Luther & Lutheranism (Index Page)

[For those who falsely think I am some sort of "Luther-hater" or "Luther-basher", beyond disagreeing with his theology, and can never praise or agree with him: in many of the papers below, I defend Luther (as well as, by the way, John Calvin) against myths and bum raps, cite him in agreement, or take a fairly neutral stance towards his opinion. These will be indicated by an asterisk [*]. I wrote in a paper dated March 2000: "I (like many Catholics) do admire him in certain ways. I like his passion and boldness and apparent sincerity and good intentions (though thoroughly deluded and wrongheaded). He had a great devotion to the Virgin Mary and to the Eucharist." And in February 2001, I posted on the Catholic Convert Message Board:

"I have never maintained that Luther was "evil" or essentially a "bad" man, nor have I ever denied his good intentions . . . No one can find those sentiments on my website." Some people have even made a big deal about the "talking photo" below. It's just some lighthearted fun, folks . . . ]

For more of my opinion on Martin Luther, see the Introduction to my book, Martin Luther: Catholic Critical Analysis and Praise.

MYTH-SMASHING AND DEBUNKING PROTESTANT HISTORICAL BIAS

Catholic Response to the Movie Luther (2003): "Good to Hear Both Sides of the Story"

Luther Was Not a Revolutionary?! Huh?!

Martin Luther: Protestants' "Manner of Life" No Better Than That of the "Papists"

50 Ways In Which Luther Had Departed From Catholic Orthodoxy or Established Practice by 1520 (and Why He Was Excommunicated)

Was Corruption in the Medieval Papacy the Primary Cause of the Protestant Revolt?

Lutheran-Catholic Group Dialogue #2: The Nature of the True Church and Authoritative Christian Tradition / Questions on Institutional Separation (+ Discussion)

Lutheran-Catholic Dialogue #4: "Tragic Necessity" of Reform / Indulgences / Nominalism / Causes of Schism / Luther on "Papists" / Fathers' Authority (+ Discussion)

The Influence of William of Ockham and Nominalism on Martin Luther and Early Protestant Thought

Did Martin Luther Regard the (Roman) Catholic Church as a Non-Christian, Apostate Institution?: Featuring dozens of citations from Luther's own writings; particularly On the Councils and the Churches (1539) and Against Hans Wurst (1541)

Luther's (and Calvin's) View of the Catholic Church

Gene Bridges' & Steve Hays' Errors Regarding the History of Papal Infallibility (Including Details on Luther's Dissent at the Leipzig Disputation in 1519)

Dialogue: Martin Luther the "Super-Pope," de facto Infallibility, and Protestant Tradition: A Philosophical and Analogical "Turning the Tables" Argument in Reply to Certain Protestant Rhetoric Against the Papacy (Dave Armstrong vs. Dr. Edwin Tait)

Martin Luther the "Super-Pope" and de facto Infallibility: With Extensive Documentation From Luther's Own Words

Martin Luther's Dogmatic Self-Proclaimed Super-Duper Infallibility and Virtual Inspiration

Martin Luther's Humility, Expressed in His Statements About Himself and His Mission (Hartmann Grisar) (+ Discussion)

Martin Luther the "Super-Pope" and de facto Infallibility: Extensive Documentation From Luther's Own Words and a Discussion of Protestant Charges Concerning Alleged Widespread Dishonesty of Catholic Apologists in Dealing With Luther (Dave Armstrong vs. "BJ Bear")

Heretic Popes and Pope as "God on Earth" vs. Luther as God's Man of the Hour and Quasi-Prophet (Dave Armstrong vs. Tim Enloe) (+ Discussion)

The Problem of Authority: Luther, Calvin, and Protestantism (+ Part II) (Dave Armstrong vs. Kevin Johnson and Tim Enloe)

*Martin Luther on Sanctification and the Absolute Necessity of Good Works as the Proof of Authentic Faith

N.T. Wright & the "New Perspective" on St. Paul: Did Luther Misinterpret Paul's Soteriology?

Luther's Error Concerning Justification (N.T. Wright)

Reflections on Luther's Novel Soteriology

*Has Martin Luther's "Snow-Covered Dunghill" Mystery-Legend Been Solved?!

