Facts about Luther [Paperback]

Patrick F O'Hare (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 1, 1994

THE FACTS ABOUT LUTHER examines the life, thought and work of Martin Luther (1483-1546) to correct the misperceptions that many have of him and his work. Msgr. Patrick O'Hare analyzes the available record, written mostly by Protestant writers, developing this masterful, popularly written critique to set the record straight. Because Luther is the "Father of Protestantism," THE FACTS ABOUT LUTHER deserves the serious attention of every believing, Bible-reading person of whatever persuasion.

Product Details

• Paperback: 400 pages
• Publisher: TAN Books and Publishers (October 1, 1994)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0895553228
• ISBN-13: 978-0895553225
• Product Dimensions: 8 x 5.5 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (17 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #354,043 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

55 of 66 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars From Luther's own (foul) mouth, February 3, 2003

By 

Kevin G. Whitty "Kevin Whitty" (Oak Park, MI United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Facts about Luther (Paperback)

You need not listen too much to protestant historians or Catholic ones to learn the truth about Martin Luther - you can read Martin Luther's own words. This is what the author does - he cites the very words of the man whom protestants have come to love and admire.

When he is not quoting Luther, he is much more often than not quoting Luther's closest associates, followers, and even protestant historians. I really get the impression that the vast majority of protestants - including present-day Lutherans - do not really know much about Martin Luther.

And so, for the Catholic, it will show you the novel beliefs of this very rebellious man. The author even goes to great length to present the Catholic response to these teachings, and in very readable language.

For the protestant, this book will make you think; it will present to you teachings of Luther in Luther's own words - teachings that you will have to answer for, since you hold this man in such high esteem. You will have to answer for why this man held morality in such low esteem, why this man instructed followers to not even try to "be perfect, as our Father in heaven is perfect", why and on whose authority this man abridged the Bible, why this man hated chastity and approved of divorce, bigamy, and polygamy, and a host of other teachings.

I find most interesting that Martin Luther was unable to even have a civil conversation with a person who disagreed with him, resorting to personal insults, "ad hominem" attacks, and obscenity as a matter of course. These things impede real dialogue between Catholics and protestants even today. You don't think so? Well then, I direct your attention to some of the reviewers who bombed this book. Their tactics speak for my truth;

How about John L. Hoh's (WELS) review on 2/6/2001. The first words in his review are, "I haven't read this book ..." I understand, Mr Hoh. The book is Catholic; you are a Lutheran; therefore the book MUST be bad. One should at the very least read the book before reviewing it, if for no reason other than respect for the truth.

How about the reader from Milwaukee review on 6/6/2000. He criticizes the book because it has " ... absolutely NO balance ..." Well, Mr Milwaukee, it doesn't. It is made up of mostly protestant quotes and quotes from Luther himself - very little Catholic input. We let the Lutherans do the talking, and we reprint what they said. In addition, why should the book be "balanced"? What makes you think Luther had any balance? He was about as proud and opinionated as you can get.

Finally, how about the reader from the Midwest review on 12/1/1998. He does not hesitate to pull out the personal insults, false accusations, and antagonistic language, calling the book "Papist Garbage", comparing it to a "pig wallowing", and running down the standard laundry list of false accusations about the popes. Tell me, Midwest; how many people do you think you are going to reach talking the way you do? What does the Bible say about faith without charity (Hint: see 1Cor 13:2).

An excellent book - five stars.

26 of 34 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars SEE AND READ LUTHER FOR WHAT HE REALLY IS!!!, June 20, 1998

By A Customer

This review is from: Facts about Luther (Paperback)

You can't possibly put this informative research book down once you've decided to pick it up. A truly,mind-boggling and 'revolutionary' view of the so-called "reformer" who has been extolled by his revisionist modern-day writers and worshippers that they have failed to see the unfarnished Truth about the man who turned his revolt of the Roman Catholic Church into the chaos and fragmentation of the seamless garment of Christ, laying the foundations to the tearing Christianity (disregarding JN.17) into countless bickering sects that we have today. A truly sad event of Church history that has spawned nothing less than biogotry,violence in all forms,and misinformation right down through today in the fragmented world of Bible-thumping 'christianity'. The romantacized Luther being propagated today is but a far cry to the real Martin Luther of the 'reformation'. His work(s) like "The Jews and Their Lies" have been used by the Hitler himself to justify his/their extermination of the Jews in the Holocaust! No honest researcher can deny this! Read the facts for yourself with and open-mind! Can Martin Luther rightly be called a "religious reformer"??? I truly DOUBT SO! But,don't just take my word for it,read "THE FACTS ABOUT LUTHER" yourself!

31 of 43 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Man for No Seasons, January 28, 2004

By 

Brad Shorr "Brad Shorr" - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Facts about Luther (Paperback)

Msgr. O'Hare prefaces his well-researched and heavily quoted study of Luther by saying excessive language and emotion on all sides have degraded and clouded the whole Luther controversy. To clear the air, O'Hare proposes to damn Luther with his own words, and set the editorializing aside. O'Hare patiently explains that the testimony of Luther himself, along with that of his collaborators and subsequent Protestant authorities, will speak for itself. But then directly on the heels of this modest disclaimer, he proceeds to unleash a merciless and caustic invective against Luther that lets up for nary a page throughout the remainder of the 350-page text. Certainly, the Father's strident tone arises partly from his belief in the absolute authority of the Catholic Church, and partly as a response to the even more venomous (yet far less reasoned) tongue of his subject. Style issues aside, the book indeed presents a damning portrait of the Reformer: Luther's own words indeed betray his irrational, dismal and inconsistent theology, his vindictive and monstrously self-sufficient nature, his almost insanely personal, vituperative and frequently scatological method of argument.

Between citations and diatribes, O'Hare manages to provide quite lucid explanations of the very complex concepts of Indulgences and Justification-concepts mangled by Luther to appeal to the basest instincts of his fledgling flock. Thanks in no small measure to him, multitudes to this day deplore the Mother Church based on a completely erroneous understanding of Indulgences and Justification.

O'Hare convincingly demonstrates that far from introducing the Bible to the German masses, Luther merely eviscerated extant German translations in order to make it conform to his heretical theology.

Luther's schizophrenic message which exhorted man to interpret Scripture for himself yet condemned him whenever he disagreed with Luther's own mercurial teachings had dire consequences throughout Europe--social chaos on the one hand, and brutal authoritarianism on the other. Luther got the ball rolling by inducing the German peasants to revolt against their oppressive princes, and then turned on them when they no longer obeyed. Outraged, he changed sides and encouraged these same princes to exterminate the peasants with gleeful abandon. The princes were only too happy to oblige.

One suspects that O'Hare, certainly no ecumenist, undermines his case by overstating it. Surely there must be a good side to Luther, for no sane person could have followed the disgusting embodiment of evil portrayed in these pages. That the book has received the Imprimatur will reassure Catholic readers, but probably make some non-Catholic readers more skeptical.

Regardless of to what extent O'Hare caricaturizes Luther the man, he is lucid and compelling when assessing Luther the theologian. All the contradictory, dehumanizing, illogical, and downright nonsensical elements of Luther's belief system are exposed and refuted. One wonders how he attracts followers at all. O'Hare himself offers an explanation: either they ignore his theology, misinterpret it, or change it. Nevertheless, Luther's theology took the Real out of Presence, the Divine out of Scripture, and the Revealed out of Religion. Spiritually and culturally we have been sinking into the abyss of paganism ever since.