Luther Said Christ Committed Adultery? A Primer on How to Respond

This picture was taken from a private Facebook Group named, Sola Scriptura: A Foundation of Sand. The Roman Catholic who posted it said Luther admitted and sought to justify "his lack of sexual restraint and sin" and that "Luther was a prideful mentally-emotionally disturbed apostate."

While this quote has been covered here in-depth before, it appears to be popular on social media with people unable to approach history with integrity or lack the simple desire (or ability!) to do a basic web-search.

 Here is a simple method of response.

1. The documentation is partly erroneous.  The quote is said to be on page 33 of Martin Luthers Werke, kritische Gesamtausgabe, vol. 2. It is not. It's on page 107 of WA TR 2. Also, ask anyone using this documentation who the English translator was or where the English translation presented in this picture actually comes from. The English translation being utilized is not from Luther's Works, American Edition, Volume 54, p. 154.

2. This is not something Luther is known to have actually written. It is from a collection of secondhand comments written down by Luther's friends and students, published after his death, known in English as The Table Talk. 

3. There are multiple versions of Table Talk statements varying in reliability. That reliability is determined, in part, on how many people recorded the statement. This particular statement was recorded by only one person (a person little is known about). The extant manuscript version is a handwritten copy made sometime between 1551 and 1557 of the missing original. Keep in mind, the original statement is alleged to have been uttered between 1531-1532.

4. This particular Table Talk utterance was not available for roughly 350 years until it was published in 1888.  It contains textual anomalies in which what was written originally must be conjectured. In the Weimar edition of Luther's writings, a footnote is included noting the text is unclear and is a probable reading. 

5. If the statement is a rendering of what Luther said, there is no context for the remark. There is no meaningful historical or textual context to determine what Luther meant: Was he jesting? Was he summarizing someone else's argument? Was he using hyperbole?  Was he making a point to correspond to some aspect of his theology?

6. There have been efforts to harmonize the statement with Luther's actual written corpus. LW 54 suggests the comment can be harmonized with Luther's sermon from 1536 in which he asserted that "Christ was reproached by the world as a glutton, a winebibber, and even an adulterer" (LW 54:154, fn. 100). Lutheran theologian Arthur Carl Piepkorn compares the statement to Luther's theological motif that Christ became sin for us. 

7. There is ample meaningful textual evidence Luther held to the divinity of Christ. If Roman Catholics are using this context-less quote, remind them of Luther's repeatedly referring to Mary as "the mother of God."  See also Lutheran theologian Arthur Carl Piepkorn's article documenting Luther's adherence to the divinity of Christ as well as the perfect humanity of Jesus and his sinlessness. If Luther really believed that Jesus Christ, the Son of God, committed sin, the burden of historical proof is on those making the charge.  

Conclusion
Consider what Rome's defenders are asking you to believe with this quote: a verbal statement from Luther scribbled down on a piece of paper sometime between 1531 - 1532 (by a person not much is known about), an outrageous statement lacking a context, which then lay dormant in a handwritten notebook until at least 1551 or 1557, then copied by one person, then not published until approximately 350 years later, and then when it was published it is not certain what the text actually originally said... trumps all of Luther's actual verifiable writings on the nature and person of Jesus Christ... and proves Luther held that Christ committed adultery.  

Unfortunately, it's quite possible none of these historical seven points will have any effect on someone using this quote to denigrate either Luther or the Reformation.  For their talk about going "deep into history," some of Rome's defenders have little interest in actually doing the hard work involved with accurately and fairly studying history. The ironic aspect of this, in my opinion, is there's plenty of Luther quotes available to scrutinize that can be attributed to Luther without question. If someone is going to beat up Luther, why not use something with a better pedigree? Why resort to a second-hand comment with poor historical documentation? 

Addendum 

I did interact with the defender of Rome on Facebook that posted this quote. Along with getting his personal conversion story, here were some of his responses: 

"... it is eye witness Testimonies of friends, students and contemporaries.....as valid as the eye witness testimonies of the Apostles etc!!!"

