"I proudly stand in the tradition of Fr. Denifle et al and I warn people that the foundation of the Protestant Deformation was in the psychopathology of one man-- Martin Luther -- whose melancholy and bipolar disorder touched a personal chord with many Northern Europeans but which had NOTHING to do with the Gospel of Jesus Christ. It caused them to revolt against historic Christianity and to invent a new family of disparate religions that catered to bourgeosie morality and subjective personal needs, and not to either theological integrity or moral rectitude."- Art Sippo
Wow, it must be slow for Catholic apologetics today. First, Madrid, now some fan mail from Art Sippo: Springtime for Luther and Germany. Sippo is at it again, championing the scholarship of Denifle and Grisar, two men whose work on Luther is usually viewed as part of outdated destructive criticism.
Also, Sippo is attempting once again to minimize the work of Catholic historian Joseph Lortz on Luther. Lortz is perhaps the most famous Catholic Luther scholar of the twentieth century. I did a detailed response some time ago to Sippo's views on Lortz: Catholic Apologist Art Sippo on Catholic Historian Joseph Lortz.
I did a detailed response some time ago to Sippo's views a number of Luther biographers:
I. On Dialoging With Catholic apologist Art Sippo on Luther Scholarship
II. Catholic Apologist Art Sippo on Father O’Hare’s “Facts About Luther”
III. Catholic Apologist Art Sippo on Luther Scholarship and Research (Part 1)
IV. Art Sippo on Catholic Historians Grisar and Denifle and Luther’s Demon Possession (part 2)
V. Using Psychohistory To Interpret Luther (A Response To Catholic Apologist Art Sippo (part3)
VI. Catholic Apologist Art Sippo Takes The Time To Thank Me For My Luther Research
VII. Luther Between God and the Devil: Catholic Apologist Art Sippo on Heiko Oberman
VIII. Catholic Apologist Art Sippo on Roland Bainton's "Here I Stand"
IX. Catholic Apologist Art Sippo on Richard Marius
X. Catholic Apologist Art Sippo on Catholic Historian Joseph Lortz
XI. A Last Look At Catholic Apologist Art's Sippo's View Of Luther Biographies
XII. Art Sippo on Luther Biographies Revisited: Marius on Denifle
You know Jim, it may just be me, but sometimes I think that Sippo actually thinks rational people see his blog posts as "thought-provoking." I can't get by the second sentence without already knowing where it is leading. By the time I get to the second paragraph I'm already zoning out. Truth is, he provides much needed fodder for the Jerry-Jets of this world, all those wannabes who think he really knows what he speaks of. He's dangerous Jim and he won't stop until he's created a grand army of vitriolic "Mini-Me's." O woe is us!
ReplyDeleteRay
Ah yes, we are the product of Luther's Libido, for a rhogwash view of that see yours truly here
ReplyDeletehttp://extranos.blogspot.com/2007/03/product-of-luthers-libido.html
http://www.amazon.com/German-Evangelical-Alliance-Third-Reich/dp/3906757676
Nazism is the product according to the above the alliance of fundamentalistic evangelicalism and not necessarily a product of evangelical confessionalism.
Boenhoffer and Nuemoller were Protestants that opposed Hitler.
Come to think of it, another strong argument against Dr. Sippo's thesis is Calvin. I do not believe Calvin followed the ravings of a mad Luther. Calvin seems to have arrived at the reformation independent of his own.
ReplyDeleteLPC