FAQ: About Beggars All, Reformation and Apologetics

FAQ: Beggars All, Reformation and Apologetics 

2006 called... and they want their blog back!

This Blog began January 2006. It was the result of a convergence of factors. First, in 2006 the explosion of social media had not yet fully occurred. If one wanted to discuss a topic, especially theology, the most popular way of interaction was through discussion boards. I had been participating on Internet discussion boards since 1998. As I interacted with Roman Catholics on discussion boards, they frequently brought up negative claims about Martin Luther and the Reformation.  It was through these interactions that I began researching their outrageous claims. With the help of a few good college libraries and the ever-increasing amount of knowledge appearing on the Internet daily, I discovered how fallacious their claims against Luther and the Reformation were.  I describe this period as shooting fish in a barrel.  Second, I found that no sooner had I a debunked a Roman Catholic claim on a discussion board, it would quickly appear again! I found myself writing the same responses over and over. The cyber-trend in 2006 was having a blog. I succumbed to joining the crowd and started this blog so as to have a place where my responses could be permanently stored.  

Why the blog title, Beggars All? The phrase "beggars all" is a popular comment attributed to Luther. They are words found in a note he is said to have written two days before he died on February 18. Historian Philip Schaff says they were left "on a piece of paper which was found on his desk after his death." This note from Luther's hand is not extant. There were two copies of it made. The version below is from an unknown copyist and is published in Luther's Works: 

“Nobody can understand Vergil in his Bucolics and Georgics unless he has first been a shepherd or a farmer for five years.

“Nobody understands Cicero in his letters unless he has been engaged in public affairs of some consequence for twenty years.

“Let nobody suppose that he has tasted the Holy Scriptures sufficiently unless he has ruled over the churches with the prophets for a hundred years. Therefore there is something wonderful, first, about John the Baptist; second, about Christ; third, about the apostles. ‘Lay not your hand on this divine Aeneid, but bow before it, adore its every trace.’

“We are beggars. That is true.”

These were the last thoughts of Dr. Martin Luther on the day before he died.

Luther, M. (1999). Luther’s works, vol. 54: Table Talk (J. J. Pelikan, H. C. Oswald, & H. T. Lehmann, Eds.; p. 476). Fortress Press.

I've always been struck by how this insightful and knowledgeable man at the end of his life considered himself an intellectual beggar. He mentions secular poetry and philosophy, and finally, the Sacred Scriptures of Christianity. I've always felt the same way, that I only scratch the surface of philosophy and Christianity. As Luther implies, the more one experiences something, the more one innately knows something. As I've grown older, I feel that I have not yet mastered anything.

Why Reformation and Apologetics? This blog is primarily geared towards defending the tedium of the Reformation. The answers provided usually only scratch the surface. For instance, when I refute a negative assertion about Luther's character, this is only moving him out of the way so more important issues can rightly be brought into focus. The goal therefore is to do the work most people have no time or desire to do. I recall hearing a live moderated debate in which a Roman Catholic threw out charges against Luther and the Protestant defender rightly replied something like, "well, so much for Martin Luther." The professional Protestant apologist realized more important matters were at stake. Beggars All, Reformation and Apologetics takes up the overlooked secondary tedium often bypassed and sets the record straight. 

What credentials do I have to write what I do? I have a degree in philosophy from a secular university and two degrees in theology from accredited and respected Christian seminaries. I have served my local church as a teacher and an elder. My vocation is not full-time Christian service, either preaching or teaching. I'm probably like many of you: I have a full-time secular job that I enjoy... and I also enjoy theology and history. 

This might shock some of you fluent in Christianese culture, but I do not primarily view Beggars All, Reformation and Apologetics as a ministry. Nor is this blog a means of financial gain. I have maintained this blog as a hobby, writing about things that interest me... selfishly, for me. If others enjoy my hobby or are helped by it, that's wonderful and makes me happy... but I'm not intending to be an authority or change someone's heart. If you use this blog, check my work for yourself. As much as possible, I attempt to provide the documentation for the conclusions I've arrived at.

Am I Lutheran? In full disclosure I am a member in good standing of a church that's part of the United Reformed Churches in North America (URCNA). I have been a professing member in good standing of my church since 2000. This means I am neither a Presbyterian or a Baptist... or a Lutheran! Some question whether or not someone who is not a Lutheran has the ability to write accurately about Martin Luther. I say: take a look at the twenty years of blog posts accumulated here and judge for yourself. I love researching all the people of the Reformation, even the enemies of the Reformation. I say, let them be who they were, not judging them by my theological standards.  

Frankly, I care little about intra-Reformation conflict and debates. For instance, I'm not interested in picking a side between Martin Luther and John Calvin. I'm particularly not fond of debates about predestination and election. Debates between Wittenberg and Geneva do not interest me.

James Swan February 2026

Why Defend the Reformers?

Here are some wise words from William Cunningham that express my desire for Beggars All, Reformation and Apologetics:

 The Reformers and the Theology of the Reformation

Protestants, of course, do not regard the Reformers as either infallible or impeccable. They believe that most of them held views, upon some points, more or less erroneous, and that all of them gave abundant evidence that they were stained with the common infirmities of humanity. But they regard them as men who were specially qualified and raised up by God for the advancement of His own cause, for bringing out the buried truth and reforming the corrupted church, who were guided by God's word and Spirit to views, in the main accurate, of the leading principles of Christian doctrine, and who, in the habitual tenor of their lives, furnished satisfactory evidence of acting under the influence of real religion and genuine piety.

Believing this concerning the Reformers, Protestants feel it to be both their duty and their privilege to defend them from the assaults of adversaries, and especially to refute anything that may seem to militate against the truth of the statement now given, of what they believe as to the general character and position of these illustrious men. The great general position which Romanists are anxious to establish by all they can collect against the Reformers, from their writings or their lives, from their sayings or their doings, is this, that it is very unlikely that God would employ such men in the accomplishment of any special work for the advancement of His gracious purposes. In dealing with this favorite allegation of Romanists, Protestants assert and undertake to prove the following positions:

1st, That the allegation is irrelevant to the real merits of the controversy between us and the Church of Rome, which can be determined only by the standard of the written word;

2d, That the allegation is untrue,—in other words, that there is nothing about the character of the Reformers as a whole which renders it in the least unlikely that God employed them in His own special gracious work; and,

3d, That the general principle on which the allegation is based can be applied in the way of retort, with far greater effect, to the Church of Rome. Protestants, by establishing these three positions, effectually dispose of the Romish allegation.