The Conservative Reformation and Its Theology - Saint Mary ...

of their contents, are entertaining, rich in instruction, and worthy of
descending to posterity, were there no other reason, to show that immortal
man speaking, especially with his friends."? 45
Dupin.
Dupin concedes that Luther's errors, as he styles them, obliged the
Romanists to study Theology upon right principles; and confesses that his
version of the Bible was "elegante"--even while he brings the charge that it
was “peu litterale" and "pen exacte.” 46
Cyclopaedia of British Society.
Speaking of Luther's reply to Henry VIII., the author of the article in
the "Cyclopaedia of the Society for the Diffusion of Useful Knowledge"
says: "It must be observed, however, that the coarse vituperations which
shock the reader in Luther's controversial works, were not peculiar to him,
being commonly used by scholars and divines of the middle ages in their
disputations. The invectives of Valla, Filelfo, Poggio, and other
distinguished scholars, against each other, are notorious, and this bad taste
continued in practice long after Luther, down to the seventeenth century,
and traces of it are found in writers of the eighteenth, even in some of the
works of the polished and courtly Voltaire." The writer might have added
'down to the nineteenth,' for who cannot recall specimens of theological
warfare in our own day, vastly more offensive to all right feeling, than
anything written by Luther. The same writer goes on to say: "Luther ranks
high among German writers for the vigor of his style, and the development
which he imparted to his vernacular language. Schroeck, Melanchthon,
and others have written biographies of Luther, and Michelet has extracted
a kind of autobiography from his works. From these passages the character
of Luther is clearly deduced, for there was no calculation, reserve, or
hypocrisy about him. He was frank and vehement, and often intemperate.
But he was earnest in his vehemence; he really felt the importance of the
topics he was discussing; and whether he was right or wrong in his
peculiar
45 D. Jol. Christoph Doederlein Auserlesene Theologische Bibliothek. Review of "Schutzes Luther's Briefe," Erst.
Band, Leipzig, 1780, p. 681.
46 Method of Studying Divinity, -London, 1720, p. 27. Dissertation Prdliminaire, etc., Paris, 1699, vol. i., p. 726.