"Luther tried to throw James out of the Bible." Some Catholics say it. Many Lutherans call it a myth. The fairest way to settle it is to read Luther's own words.
Short answer: Luther did not delete any book. But he ranked books by his own doctrinal test and demoted several. His 1522 New Testament moved Hebrews, James, Jude, and Revelation to the end, and he wrote that he would not have James "in my Bible to be numbered among the true chief books." His 1534 Bible set the deuterocanonical books apart as books "not held to be equal to Holy Scripture."
Key verses on adding to or taking from Scripture
- "if anyone takes away from the words in this prophetic book, God will take away his share in the tree of life" (Revelation 22:19)
- "you shall not add to what I command you nor subtract from it" (Deuteronomy 4:2)
- "All scripture is inspired by God and is useful for teaching" (2 Timothy 3:16)
- "the church of the living God, the pillar and foundation of truth" (1 Timothy 3:15)
- "See how a person is justified by works and not by faith alone." (James 2:24)
Scripture quotations are from the New American Bible, Revised Edition (NABRE), © 2010, 1991, 1986, 1970 Confraternity of Christian Doctrine, Washington, D.C. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
What Catholics Actually Teach
"It was by the apostolic Tradition that the Church discerned which writings are to be included in the list of the sacred books." The New Testament in that list includes "the Letter to the Hebrews, the Letters of James, 1 and 2 Peter, 1, 2 and 3 John, and Jude, and Revelation (the Apocalypse)" (CCC 120). "The Church accepts and venerates as inspired the 46 books of the Old Testament and the 27 books of the New" (CCC 138).
The Church also speaks with charity about the Reformation. For the divisions, "often enough, men of both sides were to blame" (CCC 817). And all who have been "justified by faith in Baptism," Lutherans included, "with good reason are accepted as brothers in the Lord by the children of the Catholic Church" (CCC 818). That communion is real but "imperfect" (CCC 838), and "it is through Christ's Catholic Church alone, which is the universal help toward salvation, that the fullness of the means of salvation can be obtained" (CCC 816).
What Catholics do not teach:
- That Luther tore books out of his Bible. He translated all of them.
- That nobody before Luther ever questioned a book. Some early writers did, as we'll see.
- That Lutherans today reject James or Revelation. Lutheran churches count all 27 New Testament books as canonical.
The Biblical Case
1. What Luther actually did
In his 1522 German New Testament, Luther "put Hebrews and James at the end of the testament, with Jude and Revelation, to underline what he considered as the secondary character of these books," as a Lutheran seminary's rare-books collection puts it. His preface to Hebrews explains, "The four which follow have from ancient times had a different reputation."
In his 1522 preface to the New Testament, he said St. John's Gospel and first letter, St. Paul's letters, and 1 Peter "are the books that show you Christ," and so "St. James' epistle is really an epistle of straw, compared to these others, for it has nothing of the nature of the gospel about it." In the preface to James he wrote, "I do not regard it as the writing of an apostle." Of Revelation he wrote, "My spirit cannot accommodate itself to this book" (from 1530 on, this short preface was replaced by a much longer one interpreting the book).
In 1534 his complete Bible translated the deuterocanonical books (Tobit, Judith, Wisdom, Sirach, and others) but grouped them as "Apocrypha," with the title: "These books are not held to be equal to Holy Scripture, but they are useful and good to read."
2. Scripture warns against taking away from God's word
"You shall not add to what I command you nor subtract from it" (Deuteronomy 4:2). Revelation warns that "if anyone takes away from the words in this prophetic book, God will take away his share in the tree of life" (Revelation 22:19). Luther's 1522 preface actually complained that the book "threatens that if anyone takes away anything from it, God will take away from him." Demoting a book is not deleting it, but it treats God's word as something a reader may rank. Scripture gives no reader that power. St. Paul says "All scripture is inspired," not "the chief books."
3. No verse supplies the table of contents
"All scripture is inspired by God" (2 Timothy 3:16) tells us what Scripture is, not which books it includes. That list came through the Church, which St. Paul calls "the pillar and foundation of truth" (1 Timothy 3:15). Christ's Church, not any one scholar, received the canon (CCC 120).
4. Luther's test was personal, and these books pass it anyway
Luther proposed a test: "whether or not they inculcate Christ." He added, "Whatever does not teach Christ is not apostolic, even though St. Peter or St. Paul does the teaching." But the books he doubted proclaim Christ clearly. St. James speaks of "the faith in our glorious Lord Jesus Christ" (James 2:1). Hebrews: "we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus, the Son of God" (Hebrews 4:14). Revelation: "you were slain and with your blood you purchased for God those from every tribe" (Revelation 5:9). And St. Peter warns that hard passages are what "the ignorant and unstable distort" (2 Peter 3:16), a reason to read them with the Church rather than against her.
