them, he merely reproduced them. It is
the fact that Luther made it possible for Germans to see what is really
in the Bible that hurts. To please the Catholics, Luther should not have
translated the Bible at all.

The truth of this remark is readily seen when one examines specific
exceptions which Catholics have taken to Luther's translation. They find
fault with Luther's translation of the angel's address to Mary: "Du
Holdselige," that is, Thou gracious one, or well-favored one. The
Catholics demand that this term should be rendered "full of grace,"
because in their belief Mary is really the chief dispenser of grace.
They complain that in Matt. 3, 2 Luther has rendered the Baptist's call:
"Tut Busse," that is, Repent, instead of, Do penance. They fault Luther
for translating in Acts 19, 18: "Und verkuendigten, was sie ausgerichtet
hatten," that is, They reported what they had accomplished. Catholics
regard this text as a stronghold for their doctrine of confession,
especially for that part of it which makes satisfaction by works of
penance a part of confession; they insist that the text must be
rendered: They declared their deeds, that is, the works which they had
performed by order of their confessors. Catholics charge Luther with
having inserted a word in Rom. 4, 15, which he translates: "Das Gesetz
richtet nur Zorn an," that is, The law worketh only wrath, or nothing
but wrath. They object to the word "only," because in their view man can
by his own natural powers make himself love the Law. They set up a great
hue and cry about another insertion in Rom. 3, 28, which Luther
translates: "So halten wir es nun, dass der Mensch gerecht werde ohne
des Gesetzes Werk', allein durch den Glauben," that is, We conclude,
therefore, that a man is justified without the deeds of the Law, by
faith alone; they object to the word "alone," because in their teaching
justification is by faith plus works. It is known that there are
translations before Luther which contain the same insertion. On this
insertion Luther deserves to be heard himself. "I knew full well," he
says, "that in the Latin and Greek texts of Rom. 3, 28 the word solum
(alone) does not occur, and there was no need of the papists teaching me
that. True, these four letters sola, at which the dunces stare as a cow
at a new barn-door, are not in the text. But they do not see that they
express the meaning of the text, and they must be inserted if we wish to
clearly and forc