Table Talk with Martin Luther: A Modern Catholic's Conversations with the Founder of Protestantism

This book is a work of historical fiction. Unless otherwise noted, the author and the publisher make no explicit guarantees as to the accuracy of the information contained in this book and in some cases, names of people and places have been altered to protect their privacy.

© 2005 Edward J. Hahnenberg. All Rights Reserved.

No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted by any means without the written permission of the author.

First published by AuthorHouse 04/01/05

ISBN: 1-4208-4140-8 (sc)

ISBN: 9781463491680 (ebk)

Printed in the United States of America

Bloomington, Indiana

Cover: Author’s digitized image of Castle Church, Wittenberg. It was to the doors of this church that Luther posted his 95 Theses.

CONTENTS

Acknowledgements

Introduction

The Pope and the Theory

Rome and a Revelation

Indulgences and the 95 Theses

Copernicus, Erasmus, and Justification

The Reformation Begins

The Politics of Freedom

A Sunday Morning in June

Luther’s Marriage

Zwingli

Augsburg and After

Luther’s Family and Later Years

The Smalcald Articles

The Last Friday

The Final Day

Final Thoughts

Chronology

Bibliographical Notes

About the Author

Acknowledgements

This work is dedicated to all those Christians who seek and work for unity of faith and belief so that the prayer of Jesus Christ at the Last Supper may be fulfilled: I pray also for those who will believe in me through their message, that all of them may be one, Father, just as you are in me and I am in you. May they also be in us so that the world may believe that you have sent me. I have given them the glory that you gave me, that they may be one as we are one. (John 17: 20-22)

Introduction

This work is historical fiction in nature. It is based on the views of the founder of Protestantism, Martin Luther, which have largely been drawn from his own writings…and the views of a modern twenty-first century Catholic teacher and author.

The format of the book is that of informal discussions on a variety of topics, from the comparisons and contrasts between centuries separated by five hundred years, to the influences of the culture on a sixteenth century theological giant compared to the influences affecting this twenty-first century author.

The work is history in that it contains references to events that are historical and to works of Luther that are in many cases, in the public domain, available from several sources by means of the internet. It is fiction in that the conversations are those between two men who lived centuries apart.

While the author of this work is in no way claiming any intellectual parity with the great Protestant reformer, there are similarities and differences between the two in their education.

Luther was trained in the classics, Latin and Greek, as I was. Luther taught theology at the university level as a Doctor of Theology. I have a BA in philosophy and an MA in sacred scripture and have been a teacher and administrator for forty years in public and parochial secondary schools. Luther was ordained a Catholic priest. I received eight years of seminary training before leaving the seminary to teach. There are other unique similarities that will become apparent in this work.

The differences are many. I have not lived in the sixteenth century’s educational and religious environment, nor at sixty-four, do I plan on becoming a reformer of Christianity. I write to learn, although some may say I should learn to write. Anyway, I found the idea of sitting down with the great German theologian to discuss our two perspectives of Christianity to be compelling to the point of distraction. Here, in my imaginary setting, I, dressed in T-shirt and blue jeans, converse with a most gracious host about heady topics of salvation, grace, and faith. He, for his part, laying aside his doctoral hat, obviously enjoys parrying with an unknown figure from the future. It is a scene at once both absurd, and yet fascinating, to say the least!

The title of my book is borrowed from a collection of writings by Martin Luther entitled Tischreden, or Colloquia Mensalia, or Table Talk, translated into English by William Hazlitt, Esq. (19??), are in the public domain, and is available for reading and study at: http://www.ccel.org/l/luther/table_talk/table_talk.htm.

The contents of the book Tischerat, or Table Talk, were written down by his friends and followers, and chiefly by Antony Lauterbach and John Aurifaber. They consist of notes of Luther’s discourses, of his conversations during his walks or at table. In other words, Tischerat was not the work of Luther the author, but of Luther the conversationalist.

In addition to the above, I have quoted Luther’s Babylonian Captivity of the Church (1520), translated into English by Albert T. W. Steinhaeuser. An updated version (2002) is in the public domain, and is available for reading and study on-line at:

http://www.ctsfw.edu/etext/luther/babylonian/babylonian.htm.

Another helpful resource used was the Augsburg Confession, written by Philip Melanchthon. It, too, is in the public domain and available for reading and study on-line at:

http://www.iclnet.org/pub/resources/text/wittenberg/concord/web/augs-000.html.

Also available on-line, and in the public domain, I have included the Sunday worship service of Deutsche Messe und ordnung Gottis dientis (German Mass and Order of Divine Service), published by Martin Luther in 1526. See the English trans. at: http://www.iclnet.org/pub/resources/text/wittenberg/luther/germnmass-order.txt.

In addition, I have accessed other pertinent works of Martin Luther which are available on-line. In all cases, I have indicated the web address where the work may be read and studied.

Finally, from the vast collection of works on Martin Luther, I recommend two hard copy books to anyone who would like additional information on Luther. One is Michael A. Mullett’s even-handed Martin Luther, part of the Routledge Historical Biographies Series edited by Robert Pearce. Mullett’s book, first published in 2004 by Routledge, London and New York, is a detailed and up-to-date resource with copious references and a guide to further reading. A second book, one of essays on various aspects of Luther’s influence by a commissioned international scholars, is The Cambridge Companion to Martin Luther, edited by Donald K. McKim, part of a series entitled Cambridge Companions to Religion. The Cambridge Companion to Martin Luther is available from Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, UK, and New York, NY. The Companion has a large Select Bibliography which encompasses the latest research on Luther.

