with the sublime Dignity of Him, whose messenger he

purposes to be.

b. Luther assures us that Satan argued in favour of some

of the principal doctrines of his new Creed. Now, it is

beneath the dignity of God to allow His chosen legate to

appeal to the testimony of Satan in support of his teaching.

7. As to the doctrines of the Reformer

:

a. Luther claims an amount of authority, and a degree

of infallibility, which Protestants are, as a rule, unwilling

to admit in anybody since the days of the Apostles.

b. He rejects the Epistle of St. James, the Epistle to



8

the Hebrews, and the Book of Revelations, although, ac-

cording to the Thirty-nine Articles, these are " Canonical

Books of whose authority was never any doubt in the

Church." (Art. 6.)

c. Whatever may be said about matters of minor

importance, every fair-minded person will agree with me
that the teaching of a Reformer, who has the sanction of

Heaven, cannot possibly be in direct opposition to any of the

most fundamental doctrines of Christian mo)-ality, such as

the unity of Christian marriage, and the unlawfulness of

adultery.

d. Luther condemns, not only all the Jews and Roman

Catholics, but even all Protestants differing from himself,

to Hell. Now, scarcely any Christian of the present day

believes this important article in the full extent as insisted

on by Luther.

8.' As to the political results: Neither Christ, nor the

Prophets, nor the Apostles excited the pjvSsions of the people

till the outbreak of a rebellion was almost unavoidable.

9. As to the 7noral results: Luther informs us, in

numberless passages, that his followers became worse than

they had been under the Pope. It is idle to say that such

must necessarily have been the case since the people were

in the throes of a religious revolution. For the greatest

religious revolution which the world has ever witnessed was

that brought forth by the teaching of Christ and His

Apostles. Now, the followers of Christ and of His Apostles

did not lead worse lives than before \ on the contrary, the

innocence, purity and holiness of their Uves made them the

admiration of the world.

10. The careful reader will find that I do not condemn

Luther for anything that is not unjustifiable in the eyes of

the great bulk of English or American Protestants.

11. Every fair-minded man will admit that, if I succeed

in proving the facts mentioned in these introductory re-

marks, Luther cannot be considered a Reformer sent by

Almighty God, whatever bright spots his friends may admire,

either in his character or in his teaching.

St. Joseph's, Bedford Leigh.

March, 1884.



PART I.

LUTHER AND HIS TEACHING.

Chapter I—LUTHER REJECTS THE AUTHORITY

OF THE POPE.

Pope Leo X. was startled at the account he heard of

Luther's new doctrines. Negotiations began, during which

Luther wrote to the Pope letters, that are masterpieces of

diplomacy.

1. Luther ends one of these letters to the Pope with the

following words : " Most Holy Father, prostrate at the feet

of your Holiness, I offer myself with all that I am and have.

Vivify, kill, call, rc-calU approve, condemn, as you please ; I

will acknowledge thy voice as the voice of Christ, who

presides ?'.d speaks in thee. If I have deserved death, I

will not refuse to die. For the earth is the Lord's, and the

fulness thereof; Who is blessed for ever. Amen. May He

also preserve thee for ever. Amen. Anno. M.D.XVIII."^

2. According to De Wette, the letter we have just quoted

was written May 30, 15 18. On the 1 ith of December of

the same } ear, therefore only six and a half months later,

Luther wic .e to his friend, Wenceslaus Link: " 1 will send you

my playful remarks (nugas), so that you may see, whether

I am right in guessing, that the true Antichrist, according

to Paul, reigns in the Roman Court : I think I am able to

prove thatjie (the Pope) is now worse than the 'J'urks."^

3. Let us, however, see in what terms Luther addresses

1. This is printed in the " IRcsoIutioiics tiispn=tattonum $. /Ißartim
authcv augustinianl, öe intuUjeiUiai-. vu=tute, ab ipeo ear.

aucoi'c, a plu=vibu6 mcnbiä rcpuvciata:, Uuittcinticiga:." Knd
of page : ''Liber Candidum & liberum lectorcni uolo." On last
page we read: " Lipsiae, apud Melchiorem Louhcrum. Anno doaiinJ
Millesimo Quingentesimo decimonono." p 6.

J. De Wette 1. 193.



the "Roman Antichrist," less than three months afterwards.
He writes, March 3, 15 19 : " Noiv, most Holy Father, before
God and every creat^ire of His, I declare that J have not

intended, and that to-day also I do not intend in any ivay to

touch, or by any artifice (versutia) to destroy the power oj

the Roman Church and of your Holiness ; on the contrary,

I most fully confess, that the power of this Church is above

all, and that nothing, either in heaven or on earth, is to be

preferred to it, except only Jesus Christ the Lord of all."^

4. Before this last letter of Luther could well have reached

the Pope, in those days, when there were no railways, only

ten days later, March 13, 15 19, Luther wrote to Spalatin :

"I am also looking over the decrees of the Popes for my
disputation, and (I say it into your ear) I do not know,

whether the Pope is Antichrist himself, or his Apostle: so

miserably is Christ (that is, truth) corrupted and crucified

by him in the decrees Wittembergae, Dominica Invocavit,

anno MDXIX. l'\ Martinus Lulherus, August." (August-
inian).

*

Luther had thus already, on March 13, 1519, studied the

decrees of the Popes sufficiently to find out, that the Pope

is either Antichrist, or the Apostle of Antichrist. He had,
we may be pretty certain, been at this work more than ten

days before acquainting Spalatin with this wonderful result

of his studies. If so, Luther wrote to the Pope on March

3, 15 19, telling him, that he did not intend attacking the

fotver of the Roman Church and of his Holiness, at the very

time, when he was studying the decrees of the Popes with the

express purpose of assailing the Pope in the disputation with

Dr. Eck, which was soon to take place. If this is not

downright hypocrisy, I do not know what is. In one single

chapter of the Bible Our Lord repeats no less than seven

times the dreadful words: "Woe to you scribes and Pharisees,

hypocrites." (Matth, XXI 11),

5. On Dec. loth, 1520, Luther openly, publicly and

solemnly trampled the authority of the Pope under foot by

burning the Papal Bull of excommunication just outside the

gates of Wittenberg. In the same year he published a httle

3 De Weite 1 _4.

4. De Wette 1. 23^—2^0.



book, in which he gives some very amusing reasons for this

extraordinary act.
^

6. Only one year before his death, Luther published a

famous work against the Fope. This work is so satanical

in its title, so satanical in its beginmng, so satanical in its

almost every page, so super-satanical in its conclusion, that

il could have oniy been written by a man with a thoroughly

satanical spirit. It is marvellous how anyone should have

been able to fill 07te himdred atidfifty-seven printed pages with

such a number o; satanical expressions tnat must have been

borrowed from the very depths of Kei'.

In proof Oi my assertions I suojoin the following

quotations :

a. The title of the book is: "Against the Popery of

Rome, instituted by the Devil."

^

-'. The work itself begins as follows : ''The most devilish

Fainer, St. Faul the T/iird."'

Paul the Third was Pope at that time.

c. As to the general character of the book, space

allows my giving only a few specimens, selected from about

two hund?-ed similar passages, which I have myself counted

in this most monstrous wor.c.

Speaking of the Pope, Luther says that he will " try to

comb the long, uncombed ears of the great coarse donkey."^

Again, he writes : " Well, if I was Emperor, I know

well what I would do. 1 would tie and bind all the blas-

phemous rascals, the Pope, the Cardinals, and every member

of the Pope's household together I would lead them not

more than three (German) miles from Rome towards

Ostia A water there, called in Latin Mare Tyrrhenum,
is a precious curative for all diseases, injuries, and in-

firmities of his Papal Holiness, of all the Cardinals, and

of all his followers (literally, "of all his Chair," that is to say,

of all who believe in the Chair of St. Peter). I would put

them in there nicely, and would give them a bath. And

5. Wanimb des Bapsts vnd sey-ner Jüngern bucher von Doct.
-artmo Lu liier vorbräi s.ynn. Lass auch antzeygea
wer do wil. warumb sie D. Lu'iers bucher vor-prennet ha-bea.

Wittemberg.:. SJ.CIÜ. X'i-
ö- 'Voider das Bab stum zu Kom vom Teiifei ge-stifft.

Aian. Luth. i>. flD.B.JXv,

7. Ibidem, 3.

8. Ibidem, 37.



13

should they be afraid of the water, as people who are

possessed (viz., by the Devil) and are mad, generally speak-

ing, are afraid of water, I would give them, as their security,

the rock on which they and their Church are built, the keys

too, in order that they might be able to bind and to loose

all that is in heaven and on earth, so that they might be

able to command the water as they hked. Moreover, they

should also have the shepherd's crook and staff, in order that

they might be able to deal blows into the face of the water,

so that its (the water's) mouth and nose might bleed

What will you bet ? if they had bathed in that healing bath

for half an hour, all their diseases, injuries and infirmities

would cease and come to an end .1 could give Christ

my Lord as a pledge for that."®

Luther says : " The Pope^s Christ is the mother of the

Devil." That is to say, the Christ, in whom the Pope and

the Catholics believe, is the mother of the Devil. Again :

" The Tope, the Cardinals, and the whole Romish Court and

mob, are nothing else but a stablefull of big, coarse, stripid, dis-

graceful donkeys " There is no mistaking the meaning of the

following passage: " You are indeed a coarse donkey, and yoti

remain a donkey, you donkey of a Pope." Luther wrote only

a year before the Council of Trent. Addressing himself to

the " Emperor, the King, the Princes and Lords, and who-

ever is able to attack " the supreme rulers of the Catholic

Church, he says : "The Pope, the Cardinals ought to be

taken and (as they are blasphemers) their tongue ought to be

torn out through the back of their neck and nailed to the

gallows After that let them hold one Council, or as

many as they like, on the gallows, or in Hell among all the

Devils." In fact this long work of one hundred and fifty-

seven pages is overflowing with these and similar expressions:

" Devil, all the Devils, thousand Devils, the Devil and his

mother, devilish, hellish. Antichrist, rascal, archrascal,

murderer, donkey, fool, stupid fool," etc., etc. ^°

d. Luther concludes his famous work with the

following Vi^ords : " Now, listen. Donkey of a Pope,

with your long donkey ears and your damned lyin^

}. Ibidem, 127-128.

ao. Ibidem, X30, 132. 30, 00.



13

moutn But here I must stop ; if it is the will of God, I

will do it still better in anotner book. If I die in tne

meantime, 7nay it please God that some one else s/'wuld do

it a thousand times stronger. For the devilish Popery is the

last misfortune on eartli, and the first thing that all the

Devils proclaim with all their might. May God help ua

Amen." 11

I have come across several such utterly vulgar, coarse,

and disreputable expressions in this work of Luther, that I

would not venture to give them, even in the original German.

I can only say in conclusion, that I believe this is one of

the most monstrous books that has ever been written. In

satanical expressions it will never be surpassed, except,

perhaps, by Antichrist himself. If this book were accurately

translated into English, extensively published, and carefully

read by every Protestant Englishman, the whole nation

would turn away with horror and disgust from the monster,

who was capable of writing such a scandalous work

Chapter IL—LUTHER ADMITS THE AUTHORITY

OF THE DEVIL.

1. The long passage, which I am about to quote, is

taken from the original Wittenberg edition of Luther's work

against Private Mass and the Ordination of Priests. I'he

copy lying before me while I write was printed in 1533.
'"^

2. In the introduction, Luther tells us, how wonderfully he

had succeeded in doing away with Indulgences, and he then

expresses the wish, that God would also do away with Mass

and Ordination, so that there would be neither Popes nor

Bishops.

3. After this, Luther commences as follows : "I will begin

with myself, and make a little confession to you, holy

Fathers
;
give me a good absolution, that will also do you

II, Ibidem, 157.

13, Von der win-ckelmesse vnd Pfaffen Weihe. D. Mart. Luthrr.

Wittemberg DMXXXIII. This is the
title page. On the last page we read; " Gedruckt zu Wittemberg
durch Nickel Schir-lentz. .fKH)XXXIII."

I do not find any English word that fully expresses the contempt against Mass that
the German word does. 1 translate " winckelmesse " simply by Private Mass;
literally it is " Corner Mass" ^Mass said in a Cnrnerl



14

no harm. I once awoke at midnight, when the Devil began

to dispute with me in my heart after the following manner (as

he is able to make many a night of mine bitter and miserable

enough) : ' Listen [it is the Devil who speaks to Luther],

listen, you learned man, do you know that for fifteen years

you have almost daily said Mass privately ? How will it be
if, in such Masses, you have merely been practising idolatry,

and have adored, and held up for tne adoration of others, not

the Body and Blood of Christ, but merely bread and wine?'

1 (Luther) answered : ' I am a consecrated Priest, have

received chrism and ordination from the Bishop, moreover,

I did all that according to order and obedience, why then

should I not have consecrated, since I repeated the words

seriously, and said Mass with all possible devotion ? You (the

Devil) certainly know that.'
—

' Yes,' he replied, ' it is true.

