500 Year Anniversary of the Reformation and Beer

Already the web is being filled with sites proclaiming the goodness of Martin Luther in breaking from the Church and causing one of the largest schisms in the Body of Christ.

He had this to say about his influence: “I simply taught, preached, and wrote God’s Word; otherwise I did nothing. And then, while I slept, or drank Wittenberg beer with my friends . . . the Word so greatly weakened the papacy that never a prince or emperor did such damage to it. I did nothing. The Word did it all.”


I would like to correct Martin here and say that it was not the Word which weakened the papacy. It was Luther's novel interpretations of "the word" essentially making it say what he wanted it to  so as  to support his novel doctrines. Remember that pesky scripture from Revelation about adding to or subtracting from the word? Luther did both, removing several books from the canon as well as adding to scripture to make it more in line with his new teachings.  I do wonder how many Wittenberg beers he had quaffed when he wrote this?



"If your Papist annoys you with the word ('alone' - Rom. 3:28), tell him straightway, Dr. Martin Luther will have it so:  Papist and ass are one and the same thing. Whoever will not have my translation, let him give it the go-by: the devil's thanks to him who censures it without my will and knowledge.  Luther will have it so, and he is a doctor above all the doctors in Popedom.", from J. Dollinger, La Reforme et les resultants quelle a produits. (Trans. E. Perrot, Paris, Gaume, 1848-49), Vol III, pg. 138.