by Les Zsoldos

Created on: March 30, 2007   Last Updated: May 11, 2007

Martin Luther's legacy is mixed. While he was right that there were abuses connected with indulgences, he was wrong to eliminate them. In effect, he threw the baby out with the bath water. The church established by Christ has the authority to impose penance and forgiveness (Matthew 18:18). The Bible makes it clear that even when our sins are forgiven, a temporal penalty remains which must be atoned for. For example, if we break a shopkeeper's window, even if we apologize and are forgiven, we must replace the broken window.

Martin Luther was wrong to throw out the deuterocanonical books which Jesus Christ and the apostles used. In fact, they were thrown out by the Council of Jamnia around 90 A.D., a Jewish council which also threw out the New Testament. Martin Luther probably threw them out because he didn't like Maccabees 2, a book which can be used to support purgatory.

Why was Martin Luther opposed to purgatory? It didn't support his doctrine of "sola fide" or faith alone. This doctrine is not biblical because the Book of James clearly says that faith without works is dead. The Catholic view is that Jesus Christ opened the gates of heaven to us with his sacrifice but we must do our part. We must merit the kingdom. Christ gave us objective salvation but we must love God- this is subjective salvation. The Book of James says that even the demons tremble and believe, so mere belief is obviously insufficient. Since the Book of James made a mockery of Martin Luther's doctrine of "faith alone", it's not surprising that he wanted to throw it out of the Bible.

His doctrine of private interpretation was another disaster which led to the formation of countless Protestant denominations. The second book of Peter makes it clear that private interpretation is not allowed. Martin Luther invented the doctrine to justify his split from Christ's church. Allowing private interpretation of scripture is akin to allowing every American to interpret the laws of the land for himself/herself. The result is chaos.

The "sola scriptura" or Bible alone doctrine is another disaster. Just as the USA needs a supreme court to interpret its laws, Christ's church needs a magisterium (the pope and bishops) to interpret ecclesiastical law. In fact, the church has three essential parts- the magisterium (teaching authority), the Bible and oral tradition (see 2 Thessalonians 2:15).

Other facts about Martin Luther that are rarely mentioned by Lutherans are that he was very anti-semitic and also misogynistic.

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