Luther was a very complex man. Sometimes he said very deep, wonderful things. But then sometimes he said things that were very ugly. Here are some of the great things Luther said:
I cannot and will not recant anything, for to go against conscience is neither right nor safe. Here I stand, I can do no other, so help me God. Amen.
To gather with God's people in united adoration of the Father is as necessary to the Christian life as prayer.
War is the greatest plague that can afflict humanity, it destroys religion, it destroys states, it destroys families. Any scourge is preferable to it.
You should not believe your conscience and your feelings more than the word which the Lord who receives sinners preaches to you.
One should honor Mary as she herself wished and as she expressed it in the Magnificat. She praised God for his deeds. How then can we praise her? The true honor of Mary is the honor of God, the praise of God's grace . . . Mary is nothing for the sake of herself, but for the sake of Christ . . . Mary does not wish that we come to her, but through her to God. (Explanation of the Magnificat, 1521).
Mary is the Mother of Jesus and the Mother of all of us even though it was Christ alone who reposed on her knees . . . If he is ours, we ought to be in his situation; there where he is, we ought also to be and all that he has ought to be ours, and his mother is also our mother. (Sermon, Christmas, 1529).
See http://www.davidmacd.com/catholic/martin_luther_on_mary.htm
From these quotes, we see a man who had a strong faith in God, who had strong convictions, who adored God and hated war. And also, in contrast to modern Protestants, had a strong devotion to the Blessed Virgin MaryBut unfortunately, this man was very complex, and was also capable of saying some very horrific quotes as well.
As an Evangelical, I enjoyed listening to testimonies – how Jesus Christ changed someone’s life. The testimony started out with how a person was before he came to know Christ, how he came to know Christ, and then how his life is so much better since he has know Christ. When I came to seminary, I especially enjoyed studied Church history, and learn how Christ how effected not just individuals. I studied how Christianity changed the Roman Empire – how Christianity caused Roman society to get rid of its gladiator shows and gave dignity to all classes of people. I studied how John Wesley and Methodism changed society for the better. I studied how the Christian abolitionists along with the devout Christian Abe .Lincoln were able to abolish slavery. So as a Protestant at that time, I was eager to hear about how the Reformation freed people from legalism so that they would love God and obey him totally out for gratitude without any fear of His wrath.
But instead, there was nothing! My teacher completely ignored any positive benefits from Luther and the Reformation, and this within a Protestant evangelical seminary. I could not understand it! Surely there must be evidence that society was much better after the Reformation than before it. The people must have been more loving, less sinful, and more obedient to God. But there was nothing. I even tried to find something positive about the impact of his society from Roland Bainten’s book Here I Stand. But nothing!
I finally did find something, after I became a Catholic. I found it in some Catholic books. Now I know what Luther apologists are going to say – that these are nothing but lies since these come from Catholic historians. I recall one Reformation web site saying that it is unfair since the quote are from German books that have not been translated into English. But how is that the fault of these Catholic writers? Can they help it if this person does not know German? If this person wants to refute what these Catholic books have written, there is a simple solution – learn German! At seminary, I knew this guy majoring in philosophy and theology. One thing he was doing was taking classes on German. I asked him why, and he said that many important works were written in German and he wanted to learn German in order to refute them. So if this person wants to refute what the Catholic writers wrote about these German texts, then he should learn German. If he does not want to learn German, that is fine. But then you cannot refute their claims.
But what is more important is that, although these books are fairly old and have been around for awhile, no one who knows German has refuted what these writers claim that the German text says. Certainly there must be someone who knew German and would want to defend the Reformation against these supposed lies. Why has there not ever been a book written by a Protestant that shows from the German texts that these Catholic writers are lying?
So because there has never been someone who knew German that ever refuted them, and it does make sense that they would lie knowing that this would send them to hell, I find what they say credilble.
These are quotes by Martin Luther nearing the end of his his, in his own words reflecting on how his teaching effected his followers:
The security among the poor people is now so great, that they laugh at preachers
Under the Pope …people were 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.
Formerly, when we served the Devil under Popery, everybody was merciful and kind; then they gave with both hands, joyfully and with great devotion…Now that we ought to be merciful, to give willingly, and to show ourselves thankful to God for the Holy Gospel…nobody is willing to give, but to take.
