Martin Luther thought He was Divine? Martin Luther thought He was God?

Beggars All was sent this Martin Luther bashing Facebook Reel snippet:

 

This clip states, 

Luther reached a frenzy of satanic pride, saying of himself, "Does this Luther not appear to you to be eccentric? As far as I am concerned, I think he is God. Otherwise, how could his writings or his name have the power to transform beggars into lords, asses into doctors of learning, falsifiers into saints, slime into pearls!"

According to this Roman Catholic propaganda, Martin Luther was so deranged he thought he was God... or as the YouTuber states of the quote, "Luther reached a frenzy of satanic pride..." If you're skeptical of the quote... yes, Luther did write it! As usual though, when read in context, the quote is not a display of delusion, a frenzy of satanic pride, or a claim to be God. In context, the quote is an example of sixteenth century sarcastic rhetoric from a polemical treatise. 

Let's take a closer look.

Documentation

1. The Facebook clip was extracted from a longer YouTube video. The author of the video named it, "Luther Thought He Was Divine." This Roman Catholic YouTuber claims, "The depravity of Luther's error knew no bounds, even to the extent that at times, he thought he was God." He says also, 

Today I'd like to present some facts about Luther that clearly point out the odor that this revolted figure would spread in the supermarket or morgue of religions of philosophies and of human thought itself. His error would be the point of departure in this march toward total confusion.   

I have only one positive thing to say about this YouTuber: Kudos for providing full transparency of the secondary source that was used!  He states:

This and many other shocking facts were brought to my attention by an article written by the great Brazilian Catholic thinker, Professor Plinio Corrêa de Oliveira.  It was titled "Luther Thought He was Divine," and I'll recount it for you today. He gave all the citations for these claims, which I will place in the description below.

Here is "the description below":

All these insanities make it understandable how Luther reached a frenzy of satanic pride, saying of himself: “Does this Luther not appear to you to be eccentric? As far as I am concerned, I think he is God. Otherwise, how could his writings or his name have the power to transform beggars into lords, asses into doctors (of learning), falsifiers into saints, slime into pearls!” (Werke, Ed. Wittenberg, 1551, IV, pp. 378; Franca, p. 190).

2. This webpage states Plinio Corrêa de Oliveira's article, Luther Thought He Was Divine! was "originally published in the Folha de S.Paulo, on January 10, 1984." The article was not originally in English, but in Portuguese.  Plinio Corrêa de Oliveira did document his sources for the article, but he admits he did not extract the quotes directly from Martin Luther's writings but rather used only one particular secondary source. He states:

I have drawn these passages from the magnificent work of Fr. Leonel Franca, S.J., A Igreja, a Reforma, e a Civilização [The Church, the Reformation, and Civilization] (Rio de Janeiro, 1934).

3. For this quote Plinio Corrêa de Oliveira cites "Werke, Ed. Wittenberg, 1551, IV, pp. 378; Franca, p. 190." Working backward, I could not locate Franca's 1934 edition of A Igreja, a Reforma, e a Civilização online. A 1958 edition is online and has the quote on pages 179-180 (Franca says of the quote, "Orgia de orgulho satânico ou caso de patologia mental?"). 

Taking a documentation step forward, there does not appear to be a 1551 edition of Werke, Ed. Wittenberg volume 4 online yet, but there is a 1553 edition. Page 378 comprises two pages (A and B). The quote is found on page 378 A. 

The quote comes from Ein bericht an einen guten freund von Beider gestalt des Sacraments auffs Bischoffs zu Meissen mandat. The quote can be found in WA 26:561. This treatise has been translated into English as A Report to Good Friend Concerning Both Kinds in the Sacrament, at the Command of the Bishop of Meissen found in LW 60:111-153. The quote can be found at LW 61:113.

Context

But Luther is the one against whom everyone can gain honor and achieve all salvation! Every donkey’s head, no matter how unlearned, if he only writes against Luther, he then becomes learned! Every scandalous villain, no matter how wicked or despised, if he writes against Luther, then he is righteous and a favorite! No matter how completely ruined someone is, if he writes against Luther, he is crowned with glory. There are people now at the courts of kings, princes, and bishops in great wealth and honor who, if there were no Luther, would perhaps have to devour slop with the pigs! Is not Luther an extraordinary man? I think that he is God, for how else could his writing and name be so powerful that he makes lords out of beggars, doctors out of donkeys, saints out of villains, pearls out of filth, and glorious people out of shameful spots [cf. 2 Pet. 2:13]? Note well that Luther made Adrian VI pope! Perhaps he will also make Dr. Smith into a cardinal since the dove is already floating around him. Thus, since all the world cannot put out the fire at Bern: here also Luther, the poor man designated in shame, must bear the brunt of bringing honor to the preaching monks, for they are now holy, have not caused any trouble, and do not have even the tiniest speck in their eyes [cf. Matt. 7:3–5]. Luther is such a shameful, cursed, damned creature that there simply is no one else more an evildoer or scoundrel than is he! Well, let them lie and deceive. People say, "Obvious lies are not worth an answer." I will let it remain there. But whoever wants to have a brief answer to what all the Papists now write, and who also wants to know what they write, should look at the "Papal Ass" which has been painted and interpreted. Then he can see the dragon’s head which comes out of its behind and shows him what kind of writers and preachers the miserable papacy has in these last times.

