,university1 ,millersville1 ,,pa1 ,,usa ,luther ,examined and ,reexamined ,a ,review of ,catholic ,criticism and a ,plea for ,revaluation ,by ,w4,h4,t4 ,dau1 ,professor1 ,concordia ,theological ,seminary ,st4 ,louis1 ,mo4 ,concordia ,publishing ,house #aiag ,,preface4 ,one may deplore the pathetic courage which periodically heartens ,catholic writers for the task of writing against ,luther1 but one can understand the necessity for such efforts1 and1 accordingly1 feel a real pity for those who make them4 ,attacks on ,luther are demanded for ,catholics by the law of self-preservation4 ,a recent ,catholic writer correctly says3 ,there is no doubt that the religious problem to-day is still the ,luther problem4 ,almost every statement of those religious doctrines which are opposed to ,catholic moral teaching find their authorization in the theology of ,martin ,luther4 ,rome has never acknowledged her errors nor admitted her moral defeat4 ,the lessons of past history are wasted upon her4 ,rome is determined to assert to the end that she was not1 and cannot be1 vanquished4 ,in the age of the ,reformation1 she admits1 she suffered some losses1 but she claims that she is fast retrieving these1 while ,protestantism is decadent and decaying4 ,no opposition to her can hope to succeed4 ,this is done to bolster up ,catholic courage4 ,the intelligent ,catholic layman of the present day makes his own observations1 and draws his own conclusions as to the status and the future prospect of ,protestantism4 ,therefore1 he must be invited to acquaint himself with the lifestory of the man1 whose followers can never explain away the anarchy of that immoral dogma3 ',be a sinner1 and sin boldly2 but believe more boldly still6' ,he must be shown the many hideous scenes of coarseness1 vulgarity1 obscenity1 and degrading immorality in ,martin ,luther's life4 ,when the ,catholic rises from the contemplation of these scenes1 it is hoped that his mind has become ironclad against ,protestant argument4 ,these attacks upon ,luther are a plea pro domo1 the effort of a strong man armed to keep his palace and his goods in peace4 ,occurring1 as they do1 in this year of the ,four-hundredth ,anniversary of the ,reformation1 these attacks1 moreover1 represent a ,catholic counter-demonstration to the ,protestant celebration of the ,quadricentenary of ,luther's ,theses4 ,they are the customary cries of dissent and vigorous expressions of disgust which at a public meeting come from parties in the audience that are not pleased with the speaker on the stage4 ,if the counter-demonstration includes in its program the obliging application of eggs in an advanced state of maturity to the speaker1 and chooses to emphasize its presence to the very nostrils of the audience1 that1 too1 is part of the prevailing custom4 ,it is aesthetically incorrect1 to be sure1 but it is in line historically with former demonstrations4 ,no ,protestant celebration would seem normal without them4 ,they help ,protestants in their preparations for the jubilee to appreciate the remarks of ,david in ,psalm #b1 #aa3 ,rejoice with trembling4 ,and if ,shakespeare was correct in the statement3 ,sweet are the uses of adversity1 they need not be altogether deplored4 ,an attempt is made in these pages to review the principal charges and arguments of ,catholic critics of ,luther4 ,the references to ,luther's works are to the ,st4 ,louis ,edition2 those to the ,book of ,concord1 to the ,people's ,edition4 ,authors must be modest1 and as a rule they are4 ,in the domain of historical research there is rarely anything that is final4 ,this observation was forced upon the present writer with unusual power as the rich contents of his subjects opened up to him during his study4 ,he has sought to be comprehensive1 at least1 as regards essential facts1 in every chapter2 he does not claim that his presentation is final4 ,he hopes that it may stimulate further research4 ,this book is frankly polemical4 ,it had to be1 or there would have been no need of writing it4 ,it seeks to meet both the assertions and the spirit of ,luther's ,catholic critics4 ,a review ought to be a mirror1 and mirrors must reflect4 ,but there is no malice in the author's effort4 ,w4 ,h4 ,t4 ,dau4 ,concordia ,seminary1 ,st4 ,louis1 ,mo4 ,may #aj1 #aiag4 ,,table ,,of ,,contents4 l4 ,luther ,worship #b4 ,luther ,hatred #c4 ,luther ,blemishes #d4 ,luther's ,task #e4 ,the ,popes in ,luther's ,time #f4 ,luther's ,birth and ,parentage #g4 ,luther's ,great ,mistake #h4 ,luther's ,failure as a ,monk #i4 ,professor ,luther1 ,d4 ,d4 #aj4 ,luther's ,discovery of the ,bible #aa4 ,rome and the ,bible #ab4 ,luther's ,visit at ,rome #ac4 ,pastor ,luther #ad4 ,the ,case of ,luther's ,friend ,myconius #ae4 ,luther's ,faith without ,works #af4 ,the ,fatalist ,luther #ag4 ,luther a ,teacher of ,lawlessness #ah4 ,luther ,repudiates the ,ten ,commandments #ai4 ,luther's ,invisible ,church #bj4 ,luther on the ,god-given ,supremacy of the ,pope #ba4 ,luther the ,translator of the ,bible #bb4 ,luther a ,preacher of ,violence against the ,hierarchy #bc4 ,luther1 ,anarchist and ,despot ,all in ,one #bd4 ,luther the ,destroyer of ,liberty of ,conscience #be4 ,the ,adam and ,eve of the ,new ,gospel of ,concubinage #bf4 ,luther an ,advocate of ,polygamy #bg4 ,luther ,announces ,his ,death #bh4 ,luther's ,view of ,his ,slanderers #a4 ,luther ,worship4 ,catholic writers profess themselves shocked by the unblushing veneration which ,luther receives from ,protestants4 ,such epithets as hero of the ,reformation1 angel with the everlasting ,gospel flying through the midst of heaven1 restorer of the ,christian faith1 grate on ,catholic nerves4 ,luther's sayings are cited with approval by all sorts of men4 ,men feel that their cause is greatly strengthened by having ,luther on their side4 ,luther's name is a name to conjure with4 ,hardly a great man has lived in the last four hundred years but has gone on record as an admirer of ,luther4 ,rome1 accordingly1 cries out that ,luther is become the uncanonized saint of ,protestantism1 yea1 the deified expounder of the evangelical faith4 ,coming from a ,church that venerates and adores and prays to--you must not say worships--as many saints as there are days in the calendar1 this stricture is refreshing4 ,saints not only of questionable sanctity1 but of doubtful existence have been worshiped--beg pardon6 venerated-- by ,catholics4 ,what does the common law say about the prosecution coming into court with clean hands8 ,if there is such a thing among ,protestants as religious veneration of ,luther1 what shall we call the veneration of ,mary among ,catholics8 ,pius ,,ix1 on ,december #h1 #ahed1 proclaimed the immaculate conception1 that is1 the sinlessness of ,mary from the very first moment of her existence1 thus removing her from the sphere of sin-begotten humanity4 ,in #aiac1 the press of the country was preparing its readers for another move towards the deification of ,mary3 her assumption was to be declared4 ,that is1 it was to be declared a ,catholic dogma that the corpse of ,mary did not see corruption1 and was at the moment of her death removed to heaven4 ,the ,pasadena ,star of ,august #aeth in that year wrote3 ,it is now known that since his recent illness ,pope ,pius1 realizing that his active pontificate is practically at an end1 has expressed to some of the highest dignitaries of the ,catholic ,church at ,rome the desire to round out his career by this last great act4 ,the ,western ,watchman of ,july #c;d in that year had in its inimitable style referred to the coming dogma1 thus3 ,what ,catholic in the world to-day would say that the immaculately conceived body of the ,blessed ,virgin