[For those who wrongly 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 (well beyond a score by now: see the appropriate sections 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. 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."]
For more of my opinion on Martin Luther, see the Introduction to my book, Martin Luther: Catholic Critical Analysis and Praise. A full third of that book is devoted to areas where Catholics and Luther substantially agree.
MYTH-SMASHING AND DEBUNKING PROTESTANT HISTORICAL BIAS
WHY LUTHER SEPARATED FROM THE CHURCH
50 Ways In Which Luther Had Departed From Catholic Orthodoxy or Established Practice by 1520 (and Why He Was Excommunicated)
Lutheran Criticism Coming My Way on a Groundless Basis (Why Luther Was Excommunicated) [Facebook, 14 August 2014; regarding my "50 Ways . . ." paper]
Lutheran Criticism Coming My Way on a Groundless Basis (Why Luther Was Excommunicated) [Facebook, 14 August 2014; regarding my "50 Ways . . ." paper]
Was Corruption in the Medieval Papacy the Primary Cause of the Protestant Revolt? [+ Facebook discussion with Lutheran pastor Ken Howes on this paper]
The Influence of William of Ockham and Nominalism on Martin Luther and Early Protestant Thought
Brief Exchange With Lutheran Nathan Rinne on Luther's Revolt and Fundamental Differences of Perspective Regarding the So-Called Protestant "Reformation"
Biblical Evidence for Submission to Church Authority and Apostolic Tradition / Biblical Condemnation of the Rebellion of the Protestant Revolt
Brief Exchange With Lutheran Nathan Rinne on Luther's Revolt and Fundamental Differences of Perspective Regarding the So-Called Protestant "Reformation"
Biblical Evidence for Submission to Church Authority and Apostolic Tradition / Biblical Condemnation of the Rebellion of the Protestant Revolt
Luther Stupidly Equates Papal Infallibility with the Personal Impeccability of Popes [Facebook, 11-13-14]
Martin Luther's Positive Statements on the Christian Status of the Catholic Church as a Theological Worldview: Documentation
Exchange with Anti-Catholic Calvinist Austin Reed on the Definition of "Christian" and Whether Luther and Calvin Regarded Catholicism as a Christian System
The "Catholic-Sounding" Utterances of Martin Luther: Concise Overview of 25 Areas of Agreement
Top Ten Remarkable "Catholic" Beliefs of Martin Luther [Facebook, 19 Jan. 2015]
Top Ten Remarkable "Catholic" Beliefs of Martin Luther [Facebook, 19 Jan. 2015]
LUTHER'S ARBITRARY CLAIMS TO ECCLESIASTICAL AUTHORITY
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 (vs. Dr. Edwin Tait)
St. Francis de Sales' Brilliant and Clever Argument Against Luther's Self-Calling
Martin Luther in His Pseudo-Prophetic, Hyper-Infallible, "Super-Pope" Mode (Shocking Examples)
St. Francis de Sales' Brilliant and Clever Argument Against Luther's Self-Calling
Martin Luther in His Pseudo-Prophetic, Hyper-Infallible, "Super-Pope" Mode (Shocking Examples)
The Problem of Authority: Luther, Calvin, and Protestantism (+ Part II vs. Kevin Johnson)
Martin Luther's Humility, Expressed in His Statements About Himself and His Mission (Hartmann Grisar)
LUTHER'S DISGUST AND AGONY OVER PROTESTANT SECTARIANISM AND MORAL LAXITY
Lutheran Edward Reiss Says I Can't Claim Luther Was in "Agony" Over Protestant Sectarianism, Even Though Luther Himself Said Exactly That!