Original text: Aber der Luther der ists, an dem yderman zu ehren werden kan und alle seligkeit erlangen. Denn kein esels kopff ist so ungelert, wenn er nur widder den Luther schreibt, so ist er gelert. Kein leichtfertiger bube ist yhe so bös odder veracht gewest, wenn er widder den Luther schreibt, so ist er frum und das liebe kind. Niemand ist yhe so hoch zu schanden worden, wenn er widder den Luther schreibt, so ist er eine kron der ehren. Es sind itzt zu Könige, Fürsten, Bischoffs höffe ynn grossem gut und ehre, Welche, so der Luther nicht were, villeicht mit den sewen treber fressen müsten. Ist mir der Luther nicht ein seltzamer man, ich meine, das er Gott sey, wie wolt sonst sein schreiben und name so mechtig sein, das er aus Bettler Herrn, aus Eseln Doctores, aus Buben Heiligen, aus Drecke Perlen, aus schandflecken herliche leute machet? Viel achtens, das Luther hab Adrianum Sextum zum Bapst gemacht, Villeicht wird er Doctor Schmid auch noch zum Cardinal machen, denn die taube schweisst schon umb yhn her. Also hie auch, die weil alle welt das fewr zu Bern nicht leschen kan, mus der Luther, der arme schand deckel, her halten und die prediger Münche zu ehren machen, denn die sind nu heilig und haben noch nie kein wasser betrübt und nicht ein spitzlin vom splitter ynn yhrem auge. Der Luther ist so ein schendlich, verflucht, verdampt ding, das man dafür schlecht keinen buben noch bösewicht mehr erkennen kan. Wolan, las liegen und triegen, Man sagt ym sprichwort:  Offenberliche lügen ist keiner antwort werd, da las ichs auch bey bleiben. Wer aber wil kurtz antwort haben auff aller Papisten itziges schreiben und da zu auch wissen, was sie schreiben, der sehe den Bapst Esel an, so gedruckt und ausgelegt ist, so wird yhm der drachen kopff, der aus seym hindern gehet, anzeigen, was für schreiber und prediger das elend Bapstum hat ynn seiner letzten zeit (WA 26:561-562).

Conclusion
Summary of the documentation: this Facebook clip was taken from a longer YouTube video presentation which references an article (originally in Portuguese, translated to English) which references a secondary source book (written in Portuguese) that gives a reference to a sixteenth century collection of Luther's writings in German. This documentation zigzagging is typical of Roman Catholic propaganda. Had meaningful contemporary research been done (for a contemporary YouTube video!), this quote is an easy look-up using either the Weimar edition (WA) or Luther's Works (LW) standards.

Summary of the context: The context is filled with sarcastic rhetoric. Luther's sarcastic point is that his detractors and enemies gain a sort of fame when they take up their pens against him (as if he were God having the ability to make them famous). He states,

No matter how completely ruined someone is, if he writes against Luther, he is crowned with glory. There are people now at the courts of kings, princes, and bishops in great wealth and honor who, if there were no Luther, would perhaps have to devour slop with the pigs! LW (61:113).

Original text: Niemand ist yhe so hoch zu schanden worden, wenn er widder den Luther schreibt, so ist er eine kron der ehren. Es sind itzt zu Könige, Fürsten, Bischoffs höffe ynn grossem gut und ehre, Welche, so der Luther nicht were, villeicht mit den sewen treber fressen müsten (WA 26:561).

Luther then states, 

Is not Luther an extraordinary man? I think that he is God, for how else could his writing and name be so powerful that he makes lords out of beggars, doctors out of donkeys, saints out of villains, pearls out of filth, and glorious people out of shameful spots [cf. 2 Pet. 2:13]? (61:113).

Original text: Ist mir der Luther nicht ein seltzamer man, ich meine, das er Gott sey, wie wolt sonst sein chreiben und name so echtig sein, das er aus Bettler Herrn, aus Eseln Doctores, aus Buben Heiligen, aus Drecke Perlen, aus schandflecken herliche leute machet? (WA 26:561).

From a cursory reading, it's hard to believe any rational reader (of any theological persuasion) could read this context and conclude Luther was literally claiming to be divine or claiming to be God, especially those with an intellectual pedigree like Plinio Corrêa de Oliveira or Fr. Leonel Franca. How did they take this literally? My suspicion is neither read the context of the quote. By his own admission, it's most likely Plinio Corrêa de Oliveira never read the quote in context. 