But Turks and heathens also do everything in their churches

according to order and earnest obedience. The Priests of

Jeroboam at Dan and Bethel did everything with perhaps

greater devotion than the true Priests in Jerusalem. What,

if your ordination, chrism and consecration were also un-

christian and false, like that of the Turks aud of the

Samaritans ?' "i^*

4. "Here indeed the sweat broke forth and my heart began
to tremble and to beat. The Devil knows well how to put

his argument, and to push it further, and he has a

deep, powerful voice. In suchlike disputations there are

no frequent nor long pauses ; but in the twinkling

of an eye answer follows answer. And from my own

experience I can well understand how it is, that in the

morning people may be found dead in bed. He (the Devil)
can strangle the body. That is one way. But he can like-

wise so frighten the soul in disputing with it, that in

an instant it is forced to depart, as many a time almost

happened to me. Well, he (the Devil) had attacked me in this

disputation. And, in the sight of God, I did not wish to leave

such an endless Hst of abominations lying on myself, but

to defend my innocence." Immediately after this Luther

continues ; ''Listen to the reasons which he (the Devil)

alleged against my ordination and consecration.'"''-^

13, Ibidem, 7-8.

14, Ibidem. 8.



5.
*' • For the first,' he (the Devil) said : ' You know that

you did not believeproperly in Christ, and that concerningfaith

you have been as good as a Turk. For tlie Turk, yes,

even I, with all the Devils, also believe all that is written

about Christ (James II), that is, how He was born, died,

ascetided into heaven. Yet none of us rejoice or trust in Him

as in a Saviour. But we fear Him as a severe Judge. Such a

faith you also had, and ?lo other, when you were ordained

and said Mass; and all the others, both the ordaining Bishop,

and those whom he ordained, also believed the same. There-

fore, you also all went over from Christ to Mary and to the

Saints ; they had to be your consolation and your helpers

against Christ. This neither you, nor any other Papist, can

deny. Therefore, you were ordained and have said Mass

as heathens, and not as Christians. How, then, have you

been able to consecrate ('to change bread and wine into the

Body and Blood of Christ) ? For you have not been the

persons who should consecrate.'" ^^

6. The Devil then gives several further reasons against

Private Mass. At the end of the second reason he

exclaims, " What an ordination and consecration is that

!

Christ knows nothing of such an ordination. That

is certain.
"'•^

7. The Devil sums up his reasons against Private Mass

with the following words : " Here you see that in your

Mass, there is, first of all, not the person who ought to con-

secrate, and is able to do so, namely, a man of Christian faith.

Secondly, you have not the person before you, for whom
you ought to consecrate and to whom you ought to give it
(the Sacrament), namely, the Christian congregation or

people. But you, impious, unbelieving Priest, stand there

alone, and you think that Christ has ordained it for your

sake Thirdly, the final intention (die endhch meinung),

and the fruit or use desired by Christ are wanting. For it

(the Sacrament) is instituted in order to feed and

strengthen the Christian people (gemeine), and to preach

and prai-se Christ. Now, the Christian congregation

knows nothing about your Maes, hears nothing from you,

15. Ibidem, 8-9.

to. Ibidem, 10.



to

feceives nothing from you. But you are silent there ..i the

corner, and you swallow it alone, although you are an unbe-

liever and unworthy, and you feed nobody with it, but you sell

it, as you do your other good works Therefore your ordina-

tion and also your consecration are nothing but blasphemy,

and a tempting of God, and neither are you a Priest, nor is

the bread in your Mass the Body of Christ."^"

8. Luther endeavours to defend himself. He says : " In
this fear and danger I tried to drive the Devil away. I took

hold of the old harness, which I had learnt to put on and to

wear in Popery, scilicet intentionem et fidem Ecclesiae

(namely, the intention and the faith of the Church), that is

to say, I said those Masses according to the faith and to the

intention of the Church. For even if I had not the proper

faith and intention, nevertheless, the Church has the proper

faith and intention. Therefore, my Mass and ordination must
have been valid. Thereupon he (the Devil), attacked me

th I « : ' Friend, tell me, where is it written that an

impious, unbelieving person can step forward and consecrate

according to the faith and intention of the Church ? '"i^

The Devil is evidently not satisfied with the teaching

of Catholic Theology.

9. Luther ends by saying: " This ispretty exactly the sum

and substatice of the disputation."'^'^

10. The discussion with the Devil covers exactly eleven

pages of the Wittenberg edition. As soon as Luther has

finished his account of it, he says : " Here the Holy Papists

will make fun of me, and will say, ' Are you the great

Doctor, and don't know how to answer the Devil ? Do

you not know that he is a liar ? '
"

Luther's reply to this question shows how fully convinced

he felt, that it was really his Satanic Majesty, who had been

contending against Private Mass. Luther begins with

abusing the Papists, he then tells us, that David and the

Prophets complained about such disputations with the

Devil, that even Christ suffered from his assaults, and that

Emser and Oecolompad most likely died so suddenly

through the force of his fiery onslaughts. Luther then

17, Ibidem, 12-13.

li. Ibidem, 16.

1^ Ibidem, 18.



t1

Continues : " He is a liar, that is true. But he can tcl)
lies better than a bad liar can For he ouotes a truth in

his own favour, which you cannot deny, and supports his lies

with it, so that you cannot defend yourself. It was the

simple truth, when he forced the conviction on the heart of

Judas, that he had betrayed innocent blood; Judas could not

deny that ; for it was a fact. But it was a lie, tv/'ien he fold him to

despair of God. No, dear brother, the Devil tells no lies,

7tihen he accuses us of our public evil works and life. There

he has two witnesses, that nobody can drive out of court,

namely, the commandment of God, and our conscience."-"

11. Luther's idea therefore is this: The devil told me the
perfect truth about my wickedness in saying Mass privately

during fifteen years, but he sought to force a lie upon me,

when he tried to drive me to despair.

12. I will now make a few remarks about this famous

passage.

a. The Devil did not appear to Luther in a visible form on

this occasion, as is evident from the words : " In my
h~eart."2i

b. Luther's conversation with the Devil about justification

by faith alone, was, however, not a dream ; for Luther

writes : " I once aiuoke at midnight, when the Devil

began
"-'''

t, Luther's conference with the Devil was also not a piece

of viere imagination. \Vhen Satan tempts us, he does

not indeed manifest himself in any visible form, yet the

temptation is not an effect of simple imagination. On the

contrary, his temptation is a very serious reality, and so

powerful, that it often leads people into sin, and through sin

to everlasting ruin. Now, such a temptation is a work of the

Evil Spirit on the heart of a person. The Devil suggests

reasons and motives why we should sin. And there is

sometimes a disputation in the heart of man with the Devil,

man's reason arguing against the suggestions of Satan. Now,

it is in this sense, that I look upon Luther's celebrated dis-

cussion with the Devil.

d. But was it really the Devil? There cannot be the

»o. Ibidem, 18-19,

21, Ibidem, 7.

«z. Ibidem. 7.



slightest doubt. Listen to Luther's words : " T once awoke

at midnight, when the Devil began to dispute with me." This

disputation with the Devil was so real that " the sweat brokt

forth^' from the noble brow of Dr. Martin Luther, who there-

upon continues : " The Devil knows well how to put his

argument, and to push it further." Luther is so thoroughly

convinced of the presence of the Devil, that he mentions his

"deep, powerful voice." Luther says: "Listen to the

'reasons which he (the Devil) alleged against my ordination and

consecration." Then the Devil begins to speak : " 'For the

first,' he (the Devil) said: 'You know that you did not believe

properly in Christ For even I, with all the devils, also

believe all that is written about Christ Yet none of us

...trust in Him as in a Saviour. But we fear Him as a severe

Judge. Such a faith you also had, and no other, when you

were ordained (Priest) and said Mass; and all the others

also believed the same. Therefore, you also all went

over from Christ to Mary and to the Samts This neither

you, nor any other Papist, can deny.'"^^

In 1534 Luther wrote a letter of twenty pages about his

work on the Mass. In this letter he says, that he believes in

the Real Presence of our Lord and hates Mass, but he does

not retract one 7vord which he said about the Devil. ^
*

e. Now, I do not, say that Luther here for the first

time learnt the doctrine of justification by faith alone, or

that he was taught for the first time on this occasion to do

away with Mass, with Mary and the Samts. It is quite

possible that some, or all of these doctrines, were preached by

Luther before this celebrated disputation. But this I do say,

and I say it most distinctly and most emphatically : Luther

received the full and unqualified approval of the Devil for

these new doctrines. It was the Devil who spoke in favour

of the doctrine of justification by faith alone, and against

Mass, Mary, and the S"ints.

fi
Did Luther till a deliberate falsehood in a question

of such immense importance? If so, are we to believe the

rest of his teaching? Or, was Luther perhaps miserably

23, Ibidem, 7-9.

(4, E\n brieff D. Mart. Luth. Von seinem Euch der
Winckel messen, an einen guten freund. Wittemberg.

M.D.XXXIIII. Last page: ' Gedruck zu Wittemberg,
durch Hans Luflft. Ä.S.XXXUU."



19

deceived ? Was it possibly, after all, only the outcome of

his over-e-:cited brain ? If so, at any rate, Luther himself

believed ihat it was the Devil, and the Great Reformer of

Germany continued preaching, although he firmly believed

that the Devil had spoken in favour of the principal articles

of his new Creed. Or, did L.uther perhaps tell us the plain,

honest truth ? Ii so, his teaching really has the approval

and sanction of Satan. For, can any man of ordinary

common-sense believe, that in a disputation covering eleven

pages, every word of the Devil from beginning to end was

the pure Word of God , and that Satan kept so strictly to

the truth, in order to drive Luther to despair ? Moreover,

I have read the eleven pages, and the Devil does not say

one word about despair.

g: Be that as it may, T simply say : What are straight-

forward Englishmen, what, I say, are they to think of a man,

who in his own hand vriting, openly and publicly confesses

that Satan speaks in fa\ our of his teaching ?

13. Luther's book against Private Mass may be divided

into two parts ; in the first, Luther gives the DeviTs

reasons ; in the second he gives /n's oian. This extraordinary

arrangement of a work containing about one hundred pages,

shows us how fully Luther agrees with the Devil's teaching

concerning Mass, It is, therefore, not unfair to say that

this lengthy book may be thus divided :

—

Part I. The reasons of the Devil against Private Mass.

Part XL The reasons ot the Disciple of the Devil against

Private Mass.

Chapter IIL—LUTIIER PROCLAIMS HIS OWN

AUPHORITY AND INFALLIBILITY.

I. Let us see what Luther says about his Authority

and Infallibility, in the book which he published against the

King of England, in 1522 :

—

1. "I am certain that I have my teaching from

heaven."-®

2. " My doctrines will stand, and the Pope will fall,

CONTRA HENRICVM REGEM ANGLIAE
MARTINVS LV-THER WlTTEMBERGiE.

1522. p. 7.



notwithstanding all the gates of hell, and all the powers of

the air, the land and the sea."-^

3. Luther enumerates nineteen different articles of his

creed, " the Sacrament of the Altar " being one of these.

For let it be remembered, that Luther firmly believed in the

Real Presence. He then says : " I will for ever stick to
such points as I have taught, and will say, 'Whoever teaches

differently from what I have taught herein, or condemns

me for it, he condemns God, ajid jiiust be achild of Jlell'"'^'^

II. We select two quotations from Luther's work agamst
the Pope and the Bishops. He writes :

1. " If I were to call myselt an Evangelist by the grace

of God, I thmk I could prove it easier than one of you

(Catholic Bishops) could prove your episcopal title or name.

I am certain that Christ Himself calls me thus, and looks

upon me as such, for He is the Master of my doctrme, and
on the last day He will also be a witness, that it is not mine,
but His own pure Gospel

""^

2, "I herewith let you know that in future, I will no

longer do you the honour of allowing you, or even an Angel

from Heaven, to judge my doctrine There has
been enough of this stupid humility now for the third time at

Worms, and, nevertheless, it was of no use ; but I will

make myself heard, and, as St. Peter teaches, I will prove the

motives and reasons for my teaching before the whole world,

and / will not allow it to beJudged by anybody, not even by any

ofthe Afigels. For, since I am certain of it, I intend, by means

of it, to be your judge and also (as St. Paul says), that of the

Angels / so that tvhoever does not accept my teaching, can-

not be saved. For it is God's and not mine. Therefore, my

judgment is at the same time God's and not mine."^®

Did any Pope ever proclaim his Authority and Infalli-

bility in r. iuore unmistakeable manner ?

26. Ibidem, 7.

27, Antwortt deutsch Mart. Lu-thers auff _ Köni^

Henrichs von Engelland buch. Lügen thun myr nicht,

Warheyt schew ich nicht, 1522. On the last page
we read : "Gedruckt tzu Wittemberg, durch Nickeil Schyrlentz,

nß.HJ.ffÜ." p. +-S.
38. Wider den falsch genantte geystlichen stand des Babst

vn der bisch-oflen. ü. Mart. Luther

Ecclesiasten tzu Wittemberg. 1522. On the

last page wc read : " Gedruckt tzü Wittemberg durch NickcJ

Schyrlentz. my tzwey vn tzwentzigste Jar." p. a.
aQ. Ibidem, p. 3.



21

Chapter IV.—LUTHER ACTS WITH AUTHORITY

AND INFALLIBILITY.

§ I. Luther's Authoritative and Infatxible Decrees

Concerning the Bible.

I. Luther's Decrees Concerning Whole Books

OF the Bible.

The five passages which follow are taken from Luther's

New Testament. / have a copy of the very first edition of
Luther's version of the Neiv Tesfa)?ient before me, whilt

writi7i^ these words. It was published in Wittenberg

in 1522.^°

1. Luther says: "Because John writes very little about the

works of Christ, but very much about his sermons ; whereas

the other three Evangelists write much about his works, and

little about his words, the Gospel of John is the one choice

(zart) really principal Gospel, and is to be very much pre-

ferred to, and to be esteemed higher, than the other three.

