Did Martin Luther regret the Reformation

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latingirl

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I’m sorry if this topic does not fit, I couldn’t think of anywhere else to ask my question.

I used to have a book that told me Martin Luther himself regretted the Reformation saying that his spreading the Gospel has produced madness. It seems if he were alive today he would be very upset about the divisions he caused. Every person can now intepret Scripture as they please, learning from Luther;s example and break away from their church when they don’t agree. Is this what Luther would have wanted? Was this the 'madness " he spoke of?

Second, I would appreciate it if someone can give me a document or statement supposting the idea Luther regretted the Reformation. I don’t hear about this aspect of Christian history very much seeing as how many modern-day Christians exalt Luther as a hero instead of admitting he made a big mistake.

Thank you everyone and pax Domini vobiscum, Puella Latina.
 
His original intention was to reform the Catholic Church, not seperate from it. He was unable to reform it due to the fundamental mistakes in the Church that he was against. So by making a new schism in the Church, Martin Luther was actually unsucessful in his original goal.
 
MikeTheFourth said:
His original intention was to reform the Catholic Church, not seperate from it. He was unable to reform it due to the fundamental mistakes in the Church that he was against. So by making a new schism in the Church, Martin Luther was actually unsucessful in his original goal.
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Sorry, more like ‘He was unable to reform it due to his teachings contradicting scripture and the Catholic Church’s Dogma’.

This is a catholic forum. Proselytizing is against the rules.
 
ProVobis said:
He started a new church without Apostolic Succession.
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True! Had Luther really been desirous of reforming the church he would have stayed in it and reformed it from within. If you read any book on the life of luther you quickly see that he had significant mental health issues and would not accept anything regarding faith that was not fully in line with what he believed was written in scripture. So what we have is someone who thought that his wisdom of scripture and faith surpassed the 1500 years of experience which came before him. Talk about pride.
 
latingirl said:
…

Second, I would appreciate it if someone can give me a document or statement supposting the idea Luther regretted the Reformation…
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I’m interested in substantive responses. It sounds like a version of the “Darwin rejected evolution on his deathbed” threads.
 
Reservoir_Dog said:
I’m interested in substantive responses. It sounds like a version of the “Darwin rejected evolution on his deathbed” threads.
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I bet Luther didnt expect the kind of outcome that came about as a result of his actions but I doubt very much that he actually regretted doing what he did.
 
latingirl said:
I’m sorry if this topic does not fit, I couldn’t think of anywhere else to ask my question.

I used to have a book that told me Martin Luther himself regretted the Reformation saying that his spreading the Gospel has produced madness. It seems if he were alive today he would be very upset about the divisions he caused. Every person can now intepret Scripture as they please, learning from Luther;s example and break away from their church when they don’t agree. Is this what Luther would have wanted? Was this the 'madness " he spoke of?

Second, I would appreciate it if someone can give me a document or statement supposting the idea Luther regretted the Reformation. I don’t hear about this aspect of Christian history very much seeing as how many modern-day Christians exalt Luther as a hero instead of admitting he made a big mistake.

Thank you everyone and pax Domini vobiscum, Puella Latina.
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I don’t think Martin Luther had any regrets about what he did. The way I’m reading it is that he saw abuse and then acted according to his conscience. And the result was that he got himself thrown out of the Catholic Church. What else could he have done other than do what he thought was right? Why would he regret doing what he had thought through and was certain was the right thing to do? In any case, I don’t see how you can blame Martin Luther for all the divisions. That’s like blaming the pope for all the Catholic priests that abused children.
 
UniversalistGuy said:
I don’t think Martin Luther had any regrets about what he did. The way I’m reading it is that he saw abuse and then acted according to his conscience. And the result was that he got himself thrown out of the Catholic Church. What else could he have done other than do what he thought was right? Why would he regret doing what he had thought through and was certain was the right thing to do? In any case, I don’t see how you can blame Martin Luther for all the divisions. That’s like blaming the pope for all the Catholic priests that abused children.
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With all due respect doing what luther thought was right was in part based on what he thought scripture said, namely that we are saved by faith alone. Its the “alone” part that he added to his interpretation of scripture which he then based his decision to “do the right thing” upon.
 
ignatius777 said:
With all due respect doing what luther thought was right was in part based on what he thought scripture said, namely that we are saved by faith alone. Its the “alone” part that he added to his interpretation of scripture which he then based his decision to “do the right thing” upon.
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But do you agree that he did what he did because he was prompted by his conscience and thought he was doing the right thing?
 
