This picture was taken from a recent Facebook discussion group. The picture was augmented with a long diatribe explaining how awful Luther was, from a Catholic perspective. Here was my response:
What you've provided is your personal opinion about Martin Luther. If I'm going to pick personal Catholic opinions, I think an actual Pope's opinion is more relevant than yours:
In 2016 Pope Francis said that Luther was part of a movement giving “greater centrality to Sacred Scripture in the Church’s life.”
Pope Francis has also said: “The spiritual experience of Martin Luther challenges us to remember that apart from God we can do nothing. ‘How can I get a propitious God?’ This is the question that haunted Luther. In effect, the question of a just relationship with God is the decisive question for our lives. As we know, Luther encountered that propitious God in the Good News of Jesus, incarnate, dead and risen. With the concept ‘by grace alone’, he reminds us that God always takes the initiative, prior to any human response, even as he seeks to awaken that response. The doctrine of justification thus expresses the essence of human existence before God.”
Check out this Catholic response:
"The pope is only infallible when it comes to dogma and only when he sits on the chair of authority."
Wow, that is a complete disconnect! I never mentioned anything about papal infallibility. My point was to highlight how this Catholic Facebook participant and Pope Francis have drastically different personal opinions about Luther. Why should I accept what some random person on the Internet claims and not the opinion of a Pope?
When you're interacting with Roman Catholics about Martin Luther, you are interacting with their personal opinions about Martin Luther.
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7 comments:
LOL! More and more Protestants every day are finding out what a liar Luther was when the read the Church Fathers.
That weird, I've read a lot of the church fathers and have had the opposite experience... perhaps truth isn't determined by personal experience? Perhaps? Think about it.
Great entry. I think each side is full of personal opinions. Not every Catholic or Protestant is open to do some research and so, sadly.
Thanks. I think the problem is that each Catholic personal opinion on Luther thinks that opinion is the "Catholic" opinion on Luther.
Soy de República Dominicana tu página me ah ayudado mucho a corroborar fuentes y no tragarme todo lo que dice un católico acerca de los reformadores, me siento muy agradecido tanto que si fuera católico papista te prendiera una vela 🕯️
Thank you!
Pope Benedict XVI, respected by conservative Roman Catholics, also praised Martin Luther publicly. Here is what he said:
“As the Bishop of Rome, it is deeply moving for me to be meeting you here in the ancient Augustinian convent in Erfurt. As we have just heard, this is where Luther studied theology. This is where he celebrated his first Mass. Against his father’s wishes, he did not continue the study of Law, but instead he studied theology and set off on the path towards priesthood in the Order of Saint Augustine. And on this path, he was not simply concerned with this or that. What constantly exercised him was the question of God, the deep passion and driving force of his whole life’s journey. “How do I receive the grace of God?”: this question struck him in the heart and lay at the foundation of all his theological searching and inner struggle. For Luther theology was no mere academic pursuit, but the struggle for oneself, which in turn was a struggle for and with God.”
“How do I receive the grace of God?” The fact that this question was the driving force of his whole life never ceases to make a deep impression on me. ... The question: what is God’s position towards me, where do I stand before God? – Luther’s burning question must once more, doubtless in a new form, become our question too, not an academic question, but a real one. In my view, this is the first summons we should attend to in our encounter with Martin Luther.”
“Luther’s thinking, his whole spirituality, was thoroughly Christocentric: “What promotes Christ’s cause” was for Luther the decisive hermeneutical criterion for the exegesis of sacred Scripture. This presupposes, however, that Christ is at the heart of our spirituality and that love for him, living in communion with him, is what guides our life.”
Source: https://www.vatican.va/content/benedict-xvi/en/speeches/2011/september/documents/hf_ben-xvi_spe_20110923_evangelical-church-erfurt.html
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