History of the Reformation in the Sixteenth Century Volume I Part 35

[471] Luth. Ep. i, p. 412.

Brentz, Snepf, and others also, urged by the new truths which began to dawn upon their minds, in like manner visited Luther, speaking and conferring with him, and asking explanations of any thing which they might not have comprehended. The Reformer, in his answers, founded upon the Bible. At every word that fell from him fresh light arose, and his visitors saw a new world opening before them.

After Luther's departure these n.o.ble-minded men began to teach at Heidelberg. It was necessary to follow out what the man of G.o.d had begun, and not allow the torch which he had kindled to be extinguished. The scholars will speak should the masters be silent.

Brentz, although he was still so youthful, explained St. Matthew, at first in his own room, and afterwards, when it could not contain his hearers, in the hall of philosophy. The theologians, filled with envy at seeing the great concourse which he drew together, were much offended.

Brentz next took orders, and transferred his lectures to the college of the Canons of the Holy Spirit. In this way the fire which had already been kindled in Saxony was kindled also in Heidelberg. The light radiated from numerous _foci_. This period has been designated the seed-time of the Palatinate.

But the fruits of the Heidelberg discussion were not confined to the Palatinate. These bold friends of the truth soon became luminaries in the Church. They all occupied eminent stations, and took part in the numerous discussions, to which the Reformation gave rise. Strasburg, and at a later period England, were indebted to the labours of Bucer, for a purer knowledge of the truth. Snepf taught first at Marburg, then at Stutgard, Tubingen, and Jena. Brentz, after teaching at Heidelberg, long continued to labour at Halle, in Swabia, and at Tubingen. These three individuals will again come before us.

This discussion caused Luther himself to advance. He grew daily in the knowledge of the truth. "I am one of those," said he, "who have made progress by writing and by instructing others; and not one of those, who, from nothing, become all at once great and learned doctors."

He was delighted at seeing the avidity with which youth in schools received the growing truth; and this consoled him when he saw how deeply the old doctors were rooted in their opinions. "I have the glorious hope," said he, "that, in like manner as Christ, when rejected by the Jews, went to the Gentiles, we will now see true theology, though rejected by these old men of vain and fantastical opinions, welcomed by the rising generation."[472]

[472] Luth. Ep. i, p. 112.

The Chapter being closed, Luther thought of returning to Wittemberg.

The Count Palatine gave him a letter to the Elector, in which he said that "Luther had displayed so much ability in the discussion as to reflect great glory on the university of Wittemberg." He was not permitted to return on foot.[473] The Augustins of Nuremberg conducted him as far as Wurzburg, and from thence he proceeded to Erfurt with the friars belonging to it. As soon as he arrived he called on his old master Jodocus. The venerable professor, who had been much concerned and shocked at the career which his pupil had followed, was accustomed to put a theta (?) before all Luther's sentences,--that being the letter which the Greeks used to express condemnation.[474] He had written to the young doctor, censuring his conduct, and he was anxious to answer by word of mouth. Not having been received, he wrote Jodocus:--"The whole university, with the exception of a single licentiate, thinks as I do. Nay, more; the prince, the bishop, several other prelates, and all our enlightened citizens, declare, with one voice, that hitherto they have neither known nor understood Jesus Christ and his gospel. I am ready to receive your correction, and though it should be harsh I will think it pleasant. Unbosom your heart then without fear, disburden yourself of your anger. I have no wish, I am not able to be angry with you. G.o.d and my conscience bear witness."[475]

[473] "Veni autem curru qui ieram pedester." (Ibid., p. 110.) I went on foot, but returned in a chariot.

[474] "Omnibus placitis meis nigrum theta praefigit." (Luth. Ep. i, p.

111.) He puts a black theta before all my opinions.

[475] Ibid.

The aged doctor was touched by the sentiments of his old pupil, and wished to see if there was no means of removing the condemnatory theta. They had an explanation; but nothing resulted from it. "I have at least," said Luther, "made him understand, that all their sentences are like the beast which is said to eat itself. But it is vain to speak to the deaf. The doctors cling obstinately to their petty distinctions, although they confess that they have nothing to support them but what they term the light of natural reason--a dark chaos to us who proclaim no other light than Jesus Christ, the only true light."[476]

[476] "Nisi dictamine rationis naturalis, quod apud nos idem est, quod chaos tenebratum, qui non praedicamus aliam lucem, quam Christum Jesum lucem veram et solam." (Ibid.)

