How do Protestants Justify Martin Luther's Changing of Scripture?

  • Thread starter Thread starter logicallyfallacious
  • Start date Start date
Status
Not open for further replies.
L

logicallyfallacious

Guest
I’m curious as to how Protestants justify Martin Luther’s adding “alone” to Romans 1:17, given that all Christians believe that the Holy Bible is the Word of God, or at least the inspired Word of God.
 
I could be mistaken, but my NIV does not have the word “alone” in it. Which Protestant bibles have that in it these days?

As for the reasoning, my guess, and this is only my guess, is that “alone” doesn’t change the meaning, it makes it more apparent. To be clear, I don’t support it and I’m Catholic, not Protestant.
 
Last edited:
Protestants generally did not accept all his Biblical changes (ie, they kept in James, Hebrews, and Revelations, despite his objections to them). Only his OT book removals stuck.
 
logicallyfallacious said:
I’m curious as to how Protestants justify Martin Luther’s adding “alone” to Romans 1:17, given that all Christians believe that the Holy Bible is the Word of God, or at least the inspired Word of God.
Click to expand...
While he did add the word “alone” to that verse, he also removed three New Testament books and seven Old. Not everyone agreed with him and all of the new testament stuck, with that word removed and the Old testament books were removed along with a few passages from other books.

The justification today for the removal of books, is the claim that the council of Trent added them around 1550 to1560. Indeed these books can be found in the documents of the council, not as additions, but rather as confirmation that they had always been there and would remain despite what Luther had to say.

Most Protestants who claim this addition have been misinformed and choose to believe what they are told by the teachers in their lives, whose agenda is to discredit Catholicism.

If you can, correct them with facts, but do it with reason, logic and Love for most of them have been so indoctrinated they do not want to hear the truth.
 
Last edited:
Luther not only added the word “alone” to Romans 3:28 to his German translation, he also wanted to take out of the New Testament the books of James (he call it an epistle of straw and James is the only place where the phrase “faith alone” appears), and I think Hebrews and Revelation.

James says that salvation is NOT by faith alone (James 2:24).

Luther was confronted at the time about his added the word “Alone”:
“You tell me what a great fuss the Papists are making because the word ‘alone’ is not in the text of Paul. If your Papist makes such an unnecessary row about the word ‘alone,’ say right out to him: ‘Dr. Martin Luther will have it so,’ and say: ‘Papist and asses are one and the same thing.’ I will have it so, and I order it to be so, and my will is reason enough. I know very well that the word ‘alone’ is not in the Latin or the Greek text, and it was not necessary for the Papists to teach me that. It is true those letters are not in it, which letters the jackasses look at, as a cow stares at a new gate…It shall remain in my New Testament, and if all the Popish donkeys were to get mad and beside themselves, they will not get it out.”
Click to expand...
Thus sayeth the “humble” Martin Luther.

Martin Luther also hated it when anyone interpreted the Bible differently than he did. He expected everyone to accept his interpretation alone and only his interpretation. For a man who hated the papacy, it sounds to me like he has delusions of popehood. 😲
 
Last edited:
In addition, Martin Luther decided to rewrite the Catholic Mass, to declare that it was not a sacrifice. It simply became a re-enactment of the Lord’s supper, a sort of stage play, aimed at the audience, not the ultimate act of worship. "The cult (i.e. Mass) was formerly meant to render homage to God; henceforth it shall be directed to man in order to console him and enlighten him. Whereas the sacrifice formerly held pride of place, henceforth the most important will be the sermon.” (Luther quoted by Léon Christiani, Du luthéranisme au protestantisme (1910), p. 312)
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top