"yep.....dismiss eye witness testimonies of those at his table who wrote it diwn and later published it....dismiss eye witnesses of Christ as well. So I guess his eye witnesses (Lutheran Family, Friends and Students at his Table Talks are all Liars) who took notes and spoke first hand with him in private are decievers who published garbage about him....OK....BS."

"Modern Conservative Lutherans know they can't change the 16th century printed eye witness testimonies of his co-religious contemporaries so they have in the 20th century tried to rehabilitate their blessed Apostle and Prophet Founder..."

"You choke, balk and dismiss. Too funny. You got nothing."

" You love the Bible and Calvin's Systematic Theology and Studies as your guide to understand that very Bible......You have your own dead 16th Century Geneva Jack Chick as your spirit Guide...not the Bible Alone. I hope you use the Geneva Bible too.."

Luther: "For, where God built a church, there the devil would also build a chapel…In such sort is the devil always God's ape."

 From the depths of cyberspace...

Would the devil ever attempt to beget in Roman Catholic persons a regard to the divine Word of God?

Of course. One of the wise statements made by Luther...

For, where God built a church, there the devil would also build a chapel…In such sort is the devil always God's ape.
Colloquia Mensalia (1566) ch. 2 (tr. H. Bell as Martin Luther's Divine Discourses, 1652)

The question in italics was asked by a non-Roman Catholic. The answer was from a Roman Catholic. Reading between the lines, I suspect the answer may either be a simple nod to an agreement with the statement attributed to Luther... or more insidiously, Luther is that person in which the devil beget "a regard for the divine Word of God."  If the later, that notion has precedent in Roman Catholic evaluations of Luther going all the way back to Luther's contemporary nemesis, Johannes Cochlaeus. 

When a participant pointed out that Luther died in 1546, not 1566, Rome's defender responded, "That's a direct Luther quote from the first English addition of Martin Luther's Divine Discourses (1652). His "Table Talk" discourses." Let's take a closer look at this quote. We'll see it's not a direct quote from Luther, and in context, Luther isn't being properly utilized to answer the question being asked.

Documentation

The reference provided was, "Colloquia Mensalia (1566) ch. 2 (tr. H. Bell as Martin Luther's Divine Discourses, 1652)."  Typical of many of Rome's defenders, I suspect this quote is a cut-and paste, since the same form and reference is found on this webpage, and also here.

The reference is accurate... to a point. "Colloquia Mensalia (1566)" refers to the first edition of Luther's Tischreden, or Table Talk (Tischreden oder Colloquia Doct. Mart. Luthers (Eisleben: Urban Gaubisch, 1566) compiled by John Aurifaber. What's being cited though is not this 1566 German edition, but rather a 1652 English edition translated by Captain Henry Bell. No page number is cited by Rome's defender, only that the quote is found in chapter 2.  On page 35 of the 1652 edition, the text reads: 

The 1566 German translation reads: 

The same German can be found in WA TR 4: 612. WA cites FB 1, 91 (92). Unfortunately, for me the trail ends here. I was unable to determine if this was a recollection from Aurifaber or if he relied on another source.  LW points out that Aurifaber is less trustworthy than other manuscripts of Luther's recollected sayings. Aurifaber also presented his material topically. With his presentation of this quote, it's weaved together with a 1540 recollection from John Mathesius (#5010) about what God was doing before creation.  For the context below, I utilized this English translation of Aurifaber. 

Context

When one asked, where God was before heaven was created? St. Augustin made answer thereunto and said, He was in himself. And as another (said Luther) asked me the same question, I said, He was building of hell for such idle, presumptuous, fluttering spirits and inquisitors. After he had created all things, he was everywhere, and yet he was nowhere; for I cannot fasten nor take hold of him without the Word. But he will be found there where he hath bound himself to be. The Jews found him at Jerusalem by the throne of grace, Exodus, xxv. We find him in the Word and faith, in baptism and sacraments; but in his majesty he is nowhere to be found.

It was a special grace in the Old Testament, when God bound himself to a certain place where he would be found, namely, in that place where the tabernacle was, towards which they prayed; as first, in Silo and Sichem, afterwards at Gibeon, and lastly at Jerusalem in the temple.

