Collected Works of Martin Luther

by Martin Luther

  This is what Moses himself said of his seat and doctrine, Deuteronomy iv, 2, “Ye shall not add unto the word which I command you.” [Deut. 4:2] And in Deuteronomy xii, 32, “What thing soever I command you, observe to do it; thou shalt not add thereto nor diminish from it.” [Deut. 12:32] These doctrines they were required to teach in Moses’ seat; therefore Moses’ seat cannot endure any doctrines of men.

  St. Augustine

  St. Augustine is quoted as having written in the Book against the Letter of the Manicheans7, “I would not believe the Gospel if I did not believe the Church.”

  Here you see, they say, we are to believe the Church more than the

  Gospel.

  Authority

  I answer: Even if Augustine had used those words, who gave him authority, that we must believe what he says? What Scripture does he quote to prove the statement? What if he erred here, as we know that he frequently did, as did all the fathers? Should one single sentence of Augustine be so mighty as to refute all the texts quoted above? That is not what God wills; St. Augustine must yield to them.

  Further, if that were St. Augustine’s meaning, he would contradict himself; for in very many places he exalts the Holy Scriptures above the opinions of all teachers, above the decrees of all councils and churches, and will have men judge of him and of the teachings of all men according to the Scriptures. Why then do the faithful shepherds pass by those sayings of St. Augustine, plain and clear as they are, and light on this lonely one, which is so obscure and sounds so unlike Augustine as we know him from all his writings? It can only be because they want to bolster up their tyranny with idle, empty words.

  Words Perverted

  Furthermore, they are deceivers, in that they not only ascribe to St. Augustine an opinion he did not hold, but they also falsify and pervert his words. For St. Augustine’s words really are, “I would not have believed the Gospel if the authority of the whole Church had not moved me.” Augustine speaks of the whole Church, and says that throughout the world it with one consent preaches the Gospel and not the Letter of the Manicheans; and this unanimous authority of the Church moves him to consider it the true Gospel. But our tyrants apply this name of the Church to themselves, as if the laymen and the common people were not also Christians. And what they teach they want men to consider as the teaching of the Christian Church, although they are a minority, and we, who are universal Christendom, should also be consulted about what is to be taught in the name of universal Christendom. See, so cleverly do they quote the words of St. Augustine: what he says of the Church throughout all the world, they would have us understand of the Roman See.

  But how does it follow from this saying that the doctrines of men are also to be observed? What doctrine of men has ever been devised that has been accepted and preached by all of the universal Church throughout the world? Not one; the Gospel alone is accepted by all Christians everywhere.

  Their True Meaning

  But then we must not understand St. Augustine to say that he would not believe the Gospel unless he were moved thereto by the authority of the whole Church. For that were false and unchristian. Every man must believe only because it is God’s Word, and because he is convinced in his heart that it is true, although an angel from heaven and all the world preached the contrary. His meaning is rather, as he himself says, that he finds the Gospel nowhere except in the Church, and that this external proof can be given heretics that their doctrine is not right, but that that is right which all the world has with one accord accepted. For the eunuch in Acts viii, 37, believed on the Gospel as preached by Philip, although he did not know whether many or few believed on it [Acts 8:37]. So also Abraham believed the promise of God all by himself, when no man knew of it, Romans iv, 18 [Rom. 4:18]. And Mary, Luke i, 38 [Luke 1:38], believed the message of Gabriel by herself, and there was no one on earth who believed with her. In this way Augustine also had to believe, and all the saints, and we too, every one for himself alone.

  For this reason St. Augustine’s words cannot bear the interpretation they put upon them; but they must be understood of the external proof of faith, by which heretics are refuted and the weak strengthened in faith, when they see that all the world preaches and regards as Gospel that which they believe. And if this meaning cannot be found in St. Augustine’s words, it is better to reject the words; for they are contrary to the Scriptures and to all experience if they have that other meaning.

