Martin Luther’s Ten Important “Catholic” Views

Martin Luther’s Ten Important “Catholic” Views February 2, 2025

Photo credit: self-designed cover of my self-published book (2008)

NOTE: see also my video with Kenny Burchard, that discusses these points and adds additional information about Martin Luther: Luther’s Shocking Catholic Confessions: Ten Catholic Truths Martin Luther Embraced!!! [Catholic Bible Highlights, 2-6-25]

1) Catholic Church’s Authority and Christian Status

We on our part confess that there is much that is Christian and good under the papacy; indeed everything that is Christian and good is to be found there and has come to us from this source. For instance we confess that in the papal church there are the true holy Scriptures, true baptism, the true sacrament of the altar, the true keys to the forgiveness of sins, the true office of the ministry, the true catechism in the form of the Lord’s Prayer, the Ten Commandments, and the articles of the creed . . . I speak of what the pope and we have in common . . . I contend that in the papacy there is true Christianity, even the right kind of Christianity and many great and devoted saints. . . . The Christendom that now is under the papacy is truly the body of Christ and a member of it. If it is his body, then it has the true spirit, gospel, faith, baptism, sacrament, keys, the office of the ministry, prayer, holy Scripture, and everything that pertains to Christendom. So we are all still under the papacy and therefrom have received our Christian treasures. (Concerning Rebaptism, written against the Anabaptists in January 1528; in Luther’s Works, Vol. 40, pp. 229-262; this excerpt from pp. 231-232)

2) Infant and Regenerating Baptism

Little children . . . are free in every way, secure and saved solely through the glory of their baptism . . . Through the prayer of the believing church which presents it, . . . the infant is changed, cleansed, and renewed by inpoured faith. (The Babylonian Captivity of the Church, October 1520, from the translation of A. T. W. Steinhauser, Philadelphia: Fortress Press, revised edition, 1970, 197)

The power, the effect, the benefit, the fruit and the purpose of baptism is to save. . . . Through the Word, baptism receives the power to become the washing of regeneration, as St. Paul calls it in Titus 3:5 . . . Faith clings to the water and believes it to be baptism which effects pure salvation and life . . . When sin and conscience oppress us . . . you may say: It is a fact that I am baptized, but, being baptized, I have the promise that I shall be saved and obtain eternal life for both soul and body . . . Hence, no greater jewel can adorn our body or soul than baptism; for through it perfect holiness and salvation become accessible to us . . . (Large Catechism, April 1529, Minneapolis: Augsburg Publishing House, 1935, sections 223-224, 230, pages 162, 165)

3) Apostolic and Catholic Tradition

This article [the Real Presence of Christ in the Holy Eucharist] has been unanimously believed and held from the beginning of the Christian Church to the present hour, as may be shown from the books and writings of the dear fathers, . . ., — which testimony of the entire holy Christian Church ought to be sufficient for us, even if we had nothing more. For it is dangerous and dreadful to hear or believe anything against the unanimous testimony, faith, and doctrine of the entire holy Christian Church, as it has been held unanimously in all the world up to this year 1500. Whoever now doubts of this, he does just as much as if he believed in no Christian Church, . . . to which Christ bears powerful testimony in Matt. 28.20: ‘Lo, I am with you alway, to the end of the world,’ and Paul, in 1 Tim. 3.15: ‘The Church is the pillar and ground of the truth.’  (Letter to Albert, Margrave of Brandenburg and Duke of Prussia, dated between February and April 1532; cited in Philip Schaff, The Life and Labours of St. Augustine, Oxford University: 1854, p. 95. Italics are Schaff’s own; cf. abridged [?] version in Preserved Smith, The Life and Letters of Martin Luther [Boston and New York: Houghton Mifflin Company, 1911], pp. 290-292. Renowned Protestant historian Schaff, on the same page, stated that in this letter, Luther “declares the importance of tradition in matters of faith, as strongly even as any Catholic.”)

4) Works: Supreme Importance of, as Proof of an Authentic Faith

Where is the fruit that shows you really believe? . . . Christ has not died so that you could remain such a sinner; rather, he died so that sin might be put to death and destroyed and that you might now begin to love God and your neighbor. Faith takes sins away and puts them to death so that you should live not in them but in righteousness. Therefore demonstrate by your works and by your fruits that you have faith . . . [Whoever believes] will say it with his deeds – or forget about having the reputation of being a believer . . . Love follows true faith . . . One should do everything that is good so that faith does not become an empty husk but may be true and genuine. (Sermon on 1 John 4:16 ff., 1545; original in Weimar German edition of Luther’s Works, Vol. 49, 783; from Paul Althaus, The Theology of Martin Luther, translated by Robert C. Schultz, Philadelphia: Fortress Press, 1966, 448-449; this sermon is included in Vol. 78 of Luther’s Works [2015])

5) Holy Eucharist: Real Presence

I have often enough asserted that I do not argue whether the wine remains wine or not. It is enough for me that Christ’s blood is present; let it be with the wine as God wills. Sooner than have mere wine with the fanatics, I would agree with the pope that there is only blood. (Confession Concerning Christ’s Supper, February 1528, in Luther’s Works, Vol. 37, 317)

