Defence of the Catholic Priesthood: Against Martin Luther

by John Fisher, Philip E. Hallet (Translation)

St. John Fisher is perhaps the forgotten saint. While his times are remembered, he is not. The 20th century saw a rebirth in interest in Fisher, the only Bishops to not bend the knee to Henry VIII. His work, the Defence of the Priesthood, was written in refutation of Martin Luther's work "On the Abolition of Private Mass." It relies principally on the witness of the New Testament, then the Church Fathers to prove with certainty that the Catholic priesthood was introduced by Jesus Christ. Luther regularly responded to anyone who criticized him with abuse, but to Fisher he never made any response, not only because the treatise was unanswerable, but also because Fisher was the holiest Bishop in Christendom . This treatise, being thoroughly grounded in Holy Scripture, reveals Fisher as the true witness to the Gospel.

Genres: Catholic

210 pages, Paperback

Published April 9, 2017

About the author

Librarian Note: There is more than one author by this name in the Goodreads data base.

Saint John Fisher, 1469-1535, was an English Catholic Cardinal-Priest, Bishop, and theologian. He was a man of learning, associated with the intellectuals and political leaders of his day, and eventually became Chancellor of the University of Cambridge.

Fisher was executed by order of Henry VIII during the English Reformation for refusing to accept the king as Supreme Head of the Church of England and for upholding the Catholic Church's doctrine of papal primacy. He was named a cardinal shortly before his death. He is honoured as a martyr and saint by the Catholic Church.

Reviews

[Jarrett Vandiver · Rating 4 out of 5]

Though he was one of only two bishops in England who openly stood against King Henry VIII’s illicit divorce and new state church, St John Fisher (d. 1535) is largely a forgotten saint. This book was written as a response to Martin Luther’s “On the Abolition of the Private Mass,” where Fisher argues for the legitimacy of the sacramental priesthood from Scripture and tradition. Though Luther was known to write verbally abusive tracts against any of his opponents, St John Fisher, considered by the English as the holiest man in Europe, was the only person to whom Martin Luther never wrote a response.

[Hugo Gomez · Rating 3 out of 5]

A pretty short read. It is interesting to see the historical response to the reformation with contemporary personalities engaging on the issue. St. John Fisher gets to his points with a lot more clarity and brevity than St. Thomas More. Still working on his response to Tyndale. The quotes of the early father and the first 5 popes are earth shattering to the reformation arguments of Luther. I'm saddened that apologetics has not made it much farther in our day. We should know more today than those who studied did before with so many more resources available to us now. The debates are watered down by comparison and Luther's crude and offensive use of language somehow never mentioned by anyone. It's clear that the reformers were never outstanding men themselves but merely figureheads for a deeper and older rebellion long in the tooth that was fomenting for a very long time.

[Lance · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wow, this book was absolutely incredible. St John Fisher puts forth not only a refutation of Luther’s sacrilege against the priesthood, but also a true work of literature that is both entertaining and informative to read. I recommend that anyone read this work if they are interested in reformation era literature, a defense of the Catholic priesthood, and a patristic and scriptural defense of Catholic sacramentology.