This Day in History: Martin Luther became a doctor of theology on this day in 1512. Martin Luther was an important figure in world history as he ushered in the Protestant Reformation by railing against the sale of indulgences and other practices of the Catholic Church in his famous Ninety-Five Theses. At the same time, Luther was a foul-mouthed tyrannical racist drunk, and more so as he got older.
“If we wish to find a scapegoat on whose shoulders we may lay the miseries which Germany has brought upon the world—not, perhaps a very scientific way of writing history—I am more and more convinced that the worst evil genius of that country is not Hitler or Bismarck or Frederick the Great, but Martin Luther.” ~Dean Inge
According to Luther, some of the Pope's teachings were "farts out of his stinking belly.” He could describe certain Roman Catholic institutions and practices with which he heartily disagreed as "an illusion and an evil odour, stinking worse than the devil’s excrement.”
"I resist the devil, and often it is with a fart that I chase him away.”
Just before he died, Luther told his wife, “I’m like a ripe stool, and the world’s like a gigantic anus, and so we’re about to let go of each other.”
The English Catholic, Thomas More (1478-1535) was not amused and called Luther a “buffoon . . . [who will] carry nothing in his mouth other than cesspools, sewers, latrines, poop and dung . . . .” except he didn't use the word POOP.
Other Germans of old were known to use profanity as well, men such as Mozart and Gutenberg. A study was done that showed that in 371 of Luther's letters, 39% had some sort of scatological (poopy) reference, including buttocks or defecation (45 letters), poop [except, again, he didn't use the word POOP] (21) and arse (19), among others.
"From a standpoint of morality, Luther's teachings and practical advice and example in conversation were infinitely below the moral standard hitherto held by the very Church he reviled and constantly below even the standard now generally accepted by the Protestants themselves. His claims, therefore, to 'reforming' the Church are pathetically weak. Instead of teaching a purer morality, he taught a lower. There is nothing in his teaching, by either pen or word of mouth, that is calculated to increase the love of purity, or of even conjugal fidelity, which in the Catholic Church has developed the fairest blossoms of maidenly chastity and conjugal love. A man or woman who is sexually weak will look to him in vain for advice wherewith to increase his or her strength in resisting the great passion -- rather they will find in his word the opposite. This is no time to mince words. Therefore, I say deliberately that from his own words Martin Luther must be held responsible for bringing into the world the lowest standard of morality ever advocated by a leader amongst Christians - so low that I defy a Protestant to read him, though I would advice no Protestant woman to do so if she be not ready to read with moral safety. Both will feel considerably befouled by the reading." From The Facts About Luther
See also - German Hercules: The Impact of Scatology on the Image of Martin Luther as a Man, 1483-1546
Interesting how history can lionize a person who may not deserve it, sweeping away all negatives when it deems the overall cause right.
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