  The Apostles Also Men

  Finally, when they are refuted with Scripture so that they cannot escape, they begin to blaspheme God and say, “But St. Matthew, Paul and Peter also were men; therefore what they teach is also the doctrine of men. And if their doctrine is to be observed, let the pope’s doctrine be observed as well!” Such blasphemy is now being uttered even by some princes and bishops, who count themselves wise. When you hear such utterly hardened and blinded blasphemers, turn away from them or stop your ears; they are not worthy that one should talk with them. If that argument were to hold, then Moses also was a man, and all the prophets were men. Then let us go our way, and believe nothing at all, but regard everything as the doctrine of men, and follow our fancy.

  Answer

  But if you will talk with them, do so, and say, Well, let St. Paul or Matthew be the doctrine of men; then we ask, Whence comes their authority? How will they prove that they have authority to teach and to be bishops? Or how shall we know where the Church is? If they say that St. Matthew has so asserted in Matthew xvi, 19 [Matt. 16:19], or St. Paul in some place or other, do you say, But that does not hold: they are the doctrines of men, as you say; you must have God’s Word to confirm you. And then you will find that these hardened blasphemers put themselves to shame and confusion with their own folly. They cannot even distinguish between a man who speaks for himself and one through whom God speaks. The words of the Apostles were commanded them by God, and confirmed and proved by great miracles, such as were never done for the doctrines of men. And if they are certain in themselves, and will prove it to us, that God has commanded them to teach as they do, we will believe them as we believe the Apostles. If it is uncertain whether the words of the Apostles are of God, who will give us certainty that their doctrines of men are of God? O furor et amentia his saeculis digna!8

  Why Doctrines of Men are Condemned

  But we do not condemn the doctrines of men because they are the doctrines of men, for we would gladly endure them, but because they are contrary to the Gospel and to the Scriptures. The Scriptures set the consciences of men free, and forbid that they be taken captive with the doctrines of men. The doctrines of men take captive the conscience. This conflict between the Scriptures and the doctrines of men we cannot reconcile. Hence, because these two forms of doctrine contradict one another, we allow even young children to judge here whether we are to give up the Scriptures, in which the one Word of God is taught from the beginning of the world, or the doctrines of men which were newly devised yesterday and change daily? And we hope that every one will agree in the decision that the doctrines of men must be forsaken and the Scriptures retained. For they cannot be reconciled, but are by nature opposed to one another, like fire and water, like heaven and earth; As Isaiah Iv, 8 f. says: “As the heavens are exalted above the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways.” [Isa. 55:8 f.] Now he who walks on the earth cannot at the same time walk in heaven, and he who walks in heaven cannot walk on the earth.

  Therefore we request the papists that they first reconcile their doctrines with the Scriptures. If they accomplish that, we will observe their doctrines. But that they will not do before the Holy Spirit has become a liar. Therefore we say again. The doctrines of men we censure not because they are spoken by men, but because they are lies and blasphemies against the Scriptures. And the Scriptures, although they also were written by men, are not of men nor from men, but from God. Now since Scriptures and the doctrines of men are contrary the one to the other, one must lie and the other be true. Let us see to which of the two they themsel
ves will ascribe the lie. Let this suffice.

  ENDNOTES.

  1 Goldfasts are the ember-fasts, on the three ember-days of each of the four seasons of the year; possibly called “goldfasts” because on these days rents were collected. See Realencyklopädie, 5: 780, 9.

  2 The fasts enjoined upon a people by a public edict or ban. The term “ban” as here used does not denote the Church’s excommunication, but an authoritative proclamation.

  3 The Tatianists, followers of Tatian, who lived in Syria in the middle of the second century. Tatian, apparently basing his view of marriage upon 1 Cor. 7:5, ascribes the institution of marriage and the whole Old Testament Law to the devil. Eusebius held that Tatian was the founder of a sect known as the Encratites, or Abstainers. Modern historians see in the Encratites groups of ascetic Christians found frequently in the early Church, somewhat similar to the later monks and nuns, so that Harnack can write that Tatian “joined the Encratites.” Dogmengeschichte3, I, 227 n. See Realencyklopädie3, 19, 386-394 on Tatian; 5, 392 f. on the Encratites.