As also the Epistles of SS. Paul and Peter far surpass the

three Gospels of Matthew, Mark and Luke."^^

2. " The Epistle of St. James is really a straw Epistle in

comparison to them;" {i.e., to "St. John's Gospel and his

First Epistle, to St. Paul's Epistles and to St. Peter's

First Epistle.")"^-

3. In his introduction to the Epistles of SS. James and

Jude, Luther says of the Epistle ej St. James " I do not

look upon It as the writing ot any Apostle, and this is my
reason. First of all, because in direct opposition to St. Faul,

and to all the other Scriptures, it (the Epistle of St. James)

attributes justification to the works, and says, Abraham was

justified by his works when he sacrificed his son. Whereas

30. Das Newe Testa-meiit Deutzsch. Vuittemberg.

31, Das Newe Testa-ment Deutzsch, Vuittemberg. Last page : "Gedruckt
zu 2Vittenberg durch Mel-chior Lotther yhm tausent funff-hundert Z2vey
vnnd Z2ventzigsten Jar."

The passage quoted occurs after the Introduction, in an article headed: "avilclis

die rechten vnd Edlisten bucher des ne2ven tcsta-ments sind."

r and v printed close to each other form a w; thus, 2v is the same as to ; at any rate
the sign is very much like a 2, and together with the following f it »s mean?
for tu.

!ß. Ibide».



22

St. Paul, Rom. 4, on the contrary, teaches that Abraham

was justified without works, through his faith alone

Secondly (I reject the Epistle), because it professes to instruct

Christians, and in such a long treatise (lere), it does not

even mention the Passion, the Resurrection, the Spirit of

Christ Whatever does not teach Christ, that is not

apostolic, even if Peter or Paul were to teach it. Whereas,

whatever teaches Christ, that is apostolic, even if Judas,

Annas, Pilate and Herod were to do it. But thisJames does

nothing else but drive on to the law and to its works, and

he mixes up things in such disorder, that I should say he

was some good, pious man, who had heard certain sayings

from the disciples of the Apostles, and then committed them

to paper; or perhaps it (the Epistle) has been taken from

his own discourse by some one else Therefore, I will not

have him in my Bible in the number of the truly principal

books : but I will not forbid any one to place him and to

keep him as he pleases."^ ^

4. " That this Epistle to the Hebrews is neither St. Paul's,

nor that of any other Apostle, can be proved, because we read

in the second chapter : ' This teaching has come down to us

from those who have heard it from the Lord.' But it is

not known who wrote it, and it will also remain unknown for

some time, but this does not matter
"^'^

5. Luther also rejects the Apocalypse or Book of Revela-

tions. He writes in his introduction to it, in the same New
Testament, published at Wittenberg, 1522: "As to this

book of the Revelations of John, I will let everybody please

himself. I will not bind anyone to my opinion or judg-

ment. I say what I feel. I find many things defective in

this book, so that I look upon it as neither apostolic nor

prophetic. My first and principal reason is, that the Apostles
did not concern themselves with visions, but they prophesied

in clear and simple words This is reason enough for me
not to think much of it, because Christ is neither taught nor

known in it."^®

IL Luther's Decree Concerning Rom. IIL 28.

I. The English Protestant Bible thus translates Rom. Ill,

33. Ibidem, II. fol. LXVI.
~ ~ ~^' '" '"

" "

34. Ibidem, II. fol. LIX.

35- Ibidem, II. fol. LXXFT



23

2^ : "Therefore we conclude that a man is justified by faith
without the deeds of the law." Luther's translation, taken

from one of the copies of the original Wittenberg edition

of 1522, is as follows : "So halten wyrs nu, das der mensch

gerechtfertiget werde, on zu thun der werck des gesetzs, alleyn

durch den glawben." ^ '

The literal translation of this into English is : " So

we now hold it, that man is justified, without doitig the

works of the law, alone through faith."

2. The German word ("alleyn") used by Luther, some-

times means ^^ but" sometimes "alone." The question is,

does not the Avord, as used by Luther, mean "but?" Or,

to express it difterently, ought not our translation of Luther's

text to be : " So we now hold it, that man is justified with-

out doing the works of the law, btit by faith." ? My answer
is : I am as certain that Luther's "alleyn" (Rom. III. 28)
means

"
alone," and does not mean " but" as I am of my

own existence. Seventeen years spent in Germany, or among

educated Germans, enable me to speak with authority on a

question of this kind.

3. It has been said that Luther's
" alleyn " must mean

"but" because it precedes the substantive ("glawben "). This

is an argument that would never have been used by a German,

or by a man thoroughly acquainted with German. Every

German knows that the following sentence is thoroughly in

accordance with the idiom of the German language : " So

halten wir es nun, dass der Mensch nicht gerechtfertigt

wird durch die "Werke des Gesetzes, sondern allein durch

den Glauben." Now the only possible way of translating
these words is : " So Ave now hold it, that man is not justified

by the works of the law, but alone through faith." Never-

theless, "allein" has here exactly the same position with

regard to the substantive " Glauben," as in Luther's text

4. INIodern German Dictionaries and Grammars are

not of much authority in this question, because Luther

wrote German, as it used to be in the sixteenth century, and

not as it is at present in the nineteenth. But independent

of this, it is very dangerous for Luther's English advocates to

quote German Grammars or Dictionaries. If they are

3O. Das Newe Testa-ment Deutzsch, Vuittemberg.



«4

not very careful, they may be surprised to find that the

real meaning of a rule quoted by them is quite different

from what tliey understand it to be. " AUeyn " does not

immediately precede the substantive " glawben " (faith), but

is separated from it by the preposition "durch" (through),

which comes between them : " alleyji dtnxh deiz glawbs?!.'"

Now even according to the Winchester Tracts in such a
case "alleyn " may mean " alcne.'" How ridiculous it is for
the author to quote this rule on page 7, and on page 8 to

forget all about it, and to come to the "irresistible con-

clusion "(! !) that according to German Dictionaries "alleyn"

(Rom. III. 28) must mean "but."^^

We can only attribute this to downright ignorance or
prejudice.

5. But I have a far stronger proof, a proof which can only be

disregarded by a man, who is willing to deny that the sun

is shining in the skies on a bright summer-aa)'. Nobody

is so good a judge of the meaning of "alleyn " (Rom. HI. 28),

as Luther himself, who is the author of the translation. For

^n Englishman to expect me to accept his interpretation of

Luther's words, and to reject Lut'ner's own authoritative

explanation of his own translation, betokens something

very much like literary insanity.

6. Now, Luther wrote to Wenceslaus Link on this very

subject. That part of the letter, which deals with the word

"alleyn," covers exactly nineteen pages, Luther wrote for the

express purpose of explaining why he used the word "allej'n"

(Rom. III. 28). I have read the letter in the old Witten-

berg edition of 1530 from beginning to end most carefull}',

and will now give the principal passages along with exact

references to the whole context.

A. The Introduction.

Luther says: " I have received your letter with the tvro

questions or inquiries first, why in the third chapter

to the Romans, the words of St. Paul: 'Arbitramur hominem

j.ustilicari ex fide absque operibus legis,' were translated

37. Winchester Tracts VII. Anno 1859. B}' Charles Hastings Collette.

I'he etact words, (p. 7) are : "One may perceive hereby that allein, like many other
idverbs, can stand also with substantives : the reaon of this is shown in the

note. It stands then after the substantive, except ivlien a preposition /cnoivs

it, or just precedes, as it can also stand be/ore it." (These latter itali ;s ar«

my own).



25

by me into German in the following manner: 'We hold

that man is justified without the works of the law, (allein)

through faith.' And at the same time you tell me what

great fuss the Papists make, because the word Sola ("alone")

is not in the text of Paul."^®

B. Luther's Answer to the Papists.

1. You Papists do not know how to translate. I have

taken great pains to translate correctly, nevertheless, you

must find fault with me, although one of you has published

my translation with only some slight changes.—Such is the
substance of his first answer to the Papists.

^^

2. Luther continues : "And in order to return to the

point. If your Papist makes much unnecessary fuss about

the word (Sola, alone), say straight out to him, Doctor

Martinus Luther will have it so, and says, Papists a7id

donkeys are one and the same thing. Sic volo, sic jubeo, sit pro

ratione voluntas (thus I will have it, thus I order it, my will

is reason enough). For we will not be the scholars or the

disciples of the Papists, but their masters and judges. We
must once in a way act a little haughtily and noisily ivith

these jack-asses. " *
°

3. Luther then tells us that he is more learned than the

Papists, and continues: "This is my answer to your first

question ; and as to their unnecessary noise about the word

Sola, 1 beg of you not to give those donkeys any other or

further answer, but simply this much : D. Luther will have

it so, and says he is a Doctor above all Doctors in the whole oj

Popery."
^^

C. Luther s Answer to his Protestant Friends.

I. "But as to you and our friends (den vnsern), I ivill
give you my reasons for using the word (Sola). Although

Rom. III. I did not use Sola, but Solum or Tatitunu So
carefully (fein) do the donkeys look at my text But,

38. Ein Send-brieff, von Dolmet-schen, vnd Ffirbit-te der Hei-Iigen.

D. Mart. Luther. Wittemberg. M.D XXX. Last v^Z^:
" Gedrückt zu Wit temberg durch Georgen Ehaw." p, 5.

"

Luther does not give the exact words of the Wittenberg New Testament ol 1523;
He also writes " allein " in this letter, and " alleyn " in h"' Mew Testament.

39. Ibidem, 59.

40. Ibidem, 9. /

41. Ibidem, g-iQ,
•'



26

nevertheless, elsewhere I have said Sola fide 2in6. 1 will have
both Solujn and Sola"*'''^

2. Luther then assures his friends that he took very great

pains to translate the Bible into good German, and adds :
*' / kneTJ very well that here, Rom. III., the word (Sola) is not
in the Latin and Greek text, and it was not necessary for

the Papists to teach me that. It is true, these four
letters, SOLA, are not in it, which letters the jack-asses
look at as a cow looks at a new gate ; but they do not

see that, nevertheless, it expresses the meaning of the text

;

and if our German translation is to be clear and poiverfid,

it ought to be put in But this is the idiom of our

German language, if mention is made of two things, of which

one is asserted and the other excluded, we use the word

Solum (alone) with the word (not or no), as when we say

:

* The peasant brings only corn (allein korn) and no money.'

So also: 'I have really no money now, but only corn.' *I have

only eaten, and not yet drunk.' 'Have you only written,

and not read it over ? ' and so on in innumerable expressions

of daily life. Although in all these sentences the Latin or

Greek language does not do so, nevertheless, the German

does (use Solum), and it is customary (in German) to add

the word {alone), in order that the word (not or no) may be

more poiverfIII and clear. For although I also say: 'The

peasant brings corn and no money,' nevertheless, the word

(no money) is not as powerful and clear, as when I say

'The peasant brings only corn, and no money.' "*^

These examples selected by Luther show most clearly and

most strikingly, how manifestly wrong and incorrect it was on

the part of one of Luther's lawyers, to say that the German word

"alleyn" must necessarily mean ''buf^ (Rom. IIL 28), because

'\\.precedes the substantive Glawben (faith), instead oifolloiving

it. One of the sentences used by Luther is : ' Ich

hab warlich itzt nicht gelt, sondern allein korn.' Now,

in this sentence ''allein " precedes the substantive.

Nevertheless, it is absolutely impossible to translate " alleiii
"

with^^bt/t." Let us try t(> do so. Our translation would then

42, Ibidem, ii, "Soluni"and "Tanlnm" mean "a^one," and never can mean anything
else. The Latin word ior but ''Sed" does not occur even once in the whole

letter, which is written by I.nther for the express purpose of giving his reasons

for using the word " allein." (. om. III. 28.)

43. Ibidem, 11-13.



27

be : " I have really no money now, but hut corn ; " which is

perfectly ridiculous, whereas, if I translate " allein " with

" alone" I have perfect sense : " I have really no money now,

but only corn." Now, Luther tells us that he used the word

"allein" in Rom. III. 28, in the same sense in which he

uses it in this sentence. It would, therefore, be a monstroiis

mistranslation, if Luther's German text was given in English :
" Man is justified without the works of the law, hit through
faith."

3. Luther then explains in the following pages, how

necessary it is to consider the idiom of the German language

when translating, and again tells us what great pains he

himself took.**

Now, we are quite willing to admit that Luther's render-

ing of Rom. III. 28 is thorougJily good German^ there

cannot be the slightest doubt about that, hut, as a translation,

it is outrageous. The perfectly literal translation : " So

halten wir es nun, dass der Mensch gerechtfertigt wird

durch den Glauben ohne die Werke des Gesetzes," would be

quite as good German, as the translation given in the English

Protestant Bible: "Therefore we conclude that a man is justi-

fied by faith without the deeds of the law," is good English.

4. He then argues that his translation fully expresses the
meaning of St. Paul, and tries to prove the doctrine of

justification by faith alone.*
^

5. He concludes his work by stating : " It is not only
correct, but also most necessary to say it straight out in the

clearest and most powerful manner : ' Faith alone, without

the works, makes us pious.' And I am sorry that I did not

also add ^ all' and ^ of all,' thus: 'without all works of all

laws,' so that it might come out full and clear (rund).