Concluding thoughts: Is the end game of denigrating Martin Luther the conversion of Protestants to the Roman Catholic Church? If it is, this video clip would be serving as old school Romanism that views Protestants on their way to hell... unless they swim the Tiber. This view is contrary to current magisterial ecumenical trends (i.e. Protestants are reluctant defacto members of the Roman Catholic Church, separated brethren).  This YouTuber though could simply be doing a "Hooray for our side!" presentation to comfort those already staunchly Roman Catholic. 

Addendum: Follow Up Comments to the YouTube Video

I did leave a comment under the main video of this clip, so far unanswered:

I recently spent some time looking up one of the quotes presented in this YouTube video: 

"Luther reached a frenzy of satanic pride, saying of himself, 'Does this Luther not appear to you to be eccentric? As far as I am concerned, I think he is God. Otherwise, how could his writings or his name have the power to transform beggars into lords, asses into doctors of learning, falsifiers into saints, slime into pearls!'"

This video references an article (originally in Portuguese, translated to English) which references a secondary source book (written in Portuguese) that gives a reference to a sixteenth century collection of Luther's writings in German. This documentation zigzagging is typical of propaganda. Had meaningful contemporary research been done (for a contemporary YouTube video!), this quote is an easy look-up using either the Weimar edition (WA) or Luther's Works (LW) standards. I suspect this YouTuber never bothered to look up the quote in context.

The context is filled with sarcastic rhetoric. Luther's sarcastic point is that his detractors and enemies gain a sort of fame when they take up their pens against him (as if he were God having the ability to make them famous). From a cursory reading, it's hard to believe any rational reader (of any theological persuasion) could read this context and conclude Luther was literally claiming to be divine or claiming to be God, especially those with an intellectual pedigree like Plinio Corrêa de Oliveira. How did he take this literally? My suspicion is Plinio Corrêa de Oliveira never read the quote in context (by his own admission, he took the quote from a secondary source, Fr. Leonel Franca).

Luther: "After we understood that good works were not necessary for justification, we became much more remiss and colder in the practice of good"

Here's a Martin Luther-related excerpt that appeared on the Catholic Answers Forums:

“After we understood that good works were not necessary for justification, we became much more remiss and colder in the practice of good … And if we could return today to the prior state of things and if the doctrine that affirms the necessity of doing good works could be revived, our eagerness and promptness in doing good works would be quite different” (Werke, 27, p. 443, in ibid., p. 441).

This is one of those quotes that I categorically classify as "Did Luther Regret the Reformation?" They are typically posted by those dedicated to defending the Roman church. Historically, such "shock" quotes served as propaganda used by pre-1930 Roman Catholic controversialists. Those writers put forth the conclusion that the Reformation was a failure: it didn't produce any real fruit, and Luther's own words and the state of Protestantism at the time prove it. The argument goes: Protestantism isn't a movement of the church. It is the result of heresy, and heresy never leads anyone to true holiness. Then statements are typically brought forth from Luther's career, indicting him of regret for starting the Reformation. Most of these pre-1930 books had fallen into obscurity, but with the arrival of the information explosion brought forth by the Internet, these quotes made a comeback. It's not at all uncommon to visit discussion forums like Catholic Answers and find these "regret" quotes taking center-stage. With this quote, the implication is that previously the state of Christian piety was much better and Luther knew it. His "Gospel" was a failure in producing good works among those who followed his teaching. Luther is presented as admitting that a return to "the prior state of things" would produce the much-needed "good works" missing in German society. It was "the devastating effects of such admittedly insincere preaching" on "his evangelical followers."

Plagiarism

The person who posted the quote provides obscure documentation ("Werke, 27, p. 443, in ibid., p. 441"). Such obscurity often indicates that the material was not taken from an actual straight reading of text written by Luther. This person also stated,

I am a convert from Protestantism who used to idolize Luther until I read his writings (eventually). Before, and while undertaking my doctorate (early music history + performance), I had learned to read primary sources, this is what also lead me to the Catholic Church - the Apostolic Fathers + St Augustine + Aquinas. Today many people will watch a movie about Luther and think they are well informed about him.

I do question the validity of this testimony of learning, especially the claim of reading Luther's writings and the ability to read primary sources to form opinions. Of the two posts of Luther material this person presented in this discussion (#1, #2), neither demonstrates a straight reading of Luther. The material was probably taken from a few web-pages, then cut-and pasted over on to the Catholic Answers discussion forum. I suspect this page, this page, and perhaps this page was utilized. Unless the person posting this material on Catholic Answers wrote these links, much of the content presented is blatant plagiarism. For this quote particularly, this web-page appears to be that which was directly plagiarized.

