i i \r\ ^ ov\ -— ado 4W> I1ARTIN LUTHER For copies address FATHERS RUMBLE & CARTY Radio Replies Press Saint Paul 1 , Minn., U. S. A. Vol. I RADIO REPLIES VoL II Vol. Ill Each Volume, 50c for Mission Edition $2.00 each for Cloth Bound Edition All Three Cloth Bound Volumes, $6.00 Booklet Quizzee to a Street Preacher No. 1. Bible No. 6. Hell No. 2. Purgatory No. 7. Birth Prevention No. 3. Indulgence No. 8. Eucharist No. 4. Confession No. 9. True Church No. 5. Marriage No. 10. Virgin and Idol Worship Single copy, 10c Ten Quizz Pamphlets Bound in Book Form for Instructor, $1.50. WAY OF THE CROSS Single copy, 10c; 100 at 7c each THEOLOGY OF THE CRUCIFIXION ioc THE JEHOVAH WITNESSES ioc SEVENTH DAY ADVENTISTS 10c NON-CATHOLIC DENOMINATIONS iSc ANTI-SEMITISM i5c Copyright 1945 by the RADIO REPLIES PRESS Printed in U. S. A. IMPRIMATUR Joannes Gregorius Murray Archiepiscopus Sancti Pauli Die 30a Julii 1945 LUTHER BREAKS WITH ROME 1 NEW LIGHT ON MARTIN LUTHER Quizzes to a Street Preacher 1. When did the Protestant Movement begin? After posting his theses attacking the tradi- tional teaching of Christianity October 31, 1517, Martin Luther, on April 18, 1520, broke away from the Catholic Church, and began to set up a new Church according to his own ideas. 2. Are not Protestants those who pro- test against the errors of Rome? Most Protestants today would accept that description of their position. But what they believe to be the errors of Rome are not really errors, if indeed they be the teachings of the Catholic Church. I add that last condition, be- cause many doctrines have been attributed to the Catholic Church which she has never taught, whilst others have been interpreted in a way she herself would condemn. Through misunderstanding, many Protestant writers have wasted their own, and their readers' time, laboriously refuting what the Catholic Church does not teach at all! And their line of approach to the problems of Catholicism badly needs revising. 2 STATE RELIGION 3. What exactly was the origin of the word "Protestant"? The word is derived from the celebrated "Protest" read by the German princes at the Diet of Spires in 1529. A number of German princes had taken advantage of the religious revolt of Martin Luther to secure the political independence of their States. Naturally, in turn, they supported Lutheranism as a great force amongst their people towards detaching them from former ties, and they commenced suppressing the Catholic religion within their territories. Now the Decree of the Diet of Spires granted religious liberty to such as had already embraced Lutheranism in the States of the German princes, but demanded tolera- tion for Catholics dwelling within their boun- daries. The Lutheran princes protested that they would not grant toleration to Catholics, and said that the religion of the people must be the same as that of their princes. "Cuius regio, illius religio," said these princes. "Who- ever is the ruler, his must be the religion." In other words, the German princes demanded the right to impose whatever religion they might please upon their people. And their protest was against any obligation to tolerate Catholics. The word "Protestant" therefore, according to its historical and religious mean- ing, was born of a denial of freedom of con- science; and those who thus protested against liberty of worship for Catholics were termed Protestants. PROTESTANT REFORMATION 3 4. What causes led up to the Protest- ant Reformation in the first place? The Protestant Reformation was not really a reform. It was rather a revolution. It tore entire kingdoms from the Catholic Church and introduced quite new ideas of the religious relationship between Christians and Christ. As for the causes that led up to this revolution, it is certain that there was nothing whatever wrong with the Catholic religion in itself. But there were a good many things wrong with great numbers of Catholics, or Luther could never have attained the success he did. No one simple cause can explain it. We may say that those who left the Catholic Church did so through infidelity to the grace of God in their own personal lives. But that so many should prove unfaithful demands further explanation; and that further explanation4 is to be found in the religious, cultural, political, and social con- ditions of the time. 5. What was the religious and cul- tural state of affairs? We must remember that, during the century preceding the Reformation, the Renaissance had brought the revival of the pagan Greek and Latin classics, and these not only diverted men's minds from the study of Catholic philoso- phy, but led to corruption of life amongst the educated classes. Moreover, many of the bishops and priests, far removed from Rome, had been too subservient to secular authority. 4 SIR THOMAS MORE and had neglected to enforce the discipline of the Church, thus weakening their hold upon the people. Laxity amongst the clergy had given great disedification; and the delay in their reformation had paved the way for a wrong reformation by breaking away from the Church. Careless priests had left the people uninstructed, and incredibly ignorant of their religion; and, not knowing their own faith, great numbers of simple Catholics did not dis- cern the real evil of the separatist movement. Not knowing the truth, they were swayed by the ideas of the reformers, who denounced Rome without demanding any higher standard of virtue than that which had prevailed. 6. You admit then that the fall of the Catholic Church was due to its own depravity? The Catholic Church did not fall. Many of her members had fallen from her standards of virtue, and this was made an excuse by multi- tudes to abandon the faith for heresy. One of the great opponents of Martin Luther was Sir Thomas More, in England. Sir Thomas More was as aware of the sad state of affairs as Luther, but he did not make the mistake of blaming the Church for the lax members in it. Nor would it be right to imagine that there was nothing but laxity in the Church immediately prior to the Reformation. There were Saints in those days as well as sinners. Read that marvellous little book, "The Imitation of Christ," by Thomas a Kempis. That spiritual treasure POLITICAL FACTORS 5 was written by a Catholic monk during those years of supposed universal corruption. And that book reflects the true ideals of the Catholic Church. 