Luther and Romans 3:28

Sola fide, Latin for “faith alone” was the Martin Luther’s battle cry against the teaching of the Catholic Church on Justification.   To support his doctrine he intentionally added the word “alone” in his German translation of Romans 3:28.   Luther admitted what he did and arrogantly defended it.

Here, in Romans 3[:28], I knew very well that the word solum is not in the Greek or Latin text; the papists [Catholics] did not have to teach me that. It is a fact that these four letters s o l a are not there. And these blockheads stare at them like cows at a new gate.  At the same time they do not see that it conveys the sense of the text; it belongs there if the translation is to be clear and vigorous. I wanted to speak German, not Latin or Greek, since it was German I had undertaken to speak in the translation. But it is the nature of our German language that in speaking of two things, one of which is affirmed and the other denied, we use the word solum (allein) along with the word nicht [not] or kein [no]. For example, we say, “The farmer brings allein grain and kein money”; “No, really I have now nicht money, but allein grain”; “I have allein eaten and nicht yet drunk”; “Did you allein write it, and nicht read it over?” There are innumerable cases of this kind in daily use.

But to return to the matter in hand! If your papist wants to make so much fuss about the word sola (alone) tell him this, “Dr. Martin Luther will have it so, and says that a papist and an ass are the same thing.” Sic volo, sic jubeo; sit pro ratione voluntas [I will it; I command it; my will is reason enough" is line 223 from the famous sixth satire of the Roman poet Juvenal (ca. a.d. 60-140), directed against the female sex. Luther used the quotation when he wanted to characterize the capricious unlimited power of the pope]. We are not going to be the pupils and disciples of the papists, but their masters and judges. For once, we too are going to be proud and brag with these blockheads; and as St. Paul boasts over against his mad raving saints [II Cor. 11:21ff.], so I shall boast over against these asses of mine. Are they doctors? So am I. Are they learned? So am I. Are they preachers? So am I. Are they theologians? So am I. Are they debaters? So am I. Are they philosophers? So am I. Are they dialecticians? So am I. Are they lecturers? So am I. Do they write books? So do I.

Let this be the answer to your first question. And please give these asses no other and no further answer to their useless braying about the word sola than simply this, “Luther will have it so, and says that he is a doctor above all the doctors of the whole papacy.” It shall stay at that! Henceforth I shall simply hold them in contempt, and have them held in contempt, so long as they are the kind of people-I should say, asses-that they are.

Luther’s Works, Vol. 35, pages 185 to 189

Some Protestants may argue that the word “alone” was also found in some earlier translations.  Since no languages are identical we may add words or reparaphrase to get the true meaning, instead of translating word by word.  Those early translations may carry the word “alone” but the translators did not intend to propagate new teaching “by faith alone salvation”.  By adding the word “alone” Luther made Romans 3:28 contradict James 2:24 – it is no surprise that Luther disliked James and rejected its apostolic origin.

Thus in 1532 Luther had said at table concerning the difference between St. Paul and the Epistle of James: “To him who can make these two agree I will give my doctor’s cap, and I am willing to be called a fool.”

Luther’s Work, Vol. 2, page 277f

That epistle of James gives us much trouble, for the papists embrace it alone and leave out all the rest. Up to this point I have been accustomed just to deal with and interpret it according to the sense of the rest of Scriptures. For you will judge that none of it must be set forth contrary to manifest Holy Scripture. Accordingly, if they will not admit my interpretations, then I shall make rubble also of it. I almost feel like throwing Jimmy into the stove, as the priest in Kalenberg did [The preacher of Kalenberg, when visited by the duchess, heated the room with the wooden statues of the apostles. The statue of James was the last and as the preacher shoved it into the stove he exclaimed, "Now bend over, Jimmy, you must go into the stove; no matter if you were the pope or all the bishops, the room must become warm."].

Luther’s Works, Vol. 34, page 317

Though this epistle of St. James was rejected by the ancients, I praise it and consider it a good book, because it sets up no doctrines of men but vigorously promulgates the law of God. However, to state my own opinion about it, though without prejudice to anyone, I do not regard it as the writing of an apostle; and my reasons follow.

In the first place it is flatly against St. Paul and all the rest of Scripture in ascribing justification to works [2:24]. It says that Abraham was justified by his works when he offered his son Isaac [2:21]; though in Romans 4[:2-22] St. Paul teaches to the contrary that Abraham was justified apart from works, by his faith alone, before he had offered his son, and proves it by Moses in Genesis 15[:6].

Luther’s Works, Vol. 35, pages 395 – 396

Irenaeus and canon of New Testament

Irenæus (c. 115 to 202) was born in Smyrna (in present day Turkey), studied in Rome before going to Lyons and served as bishop.  His main work is Against Heresies or Adversus hareses in five volumes, an analytical refutation against Gnosticism.  He did not give us list of New Testament books but from Against Heresies we know that he quoted or alluded to four Gospels, Acts, Paul’s epistles (except Philemon), Hebrews, 1 Peter, 1 & 2 John, James, Jude and Revelation (based on scriptural reference in footnotes of Philip Schaff: Anti Nicene Fathers).  He was the first to limit Gospel only to four we know today: Matthew, Mark, Luke and John.