Even if he (she?) did compose this web page (or one of the others), I still doubt any of the material came from a straight reading (or "studying") of the "primary sources" for Luther. Some of what was posted was directly plagiarized from Father Patrick O'Hare's, The Facts about Luther. This quote appears to have been plagiarized from this webpage (or one similar to it) that presents a version of an article written by Plinio Corrêa de Oliveira entitled, Luther Thought He Was Divine! It appears this article was "originally published in the Folha de S.Paulo, on January 10, 1984," so it's probable that the article was not originally in English (here is the Portuguese version). The quote is almost the same in de Oliveira's version from a website dedicated to his writings:

“After we understood that good works are not necessary for justification, I became much more remiss and cold in doing good...and if we could return now to the old state of things and if the doctrine of the necessity of good works to be holy could be revived, our alacrity and promptness in doing good would be different” (Werke, XXVII, p. 443; Franca, p. 443).

In this version, Luther says "I became much more remiss and cold..." It could be a typo, but more probable, this version suffers from translation issues. Also this version explains part of the documentation ("in ibid., p. 441").  This part of the reference is due to Plinio Corrêa de Oliveira attempting to accurately document the quote. For his article, he states: "I will cite excerpts from the work of Fr. Leonel Franca SJ titled The Church, the Reform and Civilization (Rio de Janeiro: Editora Civilizacão Brasileira, 3rd ed., 1934, 558 pages)." Notice that de Oliveira didn't actually reference Luther when the article was composed back in 1984, he borrowed from someone else. The quote can be found on page 391 in Franca's book (1958 edition). Franca uses almost the same documentation: "Weimar XXVII, 443":

Documentation
"Werke, 27" refers to volume 27 of the Weimar edition of Luther's collected writings. Here is WA 27:443. The page being cited is from an Advent sermon on Matthew 21 from November 29, 1528.  In WA 27, there are two versions of the text cited on each page of this sermon. The first is a mix of German and Latin, the second in Latin only. It appears Franca utilized the Latin text as he notes the words "dictu mirum" (found only in the straight Latin text on page 443). There does not appear to be an official English translation of the sermon available. 

Context

Conclusion

The same sermon (and reference) has been cited by Roman Catholic historian,  Hartmann Grisar:

"That we are now so lazy and cold in the performance of good works," he says, in a recently published sermon of 1528, "is due to our no longer regarding them as a means of justification. For when we still hoped to be justified by our works our zeal for doing good was a marvel. One sought to excel the other in uprightness and piety. Were the old teaching to be revived today and our works made contributory to righteousness, we should be readier and more willing to do what is good. Of this there is, however, no prospect and thus, when it is a question of serving our neighbour and praising God by means of good works, we are sluggish and not disposed to do anything." 

I've covered similar quotes like this before. One can find similar laments from Luther peppered throughout his writings, typically his sermons. Notice the sentence, "For when we still hoped to be justified by our works our zeal for doing good was a marvel." The Catholic Answers participant using the quote thought it showed Luther himself recognizing "the devastating effects of such admittedly insincere preaching." Luther though is not longing for the good old days under the papacy, nor is he admitting his preaching was insincere. Luther was exhorting his hearers towards righteous living and also pointing out how people will rely on their own works instead of Christ's. When people thought they were working their way into heaven, there was more zeal. On the contrary, Luther's notion of good works were that they demonstrated a Christian heart and were done out of gratitude to the grace given them.  Luther had a pastor's heart, and continually exhorted his hearers to live the Christian life, even if it meant chastising his hearers by reminding them of their previous bondage under the Roman system. The ironic thing is that some Roman Catholics accuse Luther of teaching the wanton lawlessness of sola fide. Yet, when Luther exhorts his hearers to adhere to Christian piety and good works, even this is used against him.

Those using quotes like this also fail to grasp Luther's overall picture of the church.  He believed that within the large throng of people claiming to be Christians, God had a "little flock." For instance, in a preface to Caspar Adler's sermon exhorting people to give alms, Luther says of the sermon:

For even if the great, lost crowd does not regard it, nevertheless a few must form the little flock [Luke 12:32] who relieve it with love and thanksgiving and thank God for it, just as St. Paul, after he had long labored in vain on the lost crowd, turned to the elect and said that he would do all things for the sake of the elect [2 Tim. 2:10]. This is what we also intend to do. For even if we would like to do more among the others, still it will come to nothing and is all in vain. May Christ, our Lord and Savior, preserve us, His little flock, and be with us until the day of His glory and our salvation [LW 60:15-16].

Luther wasn't postmillennial. While he was discouraged that the world seemed to be getting worse, his eschatological expectation can be traced back even to the early days of his Reformation work. For Luther, it was the end of the world. Things were indeed going to get worse. The Gospel was going to be fought against by the Devil with all his might. The true church was a tiny flock in a battle against the world, the flesh, and the Devil. He hoped the people would improve with the preaching of the Gospel, he often admitted he knew things were going to get worse because of the Gospel. There are a number of quotes peppered throughout Luther's writings in regard to the "little flock."