was allowed to rot in the grave8 ,the ,catholic mind would rebel against the thought2 and death would be preferred to the blasphemous outrage4 ,the grounds for wanting the assumption of ,mary fixed in a dogma were these3 ,catholics believe in the bodily assumption of the ,blessed ,virgin1 because their faith instinctively teaches them that such a thing is possible and proper1 and that settles it in favor of the belief4 ,the body of our ,lord should not taste corruption1 neither should the body that gave ,him ,his body4 ,the flesh that was bruised for our sins was the flesh of ,mary4 ,the blood that was shed for our salvation was drawn from ,mary's veins4 ,it would be improper that the ,virgin ,mother should be allowed to see corruption if her ,son was exempted from the indignity4 ,if any should be so rash as to question the propriety of the new dogma1 the writer held out this pleasant prospect to them3 ,dogmas are stones at the heads of heretics4 4 4 4 ,the eyes of all ,catholics see aright2 if they are afflicted with strabismus1 the ,church resorts to an operation4 ,all ,catholics hear aright2 if they do not1 the ,church applies a remedy to their organ of hearing4 ,these surgical operations go under the name of dogmas4 ,the world remembers with what success an operation of this kind was performed on a number of ,roman prelates1 who questioned the infallibility of the ,pope4 ,the dogma was simply declared in #ahgj1 and that put a quietus to all ,catholic scruples4 ,some day the assumption of ,mary will be proclaimed as a ,catholic dogma4 ,we should not feel surprised if ultimately a dogma were published to the effect that the ,holy ,trinity is a ,holy ,quartet1 with ,mary as the fourth person of the ,godhead4 ,the ,roman ,church is accustomed to speak of her ,supreme ,pontiff1 the ,holy ,father1 the ,vicegerent of ,christ1 ,his ,infallible ,holiness1 in terms that lift a human being to heights of adoration unknown among ,protestants4 ,for centuries the tendency in the ,roman ,church to make of the ,pope a god on earth has been felt and expressed in ,christendom4 ,this ,church wants to preach to ,protestants about the sin of man-worship6 ,verily1 here we have the parable of the mote and the beam in a twentieth century edition4 ,catholic teachers would be the last ones1 we imagine1 whom scrupulous ,christians would choose for instructing them regarding the sin of idolatry and the means to avoid it4 ,no ,protestant regards ,luther as ,catholics regard ,mary1 not even ,patrick4 ,luther has taught them too well for that4 ,unwittingly the ,catholics themselves have immortalized ,luther by naming the ,evangelical ,church after ,luther4 ,luther declined the honor4 ,i beg1 he said1 not to have my name mentioned1 and to call people not ,lutheran1 but ,christian4 ,what is ,luther8 ,the doctrine is not mine1 nor have ,i been crucified for any one4 4 4 4 ,the papists deserve to have a party-name1 for they are not content with the doctrine and name of ,christ2 they want to be popish also4 ,well1 let them be called popish1 for the ,pope is their master4 ,i am not1 and ,i do not want to be1 anybody's master4 7#aj1 #cga47 ,it is likely that the frequent laudatory mention of ,luther's name1 especially in connection with the present anniversary of the ,reformation1 is taken as a challenge by ,catholics4 ,if it is that1 it is so by the choice of ,catholics4 ,it is impossible to speak of a great man without referring to the conflicts that made him great4 ,he makes no friend1 says ,tennyson1 who never made a foe4 ,the man who has no enemies1 says ,donn ,piatt1 has no following4 ,opposition is one of the accepted marks of greatness4 ,the opposition which great men aroused during their lifetime lives after them1 and crops out again on a given occasion4 ,this is deplorable1 but it is the ordinary course4 ,moreover1 it is possible that in a season of great joy like that which the ,quadricentenary of the ,reformation has ushered in orators and writers may fail to put a due check on their enthusiasm and may overstate a fact4 ,such things happen even among ,catholics1 we believe1 ,but they will be negligible quantities in the present celebration4 ,the proper corrective for them will be provided by ,protestants themselves4 ,the vast majority of those who have embraced the spiritual leadership of ,luther in matters pertaining to ,christian doctrine and morals will prove again that they are in no danger of inaugurating man-worship4 ,the spirit of ,luther is too much alive in them for that4 ,they will1 with the ,marquis of ,brandenburg1 declare3 ,if ,i be asked whether with heart and lip ,i confess that faith which ,god has restored to us by ,luther as ,his instrument1 ,i have no scruple1 nor have ,i a disposition to shrink from the name ,lutheran4 ,thus understood1 ,i am1 and shall to my dying hour remain1 a ,lutheran4 ,they will ever be able to distinguish between the man ,luther1 prone to error and sin like any other mortal1 and the ,luther who fought the battle of the ,lord and had a mission of everlasting import to the ,church and the world4 ,they have shown on numerous occasions that they can be friends of ,luther1 and yet criticize him or dissent from him4 ,if they had not1 there would be no ,protestants whom ,catholics can quote as opponents of ,luther4 ,on the other hand1 if any one undertakes to enlighten the public with a view of ,luther1 ,protestants will insist that his estimate comport with the facts in the case1 and that the name of a great man who deserves well of posterity be not traduced4 ,why1 even the ,catholic von ,schlegel thinks ,luther has not been half esteemed as he ought to be4 #b4 ,luther ,hatred4 ,catholic writers have found so much to censure in the character and writings of ,luther that one is amazed1 after reading them1 how ,luther ever could become regarded as a great and good man4 ,criminal blindness must have held the eyes1 not only of ,luther's associates1 but of his entire age1 yea1 of men for centuries after1 if they failed to see ,luther's constitutional baseness4 ,quite recently a ,catholic writer has told the world in one chapter of his book that the apostate monk of ,wittenberg was possessed of a violent1 despotic1 and uncontrolled nature1 that he was depraved in manners and in speech4 ,he speaks of ,luther's ungovernable transports1 riotous proceedings1 angry conflicts1 and intemperate controversies1 of ,luther's contempt of all the accepted forms of human right and all authority1 human and divine1 of his unscrupulous mendacity1 his perverse principles1 his wild pronouncements4 ,he calls ,luther a lawless one1 one of the most intolerant of men1 a revolutionist1 not a reformer4 ,he says that ,luther attempted reformation and ended in deformation4 ,he charges ,luther with having written and preached not for1 but against good works1 with having assumed rights to himself in the matter of liberty of conscience which he unhesitatingly and imperiously denied to all who differed from him1 with having rent asunder the unity of the ,church1 with having disgraced the ,church by a notoriously wicked and scandalous life1 with having declared it to be the right of every man to interpret the ,bible to his own individual conception1 with one day proclaiming the binding force of the ,ten ,commandments and the next declaring they were not obligatory on ,christian observance1 with having reviled and hated and cursed the ,church of his fathers4 ,these opprobrious remarks are only a part of the vileness of which the writer has delivered himself in his first chapter4 ,his whole book bristles with assertions of ,luther's inveterate badness4 ,this coarse and crooked ,luther1 we are told1 