Essay: Responsio ad Lutherum (Answer to Martin Luther)

Overview
Thomas More's "Responsio ad Lutherum" (1523) is a learned Latin rebuttal aimed squarely at Martin Luther's criticisms of papal authority and established Catholic doctrine. Written in the heat of early Reformation controversies, it continues the combative exchange that followed Henry VIII's "Assertio Septem Sacramentorum" and Luther's subsequent attacks. More writes as both a humanist scholar and a staunch defender of ecclesiastical order, blending close scriptural reading, patristic citation, and rhetorical force to challenge the theological and social consequences of Luther's claims.

Central Arguments
More insists that doctrine cannot rest on private interpretation alone and that the Church's teaching authority, transmitted through bishops and ultimately the papacy, provides necessary guidance for reading Scripture faithfully. He defends the sacraments, apostolic succession, and the mediated role of ordained ministry against Luther's emphasis on unmediated access to God. More argues that the coherence of Christian practice and belief depends on communal and historical continuity, and he marshals patristic and conciliar evidence to show that many of Luther's positions break with long-standing ecclesial consensus.

Method and Tone
The reply combines humanist erudition with pointed polemic. More draws on classical rhetoric, scriptural exegesis, and quotations from Church Fathers to demonstrate continuity between tradition and doctrine. His tone varies between calm intellectual engagement and sharp rebuke; wit and irony surface alongside legalistic and moral reasoning. Rather than conceding theological novelty, More characterizes Luther's arguments as disruptive both to doctrinal truth and to social order, portraying theological dissent as liable to produce civic disorder and personal arrogance.

Theological and Social Critique
More contests Luther's doctrines of sola scriptura and sola fide by emphasizing the Church's interpretive role and the necessity of sacramental life for salvation. He warns that severing belief from sacramental structures risks reducing Christianity to an individualistic religion of assertions and polemics. More also frames Luther's approach as politically destabilizing: when ecclesiastical authority is undermined, the bonds that hold communities together weaken, opening the door to sedition and moral laxity. This practical dimension of his critique aligns theological fidelity with social stability.

Historical Significance
The "Responsio ad Lutherum" exemplifies the intellectual resistance to Protestant reform that flourished among English humanists before the English Reformation took its own distinctive turn. It showcases More's capacity to defend traditional doctrine with the tools of Renaissance scholarship, and it illuminates a moment when loyalty to Rome and erudition were interwoven in public debate. The essay occupies a place in the broader polemic between Lutherans and Catholic defenders, contributing to the era's defining conversations about authority, tradition, and the interpretation of Scripture.

Style and Legacy
Marked by a polished Latin style and confident command of sources, the reply reflects More's reputation as a scholar-statesman. Its rhetorical balance, scholarly citation, moral admonition, and occasional mordant humor, renders it persuasive to contemporaries who valued classical learning as a support for religious orthodoxy. As part of More's larger corpus of anti-Lutheran writings, the piece helps explain why he became a central figure in the defense of Catholicism in England, even as later political events would force a painful rupture between conscience, royal authority, and ecclesiastical allegiance.