God’s Word and Human Tradition by Martin Luther

Pacific Press Publishing Company · MOUNTAIN VIEW, CALIFORNIA · May 1, 1907

FromSigns of the Times, Vol. 33, No. 18.

God’s Word and Human Tradition

By Martin Luther

WHEN God's word is by the fathers expounded, construed, and glossed, then, in my judgment, it is even as when one strains milk thru a coal sack, which must needs spoil and make the milk black. God's word of itself is pure, clean, bright, and clear; but thru the doctrines, books, and writings of the fathers, it is darkened, falsified, and spoiled. —Martin Luther, "Table Talk," p. 228.