Luther's Frequent Depression, Spiritual Crises, and Erroneous Projection Onto St. Paul of His "Evangelical Experience"

Dialogue on Luther's "Getting to a Gracious God" (Dave Armstrong vs. "CPA")

2 Corinthians 5:21: Was Jesus Christ Literally Made Sin on the Cross? Did He Suffer the Horrors of Damnation? Luther and Calvin vs. the Church Fathers

*The Protestant Sacramentarian Controversies (Calvin vs. Luther vs. Zwingli)

*Baptismal Regeneration: Luther, Wesley, and Anglicanism

*Martin Luther Refutes Zwingli and Other Deniers of the Real Presence

*Lutheran-Catholic Dialogue #3: Comparative Ecclesiology / Grace & Merit / Lutheran View of the Mass Compared to the Catholic View of Lutheran Worship

*Martin Luther On the Sacrament of Absolution (and Private Confession)

*Martin Luther's Opinion of (the Catholic Sacrament of) Confirmation

*Martin Luther on Crucifixes, Images and Statues of Saints, and the Sign of the Cross

Luther's Outrageous Assertions About Certain Biblical Books (Protestant Scholars' Opinions and "Debate" With John Warwick Montgomery)

Did Martin Luther Deny the Canonicity of Esther?

*Martin Luther's Mariology (Particularly the Immaculate Conception)

*Martin Luther's Violent, Inflammatory Rhetoric and its Relationship to the German Peasants' Revolt (1524-1525)

Luther Favored the Death Penalty for Anabaptists

Luther's Attitudes on Religious Liberty (Roland H. Bainton; edited by Dave Armstrong)

Biographer Roland Bainton and Other Protestant Historians On "Controversial" Issues Concerning Martin Luther

Martin Luther: The Civil Government Ought to Put Frigid Wives and Adulterers to Death

Martin Luther's Reactions at the News of the Death of Zwingli, and the Martyrdoms Under Henry VIII, of St. Thomas More and St. John Fisher

*Was Luther Primarily Responsible For Hitler? (+ Discussion)

Biographer Roland Bainton and Other Protestant Historians On "Controversial" Issues Concerning Martin Luther

Birth and Origin of the Pope: Cranach's vulgar woodcut, commissioned by Luther (photo and short description)

Just Reward for the Most Satanic Pope & His Cardinals: Cranach's "hanging" woodcut, commissioned by Luther (photo and short description)

Biographer Roland Bainton and Other Protestant Historians On "Controversial" Issues Concerning Martin Luther

Erasmus on Luther and Protestantism, and Luther on Erasmus

The Importance of Studying Martin Luther / Protestant Ignoring of Luther & Church History / Inevitability of Protestant Tradition & "Human" Authority

Zwingli, Bucer, & Oecolampadius Said Martin Luther & Lutherans Weren't Christians

Wholehearted Apology to My Readers and Retraction Regarding Martin Luther's Supposedly Heretical Status

*Introduction to My Book: Martin Luther: Catholic Critical Analysis and Praise

My Alleged Excessive Reliance on Catholic Luther Biographer, Hartmann Grisar, S.J. (Dave Armstrong vs. Edwin Tait)

My Alleged Pathetic Martin Luther Research, Luther-Bashing and "Dishonesty"

Does My Luther Research Lack Proper Documentation? (Particularly Regarding Primary Material From the 55-volume Luther's Works?)

*The Ghost of Martin Luther Interviews Bishop James White About Dastardly, Wascally Luther-Basher Dave Armstrong

THE GREAT LUTHER CITATION CONTROVERSY

The Great Luther Citation Dispute, Part One

The Great Luther Citation Dispute, Part II

The Great Luther Citation Dispute, Part III

Steve Ray Exposes Anti-Catholic John Q. Doe's Usual Technique of Personal Attack Against Catholic Apologists / Doe's Dumb "German" Requirement

John Q. Doe's Blatant Double Standard On Secondary Luther Sources

John Q. Doe and Use of the Polemical "Outrageous Quote" (In His Case, About Mary) / Absolute Butchering of Context / Presentation of Half-Truths

It Ain't Rocket Science (John Q. Doe's Befuddlement As To Why I Am Replying to Him Regarding a Luther Quotation) / The "Latin Theory"

Historian Warren Carroll: Primary Historical Sources Not Always Necessary in Historiography (Contra John Q. Doe's Ludicrous Demands For Non-Scholars)

Laudable Lucid Lutheran Luminary Leibniz's Lousy, Lax, Lacerated Luther Line Letdown (?)

Steve Ray's Statement on the Great Luther Citation Controversy With John Q. Doe, and Particularly My Own Involvement

Zwingli, Bucer, & Oecolampadius Said Martin Luther & Lutherans Weren't Christians / John Q. Doe's Bullinger/Leibniz "Ignorance of Luther" Dilemma

John Q. Doe Sez I Defend All Historic Catholic Polemics Regarding Martin Luther. Really? That's News to Me!