Martin Luther Refutes Zwingli and Other Deniers of the Real Presence
Divisions Actually Scandalized Melanchthon and Other Early Protestants Like Calvin and Luther
Divisions Actually Scandalized Melanchthon and Other Early Protestants Like Calvin and Luther
Martin Luther Candidly Admits in 1532: "I . . . am More Slack than I Was Under the Papacy . . . Nowadays there Hardly is Such Earnestness Under the Gospel as One Used to See Previously Under the Monks and Priests"
ERASMUS-LUTHER CONTROVERSY (REASON VS. RELENTLESS RHETORIC AND INSULTS)
Luther Meets His Match, Part I: Correspondence Between and Concerning Erasmus and Luther: 1517 to 1534
Luther Meets His Match, Part II: Luther's Relentless, Slanderous Insults of Erasmus in Bondage of the Will and Table-Talk
Luther Meets His Match: Part III: Erasmus' Hyperaspistes (1526): Luther's Extreme Dogmatism (To Disagree With Luther is to be Damned)
Luther Meets His Match: Part IV: Erasmus' Hyperaspistes (1526): The Rebellious and Anti-Traditional Elements of Luther's Revolt
Luther Meets His Match: Part V: Erasmus' Hyperaspistes (1526): Excoriation of Luther's Ubiquitous Personal Insults and Calumnies
Luther Meets His Match: Part VI: Erasmus' Hyperaspistes (1526): Sola Scriptura and Perspicuity (Total Clarity) of Scripture Critiqued
Luther Meets His Match: Part VII: Erasmus' Hyperaspistes (1526): Luther's Dissembling, Hypocrisy, Arrogance, Inflammatory Rhetoric, Etc.
Luther Meets His Match, Part II: Luther's Relentless, Slanderous Insults of Erasmus in Bondage of the Will and Table-Talk
Luther Meets His Match: Part III: Erasmus' Hyperaspistes (1526): Luther's Extreme Dogmatism (To Disagree With Luther is to be Damned)
Luther Meets His Match: Part IV: Erasmus' Hyperaspistes (1526): The Rebellious and Anti-Traditional Elements of Luther's Revolt
Luther Meets His Match: Part V: Erasmus' Hyperaspistes (1526): Excoriation of Luther's Ubiquitous Personal Insults and Calumnies
Luther Meets His Match: Part VI: Erasmus' Hyperaspistes (1526): Sola Scriptura and Perspicuity (Total Clarity) of Scripture Critiqued
Luther Meets His Match: Part VII: Erasmus' Hyperaspistes (1526): Luther's Dissembling, Hypocrisy, Arrogance, Inflammatory Rhetoric, Etc.
SOTERIOLOGY (THEOLOGY OF SALVATION AND JUSTIFICATION) / SOLA FIDE
Luther's Error Concerning Justification (N.T. Wright)
Luther on Universal Atonement [Facebook, 15 Nov. 2014]
Luther on Merit [Facebook, 11-10-14]
Luther on Universal Atonement [Facebook, 15 Nov. 2014]
Luther on Merit [Facebook, 11-10-14]
Dialogue on Luther's "Getting to a Gracious God" (vs. "CPA")
CHRISTOLOGY
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
Luther and the "Immaculate Purification"
Luther and the "Immaculate Purification"
SACRAMENTALISM: BAPTISM AND THE EUCHARIST, ETC.
Martin Luther On the Sacrament of Absolution (and Private Confession)
Martin Luther on Sacramental Confession [Facebook, 10-14-14]
Luther on Eucharistic Adoration [Facebook, 11-11-14]
Acceptance of the Eucharistic Principle of Ex Opere Operato [Facebook, 11-12-14]
Martin Luther on Sacramental Confession [Facebook, 10-14-14]
Luther on Eucharistic Adoration [Facebook, 11-11-14]
Acceptance of the Eucharistic Principle of Ex Opere Operato [Facebook, 11-12-14]
Martin Luther and His Lutheran Followers on the Duration of the Real Presence in the Eucharist, the Elevation, and Adoration; Various Internal Absurdities of Arbitrariness (Bishop Bossuet)
PURGATORY, PRAYERS FOR THE DEAD, AND THE SAINTS
Invocation of the Blessed Virgin Mary [Facebook, 10-16-14]
On the Veneration of the Saints [Facebook, 11-11-14]
Martin Luther's Heretical Notion of Soul Sleep and Rejection of Purgatory and Prayers For the Dead Based on This Denial (+ William Tyndale Agrees)
SOLA SCRIPTURA AND THE RULE OF FAITH
THE BIBLICAL CANON
Luther's Dubious Claims About the Supposed Utter Obscurity of the Bible Before His Translation [see also the related Facebook discussion: 7-24-14]
Martin Luther On What is "Biblical" [Facebook, 10 Nov. 2014; I agree with this . . .]
THE BIBLICAL CANON
Did Martin Luther Deny the Canonicity of Esther?
