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The Prince; Utopia; Ninety-Five Theses: Address to the German Nobility Concerning Christian Liberty: Part 36 Harvard Classics
This scarce antiquarian book is a facsimile reprint of the original. Due to its age, it may contain imperfections such as marks, notations, marginalia and flawed pages. Because we believe this work is culturally important, we have made it available as part of our commitment for protecting, preserving, and promoting the world's literature in affordable, high quality, modern editions that are true to the original work.
- GenresClassicsPhilosophy
404 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1909
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About the author
Charles William Eliot
433 books84 followersCharles William Eliot was an American academic who was selected as Harvard's president in 1869. He transformed the provincial college into the preeminent American research university. Eliot served the longest term as president in the university's history.
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Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
January 1, 2023
2 stars for Machiavelli
3 stars for More
4 stars for Luther
This review is for the Luther portion of HC 36.
From Luther's writings:
Good to keep in mind for the holidays:
"[W]ith our present abuses of drinking, gambling, idling, and all manner of sin, we vex God more on holy days than on others. And the matter is just reversed; we have made holy days unholy, and working days holy, and do no service; but great dishonour, to God and His saints will all our holy days."
"Now the Roman see has interfered of its own perversity, and has made a general law by which priests are forbidden to marry. This must have been at the instigation of the devil, as was foretold by St. Paul, saying that "there shall come teachers giving heed to seducing spirits,… forbidding to marry," etc. (1 Tim. iv. 1, 2, seq.). This has been the cause of so much misery that it cannot be told, and has given occasion to the Greek Church to separate from us, and has caused infinite disunion, sin, shame, and scandal, like everything that the devil does or suggests. Now what are we to do? My advice is to restore liberty, and to leave every man free to marry or not to marry."
"In short, at Rome Christ is nothing, the Pope is everything. . . . They themselves have made a proverb, "The nearer to Rome, the farther from Christ."
"The time for silence is gone, and the time to speak has come, as we read in Ecclesiastes (iii. 7)."
"Now may God help us, and give us one of those trumpets that overthrew the walls of Jericho, so that we may blow down these walls of straw and paper, and that we may set free our Christian rods for the chastisement of sin, and expose the craft and deceit of the devil, so that we may amend ourselves by punishment and again obtain God's favour."
"Now, my advice would be that the books of Aristotle, the Physics, the Metaphysics, Of the Soul, Ethics, which have hitherto been considered the best, be altogether abolished, with all others that profess to treat of nature, though nothing can be learned from them, either of natural or of spiritual things. Besides, no one has been able to understand his meaning, and much time has been wasted and many noble souls vexed with much useless labour, study, and expense. I venture to say that any potter has more knowledge of natural things than is to be found in these books. My heart is grieved to see how many of the best Christians this accursed, proud, knavish heathen has fooled and led astray with his false words. God sent him as a plague for our sins.
"Does not the wretched man in his best book, Of the Soul, teach that the soul dies with the body, though many have tried to save him with vain words, as if we had not the Holy Scriptures to teach us fully of all things of which Aristotle had not the slightest perception? Yet this dead heathen has conquered, and has hindered and almost suppressed the books of the living God; so that, when I see all this misery I cannot but think that the evil spirit has introduced this study.
Then there is the Ethics, which is accounted one of the best, though no book is more directly contrary to God's will and the Christian virtues. Oh that such books could be kept out of the reach of all Christians! Let no one object that I say too much, or speak without knowledge. My friend, I know of what I speak. I know Aristotle as well as you or men like you. I have read him with more understanding than St. Thomas or Scotus, which I may say without arrogance, and can prove if need be.
...
"I would, however, gladly consent that Aristotle's books of Logic, Rhetoric, and Poetry, should be retained, or they might be usefully studied in a condensed form, to practise young people in speaking and preaching; but the notes and comments should be abolished, and, just as Cicero's Rhetoric is read without note or comment, Aristotle's Logic should be read without such long commentaries."