The Pope and the Theory

I invited Dr. Luther to my home in northern lower Michigan. I have lived here for thirty-four years and Luther had agreed to spend two weeks in discussions with me on his beliefs and the current teachings of the Catholic Church.

Retired from teaching for two years, I have developed interests in astronomy, writing, fruit and vegetable farming, and motorcycle riding.

After giving Dr. Luther a tour of my farm on a day, late in May, we went down to the lake and began our conversation.

The cherry and apple blossoms are beautiful, began Luther. In Germany, where I grew up as a child…Eisenach today…you can see extensive mixed deciduous and coniferous woodlands growing on hilly terrain. Leelanau reminds me of my home town, with its pines and maples.

Yes, I replied. As a matter of fact, to the northwest of Eisenach, about 200 km, is the town of Hahnenberg. It is known for its apple wine, so I guess the thirteen acres of apples on my farm is in keeping with my ancestral hometown…although our farm market makes apple cider instead.

My father was a copper miner; however, the family of Luder, or Luther, was into dairy farming.. My father had to leave the family farm because the law at that time dictated that his youngest brother would inherit the farm.

Interesting, I said. You paint yourself as a poor peasant. On your mother’s side, your lineage was quite well-to-do. The Lindemanns were well-established, with doctors, lawyers, and civil magistrates as your cousins.

You know your history, Luther said with a smile.

I brought with me today a book I wrote on St. Jerome, the author of the Latin Vulgate. I thought we might begin our conversation with your view of the Bible, since you translated the New Testament…and the Old Testament, with help from friends like Melanchthon…into what I gather is considered excellent German.

"Yes, St. Jerome…as you know…after he had revised and corrected the Septuagint, translated the Bible from Hebrew into Latin; His version was still used in our church. Truly, for one man, this was work enough! Nulla enim privata persona tantum efficere potuisset."¹

I caught the Latin of Luther. He had agreed to speak in English or Latin, since I had only studied German for a short time.

During your life you wrote many things condemning the Pope and the papacy. You named the papacy the Antichrist. Yet, today, the pope is arguably the most well-known Christian leader in our world of over six billion people. He is the leader of a billion Catholics. Those that call themselves Lutheran number world-wide nearly 70 million members.

At this point, I got out some information about the Lutheran World Federation.

Did you know, that the Lutheran World Federation, a global communion of Christian churches in the Lutheran tradition, was founded in 1947 in Sweden? It now has 138 member churches in 78 countries representing over 61.7 million of the 65.4 million Lutherans worldwide.

If the papacy is the antichrist, why would an all-loving God allow the Catholic church to follow an institution that is, in your opinion, the devil itself? Why the vituperations against the Pope and the papacy?

Luther seemed agitated to hear the statistics I quoted. He reflected for a moment, then proceeded to answer in the following. manner.

You are correct in regards to my view of the papacy. The Antichrist is the pope and the Muslim together; a beast full of life must have a body and soul; the spirit or soul of antichrist is the pope, his flesh or body the Muslim.²

Luther continued: Seeing the pope is antichrist, I believe him to be a devil incarnate. Like as Christ is true and natural God and man, so is antichrist a living devil. It is true, too, what they say of the pope, that he is a terrestrial god, - for he is neither a real god nor a real man, but of the two natures mingled together.³

Over the next hour, the founder of Protestantism laid out his case against popery, as he called it. It was not a pretty picture he painted of the papacy, and, at times, I saw the rough and bombastic side of this man who was so passionate in his anger at the papacy. Having lived through the papal reigns of Pius XII, John XXIII, Paul VI, John Paul I, and John Paul II, I found his hostility toward the papacy shocking. All the popes in my lifetime had been personally very good men.

His arguments basically came down to his perception of the corrupt use of papal power. He was careful to explain that the antichrist was not just this pope or that one, but the whole institution of the papacy. His reliance, he said, was not on the leadership of the bishop of Rome, but on the sacred scriptures. Sola Scriptura! He concluded the hour with the words I have grounded my preaching upon the literal word of Sacred scripture.

I want to talk more about the Bible and taking the Word of God literally. Let’s save that for another day.

I continued. What about the fact that the Catholic church is the largest church in the world today?

Luther responded, As to the Catholic church today, one does not have to have a huge following to be correct. Look at the Jews before Christ’s coming. They were a tiny minority, yet they were God’s chosen people…

I have a theory about you, I said.

And what is that?

We Catholics have a saint, the newest Doctor of the church, a nun…

What? The church is conferring the title Doctor on women now?

Yes, and she only wrote one book, her autobiography, in her lifetime of twenty-four years.

Luther seemed amused. He explained to me that the earning of a doctorate in theology in Catholic Germany in the sixteenth century allowed you academic privileges to teach at the university level in such a way that one could voice one’s own opinion in matters of theology and participate in public debates…as long as the opinions expressed agreed with accepted church teachings.

Tell me about this young woman and what she wrote that would merit the title ‘Doctor of the Church’ and Saint. The saints, indeed, know God’s Word, and can discourse of it. Was she a biblical scholar? The Catholic church, up until my time, had only conferred the title on a small percentage of the faithful…Jerome being one of them.

"The woman’s name is Therese. She lived in France three centuries after your lifetime. Her only famous work