7. Would you say that Luther was wrong in declaring a reformation to be necessary? I do not deny that a reformation was neces- sary. There were many abuses to be correct- ed. But Luther did not introduce a movement of real reform. He made prevalent abuses an excuse to leave the Church altogether, instead of remaining in it and trying to effect the con- version of its lax members to better ways. Moreover, he retained many of the very abuses, merely seeking to justify them by denying that they were wrong, and sanctioned yet further departures from the standards of true Chris- tianity. 8- You have said that, besides re- ligious and cultural factors, political conditions contributed towards Luther's success. That is so. The prestige of the Papacy in affairs of State throughout Europe had steadily diminished during the two centuries prior to the reformation, and the authority of the Em- peror had also been greatly undermined. As regards the prestige of the Papacy, it must be remembered that, for the greater part of the 6 "GREAT WESTERN SCHISM" fourteenth century, the Popes had been com- pelled to live away from Rome at Avignon in France, leaving themselves open to the charge by other nations of being under French polit- ical influence. Almost immediately after their return to Rome there came what is known as the "Great Western Schism," when besides the lawful Pope there were two anti-Popes, each pretending to possess supreme authority over the Church. In their acknowledgment of these Popes the nations divided on political lines, and this greatly weakened the influence of the Papacy in Europe. After this disaster was healed by the election of Pope Martin V, in 1417, and the elimination of all rival Popes, money troubles arose. The Papacy was im- poverished. Money was needed for the build- ing of St. Peter's in Rome, and appeals were made to the whole of Christendom, indulgences being granted to all who would contribute towards the cause. The charge of traffic in these indulgences was made the immediate reason for Luther's revolt, but if he met with such success it was because Rome had long since lost love and respect to a great extent. Meantime, the imperial authority was only a shadow of what it had been. Feudalism was breaking up in Europe. Vassal rulers in the provinces were growing more and more res- tive, and independent. Luther had but to breathe on flames already enkindled; and he did so by appealing to the ambition and spirit of independence amongst the German princes, urging revolt against the Emperor. And he flattered their cupidity and pride by advising them to despoil the Church of its property in WIDESPREAD DISCONTENT 7 their domains, and to take upon themselves the control of the doctrine and morals of their subjects. 9. How did the general state of society contribute towards Luther's suc- cess? By the mere fact that discontent pervaded its every phase. Society is diseased when large numbers are discontented with their lot. Yet clergy, princes, and peasants were alike dissatisfied. Bishops were worldly, enjoying rich benefices, whilst ignorant and poverty- stricken priests abounded as a "clerical pro- letariat." The Monasteries, too, resented the interference and exactions of Bishops; and were themselves of lax observance, with con- sequent internal dissensions. Many of the clergy, therefore, both diocesan and regular, were ready to throw off their cassocks and fol- low the still more lenient gospel of Luther. Amongst the petty German princes jealousy and anarchy reigned, and they were more than ready for the wars of religion which were soon to follow. The peasants, downtrodden and miserable, thought that they too might gain by the Protestant revolution, though in reality they found themselves duped and massacred. 10. Was not the power of Romanism shattered by Martin Luther, of im- mortal memory? Martin Luther is undoubtedly an outstanding 8 LUTHER'S PLACE IN HISTORY figure in history. But, as I have explained it, the whole situation constituted the moment in history when one man could launch the temp- est. Meantime, the immortal memory of Luther will become less and less pleasant as the facts concerning him become known. Those who idealize him can do so only by ignoring an immense amount of inconvenient information. 1 1 . Catholic historians, of course, paint Luther in the blackest colors. I am quite willing to admit that many Cath- olic writers have given a biased account of Luther, even as books written by Protestants have given a distorted view of the Catholic position—and to a far greater extent.' But I still say that an impartial study of history can- not but discredit Luther as a religious reformer. 12. You will never undo memories of the past in Protestant minds. We can correct those memories. We can point out that text-books perpetuating false views of history do not give a genuine knowl- edge of the past. We can show that in his- tories of the Protestant Reformation feeling and sentimental loyalties have again and again got the better of dispassionate reason. 13. History is history, and the record of truth. You forget that historians do not always tell REV. DR. GOUDGE 9 the truth. The text-books of history in the Eng- lish language have for the most part been writ- ten by men Protestant by conviction, or at least infected by the Protestant tradition, however impartial they may think themselves to be. If only unconsciously, bias and prejudice creep into their writings, and the full truth is not to be found in their works. Often things are repeat- ed as facts which are not facts. Where undis- puted facts are concerned, a selection is made, inconvenient facts being omitted, whilst those chosen are interpreted to suit the theories of the writer. Our complaint is never with his- tory, often with historians. 