Here's a bogus meme posted by a Roman Catholic on Facebook. Martin Luther is purported to have stated,"If a woman does not perform her duties, she should be whipped and beaten just like the church treats heretics." This shocking Luther quote is juxtaposed with a statement from Pope Paul III, "Let women be honored in the church, for they have been given to us as models of virtue, just as the Blessed Virgin Mary was the first among them." There you have it: Luther says to beat women, a 16th Century pope says to honor women... with Mary thrown in at the end to seal the deal (Rome's defenders never miss an opportunity to mention Mary!). What could be clearer in demonstrating Luther was evil and Roman Catholicism is glorious?
Actually... both quotes will be demonstrated to be clearly bogus! The evil being perpetuated is falsely attributing both of these quotes to people that never made the purported statements. Leaving Luther for a moment, even if one disagrees with Roman Catholicism, false quotes attributed to the papacy should not be tolerated either by anyone claiming accountability to "Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbor" (Exodus 20:16).
Let's dive in.
Documentation: Martin Luther
The Luther documentation provided is "Martin Luther, On the Estate of Marriage (1522). This refers to the treatise entitled, Uom Eelichen Lebe. In English, the title is rendered The Estate of Marriage. The entire treatise in English can be found here (this link appears to be the exact same English translation that is found in LW 45).
Go ahead and search the provided link: there is no such Luther quote "If a woman does not perform her duties, she should be whipped and beaten just like the church treats heretics." While I'm not a big fan of ChatGPT, even it states:
Documentation: Pope Paul III
The Pope Paul III documentation provided is "Pope Paul III, Apostolic Letter on the Role of Women in the Church, 1545." So far, I've not located any such named 1545 apostolic letter with this title. Nor have I located any such quote stating, "Let women be honored in the church, for they have been given to us as models of virtue, just as the Blessed Virgin Mary was the first among them" either from Pope Paul III or anyone else! Once again, ChatGPT states,
The question though is... even if the quote can't be verified as originating from Pope Paul III, where does this quote come from? Did one of Rome's defenders make it up? Is it the result of A.I.? I don't know. Charity provokes me to assume the later. As of the writing of this entry, the only relevant Google hit I was provided was to someone seeming to be Roman Catholic posting the meme on a Filipino Seventh-day Adventist Around the World Facebook page.
I invite my readers, especially Roman Catholic readers, to participate in this particular papal quote snipe hunt. If you're a Roman Catholic reading this, I assume you pour over Papal statements for hours every day and have a much wider knowledge base than I do (read: friendly sarcasm). There is interesting information about Pope Paul III's Involvement with various religious females like the Ursulines. If he made this purported statement in 1545 (or any date), I assume that Rome's defenders are the true experts at going deep into history to locate the quote (read: more friendly sarcasm).
Conclusion
First, I've never come across any comments from Martin Luther saying that women should be beaten or a woman should be beaten if she "does not perform her duties." By the way...Which duties? are these "duties" domestic work or is the insinuation conjugal... or both? The meme doesn't say. Regardless, the quote from Luther in the meme is a slanderous lie. A refutation of the meme comes from Luther himself:
Men should govern their wives not with great cudgels, flails, or drawn knives, but rather with friendly words and gestures and with all gentleness so that they do not become shy... and take fright such that they afterward do not know what to do. Thus, men should rule their wives with reason and not unreason, and honor the feminine sex as the weakest vessel and also as coheirs of the grace of life... (Luther on Woman, a Sourcebook, p. 95; WA 17.1:24).
Second, as to the alleged quote from Pope Paul III: kudos to Roman Catholicism broadly that the meme overtly says to honor women... even if the quote is fictitious! However, I see a negative aspect to this bogus quote. The quote links honoring women to "the blessed Virgin Mary." Why is she needed? Because... in Roman Catholicism, the definitive woman is Mary. Pope John Paul II wrote that Mary is an "exceptional link" between her "and the whole human family." She holds a "special place." This Pope necessarily places Mary in the role of the ultimate woman in the entire human experience. Mary is therefore the model of what it means to be a woman. The infallible Lumen Gentium states:
But while in the most holy Virgin the Church has already reached that perfection whereby she is without spot or wrinkle, the followers of Christ still strive to increase in holiness by conquering sin. And so they turn their eyes to Mary who shines forth to the whole community of the elect as the model of virtues. Piously meditating on her and contemplating her in the light of the Word made man, the Church with reverence enters more intimately into the great mystery of the Incarnation and becomes more and more like her Spouse. For Mary, who since her entry into salvation history unites in herself and re-echoes the greatest teachings of the faith as she is proclaimed and venerated, calls the faithful to her Son and His sacrifice and to the love of the Father. Seeking after the glory of Christ, the Church becomes more like her exalted Type, and continually progresses in faith, hope and charity, seeking and doing the will of God in all things. Hence the Church, in her apostolic work also, justly looks to her, who, conceived of the Holy Spirit, brought forth Christ, who was born of the Virgin that through the Church He may be born and may increase in the hearts of the faithful also. The Virgin in her own life lived an example of that maternal love, by which it behooves that all should be animated who cooperate in the apostolic mission of the Church for the regeneration of men.