As soon as our Gospel began…decency…and modesty were done away with, and everybody wished to be perfectly free to do whatever he liked.
After one Devil (Popery) has been driven out of us, seven worse ones have come down upon us, as is the case with Princes, Lords, Nobles, Citizens and Peasants.
In all classes frivolity and every kind of vice, sin, and disgrace are now much greater than formerly
The more and the longer we preach, the worse matters grow
People are now possessed with seven Devils, whereas formerly they were possessed with one Devil; the Devil now enters into the people in crowds, so that men are now more avaricious, unmerciful, impure, insolent…than formerly under the Pope.
After the dominion and power of the of the Pope has ceased…the people, while despising the true doctrine, are now changed into mere irrational animals and beasts; the number of holy and pious teacher becomes constantly less
We are living in Sodom and Babylon…everything is daily getting worse
(Luther said this one year before his death)
If God had not closed my eyes, and if I had foreseen these scandals, I would never have begun to teach the Gospel
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?
I must confess…that I am much more negligent, than I was under the Pope, and there is now nowhere such an amount of earnestness under the Gospel, as was formerly seen among Monks and Priests.
The quotes are from the book Luther’s Own Statements Concerning His Teaching and Its Results by Henry O’Connor, S.J., Part II – Results of Luther’s Teaching , Moral Results (pp 50-57)
My heart goes out to Luther. No wonder that Roland Bainten devoted a whole section about the intense depression he suffered at the end of his life. He sees all that he was building became empty straw. He admitted that if he knew that things would get this bad because of his gospel, he would never have preached it. He even admits that he was a better Christian under the Pope. This was the fruit of his message. He told the people that they were saved by faith alone without works. As much as he tried to warn them that they still needed works for evidence of salvation, the people were no longer listening. I experienced the same thing as a Protestant minister. I had several people pray the sinner's prayer with me. I constantly stressed to them the need for work as evidence of salvation. But try as I may, they went back to their old ways, thinking that they found a loophole to get to heaven. And just like Luther, I finally had to admit to myself, that I too was less fervent in my spiritual life after I had accepted Luther's doctrine of justification.
Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly are ravening wolves. By their fruits ye shall know them. Do men gather grapes of thorns, or figs of thistles? Even so every good tree bringeth forth good fruit; but the corrupt tree bringeth forth evil fruit. A good tree cannot bring forth evil fruit, neither can a corrupt tree bring forth good fruit. Every tree that bringeth not forth good fruit is hewn down, and cast into the fire. Therefore by their fruits ye shall know them.
Matthew 7:15-20
Here Jesus gave us a very simple way to test whether someone is a false prophet. He says that we should look at the person’s fruit. What we believe effects what we are. If what we believe is true, it will bear fruit in our lives that bring us closer to God and make us more like God in His moral attributes, because God is the source of all truth. If what we believe makes us less godly, then we know it is a lie. So I looked at the fruit of Luther’s teaching on me, and I realized that the more strongly I held his doctrine, the less Christ-like I was becoming. It made me realized that what Luther taught could not have been the truth. That does not mean ipso facto that the Catholic Church is true. They could both be false. But by realizing that what Luther taught could not be true made me open to the claims of the Catholic Church.
But it is not just the fruit his message produced in my life, but how his message produced in his own life. If Luther's message is the truth, then this should show in his life and his character. Would you hire an obese man to be your personal trainer? Would you listen to one who has filed bankrupcy how to take care of your finances? Would you go to a marriage counselor who has beem divorced three times? If Luther's message is true and the Church's message is false, then this should show in Luther's character and lifestyle being much superior to that of the Catholic saints - such as St Teresa de Avila, St Therese of Liseaux, St John of the Cross,l St Maximilian Kolbe, and St Thomas Aquinas.
And then there is the fruit of his message on the people who accepted the message. People who accept Luther's message should be more loving, more humble, and more obedient to God than the people were before they heard the message. And we should see this fruit in world for that 500 years.
So that is what I want to to. I want to do some fruit inspection. I want us to see the fruit that Luther's message has brought, in order to determine the truth of his message.