  4 The Manicheans, strictly speaking not a Christian sect, but a rival religious community, which made inroads upon the Christian Church. Founded by the Babylonian Mani, who was born in the third century, they taught the inherent evil of all matter, and consequently had many fasts, averaging seven days in each month, while the “perfect” among them abstained from meat, wine and marriage. See Realencyklopädie 3, 12, 193-228; von Orelli, Religionsgeschichte, 279-291.

  5 The Greek anathema Luther here translates ein Bann, “let him be a ban.” This explains the reference to the ban below.

  6 Stehet untereuch, whereas above Luther writes ist inwendig in euch.

  7 Contra Epistolam Manichaei, vi, Paris Ed., 1839, 28: 185: Ego vero Evangelic non crederem, nisi me ecclesiae catholicae commoveret anctoritas. On the preceding page Augustine had written: “If the claim of truth be shown to be so evident that it cannot be called into question, it is to be preferred before all those things by which I am held in the Catholic faith.”

  8 O raging madness, worthy of our age!

  Against Henry, King of the English (1522)

  Translated by E. S. Buchanan

  CONTENTS

  INTRODUCTORY EPISTLE

  AGAINST HENRY, KING OF THE ENGLISH

  INTRODUCTORY EPISTLE

  TO THE HIGHBORN and noble Sebastian Schlick, Count of Passum, Prince of Elbogen, etc., his superior in Christ, writeth Martin Luther of the Church of Wittenberg.

  Grace and peace in Christ. For more than three years (O noble Count) the furious people of the Pope pretend that I have fled to Bohemia; something they are very anxious to hear, these men of war, that they may triumph in the mere report, and boast and say, We have conquered; the heretic has fled to the other heretics.

  For that senseless, ignorant and monstrous body of the Papacy, — after it perceives itself overcome by learning and truth, and sees the whole unclean, crowd of its dunces unable to stand against Luther alone, — torments itself and consumes itself with this one longing that I should flee into Bohemia. For so at last they may console themselves by abusing me as an alien, and representing themselves as terrible giants, who (thanks to their ignorance and evil conscience) none dare contend with.

  I have appeared three times already before them, and the last time I went to Worms even though I knew that the public assurance given to me had been broken by their Caesar; for the German princes, who formerly were praised for keeping faith, have now (in obedience to the Roman idol) become experts in breaking their word, to the eternal disgrace of our nation.

  And so that fugitive and fool-headed Luther has dared to jump into the circle of the teeth of Behemoth! And what have the terrible giants been doing? For the past three years there has not been found one of them who would come to us to Wittenberg and stand up against us although assured of our good faith and protection (for we were going to do all things under the presidency of their Caesar). And yet this effeminate and cowardly crew dare to hope for a triumph, and a covering up of their shameful cowardice, by my flight into Bohemia, to which they give world-wide celebrity, while they themselves because of their mental unpreparedness and timidity do not dare to come out into the open against Luther by his lone half.

  What do you think these feeble Bulls would avail them if they were compelled to stand themselves against the adversary of their Caesar, and against his powerful opponents? We should see them fleeing in all directions, these wretched creatures, who now whimper to one another in their holes like mice: Luther is planning flight!

  The King of England after the same fashion in his book blabbers much about my flight into Bohemia, — a mighty wise man is this who believes his book will be victorious, and worthily written, if Luther has only fled to Bohemia. So senseless and effeminate is the hate of this stolid King!