MARTIN LUTHER: PRIMARY WORKS ONLINE

Works of Martin Luther (Philadelphia: Holman: 1931) (Volumes Four / Five)

Works of Luther (American 55-Volume set):

Volume 1: Lectures on Genesis Chapters 1-5 (1958)

Volume 3: Lectures On Genesis Chapters 15-20 (1961)

Volume 9: Lectures On Deuteronomy (1960)

Volume 12: Selected Psalms I (1955)

Volume 13: Selected Psalms II (1956)

Volume 31: Career Of The Reformer I (1957)

Volume 36: Word And Sacrament II (1959)

Volume 40: Church And Ministry II (1958)

Volume 51: Sermons I (1959)

Companion Volume: Luther The Expositor, Jaroslav Pelikan (1959)

Table-Talk (Selections: translated by Henry Bell, 1650)

Table-Talk (translated by William Hazlitt)

Large Catechism (translated by F. Bente and W. H. T. Dau, 1921)

Small Catechism (translated by Robert E. Smith, 1999)

95 Theses (Philadephia: 1915)

Open Letter to the German Nobility (1520; tr. C.M. Jacobs, 1915)

The Babylonian Captivity of the Church (1520; tr. Albert T.W. Steinhaeuser, 1915)

Concerning Christian Liberty (1520: Parts One / Two / Three)

Smalcald Articles (1537)

Disputation on the Divinity and Humanity of Christ (1540; tr. Christopher B. Brown)

The Bondage of the Will (Edward Thomas Vaughan, 1823) [additional version (Cole)]

The German Mass and Order of Divine Service (1526)

Luther's Primary Works (Henry Wace, 1896)

Preface to the Book of Romans (1522)

Commentary on Galatians (1535; translated by Theodore Graebner, 1949)

A Commentary on St. Paul's Epistle to the Galatians, Martin Luther, Johann Friedrich Wilhelm Tischer, Samuel Simon Schmucker (1860)

Temporal Authority: To What Extent Shall it Be Obeyed (1523)

Assorted Sermons

An Open Letter on Translating (1530)

The Letters of Martin Luther (selected and translated by Margaret A. Currie)

The Life and Letters of Martin Luther, Preserved Smith (1914)

Luther's Correspondence and Other Contemporary Letters, Vol. 2, translated and edited by Preserved Smith and Charles M. Jacobs (1913)

The Letters of Martin Luther (Macmillan: 1908)

Luther's Letters to Women, Karl Zimmermann, Georgiana Malcolm (1865)

The Life of Martin Luther Gathered from His Own Writings, Jules Michelet (1846)

Words that Shook the World: Or, Martin Luther His Own Biographer, Charles Adams (1858)

Luther's Two Catechisms Explained by Himself: In Six Classic Writings, John Nicholas Lenker (1908)

Martin Luther's Writings (Including Many Sermons)

LUTHER BIOGRAPHIES AND RELATED WORKS ONLINE

Luther (Hartmann Grisar, S.J., 1914-1917) [Volumes One / Two / Three / Four / Five / Six]

Luther on the Eve of His Revolt (M.J. Lagrange, O.P., 1917)

The Meaning of Christianity, According to Luther and His Followers in Germany (M.J. Lagrange, O.P., 1920)

Here I Stand (Roland H. Bainton, 1950)

The Life of Martin Luther (William Stang, 1883)

The Revolt and Martin Luther (Robert Herndon Fife, 1957)

Luther: A Short Biography (James Anthony Froude, 1883)

Luther and the German Reformation (Thomas M. Lindsay, 1900)

The Life of Martin Luther (Wilhelm Rein, 1883)

Luther in Light of Recent Research (Heinrich Boehmer, 1916)

Life of Luther (Julius Koestlin, 1881)

The Catholic Luther (David S. Yeago)
Luther on Free Will (William G. Most)
Impeded Witness: Newman Against Luther on Justification (Joseph O'Leary)
Luther and Science (Donald H. Kobe)
Justification as Healing: The Little-Known Luther (Ted M Dorman)
Martin Luther and Scripture (Scott David Foutz)

The Ambiguous Relationship of Luther and the Early Protestants to St. Augustine (Dave Armstrong and Edwin Tait)

Honor Thy Denominations Rather Than Thy Church Fathers? (Lutherans, Sola Scriptura, and the Fathers) (Dave Armstrong vs. "CPA" and Steve Parks)

Dialogue With a Lutheran on Whether Lutheranism or Catholicism is More Consistent With Patristic and Early Church Beliefs (+ Part II) (Dave Armstrong vs. Kristo Miettinen)

Dialogue on Lutheranism and the Church Fathers, Part III (Dave Armstrong vs. Kristo Miettinen)

Dialogue With Four Lutherans on Practical Common Ground With Regard to Justification and Salvation

Dialogue With Four Lutherans Concerning Certain "Nestorianizing" Tendencies in the Lutheran Conception of Jesus' Descent Into Hell

Lutheranism vs. Catholicism (Particularly Regarding Original Sin and Faith Alone, and Including Extensive Catholic Commentary on the Book of Concord)

Confessional Lutheran, Arminian, and Melanchthonian Soteriology Compared (Are Philip Melanchthon and Arminians Semi-Pelagians?)