Christendom, too, is a living, healthy body of the pious little flock, God’s children. Yet filth and stench are mixed in. (LW 24:206)

With reference to this, the prophet tells us in this verse that this King will have a people nevertheless which will really be His own, and this especially in the midst of His enemies. He gives us the comfort that “a holy Christian Church” will always exist and remain in the world, just as the article of our Creed teaches us. This means that there will always be a little flock, whoever and wherever they may be, who in unity will cling to this Lord, uphold His scepter, and publicly confess His Word. (LW 13:285)

Whatever goal these hypocrites may want to attain with their “Spirit,” I do not choose to share it with them. May a merciful God preserve me from a Christian Church in which everyone is a saint! I want to be and remain in the church and little flock of the fainthearted, the feeble, and the ailing, who feel and recognize the wretchedness of their sins, who sigh and cry to God incessantly for comfort and help, who believe in the forgiveness of sin, and who suffer persecution for the sake of the Word, which they confess and teach purely and without adulteration (LW 22:55).

Luther: “The Gospel today finds adherents who are convinced that there is nothing except a doctrine that serves to fill their bellies and give free reign to all their impulses”

Here's a Martin Luther-related excerpt that appeared on the Catholic Answers Forums:

Luther himself recognized the devastating effects of such admittedly insincere preaching: “The Gospel today finds adherents who are convinced that there is nothing except a doctrine that serves to fill their bellies and give free reign to all their impulses” (Werke, 33, p. 2, in ibid., p. 212).

This is one of those quotes that I categorically classify as "Did Luther Regret the Reformation?" They are typically posted by those dedicated to defending the Roman church. Historically, such "shock" quotes served as propaganda used by pre-1930 Roman Catholic controversialists. Those writers put forth the conclusion that the Reformation was a failure: it didn't produce any real fruit, and Luther's own words and the state of Protestantism at the time prove it. The argument goes: Protestantism isn't a movement of the church. It is the result of heresy, and heresy never leads anyone to true holiness. Then statements are typically brought forth from Luther's career, indicting him of regret for starting the Reformation. Most of these pre-1930 books had fallen into obscurity, but with the arrival of the information explosion brought forth by the Internet, these quotes made a comeback. It's not at all uncommon to visit discussion forums like Catholic Answers and find these "regret" quotes taking center-stage. Let's take a look at this quote and see if Luther was really admitting to the "devastating effects" of his "insincere preaching."

Plagiarism
The person who posted the quote provides obscure documentation (Werke, 33, p. 2, in ibid., p. 212). Such obscurity usually indicates that the material was not taken from an actual straight reading of text written by Luther. This person also stated,

I am a convert from Protestantism who used to idolize Luther until I read his writings (eventually). Before, and while undertaking my doctorate (early music history + performance), I had learned to read primary sources, this is what also lead me to the Catholic Church - the Apostolic Fathers + St Augustine + Aquinas. Today many people will watch a movie about Luther and think they are well informed about him.

I do question the validity of this testimony of learning, especially the claim of reading Luther's writings and the ability to read primary sources to form opinions. Of the two posts of Luther material this person presented in this discussion (#1, #2), neither demonstrates a straight reading of Luther. The material was probably taken from a few web-pages, then cut-and pasted over on to the Catholic Answers discussion forum. I suspect this page, this page, and perhaps this page was utilized. Unless the person posting this material on Catholic Answers wrote these links, much of the content presented is blatant plagiarism. For this quote particularly, this web-page appears to be that which was plagiarized.

Even if he (she?) did compose this web page (or one of the others), I still doubt any of the material came from a straight reading (or "studying") of the "primary sources" for Luther. Some of what was posted was directly plagiarized from Father Patrick O'Hare's, The Facts about Luther. This quote appears to have been plagiarized from this webpage that presents an article written by Plinio Corrêa de Oliveira entitled, Luther Thought He Was Divine! It appears the article was "originally published in the Folha de S.Paulo, on January 10, 1984," so it's probable that the article was not originally in English. This version  provides information about the author, and we can safely rule out the person at Catholic Answers being Plinio Corrêa de Oliveira: he died in 1992.  The original article presents the quote in the exact form with one exception: the documentation. The Catholic Answers participant provided, "Werke, 33, p. 2, in ibid., p. 212."  Some versions of the article say rather, " Werke, XXXIII, p. 2; Franca, p. 440." I did locate a Portuguese version of the article that uses "'Werke', ed. de Weimar, 33, p. 2 – cfr. po. cit., p. 212" on the Plinio Corrêa de Oliveira website along with an English version using p. 440. Whatever page is meant, the confusion seems to be with whoever originally translated de Oliveira's article.