Anti-Catholic "Luther / Esther / Canon" Polemics and Attempts to Solely Blame Catholics for a Questionable Luther Citation Passed Down by Three Protestants: an Editor, Major Compiler of Luther Works, and Admiring Biographer
Ridiculous Anti-Catholic Blaming of Catholic Apologists for Protestant Mistakes or Honest Scholarship, With Regard to Luther's View of the Canon
Anti-Catholic "Luther / Esther / Canon" Polemics and Attempts to Solely Blame Catholics for a Questionable Luther Citation Passed Down by Three Protestants: an Editor, Major Compiler of Luther Works, and Admiring Biographer
Ridiculous Anti-Catholic Blaming of Catholic Apologists for Protestant Mistakes or Honest Scholarship, With Regard to Luther's View of the Canon
Casual Reference to Ecclesiasticus (Sirach) as Scripture [Facebook, 11-6-14]
Luther and the Deuterocanon / So-Called "Apocrypha": A Summary [Facebook, 12-22-14]
Martin Luther's Belief in the Invocation and Intercession of Mary and the Saints, as Late as 1521
Martin Luther's Belief in Mary's Perpetual Virginity In Partu (the Miraculous Birth of Jesus Without Pain)
Martin Luther's Acceptance of the Perpetual Virginity of Mary, Including "In Partu" Virginity ("at the birth of Christ"): Documentation (+ James Swan's Belittling Contempt of Luther) [Facebook, 9-23-14]
Luther on Mary's Virginity "in Partu" (During Childbirth) on Account of Her Sinlessness [Facebook, 11-13-14]
Martin Luther on Nestorius and the Bankruptcy of His Reasoning Against Mary as the "Mother of God" [Facebook, 11-17-14]
Martin Luther Invokes the Blessed Virgin Mary [Facebook, 10-16-14]
"Why Bring Up the Marian Views of the Early Protestant Leaders At All? Of What Relevance is It?" [Facebook, 10-16-14]
Challenged by Lutherans Regarding Three Luther Quotes on Mary: Read the Facts and Decide for Yourself How it Turned Out
Martin Luther and Other Protestant "Reformers" On the Assumption of Mary (+ Historic Lutheran Liturgical Celebration of the Assumption)
Luther and the Immaculate Conception: More Opinion From (Mostly or All) Non-Catholic Historians and Other Scholars
Martin Luther and the “Immaculate Purification” of Mary [article for Seton Magazine, 6 May 2014]
Discussion of My Luther Marian Research in a Lutheran Blog Combox / One Citation Mistake from 1994 (With Clarification and Retraction)
PEASANTS' REVOLT AND CAPITAL PUNISHMENT / TOLERATION ISSUES
Reply to Reformed Luther Apologist James Swan's Request for Documentation of Executions of Anabaptists Sanctioned by Luther, in the 1530s [17 August 2014]
Luther's Attitudes on Religious Liberty (Roland H. Bainton; edited by Dave Armstrong)
"Reformation" Theft of Catholic Church Properties and Supposed Catholic Apologetic "Blind Spots"
"Reformation" Theft of Catholic Church Properties and Supposed Catholic Apologetic "Blind Spots"
LUTHER'S COARSE LANGUAGE AND SANCTION OF VULGAR ART
Birth and Origin of the Pope: Cranach's vulgar woodcut, commissioned by Luther (photo and short description)
Just Reward for the Most Satanic Pope and His Cardinals: Cranach's "hanging" woodcut, commissioned by Luther (photo and short description)
Did the Older Luther's Illness and Frustration Significantly Impact His Negative Rhetoric? Four Major Luther Historians, Calvin, Bullinger, and I Say Yes; Anti-Catholic Polemicist James Swan Says No
Did the Older Luther's Illness and Frustration Significantly Impact His Negative Rhetoric? Four Major Luther Historians, Calvin, Bullinger, and I Say Yes; Anti-Catholic Polemicist James Swan Says No
LUTHER ON MARRIAGE, POLYGAMY, CONCUBINAGE, BIGAMY, SEXUALITY IN GENERAL, AND WOMEN
Martin Luther's Lax Attitude Towards Polygamy and Concubinage (Hartmann Grisar)
Luther's and Melanchthon's Duplicity and Sanctioning of Bigamy for King Henry VIII and Philip of Hesse (Hartmann Grisar) (+ Part Two)
Martin Luther Lays the Groundwork for Cohabitation and Premarital Sex That is Not "Fornication"
Biographer Roland Bainton and Other Protestant Historians On "Controversial" Issues Concerning Martin Luther
The Irrational Antipathy of Luther, Calvin, and Other Protestants to Clerical Celibacy
Contraception and the "Fewer Children is Better" Mentality: the Opposition of Martin Luther, John Calvin, and Other Protestants
Why Did God Kill Onan? Luther, Calvin, Wesley, C.S. Lewis, and Others on Contraception
Did Martin Luther Believe That Jesus Had Carnal Relations With Mary Magdalene and Others? (vs. "BJ Bear" and "Bonnie" + EL Hamilton)
Martin Luther Lays the Groundwork for Cohabitation and Premarital Sex That is Not "Fornication"
Biographer Roland Bainton and Other Protestant Historians On "Controversial" Issues Concerning Martin Luther
The Irrational Antipathy of Luther, Calvin, and Other Protestants to Clerical Celibacy
Contraception and the "Fewer Children is Better" Mentality: the Opposition of Martin Luther, John Calvin, and Other Protestants
Why Did God Kill Onan? Luther, Calvin, Wesley, C.S. Lewis, and Others on Contraception
Did Martin Luther Believe That Jesus Had Carnal Relations With Mary Magdalene and Others? (vs. "BJ Bear" and "Bonnie" + EL Hamilton)
LUTHER'S CLINICAL DEPRESSION AND NEUROSES (?)