Therefore it shall remain in my New Testament, and if all

the Popish donkeys were to get mad and crazy, they will not

get it out But this is enough for the present. I will

(if God gives His grace) say more about it in the book

:

De Justificatione."*''

6. It is therefore absolutely certain that Luther really

added the word alone (Solum or Tantum) to Rom. III. 2S

44. Ibidem, 13-19.

45. Ibidem, 19-23,

%ö. Ibidem, 33.



28

We have it on the infallible authority of Dr. Marnn

Luther himself, that such is indeed the case. For in the

nineteen pages, which Luther wrote for the express purpose

of explaining why he used the word " allein," he never once

tells us, that this word may mean " hut" On the other

hand, he constantly reminds us, that his "allein," Rom. IIL

28, means '' Solnm'" ox ''• Taiihim.'" Now '''Solum" or
" Taiduni " are never used in the sense of the conjunction

"but" (sondern, aber) j on the contrary, both "Solum" and

"Tantum " necessarily mean "alone." We certainly do not
agree with Luther, but after all, we prefer the bold straight-

forward7iess ot the German Reformer, to the petty disJiontsty

of his English lawyer.

7. But Luther is determined to express his doctrme oj

jiistification by faith alo?ie, in a " clear andpowerful manner.

The words of St. Paul: "Without the works of the law," are

not " clear andpoiuerful" enough for him. Luther must trans-

late them: "Without doin^^ the works of the law." Again, St

Paul's words : "A man is justified by faith," are Jiot sufficiently
"clear and powerful." Luther must translate them : "A man
is justified alone through faith" (Solum or Tantum), whence

his text would be: "A man is justified alone through
faith without doing the works of the law," But even that

can be made still m.ore " clear and powerful." Therefore

the sentence is turned round, so that the opposition between

faith and good works may come out still more pointedly and

strikingly. For, whereas the English Protestant Bible, in

strict conformity with the Greek text, simply says : " A man
is justified by faith without the deeds of the law," Luther

boldly translates the passage : " A man is justified without
doing the works of the law, alone through faith,"*'

This position of " faith" at the end of the whole sentence

adds more power and emphasis to the expression,

8. Yet even this is scarcely enough, for Luther is sorry, that

he did not make the text still 7no7'e " clear and powerful,"

and translate it : " Man is justified without all works of all
laws, alone through faith."*

^

47. Dab News Testa-ment Deutzscli. ..^.iucr»
<8. Ein Send-brieff, von Dolmet-schen, vnd Fürbii-tc der Hei-lieen.

D. Mart. Luther. Witftmberg. M.D.XXX. Last paga |
" Gedrückt zu Wit temberg durch Georgen Ehaw." d. 21.



-29

If this is not reckless tam]:2ring with scripture, I do nof

know what is.

9, As to the text itself, it is sufficient to say, that St. Paul

IS not speaking at all about good works in general, but only

about " the works of the latv." We Catholics also believe
that we are justified by faith, as opposed to the works of the

Jewish law ; but we do not believe, that we are justified by

faith, as opposed to good works. An act of faith is in

itself a good work ; whoever, therefore, believes that he is

justified by faith, also believes that he is justified by a goodwork.

But according to St. Paul, faith without charity \s of no use

(I Cor., xiii.). We Catholics also believe, with St. Paul, that
faith, including charity, is an unfailing pledge of eternal

salvation.

§ II. Luther's Authoritative and Infallible Decrees

Concerning Marriage.

r. In a letter to Chancellor Brück, January, 1524, Luther

gives his opinion concerning the intention of a man to marry

a second wife. He writes : " / confess that I ca?mot forbid
a person to marry several tuives, 7ior is it contrary to the

Holy Scriptures •' but I should not like to see this kind of

thing now for the first time introduced among Christians,"*®

2. In the year 1539, Luthe»- positively allowed Prince

Philip of Hesse to have two wives at the same time. I quote

from de Wette, who gives the whole document both in Latin

and in German. According to de Wette, the German seems to

be only a translation , the original copy written by Melanchthon

is then the original. De Wette was a Protestant Professor

ot theology at Basle, in the early part of this century. In a

few introductory remarks to this important document, which

is signed by Luther and other theologians, de Wette says :
" It (the letter) concerns the double marriage of this Prince

(Philip of Hesse) In the document written out by

Melanchthon's own hand (literally, "Through Melanchthon's

pen") the theologians granted the dispensation, accompanied

with a representation of the difficulties of the case, and

under condition of its being kept secret."^'*

49,
" Ego sane fateor, me non po";^e prohibere, si qurs pl'ires velit uxores ducere, ne;

repugnat sacris literis." De Wette 11. 459. The letter was written lo
January, 1524.

50. D? Wette V 236;



30

3- De Wette also informs us that this document is found

in the Altenburg (viii. 977), the Leipsic (xxii. 469), and the

VValch (x. 886) editions of Luther's works, but that these

three editions suppressed the passage which grants the dis-

fejisation for the second marriage. Is this honest?^'-

4. I do not quote from the document, without having

read every word of it most carefully, from beginning to end,

in the original Latin text. The letter is addressed " To the

most Serene Prince and Lord, Philip. Landgrave of Hesse,

Count in Catzenelnbogen, Diez, Ziegenhayn, Nidda and

Schauenburg, our most gracious Lord."^^

5. I will now give a summary of the whole document,

which covers about five pages of de AVette. It will then be

impossible to tell me that I am quoting without the context.

The more minortant passages will be given in full.

After the introduction, the principal thoughts occur in

the following order :

6. Luther and the seven other theologians inform the

Prince, that they could not sanction the universal introduc-

tion of polygamy. " Your Highness will yourself sec clearly

enough, what a difference there is between making a universal

law, and making use of a dispensation in a certain case for

grave reasons, by virtue of a divine concession. But no

dispensation, granted in opposition to God, can be valid."^^

7. The theologians then answer the objection which they

themselves raise : " What is right before God, certainly ought

to be allowed." That is to say, God does not forbid polygamy;

why then do you not allow any one who chooses, to have

several wives? In answer to this Luther remarks, that

"other circumstances must be taken into consideration."^*

8. Luther and the rest then "approach nearer to the

question" of the double marriage. First of all they remind

his Highness, that in the beginning of the world only one

husband and one wife were allowed by God. After that

these theologians continue : " It is certain that later on, in

the law of Moses, men were allowe "1 to have two wives, as the

Scriptuie, Deut. XXL, testifies." "J his is oerfcctly true.

5T, Ibidem, 236.

52. Ibidem, 237.

53. Ibidem, 237-238.
*

54. Ibidem, 238.



Luther and the others, however, declare that on account of

the first institution of marriage by God, and also on account

of the words of Christ : " Ther^ will be two in one flesh," a

law allowing two wives must rot be made in the Church.

Nevertheless they add the foUowi ig important words : ''Never-

theless, iti certain cases there is room for dispe7isation. If

a person were a prisoner among foreign nations, and were to

take another wife, for the welfan: and health of his body, or

if a person had a wife suffering from leprosy, we do not

know on what ground it would be justifiable to condemn

such a man, were he, in these cases, to marry another woman,

with the advice of his pastor, having no intention to introduce

a new law, but (only) seeking a remedy for his necessity." ^^

9. Luther then gives powerful motives, why it would be

better or safer if the Prince were to give up the thought of

a second marriage ; he also advises him to abandon his

impure life. ^
^

10. The document continues: "Finally, if your Highness

has altogether made up your mind to marry another wife,

we declare tmder an oath that it ought to be done secretly No
contradictions or scandals of any importance will be the

consequence of this (of keeping the marriage secret), for it is

nothing unusual for princes to have concubines ; and

although the reason could not be understood by ordinary

people, nevertheless, more prudent persons would under-

stand it, and this modest way of living (HI) would please

more than odultciy nor are the sayings of others to be

cared for, if our conscience is in order. I'hus afid thus

far only do we approve of it.""''

" JFor what was allowed in the law of Moses concerfting

marriage, the Gospel does not revoke or forbid. Your

Highness has, therefore, not only the decision (testimonium)

of us all in case of necessity, but also our foregomg

considerations.
""**

SS- Ibidem, 238. "Certis tamen caslbus locus est dispensationL"

56, Ibidem, 238-241.

57, Ibidem, 241. Latin :
" Si recte cum consclentia agatur." " Sic et in tantum

hoc approbamus
"

58, Ibidem, 241, Latin: "Nam quod circa matrlmonium in lege Mosis fuit permis«
sum, Evangelium non revocat aut vetat Habet itaque Cels. Vestra non

tantum omnium nostrum testimonium in casu necessitatis, sed etiam antec«-

denies nosivas consideralione*
"



3»

That is to sa/ : We allow the marriage, but at the same
time we wish you also to consider, whether it would not be

more advisable to give up all thoughts of the double

marriage.

II. The letter concludes by saying that it would not be

expedient for the Prince to take counsel of the Emperor in

this matter.
^

'

j9. "Given at Wittenberg on the Wednesdavafter the

Feast of St. Nicolas MDXXXIX. (Dec. lo, 1539).

Your Highness*

Willing and obedient Servants;

Martinus Lutherus.

Philippus Melanchthon.

Martinus Bucerus.

Antonius Corvinus.

Adam F
Johannes Leningus.

Justus Winther.

Dionysius Melander."^"

13. The second marriage of Prince Philip of Hesse took

place a few months later, early in 1540.

14. Köstlin, Luther's most prominent German

champion, confesses that "this double marriage" is the

^'greatest blot in the history of the Reformation and in

the life of Luther
r^^

We may add that the blot is so great, as to blot out
every possibility of our ever looking upon Luther as a

Reformer saiictioned and cornmissioned by Ahnighty God.

For marriage is one of the most important and most essential

elements both of the social and of the religious order. And

God would not allow a Refonner really chosefi by Himself to

trample under foot the law concerning the unity of marriage,

which was promulgated by Christ, the first-born Reformer

of the World.

15. If this weighty document, which sanctioned

bigamy, had been issued by one of the Popes of ihe

5g. Ibidem, 241,

to. Ibidem, 242.

61. Köstlin, Luther und J. Janssen, Third edition, i!



33

Catholic Church, with what an outburst of indignation would

It not have been hailed by the whole Protestant world I How
many Anti-Romish tracts would have been written on the

subject ! To what a pitch of excitement would not the

eloquence of the Exeter Hall declamator have raised his

astounded audience 1 But, alas ! this dispensation

was granted — not in Rome, but in Wittenberg — the
cradle, the head, the heart, and the centre of Protestantism

in those days. Unfortunately, it does not bear the

signature of any Roman Catholic Pope, but the

name of Martin Luther is written under it in indelible cha-

racters. And only a few years before this took place, Pope

Clement VII. absolutely refused to sanction the second

marriage of Henry VIII., King of England. In consequence

of this, England was lost to the Catholic faith. But the Pope

would sooner see a whole country torn away from the unity

of the Church, than give his sanction to a marriage, that was

opposed to the Irw of God.

1 6. However outrageous this document may oe, it is far

out-done by one of the most disgraceful sermons, that have

ever been preached. I allude to Luther's sermon on

marriage, which I quote with a clear knowledge of the whole

context. It was preached in Wittenberg, in 1522.

17. With the authority of a Christian preacher, with the

additional authority which the extraordinary power of his

popular eloquence gave him, with the unlimited authority

which his exceptional position conferred upon him, from the

lofty eminence of a once Christian pulpit, in the presence of

men and women, married and unmarried, young and old,

Luther poslfively sa?ictioned adultery in the clearest and most

unmistakeable manner. It is true that he only allows it in

certain given circumstances, and that he requires the previous

anproval of the community. But this does not alter the

truth of my statement."^

18. I have read the whole sermon from beginning to

£nd in the original Wittenberg edition of 1522. On my

own authority, I calmly, deliberately and conscientiously

accuse Luther of publicly sanctioning adultery. Moreover,

I consider it to be a most aggravating circumstance that

t Vom Eelichec Leben. Marlinus Luther. Wittemberg,

flD.B.rjii. p. 1718.



34

Luther did so—not in the excitement of the moment—but
in a prjn'ed sermon that is a most carefully-worded,

systematic treatise on marriage.

19. The substance of the passage will be found in

Köstlin.«»

Now 1 ask, is this the teaching of God or of Satan ?

CvAVTKR v.—LUTHER'S INTOLERANCE AGAINST

THOSE WHO REFUSE TO SUBMIT TO HIS
AUTHORITY AND INFALLIBILITY.

I. Luther's Intolerance against the Jews.

I. Luther writes: " Now what are we Christians to do with
this rejected, damned people of the Jews? I will give my
honest advice (trewen rat)."

" First, their synagogues or schools are to he set on fire,

and whatever will not burn, is to be covered and heaped

over with earth, so that never again shall one find

stone or cinder of them left. And this is to be

done in order to honour our Lord and Christianity, so that

God may see that we are Christians
"

** Secondly, their houses are likewise to be broken down and

destroyed, for they do exactly the same in them as they

also do in their schools. Therefore they may perhaps

be allowed a roof or a stable over them, as the Gypsies are, in

order that they may know they are not the lords in

our country, as they boast to be
"

•' Thirdly, all their Prayer Books and Talmuds are to

be taken away from them, in which such idolatry, lies,

curses, and blasphemies are taught."