It is not possible that the Gospels can be either more or fewer in number than they are. For, since there are four zones of the world in which we live, and four principal winds, while the Church is scattered throughout all the world, and the “pillar and ground” of the Church is the Gospel and the spirit of life; it is fitting that she should have four pillars, breathing out immortality on every side, and vivifying men afresh. From which fact, it is evident that the Word, the Artificer of all, He that sitteth upon the cherubim, and contains all things, He who was manifested to men, has given us the Gospel under four aspects, but bound together by one Spirit. As also David says, when entreating His manifestation, “Thou that sittest between the cherubim, shine forth.” For the cherubim, too, were four-faced, and their faces were images of the dispensation of the Son of God. For, [as the Scripture] says, “The first living creature was like a lion,” symbolizing His effectual working, His leadership, and royal power; the second [living creature] was like a calf, signifying [His] sacrificial and sacerdotal order; but “the third had, as it were, the face as of a man,”-an evident description of His advent as a human being; “the fourth was like a flying eagle,” pointing out the gift of the Spirit hovering with His wings over the Church.

Irenæus, Against Heresies 3.11.8

Irenæus also considered Shepherd of Hermas as scripture and had high regard of 1 Clement. 

Truly, then, the Scripture [Shepherd of Hermas] declared, which says, “First of all believe that there is one God, who has established all things, and completed them, and having caused that from what had no being, all things should come into existence: “He who contains all things, and is Himself contained by no one.

Irenæus, Against Heresies 4.20.2

In the time of this Clement, no small dissension having occurred among the brethren at Corinth, the Church in Rome despatched a most powerful letter to the Corinthians, exhorting them to peace, renewing their faith, and declaring the tradition which it had lately received from the apostles, proclaiming the one God, omnipotent, the Maker of heaven and earth, the Creator of man, who brought on the deluge, and called Abraham, who led the people from the land of Egypt, spake with Moses, set forth the law, sent the prophets, and who has prepared fire for the devil and his angels. From this document, whosoever chooses to do so, may learn that He, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, was preached by the Churches, and may also understand the apostolical tradition of the Church, since this Epistle is of older date than these men who are now propagating falsehood, and who conjure into existence another god beyond the Creator and the Maker of all existing things.

Irenæus, Against Heresies 3.3.3

In his work we also find Agrapha, i.e. words of Christ not found in four Gospels.

The predicted blessing, therefore, belongs unquestionably to the times of the kingdom, when the righteous shall bear rule upon their rising from the dead; when also the creation, having been renovated and set free, shall fructify with an abundance of all kinds of food, from the dew of heaven, and from the fertility of the earth: as the elders who saw John, the disciple of the Lord, related that they had heard from him how the Lord used to teach in regard to these times, and say: The days will come, in which vines shall grow, each having ten thousand branches, and in each branch ten thousand twigs, and in each true twig ten thousand shoots, and in each one of the shoots ten thousand dusters, and on every one of the clusters ten thousand grapes, and every grape when pressed will give five and twenty metres of wine. And when any one of the saints shall lay hold of a cluster, another shall cry out, “I am a better cluster, take me; bless the Lord through me.” In like manner [the Lord declared] that a grain of wheat would produce ten thousand ears, and that every ear should have ten thousand grains, and every grain would yield ten pounds of clear, pure, fine flour; and that all other fruit-bearing trees, and seeds and grass, would produce in similar proportions; and that all animals feeding [only] on the productions of the earth, should [in those days] become peaceful and harmonious among each other, and be in perfect subjection to man.

Irenæus, Against Heresies, 5.33.3

What he quoted here is a fragment of five books (now lost) of Expositions of the Oracles of the Lord, written in c. 130 AD by Papias, bishop of Hierapolis in Phyrgia in early second century AD.

on historical problem of book of Judith

The book of Judith is one of deuterocanonical books that is often under attack by Protestants and “Bible only” Christians for the so called historical error.  In its first verse it declares Nebuchadnezzar as ruler of Assyrian who reigned from Nineveh.  Nebuchadnezzar in the Bible (mentioned in 2 Kings, Daniel and Jeremiah) was the second and greatest king of the Chaldean dynasty of Babylonia and he reigned from c. 605-c. 561 BC.   There was another Nebuchadnezzar who reigned from c. 1124 to 1103 BC.  During his reign the Assyrian empire still existed and he was able to fight their advances.  Assyrian empire was finally destroyed by a Chaldean-Median coalition in c. 612-609 BC (Source Encyclopaedia Britannica CD 2000).