ReformedCatholicism.com Once Again Displays its Profound "Ecumenism" by Bashing Lutheranism

ReformedCatholicism Revisits 16th c. "Sacramentarian" Controversies: Lutheran Pastor Paul McCain Lasts Eight Days as "Contributor" (+ Discussion)

Is Lutheranism Officially Anti-Catholic (The Book of Concord and the Catholic Mass)? (Dave Armstrong vs. "BWL")

Lutheran Pastor Paul T. McCain's Extreme Insults of Pope Benedict XVI & Catholics & Concealment of What St. Augustine Actually Taught About Salvation (+ Discussion)

Philip Melanchthon's Advocacy of the Death Penalty For Denial of the Eucharistic Real Presence and His Later "Crypto-Calvinist" Eucharistic Position[s]

Lord Acton on Melanchthon and Persecution of Heretics for Denial of the Real Presence and Various Other Crimes

Dialogue on Melanchthon and the Death Penalty for Denial of the Real Presence (+ Part II) (Dave Armstrong vs. Dr. Edwin Tait)

Dialogue on 16th-Century Christians & Religious Tolerance (With Attempted Analogies to Communists, Muslims, & Pagan Romans) (Dave Armstrong vs. "CPA")

Dialogue on 16th Century Religious Toleration and Theft of Church Properties (Dave Armstrong vs. "CPA")

Lutheran Josh S. Attempts to Rationalize & Justify the Wholesale Plunder, Theft, & Confiscation of the Protestant "Reformation" (+ Discussion)

Why I am a Catholic / Why I am a Lutheran / The Protestant Myth of Origins (Dave Armstrong vs. Eric Phillips)

On the Title Lutheran / My Respect For Lutherans

On the Curious Scarcity (Online) of Distinctively Lutheran Apologetics

Philip Melanchthon's Agony Over the Sectarianism of Early Protestantism / Little-Known Derivation of the Term "Protestant"

Philip Melanchthon in 1530 Longs For the Return of the Jurisdiction of Catholic Bishops / His Agonized Tears Over Protestant Divisions and Dissensions (+ Discussion)

Reply to Two Lutheran Pastors on Fundamental Misconceptions Regarding the Catholic Position on the Death Penalty (Including an Examination of the Lutheran "Two Kingdoms" Model of Church and State) (+ Discussion)

How Much of the Bible do Lutheran Pastors Preach About? (+ Discussion)

Catholic-Lutheran Dialogue on Corpus Christi (Eucharistic Processions and Adoration) (+ Discussion)

Zwingli, Bucer, & Oecolampadius Said Martin Luther & Lutherans Weren't Christians

The Real Diet of Augsburg (Protestant Intolerance in 1530)

Calvinist Iconoclasm Against Lutherans and Lutheran Liturgical and Material Suppression (By Outright Theft) of Catholics

The Early Protestants Were Ecumenical? NOT! (+ Part II) (Dave Armstrong vs. Dr. Paul Owen)

John Calvin Disses Lutheranism, Describes it as "Evil" and Worse Than Catholicism In Its Persecutions of Calvinists

The Protestant Inquisition ("Reformation" Intolerance and Persecution)

The Protestant Revolt: Its Tragic Initial Impact

ONGOING CRITIQUE OF MARTIN CHEMNITZ' EXAMEN

Martin Chemnitz is "The Man" for Lutherans; It's Time to Address His Arguments Directly (+ Discussion)

Critique of Martin Chemnitz' Examination of Trent: Scripture I (Poisoning the Well as to the Catholic Rule of Faith & Veneration of Holy Scripture) (+ Discussion)

Critique of Martin Chemnitz' Examination of Trent: Bible, Tradition, and the Church Fathers, Part I (Preliminaries, St. Irenaeus, & Tertullian) (+ Discussion)

Critique of Martin Chemnitz' Examination of Trent: Bible, Tradition, and the Church Fathers, Part II (Various Fathers and Arguments)

LUTHERAN CONFESSIONAL WRITINGS ONLINE

The Book of Concord (1580)

Book of Concord Search Engine

Augsburg Confession (1530) [alternate translation]

Apology of the Augsburg Confession (1531)

The Smalcald Articles (1537)

Project Wittenberg: Electronic Texts By and About Martin Luther and Lutherans (alternate URL)

Christian Classics Ethereal Library

Last Updated: 3 May 2008