"there is nothing more devilishly mischievous than an unreformed university."
"The civil law, too, good God! what a wilderness it is become!"
"We must also lessen the number of theological books, and choose the best, for it is not the number of books that makes the learned man, nor much reading, but good books often read, however few, makes a man learned in the Scriptures and pious."
On schools: "We do not perceive all this misery, how the young folk are being pitifully corrupted in the midst of Christendom, all for want of the Gospel, which we should always read and study with them."
On the misguided pursuit of equality causing pride: "As it is, we see that every man wishes to be every other man's equal, and that this causes and increases pride and envy among us, as we deserve, all which would cease, with many other misfortunes, if our self-will would but let us be gratefully content with what God has given us."
"Lastly, is it not a terrible thing that we Christians should maintain public brothels, though we all vow chastity in our baptism?"
"What can be more bitter than the words of the prophets? The ears of our generation have been made so delicate by the senseless multitude of flatterers that, as soon as we perceive that anything of ours is not approved of, we cry out that we are being bitterly assailed; and when we can repel the truth by no other pretence, we escape by attributing bitterness, impatience, intemperance, to our adversaries. What would be the use of salt if it were not pungent, or of the edge of the sword if it did not slay? Accursed is the man who does the work of the Lord deceitfully."
""There is none righteous, no, not one; they are all gone out of the way; they are together become unprofitable: there is none that doeth good, no, not one" (Rom. iii. 10-12)."
"A bishop, when he consecrates a church, confirms children, or performs any other duty of his office, is not consecrated as bishop by these works; nay, unless he had been previously consecrated as bishop, not one of those works would have any validity; they would be foolish, childish, and ridiculous."
Here's where Luther goes astray:
"Thus we are all consecrated as priests by baptism, as St. Peter says: "Ye are a royal priesthood, a holy nation" (1 Peter ii. 9); and in the book of Revelations: "and hast made us unto our God (by Thy blood) kings and priests" (Rev. v. 10).
"And to put the matter even more plainly, if a little company of pious Christian laymen were taken prisoners and carried away to a desert, and had not among them a priest consecrated by a bishop, and were there to agree to elect one of them, born in wedlock or not, and were to order him to baptise, to celebrate the mass, to absolve, and to preach, this man would as truly be a priest, as if all the bishops and all the Popes had consecrated him. That is why in cases of necessity every man can baptise and absolve, which would not be possible if we were not all priests."
3 stars for More
4 stars for Luther
This review is for the Luther portion of HC 36.
From Luther's writings:
Good to keep in mind for the holidays:
"[W]ith our present abuses of drinking, gambling, idling, and all manner of sin, we vex God more on holy days than on others. And the matter is just reversed; we have made holy days unholy, and working days holy, and do no service; but great dishonour, to God and His saints will all our holy days."
"Now the Roman see has interfered of its own perversity, and has made a general law by which priests are forbidden to marry. This must have been at the instigation of the devil, as was foretold by St. Paul, saying that "there shall come teachers giving heed to seducing spirits,… forbidding to marry," etc. (1 Tim. iv. 1, 2, seq.). This has been the cause of so much misery that it cannot be told, and has given occasion to the Greek Church to separate from us, and has caused infinite disunion, sin, shame, and scandal, like everything that the devil does or suggests. Now what are we to do? My advice is to restore liberty, and to leave every man free to marry or not to marry."
"In short, at Rome Christ is nothing, the Pope is everything. . . . They themselves have made a proverb, "The nearer to Rome, the farther from Christ."
"The time for silence is gone, and the time to speak has come, as we read in Ecclesiastes (iii. 7)."
"Now may God help us, and give us one of those trumpets that overthrew the walls of Jericho, so that we may blow down these walls of straw and paper, and that we may set free our Christian rods for the chastisement of sin, and expose the craft and deceit of the devil, so that we may amend ourselves by punishment and again obtain God's favour."
