During the debate on the abolition of polygamy Congressman Roberts of
Utah, on January 29, 1900, made a speech in the House of Representatives
in which he said: "Here, in the resident portion of this city you
erected--May 21, 1884--a magnificent statue of stern old Martin Luther,
the founder of Protestant Christendom. You hail him as the apostle of
liberty and the inaugurator of a new and prosperous era of civilization
for mankind, but he himself sanctioned polygamy with which I am charged.
For me you have scorn, for him a monument." Taking his cue from this
Mormon speaker, one of the most recent of Luther's Catholic critics
remarks: "Let the wives and mothers of America ponder well the
polygamous phase of the Reformation before they say 'Amen' to the
unsavory and brazen laudations of the profligate opponent of Christian
marriage, Christian decency, and Christian propriety. Compare the
teachings of Luther on polygamy with those of Joseph Smith, the Mormon
prophet and visionary, and see their striking similarity. Mormonism in
Salt Lake City, in Utah, which has brought so much disgrace to the
American people, is but a legitimate outgrowth of Luther and
Lutheranism." This, then, is what will have to be done: a comparison
will have to be instituted between the teaching of Martin Luther and
that of the Mormon prophet on the subject of polygamy. We may assume
that the teachings of the latter are universally known, and shall,
accordingly, confine ourselves to Luther.
Two curious facts may be noted before we start our investigation of
Luther's writings: 1. Is it not remarkable that Joseph Smith himself
does not cite Luther as his authority in defense of plural marriages?
What an impression would the man have made, had he known what Mr.
Roberts and some Catholics know! 2. Charging Lutheranism, that is, the
Lutheran Church, with teaching polygamy, implies that the confessional
writings of the Lutheran Church contain this teaching. The person who
will furnish the evidence for this charge from the Book of Concord,
which contains the symbolical writings of the Lutheran Church, will
become famous. Mr. Roberts was not so bold as to embrace Lutheranism
among the sponsors of his polygamous cult; he only spoke of Luther. He
was wise. And now, what does Luther say on the subject of polygamy? We
pass by, as unworthy of note, Luther's humorous remarks made in a spirit
of banter to his wife, that he would marry another wife. Only ill-will
can find in this friendly jest an evidence of Luther's polygamous
propensities.
Serious references to this matter occur in Luther's remarks on the
practise of polygamy among the Israelites. The Mosaic account of
Abraham's relation to Agar, the two marriages of Jacob, the regulations
regarding women who had become captives in war, the harems of the kings
of Judah and Israel,--all these Biblical records, which have perplexed
many a student of the Bible, necessarily interested Luther as a
theologian and expounder of the Scriptures. Every reader of the Bible
has to form an opinion on these matters. Polygamous thoughts, therefore,
did not originate in the lustful mind of Luther, but statements on the
subject of polygamy were demanded of him as a religious teacher. He held
that the polygamous relations which the Bible notes among the
Israelites, even among saintly members of this people, must be explained
either on the ground of a special dispensation of God for which we do
not know the reason, or they must be regarded in the same light as
Christ regarded the divorces among the Jews of His day, namely, as
things which God permits among men because of their hardness of heart,
and in order to prevent greater evils. (3, 1556.) This view determined
Luther's attitude toward Carlstadt, after this turbulent spirit had
quitted Wittenberg and gone to Orlamuende, where he advocated, amongst
other things, the introduction of polygamy. Inasmuch as Carlstadt did
not mean to enforce his strange reforms by arms, as Muenzer and the
peasants were doing, Luther inclined to condone his views on polygamy.
He evidently regards this matter as a matter of public policy, like
prostitution, which every community and commonwealth must regulate by
such statutes as can be devised, "because of the hardness of men's
hearts." Luther has frequently propounded this perfectly sound view
regarding the life and conduct of non-Christians: since these people do
not acknowledge the laws of God as binding, it matters little what
practises they adopt. All that can be done to keep the animal impulses
in them somewhat in check is to fix certain limits by means of civil
laws beyond which their license may not go. For their rejection of God's
laws they will have to answer to their future Judge.