is the real ,luther1 the genuine article4 ,the ,luther of history is only a ,protestant fiction4 ,protestants like ,prof4 ,seeberg of ,berlin1 and others1 who have criticized ,luther1 are introduced as witnesses for the ,catholic allegation that ,luther was a thoroughly bad man4 ,we should like to ascertain the feelings of these ,protestants when they are informed what use has been made of their remarks about ,luther4 ,some of them may yet let the world know what they think of the attempt to make them the squires of such knights errant as ,denifle and ,grisar4 ,it is about ten years ago since the ,jesuit ,grisar began to publish his ,life of ,luther1 twice that time1 since ,denifle painted his caricature of ,luther4 ,several generations ago ,janssen1 in his ,history of the ,german ,nation1 gave the ,catholic interpretation of ,luther and the ,reformation4 ,going back still further1 we come to the ,jesuit ,maimbourg1 to ,witzel1 and in ,luther's own time to ,cochlaeus and ,oldecop1 all of whom strove to convince the world that ,luther was a moral degenerate and a reprobate4 ,the book of ,mgr4 ,o',hare1 which has made its appearance on the eve of the ,four-hundredth ,anniversary of ,luther's ,theses1 is merely another eruption from the same mud volcano that became active in ,luther's lifetime4 ,it is the old dirt that has come forth4 ,rome must periodically relieve itself in this manner1 or burst4 ,rome hated the living ,luther1 and cannot forget him since he is dead4 ,it hates him still4 ,its hatred is become full-grown1 robust1 vigorous with the advancing years4 ,when ,rome speaks its mind about ,luther1 it cannot but speak in terms of malignant scorn4 ,if ,luther could read ,mgr4 ,o',hare's book1 he would say3 ,wes das ,herz voll ist1 des gehet der ,mund ueber4 7,matt4 #ab1 #cd3 ,out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaketh47 ,luther has done one thing which ,rome will never pardon3 he dared to attack the supreme authority of the ,pope4 ,he made men see the ignominious bondage in which cunning priests had ensnared them1 and by restoring them to the liberty with which ,christ had made them free ,luther caused the papacy an irreparable loss4 ,the papal system of teaching and government was so thoroughly exposed by ,luther1 and has since been so completely disavowed by a great part of professing ,christians that ,rome cannot practise its old frauds any longer4 ,men have become extremely wary of ,rome4 ,that is what hurts4 ,the ,catholic writer to whom we referred sums up the situation thus3 ,since ,luther all ,protestant mankind descending by ordinary generation have come into the world with a mentality biased1 perverted1 and prejudiced4 ,that is ,rome's way of looking at the matter4 ,the truth is3 the world is forewarned1 hence forearmed against the pleas of ,rome4 ,it pays only an indifferent attention to vilifications of ,luther that come from that quarter1 because it expects no encomiums and only scant justice for ,luther from ,rome4 ,but it is the business of the teachers of ,protestant principles in religion1 particularly of the church historians of ,protestantism1 to take notice of the campaign of slander that is launched against ,luther by ,catholic writers at convenient intervals4 ,it is not a task to delight the soul1 rather to try the patience1 of ,christians4 ,for in the study of the causes for these calumnies against a great man of history1 and of the possible means for their removal1 one is forced invariably to the conclusion that there is but one cause1 and that is hatred4 ,what can poor mortal man do to break down such a cause8 ,it does not yield to logic and historical facts1 because it is in its very nature unreasoning and unreasonable4 ,still1 for the hour that ,god sends to all the ,sauls that roam the earth breathing threatening and slaughter1 the counter arguments should be ready4 ,no slander against ,luther has ever gone unanswered4 ,as the charges against ,luther have become stereotyped1 so the rejoinder cannot hope to bring forward any new facts4 ,but it seems necessary that each generation in the ,church ,militant be put through the old drills1 and learn its fruitful lessons of spiritual adversity4 ,thus even these polemical exchanges between ,catholics and ,protestants become blessings in disguise4 ,but they do not affect ,luther4 ,the sublime figure of the courageous confessor of ,christ that has stood towering in the annals of the ,christian ,church for four hundred years stands unshaken1 silent1 and grand1 despite the froth that is dashed against its base and the lightning from angry clouds that strikes its top4 ,surely1 the wrath of man shall praise thee4 7,ps4 #gf1 #aj47 #c4 ,luther ,blemishes4 ,when ,luther is charged with immoral conduct1 and the specific facts together with the documentary evidence are not submitted along with the charge1 little can be done in the way of rebuttal4 ,one can only guess at the grounds on which the charge is based4 ,for instance1 when ,luther is said to have disgraced the ,church by a notoriously wicked and scandalous life1 the reason is most likely because he married although he was a monk sworn to remain single4 ,moreover1 he married a noble lady who was a nun1 also sworn to celibacy4 ,according to the inscrutable ethics of ,rome this is concubinage1 although the ,scripture plainly declares that a minister of the ,church should be the husband of one wife1 #a ,tim4 #c1 #b1 and no vows can annul the ordinance and commandment of ,god3 ,it is not good that man should be alone4 ,gen4 #b1 #ah4 ,comp4 #a ,cor4 #g1 #b1 and ,augsburg ,confession1 ,art4 #bg4 ,when ,luther is said to have reviled1 hated1 and cursed the ,church of his fathers1 the probable reason is1 because he wrote the ,babylonian ,captivity of the ,church and ,the ,papacy at ,rome ,founded by the ,devil4 ,in these writings ,luther depicts the true antichristian inwardness of the papacy4 ,by so doing1 however1 ,luther restored the ,church of his fathers1 grandfathers1 great-grandfathers in ,christ down to the first ancestor of our race4 ,luther's faith is none other than the faith of the true ,church in all the ages4 ,luther's own father and mother died in that faith4 ,when ,luther is said to have taught ,nietzsche's insanity about the ,superhuman 7,uebermensch7 before ,nietzsche1 to have put the ,ten ,commandments out of commission for ,christians1 and to have preached against good works1 the reasons most likely are these3 ,luther taught salvation in accordance with ,rom4 #c1 #be3 ,we conclude that a man is justified by faith1 without the deeds of the ,law4 ,luther taught that a person is not saved by his own works1 and if he performs good works with that end in view1 he shames his ,lord and ,savior ,jesus ,christ1 who is the end of the ,law for righteousness to every one that believeth 7,rom4 #aj1 #d71 and he falls under the curse of ,god for placing his own merits alongside of the merit of the ,redeemer's sacrifice4 ,in no other connection has ,luther spoken against good works4 ,he has rather taught men how to become fruitful in well-doing by the sanctifying grace of ,god and according to the inspiring example of the matchless ,jesus4 ,concerning the ,law1 ,luther preached #a ,tim4 #a1 #i3 ,the ,law is not made for a righteous man1 that is1 ,christians do the works of the ,law1 not for the ,law's sake1 but for the sake of ,christ1 whom they love and whose mind is in them4 ,they must not be driven like slaves to obey ,god1 but their very faith prompts them to live soberly1 righteously1 and godly in this present world 7,tit4 #b1 #ab74 ,but ,luther always held that the rule for good works is laid down in the holy ,law of ,god1 and only