"Now, my advice would be that the books of Aristotle, the Physics, the Metaphysics, Of the Soul, Ethics, which have hitherto been considered the best, be altogether abolished, with all others that profess to treat of nature, though nothing can be learned from them, either of natural or of spiritual things. Besides, no one has been able to understand his meaning, and much time has been wasted and many noble souls vexed with much useless labour, study, and expense. I venture to say that any potter has more knowledge of natural things than is to be found in these books. My heart is grieved to see how many of the best Christians this accursed, proud, knavish heathen has fooled and led astray with his false words. God sent him as a plague for our sins.
"Does not the wretched man in his best book, Of the Soul, teach that the soul dies with the body, though many have tried to save him with vain words, as if we had not the Holy Scriptures to teach us fully of all things of which Aristotle had not the slightest perception? Yet this dead heathen has conquered, and has hindered and almost suppressed the books of the living God; so that, when I see all this misery I cannot but think that the evil spirit has introduced this study.
Then there is the Ethics, which is accounted one of the best, though no book is more directly contrary to God's will and the Christian virtues. Oh that such books could be kept out of the reach of all Christians! Let no one object that I say too much, or speak without knowledge. My friend, I know of what I speak. I know Aristotle as well as you or men like you. I have read him with more understanding than St. Thomas or Scotus, which I may say without arrogance, and can prove if need be.
...
"I would, however, gladly consent that Aristotle's books of Logic, Rhetoric, and Poetry, should be retained, or they might be usefully studied in a condensed form, to practise young people in speaking and preaching; but the notes and comments should be abolished, and, just as Cicero's Rhetoric is read without note or comment, Aristotle's Logic should be read without such long commentaries."
"there is nothing more devilishly mischievous than an unreformed university."
"The civil law, too, good God! what a wilderness it is become!"
"We must also lessen the number of theological books, and choose the best, for it is not the number of books that makes the learned man, nor much reading, but good books often read, however few, makes a man learned in the Scriptures and pious."
On schools: "We do not perceive all this misery, how the young folk are being pitifully corrupted in the midst of Christendom, all for want of the Gospel, which we should always read and study with them."
On the misguided pursuit of equality causing pride: "As it is, we see that every man wishes to be every other man's equal, and that this causes and increases pride and envy among us, as we deserve, all which would cease, with many other misfortunes, if our self-will would but let us be gratefully content with what God has given us."
"Lastly, is it not a terrible thing that we Christians should maintain public brothels, though we all vow chastity in our baptism?"
"What can be more bitter than the words of the prophets? The ears of our generation have been made so delicate by the senseless multitude of flatterers that, as soon as we perceive that anything of ours is not approved of, we cry out that we are being bitterly assailed; and when we can repel the truth by no other pretence, we escape by attributing bitterness, impatience, intemperance, to our adversaries. What would be the use of salt if it were not pungent, or of the edge of the sword if it did not slay? Accursed is the man who does the work of the Lord deceitfully."
""There is none righteous, no, not one; they are all gone out of the way; they are together become unprofitable: there is none that doeth good, no, not one" (Rom. iii. 10-12)."
"A bishop, when he consecrates a church, confirms children, or performs any other duty of his office, is not consecrated as bishop by these works; nay, unless he had been previously consecrated as bishop, not one of those works would have any validity; they would be foolish, childish, and ridiculous."
Here's where Luther goes astray:
"Thus we are all consecrated as priests by baptism, as St. Peter says: "Ye are a royal priesthood, a holy nation" (1 Peter ii. 9); and in the book of Revelations: "and hast made us unto our God (by Thy blood) kings and priests" (Rev. v. 10).
"And to put the matter even more plainly, if a little company of pious Christian laymen were taken prisoners and carried away to a desert, and had not among them a priest consecrated by a bishop, and were there to agree to elect one of them, born in wedlock or not, and were to order him to baptise, to celebrate the mass, to absolve, and to preach, this man would as truly be a priest, as if all the bishops and all the Popes had consecrated him. That is why in cases of necessity every man can baptise and absolve, which would not be possible if we were not all priests."