" Fourthly, their Rabbis (Priests) are to he forbidden,

under pain of capital punishment, to teach any 7nore "

'^Fifthly, the Jews are to be entirely denied legal protection

when using the roads in the country (Das man den Juden

das Geleid vnd Strasse aufifhebe), for they have

no business to be in the country
"

" Sixthly, usury is to be forbidden them, and all their

cash and their treasures of silver and sold are to be taken

$3. Köstlin, Luther and J. Janssen, pa^c ja.



SS

away from them, and to be put aside to be preserved. And

for this reason. All that they have (as was said above), they

have stolen and robbed from us through their usury." ^*

2. Thirty-seven pages further on, Luther addresses him-

self to the princes, and says: ''Burn their synagogues. Forbid

them all that I have mentioned above. Force them to work,

and treat them with every kind of severity (nach aller

vnbarmhertzigkeit), as Moses did in the desert and slew three

thousand If that is of no use, we must drive them away

like mad dogs, in order that we may not be partakers of their

abominable blasphemy and of all their vices, and in order

that we may not deserve the anger of God and be damned

with them. / have dotie f?iy duty. Let every one see hotv
he does his. I am excused." ^^

3. These words are taken from the old edition of 1543.

The title of the book is : "About the Jews and their Lies."

// contains very nearly joo pages, and was published only

thi'ee years before Luthei^s death.

IL Luther's Intolerance Against Roman Catholics

1. Luther says: *' All those that step in to defend tht

authority of the Bishops and are subject to them with willing

obedience are the real (eyge) servants of the Devil, and

fight against the order and law of God."®®

2. Luther writes : " Nobody can be a Papist, without

being at least a murderer, a robber, a persecutor // is

clear etiough that they (the Papists^ are the Christians of the

3. Luther says that Bishops under the Po]De are " Wolves,

tyrants, murderers of souls, and the Apostles of Antichrist to

corrupt the world. And, not to mince matters (erauss

schütte), everybody ought to know that the Bishops who

64, Von den Jü-den vnd jren Lügen. D. M. Luth.
Gedrückt zu Wittemberg, Durch Hans Lufft.
/lD.2).XLin. p. 220-224.

65 Ibidem, 261-262.

66, Wider den falsch genanttS geystlichen stand
des Babst vn der bisch-ofFeii. D. Mart.

Luther Ecclesiasten tzu Wittemberg. 1522

"D. Luthers Bulla vnd Reformation." p. 38.
67, Erlanger Ausgabe, LXV. 26-27. Only part of this work was published by

Luther himself He withdrew it in deference to Kurfürst John, who did not
wish Duke George to be mentioned in it. It was not withdrawn on account
of any harsh language against Catholics in general.



36

now rule over many towns are not Christian Bishops accord-

ing to Divine order, but according to devilish order and

human wickedness. It is also certain that they are the

messengers and vicars of the Devil." ^^

Some of the Protestant Bishops who also " rule over many

towns" have been lately praising Luther ; let them remember

what the German Reformer says about such Bishops.

4. As to the "Cardinals Archbishops, Bishops,

Abbots," etc., Luther tells us that "//zi? Rhine would be

scarcely large enough to drown all the scoundrels. (Buben)"" ^

5.
" If the fury of the Romanists goes on in this way, it

seems to me that no remedy is available, unless the

Emperor, the Kings, and Princes should put on full

strength to wage war against these pests of the whole

world, and decide the question, no longer with words,

but with the sword Why do we not wash 02ir hands

in their blooa?''^^

III. Luther's Intolerance Against Protestants

Differing From Himself.

I. To simplify the matter I take nearly all ray

quotations from one particular book of Luther. It was pub-

lished in 1544, and again in 1545, only one year before the

Reformer's death. // is written against those who will not

believe that the Bread and Wine are changed into the Body

and Blood of Christ ; and it will be so much the more

interesting, sitice many of Luthei''s admirers here in England

still refuse to believe in the Real Presence. The edition of

1544 contains forty-four pages. I have looked through the

whole of it and have selected the first ten passages according

to the order in which they occur in the work itself. I am
certain that I quote in perfect harmony with the context.

2. Luther writes: "As I am now near the grave, I will

bring this testimony and this glory with me before the

judgment seat of my dear Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ

68, Wider den falsch genantte geystlichen stand

des Babst vn der bisch-offen. D. Mart.

Luther Ecclesiasten tzu Wittemberg. 1522.

"Die vierde tugent des Bapst." p. 36.
69, Erlanger Ausgabe _ XXIV. 166.
70, Tomus primus omnium operum Reverend! Patris D. M. L Jenas. M.CLXXl-X

fol. 68.



that with all my heart I have condemned and avoided
the enthusiasts and the enemies of the Sacrament, Carlstadt,

Zwingli, Oecolampad, Stenckfeld, and their disciples in

Zürich, and wherever they may be
"''^

3.
" I have been obliged (and still am obliged) to despair of

the salvation of his soul (Zwingli, the Reformer of Switzer-

land), if he died in such sentiments, although his disciples

andfollowers make a saint a7id a martyr out of him. Oh,

Lord God, what a saint and martyr ! For in this book

(Christianae fidei expositio), he not only remains an enemy

of the Blessed Sacrament, but he also becomes altogether a

heatheti
""*

4.
" I would, I say, far sooner be cut into piecci, ur

burnt, a hundred times over, than be of one opinion or oi one

mind with Stenckfeld, Zwingli, Carlstadt, Oecolampad, and

whoever else they may be, the wicked enthusiasts, or agree

with their teaching
"'^^

5. "I would have known well nriw to give them

their proper name, as being not m -dy devourers of
bread and swallowers of wine, but devourers of souls

and 7nurderers of souls, and as haii-g a satanical, a

thoroughly satanical, a stipcr-satanical, blasphemous heart and

a lying mouth. And I should have told the truth, because it

cannot be denied, that with such blasphemies of theirs they

have been telling shameless lies against their own conscience,

and as yet they do no penance for it, yea they even boast of

their wickedness. Well, no Christian ought to pray for

the enthusiasts
"^*

He adds that this is said of the teachers, not of the poor
people who are misled.

6. "I look upon them all as forming one faction

(literally "cake") who will not believe that the bread of

the Lord ifi the last Supper, is His true 7iatural body, which

the wicked man or Judas receives into his mouth quite as

much as St. Peter and all the Saints. Whoever, I say, will

not believe that, he must not trouble me with letters, writitigs

71. Kurtz bekentnis Doctor Martini Luthers,

vom heiligen Sa-cra.ment. Anno /Bi.S.i'!!!!!.
72. Ibidem, 6.

73. Ibidem, 8-9.

74. Ibidem, 13.



or Ufords. Ana he must not hope for any communion with,
me.

"^5

I would like to say to many Protestants in this country

:

First believe in the Real Presence before you praise Luther, tor

he will have nothing to do with you, if you do not believe in it.

7. Luther goes on to say that "they (Zwingli and others)

have been found out and proved to be manifest blas-

phemers and liars. First, when in the beginning they taught,

there was nothing but merely bread and wine in the Last

Supper
"^"

8. "/ should have to cofidemn 7)iyself with them into the
depths of Hell., were I to hold with them, or to have comrmi-
nion with them., or were I to be silefit, if I find out or hear,
that they boasted of being in communion with me. The

Deviland his mother tnay do that, or be silent in such a case

(dazu), but not I
""

9.
" For it is zmdoubtedly true that whoever neither does

nor will properly believe one article (after he has been advised

and instructed), certai^ily does not believe any o?ie (article) with

earnest a?id true faith Therefore you must either believe

everything or nothing at all
"^®

ID. "Thus it will be of no use to the enthusiasts that

they talk very big about the Sacrament, about the

spiritual eating and driftkifig of the body and blood

of Christ, and about the love and union of Christians. For

these are merely the leaves of the fig tree, with which Adam
and Eve wished to cover and adorn themselves, that

their sin might not be seen by God. Their great labours^

their teaching a?id writing, their earnest, chaste lives will be

of still less avail to them. All that is mere heathenism.

Moreover, their belief in God the Father, Son, afid Holy

Ghost, and in Christ the Saviour is lost, all, 1 say, is lost,

with all the articles (of faith), however truly and correctly

they may mention or utter them with their false, blasphemous

mouths, because they deny this one article, and give the lie to

what Christ says in the Sacrament : 'Take (the bread) and

eat, this is my body, which shall be delivered for you, etc.'"^"

75. Ibidem, 24.

76. Ibidem, 25.

77. Ibidem, 26.

"S. Ibidem, 2q

7g. Ibidem, -^3-14.



39

ti. On the following page, Luther makes this objection :
" You might say, ' O, my dear Luther, it is to be hoped
that God will not be so very sternly and cruelly severe, as to
damn people on account of one article.'" His answer

is, that people will be damned, even if they deny only one

article. " It is to be hoped that His humble, sub-

missive, obedient creature will not deny and blaspheme a

single word Now, the heretics deal with the Word of

God, just as if it was the word of a man, or the word of a

fool ; they despise it, make fun of it, and blaspheme it. And
they could do everything better themselves, according to

their own pretty fancies, and at the same time (dazu) they

will not be taught. In such a case all is lost. And here

the great [and] numerous good works and labours will not

counterbalance the one bad point."®"

12. Now, what is the doctrine concerning the Blessed

Sacrament which Luther defends in this book ? Let him

answer himself. With unmistakeable clearness he assures us,

that it is the same doctrine "<zx was taught under the Pope,

which (doctrine) we also retain, and still teach, as the true,

ancient. Christian Church has taughtforfiftee}i hundredyears,

(For the Pope did not institute the Sacrament nor did he

invent it)."^'^

1 3 . Anybody who studies Luther's writings will be surprised

at the vigour of his style when writing in defence of the Blessed

Sacrament. In one of his numerous works on the subject

he assures us, that his hatred against the Catholic Church

would most decidedly have led him to deny the Real Presence

of the body and blood of Christ in the Last Supper, had it

been possible for him to do so ; but he adds that he could

not find any other satisfactory explanation of the words of

Christ : "This is my body."

Let us now listen to this extraordinary statement of the

Reformer; he writes: " If five years ago D. Carlstadt, or

anybody else, had been able to persuade me that there is
nothing but bread and wine in the Sacrament, he would, I

confess, have rendered me a great service. I have under-
gone severe struggles and have twisted and turned to get over

So, Ibidem, 35-37.

81. Ibidem. 10.



4^

// (belief in the Real Presence), hecmise I was fully aware

that it would have beefi the most severe blow which I could

have dealt against Popery But I am in prison. T ca?inot

escape, the text ('This is my body') is too 'power/id, and no

words can make it mean anythitig elseP^'^

14. Now, after expressly mentioning the Blessed Sacra-

ment, Luther said in his book against the King of England

:

"Whoever teaches differently from what I have taught

herein, or condemns me for it^ he condemns God and must

be a child of Hell."^»

15. Thus, you must either believe in the Real Presence

of our Lord's Body and Blood in the Last Supper, as the

Catholic Church does, or else you are a child of Hell.

Such is the infallible teaching of Pope Martin Luther L
concerning Protestants differing from himself

82. Eyn brieff an die Christen Zu Straspurg
widder den schwer-mer geyst. Martini Luther.

Der HERR kennet den weg der ge-rechteii, aber der Gottlosen v/^g wird
vmbkommen. Psal. i. Wittemberg. p. 7.

I3. Antwortt deutsch Mart, Lu-thers auff König Henrichs von
Engelland buch, Lügen thun myr nicht,

Warheyt schew ich nicht, 1323 On the last page we read !
•• Gedruckt tzu Wittemberg, durch Nickell Schyrlentt,

/H>,S».Jfff." n. j-s.



Pat^t TT.

RESULTS OF LUTHER'S TEACHING.

Chapter I.—POLITICAL RESULTS.

In order that the reader may have a correct idea of
fAitlier's bearing on the dreadful Revolution of 1525, we

give our quotations in this chapter in chronological order.

1520.

1. February, 1520, Luther wrote to his friend George

Spalatin : "If you understand the Gospel rightly, I beseech

you not to believe that it can be carried on without tumult,

scandal, sedition The word of God is a sword, is war, is

ruiti, is scandal, is perdition, is poiso7i."^*'

2. In the same year, Luther wrote these remarkable

words : " If we punish thieves with the gallows, robbers with

the sword, heretics with fire, 71. hy do we not still jnore

attack with every kind of weapon these teachers of pei'ditiofi,

these Cardinals, these Popes, and that whole abonmiatioti of

the Romish Sodom, which, without ceasing, corrupts the

Church of God, and why do we not wash our hands in their

blood?
"8^

The inflammatory power of this violent language is not

very much mitigated by saying, that Luther here addressed

himself only to the princes.

1522.

3. Luther publishes "A sincere advice of Martin Lutherto
all Christians to abstain from revolt and rebellion."^

^

84, De Wette I. 417.
85. D Martini Lutheri Opera Latina, curavit pr. Henricus Sclimidt, Frankofurti ad

M.et Erlangi, Sumptibus C. Heyderi et H Zimmeri. Seven Volumes, 1865-
1873. My quotation is taken from Vol II. 107. The passage is so striking that
I will give the exact Latin words :

'"
Si fures furca, si latrones gladio, si

haereticos igne plectimus, cur non niagis hos magistros perditionis, hos

Cardinales, hos Fapas et totam istam romanae Sodomae colluviem, quae

ecclesiam Dei sine fine corrumpit, omnibus arrais impetimus, et manus nostras

in sanguine istorum lavamus?"