5. St. James does not contradict St. Paul
Luther's main charge was that James "is flatly against St. Paul and all the rest of Scripture in ascribing justification to works." St. Paul says "a person is justified by faith apart from works of the law" (Romans 3:28). St. James says "a person is justified by works and not by faith alone" (James 2:24). St. Paul rejects works of the Mosaic law as the basis of justification; St. James rejects a dead faith that produces no works: "faith of itself, if it does not have works, is dead" (James 2:17). St. Paul says the same thing in his own words: what counts is "faith working through love" (Galatians 5:6). St. James even shows how the two fit: "faith was active along with his works, and faith was completed by the works" (James 2:22). Both are inspired, and they agree. The contradiction was in Luther's reading, not in the Bible. (See Does James 2 Contradict Paul?)
Objections Answered
(a) "Luther only repeated the doubts of the early Church."
At its strongest: Eusebius (c. AD 325, approximate) listed James and Jude among the "disputed writings," and accepted Revelation only "if it really seem proper" (Church History 3.25). Erasmus questioned these books in 1516, and even Cardinal Cajetan, Luther's Catholic opponent, doubted some of them (as Michael Marlowe's Bible Research site reports, citing Reu's Luther's German Bible).
Answer: True, there were early doubts. But doubts are not verdicts. Scripture never hands the canon to individual scholars; it points to "the church of the living God, the pillar and foundation of truth" (1 Timothy 3:15). And the earliest Christians used these books from the start: Pope St. Clement I (St. Clement of Rome) echoed Hebrews before the end of the first century, and St. Justin and St. Irenaeus credited Revelation to the apostle St. John in the second (see below). By the late fourth century the churches had settled the question; St. Athanasius's list of AD 367 includes all four books, and so does the first council list, traditionally attributed to the Council of Rome (382) under Pope St. Damasus I.
Luther also did not apply the historical test consistently. Second Peter was also "disputed" (Eusebius 3.25), and Bible Research notes it was the most doubted letter in ancient times, yet he left it among the main books. His stated reason for demoting James was doctrinal: it seemed to him "flatly against St. Paul." That is not the early Church's doubt; it is a new test.
(b) "Luther kept James in his Bible, so the charge is a myth."
At its strongest: Luther said of James, "I praise it and consider it a good book." He left readers free to disagree. Protestant scholar Martin Foord argues that Luther "wished to keep James in the New Testament" and held a "two-level view," placing James in a lower tier (Themelios 45.2).
Answer: Fair on the narrow point: Luther did not delete James, and Catholics should say it accurately. Now look at what he did do. He wrote, "I will not have him in my Bible to be numbered among the true chief books," and "I do not regard it as the writing of an apostle." Foord himself concludes Luther's two-level view is "not faithful to Scripture itself." No verse creates a second tier of inspired books; "All scripture is inspired by God" (2 Timothy 3:16). A New Testament of first-class and second-class books, sorted by one man's test, is not a myth. It is a real change, and the Church rightly rejected it.
(c) "The canon wasn't defined until Trent in 1546, so Luther was free to question it."
At its strongest: Trent solemnly defined the canon only after Luther's Bible appeared. Before that, scholars debated the edges.
Answer: Trent's definition was solemn, but not new. The first council list of the canon is traditionally attributed to the Council of Rome (382) under Pope St. Damasus I, followed by Hippo (393) and Carthage (397). The Council of Carthage (419), in its canon "That nothing be read in church besides the Canonical Scripture," already listed fourteen letters of St. Paul (the traditional count that includes Hebrews), James, Jude, and "The Revelation of John," along with Tobit, Judith, and two books of Maccabees (Canon 24). More basically, St. Augustine taught that a Christian "must follow the judgment of the greater number of Catholic churches" on the canon, not a personal theological test.
The Early Church Agrees
The books Luther demoted were used and honored long before anyone ranked them.
- St. Clement of Rome (First Epistle to the Corinthians, c. AD 96, approximate) describes Christ as one "who, being the brightness of His majesty, is by so much greater than the angels" (36), echoing Hebrews 1:3–4. Hebrews was in use in Rome within a generation of the apostles.
- St. Justin Martyr (Dialogue with Trypho, c. AD 155, approximate): "there was a certain man with us, whose name was John, one of the apostles of Christ, who prophesied, by a revelation that was made to him" (81).
- St. Irenaeus of Lyons (Against Heresies, c. AD 180) says the apocalyptic vision "was seen no very long time since, but almost in our day, towards the end of Domitian's reign," and appeals to "those men who saw John face to face" (5.30).