The Catechism of the Catholic Church states:
966 "Finally the Immaculate Virgin, preserved free from all stain of original sin, when the course of her earthly life was finished, was taken up body and soul into heavenly glory, and exalted by the Lord as Queen over all things, so that she might be the more fully conformed to her Son, the Lord of lords and conqueror of sin and death.
-snip-
967 By her complete adherence to the Father's will, to his Son's redemptive work, and to every prompting of the Holy Spirit, the Virgin Mary is the Church's model of faith and charity. Thus she is a "preeminent and . . . wholly unique member of the Church"; indeed, she is the "exemplary realization" (typus) of the Church.
968 Her role in relation to the Church and to all humanity goes still further. "In a wholly singular way she cooperated by her obedience, faith, hope, and burning charity in the Savior's work of restoring supernatural life to souls. For this reason she is a mother to us in the order of grace.
Here's what the Roman Catholic half of this meme is saying via this fabricated quote: honor women because you must honor Mary. She is the quintessential standard for all human beings. She is preeminent among the saints. She is the sine qua non model for all Christians to follow. Mary is your main reason to honor women! She is the virtuous standard of piety that all Christians are to aspire to.
Contrary to Rome's alleged infallible authority, Mary is not the definite standard for all women Biblically. The Holy Scriptures speak about the definitive woman (see for example, Proverbs 31:10-31). Or, consider the means of progressive sanctification by the method of negation: where in the Bible does it say to first conform to the image of Mary to then be conformed to the image of Christ (Rom. 8:29)? Why isn't the presence of Mary found somewhere in the explanation of the fruit of the Spirit in Galatians 5? There is nowhere in Scripture in which Mary is presented as the necessary model of virtue.
Notice I bolded and underlined the word necessary. Let's not throw the baby out with the bathwater! Exegeting Marian passages like Luke 1:46-55 can tell the church wonderful and useful things about Mary's Christian experience. However, this can be done without placing Mary in the quintessential role that Rome has placed her in. This is what Luther actually did in his exposition of the Magnificat (see Addendum #4 below).
David, St. Peter, St. Paul, St. Mary Magdalene, and the like, are examples to strengthen our trust in God and our faith, by reason of the great grace bestowed on them without their worthiness, for the comforting of all men (LW 21:323).
Addendum #1 Revised Meme: Fake Quotes!
If you come upon this bogus meme, feel free to reply with my revised memes below. I've added, "Fake Quotes!"
Addendum #2: Luther Against Sixteenth Century Misogynists
“Once you put out the light, all women are the same”—Franck’s list included such sayings as “Woman’s beauty is a covering for filth” (cf. Ecclus. 25:21; 9:8); “Do not believe any woman, even if she is dead”; “All wickedness is a joke compared with a woman’s wickedness” (cf. Ecclus. 25:19); “It is better to bury a woman than to marry one”; “No one takes a wife unless he has lost his mind.” Franck added his own comments: “Women are by nature devoted to deception”; “It has been debated whether they should be classified as rational or irrational animals”; “When it comes to urgent tasks, one man is more valuable than a thousand women (LW 60:339).
Luther saw Franck’s general attitude of contempt manifest particularly in the misogynistic proverbs he had published. Johann Mathesius (1504–65), who was Luther’s table companion in 1541, reported that Luther “was extremely angry at Sebastian Franck … for having published many disgraceful proverbs to dishonor the estate of marriage and the female sex.” Luther’s image of the sneering, scandalmongering Franck as an “outhouse fly” who fouls himself buzzing around the privy before trying to settle on people’s faces and smear his filth there is a reminder that Luther’s scatology, though vivid and coarse, is seldom gratuitous. The reader’s natural squeamishness at a situation that will be readily familiar to those who have spent any summer time away from indoor plumbing is aptly and effectively directed against those who seek to malign and befoul the creatures and ordinance of God—women and marriage—that God Himself has blessed and pronounced good. Anyone who delights in the scurrilous slanders Franck has published, Luther says, “cannot possibly have a gracious God” (LW 60:340-341).
I want to point out only one thing, in order to attest that I have read his books and am not his enemy without reason. Pray tell me, is it seemly for a writer of histories to say, “Once you put out the light, all women are the same”? Even if he had perhaps heard such a saying from some wanton man, should he therefore have written it in his book and affirmed it with such delight and amusement? Even if he had forgotten about the holy women and virgins, shouldn’t he at least have thought of his own mother or his own wife and, if he had even a spark of reason or honor or an honest drop of blood in his body, been ashamed in his heart? Or why aren’t men, too, all the same once you put out the light? (LW 60:345).