9*. Eyn Irew vorraanung Mar-tini Luther tzu alien Chri-sten. Sich tztj vorhuten

fur auffruhr vnnd Emporune. Vuittemberg.



4i

Now, I do not exactly doubt his sincerity, but the work

contains most inflammatory expressions, and the people, who

were becoming more and more excited from day to day, were

likely to disregard the sound "advice," and to find new

nourishment for their revolutionary tendency in the violent

language to which I,uther had recourse in some parts of

the work.

4 In this very book Luther writes : "It seems as if a

rebellion is going to break out, and Priests, Monks, Bishops,

with the whole clerical body are about to be murdered

and driven out, if they do not prevent it by an earnest,

visible change for the better. For the poor man, in excite-

ment and grief on account of the damage he has suffered

in his goods, his body, and his soul, has been tried

too much, and has been oppressed by them beyond all

measure, in the most perfidious manner. Henceforth

he can and will no longer put up with such a state

of things, and moreover, he has ample reasoti to break forth

•with theflail and the chib as Karsthans threatens to do " ^
^

5. In the same worTc Luther writes : " Whereas I have

said that Popery and the clerical body will not be upset

by the hand of man, nor by rebellion, but that its wickedness

is so abominable that no punishment is sufificient for it, except

only the anger of God, without any (human) intervention
;

/ have never yet been i?idnced to keep those back who threaten
with the fist and with flails " ^

®

I ask, could the poor peasants be expected to listen to

Luther's " advice " against rebellion, after having read such

inflammatory words as these ?

6. July 26th, 1522, Luther writes to George Spalatin:
•* Do not either fear or hope that I will spare them (the
princes) ; if they have to suffer from disturbances and

reverses, they will not suffer it through any doing of ours,

but in consequence of their own tyranny,"^"

7. In this year Luther also wrote a most violent book

against the Pope and the Bishops. It must be remembered

that at that time many Bishops were sovereigns in their own

87. Ibidem, 3.

88. Ibidem, 6.

8g. De Wette II. 23.



43

dioceses, just as the Pope was formerly King in the Papal

States.

8. In this work Luther says : " We must avoid a Bishop
who does not teach the word of God, no less than the Devil

himself. But if they say there is reason to apprehend

(the outbreak of) a rebellion against the spiritual authority
j

then answer Is it reasonable that the souls of all should

be murdered for ever, in order that the temporal display

of these ghastly wretches (larven) should remain undis-

turbed ? It would be better if all the Bishops were murdered,

all institutions and convents rooted out, rather than one soul

should be lost Yet if they will not hear the Word of

God, but rage and break out into acts of banishing, burn-

ing, murdering [when did the Bishops do that ?] and all

kinds of evil, is it tiot most reasonable that they should en-

counter a powerful rebellion, which will root them out froJK

the earth ? And we could only laugh, were this to happen."^ ^

9. In the same work Luther writes: ^'^ All those who

help to upset the dioceses and to destroy the power of the

Bishops, who cast bodily life, goods aiid honour into the scale,

they are the beloved children of God, and true Christians;

they defend the commandment of God, and contend against

the order of the Devil." Luther, however, adds that he

does not wish the Bishops to be attacked " with the fist and

the sword ; for they are unworthy of such a punishment, nor

is it of any avail."®
'^

10. It is with such revolutionary language as this that

" D. Luther's Bull and Reformation " begin. The con-

cluding words of this remarkable document are worth

recording. " This is my Bull, D. Luther's, which giveth
the grace of God as a reward to all those who observe it and

carry it out. Anien."^^

1523-.

11. The few quotations which follow are taken from

Luther's work : " About worldly authority, how far we are

go, Wider den falsch genantte geystlichen stand

des Babst v3 der bisch-offen. D. Mart.

Luther Ecclesiasten tzu Wittemberg. 152»

Last page ; " Gedruckt tzfi Wittemberg durch Nickel Schyrlentz.

jrm tzwey vn tzwentzigste Jlar." p, 7-8.

91. Ibidem, " D liUthers Bulla vnd Reformation," p. 38.
03. Ibidem, 44.



44

obliged to obey it" The most critical German edition of

Luther's AVorks, the Erlangen edition says : "This in

some places rather violent publication was occasioned by

the refusal to admit Luther's translation of the N.T. in some

German countries, and by orders given that the subjects

who were in possession of it, should hand it over to the

authorities."^^

12. In the second part of this work Luther answering the

question: "How far does worldly authority extend?"
savs : " But do you want to know why God has

ordained that the temporal princes should make such

shameful mistakes ? I will tell you. God has handed them

over to their wicked heart, and will make an end of

them
'">'-

13. "You must know that from the beginning of the

world a wise prince is a rara avis, and still more so a pious

prince ; they are generally the greatest fools or the worst

rascaLs on earth therefore, as regards them we may

always look out for the worst and expect little good from

them
"»^

14. " There are veryfew pri?ices tvho are not looked upon

as fools or rascals " ®
"

15. Addressing the princes, Luther says,
'•'

People cannot,

people will 7iot, put up with your tyranny and caprice fo/

any length of time "
^

''

16. He raises the objection, "There must be an
authority even among Christians." And his answer is,

"Among Christians there ought not to be, and there cannot

be, any authority. But they are all at the same time subject

one to another."®^

1524.

17. We shall now consider in what choice language
Luther wrote, when, only one year before the outbreak ol

the Rebellion, he published a book, the title of which is

:

93. Erlanger Ausgabe XXII. 59.

94. Von welltlich-er vberkeytt wie weytt man yhr gehorsam

schuldig sey. Mart. Luther Vuiltemberg

ffl>,S).yfÜi. On last page: "Gedruckt zu Wittemberg Duici

Nickel Schyrlentz, Anno. /m..S).J'S'Üt " p. 30.

95. Ibidem, 34.

96. Ibidem, 37.

97. Ibidem, 37.

g8. Ibidem, 3§,



45

"Two Imperial, Inconsistent, and Disgusting Orders con«
cerning Luther."®'

i8. " Here you see how the poor mortal sack of worms

(Madensack), the Emperer, who is not sure of his life for a

moment, shamelessly boasts that he is the true, supreme

protector of the Christian faith
"loo

19. Nor are the last words of this work very compli-

mentary to the German princes. Luther writes : " From

the bottom of my heart I bewail such a state of things in

the hearing of all pious Christians, that like me they may
bear with pity such rrazy, stupid, silly, furious, madfools
May God deliver us from them, and out of mercy give us other
rulers. Amen." ^ " ^

1525.

20. The rebellion is now on the point of breaking out. The

peasants appeal to Luther. He writes a book, in which he
advises them to keep quiet, and bids the princes give in to

such demands as are reasonable. ^ ° ^

It would be an injustice to Luther to say, that he was not

sincere in this his endeavour to stop the full outbreak of the

revolution. All that can be said is, that even in this work

he more than once used language calculated, rather to

excite, than to calm the disturbed minds of the peasants.

2 1

.

This work also contains umnistakeable proofs of the

religious character of the rebellion. For the peasants published

twelve articles, in which they insisted on what they looked

upon as their rights. Now, Luther tells us that they " tried

to prove (the articles) with szuidry texts of Scripture."

Moreover the peasants say, that they are willing to be advised,

provided this be done ''ivith clear, manifest, undeniable texts of

Scripture^ The "first article" ran thus : "The whole Parish

shall have the power of electing and of deposing

their Parish Priest." The third article declared: "There are

to be no serfs, because Christ has liberated us all."^^^

22. I said that even in this work Luther made use of

expressions which, unintentionally on his part, were calculated

99, Erlanger Ausgabe XXIV. 210.
i*o. Ibidem, 236.

loi. Ibidem, 236-237.

102, Ermanunge zum fride aufif die iwolff artickel der Bawer schafft

in Schwaben. Mart. Lutber Wittemberg. i5»5»

103. Ibidem, 3, 31, 33.



46

to increase the excitement among the peasants. He writes :
*' First, as to such disorder and rebellion, we are indebted to

nobody on earth but to you, Princes, and Lords, especially t«

you, blind Bishops and mad Priests and Monks, who even

now-a-days are obstinate, and do not cease to rage and storm

against the Holy Gospel, although you know that it is true,

and you cannot refute it Moreover, in your worldly govern-

ment you do nothing else but cheat ancf treasure up, in order

to serve your splendour and your pride, till the poor

simple people neither can, nor will, put up with it any

longer
"i"*

23. On the following page Luther continues : "For this

you must know, my dear Lords, God ordains it in
such a manner thai people Tieither can, nor will, nor

ought to put up with your tyranny for any length of time.

You must change, and give in to the Word of God. If you

do not this in a friendly, willing spirit, you will have to be

forced into it by violent and subversive measures.

Ifthesepeasants dont do it, others will have to do it. And even

if you were to overcome them all, they are nevertheless not

beaten. God will raise up others. For He is deter?nined to

strike you, and He will strikeyou. My dear Lords, it is not
peasantswho oppose you, it is God himselfwho opposes you, in

order to punish your fury
»los

24. "They have presented twelve articles, some of which

are so reasonable and fair that they must deprive you of

your good name before God and the world "^**^

25. " As to the first article, in which they claim liberty

to hear the Gospel and the right of electing a Parish Priest,

you cannot refuse it and yet save appearances..
"107

26. " The other articles, in as far as they deal with

(anzeigen) bodily oppression are also reasonable " ^ ® *

27. In the second part of the same work, Luther

addresses himself to the peasants, and says : " My dear
friends, you have hitherto always heard of my admitting
what, I am sorry to say, is only too true and undeniable,

104, Ibidem, 5.

X05. Ibidem, 6.

X06. Ibidem, 9.

107. Ibidem, 9.
'

<

?©8. Ibidem, 9-?s>>



47

that the princes and lords who forbid the preachihg ©I" the

Gospel and who oppress the people in such an unfoAVabl©

manner, are ivorthy^ mid have well deserved that God should

cast them dottni from their seats, as they sin mightily ägäimi

God and man, nor have they any excuse "löo

28. After this, TjUther most earnestly exhorts the^people

to have nothing to do witli rebellion or revolution. But wa§

it not almost certain, that the excited peasants would despiii

the good advice, and would lay stress only on those parts ol

Luther's work, in which he speaks most vigorously about th©

injustice of the princes and the oppression of the peasants ?

29. At any rate, Luther's well-meant advice was despised

by the p.aoAuls. A most frightful revolution, which had
already partly broken out before the publication of Luther's

work, swept over several parts of Germany. Luther became

so vexed, that he wrote a book " Against the murderous

and rapacious hordes of the peasants."^ ^°

This was in 1525. I most carefully read the whole work

from beginning to end at the British Museum, London, in

one of the old copies printed in the same year.

30. Luther says : " A rebellious man, of whom this
can be proved, is already an outlaw in the sight of God

and of the Emperor, so that the first who is able and

willing to strangle him, does what is right andgood. For in the

case of a man in open rebellion, everyone is both chiefJustice

and executioner, just as when a fire breaks out, whoever can

extinguish it first, does the best service Therefore, who-

ever can, ought to strike in here, to strangle and stab, secretly

or ope7ily, and he ought to remember that there is nothing

more poisonous, disastrous, diabolical than a man in

rebelHon
;
fust as 7ve must kill a mad dog if you don't kill

him, he will kill you and a whole country with you
"in

-31. Luther adds : " I think there is not one Devil left

in Hell, but they have all gone into the peasants. The

raging is exceedingly great and beyond all measure."^ ^^

log. Ibidem, lo.

tio, Wider die Mordischen vB Reubischen Rotten
der Bawren : Martinus Luther

:

Wittembeij^

Psalm, vii. Se3me tuck werden jn selbs tref-fen,

Vnd seyn mütwill, wird vber jn aussgeen. iS«5'
III. Ibidem, 3.

IIS. Ibidem, 4.



4S

32. Again he says: *^For thefirst, ifthe authorities can and

will strike andpunish such peasatits^ withoutfirst ofi^eringthem

just and reasonable terms, I tuill not forbid them, although
it is not according to the Gospel. For it (the authority) has

the full right to do so, since the peasants now no

longer fight for the Gospel, but have manifestly become

rebellious murderers, robbers, blasphemers, whom even
heathen authorities have the right and the power to punish

;

yea, they are even obliged to punish such rascals "113

33. Luther, however, advises tliat after having prayed to

God, the princes should, byway of superabundant generosity,

make just and reasonable offers to tlie
^'madpeasants." " Then,

if that won't do, let them immediately draw the sword " 1 1 *

34. He writes: "The present time is so strange
that a prince can gain Heaven by spilling blood easier

than another person can by praying."-'--'-^

The times were, indeed, strange. For while the

princes were gaining Heaven by spilling the blood of one

hundred thousand unfortunate peasants, Luther found that

the time had come for him to marry Catherine Bora.

31^. This cruel book of Luther caused such an amount

of excitement, even among the friends of the Reformer, that

he thought himself called upon to write a work in vindi-

cation of his previous publication. It was published in the

same year, 1525. I have looked through it very carefully.

Luther retracts nothing, but upholds everything that he

had said in it. He expressly mamtains that it was quite

ri.o-ht for him to say, that everybody ought to strike into the

peasants, strangle them, stab them secretly or openly.