- Origen (c. AD 245, approximate, quoted by Eusebius) on Hebrews: "the thoughts are those of the apostle," and "not without reason have the ancients handed it down as Paul's," though "who wrote the epistle, in truth, God knows" (Church History 6.25). Uncertain about the human author, he still received the book.
- St. Athanasius (Festal Letter 39, AD 367) lists the 27 New Testament books, including James, Jude, Hebrews, and "the Revelation of John," then says: "Let no man add to these, neither let him take ought from these." (His Old Testament list was shorter, placing Wisdom, Sirach, Esther, Judith, and Tobit among books "appointed by the Fathers to be read.") (§5–7)
- St. Augustine of Hippo (On Christian Doctrine, c. AD 397): "Now, in regard to the canonical Scriptures, he must follow the judgment of the greater number of Catholic churches." His list includes Hebrews, James, Jude, and Revelation (2.8.12–13). Elsewhere he writes, "I should not believe the gospel except as moved by the authority of the Catholic Church" (Against the Epistle of Manichaeus 5).
Conclusion
Luther did not remove books from the Bible. He did something subtler: he made himself the judge of which books were "chief," and demoted those that seemed to cut against his reading of St. Paul. The early Church received the canon instead of ranking it.
If you are Protestant, honor Luther's love for Scripture and his gift of a German Bible. Then ask the question his prefaces raise: Who has the authority to say which books are God's word? Scripture points to "the church of the living God" (1 Timothy 3:15).
Come home. The Bible you hold, with the books Luther questioned, was received and handed on whole by the Catholic Church. Christ did not found many churches. He founded one, on St. Peter and the apostles (Matthew 16:18), and that Church is the Catholic Church. "It is through Christ's Catholic Church alone, which is the universal help toward salvation, that the fullness of the means of salvation can be obtained" (CCC 816). If you are a baptized Christian, you already share "a certain, although imperfect, communion" with her (CCC 838). Every truth you already hold is a call to the rest of the way. Christ is calling you into the Catholic Church.
Your next step: Come to Mass this Sunday at your local Catholic church. You can find one near you at MassTimes.org. Everyone is welcome; if you're not yet Catholic, pray with us but don't receive Communion yet. When you're ready to become Catholic, call the parish office and ask about OCIA, the Order of Christian Initiation of Adults. They will walk you through every step. Read our guide: How Do I Become Catholic? Not ready yet? Get our free pocket guide below and keep learning.
FAQ
Did Luther call James "an epistle of straw"? Yes, in his 1522 preface to the New Testament, "compared to these others" such as St. John's Gospel and St. Paul's letters. He also called it "a good book."
Did Luther remove the deuterocanonical books? No. He translated them in his 1534 Bible but placed them in a separate "Apocrypha" section, as books "not held to be equal to Holy Scripture."
Do Lutherans today accept James and Revelation? Yes. Lutheran churches count all 27 New Testament books as canonical, though some Lutheran theologians still distinguish the once-disputed books.
Sources
Scripture (NABRE, bible.usccb.org): Deuteronomy 4:2; Matthew 16:18; Romans 3:28; Galatians 5:6; 1 Timothy 3:15; 2 Timothy 3:16; Hebrews 1:3–4; Hebrews 4:14; James 2:1, 17, 22, 24; 2 Peter 3:16; Revelation 5:9; Revelation 22:18–19.
Catechism of the Catholic Church (vatican.va): 120; 138; 816, 817, 818, 838.
Church Fathers and councils (newadvent.org): Clement of Rome, 1 Clement 36 (ANF vol. 1); Justin Martyr, Dialogue with Trypho 81 (ANF vol. 1); Irenaeus, Against Heresies 5.30 (ANF vol. 1); Origen, quoted in Eusebius, Church History 6.25 (NPNF2 vol. 1); Council of Carthage (419), Canon 24 (NPNF2 vol. 14); Athanasius, Letter 39 (NPNF2 vol. 4); Augustine, On Christian Doctrine 2.8.12–13 (NPNF1 vol. 2); Augustine, Against the Epistle of Manichaeus Called Fundamental 5 (NPNF1 vol. 4); Eusebius, Church History 3.25 (NPNF2 vol. 1).
Historical background: Catholic Encyclopedia, "Canon of the New Testament"; Decretum Gelasianum, English translation (von Dobschütz ed.).
Luther and history: Luther's prefaces to Hebrews, James and Jude, and Revelation (1522), English translation from Luther's Works vol. 35 (Concordia, 1963), as given at Bible Research (Michael Marlowe); Luther's 1522 Preface to the New Testament, as quoted in Martin Foord, "The 'Epistle of Straw': Reflections on Luther and the Epistle of James," Themelios 45.2; Lutheran School of Theology at Chicago, Gruber Collection, Luther's Bible Translations: 1522 and 1534.