Victor R. Claveau, MJ
Martin Luther said in his Commentary on the Psalms, “The Bible is its own interpreter.” It doesn’t take an astounding intellect to realize where that idea has led us. Even Luther saw its destructive effects: “There are almost as many sects and beliefs as there are heads; this one will not admit baptism; that one rejects the Sacrament of the altar; another places another world between the present one and the day of judgment; some teach that Jesus Christ is not God. There is not an individual, however clownish he may be who does not claim to be inspired by the Holy Spirit and who does not put forth as prophesies his ravings and dreams.”[1]
In his own words, it appears that Luther bemoaned the division of the one true Church that was fostered as a result of his tampering with the Bible and his own heretical interpretation of it. This is precisely why the interpretation of the Bible is crucial to the pristine understanding of it. It is imperative to all Catholics that they read only Catholic interpretations of the Bible in order to ensure accurate literary cognition and spiritual perception of God’s Word.
How Did the Protestant Bible Come Into Existence?
“It is estimated that at least twenty-two versions, or different translations, of the Bible existed in various tongues of Europe before the time of Luther. Over seventy editions of the entire Bible in vernacular tongues were printed during the seventy years intervening from 1400 to 1530. The Bible was printed twenty times in the German language before Luther’s translation appeared (1530).
“Two copies of the German Bible, printed in 1466, are preserved in the Senatorial library at Leipsie. The Mazarin Bible [Vulgate] is considered the earliest complete book published. It was printed in Latin about 1455.[2]
“Rev. Dr. Maitland, a learned divine of the Church of England, estimates that fifty Latin editions of the Bible were published before Luther was born. To say nothing of parts of the Bible or of books whose place is uncertain, we know of at least twenty editions of the whole Latin Bible printed in Germany alone before Luther was born.”[3]
Martin Luther was the first Protestant and he formed the Protestant Reformation, which is in itself a misnomer. The concept of reformation is derived from the Latin reformatio, meaning “improvement”, i.e., in this instance, to bring restitution to the Catholic Church which had suffered damage to its principles. The holy Catholic and apostolic Church of Jesus Christ had never suffered damage to its principles, which are founded on Sacred Scripture, Tradition, and Magisterium.
A revolution is an overthrow or repudiation and the replacement of an establishment—a sudden, marked change. Luther’s movement was most definitely a revolution, as parts of Sacred Scripture and dogmas were eradicated and remaining Scripture was erroneously transcribed into an faux creation of divisive mutilated literature and propagated amongst the laity with the initiative to corrupt the unity of the one true Church. The Church was never brought back to her original principles by Luther. The Church indeed has maintained and always will maintain her original principles, as foreseen by Jesus Christ, her founder. Hence, it is proper to classify Luther as a revolutionary rather than as a reformer.
Luther had published his German translation of the New Testament in 1522, and he and his collaborators completed the translation of the Old Testament in 1534, when the whole Bible was published. He continued to work on refining his translation until the end of his life.[4] Others had translated the Bible into German, but Luther tailored his translation to his own doctrine. [5] When he was criticized for inserting the word “alone” after “faith” in Romans 3:28,[6] he replied in part: “[T]he text itself and the meaning of St. Paul urgently require and demand it. For in that very passage he is dealing with the main point of Christian doctrine, namely, that we are justified by faith in Christ without any works of the Law. … But when works are so completely cut away – and that must mean that faith alone justifies – whoever would speak plainly and clearly about this cutting away of works will have to say, ‘Faith alone justifies us, and not works’.”[7]
Luther’s translation used the variant of German spoken at the Saxon chancellery, intelligible to both northern and southern Germans.He intended his vigorous, direct language to make the Bible accessible to everyday Germans, “for we are removing impediments and difficulties so that other people may read it without hindrance.”[8]
Published at a time of rising demand for German-language publications, Luther’s version quickly became a popular and influential Bible translation. As such, it made a significant contribution to the evolution of the German language and literature.[9] Furnished with notes and prefaces by Luther and with woodcuts by Lucas Cranach (1515 –1586) that contained anti-papal imagery, it played a major role in the spread of Luther’s doctrine throughout Germany.[10] The Luther Bible influenced other vernacular translations, such as William Tyndale’s English Bible (1525 forward), a precursor of the King James Bible.[11]
[1] Martin Luther, cited in Leslie Rumble’s Bible Quizzes to a Street Preacher Rockford: TAN Books, 1976), 22.
[2] Hallam’s Literature of Europe, L, 96.
[3] Desmond, H. J., Mooted Questions of History, (New York: Benziger Brothers, 1895), pp. 78 -81.
[4] Mullett, 145; Lohse, 119.
[5] Mullett, 148–50.
[6] Mullett, 148; Wilson, 185; Bainton, Mentor edition, 261. Luther inserted the word “alone” (allein) after the word “faith” in his translation of Saint Paul’s Epistle to the Romans, 3:28. The clause is rendered in the English Authorized Version as “Therefore we conclude that a man is justified by faith without the deeds of the law”.
[7] Lindberg, Carter. The European Reformations: Sourcebook. Blackwell Publishing Ltd., 2000. p. 49. Original sourcebook excerpt taken from Luther’s Works. (St. Louis: Concordia/Philadelphia: Fortress Press, 1955–86). ed. Jaroslav Pelikan and Helmut T. Lehmann, vol. 35. pp. 182, 187–189, 195.
[8] Mullett, 149; Wilson, 302.
[9] Marius, 162.
[10] Lohse, 112–17; Wilson, 183; Bainton, Mentor edition, 258.
[11] Weissbort, Danie,l and Eysteinsson, Astradur. (eds.), Translation—Theory and Practice: A Historical Reader, (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2002).