14. Does not your own Catholic preju- dice make you speak like that? No. Listen to the words of a Protestant, the Rev. Dr. Goudge, Regius Professor of Divinity at Oxford University. In a plea for a better understanding between Protestants and Cath- olics, he begs us to drop the prejudices of the sixteenth century when the Reformation oc- curred. "The whole spirit of the controversies/' he writes, "was wrong. They were black with hatred and misrepresentation, and largely con- ducted in theological Billingsgate ... If we base our statements upon sixteenth century sources, we generally base them upon poi- soned sources. At best they leave out half the truth and at worst they are lying." (The Church of England and Reunion, p. 28.) 15. Are you impartial when you im- 10 LUTHER AS A PRIEST pute unworthy motives to the Protestant Reformers? Yes. The Rev. Dr. Goudge writes in the book I have just quoted, pp. 41-42, "No instructed Roman Catholic now denies the appalling con- dition of Western Christendom at the begin- ning of that century, or the failure of the Con- ciliar and other reforming movements to deal successfully with it. No instructed Protestant now denies that political and personal motives bulked very large in the Protestant Reforma- tion ... It is the duty of the better informed members of all communions to correct the er- rors of the less informed, especially when these errors lead them to misjudge those from whom they are separated." 16. How much of his life did Martin Luther spend as a Catholic, and how much as a Protestant? Martin Luther spent thirty-seven years as a Catholic, and twenty-six years as a Protestant. He was born at Eisleben, in Germany, on No- vember 10, 1483. He declared that he had an unhappy childhood, and that in a mood of de- pression, driven by the brutality of his home and school life, he entered an Augustinian Monastery. There he was happy enough at first. He lived a fervent and strict life, and was eventually ordained a priest in 1507. But he had a neurotic temperament, probably the ef- fect of an over-repressed infancy, and gradu- ally became the victim of scruples and melon- LUTHER EXCOMMUNICATED 11 choly. He alternated between fits of complete neglect of his duties, and of violent penance for his infidelity. Nobody could regard him as a man of well-balanced judgment. The crisis in his life came with the publication of the Papal Bull of Indulgences, granted to those who would subscribe towards the building of St. Peter's in Rome. He made that an excuse for an attack on the whole penitential system of the Church, and on all ecclesiastical author- ity. On October 31, 1517, he affixed to the door of the Church at Wittenberg his famous 95 Theses, challenging the teaching of the Church. He was not profoundly versed in that teaching. In his pamphlet "Hans Worst," published in 1541, he was to write, "As truly as Our Lord Jesus Christ has redeemed me, I did not know what an indulgence was." But he obstinately persisted in his rebellion against the Church, and in 1520 was excommunicated by the Pope, being then thirty-seven years of age. At the Diet of Worms, in 1521, he is reported to have said, "Here I stand. I canont do otherwise. So help me God." But Protestant researches have proved the words unauthentic, and a mere legend. In 1525 he married Catherine von Bora, an ex-nun. He died on February 18, 1546. 17. Did not Luther visit Rome in 1511, and lose his faith in the Catholic Church because of the scandals he saw there? In 1511 he visited Rome on Monastic busi- 12 "CONVERSION” ness, but he did not lose his faith because of any abuses he saw there. He returned to Germany as strong in his Catholic faith as he had been prior to his visit It was only years later, after he had been excommunicated from the Church, that he wrote to say he had found Rome "a sink of iniquity, its priests infidels, the Papal courtiers men of shameless lives/' and that his reverence for Rome had been turned into loathing. But he was interpreting an earlier state of mind in the light of subse- quent prejudices. In reality, letters written by Luther after his return from Rome speak of the Pope with the utmost respect. 18. Having lost his faith in the Cath- olic Church, Luther was converted then and there to the true gospel. The story is told that he was climbing the "Scala Santa" on his knees, when the thought suddenly flashed through his mind, "The just shall live by faith." But nowhere, in any of his writings, does Luther himself mention that. The incident is not historical, but a legend originated by his son Paul, who was drawing upon his own imagination. 19. However it came about, you can- not deny the reality of Luther's conversion. I do not deny that a change came over him some four or five years after his visit to Rome, and that whilst he was a Catholic until finally FAITH VERSUS WORKS 13 excommunicated by the Church in 1520, he was thenceforth a Protestant. But I deny that this change was a supernatural conversion due to the grace of God. Luther had failed in his own life to live up to the ideals of holiness the Catholic Church had put before him. To at- tain peace of mind in his own low standards he persuaded himself that the Church was wrong in demanding any good works at all. He convinced himself that man is totally de- praved, that he has no freewill, that all man's works are evil, and that God does not expect a man to be anything but depraved. Then he invented the consoling gospel that man is saved by faith only, and not by works. Belief, and not good behavior, was the secret of sal- vation henceforth taught by Martin Luther. 20. Was not Luther a brave man to follow his convictions despite the opposition of the Catholic Church? He had a natural courage. But that was no more a virtue than the courage often found in evil-doers. Merely human courage is not the sign of a good Christian man. 21. Why do Catholics say that Luther was so bad? Protestants who idealize Martin Luther urge his supposed sanctity as an argument in favor of the Protestant Reformation. To meet that argument Catholics have no choice but to pro- duce evidence that Luther was not a holy man 14 PERSONAL CHARACTER at all. Catholics argue that one who claims to be commissioned by God to reveal Christ to a degenerate world should himself exhibit a Christ-like life. But Luther did not; and it is inconceivable that such a type of man as he should have been chosen by God to reform the Church of Christ. 