Way back when this forum was first started I posted this query, but I never got an answer. Now that the CA Forum has the population of a middle-sized city, I’m going to try again.
When I was doing the study that eventually brought me into the Catholic Church, I ran across and then lost a quotation from Martin Luther. The quote was apparently from his later years, and he was commenting on the chaos brought about by the introduction of his doctrine that every individual has the right to read and interpret Scripture for him/herself. The quote was something like, “When I was younger, I had only one Pope to deal with; now I have 300.”
Does anyone know 1) the exact wording of the quote, and 2) where in Luther’s writings it can be found?
This is the only quote I have been able to find from Martin Luther that talks about his fear of “more” popes.
I might be able to find the quote the OP was talking about if I had more time.
How to find quotes via Internet?
Just type things like “Martin Luther Quote” in a search engine such as “google” and multi-pages will pop up.
I suspect that if Luther really said the quote the OP was talking about it would be hard to find via “google” search seeing it would not be a “popular” quote. Things that are “popular” are what will show up first on Internet search engines.
I suspect that if Luther really said the quote the OP was talking about it would be hard to find via “google” search seeing it would not be a “popular” quote. Things that are “popular” are what will show up first on Internet search engines.
***“This one will not hear of Baptism, and that one denies the sacrament, another puts a world between this and the last day: some teach that Christ is not God, some say this, some say that: there are as many sects and creeds as there are heads. No yokel is so rude but when he has dreams and fancies, he thinks himself inspired by the Holy Ghost and must be a prophet.” ***
**De Wette III, 61. **
***“Noblemen, townsmen, peasants, all classes understand the Evangelium better than I or St. Paul; they are now wise and think themselves more learned than all the ministers.” ***
No, not at all. I do, however, see a lot of Catholics criticizing Martin Luther so, if there is an inane Luther comment out there I’d think that Catholics would want to use it.
Enter a search string that consists of a unique sequence of words from the quote. For example, if my previous sentence were a famous quote, you would enter something like “a unique sequence of words”, complete with the quotations marks. Outside the quotation marks you could also include other identifying words, like my name, and then surround the whole thing with parentheses.
Thanks to all who responded. I have a feeling that the quote in the form that I thought I remembered reading doesn’t really exist.
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