Plinio Corrêa de Oliveira did attempt to accurately document the quote. For his article, he states: "I will cite excerpts from the work of Fr. Leonel Franca SJ titled The Church, the Reform and Civilization (Rio de Janeiro: Editora Civilizacão Brasileira, 3rd ed., 1934, 558 pages)." Notice that de Oliveira didn't actually reference Luther when the article was composed back in 1984, he borrowed from someone else. Here is page 212 and pages 440 of  the 1958 edition of Franca's book, A igreja, a reforma e a civilização. I suspect the 1934 version was reworked and expanded, because the quote actually appears on page 197 in the 1958 edition:

The sentence in question reads, "Evangelho hoje em dia encontra aderentes que se persuadem não ser ele senão uma doutrina que serve para encher o ventre e dar larga a todos os caprichos." with the documentation, "Weimar, XXXIII, 2." It appears that the English version floating around the Internet was de Oliveira's translation of Franca's Portuguese (and that Portuguese was perhaps a translation of German sources).  I'm not sure if  Franca mined this quote himself, or took it from Denifle, Döllinger, or some other earlier source. He cites a number of  pre-1930 Roman Catholic controversialists throughout his book. 

Documentation

All parties typically cite either "Werke, 33, p. 2" or "Weimar, XXXIII, 2." This page can  be found here. The text reads: 

This text is from Luther's sermon / commentary on John 6:26. It has been translated into English. The quote in question can be found in LW 23:5. Luther preached on John 6-8 between November 5, 1530 and March 9, 1532 (LW 23:5).

Context

In this text we hear Jesus tell the Jews why they are following Him, namely, not because of His miracles and His teaching but for the sake of their miserable bellies, which they held so dear. For they reasoned: “He is a proper Teacher for us. He will provide us with a physical freedom in which each will be sated and satisfied and enabled to gratify his every wish.” The Lord wants to indicate what sort of disciples the teaching of the Gospel attracts. Even today the Gospel finds disciples who imagine that its teaching affords nothing but a gratification of the belly, that it brings all manner of earthly delights, and that it serves solely the wants of this temporal life. (LW23:5)

Conclusion
Luther does go on to to further lament that people insincerely hear sermons: "Among princes, counts, noblemen and magistrates, town people and country folk, it is quite common to regard the Gospel as a belly sermon." He says this tendency is across the board, from noblemen to country folk, and that it also includes "Our adversaries, too, are proficient in this skill. They can grab for ecclesiastical property, for cloisters and bishoprics (LW 23:6). Luther says to this situation:

Since our Head, Christ the Lord, experienced this, why should we complain if we have disciples who allege that Christ came into the world solely for the sake of our physical well-being? The day will come when Christ will punish such disciples, saying: “This is not what is meant. I preach about a spiritual eating, about spiritual food; I seek the glory of God.” Since He does not confirm them in their idolatrous devotion but upholds the honor of God, His preaching falls on deaf ears. And we fare the same way today (LW 23:7).

Luther also goes on to point out that within a congregation, there would be people in attendance for the wrong reasons:

Well, a preacher must derive what comfort he can from the fact that sows and dogs will be among the hearers wherever the Gospel is preached; it will not be otherwise. These seek nothing else in the Gospel than their own gratification. And if you have this experience, why do you grieve over it so? You are no better than the Lord Christ. If this is the way He fared, you cannot expect to fare differently. There will come a day of reckoning (LW 23:8).

There is nothing in the context of this sermon in which "Luther himself recognized the devastating effects of such admittedly insincere preaching." The context demonstrates rather that Luther was well aware that just as people followed Christ for the wrong reasons in the first century, so also in the sixteenth century. I highly doubt that Plinio Corrêa de Oliveira,  Fr. Leonel Franca, and even the person over on the Catholic Answers discussion forum would be willing to follow their argument to its logical conclusion:  If Luther's preaching was "insincere" because some people took the Gospel message to "fill their bellies and give free reign to all their impulses," so also did the ministry of Jesus attract some of the same kind of people.

Luther: As for his evangelical followers, Luther added that “they are seven times worse than they were before."

Here's a Martin Luther-related excerpt that appeared on the Catholic Answers Forums:

As for his evangelical followers, Luther added that “they are seven times worse than they were before. After preaching our doctrine, men have given themselves over to stealing, lying, trickery, debauchery, drunkenness, and every kind of vice. We have expelled one devil (the papacy) and seven worse have entered.” (Werke, 28, p. 763, in ibid., p. 440).