in that2 also that the ,law must be applied to ,christians1 in as far as they still live in1 the flesh1 and are not become altogether spiritual4 ,luther's public activity as a preacher began with a series of sermons on the ,ten ,commandments1 and this effort to expound the divine norm of righteousness was repeated several times during ,luther's life4 ,luther's expositions of the ,decalog are among the finest that the world possesses4 ,moreover1 ,luther wrote the ,small ,catechism4 ,hand any ,catholic who talks about ,luther having abolished the ,ten ,commandments this little book4 ,that is a sufficient refutation4 ,what ,luther teaches in this book he has given his life to reduce to practise in himself and others4 ,he says in a sermon on ,easter ,monday1 #aecj3 ,when rising in the morning1 ,i pray with my children the ,ten ,commandments1 the ,creed1 the ,lord's ,prayer1 and some ,psalm4 ,i do this because ,i want to make myself cling to these truths4 ,i shall not suffer my faith to become mildewed with the imagination that ,i am above these things 7dass ich's koenne74 ,his sermon on the ,first ,sunday in ,advent in the same year he begins thus3 ,dear friends1 ,i am now an old ,doctor1 still ,i find every day that ,i must recite with the children the ,ten ,commandments1 the ,creed1 and the ,lord's ,prayer1 and ,i have always derived a great benefit and blessing from this practise4 7#ab1 #afaa4 #afda47 ,luther is charged with mendacity1 that is1 he is said to have lied4 ,the reasons that will be given for this charge1 when called for1 will probably be these3 ,luther at various times in his life gave three different years as the year of his birth1 three different years as the year when he made his journey to ,rome1 and advised somebody in #aeab to become a monk when he had already commenced to denounce the monastic life3 ,it is true that ,luther did all these things1 but it is also true that ,luther believed himself right in each of his statements4 ,he was simply mistaken4 ,other people have misstated the year of their birth without being branded liars on that account4 ,sometimes even a professor forgets things1 and ,luther was a professor4 ,what ,luther has said about the rigor of his monastic life is perfectly true1 but it was no reason why in #aeab he should counsel men to become monks4 ,he had not yet come to the full knowledge of the wrong principles underlying that mode of life4 ,to adduce such inaccuracies as evidence of prevarication is itself an insincere act and puts the claimant by right in the ,ananias ,club4 ,luther is said to have been a glutton and a drunkard4 ,let us examine the facts4 ,what is the evidence8 ,luther's obesity and his gout4 ,is that evidence8 ,not in any court4 ,it would be evidence if both conditions were caused1 and caused only1 by gluttony and tippling4 ,but this notoriously is not the case4 ,obesity may be due to disease4 ,a man may even eat little and wax stout if what he eats turns into adipose rather than into muscular tissue4 ,as for gout1 it is the result of uric acid diathesis4 ,now uric acid diathesis may be1 and very often is1 caused by high living1 but often1 too1 it is due to quite different causes4 ,just as in the case of ,bright's disease4 ,i do not deny that ,luther drank freely both beer and wine4 ,so did everybody else4 ,people drank beer as we do coffee4 4 4 4 ,moreover1 in the sixteenth century alcoholic beverages were prescribed for the maladies from which ,luther suffered much--kidneys and nervous trouble4 ,we now know that in such cases alcohol proves a very poison2 but this ,luther could not know4 ,but intemperate 4 4 4 in his use of strong drink ,luther was not4 ,neither was he a glutton4 ,before he married1 he ate very irregularly1 and often completely forgot his meals4 ,when he could not get meat and wine1 he contented himself with bread and water4 4 4 4 ,melanchthon tells us that ,luther loved the coarse food as he did the coarse speech of the peasantry1 and even of that food ate little1 so little that ,melanchthon marveled how ,luther could maintain strength upon such a diet4--,it is further a noteworthy fact that1 when we read the sermons of the day1 we find nobody who so frequently and so earnestly attacks the prevailing vice of drunkenness as does ,luther4 ,now1 whatever ,luther may or may not have been1 hypocrite he was not4 ,had he himself been intemperate1 he would not have preached against it in such a manner4 ,furthermore1 ,luther was under constant espionage4 ,his every move was noted4 ,people knew how many patches there were on his undergarments4 ,think you1 think you for a moment1 that the ,wittenbergians would have listened meekly to ,luther's repeated assaults upon the wide-spread sin of intemperance1 had they known him for a confirmed tippler8 ,it is too absurd4--,but the best evidence for the defense comes from a mute witness--,luther's industry4 ,he wrote more than four hundred books1 brochures1 sermons1 and so forth1 filling more than one hundred volumes of the ,erlangen edition4 ,there are extant more than three thousand of his letters1 which represent only a small proportion of all that he wrote4 ,thus we know1 for example1 that one evening in #aedd ,luther wrote ten letters1 of which only two have been preserved4 ,he was1 furthermore1 in frequent conference with leaders in both ,church and ,state4 ,he preached on ,sundays and lectured on week-days4 ,now1 a man may1 it is true1 perform a considerable amount of manual labor even after overeating and overdrinking1 but every physician will admit the correctness of my assertion1 it is a physiological impossibility that a man could habitually overindulge in food or liquor1 or both1 and still get over the enormous amount of intellectual work that ,luther performed day to day 7,boehmer1 ,the ,man ,luther1 p4 #af f47 ,most shameless have been the charges of lewdness and immorality against ,luther4 ,his relation to ,frau ,cotta has been represented as impure4 ,think of it1 a boy of sixteen to eighteen thus related to an honorable housewife6 ,illegitimate children have been foisted upon him4 ,a humorous remark about his intention to marry and being unable to choose between several eligible parties has been twisted into an immoral meaning4 ,the fact that he gave shelter overnight to a number of escaped nuns1 when he was already a married man1 has been meaningly referred to4 ,boehmer has exhaustively gone into these charges1 examining without flinching every asserted fact cited in evidence of ,luther's moral corruptness1 and has shown the purity of ,luther as being above reproach4 ,not one of the sexual vagaries imputed to ,luther rests on a basis of fact4 7,boehmer1 ,luther in ,light of ,recent ,research1 pp4 #bae-bbc47 ,when the modern reader meets with a general charge of badness1 or even with the assertion of some specific form of badness1 in ,luther1 he should inquire at once to what particular incident in ,luther's life reference is made4 ,these charges have all been examined and the evidence sifted1 and that by impartial investigators4 ,protestants have taken the lead in this work and have not glossed anything over4 ,boehmer's able treatise has been translated into ,english4 ,walther's ,fuer ,luther wider ,rom will1 no doubt1 be given the public in an ,english edition soon4 ,works like these have long blasted the claim of ,catholics that ,protestants are afraid to have the truth told about ,luther4 ,they only demand that the truth be told4 #d4 ,luther's ,task4 ,one blemish in the character of ,luther that is often cited with condemnation even by ,protestants deserves to be examined separately4 ,it is ,luther's violence in controversy1 his coarse language1 his angry moods4 ,all will agree that violence and coarse speech must not be countenanced in ,christians1 least of all in teachers of ,christianity4 ,in the writings of ,luther there occur terms1 phrases1 passages that sound repulsive4 ,the strongest admirer of ,luther will have moments when he wishes certain things could have been said differently4 ,luther's language cannot be repeated in our times4 ,some who have tried to do that in all sincerity have found to their dismay that they were wholly misunderstood4 ,what ,jove may do any ox may not do1 says an old ,latin proverb4 ,shall we1 then1 admit ,luther's fault and proceed to apologize for him and find plausible reasons for extenuating his indiscretions in speech and his temperamental faults8 ,we shall do neither4 ,we shall let this foul-mouthed1 coarse ,luther stand before the bar of public opinion just as he is4 ,his way cannot be our way1 but ultimately none of us will be his final judges4 ,the character of the duties which ,luther was sent to perform must be his justification4 ,it is true1 indeed1 that the manners of the age of ,luther were generally rough4 ,even in polite society language was freely used that would make us gasp4 ,coarse terms evidently were not felt to be such4 ,in their polemical writings the learned men of the age seem to exhaust a zoological park in their frantic search for striking epithets to hurl at their opponent4 ,it was an age of strong feeling and sturdy diction4 ,it is also true that ,luther was a man of the people4 ,with a sort of homely pride he used to declare3 ,i am a peasant's son2 all my forbears were peasants4 ,but all this does not sufficiently explain ,luther's coarseness4 ,most people that criticize ,luther for his strong speech have read little else of ,luther4 ,they are not aware that in the1 great mass of his writings there is but a small proportion of matter that would nowadays be declared objectionable4 ,luther speaks through many pages1 yea1 through whole books1 with perfect calmness4 ,it is interesting to observe how he develops a thought1 illustrates a point by an episode from history or from every-day life1 urges a lesson with a lively exhortation4 ,he is pleasant1 gentle1 serious1 compassionate1 artlessly eloquent1 and1 withal1 perfectly pure in all he says4 ,when ,luther becomes coarse1 there is a reason4 ,one must have read much in ,luther1 one should have read all of ,luther1 and his billingsgate will assume a different meaning4 ,if there is madness in his reckless speech1 there is method in it4 ,one must try and understand ,luther's objective and purpose4 ,luther had a very coarse subject to deal with1 and ,luther believed that a spade is best called a spade4 ,luther never struck at wickedness with the straw of a fine circumlocution4 ,he believed that he had the right1 yea1 the duty1 to call coarse things by coarse names2 for the ,bible does the same4 ,luther has called the gentlemen at the ,pope's court in his day some very descriptive names4 ,he did not merely insinuate that the cardinals of his day were no angels1 but said outright what they were4 ,he did not feebly question the holiness of ,his ,holiness1 but he called some of the ,popes monsters of iniquity and reprobates4 ,we shall show anon that in that age there lived men who spoke of the same matters as ,luther1 who told tales and used expressions that would render their writings unmailable to-day4 ,the great men of any age are products of that age4 ,man is as much the creature of circumstances as circumstances are the creatures of men-- ,disraeli to the contrary notwithstanding4 ,while men may create situations1 they may also be made to fit into a situation4 ,men have become great for this very reason that they understand the spirit of their age and were able to respond to its call4 ,back of both men and circumstances1 however1 stands sovereign ,providence1 shaping our ends1 rough-hew them how we will4 ,no character-study is just that fails to take into consideration the force of circumstances under which the subject of the study has acted at a given moment in his life4 ,in the case of ,luther there is a more than ordinary necessity for adopting this equitable method2 for ,luther has declared hundreds of times that his stirring utterances and incisive deeds were not the result of long premeditation1 or the sudden outbursts of uncontrolled passion1--though neither he nor we would have any interest in denying that he could be angry and did become angry1--but the answer to crying needs of the times4 ,this answer was on many a signal occasion wrung from ,luther after much wrestling with ,god in prayer4 ,he was moved to action by the heroism of that faith which had been kindled in him4 ,he acted in harmony with the particular issue with which he was called upon to deal4 ,deep compassion at the sight of his suffering fellow-men put strong language on his lips4 ,between the pleading of friends and the storming of enemies he had no choice but to act as he did4 ,luther often seems unconscious of the greatness of his acts3 he speaks of them as his poor way of doing things1 and invites others to improve what he has attempted4 ,we fear that many in our day fail to see the greatness of the achievement while they stricture the manner of achieving it4 ,few men have so utterly lived for a cause1 in a cause1 and with a cause as ,luther4 ,it is the heart of an entire people that cries out through ,luther2 it is the soul of outraged ,christianity that moans in anguish1 and speaks with the majesty of righteous anger through ,luther4 ,an age of unparalleled ferment that had begun long before ,luther has reached its culminating point1 and lifts up its strident voice of long-restrained expostulation through ,luther4 ,remove the conditions under which ,luther had to live and labor1 and the ,luther whom men bless or curse becomes an impossibility4 ,in ,luther's life-work there is discernible the influence not only of good men1 such as the scholarly ,melanchthon1 the faithful ,jonas1 the firm and kind ,saxon electors1 the eager ,amsdorf1 the alert ,link1 but also of evil men like the blunt ,tetzel1 the wily ,prierias1 and the horde of ignorant monks which the monasteries and chancelleries of ,rome let loose upon one man4 ,the course which ,luther had to pursue was shaped for him by others4 ,we do not mean to suggest that ,luther in his polemical writings employed the cheap method of replying to the coarse language adopted by his opponents in similar language2 but it is fair to him that this fact be recorded4 ,some people remember very well that ,luther addressed the ,pope ,most hellish father6 and are horrified1 but they forget that the ,pope had been extremely lurid in the appellatives which he applied to ,luther4 ,child of ,belial1 son of perdition1 were some of the endearing terms with which ,luther was to be assured of the loving interest the ,holy ,father took in him4 ,that ,luther called ,henry ,,viii a damnable and rotten worm seems to be well remembered1 but that the ,british king had called ,luther a wolf of hell is forgotten4 ,it goes without saying that the contact with such opponents did for ,luther what it does for every person who is not made of granite and cast iron3 it roused his temper4 ,it should not have been permitted to do that1 we say4 ,assuredly4 ,luther thinks so too1 but with a reservation1 as we shall learn4 ,the imperious spirit and violent measures charged against ,luther a careful reader of history will rather find on the side of ,luther's opponents4 ,they plainly relied on the power of ,rome to crush ,luther by brute force4 ,what respect could a plain1 honest man like ,luther conceive for men like ,cajetanus1 ,eck1 and ,hoogstraten1 who were first sent by the ,vatican to negotiate his surrender8 ,for publishing simple ,bible-truth the cardinal at ,augsburg roared and bellowed at him1 ,recant6 ,recant6 ,even at this early stage of the affair matters assumed such an ominous aspect that ,luther's friends urged him to quietly leave the city4 ,they did not trust the amicable gentleman from the polished circle of the ,pope's immediate counselors4 ,at ,leipzig1 ,eck had been driven into the corner by ,luther's unanswerable arguments from ,scripture2 then he turned to abuse and called ,luther a ,bohemian and a ,hussite1 and finally left the hall with the air of a victor to celebrate his achievement in the taverns and brothels of the city1 where he found his customary delights learned from his masters at ,rome4 ,can any language of contempt in which ,luther afterwards spoke of this doughty champion of ,rome be too strong8 ,among the attendants at the ,leipzig ,debate was ,hoogstraten4 ,this gentleman followed the elevating profession of torturing and burning heretics in ,germany1--the territory especially assigned to him4 ,it looked as if he had come to ,leipzig to follow up ,eck's verbal thunder with the inquisitorial lightning1 and make of ,luther actually another ,hus4 ,when he found that he would not have an opportunity for plying his hideous trade this time1 he ventured into territory where he was a stranger3 he attempted a theological argument with ,luther4 ,he asserted that by denying the primacy of the ,pope1 ,luther had contradicted the ,scriptures and defied the ,council of ,nice1 and must be suppressed4 ,luther called him an unsophisticated ass and a bloodthirsty enemy of the truth4 ,certainly1 that does not sound nice1 but such things happen1 as a rule1 when fools rush in where angels fear to tread4 ,what was the papal bull of excommunication against ,luther1 with its list of most opprobrious terms1 but an unwarranted provocation of ,luther1 who had a right to expect different treatment from the foremost teacher of ,christianity to whom he had entrusted his just grievance as a dutiful son of the ,church8 ,thus we might go on for pages citing instances of reckless attack upon ,luther1 often by most unworthy persons1 that drew from ,luther a reply such as his assailants deserved4 ,it is a gratuitous criticism to say that ,christians must not revile when they are reviled4 ,those who think that ,luther did not know this rule of the ,christian religion1 or did not apply it to himself1 do not know the full story of his life4 ,he certainly did wrestle with the flesh and blood in himself4 ,he sighed for peace1 but the moment he seemed to become conciliatory and pacific1 his enemies set up a shout that he was vanquished4 ,it seemed that they could not be made to comprehend the issues confronting them unless they were blown in upon them on the wings of a hurricane4 ,as early as #aebj ,luther replies to an anxious letter of ,spalatin1 who thought that ,luther had used too strong language against the ,bishop of ,meissen1 as follows3 ,good ,god6 how excited you are1 my ,spalatin6 ,you seem even more stirred up than ,i and the others4 ,do you not see that my patience in not replying to ,emser's and ,eck's five or six wagonloads of curses is the sole reason why the framers of this document have dared to attack me with such silly and ridiculous nonsense8 ,for you know how little ,i cared that my sermon at ,leipzig was condemned and suppressed by a public edict2 how ,i despised suspicion1 infamy1 injury1 hatred4 ,must these audacious persons even be permitted to add to these follies scandalous pamphlets crammed full of falsehoods and blasphemies against ,gospel-truth8 ,do you forbid even to bark at these wolves8 ,the ,lord is my witness how ,i restrained myself lest ,i should not treat with reverence this accursed and most impotent document issued in the bishop's name4 ,otherwise ,i should have said things those heads ought to hear1 and ,i will yet1 when they acknowledge their authorship by beginning to defend themselves4 ,i beg1 if you think rightly of the ,gospel1 do not imagine its cause can be accomplished without tumult1 scandal1 and sedition4 ,out of the sword you cannot make a feather1 nor out of war1 peace4 ,the ,word of ,god is a sword1 war1 ruin1 destruction1 poison1 and1 as ,amos says1 it meets the children of ,ephraim like a bear in the way and a lioness in the woods4--,i cannot deny that ,i have been more vehement than is seemly4 ,but since they knew this1 they ought not to have stirred up the dog4 ,how difficult it is to temper one's passions and one's pen you can judge even from your own case4 ,this is the reason ,i have always disliked to engage in public controversy2 but the more ,i dislike it1 the more ,i am involved against my will1 and that only by the most atrocious slanders brought against me and the ,word of ,god4 ,if ,i were not carried away thereby either in temper or pen1 even a heart of stone would be moved by the indignity of the thing to take up arms2 and how much more ,i1 who am both passionate and possessed of a pen not altogether blunt6 ,by these monstrosities ,i am driven beyond modesty and decorum4 ,at the same time1 ,i wonder where this new religion came from1 that whatever you say against an adversary is slander4 ,what do you think of ,christ8 ,was ,he a slanderer when ,he called the ,jews an adulterous and perverse generation1 the offspring of vipers1 hypocrites1 sons of the devil8 ,and what about ,paul when he used the words dogs1 vain babblers1 seducers1 ignorant1 and in ,acts #ac so inveighed against a false prophet that he seems almost insane3 ,oh1 thou full of deceit and of all craft1 thou son of the devil1 enemy of the truth'8 ,why did he not gently flatter him1 that he might convert him1 rather than thunder in such a way8 ,it is not possible1 if acquainted with the truth1 to be patient with inflexible and ungovernable enemies of the truth4 ,but enough of this nonsense4 ,i see that everybody wishes ,i were gentle1 especially my enemies1 who show themselves least so of all4 ,if ,i am too little gentle1 ,i am at least simple and open1 and therein1 as ,i believe1 surpass them1 for they dispute only in a deceitful fashion4 7#ai1 #dhb f4 ,translation by ,mc,giffert47 ,nobody should make ,luther any better than he makes himself4 ,still1 the question is pertinent whether violent polemics can ever be engaged in by ,christians with a good conscience4 ,luther has asserted that1 while he hurled his terrible denunciations against the adversaries of the truth1 his heart was disposed to friendship and peace with them4 7#af1 #agah f47 ,is a state of mind like this altogether inconceivable1 viz41 that a person can curse another for a certain act and at the same time love him8 ,we think not4 ,in his day this boisterous1 turbulent ,luther was understood1 trusted1 and loved by the people4 ,after the publication of the ,theses against ,tetzel the hearts of men in all parts of the land turned toward him1 and his heart turned toward them4 ,for the religious principles underlying the theses they cared little1 for the arguments sustaining them still less4 ,they saw only that here was a man1 muzzled by none of the prudential considerations closing the mouths of many in high places1 who dared to speak his mind plainly and emphatically1 and was able to speak it intelligently and with effect upon a great and growing evil deplored by multitudes4 ,it is such a man the people love and such a man they trust4 7,mc,giffert1 ,luther1 p4 #ih f47 ,mc,giffert has the right perception of the ,luther of #aeag-aeai when he describes him as the awakening reformer1 thus3 ,he had the