22. Protestants have always been taught that Luther was truly a man of God. There are two Luthers, the Luther of glamor- ised fiction, and the Luther of history and fact. The Luther of fiction appears in the Protestant pulpit, in the Sunday School, and in partisan biographies. But the real Luther will be found in his writings—I mean, of course, in the un- expurgated editions of them. Well-informed Protestants no longer speak of his "saintliness/' They dwell upon his championship of free- thought, and on his success in overthrowing the tyranny of Rome. For whilst Luther was undoubtedly a religious man, he was also a very unbalanced ftian who failed to regulate his religious inclinations in accordance with God's laws, and who indulged other inclina- tions in equally inexcusable ways. Luther had a strangely complex character. H. A. L.. Fisher speaks of his "vast animal power, of his gaiety and wit, his coarseness and humor, his wild vein of romance and crabbed scholas- ticism, his naive peasant superstitions, and morbid self-criticism." (A Hist, of Europe, p. 543.) Luther was kind, generous, tender, and DEAN W. R. INGE 15 sentimental, but he was also proud, incredibly vain, and headstrong. "Self" was supreme in him. All opposition to the "Self" of Luther was an affront to "Christian Liberty"; doctrine had to be adjusted to suit the "Self" of this intro- spective man; and he demanded an "absolute assurance" for himself that he vehemently de- nied to the Church. Luther's personal charac- ter discredits him forever as a religious teacher. 23. You say that well-informed Protest- ants have modified their estimate of Luther as a man of God. Can you quote one of them? Dean W. R. Inge, of St. Paul's, London, is undoubtedly a scholar. He is also undoubted- ly a Protestant who takes no pains to conceal his antipathy towards the Catholic Church. Yet here is his estimate of Luther, as given in his book "Protestantism." p. 28 : "Luther, then, was a reformer who was not a philosopher or theologian. He was reactionary in several ways, and the Humanists, who at first had hopes of him. soon discovered that there could be very little sympathy between them. By exalting faith and disparaging works, and by using "Glaube," with its intellectual associa- tions, he attached more importance to correct belief than even the Catholics had done. He wished to extend no tolerance to the Anabap- tists and other sectaries, and had in principle no objection to persecution. His attitude dur- ing the Peasants' Revolt remains a blot upon his career, though it must be admitted that his 16 IMMORALITY OF LUTHER position was extraordinarily difficult. The whole future of his life's work seemed to de- pend on the successful vindication of their au- thority by the princes. Lastly, in spite of the strongly ethical character of his teaching, there was a grossness in his treatment of sexual questions which has reacted unfavorably on the morals of the German people." 24. Do you know of any good in Luther? Yes, but not enough to compensate for vices quite out of place in one who is regarded as a well-balanced and saintly reformer. The "strongly ethical character" which Dean Inge detects in his writings occurs only in places. Often enough Luther teaches the most immoral doctrines, and put them into practice in his own life. St. Paul says that those who are Christ's have crucified their flesh with its vices and con- cupiscences. Gal. V, 24. Yet that Luther in- dulged his vices and concupiscences is clear from his own writings, where he gives dis- graceful descriptions of his own indulgence in everything passionate. His diaries record shocking excesses of sensuality, which could not be printed in any decent book today. A true apostle of Christ does not give vent to such expressions as, "To be continent and chaste is not in me," or, "Why do I sit soaked in wine?" Self-control was not in Luther. He gave free rein to his lower passions, calmly saying that a man has to do so, and will not be responsible for such conduct. “HANS WORST" 17 25. Luther wrote the most beautiful hymns, and it seems strange that such a bad man as you portray could be so religious as to write those. Yet side by side with his beautiful hymns Luther wrote coarse and shocking filth not so publicized. Psychologically, he was a strange character, almost a Jekyll and Hyde by turns. In religious moments his imagination poured itself out in poetry and hymns. But these, and many other beautiful passages that can be gathered from the writings of Luther, were merely the remnants of his Catholic inheritance. In sensual moments he wallowed in his pas- sions. When melancholy came he got drunk. In belligerent moments he was stubborn to a degree, and flayed his opponents with violent streams of abuse. Luther's greatness was neither a truly human greatness, nor a truly Christian greatness. It was merely, as Maritain and Fisher have pointed out, an animal great- ness—a greatness of force, energy, and vehe- mence of character. 26. I challenge you to produce evi- dence that Luther ever uttered any evil language. It is clear that you know only the legendary Luther. No decent Protestant could read the booklet, "Hans Worst," written by Luther in 1541, without utter disgust. Zwingli, his fellow 18 D. P. SMITH Protestant reformer, complained of the vile language in this dirty little pamphlet. Again, no decent Protestant could read Luther's "Table Talk" without shame and indignation. D. P. Smith, the Protestant biographer, in his book "Luther," p. 321, writes, "It strikes the modem reader with no less than astonishment, almost with horror, to find the great moralist's private talk with his guests and children, his lectures to students, even his sermons, thickly interlard- ed with words, expressions, and stories, such as today are confined to the frequenters of the lowest bar-rooms." There is no doubt that Luther's teachings and practical advice, and example in conversation, were infinitely below the moral standards of the Catholic Church he reviled, and below even the standards now generally accepted by Protestants themselves. 