This is one of those quotes that I categorically classify as "Did Luther Regret the Reformation?" They are typically posted by those dedicated to defending the Roman church. Historically, such "shock" quotes served as propaganda used by pre-1930 Roman Catholic controversialists. Those writers put forth the conclusion that the Reformation was a failure: it didn't produce any real fruit, and Luther's own words and the state of Protestantism at the time prove it. The argument goes: Protestantism isn't a movement of the church. It is the result of heresy, and heresy never leads anyone to true holiness. Then statements are typically brought forth from Luther's career, indicting him of regret for starting the Reformation. Most of these pre-1930 books had fallen into obscurity, but with the arrival of the information explosion brought forth by the Internet, these quotes made a comeback. It's not at all uncommon to visit discussion forums like Catholic Answers and find these "regret" quotes taking center-stage. Let's take a look at this quote and see if Luther was really admitting all of his followers
became severely morally bankrupt ("seven times worse") due to his influence.

Plagiarism
The person who posted the quote provides obscure documentation ("Werke, 28, p. 763, in ibid., p. 440"). Such obscurity often indicates that the material was not taken from an actual straight reading of text written by Luther. This person also stated,

I am a convert from Protestantism who used to idolize Luther until I read his writings (eventually). Before, and while undertaking my doctorate (early music history + performance), I had learned to read primary sources, this is what also lead me to the Catholic Church - the Apostolic Fathers + St Augustine + Aquinas. Today many people will watch a movie about Luther and think they are well informed about him.

I do question the validity of this testimony of learning, especially the claim of reading Luther's writings and the ability to read primary sources to form opinions. Of the two posts of Luther material this person presented in this discussion (#1, #2), neither demonstrates a straight reading of Luther. The material was probably taken from a few web-pages, then cut-and pasted over on to the Catholic Answers discussion forum. I suspect this page, this page, and perhaps this page was utilized. Unless the person posting this material on Catholic Answers wrote these links, much of the content presented is blatant plagiarism. For this quote particularly, this web-page appears to be that which was directly plagiarized.

Even if he (she?) did compose this web page (or one of the others), I still doubt any of the material came from a straight reading (or "studying") of the "primary sources" for Luther. Some of what was posted was directly plagiarized from Father Patrick O'Hare's, The Facts about Luther. This quote appears to have been plagiarized from this webpage that presents an article written by Plinio Corrêa de Oliveira entitled, Luther Thought He Was Divine! It appears this article was "originally published in the Folha de S.Paulo, on January 10, 1984," so it's probable that the article was not originally in English. This version  provides information about the author, and we can safely rule out the person at Catholic Answers being Plinio Corrêa de Oliveira: he died in 1992.  This version of the article presents the quote in a very similar form with a few exceptions:

And Luther added, regarding his evangelical henchmen, that “they are seven times worse than they were before. After the preaching of our doctrine men have given themselves up to robbery, lying, imposture, debauchery, drunkenness, and every kind of vice. We have expelled one devil (the papacy), and seven worse ones have come in” (Werke, XXVIII, p. 763; Franca, p. 441).

Notice the opening begins with the inflammatory, "And Luther added, regarding his evangelical henchmen.." rather than "As for his evangelical followers.." There are some other minor word variances as well ( "robbery" "imposture").  There's also some confusion in the documentation. Some of the versions say  "in ibid., p. 440" others say "Franca, p. 441." I did locate a Portuguese version of the article that uses p. 440 (on the Plinio Corrêa de Oliveira website) along with an English version using p. 440.

Plinio Corrêa de Oliveira did attempt to accurately document his source for his article. He states: "I will cite excerpts from the work of Fr. Leonel Franca SJ titled The Church, the Reform and Civilization (Rio de Janeiro: Editora Civilizacão Brasileira, 3rd ed., 1934, 558 pages)." Notice that de Oliveira didn't actually reference Luther's writings when the article was composed back in 1984, he borrowed from someone else. Here is page 440  and 441 of  the 1958 edition of Franca's book, A igreja, a reforma e a civilização. I suspect the 1934 version was reworked and expanded, because the quote actually appears on page 390 in the 1958 edition (and the 1948 edition):

Documentation
The secondary reference, "in ibid., p. 440" refers to Fr. Leonel Franca,  A igreja, a reforma e a civilização, 1934 edition, page 440 (see above). The primary reference being used is "Werke, 28, p. 763." This refers to volume 28 of the Weimar edition of Luther's works. Here is WA 28:763. The text reads,

The text being cited is from Luther's comments on Deuteronomy 9:25 from a 1529 sermon. It can also be found in Walch III, 2727.To my knowledge, the complete context this paragraph comes from has yet to be translated into an official English version of Luther's Works. 

Context

Some years back I came across an English translation of paragraph 49 from Walch III, 2727.

Moses is thus a fine teacher; he has well expounded the first commandment, and led the people to a knowledge of themselves, and humbled the proud and arrogant spirits, besides which he upbraided them with all kinds of vices, so that they had merited anything but the promised land. If we do not abide by our beloved Gospel, we deserve to see those who profess it, our Gospellers, become seven times worse than they were before. For, after having become acquainted with the Gospel, we steal, lie, cheat, we eat, drink, and are drunken, and practise all sorts of iniquity. As one devil has been driven out of us, seven others, more wicked, have entered in; as may be seen at the present time with princes, noblemen, lords, citizens, and peasants, how they act, without shame and in spite of God and His threatenings.