  Although my soul burns to see Bohemia, and the religion so hated by our papist monsters, nevertheless I have kept away hitherto and will keep away, not because I fear the shame of the name, which that riff-raff of men, the Papists, have cast perfidiously and insultingly on a most renowned nation. For the Bohemians had a most just reason for deserting those murderers and anti-christs after they, who were themselves sevenfold heretics, had burned that innocent man, John Huss, and had sacrilegiously condemned the two kinds in the Sacrament as instituted by Christ. This is why this nation is hated by the Papists, who never acknowledge the cruel murder done by the scarlet woman, nor their sacrilege in condemning the Gospel; nay, they go on keeping their rage burning, and heaping shame (with which they in God’s sight are covered) on a foreign and innocent nation.

  I do not fear the shame of the name Bohemian, which is glorious in the sight of God; but Christ has placed me here that I may torment the papist monsters, while they find nothing in me of which they can make public use in vomiting forth their unbelievable animosity. Christ wishes them to be tormented by their own hatred, and destroyed by their own malice.

  I await them therefore here, and am ready to meet their impotent rage. I will irritate and torment them as long as I live; and if they kill me, I will torment them many times more. For I have been given unto them by my Lord Christ as a sign that whether they spare me, or kill me, their infuriated conscience will have no grace, no peace, no solace. They will have a double affliction, the torment of their present hatred, and that which it is earning for them, — the eternal torment of Gehenna. The consummation of the abominable Papacy is at hand; from its fate it has no escape, and (as Daniel says) it is coming to its end and no man will help it. Thus we; are both of us boiling over, they with extreme madness, I with supreme contempt; but my courage in Christ will conquer their latest fury that is already waning.

  In fact I am planning another kind of flight into Bohemia, that the papist soothsayers may not prophesy what is entirely untrue, but may suffer a greater oppression of spirit according to what was said to Moses: I will provoke them to anger by a nation that is not a nation, and by a foolish nation I will stir them up. For merely by my books in a short while (Christ helping me) I will bring it to pass that the Bohemians will be set free from their reproach, and that the Papists alone in the earth will have an abominable name, nay, will become a curse and an anathema. Not that I approve of all that the Bohemians do. I know nothing of their affairs and am told that there are sects among them; but I will bring it about that the Papists compared with them will be a world-wide disgust and nausea, since they themselves are nothing else but sects, the Franciscans alone having about six sects.

  These things I write to you, O noble Hero, that I may take the beginning of my flight as far as to thee, who dost reign in the outskirts of Bohemia, in the part next to Germany, so that by thee, and thy good offices, I may finally proceed into the whole territory of Bohemia. The lay-King having written to his most sacred Pontiff, I, who was once in my misery one of the Pope’s clergy, ought to write to the most Christian of laymen. For I hear you have a burning seal for the pure Gospel truth, and are driving
the abominations and scandals of the Roman pestilence from your dominion. Go on with this good work, O most renowned Hero; for so will be abolished the shame of the name Bohemia, and the harlot will have her unclean lies and fornications cast back into her bosom, so that her shame to her eternal disgrace may be revealed to the whole world. Let this be the beginning of my flight, this hope of an excellent example which the rest of the Bohemian heroes and magistrates shall follow. So I shall not only make a flight into Bohemia, but I shall dwell there, even if this fury of the strange woman should burn me. But her hatred I shall at the same time both kindle and conquer in Christ. No more shall she prosper. Christ has so resolved. Amen.

  The Grace of our Lord Jesus Christ preserve and strengthen thee, thou good Hero, for ever. Amen.

  Wittenberg, July 15, 1522.

  AGAINST HENRY, KING OF THE ENGLISH

  WITH such blindness and madness has our Lord Jesus Christ stricken the whole kingdom of the papist abomination, that for three years now the Cyclops of their infinite host, warring on Luther alone, are still at a loss to understand for what reason I am at war with them. In vain do all the books that I have edited and published testify that I seek this one thing only, which is that the divine Scriptures be given the pre-eminence, as is right and just, and that all human inventions and traditions be taken out of the way as most hurtful stumbling blocks. Or, having cut out their poison and plucked out their sting, that is, their power of forcing and commanding and snaring consciences being taken away, let them be freely and indifferently tolerated as in this world we have to tolerate any other pest or unhappiness.