27. A fountain cannot send forth from the same tap both salt water and fresh. It can, if the fountain is filled alternately with salt water and fresh. And the thoughts that arose in Luther's mind were alternately good and bad. Almost all Luther's biographers ad- mit that his language was invariably coarse and vulgar, imprudent and impetuous. But their descriptions fall short of reality, either because they did not want to show the true character of Luther, or because they did not want to offend their readers' sense of decency. Yet Luther was capable of low, gross, and shameless utterances that would have startled even a pagan. REVOLT NOT INSPIRED BY GOD 19 28. Well, either Catholics are right, or Protestants are right, in their esti- mates of Luther. But which? I have given you several Protestant estimates substantially in agreement with the Catholic estimate. On the one point that could remain in dispute, I can merely say that any Protest- ants who say that Luther's revolt against the Catholic Church was inspired by God are un- doubtedly mistaken. 29. How do you justify that statement? That Luther's revolt against the Catholic Church was not inspired by God should be evident to anyone who believes in Christ, and has a knowledge of the Gospels. Christ Him- self said, "I will build my Church, and the gates of hell will not prevail against it." Anyone who says that the Church as Christ established it so failed later on that men had to leave it, and begin new Churches, contradicts Christ. Yet that is what Luther did. Saying that the forces of evil had prevailed against the Catholic Church, he left it to start a new Church of his own. That meant that Christ could not keep His promise to protect the Church against such radical corruption. That there were abuses amongst Catholics, both clergy and laity, in Luther's time, no one could deny. Christ Him- self predicted such abuses when He said that His Church would be like a net holding good and bad fish. There were plenty of bad fish inside the net at the time of the Reformation. 20 BULLINGER But bad iish do not mean a bad net. Where Luther made the mistake was in condemning the net as well as the bad fish, and going off to make a net of his own. If he really wanted a reformation, he should have stayed inside the net guaranteed by Christ, and spent his ener- gies turning the bad fish into good ones. Real- izing this, good Protestants today should get back to the net Luther abandoned—the Cath- olic Church. 30. If ever Luther wrote the disgrace- ful things you attribute to him, it was doubtless before God said to him, "The just shall live by faith, not by penance." God never said that to Luther. Luther at- tributed to God the fruits of his own imagina- tion. But let us take your point. Luther began his career as a so-called reformer from 1517 onwards. His filthy book, "Hans Worst," was written in 1541. His "Table Talk" is full of un- seemly and lascivious expressions and senti- ments uttered after he had set up as a reform- er. Bullinger, the Swiss Protestant reformer, wrote of Luther, "Alas, it is* as clear as daylight and undeniable that no one has ever written more vulgarly, more coarsely, more unbecom- ingly, in matters of faith, and Christian modes- ty, and in all serious matters, than Luther. There are writings by Luther so muddy, so swinish, so vulgar and coarse, which would not be ex- cused in a shepherd of pigs rather than in a shepherd of souls." Preaching at Wittenberg, BAD POPES 21 after he had left the Catholic Church, Luther said, "If Moses should attempt to intimidate you with his stupid Ten Commandments, tell him right out—chase yourself to the Jews." How many Protestants would support words like those? 31. Even if Martin Luther cannot be defended, why should his evil character be an argument against the Protestant Church, yet bad Popes be no argument against the Catholic Church? Because bad Popes did not pretend to be the founders of new religions, as did Luther. The one founder of the Catholic Church remained, and He was undoubtedly holy, for He was Jesus Christ Himself. Again, no bad Pope ever pretended that his sins were in accordance with the teachings of Christ and of the Catholic Church; nor did any Pope teach officially that the members of the Church were free to behave in such a way. But Luther corrupted the very doctrines of Christ, and gave permission to others to sin. Finally, the Popes who did not live good private lives did possess apostolic authority for their official legislation in the name of the Church—legislation which was in itself all right. But Luther had no apostolic authority for his heretical and schismatical in- novations. 32. You deny, then, that Luther was 22 SINCERITY OF LUTHER a man sent by God, or that he had any divine mission at all? I do. He persuaded himself that he had a divine mission. But that was not a difficult thing for a man of his temperament to do. And there are no more grounds to believe in the divine mission of Martin Luther than to believe in the divine mission of Mrs. Eddy to propagate Christian Science, or of Judge Rutherford to establish the Witnesses of Jehovah. Luther was as deluded in his claim to a divine mission as he was in so many other matters. 33. Do you deny his sincerity? Not entirely. He was not out solely for his self-interest. He had sincere convictions, if very unreasonable ones. But he was quite un- scrupulous as to the means he employed to attain his ends. He was a strange mixture of mysticism and realism. And if in some he catered for a genuine desire for reform, in others he catered for their appetite for scan- dals, their love of novelty, and their nationalist passions. His ways were very far from re- sembling those of Christ. 