Hoe2: Evangelical Handbook, now in English (Another BTL book); no change in Rome

      This continues from Part 1 (Table of Contents in Part 1) in a series on Matthias Hoe von Hoenegg, and Lutheranism in south Germany and Austria. — With Walther's wish for an English translation of Hoe's popular work, I was encouraged to spend some weeks polishing a machine translation and adding many reference and navigational hyperlinks. As I worked, I was refreshed in my Christian faith. I particularly like Hoe's use of a question-and-answer format, and his handling of many objections. Here are a few highlights:

2: "not the old, but the very oldest faith is right… Therefore, we do not deny that the papal doctrine is ancient, but we are content to know that it is not the most ancient"

12: "Is it not allowed to base an article [of faith], or to make decisions, on traditions and statutes of men? By no means…" [Catechism of the Catholic Church: § 100 "The task of interpreting the Word of God authentically has been entrusted solely to the Magisterium of the Church, that is, to the Pope and to the bishops in communion with him."]

18: "Why is it called catholic? Not, as the popes think, because most of the world adheres to it: for Christ calls his army a small army, Luke 12:32. Sin would be much more catholic…"

33: Justification: "According to the Jesuits, it is the righteousness by which we are justified by our own works and obedience. This is poured into us by God…"

44: "Why did Luther add the word alone, Rom. 3 [:28], since it is not in the Greek text? … He has hereby declared the … the emphasis of the Greek language." [No reference to this verse in Catholic Catechism]

60: Sacraments "can bear no fruit, nor be useful for eternal salvation, if faith is not present"

66: Lord's Supper: "the popes call themselves Creatores Creatoris, Creators of the Creator"

77: "but the Popes mean something else by the Mass, namely their supposed sacrifice"

93: "a matter of preference, of the tiresome pride… the arrogance of the clergy"

98: "Fathers… had not held a propitiatory sacrifice for the departed souls… as happens in the papacy"

111: 1 Cor. 3:15: "some of the Fathers… have brought purgatory into the passage, not drawn from it" [Cp. to Catechism of the Catholic Church, § 1030-1031]

129: "The Holy Spirit… does not direct us to the Pope, but to the Holy Scriptures"

140: Question: "…the popes are many, therefore the popes cannot be Antichrist. [Answer:] …the Scriptures [2 Thess. 2:3} use the term 'one man' to mean many people." 

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The following is a "Table of Contents" to give an overview of the contents (the hyperlinks direct one to a separate online publication).

1: Of the Holy Scriptures        11

2: Of the Church        17

3: Of Justification        33

4: Of the invocation of the saints        49

5: Of the Sacraments        58

6: Of the Holy Supper        63

7: On Reserving, Enclosing, Adoration of the Sacrament        68

8: On the Feast of Corpus Christi        71

9: Of the Mass        74

10: Of One or Both Kinds in the Holy Sacrament of the Altar        85

11: On Sacrificing and Praying for the Dead        96

12: Of Purgatory        102

13: Of Celibacy or Priestly Marriage        116

14: Of the Roman Pope and thus of the Antichrist        127

    I. First part: What does Pope want to be: Universal head        128

    II. Second part: What does the Pope not want to be: Antichrist        137

Luther’s Open Letter on Translating “Alone” in Rom. 3:28        142

The original German publication used the margins to provide helpful Scripture references. Because many page numbers are linked to their respective Google Books page, one may immediately find what these Scripture references are by clicking on the page number. 

      The following makes a good supplement to Luther's Small Catechism, and the Lutheran Confessions. An appendix of Luther's letter explaining his use of the word "alone" when translating Romans 3:28 is most helpful to once again have Luther's explanation to encourage readers in their Christian faith. Although this translation is far from perfect, and suffers from a lack of understanding of some Germanisms, may the following provide a resource for those wanting to learn more, or be reminded of, why the church of the Reformation, the Lutheran Church, had to come about.

      Because Hoe's Bible references were only to the chapter and not the verse, I have inserted the verse numbers in red text for the convenience of the reader. Full navigational links are provided:

A DOCX file of the above may be downloaded here, PDF on the Internet Archive here; the original German text here.

      At least some teachers and pastors in the LC-MS will object that Hoe's Evangelical Handbook no longer applies to today's Catholic Church, especially after Vatican II.  But the core doctrines of the Catholic Church have not changed! Even LC-MS theologians stated in 1971 that “The pope did not propose that the [Vatican II] council revise or change Roman Catholic doctrine.” [p. 271] — Even with their offering of both kinds in the Lord's Supper, they maintain, in their Catholic Encyclopedia, that "communion under one form only is the reception of the whole sacrament." In other words, they still maintain, by their decrees, that they can go against Christ's institution of both kinds, bread and wine. — 

      I had to laugh out loud when I read Hoe's defense of the true doctrine of the Antichrist on pages 140-141. Even in his day, as with today's LC-MS teachers, leaders, and pastors, the objection is heard that no individual Pope can be identified as "the Antichrist". Hoe gives the perfect answer, and proves that individual Popes, not just the office of the "papacy" must be identified as "the Antichrist". It is written into the Smalcald Articles of the Lutheran Confessions. And defended again by Hoe von Hoenegg in 1603. — I had to laugh again when I read in the Catechism of the Catholic Church § 675 of the "Antichrist" that he is "a pseudo-messianism by which man glorifies him­self in place of God." Of course their Bible reference of 2 Thess. 2:4-12 says nothing about this type of "pseudo-messianism."

      Has the Catholic doctrine of Transubstantiation changed since Hoe's day? No. Their Catechism states on p. 346, § 1375: "It is by the conversion of the bread and wine into Christ's body and blood that Christ becomes present in this sacrament."

      Now that Walther's wish that this little book be translated into English has come true, may it once again become popular as it was for 200 years after it first appeared. May it provide the same defense against the same errors of the Pope's Church, the Roman Catholic Church.

      But this story does not end here, it leads into much more Church history for the lands that Hoe came from — south Germany, Bavaria, Austria, Salzburg.  In the next Part 3, we go into the remarkable history of the Jesuit turned Lutheran, Jacob Reihing, the one whom Walther dramatically highlighted for his American Lutheran readers. I wanted to find out all that I could of this remarkable man.