true reformer's conscience--the sense of responsibility for others as well as for himself1 and the true reformer's vision of the better things that ought to be4 ,he was never a mere faultfinder1 but he was endowed with the gifts of imagination and sympathy1 leading him to feel himself a part of every situation he was placed in1 and with the irrepressible impulse to action driving him to take upon himself the burden of it4 ,in any crowd of bystanders he would have been first to go to the rescue where need was1 and quickest to see the need not obvious to all4 ,the aloofness of the mere observer was not his2 he was too completely one with all he saw to stand apart and let it go its way alone4 ,fearful and distrustful of himself he long was1 but his timidity was only the natural shrinking before new and untried duties of a soul that saw more clearly and felt more keenly than most4 ,the imperative demands inevitably made upon him by every situation led him instinctively to dread putting himself where he could not help responding to the call of unfamiliar tasks2 but once there1 the summons was irresistible1 and he threw himself into the new responsibilities with a forgetfulness of self possible only to him who has denied its claims1 and with a fearlessness possible only to him who has conquered fear4 ,he might interpret his confidence as trust in ,god1 won by the path of a complete contempt of his own powers2 but however understood1 it gave him an independence and a disregard of consequences which made his conscience and his vision effective for reform4 ,mc,giffert suggests a comparison of ,luther with1 let us say1 ,erasmus4 ,had he been a humanist1 he would have laughed the whole thing ,tetzel's selling of indulgences to scorn as an exploded superstition beneath the contempt of an intelligent man2 had he been a scholastic theologian1 he would have sat in his study and drawn fine distinctions to justify the traffic without bothering himself about its influence upon the lives of the vulgar populace4 ,but he was neither humanist nor schoolman4 ,he had a conscience which made indifference impossible1 and a simplicity and directness of vision which compelled him to brush aside all equivocation and go straight to the heart of things4 ,with it all he was at once a devout and believing son of the ,church1 and a practical preacher profoundly concerned for the spiritual and moral welfare of the common people4 7p4 #ff;f4 #hg47 ,had ,luther considered his personal interests as ,erasmus did1 he would not have become the ,luther that we know4 ,erasmus in his day was regarded as the wisest of men2 ,luther in his own view1 like ,paul1 frequently had to make a fool of himself in order to achieve his purpose4 ,for instance1 when he wrote against the dullards at the ,university of ,louvain1 against the sacrilegious coterie at ,rome that was running the ,church and the world pretty much as they pleased1 or against the brutal ,hans ,wurst 7,duke ,henry of ,brunswick74 ,erasmus and his school of gentle reformers always counseled a slackening of the pace and the use of the soft pedal4 ,where is ,erasmus to-day in the world's valuation8 ,even ,rome1 in whose bosom he nestled1 and who fondled him for a season1 has cast him aside as worthless4 ,luther lives yet1 to the delight not only of ,coleridge1 but of millions of the world's best men1 who1 with the ,british divine1 regard him this very hour as a purifying and preserving spirit to ,christianity at large4 ,luther was conscious of the difference in the method of warfare between himself and his colaborer ,melanchthon4 ,he says3 ,i am rough1 boisterous1 stormy1 and altogether warlike4 ,i am born to fight against innumerable monsters and devils4 ,i must remove stumps and stones1 cut away thistles and thorns1 and clear wild forests2 but ,master ,philip comes along softly and gently1 sowing and watering with joy1 according to the gifts which ,god has abundantly bestowed upon him1 7#ad1 #agf47 ,dr4 ,tholuck1 writing on ,luther's rashness1 says3 ,what would have become of the ,church if the ,lord's servants and prophets had at all times done nothing else than spread salves upon sores and walk softly8 ,he introduces ,luther in his own defense3 ,on one occasion1 when asked by the ,marquis ,joachim ,i why he wrote against the princes1 he returned the beautiful answer3 ',when ,god intends to fertilize the ground1 ,he must needs send first of all a good thunderstorm1 and afterwards slow and gentle rain1 and thus make it thoroughly productive4' ,elsewhere he says3 ',a willow-branch may be cut with a knife and bent with a finger1 but for a great and gnarled oak we must use an ax and a wedge'2 and again3 ',if my teeth had been less sharp1 the ,pope would have been more voracious4' ',of what use is salt1' he exclaims in another passage1 'if it do not bite the tongue8 or the blade of a sword unless it be sharp enough to cut8 ,does not the prophet say1 ,cursed be he that doeth the work of the ,lord deceitfully1 and keepeth back his sword from blood8' ,one reflection suggests itself in this connection that goes far to exonerate ,luther3 the language which the ,bible employs against heretics and ungodly men4 ,it calls them dogs1 ,ps4 #bb1 #bj2 #ei1 #f2 ,is4 #ef1 #aj2 ,matt4 #g1 #f2 ,phil4 #c1 #b2 ,rev4 #bb1 #ae2 swine1 ,matt4 #g1 #f2 boars and wild beasts1 ,ps4 #hj1 #ac2 dromedaries and asses1 ,jer4 #b1 #bc;f42 bullocks1 ,jer4 #ca1 #ah2 bellowing bulls1 ,jer4 #ej1 #aa2 viper's brood1 ,matt4 #c1 #g2 foxes1 ,cant4 #b1 #e2 ,luke #ac1 #cb2 serpents1 ,matt4 #bc1 #cc2 sons of ,belial1 #a ,sam4 #b1 #ab2 children of the devil1 ,acts #ac1 #aj2 ,satan's synagog1 ,rev4 #b1 #i4 ,as regards its language1 the ,bible1 too1 agrees with the conditions of the times in which it was written4 ,when ,god1 to express ,his righteous anger1 addresses the ungodly in such terms of utter contempt1 ,he teaches us how to regard them and1 on occasion1 to speak of them4 ,this coarse ,luther is not more vehement and repulsive in his speech than the holy ,word of ,god4 ,we remarked before that we would not apologize for ,luther's rashness and coarse speech4 ,luther's acts are self-vindicating2 they will approve themselves to the discriminating judgment of every reader of history4 ,we can appreciate this sentiment of ,mc,giffert 3 ,as well apologize for the fury of the wind as for the vehemence of ,martin ,luther4 ,the ,psalmist calls upon the forces of nature3 ,praise the ,lord1 fire1 and hail2 snow and vapors2 stormy wind fulfilling ,his word4 7,ps4 #adh1 #g4 #h47 ,god has a mission that our philosophy does not fathom for the mad hurry and destruction of the whirlwind4 ,how silly it would be to criticize a cyclone because it is not a zephyr6 ,we can imagine a scene like this3 ,the battle of ,gettysburg is in progress and a gentle lady is permitted to see it from a distance by a grim1 warlike guide1 and the following conversation ensues3 ,why1 they are shooting at each other6 ,did you see that naughty man stab the pretty soldier right through his uniform8 ,yes1 madam1 that is what he is there for4 ,but is it not horrid8 ,yes1 madam1 it is perfectly horrid4 ,it is hell4 ,but what are they doing this beastly work for8 ,madam1 they are fighting for a principle that is to keep this country a united republic4 ,can anything be more horrid8--,i mean1 not the principle1 but this awful butchery4 ,yes1 madam1 there is something more horrid than that4 ,what is it8 ,if there would be no one to fight for that principle4 ,war is never a pleasant affair4 ,when men are forced to fight for what is dearer to them than life1 they will strike hard and deep4 ,it is silly to expect a soldier to walk up to his enemy with a fly