Martin Luther wrote things Catholics vigorously disagree with — but he also wrote a great many things they’d recognize as their own. This volume gathers the second category: 113 categories of Luther’s own statements on Catholic doctrine, from the Real Presence to the Sacrifice of the Mass to the perpetual virginity of Mary.
Nine sections, chronologically arranged: Bible and Tradition (Luther on the deuterocanon, apostolic Fathers); the Church (apostolic succession, papal supremacy, “no salvation outside”); salvation, justification, and sanctification; penance and merit; the Holy Eucharist and the Sacrifice of the Mass; sacraments and sacramentals; the communion of saints and Purgatory; Mariology including perpetual virginity, sinlessness, and “Mother of God”; and a miscellaneous section on apologetics, contraception, and divorce.
Dave Armstrong calls it an “ecumenical endeavor” — finding what Christians have in common. The book’s quiet hope, in his words: “Catholics and Lutherans have more in common than either side, for the most part, imagined.” Read as the companion volume to his more critical Martin Luther: Catholic Critical Analysis and Praise.