Conclusion
The above translation of this obscure quote is from an old book, Luther Vindicated by Charles Hastings Collette. Collette's book is fascinating. He similarly examines obscure out-of-context Luther quotes and offers corrections and contexts. It wasn't Roman Catholics he defended Luther against, rather, the culprit was the Rev. Sabine Baring-Gould, who, according to Collette was "a professed Minister of the (Reformed) Established Church of England." Interestingly, Baring-Gould appears to have gathered some of his Luther material from Roman Catholic sources, and was part of a group sympathetic to Rome. Of this group, Collette states, "These gentlemen sigh for pre-Reformation days when the priest ruled and the sacramental system flourished, to the glorification of the priest, and ignorance, superstition, thraldom, and degradation of the people" (p.6). If this link is about the Sabine Baring-Gould in question (which I think it is), he's the writer of the famous hymn "Onward Christian Soldiers." Of this quote in question, Collette quotes Baring-Gould stating:

"...let us take Luther's own account of the results of his doctrine :—' There is not,' says he,—' one of our Evangelicals who is not seven times worse than he was before he belonged, to us,—stealing, lying, deceiving, eating, and getting drunk, and giving himself up to all kinds of vices. If we have driven out one devil, seven others worse than the first have come in his place."

Collette begins analyzing the quote stating,

"The reference is 'Ed. Walch, iii. 2727.' Here it is self-evident that the rev. gentleman, by 'our Evangelicals,' intends to point to the new converts to Luther's teaching."

"By the reference we are guided to Luther's Commentaries on the 'fifth Book of Moses, ix. 25.' On turning to the column indicated, we find the passage purported to be quoted, but in it there is not the most distant intimation that Luther was pointing to his own people, or to the new converts; but to the state of utter depravity to which priests and people, nobles and commoners,—nominal Christians of all ranks,—had fallen."

After documenting this moral climate, Collette states,

But what I have to expose is the barefaced mistranslation put before us in the above extract by the Rev. S. Baring-Gould, thereby making Luther allude to "our Evangelicals" as "belonging to Luther's disciples," who had become seven times worse by the change from Popery. I will let the reader judge for himself by placing before him a literal translation of the original; the text I add as a footnote :—

Collette then cites the context of Luther's statements:

"Moses is thus a fine teacher; he has well expounded the first commandment, and led the people to a knowledge of themselves, and humbled the proud and arrogant spirits, besides which he upbraided them with all kinds of vices, so that they had merited anything but the promised land. If we do not abide by our beloved Gospel, we deserve to see those who profess it, our Gospellers, become seven times worse than they were before. For, after having become acquainted with the Gospel, we steal, lie, cheat, we eat, drink, and are drunken, and practise all sorts of iniquity. As one devil has been driven out of us, seven others, more wicked, have entered in; as may be seen at the present time with princes, noblemen, lords, citizens, and peasants, how they act, without shame and in spite of God and His threatenings."

The key to the quote is the phrase, "Our Gospellers." Collette explains,

" 'Our Gospellers' I have thus translated 'unsereEvangelischen.' Luther did not mean the true believers in and followers of the Evangelists, which some readers might suppose to be a name applicable to all members of the Reformed Churches, from their known attachment to the Gospel, but he applied the expression to outward professors of the Gospel.

Addendum
This is an oft-used obscure Luther quote. I've gone over it a number of times. Rome's defenders seem to think that Luther was so deluded that he continued to preach the gospel for decades, without any positive results. In their minds, this must be a telling sign that Luther proclaimed a false gospel. In actuality, Luther consistently held that the gospel would find great opposition, and would be attacked from all sides, including within. The gospel would be used by the world as a licence to sin and all sorts of evil because of Satan. The gospel would indeed make those of the world worse. There would also be false converts and people that followed the gospel for the wrong reasons. Luther was well aware that just as people followed Christ for the wrong reasons in the first century, so to in the sixteenth century.

Luther wasn't postmillennial. While he was discouraged that the world seemed to be getting worse, his eschatological expectation can be traced back even to the early days of his Reformation work. For Luther, it was the end of the world. Things were indeed going to get worse. The Gospel was going to be fought against by the Devil with all his might. The true church was a tiny flock in a battle against the world, the flesh, and the Devil. He hoped the people would improve with the preaching of the Gospel, he often admitted he knew things were going to get worse because of the Gospel. It's one thing to argue Luther suffered from depression or had a despondency over the state of things, it's quite another to use his words to prove he had a sense of "failure and guilt" over the preaching of the Gospel, or that he was in agony over the Gospel going forth into the world and the trouble he admitted and expected it would cause.