In a letter addressed to Joseph Levin Metzsch of December 9, 1526,
Luther says: "Your first question: Whether person may have more than one
wife? I answer thus: Let unbelievers do what they please; Christian
liberty, however, is regulated by love (charity), so that all that a
Christian does is done to serve his fellow-man, provided only that he
can render such service without jeopardy and damage to his faith and
conscience. Nowadays, however, everybody is striving for a liberty that
profits and pleases him, without regard for the profit and improvement
which his neighbor might derive from his action. This is contrary to
the teaching of St. Paul, who says: 'All things are lawful unto me, but
all things are not expedient' (1 Cor. 6, 12). Only see that your liberty
does not become an occasion to the flesh. . . . Moreover, although the
patriarchs had many wives, Christians may not follow their example,
because there is no necessity for doing this, no improvement is obtained
thereby, and, especially, there is no word of God to justify this
practise, while great offense and trouble may come from it. Accordingly,
I do not believe that Christians any longer have this liberty. God would
have to publish a command that would declare such a liberty." (21a, 901
f.) To Clemens Ursinus, pastor at Bruck, Luther writes under date of
March 21, 1527: "Polygamy, which in former times was permitted to the
Jews and Gentiles, cannot be honestly approved of among Christians, and
cannot be engaged in with a good conscience, unless in an extreme case
of necessity, as, for instance, when one of the spouses is separated
from the other by leprosy or for a similar cause. Accordingly, you may
say to the carnal people (with whom you have to do), if they want to be
Christians, they must keep married fidelity and bridle their flesh, not
give it license. If they want to be heathen, let them do what they
please, at their own risk." (21a, 928.)
In his comment on the question of the Pharisees regarding divorce (Matt.
19, 3-6), Luther says: "Many divorces occur still among the Turks. If a
wife does not yield to the husband, nor act according to his whim and
fancy, he forthwith drives her out of the house, and takes one, two,
three, or four additional wives, and defends his action by appealing to
Moses. They have taken out of Moses such things as please them and
pander to their lust. In Turkey they are very cruel to women; any woman
that will not submit is cast aside. They toy with their women like a dog
with a rag. When they are weary of one woman, they quickly put her
beneath the turf and take another. Moses has said nothing to justify
this practise. My opinion is that there is no real married life among
the Turks; theirs is a whorish life. It is a terrible tyranny, all the
more to be regretted because God does not withhold the common blessing
from their intercourse: children are procreated thereby, and yet the
mother is sent away by the husband. For this reason there is no true
matrimony among the Turks. In my opinion, all the Turks at the present
time are bastards." (7, 965.)
All this is plain enough and should suffice to secure Luther against the
charge of favoring polygamy. The seeming admission that polygamy might
be permissible relates to cases for which the laws of all civilized
nations make provisions. How a Christian must conduct himself in such a
case must be decided on the evidence in each case. Likewise, the
reference to the Christian's liberty from the law does not mean that the
Christian has the potential right to polygamy, but it means that he must
maintain his monogamous relation from a free and willing choice to obey
God's commandments in the power of God's grace. Polygamy, this is the
firm conviction of Luther, could only be sanctioned if there were a
plain command of God to that effect. Luther's remarks about matrimony
among the Turks should be remembered when Catholics cite Luther's
remarks about King Ahasuerus dismissing Vashti and summoning Esther, and
the right of the husband to take to himself his maid-servant when his
wife refuses him. By all divine and human laws the matter to which
Luther refers is a just ground for divorce, and that is all that Luther
declares.
But did not Luther sanction the bigamy of Philip of Hesse? So he did.
Luther's decision in this case must be studied in the light of all the
evidence which we possess. Catholic theologians, before all others,
should be able to appreciate Luther's claim that what was said to the
Landgrave was said to him "in the person of Christ," as the counsel
which a confessor gave to a burdened conscience. Catholics fail to
mention that Luther repelled bigamous thoughts in Philip of Hesse
fourteen years before the Landgrave took Margaret von der Saal. The
evidence was found in the state archives at Kassel, now at Marburg, in
a fragment of a letter which Niedner published in the _Zeitschrift fuer
historische Theologie_, 1852, No. 2, p. 265. The letter is dated
November 28, 1526; Philip's bigamous marriage took place March 9, 1540.
In this letter Luther says to Philip: "As regards the other matter, my
faithful warning and advice is that no man, Christians in particular,
should have more than one wife, not only for the reason that offense
would be given, and Christians must not needlessly give, but most
diligently avoid giving, offense, but also for the reason that we have
no word of God regarding this matter on which we might base a belief
that such action would be well-pleasing to God and to Christians. Let
heathen and Turks do what they please. Some of the ancient fathers had
many wives, but they were urged to this by necessity, as Abraham and
Jacob, and later many kings, who according to the law of Moses obtained
the wives of their friends, on the death of the latter, as an
inheritance. The example of the fathers is not a sufficient argument to
convince a Christian: he must have, in addition, a divine word that
makes him sure, just as they had a word of that kind from God. For where
there was no need or cause, the ancient fathers did not have more than
one wife, as Isaac, Joseph, Moses, and many others. For this reason I
cannot advise for, but must advise against, your intention, particularly
since you are a Christian, unless there were an extreme necessity, as,
for instance, if the wife were leprous or the husband were deprived of
her for some other reason. On what grounds to forbid other people such
marriages I know not" (21a, 900 f.) This letter effected that the
Landgrave did not carry out his intention, but failing, nevertheless, to
lead a chaste life, he did not commune, except once in extreme illness,
because of his accusing conscience.