There is historical problem in the book of Judith and some view this book as allegory, not historical facts.  But if this is the reason to reject it as inspired then to be consistent we should use the same reason to reject Daniel as well.  Daniel 5:31 say that Darius the Mede defeated the Babylonian kingdom. He was son of Ahasuerus (Daniel 9:1), the Persian king who made Esther queen (Esther 2:16-17) and his reign was before Cyrus (Daniel 6:28).   In reality it was Cyrus the Persian who brought down, first Median (550 BC) and then Babylonian (539 BC) kingdoms.   Darius the Mede seems to be a fictitious figure modelled after Darius I, king of Persia in 522 – 486 BC, who was son of Hystaspes and father of Ahasuerus.  To solve this historical problem it was proposed that Darius the Mede was actually Gobiru or Gobryas, Cyrus’ general who captured Babylon.  Other says that he was Cyrus himself but Daniel 6:28 indicate they were two different persons (and Cyrus was not a Mede).  According to Jewish historian Josephus (c. 35 to 100 AD) in Antiquities of the Jews, Book X, Chapter 11.4, Darius the Mede was son of Astyages (the last Median king). 

Hail Holy Queen

One of the titles of Blessed Virgin Mary is Queen of Heaven.  Her coronation as Queen of Heaven is the last Glorious Mysteries in Rosary and on 22 August Catholics celebrate its feast.  This title may irk non-Catholic Christians who may point out that the title of Queen of Heaven is given to a pagan goddess (Jeremiah 7:18; 44:17, 19, 25). 

Most Old Testament’s books were originally written in Hebrew and it has four words translated as “queen” in English: 

gebira (1 Kings 11:19; 15:13, 2 Kings 10:13, 2 Chronicles 15:16, Jeremiah 13:18; 29:2)

malkah (1 Kings 10:1, 2 Chronicles 9:1, Esther 1:9, 2:17 etc.)

melekheth (Jeremiah 7:18; 44:17, 19, 25)

shegal (Nehemiah 2:6, Psalm 45:9). 

Another word, sarah, is generally translated as lady (Judges 5:29) or princess (Lamentations 1:1 of RSV and KJV – NIV translates it as queen) and only once translated as queen (Isaiah 49:23 of RSV, KJV and NIV).

Among these four words we pay attention on gebira, the feminine form of gebir (Genesis 27:29, 37), which means lord or master.  Isaac told Esau that his younger brother, Jacob, will be his lord (gebir).  Thus gebira means a lady who has power to rule.  Some Bibles translate gebira as “queen mother” because she is the mother (or grandmother) of the king, not his wife, except in 1 Kings 11:19 where gebira refers to the wife of the Pharaoh.  In the Davidic kingdom (or Judah), gebira played important role and she had power and influence.  Solomon might the first who seated his mother, Bathsheba on his right (1 Kings 2:19).  His half brother, Adonijah, requested Bathsheba to speak on behalf of him to the King (1 Kings 2:13-18).  While he did not get his wish and paid it with his life, the verse indicates the role of gebira as mediator to the King.  King Asa removed Maacah, his mother because she abused her power (1 Kings 15:13).  On the death of her son (king Ahaziah) Athaliah did not want to lose her power and had all her grandsons murdered (2 Kings 11:1).  One survived and later became king Joash (2 Kings 11:2, 12).  The name of most Davidic kings’ mother is always mentioned after that of the king (1 Kings 14:21; 15:2, 9; 22:42; 2 Kings 8:26; 12:2; 14:2; 15:2, 33; 18:2; 21:1, 19; 22:1; 23:31, 36; 24:8, 18).  From Jeremiah 13:18 we know that both king and gebira had crowns, indicating their power.  In New Testament Christ will be given the kingdom of David and it will have no end (Luke 1:32-33).  Then Mary, His mother, naturally becomes gebira and this is the reason why Catholics believe that she is Queen of Heaven.   Like gebira in Jeremiah 13:18 she also has crown in heaven.  Furthermore the Church understands that the woman clothed with the sun, with the moon under her feet and crowned with twelve stars (Revelation 12:1) refers to Mary.

One of the Messianic Psalms applied to Christ is Psalms 45:6-7, cited in Hebrews 1:8-9.  Yet Psalms 45:9 also mentions the Queen who sits at His right hand in gold of Ophir.  While the Hebrew word for queen in this verse is shegal, to Catholics this verse also refers to the Queen-ship of Mary in heaven.

Coming back to Jeremiah 7:18; 44:17, 19, 25, the word translated as queen in “queen of heaven” is not gebira but melekheth and is therefore not applicable to Virgin Mary.  After all, if there are false Christs (or Messiahs) and false prophets (Matthew 24:24) it should not surprise us that we also have false queens of heaven.   Scripture uses the word “lion” to describe Christ as the lion of Judah (Revelation 5:5) and God (Hosea 5:14, 11:10).  Yet the same title is applied to devil (1 Peter 5:8), wicked man (Psalms 10:9) and wicked ruler (Proverbs 28:15, Zephaniah 3:3).   Even the same word for God in Hebrew (Elohim, plural for gods) is applied to (false) gods (Jeremiah 43:12, Daniel 1:2, Hosea 3:1, 14:3, Nahum 1:14).   In New Testament the same title, priest (Greek hiereus), is applied to Christ (Hebrews 4:14), to all believers (1 Peter 2:5,9, Revelation 1:6), as well as to the pagan priests of Zeus (Acts 14:13).