Luther quitted Erfurt in the carriage of the convent. He was thus brought to Eisleben, and from thence the Augustins of the place, proud of a doctor who threw so much l.u.s.tre on their order and on their town which had given him birth, caused him to be conveyed to Wittemberg with their own horses, and at their own expence. All were desirous to testify affection and esteem for the extraordinary man who was rising at every step.

He arrived on Sat.u.r.day after the Ascension. The journey had done him good. His friends found him stronger and healthier looking than before his departure,[477] and were delighted with all he told them. Luther reposed for some time from the fatigues of his campaign and the discussion at Heidelberg, but this repose was only a preparation for more severe exertions.

[477] "Ita ut nonnullis videar factus habitior et corpulentior!"

(Ibid.) So that some think me fuller in habit, and more corpulent.

BOOK FOURTH.

CHAP. I.

LUTHER BEFORE THE LEGATE.

MAY-DECEMBER, 1518.

Repentance--The Pope--Leo X--Luther to his Bishop--Luther to the Pope--Luther to the Vicar-General--Rovere to the Elector--Discourse on Excommunication--Influence and Power of Luther.

Truth had at length raised her head in the bosom of Christendom.

Victorious over the inferior organs of the papacy, she behoved to have a struggle with its chief. We are going to see Luther at close quarters with Rome.

This step was taken on his return from Heidelberg. His first theses on indulgences had been misunderstood, and he determined to explain their meaning with greater clearness. The outcry raised by the blind hatred of his enemies had convinced him how important it was to gain the most enlightened part of the nation in favour of truth, and he resolved to appeal to its judgment by calling attention to the foundation on which his convictions rested. It was, indeed, necessary for once to appeal to the decision of Rome; and he hesitates not to send all his explanations. Presenting them with one hand to the enlightened and impartial among his countrymen, he with the other lays them before the throne of the sovereign pontiff.

These explanations of his theses, which he denominated _Solutions_,[478] were written with great moderation. Luther tried to soften the pa.s.sages which had caused most irritation, and gave proof of genuine modesty. At the same time, he showed that his convictions were immovable; and he courageously defended all the propositions which truth obliged him to maintain. He again repeated, that every Christian who truly repents possesses the remission of sins without indulgence; that the pope, like the humblest of priests, can only declare simply what G.o.d has already pardoned; that the treasure of the merits of the saints administered by the pope was a chimera, and that Holy Scripture was the only rule of faith. Let us hear himself on some of these points.

[478] Luth. Op., (Leips.) xvii, pp. 29-113.

He begins with establis.h.i.+ng the nature of true penitence, and contrasts the divine act, which renews man, with the mummery of the Romish Church. "The Greek word eta??e?te," says he, "signifies-- be clothed with a new spirit and new feelings; have a new nature; so that, ceasing to be earthly, you may become heavenly.... Christ is a teacher of the spirit and not of the letter, and his words are spirit and life."[479] He, therefore, inculcates, not those external penances which the proudest sinners can perform without being humbled, but a repentance according to spirit and truth--a repentance which may be fulfilled in all the situations of life, under the purple of kings, the ca.s.sock of priests, and the coronet of princes, amid the magnificence of Babylon, where a Daniel lived, as well as under a monk's frock and a beggar's tatters.

[479] On the First Thesis.

Farther on we meet with these bold words, "I give myself no trouble as to what pleases or displeases the pope. He is a man like other men.

There have been several popes who loved not only errors and vices, but even things still more extraordinary. I listen to the pope as pope, that is when he speaks in the canons, according to the canons, or when he decides some article with a council, but not when he speaks out of his own head. If I did otherwise, would I not be bound to say with those who know not Jesus Christ, that the horrible ma.s.sacres of Christians of which Julius II was guilty, were the kind acts of an affectionate shepherd towards the Lord's sheep?"[480]

[480] Thesis 26.