How Luther, fourteen years later, was induced to virtually reverse his
opinion he has told himself in a lengthy letter to the Elector
Frederick. This letter is Luther's best justification. It is dated June
10, 1540, and reads: "Most serene, high-born Elector, most gracious
Lord:--I am sorry to learn that Your Grace is importuned by the court of
Dresden about the Landgrave's business. Your Grace asks what answer to
give the men of Meissen. As the affair was one of the confessional, both
Melanchthon and I were unwilling to communicate it even to Your Grace,
for it is right to keep confessional matters secret, both the sin
confessed and the counsel given, and had the Landgrave not revealed the
matter and the confessional counsel, there would never have been all
this nauseating unpleasantness.--I still say that if the matter were
brought before me to-day, I should not be able to give counsel different
from what I did. Setting apart the fact that I know I am not as wise as
they think they are, I need conceal nothing, especially as it has
already been made known. The state of affairs is as follows: Martin
Bucer brought a letter and pointed out that, on account of certain
faults in the Landgrave's wife, the Landgrave was not able to keep
himself chaste, and that he had hitherto lived in a way which was not
good, but that he would like to be at one with the principal heads of
the Evangelic Church, and he declared solemnly before God and his
conscience that he could not in future avoid such vices unless he were
permitted to take another wife. We were deeply horrified at this tale
and the offense which must follow, and we begged his Grace not to do as
he proposed. But we were told again that he could not abandon his
project, and if he could not obtain what he wanted from us, he would
disregard us and turn to the Emperor and Pope. To prevent this we
humbly begged that if his Grace would not, or, as he averred before God
and his conscience, could not, do otherwise, yet that he could keep it a
secret. Though necessity compelled him, yet he could not defend his act
before the world and the imperial laws; this he promised to do, and we
accordingly agreed to help him before God and cover it up as much as
possible with such examples as that of Abraham. This all happened as
though in the confessional, and no one can accuse us of having acted as
we did willingly or voluntarily or with pleasure or joy. It was hard
enough for our hearts, but we could not prevent it, we thought to give
his conscience such counsel as we could.--I have indeed learned several
confessional secrets, both while I was still a papist and later, which,
if they were revealed, I should live to deny or else publish the whole
confession. Such things belong not to the secular courts, nor are they
to be published. God has here His own judgment, and must counsel souls
in matters where no worldly law nor wisdom can help. My preceptor in the
cloister, a fine old man, had many such affairs, and once had to say of
them with a sigh: 'Alas, alas! such things are so perplexed and
desperate that no wisdom, law, nor reason can avail; one must commend
them to divine goodness.' So instructed, I have, accordingly, in this
case also acted agreeably to divine goodness.--But had I known that the
Landgrave had long before satisfied his desires, and could well satisfy
them with others, as I have now just learned that he did with her of
Eschwege, truly no angel would have induced me to give such counsel. I
gave it only in consideration of his unavoidable necessity and weakness,
and to put his conscience out of peril, as Bucer represented the case to
me. Much less would I ever have advised that there should be a public
marriage, to which (though he told me nothing of this) a young princess
and young countess should come, which is truly not to be borne and is
insufferable to the whole empire. But I understood and hoped, as long as
he had to go the common way with sin and shame and weakness of the
flesh, that he would take some honorable maiden or other in secret
marriage, even if the relation did not have a legal look before the
world. My concession was on account of the great need of his
conscience--such as happened to other great lords. In like manner I
advised certain priests in the Catholic lands of Duke George and the
bishops secretly to marry their cooks.--This was my confessional counsel
about which I would much rather have kept silence, but it has been wrung
from me, and I could do nothing but speak. But the men of Dresden speak
as though I had taught the same for thirteen years, and yet they give us
to understand what a friendly heart they have to us, and what great
desire for love and unity, just as if there were no scandal or sin in
their lives, which are ten times worse before God than anything I ever
advised. But the world must always smugly rail at the moat in its
neighbor's eye, and forget the beam in its own eye. If I must defend all
I have said or done in former years, especially at the beginning, I must
beg the Pope to do the same, for if they defend their former acts (let
alone their present ones), they would belong to the devil more than to
God.--I am not ashamed of my counsel, even if it should be published in
all the world; but for the sake of the unpleasantness which would then
follow, I should prefer, if possible, to have kept it secret. Martin
Luther, with his own hand." (21b, 2467; transl. by Preserved Smith.)
About a year later a Hessian preacher, by the name of Johann Lening,
undertook to justify the bigamy of the Landgrave. Under the pseudonym
"Huldricus Neobulus" he published a "Dialogus," that is, "an amicable
conversation between two persons on the question whether it is in
accordance with, or contrary to, divine, natural, imperial, and
spiritual laws for a person to have more than one wife at a time," etc.
