Was Martin Luther the Most Evil Man? w/@shamelesspopery

Joe Heschmeyer tackles the complex legacy of Martin Luther. Was he truly evil, as some Catholics were taught? Or is the truth more nuanced? Joe delves into Luther's writings, revealing a man passionate about Christ but also struggling with pride and arrogance.

Joe's Podcast: @shamelesspopery

[jnkelley]

I’m a Protestant who is in RCIA at the age of 38. I am a survivor of sola scriptura and a Baptist church who is my youth did a lot of harm. So many Protestants are not even aware of all the tradition and rich history that is missing from there spiritual lives. So many Protestants miss out on what Christianity really is.
Martin Luther, led by his own pride, thought he could make a better church. It has led to the incredible mess that is Protestantism.

[victoriaeinbinder]

This is exactly what is meant when priests warn that scrupulosity is actually a symptom of excessive pride. Martin Luther obsessed about his sinfulness, often spending hours of every day confessing his sins. There's a point where trust in the mercy of Christ has to take hold and allow Him to transform one's weaknesses.

[m]

I hear/see the same arrogance in John MacArthur and James White.

[jaredtheelite]

Pray for Martin Luther's soul at the bare minimum rather than attacking him because Our Lord Jesus Christ, said in Matthew 5:44 "But I tell you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, "

[Golden_writes]

As a former Protestant I can now see there was so much arrogance and pride in me that im still dealing with today. As I came to the Church and Partake in the Eucharist God in me has caused me to look at the log in my eye rather than my brothers splinter. Humbling

[DonJorgeRM]

His ideas came down to "I know better." Protestantism and the resulting fractures are borne of pride.

[kaptainh]

I was Lutheran, he and John Calvin both issues with Pride .

[StephaneBrissette-pn]

Acts 20:30

and from among your own selves will arise men speaking twisted things, to draw away the disciples after them.

[evanstein]

If not Luther it would have been someone else. Jan Hus almost accomplished the same thing but had the misfortune of living a century before, when the printing press had not caught on, which was indispensable to Luther's success. Untold other numbers had the same idea over the preceding centuries as well. The rift in Christianity starting in the 15th century was a product not just of Luther but of the ability to spread ideas with new technology and some indiscretions from the Catholic Church herself. I've always felt that Luther made Catholicism better by making it have to engage in self-introspection, like at Trent.

[jkellyid]

Taking his life in totality I think Luther was a bad faith actor.

He was I think not really altruistic but rather very self interested in a similar fashion to Mohammed seemed to do and say whatever advanced his agenda in the moment with little concern for continuity. He also matured into a pretty radical form of Anti-Semetism, and this I think tells you abou his heart.

I do not think he experienced revelation but rather was lead by demonic forces in a fashion identical to Mohammed.

[Belsonhooli]

Sola fide and scriptura is deceptive and dangerous

[joshuaneace]

I honestly think that by reading the writings of Luther that he had major mental health issues.

[pierreschiffer]

Luther was a heretic and schismatic. The fact that the Church puts him on a stamp says a lot about our pope. Apparently he condones or even supports heresy and separatism. Read the early Church on the eternal consequences of heresy and separatism, including Paul, John, Augustine and Gregory.

[ArrayzableMusic]

Luther was not perfect. Just like Moses, David, Solomon wasn't perfect. And like Jonah was sent to Nineveh, Luther was sent to the Church that it might repent from its sins. But the Church was too prideful and would not repent, and was scattered.
The solution for the Romans is not to become protestant but to refrain from the pagan traditions that started to seep in not long after the Church went from a legal minority group of believers to a full scale state religion within a matter of years where a 100% where 'chritians' but maybe only 5% believers. When the grand children of those majority 'christians' (who surely would have kept some of their pagan traditions alive in a christianised manner) became bishops and priest, the pagan traditions had transformed from pagan traditions to just traditions not found in scripture.
Please read the 95 thesis and make up your mind. Are these not valid questions that righteous people can agree on, or at least have a civilised discussion about?
God bless you all, brothers and sisters. I'm sure we all want to do the right thing and believe the truth ❤

[calebklingerman]

Lutheran here. I think that both Luther and many of his opponents were unprepared for the consequences of the printing press, just like many of us handle things poorly on the internet. Think about how cruel you can be online when you are more removed from the people you are interacting with. The anonymity and speed of new forms of communication lend themselves to being uncharitable. You can find absolutely terrible things that Luther and others were slinging at each other. It reminds me of the apostles bickering over which of them was the greatest. It doesn't justify the behavior, but Luther was hardly the only one.

[stressaccount]

He was a catalyst for the dismantling of the Mystical Body of Christ. Whatever his intentions the outcome was disastrous.

[Harmelcon]

Your description of Luther resembles any number of popes through the ages, so his faults--which were many! and many of his faults are deeply troubling!--do not disqualify him from office. He was a doctor in the Catholic Church, which was widely regarded in the early 16th century as in desperate need of reform, but was virtually unreformable. Luther didn't quit--he was fired!

[jameshustoles]

How about the life he lived, we cannot judge him but we definitely must judge his actions

[Clif]

His issues with pride do not discredit him anymore than the Church's issues with paedophilia and sexual abuse discredit the entirity of the Church. Abraham frequently lied, Moses was a murderer, David broke pretty much all the ten commandments in a few weeks of sinfulness, etc. you know where im going ... God has used deeply flawed men and women for his purposes since the fall. Still, sin needs to be called out. I do not think Luther intended to start his own church or own movement but as time went on, he grew in boldness in some good ways but he also did not completely overcome his pride, and allowed his own mind to become too tribal.

[marcelw]

The “answer” misses any theological engagement with Luther but rather focuses on purely political issues. And the scowl from the “answerer” about Francis loving Luther was really all we needed to see. Francis is a Protestant through and through, if even that.