"I have learned to ascribe the honor of infallibility only to those books that are accepted as canonical. I am profoundly convinced that none of these writers has erred. All other writers, however they may have distinguished themselves in holiness or in doctrine, I read in this way: I evaluate what they say, not on the basis that they themselves believe that a thing is true, but only insofar as they are able to convince me by the authority of the canonical books or by clear reason." - Luther
Martin Luther [1519], from the Weimarer Ausgabe edition, 2, 618 (Contra malignum Iohannis Eccii judicium...Martini Lutheri defensio). Cited in J.W. Montgomery, "Lessons from Luther on the Inerrancy of Holy Writ," in God's Inerrant Word (Newburgh, IN: Trinity Press, 1994). |