The writer defended bigamy. In an unfinished reply to this book Luther
takes strong grounds against him. Referring to the author's argument
that bigamy was sanctioned by Moses, Luther says: "The reference to the
fathers of whom Moses speaks is irrelevant: Moses is dead. Granted,
however, that bigamy was legal in the days of the fathers and Moses,
--which can never be established,--still they had God's word for it that
such a permission was given them. That we have not. And although it was
permitted to the Jews and tolerated by God, while God Himself considered
it wrong, . . . it was merely a dispensation. . . . Now, there is a
great difference between a legal right and a dispensation, or something
that is tolerated or permitted. A legal right is not a dispensation, and
a dispensation is not a legal right; whoever does, obtains, or holds
something by a dispensation does not do, obtain, or hold it by legal
right." Luther then enters upon a brief discussion of the bigamous
relationships which were created by the Mosaic laws, and explains that
legislation as emergency legislation. He says: "What need is there why
we should try to find all sorts of reasons to explain why the fathers
under Moses were permitted to have many wives? God is sovereign; He may
abrogate, alter, mitigate a law as He pleases, for emergency's sake or
not. But it does not behoove us to imitate such instances, much less to
establish them as a right. But this Tulrich [so Luther calls the unknown
author] rashly declares carnal lust free, and wants to put the world
back to where it was before the Flood, when they took them wives, not
like the Jews by God's permission, or because of an emergency or for
charity's sake towards homeless women, as Moses directs, but, as the
text says, 'which they chose' (Gen. 6, 2). That is the way nowadays to
rise to the stars. In this way we have Moses and the fathers with their
examples as beautiful cloaks for carnal liberty; we say with our lips
that we are following the examples of the fathers, but in very deed we
act contrary to them. Lord, have mercy! If the world continues, what all
may we not expect to happen these times, if even now shameless fellows
may print what they please." (21b, 2691 f.)
One might go more exhaustively into the evidence, but the materials here
submitted will suffice to convince most men that, while Luther's advice
to Philip did create a bigamous relation, Luther was not a defender of
bigamy. Every one who has had to deal with questions relating to married
life knows that situations arise in the matrimonial relation which
simply cannot be threshed out in public, and in which the honest advice
of a pious person is invoked to find a way out of a complication. That
was the situation confronting Luther: what he advised was meant as an
emergency measure to prevent something that was worse. In the same
manner Luther had expressed the opinion that it would have been easier
to condone a bigamous relation in Henry VIII of England than the unjust
divorce which the king was seeking. As a matter of fact, however, Luther
and his Wittenberg colleagues were grossly hoodwinked in the matter,
both by the Landgrave himself and, what is worse, by the Landgrave's
court-preacher, Bucer. Had the true facts been known, the advice, as
Luther clearly states, would never have been given. But we can well
understand how Luther can declare that under the circumstances under
which he thought he was acting he could not have given any different
advice. Personally, we have always resented the veiled threat in the
Landgrave's request that he would apply to the Pope or the Emperor.
Perhaps the remark was not understood as a threat, but as an expression
of despair. At any rate, Philip was confident of getting from Rome what
he was not sure of obtaining from Luther.
Ought not this remark of the Landgrave caution Luther's Catholic critics
to be very careful in what they say about the heinousness of Luther's
offense in granting a dispensation from a moral precept? Have they
really no such thing as a "dispensation" at Rome? Has not the married
relationship come up for "dispensation" in the chancelleries of the
Vatican innumerable times? Has not one of the canonized saints of Rome,
St. Augustine, declared that bigamy might be permitted if a wife was
sterile? Was not concubinage still recognized by law in the sixteenth
century in Ireland? Did not King Diarmid have two legitimate wives and
two concubines? And he was a Catholic. What have Catholics to say in
rejoinder to Sir Henry Maine's assertion that the Canon Law of their
Church brought about numerous sexual inequalities? Or to Joseph
MacCabe's statement that not until 1060 was there any authoritative
mandate of the Church against polygamy, and that even after this
prohibition there were numerous instances of concubinage and polygamic
marriages in Christian communities? Or to Hallam in his _Middle Ages_,
where he reports concubinage in Europe? Or to Lea, who proves that this
evil was not confined to the laity? (See Gallighan, _Women under
Polygamy_, pp. 43. 292. 295. 303. 330. 339.)
All that has so far been said about Luther's views on the subject of
polygamy could be most powerfully reinforced by a review of Luther's
teaching on matrimony as a divine institution, which Luther consistently
throughout his writings regards as monogamous. But this is too well
known to require restatement, and is really outside of the scope of this
review, which must content itself with submitting the direct argument in
rebuttal of the Catholic charge of Luther's advocacy of polygamy. This
polygamous Luther, too, is a vision that is rendered possible only
through spectacles of hopeless bias.