July 5, 2020
In The Prince , Machiavelli applies the analytic tools of science to politics to determine the best way to rule effectively.
More describes the ideal commonwealth in his Utopia , where all work is for the common good: highlighting the abuses of power at the time and slyly suggesting necessary reforms. Also included in this-volume-is his biography, The Life of Thomas More ,-written by his son-in-law, which has become the primary source for all of his-subsequent biographies.
On October 31, 1517, Martin Luther nailed-his Ninety-Five Thesis -against the sale of indulgences to the church door of Wittenberg, inadvertently beginning the Protestant Reformation. In his Address to the German Nobility Luther advocates tectonic shifts in the church, including a devolution of power from Rome to the German states, and a shift in power from priests to layman.-Luther's- Concerning Christian Liberty is a-treatise on his religious beliefs and a cogent critique of the Catholic church.
December 6, 2011
I read a biography of More's daughter Margaret back in January (this is Oct.) and so I ought to remember a little about William Roper, but for the moment I'm lost. However, I'm saving More for last, and I don't know if that's because I like him best or not.
I do like Luther, and I'd like to quote several things, but I won't. I'll just say that his critiques of Aristotle sound exactly like my mother about modern college curriculum, but my Mom doesn't diss Aristotle. Certainly reading Luther's scathing reviews doesn't make me want to read him less.
And I knew I'd think Machiavelli was at least a little boring, but at least the book was only 90 pages, which thing I never had supposed, and he used so many biblical examples it was funny. I look at the Discourses and shudder. I already read most of Gibbon; and even Livy himself, as I remember; why should I make myself read Machiavelli?
Update: Luther's Christian Liberty is way better than any Thomas a Kempis, and of course I know who Roper is. The book I read before was a good set-up to this one though. I'd have been a little lost without it. I've got Utopia left.
I'm not one who likes to read anyone's imaginations of the perfect society, even if they're not too bad. And surely More ended up with some paradoxes; he'd say something and 3 or 15 pages later, say something that couldn't be true if the first one was? I don't know; I'd never go back and look them up. I had to read Luther again to get over it.
In all, Luther made up for the first two thirds of the book. He's that good.
I do like Luther, and I'd like to quote several things, but I won't. I'll just say that his critiques of Aristotle sound exactly like my mother about modern college curriculum, but my Mom doesn't diss Aristotle. Certainly reading Luther's scathing reviews doesn't make me want to read him less.
And I knew I'd think Machiavelli was at least a little boring, but at least the book was only 90 pages, which thing I never had supposed, and he used so many biblical examples it was funny. I look at the Discourses and shudder. I already read most of Gibbon; and even Livy himself, as I remember; why should I make myself read Machiavelli?
Update: Luther's Christian Liberty is way better than any Thomas a Kempis, and of course I know who Roper is. The book I read before was a good set-up to this one though. I'd have been a little lost without it. I've got Utopia left.
I'm not one who likes to read anyone's imaginations of the perfect society, even if they're not too bad. And surely More ended up with some paradoxes; he'd say something and 3 or 15 pages later, say something that couldn't be true if the first one was? I don't know; I'd never go back and look them up. I had to read Luther again to get over it.
In all, Luther made up for the first two thirds of the book. He's that good.
June 28, 2008
This has been an interesting read so far. I haven't yet read "Concerning Christian Liberty." The 95 theses seemed to be mostly about indulgences and the issues of money in the church - this all seemed to make sense and seemed specific, though the seeds of greater revolt may be implicit in his accusations. In the "Address to the German Nobility" I was really shocked at the extent to which Luther opposed to Pope. It is really surprising to read him calling the Pope worse than the Antichrist in the "Address" and then to write directly to the Pope before "On Christian Liberty," praising him amidst the corrupt clergy that surrounded him. This served mostly to turn me off to Luther's extremism
July 27, 2007
I only read "Prince" still need to finish the other books within this book. But absolutely loved "Prince"!
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews