{"id":84810,"date":"2024-07-10T09:00:27","date_gmt":"2024-07-10T13:00:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/davearmstrong\/?p=84810"},"modified":"2026-06-06T00:04:17","modified_gmt":"2026-06-06T04:04:17","slug":"luther-feared-lutherans-even-worse-than-papists","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/davearmstrong\/2024\/07\/luther-feared-lutherans-even-worse-than-papists.html","title":{"rendered":"Luther Feared Lutherans “Even Worse Than Papists”"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>
<\/a>
Photo Credit: Portrait of Martin Luther\u00a0(1546), by Lucas Cranach the Elder (1472-1553)\u00a0[public domain \/\u00a0Wikimedia Commons]<\/figcaption><\/figure>From Martin Luther\u2019s Thirty-Second Sermon, on Matthew\u00a0 23:14<\/em>, <\/i>preached sometime\u00a0\u201cafter March 27 and before September 25, 1538\u201d (Luther\u2019s Works<\/em>, Vol. 68<\/a> [2014], 168-173):<\/p>\n "
Now people do not give anything at all when the Gospel is being preached and people can pray correctly. Now they can find a pastor who does more than all the pope\u2019s bishops, but they give him only about ten gulden. No one wants to give now, and<\/strong> if we did not have the stolen property of the pope<\/strong>, the preachers would have hardly anything to eat<\/strong>. But that is not all; people also gladly take to themselves all that the poor pastors have for getting an income. People used to open their moneybags generously<\/strong>, but now they would gladly snatch the morsel from the mouth of the pastors. The princes have no lack, but the noblemen and magistrates also take away from the pastors their leftover stale crusts of bread, and yet they want to be regarded as being good evangelical people<\/strong>. . . .<\/p>\n*
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Therefore, we are worse than the pope<\/strong>, who steals from the rich widows, emperors, kings, princes, and lords. We rob from the poor beggars, their children, and widows, and this is done by us even in this principality. Therefore, we set ourselves in opposition to the Gospel<\/strong> even more disgracefully than in the lands of Duke George or the margrave. That is devouring the beggars, guests, and poor widows. We can also cry out in woe over this, for they devour flesh and bone. While lamenting over the Papists, we should also not forget ourselves<\/strong>.<\/p>\n
**
I fear<\/b>\u00a0that we fool around with the Gospel such that<\/strong>\u00a0we are even worse before God than the Papists<\/b>. For if someone is going to steal, then it is better to steal from a rich man than from a poor beggar or orphan who has nothing more than a bite of bread. . . .<\/p>\n
**
[You may say,] \u201cThe people should not be scolded!\u201d Christ can also preach well. But here He takes vinegar and forgets the honey and says: \u201cWoe, woe to you peasants, townspeople, and nobility, who scrabble, scrape, and grab up everything for yourselves, and yet want to be regarded as good evangelical people. See to it that the Gospel is not only on your lips, while your deeds are doing the opposite<\/strong>. (pp. 171-173; my bolding)<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
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\u201cPlease Hit \u2018Subscribe\u2019\u201d!<\/strong>\u00a0<\/span>If you have received benefit from this or any of my other 4,600+ articles, please follow this blog by signing up (with your email address) on the sidebar to the right (you may have to scroll down a bit), above where there is an icon bar, \u201cSign Me Up!\u201d: to receive notice when I post a new blog article. This is the equivalent of subscribing to a\u00a0YouTube<\/em>\u00a0channel. Please also consider\u00a0following me on Twitter \/ X\u00a0and purchasing\u00a0one or more of my 55 books<\/a>.\u00a0All of this helps me get more exposure, and (however little!) more income for my full-time apologetics work. Thanks so much and happy reading!<\/p>\n
***<\/p>\n
Even the anti-Catholic Protestant Reformed polemicist and controversialist James Swan, in a rare candid moment regarding his heroes, lamented<\/a>:<\/p>\n
"
Out of all the quotes used to prove Luther\u2019s despondency over the effects of the Reformation, this one comes closest to presenting Luther\u2019s grave concern over the state of the early Protestant church. Luther was disheartened by the lack of funds to support Protestant ministers. While Luther viewed the general stealing of the Papists as horrible, he likewise chastised his own people for lack of giving, which in essence was a form of stealing. . . .<\/p>\n
Luther often complained about the Wittenberg church. He threatened, more than once, that he would either leave this congregation or no longer preach to them.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
The editors of Luther\u2019s Works<\/em> in another volume add:<\/p>\n
"
The tensions between Luther and the Wittenberg congregation came to a head in Luther\u2019s resolution during the summer of 1545 to abandon Wittenberg and to retire with Katy and his family to the countryside, until he was finally persuaded by the petitions of the elector and the university to return. But though dramatic, Luther\u2019s brief self-imposed exile from Wittenberg during the last year of his life was in fact not unprecedented. In 1530, before his departure for the Coburg during the Diet of Augsburg, Luther had announced that he would not preach in Wittenberg anymore, and similar threats, sometimes carried through for several weeks at a time, were repeated both before and after. . . .<\/p>\n
In his next-to-last sermon of February 7, 1546, Luther complained of the devotion of the Christians in Eisleben:<\/p>\n
If you do go to the Sacrament, you go and come away again like a block of wood, or you let other people go to it and stay away yourself. So, too, you hear God\u2019s Word and that God\u2019s Son has died for you with no more devotion than if someone had said to you that the Turk had slain the sultan or the emperor had captured the king of France or some other tale, and you think it has no bearing on you, and you are as cold as ice and do not enkindle your heart nor take any thought for your soul or eternal life. That is what careless, wild people do, who take no thought for God. (Vol. 58, xx-xxii)<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n
Related Reading<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n
Martin Luther: \u201cOur manner of life is as evil as is that of the papists\u201d<\/a>\u00a0[12-29-07]<\/p>\n
Luther on Early Lutherans: \u201cIngrates\u201d Who Deserve God\u2019s \u201cWrath\u201d<\/a>\u00a0[2-28-10]<\/p>\n
Luther on Early Lutheran Degeneracy & Bad Witness<\/a>\u00a0[3-2-10]<\/p>\n
Luther: Monks & Priests More \u201cEarnest\u201d Than Lutherans<\/a>\u00a0[11-10-11]<\/p>\n
Luther: I Was a Better Christian as a Catholic<\/a>\u00a0[6-5-24]<\/p>\n
*<\/div>\n
***<\/div>\n
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***\nPractical Matters<\/em><\/strong>: Perhaps some of my 4,600+ free online articles (the most comprehensive \u201cone-stop\u201d Catholic apologetics site) or\u00a0fifty-five books<\/a>\u00a0have helped you (by God\u2019s grace) to decide to\u00a0become Catholic<\/a>\u00a0or to\u00a0return to the Church<\/a>, or better understand some doctrines and\u00a0why<\/em>\u00a0we believe them<\/a>.<\/p>\n
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Photo Credit<\/strong>: Portrait of Martin Luther<\/em>\u00a0(1546), by Lucas Cranach the Elder (1472-1553)<\/span>\u00a0[public domain \/\u00a0Wikimedia Commons<\/a>]<\/p>\n
Summary<\/em>: Martin Luther, in a sermon in 1538 scolded his congregation, saying, \u201cI fear\u00a0that we fool around with the Gospel such that\u00a0we are even worse before God than the Papists.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
From Martin Luther\u2019s Thirty-Second Sermon, on Matthew\u00a0 23:14, preached sometime\u00a0\u201cafter March 27 and before September 25, 1538\u201d (Luther\u2019s Works, Vol. 68 [2014], 168-173): Now people do not give anything at all when the Gospel is being preached and people can pray correctly. Now they can find a pastor who does more than all the pope\u2019s […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2331,"featured_media":84822,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[23],"tags":[8621,832,19155,19149,2348,19152],"class_list":["post-84810","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-martin-luther","tag-early-lutheranism","tag-james-swan","tag-luther-scolding-his-congregation","tag-luther-sermons","tag-martin-luther","tag-nominal-early-lutheranism"],"yoast_head":"\nLuther Feared Lutherans "Even Worse Than Papists"<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Martin Luther, in a sermon in 1538 scolded his congregation, saying, "I fear\u00a0that we fool around with the Gospel such that\u00a0we are even worse before God than the Papists."\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, 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Unsolicited correspondence has indicated many hundreds of conversions (or returns) to the Catholic faith as a result, by God's grace, of these writings. Dave's conversion story was published in the bestselling book \\\"Surprised by Truth\\\" (edited by Patrick Madrid; San Diego: Basilica Press, 1994). Sophia Institute Press has published six of his books: \\\"A Biblical Defense of Catholicism\\\" (Foreword by Fr. John A. Hardon, S. J., 1996 \/ 2003), \\\"The Catholic Verses\\\" (2004), \\\"The One-Minute Apologist\\\" (2007), \\\"Bible Proofs for Catholic Truths\\\" (2009), \\\"The Quotable Newman\\\" (editor: 2012), and \\\"Proving the Catholic Faith is Biblical\\\" (2015). He is co-author (with Dr. Paul Thigpen) of the inserts for \\\"The New Catholic Answer Bible\\\" (Our Sunday Visitor: 2005), and editor for \\\"The Wisdom of Mr. Chesterton: The Very Best Quotes, Quips, and Cracks from the Pen of G. K. 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Formerly a campus missionary, as a Protestant, Dave was received into the Catholic Church in February 1991, by the late, well-known catechist and theologian, Fr. John A. Hardon, S. J. Dave\u2019s articles have appeared in many influential Catholic periodicals, including \"This Rock\" (now called \"Catholic Answers Magazine\"), \"Envoy Magazine\" (Patrick Madrid), \"The Catholic Answer,\" \"The Coming Home Journal,\" \"Gilbert Magazine\" (American Chesterton Society), and \"The Latin Mass.\" He also writes a featured column for every issue of \"The Michigan Catholic\": published by the archdiocese of Detroit, and was editor for most of the apologetics tracts published by the St. Paul Street Evangelization apostolate. Dave\u2019s apologetics and writing apostolate was the subject of a feature article in the May 2002 issue of \"Envoy Magazine.\" He served as the staff moderator at the Internet discussion forum for The Coming Home Network, from 2007-2010. Dave has been interviewed on many nationally syndicated Catholic radio shows, including \"Catholic Answers Live\" (twice), \"Faith and Family Live\" (Steve Wood), \"Kresta in the Afternoon,\" \"Son Rise Morning Show,\" \"Catholic Connection\" (Teresa Tomeo), and \"The Catholics Next Door.\" His large and popular website, \"Biblical Evidence for Catholicism,\" was online from March 1997 to March 2007, and received the 1998 Catholic Website of the Year award from \"Envoy Magazine.\" His blog of the same name (now transferred to Patheos), begun in February 2004, contains more than 1,500 papers, at least 500 debates or dialogues, and over 50 distinct \"index\" web pages. Unsolicited correspondence has indicated many hundreds of conversions (or returns) to the Catholic faith as a result, by God's grace, of these writings. Dave's conversion story was published in the bestselling book \"Surprised by Truth\" (edited by Patrick Madrid; San Diego: Basilica Press, 1994). Sophia Institute Press has published six of his books: \"A Biblical Defense of Catholicism\" (Foreword by Fr. John A. Hardon, S. J., 1996 \/ 2003), \"The Catholic Verses\" (2004), \"The One-Minute Apologist\" (2007), \"Bible Proofs for Catholic Truths\" (2009), \"The Quotable Newman\" (editor: 2012), and \"Proving the Catholic Faith is Biblical\" (2015). He is co-author (with Dr. Paul Thigpen) of the inserts for \"The New Catholic Answer Bible\" (Our Sunday Visitor: 2005), and editor for \"The Wisdom of Mr. Chesterton: The Very Best Quotes, Quips, and Cracks from the Pen of G. K. Chesterton\" (Saint Benedict Press \/ TAN Books: 2009). \"100 Biblical Arguments Against Sola Scriptura\" was published by Catholic Answers in May 2012. His \"Quotable Wesley\" compilation was published by (Protestant \/ Wesleyan publisher) Beacon Hill Press in April 2014. Several of his 49 books are bestsellers in their field. Dave maintains a popular personal Facebook page, a Facebook author page, and has a Twitter account as well. He offers almost all of his books in e-book form on his own Biblical Catholicism site (http:\/\/biblicalcatholicism.com\/), at a permanent deep discount: only $2.99 for ePub, mobi, and AZW, and $1.99 for PDF. His writing has been enthusiastically endorsed or recommended by many leading Catholic apologists, authors, and priests, including Dr. Scott Hahn, Fr. Peter M. J. Stravinskas, Marcus Grodi, Patrick Madrid, Steve Ray, Tim Staples, Devin Rose, Mike Aquilina, Al Kresta, Karl Keating, Fr. Dwight Longenecker, Brandon Vogt, Marcellino D'Ambrosio, and Fr. John A. Hardon, S. J. Dave has been happily married to his wife Judy since October 1984. They have three sons and a daughter, and reside in southeast Michigan (metro Detroit).","sameAs":["https:\/\/biblicalcatholicism.com\/","https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/dave.armstrong.798","https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/@LuxVeritatisApologetics"],"url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/davearmstrong\/author\/davearmstrong"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/davearmstrong\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/84810","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/davearmstrong\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/davearmstrong\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/davearmstrong\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2331"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/davearmstrong\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=84810"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/davearmstrong\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/84810\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/davearmstrong\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/84822"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/davearmstrong\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=84810"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/davearmstrong\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=84810"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/davearmstrong\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=84810"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
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