ignatius777 said:
True! Had Luther really been desirous of reforming the church he would have stayed in it and reformed it from within. If you read any book on the life of luther you quickly see that he had significant mental health issues and would not accept anything regarding faith that was not fully in line with what he believed was written in scripture. So what we have is someone who thought that his wisdom of scripture and faith surpassed the 1500 years of experience which came before him. Talk about pride.
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That whole death sentence on his head thing might have made that a little harder. As for mental health…I think the pope at the time had as many issues, if not more, that Dr. Luther ever had.
 
UniversalistGuy said:
But do you agree that he did what he did because he was prompted by his conscience and thought he was doing the right thing?
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I suppose thats as true as the guy who shot congresswoman giffords thougth he was doing the right thing. Doing the “right” thing should not be based on individual determinations of “right” woudlnt you agree?
 
Lutheranteach said:
That whole death sentence on his head thing might have made that a little harder. As for mental health…I think the pope at the time had as many issues, if not more, that Dr. Luther ever had.
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What death sentence on his head thing are you talking about?
 
Lutheranteach said:
That whole death sentence on his head thing might have made that a little harder. As for mental health…I think the pope at the time had as many issues, if not more, that Dr. Luther ever had.
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You may well be right but a death sentence was not the first option put forth to “dr” luthers actions. As for mental health issues of the pope you again may be right on the money but its irrelevant to luther’s issues. I am impressed at least that you dont deny luther’s mental illness like many of your contemporaries have.
 
ignatius777 said:
I suppose thats as true as the guy who shot congresswoman giffords thougth he was doing the right thing. Doing the “right” thing should not be based on individual determinations of “right” woudlnt you agree?
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No I don’t agree and I don’t see what Congresswoman Giffords has to do with it.
 
UniversalistGuy said:
No I don’t agree and I don’t see what Congresswoman Giffords has to do with it.
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Because Congresswoman Giffords was not the point of the post. You said luther was acting on what he thought was right. I gave you an example of someone else whom I bet would say he was doing what was right. Doing whats “right” based on a subjective understanding of that words doesnt necessarily make it a just or appropriate decision.
 
ignatius777 said:
UniversalistGuy;7491219:
No I don’t agree and I don’t see what Congresswoman Giffords has to do with it.
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Because Congresswoman Giffords was not the point of the post. You said luther was acting on what he thought was right. I gave you an example of someone else whom I bet would say he was doing what was right. Doing whats “right” based on a subjective understanding of that words doesnt necessarily make it a just or appropriate decision.
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All I would like for you to do is to give Martin Luther the benefit of the doubt. You sneered at him in an earlier post. “Talk about pride” you said. That’s not an argument and anyway it’s not fair to talk in such a sneering way about a dead person that can’t answer back. I’m pretty sure it’s a sin as well. So instead of bringing up Congresswomen Giffords and immediately after you’ve brought her into it say she has nothing to do with it, you’ve now got the chance to say something reasonable and fair about Martin Luther. I urge you to withdraw your unfair and judgmental comment about Martin Luther and to say that you have no problem with the suggestion that he did what he did because he was prompted by his conscience.
 
UniversalistGuy said:
All I would like for you to do is to give Martin Luther the benefit of the doubt. You sneered at him in an earlier post. “Talk about pride” you said. That’s not an argument and anyway it’s not fair to talk in such a sneering way about a dead person that can’t answer back. I’m pretty sure it’s a sin as well. So instead of bringing up Congresswomen Giffords and immediately after you’ve brought her into it say she has nothing to do with it, you’ve now got the chance to say something reasonable and fair about Martin Luther. I urge you to withdraw your unfair and judgmental comment about Martin Luther and to say that you have no problem with the suggestion that he did what he did because he was prompted by his conscience.
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Ok fair enough I will withdraw my comment …“talk about pride”. That is unfair. As for the congresswoman it was not her that I was referring to when her name was offered. I am struggling with why you cant see that. Its the shooter I was talking about and NOT her but she is the way I reference the shooter since I could careless about his name. Do you understand? If he were to tell you he thought he was doing the “right” thing would you say that we give him the “benefit of the doubt”? My point is simply that because you believe something is “right” that dont make it so and its not necessarily a justification for any given action.
 
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