34. No one can say that Luther was not in deadly earnest. Unfortunately, in his case, it was zeal with- out knowledge, and without charity. In de- fending his Theses against the Catholic authori- ties, he adopted an attitude of pride and arro- APPEAL TO HUMAN NATURE 23 gcmce, abandoning reason for invective. He poured contemptuous scorn on his critics, and soon manifested a blind hatred of Rome and of the Pope. Nor did he behave differently after- wards towards other Protestant teachers who disagreed with him. His sermons were obsti- nate and dogmatic. He brooked no contradic- tion. He tolerated no rival. He arrogated to himself the very infallibility he denied to the Pope. 35. He wished merely to correct abuses and reform men. He would never have been condemned as a heretic if he had wished merely to correct abuses and reform men. He went further. He said that Catholic doctrine itself had become corrupted, and that HE had rediscovered the Gospel. But the new principles he taught were very flattering to human nature. They appealed strongly to the spirit of independence, and opened the way to still greater laxity. Men saw in them an emancipation from the author- ity of the Church, and from all moral restraint. 36. Do you offer that explanation as the secret of Luther's influence? Partly. Another, and greater factor, was the political situation at the time. Luther was not a profound thinker, but he had the insight to see the religious unrest that prevailed in Ger- many, and the political ambitions of the Ger- man princes. Germany was, in fact, a politico- 24 LUTHER, THE REVOLUTIONARY religious volcano, and Luther had but to give passionate contagious expression to recrimina- tions against Rome and to aspirations towards political independence already very wide- spread. He therefore set to work to stir up a hurricane of religious and racial hatred, to play upon political and national feeling, and to en- kindle the whole of Germany against both the Emperor and the Pope. Luther the reformer became Luther the revolutionary, and the hero who stood for national opposition to Rome. There were no signs of a purely religious and spiritual mission received from God! 37. It seems strange that others have not arrived at your interpretation of history. These facts seem strange to those who know only the Luther of legend, and have never studied the subject for themselves. But Protest- ant scholars are quite ready to agree with the explanations I have given. In his book, "A History of Europe," p. 500, H. A. L. Fisher writes that Luther "was a self-experiencing religious genius who, in his search for personal salva- tion, was led by degrees to take up an attitude which made him the champion of the German nation against the claims of the Roman Church." When the Jews wanted Christ to become the champion of their nation He re- fused. It was not by such means that the King- dom of God was to be established. 38. Did not Martin Luther at least force COUNCIL OF TRENT 25 the Catholic Church to reform it- self? The multitudes swept from the Catholic Church by the Lutheran revolt certainly brought home to her leaders the urgent need for real reform; and that real reform was effected by the Council of Trent. The severe legislation and disciplinary decrees of that Council eradi- cated the pronounced abuses which gave occa- sion to the Protestant landslide from the Church; and there has been no such move- ment since. Protestantism spent its force, so far as the Catholic Church is concerned, in the first years of revolt; and it has not been any real danger on a large scale to the faith of Catholics since. The notable tendency today is for Protestants to become Catholic?; not for Catholics to become Protestants. 39. Surely, then, you owe some thanks to Martin Luther. Luther we cannot respect. He had no right to leave the Catholic Church, and commence a Church of his own under the pretense of re- form. He should have remained in the true Church and labored to reform lax Catholics within it. You wash a plate that needs cleans- ing; you do not smash it. As a matter of fact, in 1521, the wordly-minded Pope Leo X died, and was succeeded by the German Pope Adri- an VI. Adrian was just such a Pope as Luther pretended to demand. He was austere and holy, and at once set to work to reform the 26 POPE ADRIAN VI members ol the Church/ beginning with the Cardinals themselves/ and battling against Italian laxity. The brave old Pope would have been vastly aided by German support, and the cessation of opposition in the North. But Luth- er made no effort to help a true reformer set in the very See whence reform ought to have come. Instead of helping a compatriot who was just such a head of the Church as he had declared to be necessary, he continued to pour forth abuse against the Pope as if he were the devil. Adrian VI died broken-hearted, and the real Counter-Reformation came with the Coun- cil of Trent nearly twenty years later.. The widespread chaos compelled action then; but reform was due to the innate power of the living Church to renew her own vitality. • 40. At least God made use of Luther to provoke in the Church a salu- tary reaction. From your own point of view you should admit his divine mission to do that. Indirectly, in God's Providence, Luther's re- volt forced the Authorities in the Catholic Church to undertake the work of reform. But he is no more worthy of respect because of that than was Attila, in the fifth century, who swept through Italy devastating the country and wrecking the churches even to the gates of Rome. The Catholics of the fifth century re- garded Attila's invasion as a punishment of their sins and a warning to do penance; and they spoke of Attila as the "Scourge of God." LUTHER'S DOCTRINES 27 No Christian would admit that Attila had re- ceived a divine mission to murder, pillage, and desecrate, even though God permitted the dis- aster and made use of it, drawing good out of the evil. In the same way, God permitted the defection from the Church of Martin Luther, and made use of his revolt to bring Catholic leaders to a sense of responsibility. But the true reform was accomplished, not by Luther, but by others; and it was accomplished not only without Luther, but against Luther. 