Luther's deliberate opinion concerning his previous publi-

cation is clearly expressed in the following passage :

"Therefore my little book (against the peasants) is quite in

tiie rip'ht and shall remain so, even if all the world were to be

scandalized at it."'-'-

^

36. In order to bring Luther's behaviour towards the

peasants home to the people of this country, let me make the

tbllowm"' supposition. A man publishes a book in Ireland, m

xij. Ibidem, 4-5.
'

: ,4^ Ibidem, 5,

J , , .hidem, 6.

ani3, Ei-langer Ausgabe, XXIV. 399.



49

which he says to the Irish Landlords : The tenants *' neither

can, nor will, nor ought to put up with your tyranny for any

length of time." He tells the tenants that they have "ample
reason to break forth with the flail arid the club." A revo-
lution being on the point of breaking out, he now advises the

tenants to keep quiet, but it is too late ; and the rebellion

sweeps over the greater part of the Sister Isle. Our friend

then says, that " whoever can, ought to strike in here, to

strangle and stab, secretly or openly. For in the case ofa man

in open rebellion, everybody is both chief justice and

executioner." What would Englishmen think of such a

monster ? Yet, this is exactly the way Luther treated the

poor German peasants.

37. In order to show, that I am not unfair to Luther in

stating that he over-excited the poor German peasants, I will

refer the reader to the opinion expressed by an eminent

Protestant Historian of Germany. Karl Hagen writes

:

"Even Luther in his earlier writings, contributed consider-

ably to foster the rebellious feeling among the people; for once

he actually incited the German nation to bathe itself in the

blood of the Papists, and he declared that they do a thing

agreeable to God, who would make away with the Bishops,

destroy churches and convents!" He "called the
Princes impious, miserable rascals silly fools, whose

tyranny and caprice people neither could, nor would put

up with for any length of time. Was it surprising that

this judgment of the Reformer, concerning the reigning

powers remained uppermost in the minds of his readers,

and that on the other hand they doubted the correctness of

his doctrine of unconditional obedience
?"^^'^

38, Some people think that religion had nothing to do

with the outbreak of the rebellion. Let us again listen to

the same Protestant Historian, when he says : " All those

preachers (of the new Gospel) who earned such extra-

ordinary applause, who gathered hundreds and thousands

of hearers round about them, were at the same time

men offree opifiions in state matters, and in their speeches

did not neglect also to dwell upon political questions

t\j, Karl Hagen, Deutsche Geschichte von Rudolf von Habsburg bis auf die neuest«

Zeit. Frankfurt a. M., Meidinger Sohn & Cie., 1855, Zweiter Band, Ersto
Abtheilung, Nr, x6. Der Bauernkrieg, p, iSa-iS^.



so

ana on the necessity of a change for the better, and thh

was done with the same fervour that they bestowed gn

religious questions. " ^ ^
**

Chapter II.—MORAL RESULTS.

Every reasonable person will agree with me, that Luther

can only have been a Reformer chosen by Almighty God,

if his teaching caused an increase of virtue and a decrease

of vice. If, however, it can be plainly shown, that in conse-

quence of his teaching there was, on the contrary, an increase

of vice and a decrease of virtue, we must come to the con-

clusion, that Luther bad not the sanction of God for the

work which he undertook.

Now, under different headings, I quote forty-five passages

from his writings, all of which disclose a sad state of morality

among the followers of the new Gospel ; but in no less than

fifteen of these passages, Luther tells us in plain words that

people have become worse than they for?tierly were under the

Fope. It is to these passages that I wish to direct the special

attention of the careful reader.

I.

—

Contempt of the Word of God.

1. Luther says : "The security among the poor people is

now so great, that they laugh at the preachers." He adds
that the time will come, when they will say : " You are

a fool; why do you care much about a sermon ?"ii-9

2. "Peasants and nobles know the Gospel better than

St Paul or D. M. Luther ; they are wise and they think

themselves better than all their clergy."!^"

3. "Peasants, citizens, and nobles boast that they

do not want any preacher. and would not give a penny

for any number of sermons."^
^^

4.
"A poor village parson is now the most despised man

of all so that there is no peasant who does not

trample him under-foot.''^^^

118. Ibidem, 184,

119. Erlanger Ausgabe, I. 103-104.

120. Walch. XIV. 1360.
131, Erlanger Ausgabe, LI. i88<

IM, Walch. V. 577.



SI

5. " It seems as if the world was determined to starve

the ministers of the Gospel to death.''^^'

6. Already in 1524 Luther tells us, why the preachers

of the new Gospel were so thoroughly despised. He says :
"They lead such a bad life that they do more harm than

goody The Latin text is : "Vivuntque vitam sic pravam,

ut plus sane offendant, quam prosint."^**

IL—Contempt of the Sacrament.
1. " People have now so little esteem for the Holy

Sacrament of the Body and Blood of our Lord it is as if

there was nothmg on earth that they were less in want of."^ ^ ^

2. ^'Formerly under the Pope, when we were forced and

urged to receive the Sacrament, we went in crowds

now our behaviour towards it is as disgusting and

shameless, that it is as if we were not human beings (still

less Christians)^ but only sticks and stones, that stand in no

need of it."^''^

III.

—

Want of Generosity in Supporting the Clergy,
Churches, and Schools.

1, Luther says: "Under the Pope people were

very fervent in building churches Now that the true
Religion is taught, and that the people are properly instructed

concerning good works, everybody is cold, so much so

that we cannot help being surprised at it."^^''

2. "Formerly, they could build convents and churches,

with an outlay which was quite unnecessary; now they cannot

repair a h^le in the roof, in order that the clergyman may

be protected from the wet.''^^^

3.
" Tell me where is there a town at present with

sufficient means or piety, to contribute enough for the

support of a schoolmaster or a clergyman
?"i^^

4, "Such is the fate of the beloved Gospel, when it is

preached, nobody is willing to give anything towards feeding

123. Walch. VI. 967

124. Epp. ed. Aurifaber, II. 191,

125. Walch, X. 2666.

I2(S. Walch. X. 2715.

»»7. Walch, VI. i2rx

8, Walch; XIII. 8.
i<9. Wakh, XI. «sea.



s»

and supporting the persons who ought to take charge of

the pulpit and schools."^
^"

5. "Formerly, when we served the Devil all purses

were open, and there was no measure in giving to

churches, schools But now that the proper kind of schools

and the proper kind of churches are to be built, nay, not

built, but only preserved as they now stand all purses

are bound up as with iron chains."^
^^

6. "According to its size every town could formerly

support with ease several convents now that in one town

two or three persons only are to be supported, who preach

the Word of God, administer the Sacraments, visit and

console the poor, instruct the youth everybody finds

that too much, although (the money has to come^, not out of

their oiun pocket, but from the property of othefs, for which

we are indebted to Popery."
^'^"

7.
" Our peasants want a Christian liberty, that will bring

them temporal gain, but if on the other hand they are to

give a penny to their clergyman, or do the least thing for the

Gospel^ eve7i the Devil cannot make them stirf^f^

IV.

—

Neglect of the Poor.

1. Luther informs us that his followers used to say, " If

we are not saved on account of our good works, why should

we give alms to the poor ? "i s 4

He adds that they maintain this at least in their way of
acting, if not in their words.

2. " Formerly, under the Pope people gave very largely

indeed and beyond meastire then they gave in heaps

for they looked upon the reward But now that

with the light of the Gospel we are told nothing about

our merits, nobody is willing to give and to help."-"-^^

3.
" Formerly, whe?i we served the Devil binder Popery,

everybody was merciful and kind ; then they gave with

00th hands, joyfully and with g?-eat devotion Now
that we ought to be 7nerciful, to give willingly, and to show

130. Walch. VIII. 2S15.

131. Walch, X. 530

132. Walch, XI. 1758.

133. Walch. XIII. 89.

134. Walct. VIII. 2683.

135. Walch. VIII, 946-947.



S3

aiirselves thankful to Goä for the Holy Gospel nobody

is willing to give, but only to takeT^^^

V.

—

Neglect of the Sick.

1. In 1527 an ipidemic broke out at Wittenberg, Luther's

headquarters and residence. Luther writes : "The pest has

broken out here, but in rather a mild form (satis propitia)

;

however, the fear and flight of the people is something

dreadful."^
3^

2. For the second time a contagious disease broke out

;n the same town, during 1539. Writing to Wenceslaus Link

on the subject, Luther says : " One person runs away from

Uie other, so that you cannot find a servant. I think

the Devil must have taken possession of the people with the

real pestilence, to fill them with such terrible fear, that the

brother forsakes his brother, the son his parents."-'-^^

3. Again, he says : " I am astonished, that the more we

preach about the life in Christ, the greater the terror of death

becomes among the people."^ ^*

4. One of Luther's explanations of the fact, that

formerly, under the Pope, people were not so afraid is

^'because out of a false hope of life, theyfeared death less."^^^

VL

—

Sad State of the Youth,

1. Luther exclaims : " It is a shame how badly we now
bring up our children Parents allow their children to please

themselves i\I others do not look after their daughters

do not punish them, do not teach them to lead a modest

and chaste hfe."^*^

2. "Everywhere complaints are made about the dis-
obedience, lawlessness, and pride of the young people."^*^

3. Luther tells us that drunkenness "/zai- spread

among the youth so that 7iow the greaterpart of the finest,
vwst talented young me^i (especially among the nobility and at

Court), ufiderniine their health, their body and their life

before the time."^^^

136. Walch. XI. 1758.

137. Epp ed. Auiif. II. 34S-346t
138. De Wette V. aig.

139. Walch. XXI. 1461.
140. Ibidem*

141. Walch. XI. 3095-3090,

142. Walch, XII. 895.

143. Walch. XII. 79g.



54

VIT.—Increase of Drunkenness.
1. We have just seen the prevalence and the frightful

consequen'^cs of drunkenness among the youth.

2. formerly, such was not the case. Speaking of drunk-

enness, Luther says ; "I remember, when I was young, what

a very great shame this was considered to be among tlie

nobihty."!**

Now, however, he tells us that these young men,

the greater part of whom are given to drunkenness, are

"especially among the nobility."^ *^

3.
" We have now got so far that coarse vices, excessive

drinking, rioting are no longer looked upon as a disgrace,

but drunkenness must now be called hilarity."^***

4.
*' Drunkenness has tiow, I am sorrj to say, come down

tipon us like a deluge. " ^
*

"

5.
" The people look upon the Gospel as a doctrine

which teaches them to eat and d7-ink. Such

are the thoughts of almost everybody^ from the lowest to tht

highest:'^
^"^

6. "The people are like pigs, so to speak, dead and buried

in constant drunke?itiess.^'^*''^

VIII.

—

Increase in the Number of Suicides.

Suicides became more and more frequent among his

followers. On the 25th of July, 1542, three years and a
half before his death, he said some suicides among

his followers were caused by Satan, to whom God

had given this power in the Lutheran Church as a

punishment for contempt of the Word of God.

His exact words are : " AVhat you write concerning the

power that the Devil has shown in the case of three men

who have hanged themselves, I have read with fear, my
Anthony. God gives us, ungrateful and arrogant creatures, a

foretaste of His future anger, by conceding so much to

Satan in our Church He (Satan) is the Prince of the

X44, Ibidem.

145. Ibidem.

»45. Walch. XIII. 1579.

847. Walch. XII. 788.

»48. Walch. VII. 1896.

H^ Walch. XII. 789. Auslegung der Epistel am Sonntage nach der Himmelfahrt
Chnsti.



55

world ; in order to bring us into contempt he pretenas

that those men hanged themselves, whereas he killed them,

and, by working on their imagination, made them believe

they had hanged themselves Satan's presence is

visible."^««

IX,

—

Lower State of General Morality.

1. Luther says : " As soon as our Gospel began

dece?icy and modesty were done away with, atid everybody

wished to be perfectly free to do whatever he liked
"^^^

2. " We deserve that our Evangelicals (the followers of
the new Gospel) should now be seven times worse than they

were before. Because after having learnt the Gospel, we steal,

tell lies, deceive, eat and drink (to excess), and practice all

manner of vices."^ °
-

3.
" After one Devil (Popery) has been driven out of

us, seven worse ones have come down upon us, as is the case

with Frinces, Lords, Nobles, Citizens and Peasants."^^^

4.
" In all classes frivolity and every kind of vice, sin,

and disgrace are now much greater than formerly."^ ^*

5.
" I think it must needs be the case, that those who

follow the Gospel (literally *' who become evangelical
"),

should be worse after (receiving) the Gospel than they had

been before, not on account of the Gospel, but on account

of the people who so abuse the Gospel."^
'"^

6. " The more and the longer we preach, the worse matters

growy^^^

7.
" People are now possessed with seven Devils, whereas

formerly they were possessed with one Devil ; the Devil now

enters into the people in crowds, <o that men are ?iow

more avaricious, unmerciful^ impure^ i7isolent. tJian

formerly ufider the PopcP ^ ^
'^

8. "After the dominion and power of the Pope has

ceased the people, while despising the true doctrine,

are now changed into mere irrational animals and beasts •

150. De Wette V 487-488.
151. Walch V. 114.

152. Walch. til. 2727.

153. Walch, III. 27«7.

J 54. Walch. V. 114.

15s. Walch. XIII. 2i9>

156. Walch. XII. 2120.

x=.n. Walch. XUI.ia.