"I cannot but be astonished," continues he, "at the simplicity of those who have said that the two swords of the gospel represent, the one the spiritual power, and the other the temporal. Yes, the pope holds a sword of steel, and so exhibits himself to Christendom, not as a tender father, but as a formidable tyrant. Ah! G.o.d in his anger has given us the sword we wished, and withdrawn that which we despised. In no quarter of the world have there been more dreadful wars than among Christians.... Why did the ingenious intellect which discovered this fine commentary, not with equal subtlety interpret the history of the two keys committed to St. Peter, and in that way make it an established dogma of the Church, that the one serves to open the treasures of heaven, and the other the treasures of the world."[481]

[481] Ibid. 80.

"It is impossible," he again says, "that a man can be a Christian without having Christ; and if he has Christ, he at the same time has all that belongs to Christ. The thing which gives peace to our conscience is, that by faith our sins are no longer ours, but Christ's, on whom G.o.d has laid them; and that, on the other hand, all the righteousness of Christ is ours, to whom G.o.d has given it. Christ puts his hand upon us, and we are cured. He throws his mantle over us and we are covered; for he is the glorious Saviour, blessed for ever and ever."[482]

[482] Thesis 37.

With such views of the riches of salvation by Jesus Christ, there was no need of indulgences.

Luther, while attacking the papacy, speaks honourably of Leo X. "The times in which we live are so bad," says he, "that even the greatest personages cannot come to the help of the Church. We have now a very good pope in Leo X. His sincerity and knowledge fill us with joy. But what can one man, though amiable and agreeable, do by himself alone?

He certainly deserved to be pope in better times. We, in our day, deserve only such popes as Julius II, and Alexander VI."

He afterwards comes to the crowning point. "I wish to say the thing in a few words and boldly. The Church stands in need of a reformation; and this cannot be the work either of a single man, like the pope, or of many men, like the cardinals, and fathers of councils; but it must be that of the whole world, or, rather, it is a work which belongs to G.o.d only. As to the time in which such a reformation ought to begin, He alone who created time can tell.... The embankment is broken down, and it is no longer in our power to arrest the torrents which are rus.h.i.+ng impetuously along."

Such are some of the thoughts and declarations which Luther addressed to the enlightened among his countrymen. The Feast of Pentecost was at hand; and, at this period, when the apostles rendered the first testimony of their faith to the risen Saviour, Luther, a new apostle, published this enlivening book in which he expressed his earnest longings for a resurrection of the Church. Sat.u.r.day, 22nd May, 1518, being Pentecost eve, he sent his work to his ordinary, the Bishop of Brandenburg, with the following letter:--

"MOST WORTHY FATHER IN G.o.d,--Some time ago, when a novel and unheard-of doctrine, touching the apostolic indulgences, began to make a noise in these countries, both learned and ignorant felt concerned; and many persons, some of them known to me, and others whom I did not even know by face, urged me to publish, by word of mouth, or by writing, what I thought of the novelty, I am unwilling to say, the impudence of this doctrine. At first I was silent, and kept back. But at length matters came to such a point, that the holiness of the pope was compromised.

"What was I to do? I thought it best neither to approve nor to condemn these doctrines; but to establish a discussion on this important point, until the Holy Church should decide.

"n.o.body having come forward to this combat, to which I had invited all the world, and my theses having been considered not as materials for discussion, but positive a.s.sertions,[483] I feel myself obliged to publish an explanation of them. Deign, then, most gracious Bishop, to receive these trifles[484] at my hand. And that all the world may see I am not acting presumptuously, I supplicate your reverence to take pen and ink, and blot out, or even throw into the fire and burn, whatever in them displeases you. I know that Jesus Christ has no need of my labours and my services, and that he can very well, without me, publish good tidings to his Church. Not that the bulls and menaces of my enemies deter me; very much the contrary. If they were not so impudent and so shameless, n.o.body would hear a word from me; I would shut myself up in a corner, and there study by myself for myself. If this affair is not of G.o.d, it certainly cannot be my affair, nor that of any man, but a thing of nought. Let the glory and honour be ascribed to Him to whom alone they belong."

[483] "Non ut disputabilia sed a.s.serta acciperentur." (Luth., Ep. i.

214.)

[484] Ineptias.