41. What would you regard as Luth- er's distinctive doctrines, consti- tuting a departure from true Chris- tianity? The more important ones are as follows. He declared that the Catholic Church had fallen into doctrinal error. He denied that the Church was ever meant to be a visible Institution. He rejected the existence of any special priesthood in the Church. He insisted that the Bible must be the only Rule of Faith. Moreover, according to Luther, each man has the right to interpret the Bible for himself. Justification is attained by faith without works. The justified soul is granted a personal assurance of salvation. The Christian Faith neither needs, nor can have, any rational foundation. 42. You blame Luther for having left the Catholic Church. But in view of the abuses you have admitted. 28 PROMISE OF CHRIST was not a reformation necessary? Undoubtedly. But there was not need for what is called the "Protestant Reformation/' Any abuses amongst the members of the Church will always cry out urgently for re- form. But Protestantism was not a movement of real reform. It made prevalent abuses an excuse to abandon the Church altogether, in- stead of remaining with it, and trying to effect the conversion of its lax members to better ways. Moreover, Protestantism retained many of the very abuses, and merely sought to justify them by denying that they were wrong. That the Catholic Church will never do. She may have to admit sadly that her children at times fall into sin; but she will never say that what is sin is not sin, as did many of the reformers. 43. You deny, then, that the Catholic Church as such proved to be an unreliable guide? I do. Christ said, "I will build my Church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it/' Matt. XVI, 1 8. Any man who says that the Church failed at any period in its career as- serts that the gates of hell did prevail against it! Christ was either God, or He was not. If He was not. He was an imposter and a blas- phemer, and we should renounce belief in Him entirely. But if He was God, then He could do what He said He would do—preserve His Church through the ages against all the forces of evil. It is not faith in Christ, but lack of A VISIBLE CHURCH 29 faith in Christ/ that has led men to abandon the Church He established. 44. Luther declared that the visible Church failed, but not the invisible Church; and that the true Church is necessarily invisible. He found it necessary to invent that theory to justify his rebellion against the visible Cath- olic Church. But he was not consistent. When he wished to suppress the Anabaptists, he ap- pealed to the authority of a visible Church, known by baptism, the celebration of the Lord's Supper, and the preaching in it of his own gos- pel. But he found in the end that, in order to enforce his ideas, he had to appeal to the State. Papal authority having been repudiated, civil authority alone remained. 45. We hold with Luther that the Church is in the souls of men. If the Church is an invisible quality confined to the souls of men, then no human being could say where the true Church is to be found, and no one could hear its voice or obey its pre- cepts. No. Our Lord established a visible society in this world, though not of this world. And He compared it to a city set upon a hill which cannot be hid. One of the visible and organized Churches in this world today is His. And the Catholic Church alone can show the characteristics which He declared His Church would possess. 30 RULERS OF THE CHURCH 46. The Church is formed, not of those who belong to a visible organiza- tion, but of those who are born of the Holy Spirit. Such a Church could not be judged by men. No one could then say who belonged to the true Church, and who did not. Christ estab- lished a visible Church, and appointed visible Apostles to rule that Church. In Acts, XX, 28, we read, "Take heed to yourselves, and to the whole flock, where the Holy Ghost hath placed you bishops to rule the Church of God." How could the bishops rule the Church if they did not know who belonged to it? 47. Christ said, "The kingdom of God is within you." The kingdom of God as established by Christ is at once a visible Church in this world, and an invisible kingdom of grace within the soul. External adherence to the visible kingdom de- mands also that Christ reign by grace within the soul. But this interior grace does not dis- pense a man from accepting the will of Christ once he is aware of it, nor from the obligation to join the visible kingdom established by Him in this world. Christ said, "If a man will not hear the Church, let him be as the heathen." He was obviously referring to the authority of a visible Church. He also likened His Church to a net holding good and bad fish. This can- not refer to a kingdom of spiritual and invisible grace only, for bad fish are not in a state of grace. PRIESTHOOD 31 48. Is not the idea of a visible priest- hood, distinct from the laity, bound up with the doctrine of a visible Church? It is. And it is equally the teaching of the New Testament that there must be a visible priesthood in the Church. 49. But Luther proved from the New Testament that there is no priest- hood distinct from the laity. He brought out its clear teaching that all Christians are a holy priest- hood. That is but part of the teaching of the New Testament, not the whole of it. Baptism implies a certain priestly consecration to God, and the obligation to offer the sacrifice of praise by a sincere life of prayer and good works. But from amongst the baptized certain men must be chosen and specially ordained to offer the continued Sacrifice of Christ's Body and Blood, and to forgive sins. In this further sense, not all Christians are priests. 