The Greeks and heathens in after times (said Luther) did imitate the same, and did build temples for their idols in certain places, as at Ephesus for Diana, at Delphos for Apollo, &c. For, where God built a church there the devil would also build a chapel. They imitated the Jews also in this, namely, that as the most holiest was dark, and had no light, even so and after the same manner did they make their places dark where the devil made answer, as at Delphos, and elsewhere. In such sort is the devil always God’s ape. 

But (said Luther) whereas the most holiest must be dark, the same did signify that the kingdom of Christ no other way was to be taken hold of and fastened, but only by the Word and by faith.

Conclusion

Probably half of my Roman Catholic Luther studies involve tracking down obscure Luther quotes, and more often than not, these quotes find their way back to the Table Talk. It often falls on deaf ears when I point out to the defenders of Rome that Luther didn't write the Table Talk. Since the statements contained therein are purported to have been made by Luther, they should serve more as corroborating second-hand testimony to something Luther is certain to have written.  

In the context above, Luther's point is that the "Greeks and heathens" were imitating the Jews by building temples to their gods. When Luther is recorded saying, "where God built a church there the devil would also build a chapel." this has nothing to do with the devil attempting to "beget in Roman Catholic persons a regard to the divine Word of God." Typical of Rome's defenders, many do not bother to look up what they cite from Luther. In this instance, even a truncated second-hand Table Talk comment doesn't support their polemical attacks.

Luther: "Seldom has the pope overcome anyone with Scripture and with reason"

 ...From the depths of cyberspace:

I came across another quote, allegedly from Luther: "Seldom has the pope overcome anyone with Scripture and with reason." Sometime after they tried to feed him Worms, I guess!  (There was no attribution, so...)

Documentation

The person posting this makes a correct observation that the quote is often posted without meaningful documentation, however it's not impossible to locate the source via a few cyber-searches.  The English version of this quote may originate from Roland Bainton's biography of Luther, Here I Stand, a Life of Martin Luther.  Bainton documents the burning of Luther's books at Cologne and then the subsequent event of Papal documents being burned at Wittenberg by Luther and his supporters.  Bainton records Luther saying,   

Since they have burned my books, I burn theirs. The canon law was included because it makes the pope a god on earth. So far I have merely fooled with this business of the pope. All my articles condemned by Antichrist are Christian. Seldom has the pope overcome anyone with Scripture and with reason.

Bainton cites "VII, 161-182" from WA. The careful reader will observe this amounts to twenty-one pages of text for five sentences! Bainton is actually citing the entire document the quote comes from: Warumb des Bapsts und siner Jungernn bucher vonDoct. Martino Luther vorbrant seynn.  The quote comes from the very end of the document (p.181):

This text has been translated into English: Why the Books of the Pope and His Disciples Were Burned by Doctor Martin Luther (LW:31, 382-395). The quote appears on pages 394-395

Context

I am willing to let everyone have his own opinion. I am moved most by the fact that the pope has never once refuted with Scripture or reason anyone who has spoken, written, or acted against him, but has at all times suppressed, exiled, burned, or otherwise strangled him with force and bans, through kings, and other partisans, or with deceit and false words, of which I shall convince him from history. Nor has he ever been willing to submit to a court of justice or judgment, but at all times bawled that he was above Scripture, judgment, and authority.

Latin text: 

Ego unicuique libenter suum permiserim iudicium, nam me hoc movet potissimum, quod papa nunquam, ne semel quidem, quemquam vicerit vel Scriptura vel ratione, qui contra ipsum dixisset, scripsisset, vel fecisset, sed semper vi, excommunicatione, per reges, principes et reliquos fautores, aut per dolos malos et falsa verba oppresserit, eiecerit, combusserit, vel alioqui occiderit. Cuius rei eum possum testibus omnibus historiis convincere. Eoque nomine nunquam voluit neque iudicium neque sententiam pati, semper ausus praetendere et obstrepere, se esse superiorem omnibus Scripturis, iudiciis et potestatibus.