Didn't Martin Luther state that he regretted starting the reformation?

Question

Is it true that Martin Luther was only trying to create change within the Catholic Church and never intended to leave the Catholic faith?

Answer 1

Yes.

The very founder of the "Reformation", Martin Luther, was the "regrettable" one, as he surveyed the damage that his rebellion against authority had caused. His writings show that he lamented his deed when he penned the following remarks...
"This one will not hear of Baptism, and that one denies the sacrament, another puts a world between this and the last day: some teach that Christ is not God, some say this, some say that: there are as many sects and creeds as there are heads. No yokel is so rude but when he has dreams and fancies, he thinks himself inspired by the Holy Ghost and must be a prophet."
De Wette III, 61. quoted in O'Hare, THE FACTS ABOUT LUTHER, 208.

"Noblemen, townsmen, peasants, all classes understand the Evangelium better than I or St. Paul; they are now wise and think themselves more learned than all the ministers."
Walch XIV, 1360. quoted in O'Hare, Ibid, 209.

"We concede -- as we must -- that so much of what they (the Catholic Church) say is true: that the papacy has God's word and the office of the apostles, and that we have received Holy Scriptures, Baptism, the Sacrament, and the pulpit from them. What would we know of these if it were not for them?"
Sermon on the gospel of St. John, chaps. 14 - 16 (1537), in vol. 24 of LUTHER'S WORKS,
St. Louis, Mo.: Concordia, 1961, 304.


All of this and much more was written by the founder of the Reformation, just a short time after, when he noted the chaos he had created. By this time, Munzer had run in this direction (in 1521, the same year that Luther broke away), Zwingli, had run in that direction, Calvin in yet another direction, all of them scattering the sheep and taking their flocks with them. Luther had let the cat out of the bag and he was helpless to put it back in. He had started something that he was powerless to stop.
Regretful, he certainly was as:
"Once you open the door to error, you cannot close it."
Luther had become the victim by not heeding the consequences of this simple proverb.

"Unless the Lord build the house, they labor in vain who build it."
Psalms 127:1

Answer 2

Luther never set out to break with the Roman Church; he simply wanted it to reform. He had often said, “No crime or abuse can justify a schism.” Luther was raised a Catholic and knew nothing else. He never intended to bring about a new church outside of the Roman Church. In fact, when Luther realized that the whole Church was against him, he had second thoughts about his actions:

“I began this affair in great fear and trembling. What was I, a poor, miserable, contemptible friar, more like a corpse than a man - who was I, to set myself up against the majesty of the Pope, before whom trembled not only the kings of the earth, and the whole world, but also, if I may so say, heaven and hell, constrained to obey the look of his eye? No one can know what my heart suffered in those first two years, and into what dejection I have often been plunged . . . However, after having gained the victory, by the Scriptures, over all contrary arguments, I at last surmounted, by the grace of Christ, with much anguish and labor, and with great difficulty, the only argument, which still stopped me, namely - 'It is necessary to hear the Church,' for I honored the Pope’s Church from the bottom of my heart."

Answer 3

It is true that he only intended to create change in the Catholic Church and had no intention of leaving. To this day, many Lutherans consider ourselves to be a sort of "Evangelical Catholic" not in fellowship with Rome, rather than true Protestant.

But I've never actually heard/read a direct quotation where he said he regretted starting the Reformation, though I've heard the claim made from time to time. It is perhaps one way of interpreting his distress over the direction other reformers had taken, though I wouldn't necessarily interpret it that way.

Answer 4

He just wanted to reform INSIDE the Church. He presented Catholic errors so the Church could change. He wanted a united Church. The Church only changed slightly, and believers in the reformation had to lead independent churches.

“I began this affair in great fear and trembling. What was I, a poor, miserable, contemptible friar, more like a corpse than a man - who was I, to set myself up against the majesty of the Pope, before whom trembled not only the kings of the earth, and the whole world, but also, if I may so say, heaven and hell, constrained to obey the look of his eye? No one can know what my heart suffered in those first two years, and into what dejection I have often been plunged . . . However, after having gained the victory, by the Scriptures, over all contrary arguments, I at last surmounted, by the grace of Christ, with much anguish and labor, and with great difficulty, the only argument, which still stopped me, namely - 'It is necessary to hear the Church,' for I honored the Pope’s Church from the bottom of my heart."

Answer 5

I'm not sure of that, it is possible though. Martin Luther was a long ways off on what protestantism is today, he just got the ball rolling.

Answer 6

Yes
Unfortunately the Catholic (church) didn't allow it.

Answer 7

Martin Luther left the corrupt Church of Rome because it was godless, corrupt, and had tossed out God, Jesus Christ, and the Bible.

Answer 8

kind of yes, he wanted the truth to be brought out and died for it, look him up in Foxe's book of Martyrs. by John Foxe

Answer 9

Yes...