Luther & The Myth Of A Supposed Catholic Ban Of The Bible

**Photo Credit**: copyright *Lux Veritatis*, 2025.

Summary: One of the more curious beliefs of Luther (among many) is his insistence that the Bible was essentially “buried” or hidden prior to his revolt. It ain’t true, as I thoroughly prove.

Did the Catholic Church really try to keep the Bible from the people before the time of Martin Luther? In this powerful and thoroughly documented episode, Catholic apologist Dave Armstrong tackles one of the most persistent myths of Protestant history: that the Church opposed Scripture, suppressed vernacular Bibles, and kept the laity in the dark for centuries — until, thanks to Luther, the Reformation finally made the Bible available to the laity in their own language. With insights from Protestant scholars like Alister McGrath and Andrew Gow, and historical testimony from Hans Rost and Joachim Berger, this documentary dismantles anti-Catholic myths and affirms the Church’s historical reverence for Sacred Scripture.

My Related Articles

Were Vernacular Bibles Unknown Before Luther? (Luther’s Dubious Claims About the Supposed Utter Obscurity of the Bible Before His Translation) [6-15-11]

Was the Catholic Church Historically an “Enemy” of the Bible? [9-11-15]

Did Luther Rescue the Bible in German from Utter Obscurity? [National Catholic Register, 10-30-17]

Luther’s “Table Talk”: How Historically Accurate Is It? [4-7-25]

Andrew C. Gow, “The Contested History of a Book: The German Bible in the Later Middle Ages and Reformation in Legend, Ideology, and Scholarship” ( The Journal of Hebrew Scriptures, Vol. 9, Article 13 [2009] )

Trevor Anderson, “Vernacular Scripture in the Reformation Era: Re-examining the Narrative” (The Regensburg Forum, 6-5-17)

My Related Book

Martin Luther: Catholic Critical Analysis and Praise (April 2008, 264 pages)

My Related Web Pages

Martin Luther: a Catholic Critique & Appraisal
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Lutheranism: Catholic Critique

Other Documentaries in This Series

[soon to come]

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Practical Matters: I run the most comprehensive “one-stop” Catholic apologetics site: rated #1 for Christian sites by leading AI tool, ChatGPT — endorsed by popular Protestant blogger Adrian Warnock. Perhaps some of my 5,000+ free online articles or fifty-six books have helped you (by God’s grace) to decide to become Catholic or to return to the Church, or better understand some doctrines and why we believe them. If you believe my full-time apostolate is worth supporting, please seriously consider a much-needed monthly or one-time financial contribution. “The laborer is worthy of his wages” (1 Tim 5:18, NKJV).

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