This is clear, plain, and unconcealed: “I am speaking of My flesh and blood.” . . . There we have the flat statement which cannot be interpreted in any other way than that there is no life, but death alone, apart from His flesh and blood if these are neglected or despised. How is it possible to distort this text [John 6]? . . . You must note these words and this text with the utmost diligence . . . It can neither speciously be interpreted nor avoided and evaded. (Sermons on the Gospel of St. John: Chapters 6-8; 16th Sermon on John 6, 1 April 1531; in Luther’ Works, Vol. 23, 133-135)

6) Images of Saints

According to the law of Moses no other images are forbidden than an image of God which one worships. A crucifix, on the other hand, or any other holy image is not forbidden. . . . Where however images or statues are made without idolatry, then such making of them is not forbidden. . . . My image breakers must also let me keep, wear, and look at a crucifix or a Madonna . . . as long as I do not worship them, but only have them as memorials. . . . But images for memorial and witness, such as crucifixes and images of saints, are to be tolerated . . . And they are not only to be tolerated, but for the sake of the memorial and the witness they are praiseworthy and honorable . . . (Against the Heavenly Prophets in the Matter of Images and Sacraments, January 1525; in Luther’s Works, Vol. 40, 85-86, 88, 91)

7) “In Partu” Birth of Jesus

[The Catholic Church has interpreted Mary’s virginity (in partu) as a physically miraculous birth of Jesus rather than a natural one. This is part of being “ever-virgin”: before, during, and after the birth of Christ]

She remained a virgin after the birth of Christ because Scripture does not state or indicate that she later lost her virginity. . . . the Scripture stops with this, that she was a virgin before and at the birth of Christ; . . . (That Jesus Christ Was Born a Jew, May 1523; in Luther’s Works, Vol. 45, 206; my emphasis)

She brought forth without sin, without shame, without pain and without injury, just as she had conceived without sin. The curse of Eve did not come on her, where God said: “In pain thou shalt bring forth children,” Gen. 3:16; otherwise it was with her in every particular as with every woman who gives birth to a child. (Sermon for Christmas Eve; Luke 2:1-14, translated by George H. Trabert, 24 December 1521; in Vol. 1 of Sermons of Martin Luther, The Church Postils; edited and partially translated by John Nicholas Lenker, 8 volumes. Volumes 1-5 were originally published in Minneapolis by Lutherans of All Lands, 1904-1906; my emphasis)

8) Opposition to the Contraceptive Mentality / Procreation the Purpose of Marriage

The rest of the populace is more wicked than even the heathen themselves. For most married people do not desire offspring. Indeed, they turn away from it and consider it better to live without children, because they are poor and do not have the means with which to support a household. . . . But the purpose of marriage is not to have pleasure and to be idle but to procreate and bring up children, to support a household. . . . Those who have no love for children are swine, stocks, and logs unworthy of being called men and women; for they despise the blessing of God . . . (Lectures on Genesis: Chapters 26-30; c. Autumn 1542; ch. 30, in Luther’s Works, vol. 5, 363)

In the human race there are few who regard a woman’s fertility as a blessing. Indeed, there are many who have an aversion for it and regard sterility as a special blessing. Surely this is also contrary to nature. (Ibid., 325)

9) Sinless Mary

In [Christ’s] conception the flesh and blood of Mary were entirely purged, so that nothing of sin remained. Therefore Isaiah says rightly, “There was no guile found in his mouth”; otherwise, every seed except for Mary’s was corrupted.” (Disputation On the Divinity and Humanity of Christ, 27 February 1540; “translated from the Latin text Weimar edition, 39/2.92-121” by Christopher B. Brown, and available online [see also a much snazzier PDF version]) 

[Mary was] “saved and purified from original sin through the Holy Spirit” . . . (Vom Schem Hamphoras und vom Geschlecht Christi [Of the Unknowable Name and the Generations of Christ], 1543, Weimar edition, 53, 640; cited by Beth KreitzerReforming Mary: Changing Images of the Virgin Mary in Lutheran Sermons of the Sixteenth Century [Oxford University Press: 2004], p. 124)

10) Eucharistic Adoration

Where worship is offered from the heart, there follows quite properly also that outward bowing, bending, kneeling, and adoration with the body. . . . Now to come back to the sacrament: he who does not believe that Christ’s body and blood are present does well not to worship either with his spirit or with his body. But he who does believe, as sufficient demonstration has shown it ought to be believed, can surely not withhold his adoration of the body and blood of Christ without sinning. For I must always confess that Christ is present when his body and blood are present. His words do not lie to me, and he is not separated from his body and blood. (The Adoration of the Sacrament, April 1523; in Luther’s Works, vol. 36, 293-294)

One should not withhold from him such worship and adoration [in the Holy Eucharist] . . . One should not condemn and accuse of heresy people who do adore the sacrament. (Ibid., 294-295)

NOTE: see also my video with Kenny Burchard, that discusses these points and adds additional information about Martin Luther: Luther’s Shocking Catholic Confessions: Ten Catholic Truths Martin Luther Embraced!!! [Catholic Bible Highlights, 2-6-25]

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Photo credit: self-designed cover of my self-published book (2008) [learn more information and purchase].

Summary: I collect the words of Martin Luther (1483-1546), the founder of Protestantism, in ten major areas where he — surprisingly and shockingly — agrees with Catholic positions.

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