Secondly, a man should love his wife as his own body. Paul speaks to the Ephesians in chapter 5: Husbands love your wives like his own body; he who loves his wife loves himself. Listen, you hear how finely the Apostle teaches how a man should treat his wife: he should not regard her as if she were a footstool, for she was not created from a foot, but from the man's flesh in the middle of his body. A man should not treat her otherwise, as if she were his own body or flesh. And however tenderly and kindly he treats and acts with his body—if he is slovenly, he does not destroy or neglect her; if he is prudent, he cares for and looks after her; and even if he does not always do so equally, it is all for his good. So should a man do with his wife. And even if another woman is more beautiful, better eloquent, more skilled, wiser, and more capable than your wife, you should not love her as much as your own body. Purely, no, but you should love your wife as your own body, and even if she cannot always make it equal to you, bear with her patience as with your own body. And do as the vintner does with his strong vine-bearer, as the holy [Seft?] in the 128th psalm chapter calls a woman a vine-bearer when one wants to bind him who is weak in the flesh, like a woman he is supposed to bear and produce fruit. Thus, the vintner does not take a large, zealous scale chain or a rough heap of straw, but a finely nimble little thong, with which he binds him.
Thus, women should also be treated not with great rudeness, boorishness, or rudeness, but with friendly words, friendly gestures, and with all humility, so that they do not become shrewish, as Peter says in chapter 3, and frightened, so that afterwards they do not know what to do. Therefore, women must be governed with reason and not with unreason, and the female sex, as the weakest of men, should be given its brothers, also as co-heirs of the grace of life, so that our prayer may not be hindered. And this means, as St. Paul says to Ephesians in chapter 5: "Men, love your wives, just as Jesus Christ loved his church."
Addendum #4: Selections from Luther's Exposition of the Magnificat
[...S]he does take it amiss that the vain chatterers preach and write so many things about her merits. They are set on proving their own skill and fail to see how they spoil the Magnificat, make the Mother of God a liar, and diminish the grace of God. For, in proportion as we ascribe merit and worthiness to her, we lower the grace of God and diminish the truth of the Magnificat. The angel salutes her only as highly favored of God, and because the Lord is with her (Luke 1:28), which is why she is blessed among women. Hence all those who heap such great praise and honor upon her head are not far from making an idol of her, as though she were concerned that men should honor her and look to her for good things, when in truth she thrusts this from her and would have us honor God in her and come through her to a good confidence in His grace (LW 21:322).
What do you think? David, St. Peter, St. Paul, St. Mary Magdalene, and the like, are examples to strengthen our trust in God and our faith, by reason of the great grace bestowed on them without their worthiness, for the comforting of all men (LW 21:323).
As the wood had no other merit or worthiness than that it was suited to be made into a cross and was appointed by God for that purpose, so her sole worthiness to become the Mother of God lay in her being fit and appointed for it; so that it might be pure grace and not a reward, that we might not take away from God’s grace, worship, and honor by ascribing too great things to her (LW 21:327).
It is necessary also to keep within bounds and not make too much of calling her “Queen of Heaven,” which is a true-enough name and yet does not make her a goddess who could grant gifts or render aid, as some suppose when they pray and flee to her rather than to God. She gives nothing, God gives all... (LW 21:327-328).
Therefore she adds, “And holy is His name.” That is to say: “As I lay no claim to the work, neither do I to the name and fame. For the name and fame belong to Him alone who does the work. It is not proper that one should do the work and another have the fame and take the glory. I am but the workshop in which He performs His work; I had nothing to do with the work itself. No one should praise me or give me the glory for becoming the Mother of God, but God alone and His work are to be honored and praised in me. It is enough to congratulate me and call me blessed, because God used me and did His works in me.” Behold, how completely she traces all to God, lays claim to no works, no honor, no fame. She conducts herself as before, when she still had nothing of all this; she demands no higher honors than before. She is not puffed up, does not vaunt herself or proclaim with a loud voice that she is become the Mother of God. She seeks not any glory, but goes about her usual household duties, milking the cows, cooking the meals, washing pots and kettles, sweeping out the rooms, and performing the work of maidservant or housemother in lowly and despised tasks, as though she cared nothing for such great gifts and graces (LW 21:329).
Alas, the word “service of God” has nowadays taken on so strange a meaning and usage that whoever hears it thinks not of these works of God, but rather of the ringing of bells, the wood and stone of churches, the incense pot, the flicker of candles, the mumbling in the churches, the gold, silver, and precious stones in the vestments of choirboys and celebrants, of chalices and monstrances, of organs and images, processions and churchgoing, and, most of all, the babbling of lips and the rattling of rosaries. This, alas, is what the service of God means now. Of such service God knows nothing at all, while we know nothing but this. We chant the Magnificat daily, to a special tone and with gorgeous pomp; and yet the oftener we sing it, the more we silence its true music and meaning. Yet the text stands firm. Unless we learn and experience these works of God, there will be no service of God, no Israel, no grace, no mercy, no God, though we kill ourselves with singing and ringing in the churches and drag into them all the goods in all the world. God has not commanded any of these things; undoubtedly, therefore, He takes no pleasure in them (LW 21:350).
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