S6

the number of holy and pious teachers becomes constantly

9. About a year before his death, Luther confesses :
*' We

are living in Sodom and Babylon everything is daily

getting worse."^^*

10. The town of Wittenberg was the principal scene ol

Luther's activity. It was there that he resided. It was

there, if anywhere, that the results of his teaching ought to

have made themselves felt. Now, about seven months before

his death, Luther wrote to his wife, '''Away from this Sodom

(Wittenberg) / will wander about, and sooner beg my

hread than -alloiv my poor old last days to be martyred ana

upsst with the disorder of Wittenberg. " ^ ^
<>

1 1. We find Luther owning that he would never have
begun to preach, if he had foreseen these unhappy results,

and that he scarcely knows whether he ought to continue

preaching. His words are • " See how foolishly the people

everywhere behave towards the Gospel, so that I scarcely

know whether I ought to continue preaching or not."-*^^^

12. Writing on the same subject, he says: *'' If God

had not closed mv eyes, and if I hadforeseen these scandals^

I would never have begun to teach the Gospel."^ ^^

13. In 1538, more than twenty years after the beginning

of the Reformation, Luther dwells on the same thought

:

" Who would have begun to preach, if we had known

beforehand that so much unhappiness, tumult, scandal,

blasphemy, ingratitude, and wickedness would have been the

result
?"^'^'^

14. The new Gospel did not even make Luther himself

better. Rewrites: "/ confess that I am much more

negligent, than I was under the Pope, and there is now no-

where such an amount of earnestness under the Gospel, as was

formerly seen among Monks a7id Priests."^
^^

15. If all these testimonies, taken wholly and solely

from the very words of Dr. Martin Luther himself, should

158. Walch, I. 615.

159. De Wette V, 722.
160. Luther's Letter to his Wife, July, 1345, de Wette V. 753.

161. Walch. XI. 3052,

163. Walch. VL 920,
163. Walch. VIII. 564.

«64. Walch. IX. 131S.



57

not De considered sufiicient, to prove that the state of general

morality became worse in consequence of the teaching of

the Reformer, I still have another argument in store, which,

I think, will convince even the most prejudiced mind.

During the last few years, Janssen has been publishing the

first volumes of his History of Germany since the end of the

Middle Ages (Geschicte.des Deutschen Volkes seit dem

Ausgang des ISiittelalters). This standard work has caused

a thorough Revolution throughout historical circles in

Germany. The excitement created by the publication ol

these volumes is principally due to the unlimited acquaintance

of the author vath the works and writings of Dr, Martin

Luther. It is difficult to imagine a more thorough and

scientific condemnation of the Reformation, drawn to a great

extent from the words of Martin Luther himself. The sensa-

tion caused by Janssen's History was so great, in both Pro-

testant and Catholic circles, that Protestant Germany could

not remain silent. Professor Köstlin took up Luther's

defence in a book entitled "Luther und J. Janssen." The

proofs,, however, brought forward by Janssen, were so clear

and so striking, that Köstlin, the very man whose express

obiect was to defend Luther, could not help saying

:

" liiere was really a certain increase of corj-jiption at the

time of tJie Reformation. We may a. so imhesitatin^ly admit

that, in a certain sense, the Reformation had something to do

with it:'
^''^

t6. I beg the reader to consider these two distinct

admissions, especially as they are made by the most

prominent and most weighty supporter of Luther s cause

in Germany.

a. He acknowledges that there was an increase oi
corruption at the time of the Reformation.

b. He "unhesitatingly" adds that, "in a certain sense'*
the Reformation contributed to this increase of corruption.

I 17. This fact that the Reformation had something to Ao

with the increase of moral corruption must, therefore, be

admitted by everyone who takes for the ground on w^hich

he stands, not fancy and imagination, but historical truth.

165. Köstlin, Luther und J, Janssen, p. 58 j



CONCLUSION.

The following facts have been clearly established fronj

Luther's own writings :

1. At the beginning of the Reformation, Luther acted as

a downright hypocrite towards Pope Leo X., and shortly

before dying, he wrote a most low, coarse, disreputable,

and satanical book of one hundred and fifty-seven pages,

against Pope Paul IIL Even supposing Protestantism was

right and the Catholic Church was wrong, such a book

as Luther wrote " Against the Popery of Rome, instituted

by the Devil," would be a lasting disgrace to any

author.^
^*

2. Having rejected the authority of the Pope, he admits

the authority of Satan ; for he informs us in plain, un-

mistakeabie words, that the Devil argued in favour of his

doctrine of justification by faith alone, and against Mass,

Mary, and the Saints. ^ ^
^

3. Strange to say, he expects Christ will approve of his

preaching those very doctrines, which had met with the

sanction of Satan. For Luther has the boldness to assure

us, that Our Lord looks upon him as an Evangelist^ and

that he himself will not allow his teaching to be judged by

anyone, not even by an Atigel. ^ ^
^

4. Having thus set the authority of the Pope at nought,

admitted the authority of Satan, proclaimed his own

authority as that of an Evangelist, who is not even to be

judged by an Angel, Luther boldly rejects the inspired

Word of God, as contained in St Paul's Epistle to the

Hebrews, and in the Apocalypse or Book of Revelations.

As to the Epistle of St. James, it is only a straw epistle^

166. See above, pages 9-13.

167. Page» 13-19,

168. Pages i9-30f



Decause, m opposition to Luther, St. James ventures to
"attribute justification to the works."^*'^

5. Not satisfied with this, he even falsifies the Bible by

adding the word ^^ alone" to Rom. III. 28. He has

the honesty to tell us why he does so. It was in

order to express his doctrine of justification by faith alone

in a more "clear and powerful " manner. The text in the

English Protestant Bible is: " We conclude that a man is
iustified by faith without the deeds of the law." Luther

translates : " So we now hold it, that man is justified, without

doing t\\t works of the law, alone by faith."-"-
'"

6. We can hardly expect, that a man who thus deals with
die inspired Word of God, will res]:)ect the laws of God.

Now, one of the most fundamental laws, promulgated here

on earth by the Son of God, is the law concerning the

unity of Christian marriage, Luther's teaching, however,

is in direct opposition to this. He says : ^^ I cannot forbid
a person to marry several wives^ Nor does he, in the case

of Prince Philip of Hesse, shrink from putting this his

doctrine into practice ; for Luther wilfully and deliberately

signed a document granting his Highness leave to have two

wives at the same time. Moreover, in one of his sermons,

the Reformer of Germany did not blush to sanction adultery

under circumstances, which ought never to be mentioned

from a Christian pulpit.
''^

Is it God, or is it Satan who speaks through Luther?

7. Whilst constantly asserting his own authority and

acting with the utmost recklessness, concerning the Holy

Bible and the unity of marriage, Luther treats with an

msufferable arrogance and intolerance all those who refuse

to submit to his authority As to the Jews, it is well

known how, in the Middle Ages, they were constantly pro-

tected by the Popes, even in Rome itself, where

they had a special quarter of the town allotted to

them. How differently Luther acts. He says the
churches (synagogues) and schools of the cursed

Jews are to be burnt down, their houses destroyed,

their Prayer Books taken away from them, their Rabbis

169. Pages «1-22.

[70. Pages a2-t§,

i7t. Pages -.9-34,



6ö

forbidden to teach, they are to be refused all legal pro-

tection when they go into the country ; all their money is to

be taken from them, and if all that is not sufficient, they

are to be driven off like mad dogs. ^ ^ ^

8. A satanical hatred of the Pope and of all Roman
Catholics is one of the characteristic features in the history

and character of Luther. According to his views Popery is

instituted by the Devil, the Pope is Antichrist, whose tongue

ought to be torti out through the hack of his neck and fiailed

to the gallows ; the Catholic Bishops are " wolves^ tyrants.,

murderers of souls, and the Apostles of Antichrist ;^^

tvery Catholic is *' at least a murderer, a 7-obber, a

persecutor." And he asks the Princes : " Why do we not

wash our hands in their blood V^"'^

9. But even Protestants differing from him do not fare

any better. So, for example, he denounces those who do

not believe that the very same Body of Our Lord which

was nailed to the Cross is received in the Last Supper, as

blasphemers and enemies of Christ, and he adds that they

cannot hope for any communion with him (Luther). He says:
*'/ should have to condemn myself tvith them into the depths

of Hell, ifI were to hold with thejn."'^''
*'

Now, many Protestants in this country do not believe in

the Real Presence, and, nevertheless, they praise Luther

who condemns them to the everlasting flames of Hell.

to. The results of his teaching are such as might be

expected from what we have already said. He maintains
that the poor man "has ample reason to break forth with

the flail and the club." The peasants do break forth with

the flail and the club. Lutaer now advises them to go

home quietly. They refuse. Luther then orders everybody

to ^^ strike in to strangle and stab, secretly or openly.^^

*^For in the case of a man in open rebellion everybody is both

chief Justice and executioner."^'^
^

One hundred thousand peasants are killed or executed.

II. Such were the political consequences of his teach-

ing. The moral results were even more disastrous; foi

172. Pages 34-3S.
173. Pages 35-36 and la.

174. Pages 36-40,

175. Pages 41-50.



6i

wherever Luther's teaching was accepted, the Last

Supper was treated with contempt, the former generosity in

supporting the clergy, churches, schools, the sick and the

poor, ceased; children were neglected, drunkenness began to

spread like a deluge, in fact every virtue decreased, and

every kind of vice increased. Luther tells us that, under

the Pope, people had had only one Devil, and that no\v,

under the Gospel, they had '^ seven worse ones."''-'^^

Would it not have been better if he had left the poor

people with the one Devil, and had spared them the six

other worse ones ?

12. A man who pretends to be a Reformer is sent either
by God or by Satan. Now, every single sign of a Divine

mission is utterly wanting, both in Luther's teaching,

and in the results of his teaching. How different in
every respect are not Moses, Isaiah, Jeremiah, Daniel,

Ezekiel, and the prophets of old from the would be

Reformer ? But, can Luther perhaps be compared

to the Apostles ? Let us see. Did St. Peter, or St. Paul,

or any of them, ever dare to allow a Christian to have two

wives at the same time? Is not this fact alone sufficient to

prove to every fair-minded man, that Luther was not sent

by God ? Moreover, was the result of St. Paul's teaching an

increase of drunkenness and every kind of vice, and a

decrease of every kind of virtue ? No, certainly not. Luther,

therefore, bears no resemblance to any of those men, of whom

the Scripture tells us that they were setit by God as Reformers

of their fiation or ofthe world. We, therefore, refuse to believe

m his Divine mission, and that on Scriptural groiuids. But
mark also another reason. Luther refused to believe that

Carlstadt bad the sanction of Heaven, and for a reason which

is very instructive. Writing against this pretended Reformer,

he says, " God does not break up the old order for a

new one without working great signs. Therefore we cannot

believe a person, who appeals to his own spirit and to his

inward feeling, and rushes head-long against the usual

order of God, unless he also performs 7niracles."'^''''

176. Pages So-57>

<77. Erlanger Ausgab«. XXIX, 173.



13- Now, Luther, I judge you by your own test. Where

are the miracles, with which you prove your Divine mission ?

You know very well, that you never performed a single one.

And therefore we would be acting in opposition to your own

advice, were we to believe in you.

14. But, if Luther was not commissioned by God, then the

glorious old Church of our Forefathers, the Church of which

we say, in the Apostle's Creed : " I believe in the Holy

Ghost, the Holy Catholic CkuTch" is the true Church of

God. And, in that case, not Luther, but the great and

illustrious St. Ignatius, was the real Reformer of the

sixteenth century.

ERRATA '

Page. Reference. Line. Read. Instead of

12 10 26 20

12 10 60 00

20 28 ym my

28 47 Vuittemberg. (Indistinct.)

41 86 86 (Indistinct.)

42 89 236 23

55 157 19
10

These few collections enable me to guarantee the absolute correctness

of every single reference.



Luthers Own Statements.

PRESS NOTICES.
I. AMERICA.

1. THE CATHOLIC REVIEW, 1884, No. 16:
** The best comment we have seen on the Lutheran Cen-
tenary in any language. . . a work of the mo'^tminute and

patient research, conducted in the most dispassionate and

impartial manner—a true photograph of tlie Reformer pro-
duced by the irradiance of his own hold statements, without

any colouring on the part of the artist."

2. THE CATHOLIC WORLD, July, 1884 :
"There are as niuiy file ts compressed into this little work

as would furnish material for a bulky volume, and

they are marshalled in such a manner that their force is

irresistible."

3. THE CATHOLIC HERALD, June 14, 1884 :
"Of all the works concerning Luther, this one, literally

written by himself, is the best."

ir. GREAT BRITAIN.

1. THE IRISH ECCLESIASTICAL RE-
CORD, October, 1884 : '-We advise every student of'
Church History to provide himself with a copy.''

2. THE DUBLIN REVIEW, October, 18S4 :
"The work should be in every Priest's library."

3. THE MONTH, March, 1884 : " Perhaps the most
solid and effective contribution t6 tlie Luther literature of

the day."

4. THE TABLET, May 17, 1884: "Full of the
most remarkable and useful historical extracts.

"

5. THE CATHOLIC TIMES, March 13, 1S85 :
"The writer of this review, himself a German, has gone to

the trouble of testing the accuracy of a very considerable

portion of the references. He can unhesitatingly affirm

that he was not able to come across a single mis-
quotation, and that he invariably found the translation to

be in scrupulous conformity with the original German or

Latin text."