SUPERSTITIONS AND SILLINESS
MISCELLANEOUS AND GENERAL
Some of Luther's Silly Superstitions [Facebook, 11-12-14]
MISCELLANEOUS AND GENERAL
Finally Got the Entire Hardcover 55-Volume Collection, Luther's Works (to be Expanded Eventually by the Publisher to at Least 76 Volumes) [Facebook: 16 April 2014]
DEFENSES OF MARTIN LUTHER AGAINST "ANTI-LUTHER" BUM RAPS
"One other thing I should point out in Dave's defense. He has, if I recall correctly, previously responded to some of the most extreme anti-Lutheran garbage out there. So, while he's clearly on the other side of the Tiber from Luther, one should not conclude that his errors in scholarship are somehow solely the result of malice and ill-will toward Luther."
(Anti-Catholic Calvinist "Turretinfan," 3-1-10, on a Lutheran blog)
Did Martin Luther Believe That Jesus Had Carnal Relations With Mary Magdalene and Others? (vs. "BJ Bear" and "Bonnie" + EL Hamilton)
Martin Luther's Violent, Inflammatory Rhetoric and its Relationship to the German Peasants' Revolt (1524-1525) [partially a defense]
AGREEMENTS WITH, AND COMMENDATIONS OF LUTHER / FAIRLY NEUTRAL STANCE TOWARDS HIM
Martin Luther and Other Protestant "Reformers" On the Assumption of Mary (+ Historic Lutheran Liturgical Celebration of the Assumption)
CONTROVERSIES CONCERNING MY LUTHER RESEARCH
Challenged by Lutherans Regarding Three Luther Quotes on Mary: Read the Facts and Decide for Yourself How it Turned Out
My Alleged Excessive Reliance on Catholic Luther Biographer, Hartmann Grisar, S. J. (vs. Dr. Edwin Tait)
Discussion of My Luther Marian Research in a Lutheran Blog Combox / One Citation Mistake from 1994 (With Clarification and Retraction)
Discussion of My Luther Marian Research in a Lutheran Blog Combox / One Citation Mistake from 1994 (With Clarification and Retraction)
Lutheran Edward Reiss Says I Can't Claim Luther Was in "Agony" Over Protestant Sectarianism, Even Though Luther Himself Said Exactly That!
MARTIN LUTHER: PRIMARY AND SECONDARY WORKS AND BIOGRAPHIES ONLINE
Resources: Martin Luther (exhibits some anti-Catholic bias -- especially against my own Luther research -- , but a comprehensive bibliographic resource for locating online Lutheriana)
Six-Volume Philadelphia Edition of Luther's Works
Six-Volume Philadelphia Edition of Luther's Works
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 [Protestant], 1950)
Life of Luther (Julius Koestlin [Lutheran], 1881)
The History of the Variations of the Protestant Churches, Jacques Bénigne Bossuet [Catholic]
The History of the Life and Acts of Luther (+ Volume Two) (Philip Melanchthon, 1548; translated by T. Frazel, 1995)
Links to Additional Luther-Related Writings
Last Updated: 21 January 2015.
***