Posted on 06/18/2017 8:16:24 AM PDT by ebb tide
Los Angeles Auxiliary Bishop Robert Barron writes on aleteia.org, that Alec Ryrie's book “Protestants” caused him to look differently at Martin Luther, “for at the core of Luther’s life and theology was an overwhelming experience of grace". He calls Luther’s “religious movement” a “love affair”. And, “Luther was a mystic of grace, someone who had fallen completely in love.”
In realty Luther was a drunkard, who called the Mass “the greatest and most terrible abomination” of all “papal idolatries” (Schmalkald Articles).
He said things like:
“Christ committed adultery first of all with the women at the well about whom St John tell’s us. Was not everybody about Him saying: ‘Whatever has He been doing with her?’ Secondly, with Mary Magdalen, and thirdly with the women taken in adultery whom He dismissed so lightly. Thus even, Christ who was so righteous, must have been guilty of fornication before He died.” (Tischreden, Weimarer Edition, Vol. 2, p. 107).
Or: “I have greater confidence in my wife and my pupils than I have in Christ” (Tischreden, 2397b).
Or: “It is not in opposition to the Holy Scriptures for a man to have several wives.” (De Wette, Vol. 2, p. 459).
“Bishop” Barron....the same heretic who thinks Hell is empty.
Not surprised; he’s a “francisbishop”.
A drunkard? The evidence is the opposite:
1)He was extremely productive, preaching several times a week—while teaching at the University. He also wrote prodigiously, multiple books, many letters, sermons, etc. Luther’s total written works amount to about 6 feet of shelves in a library. Translated the Bible from Hebrew and Greek into a common German (a language he pioneered). His New Testament translation astoundingly took something like 10 weeks. One thing alcoholics almost always have in common: Very low productivity.
2) Luther preached against drunkenness, saying it was inhuman & ungodly.
3) Records of his drinking were no more than average for late medieval Germans—where the water was bad, and beer was drank at every meal.
4) Pope Julius (with multiple mistresses and armies along with massive corruption) famously called Luther a “drunken German monk” which is why Romanists to this day accuse him of it.
As to the other quotes, there were a lot of “Fake News” and spurious quotes, even in the 16th C., spread by Romanists who hated Luther. Luther also had quite a sense of humour, and was often very bombastic, and used complex arguments—so without context these quotes are meaningless.
Luther pioneered the German language?
Maybe because he was tossing out books not to his liking.
His anti-Semitism too?
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