50. Where in the New Testament is there mention of such a special priesthood? What is a priest? He is one chosen from among men, dedicated to God by consecra- 32 SUPREME SACRIFICE tion, and deputed to offer sacrifice to God, to teach and to sanctify men. Now Christ cer- tainly made a special choice of certain men. St. Luke, VI, 13, says, "He called together His followers, and chose twelve/' He consecrated them. He gave them His own mission, saying, "As the Father hath sent Me, I also send you/' He communicated to them His own power. "He breathed on them and said: Receive ye the Holy Ghost/' (Jn. XX, 21-22). Having chosen and consecrated them. He commanded them to teach and sanctify men. In St. Matthew, XXVIII, 19, He said to them, "Go, teach all na- tions." As regards sanctifying them, "Baptize them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Ghost." (Matt. XXVIII, 19). Again, "Whose sins you shall forgive, they are forgiven them." (Jn. XX, 23). St. James (V, 14) writes, "Is any man sick? Let him call in the priests of the Church, and let them pray over him, annointing him with oil, and if he have committed sins, they shall be forgiven him." Finally, Christ ordered them to offer sacrifice to God. At the Last Supper He said, "This is My body which is given for you. This is My blood which is shed for you. Do this in com- memoration of Me, and as often as you do it you shall show the death of the Lord." As often as a lawfully ordained priest celebrates the Mass he offeres this sacrifice. The same Victim is offered, Jesus Christ, and by the priesthood of Christ in the celebrant. Only by a successive and perpetual priesthood by choice, consecra- tion, and divine commission can this be done. 51. If it is all so clear as you say, why LUTHER "DISCOVERS” THE BIBLE 33 would Luther have denied it? Luther ignored the evidence of the New Testament, in favor of his own new theories, which absorbed him to the exclusion of all else. The key to his position is to be found in his per- sonal history. Obsessed by the violence of his own passions, and by the consciousness of his many sins, Luther was driven to a state of de- jection, melancholy, and despair. Craving for an assurance that he would not be damned, he argued that original sin had totally vitiated man's nature and will, and that it was impos- sible for him to live a good life. It was useless to try. Man, therefore, can do nothing towards accomplishing his own salvation. But what man cannot do, God can do. We must simply believe in the power of Christ to effect our re- demption by imputing to us His own goodness. Though we cannot but go on sinning, we can at least put our complete trust in Christ, and by doing so we are saved. In this doctrine of jus- tification by faith alone is contained in germ the subsequent denial of the visible Church, of the priesthood, of sacramentalism, of free will, and the assertion in the end of predestination itself. 52. If Luther's theory was new, it was because people did not know the Bible. It took Luther to discover the Bible, and give it to the world. After he had left the Church, Luther said that in the Monastery he had discovered a Bible, "a 34 TRANSLATION book he had never seen in his liie before/' and that "he alone in the Monastery" read. But this is contrary to demonstrable facts. The Rule of the Augustinian Order to which Luther had be- longed included the command that all the mem- bers must "read the Scriptures assiduously/ hear it devoutly/ and learn it fervently." Bib- lical studies flourished, and biblical commen- taries existed in profusion. Luther was not tell- ing the truth, and the myth of his discovery of an unknown Bible has been abandoned by all reliable Protestant scholars. 53. He was the first to translate the Bible into German, so that the or- dinary people might read it for themselves. There were twenty-seven editions of the Bible in German before Luther published his own translation. That translation was made ai Wartburg but, whilst its literary value was high, it was spoiled by garbling and mistrans- lations. Luther was not above tampering with the very Word of God in the interests of his own doctrines. He rejected the Epistle of St. James as an "Epistle of Straw" because it did not fit in with his denial of the necessity of good works. In Romans HI/ 28, St. Paul had written, "We account a man to be justified by faith." In his own translation, Luther added the word alone," to make the sentence read, "We are justified by faith alone." Challenged with this perversion of the text by Emser, Luther wrote, "If your Papist annoys you with the word RIGHT OF PRIVATE JUDGMENT 35 (alone), tell him straightway: Dr. Martin Luther will have it so. Whoever will not have my translation, let him give it the go-by; the devil's thanks to him who censures it without my will and knowledge. Dr. Martin Luther will have it so, and he is a doctor above all the doctors in Popedom." (Amic. Disc. I, 127.) Luther was not reliable as a translator of the Bible. 54. Luther at least vindicated the right of private judgment. On that score he repudiated the authority of the Catholic Church, only to find that, on the same plea, others repudiated his. Thus he smashed the unity of Christendom in Europe, which split up into warring sects which Luther denounced more intolerantly than the Catholic Church had ever treated him. And his doc- trine led to the most frightful moral and politi- cal disorders. A direct result of his teachings were the Peasant Revolt, and the appalling fate of the Munster Anabaptists. 55. From Luther we have learned to read the Bible for ourselves, and accept as true what we discover in its pages. That is an unsound principle. Many people fail to understand the true sense of the Bible, and still more read positively wrong meanings into it. Thus St. Peter says that there are many things in Scripture hard to be understood, which the unlearned and unstable wrest to 36 A TEACHING CHURCH their own destruction. II Pet. HI, 16. The very fruits of such private interpretation should be sufficient proof that God could never have in- tended such a method. For men have made the Bible support the most opposed doctrines/ and have established hundreds of distinct and irreconcilable sects, each claiming to represent the true religion of Christ. God could never have intended a principle which would lead to such chaos. 56. When we read Scripture, we have only to be led by the Holy Spirit. By what test do you decide that it is really the Holy Spirit leading you? Other people, just as sincere, arrive at other conclusions. Why accept your conclusion rather than theirs? All kinds of strange religions have been given to the world by men who h