brush and shoo him away1 or to stop and consider what posterity would probably regard as the least objectionable way for dispatching an enemy4 ,luther was called to be a warrior2 he had to use warriors' methods4 ,any general in a bloody campaign can be criticized for violence with as much reason as is shown by some critics of ,luther4 #e4 ,the ,popes in ,luther's ,time4 ,to judge intelligently the activity of ,luther it is necessary to understand the state of the ,church in his day and the character of the chief bishops of the ,church4 ,when reading modern censures of ,luther's attacks upon the papacy1 one wonders why nothing is said about the thing that ,luther attacked4 ,catholic critics of ,luther surely must know what papal filth lies accumulated in the ,commentarii di ,marino ,sanuto1 in ,alegretto ,alegretti's ,diari ,sanesi1 in the ,relazione di ,polo ,capello1 in the ,diario de ,sebastiano di ,branca de ,tilini1 in the ,successo di la ,morte di ,papa ,alessandro1 in ,tommaso ,inghirami's ,fea1 ,notizie ,intorno ,rafaele ,sanzio da ,urbino1 and others4 ,ranke worked with these authorities when he wrote his ,history of the ,popes4 ,what about the authorities which ,gieseler cites in his ,ecclesiastical ,history-- ,muratori1 ,fabronius1 ,machiavelli1 ,sabellicus1 ,raynaldus1 ,eccardus1 ,burchardus1 etc48 ,a compassionate age has relegated the exact account of the moral state of the papacy in ,luther's days to learned works1 and even in these they are given mostly in ,latin footnotes4 ,in the language of ,augustus ,birrell1 they are too coarse4 ,luther's life 7#adhc-aedf7 falls into the administration of nine ,popes3 ,sixtus ,,iv1 #adga-adhd2 ,innocent ,,viii1 #adhd-adib2 ,alexander ,,vi1 #adib-aejc2 ,pius ,,iii1 #bf days in #aejc2 ,julius ,,ii1 #aejc-aeac2 ,leo ,x1 #aeac-aeba2 ,hadrian ,,vi1 #aebb-aebc2 ,clement ,,vii1 #aebc-aecd2 ,paul ,,iii1 #aecd-aedi4 ,speaking of this series of ,popes1 the historian ,gieseler says3 ,the succession of ,popes which now follows proves the degeneracy of the cardinals 7from among whom the ,pope is chosen7 as to all discipline and sense of shame3 they were distinguished for nothing but undisguised meanness and wickedness2 they were reprobates4 ,of ,sixtus ,,iv he says3 ,his chief motive was the small ambition to raise his family from their low estate to the highest rank4 ,infamous transactions which resulted in the murder of ,julian de ,medici while at high mass in church and the hanging of the archbishop of ,pisa from a window of the town hall by the exasperated people1 wars1 conspiracies1 alliances1 annulments of alliances1 in short1 all the acts that fill up the turbulent life of a crafty and grasping politician1 are recorded for his administration4 ,he did not scruple to employ the authority of his exalted office for the furtherance of his political schemes4 ,thus he excommunicated ,venice and formed a warlike alliance against the city4 ,but the ,venetians regarded his religious thunderbolts as little as his physical prowess4 ,vexation at this hastened the death of the ,pope1 who was hated as much as he was despised4 ,ranke1 on the authority of ,alegretti1 relates of ,pope ,sixtus ,,iv3 ,the ,colonna family1 opponents of the ,pope's nephew ,riario1 was persecuted by him with the most savage ferocity4 ,he seized on their domain of ,marino1 and causing the prothonotary ,colonna to be attacked in his own house1 took him prisoner1 and put him to death4 ,the mother of ,colonna came to ,st4 ,celso1 in ,banchi1 where the corpse lay1 and lifting the severed head by its hair1 she exclaimed3 ',behold the head of my son4 ,such is the truth of the ,pope4 ,he promised that my son should be set at liberty if ,marino were delivered into his hands4 ,he is possessed of ,marino1 and1 behold1 we have my son--but dead4 ,thus does the ,pope keep his word4' ,his successor1 ,innocent ,,viii1 in defiance of the conditions of his election1 sought with a still more profligate vileness to exalt and enrich his seven illegitimate children4 ,he had been elected on the condition that he would make only one blood relative a cardinal1 and that certain other benefices of the ,church should not be given to any one related to him4 ,the people called him ,nocens 7the ,guilty ,one1 or the ,harmful ,one7 instead of ,innocent1 and immortalized the prolific paternity of this saintly celibate in the following epigram3 ,octo ,nocens genuit pueros totidemque puellas1 ,hunc merito poterit dicere ,roma patrem1 that is1 ,nocens begat eight boys and an equal number of maidens2 ,rightly1 then1 ,rome will be able to call this gentleman father4 ,he carried on two wars with ,ferdinand1 king of ,naples1 until the year #adib1 and brought forward ,renatus1 duke of ,lorraine1 as pretender to his crown4 ,true1 he proceeded1 as his predecessors had done1 to encourage princes and people to undertake expeditions against the ,turks2 but when ,dschem1 the brother and rival of the ,turkish ,sultan ,bajazet1 was delivered over to him at the head of an army against the ,turks1 he chose rather to detain him in prison on consideration of an annual tribute from the ,turkish ,sultan4 ,the story how the ,pope got possession of the ,turkish prince and refused #bjj1jjj ducats ransom for him because he had received an offer of #fjj1jjj from another party1 reads like a story of professional brigandage4 ,alexander ,,vi1 the most depraved of all the ,popes1 likewise recognized no loftier aim than to heap honors and possessions upon his five illegitimate children1 and among them especially his favorite1 ,caesar ,borgia4 ,the nuptials celebrated for the ,pope's daughter ,lucretia--who1 by the way1 was a divorcee--were by no means peculiarly decorous4 ,the ,latin chronicler who has related them reports in this connection that the moral state of the clergy at ,rome was indescribably low4 ,the example of the ,popes had set the pace for the rest4 ,from the highest to the lowest each priest had his concubine as a substitute for married life 7concubinas in figura matrimonii71 and that1 quite openly4 ,the good chronicler remarks3 ,if ,god does not provide a restraint1 this corruption will pass on to the monks and the religious orders2 however1 the monasteries of the city are nearly all become brothels already1 and no one raises his voice against it4 ,wading through the mephitic rottenness of these ancient chronicles1 one is seized with nausea4 ,holy things1 religious privileges1 had become merchandise with which the ,popes trafficked4 ,the chronicler ,burchardus relates3 ,in those days the following couplet was sung in nearly the whole ,christian world3 ,vendit ,alexander claves1 ,altaria1 ,christum1 ,emerat ista prius1 vendere juste potest4 ,the meaning of this satire is3 ,alexander sells the power of the keys of heaven1 the right to officiate at the altar1 yea1 ,christ ,himself2 he had first bought these things himself1 therefore he has a right to sell them again4 ,unblushing perfidy was practised by this ,pope in his dealings with kings who were his religious subjects4 ,in a quarrel with ,charles ,,viii of ,france he threatened the king with excommunication1 and sought aid from the ,turkish ,sultan4 ,however1 when ,charles appeared in ,rome1 the ,pope went over to his side immediately1 and delivered up to him ,prince ,dschem2 but he took care to have him poisoned immediately1 that he might not lose the price set upon his head by the ,sultan4 ,thus he conciliated the ,french monarch and filled his purse by one and the same act4 ,by traffic in benefices1 sale of indulgences1 exercise of the right of spoils1 and taxes for the ,turkish war1 as well as by the murder of rich or troublesome persons1 ,alexander was seeking to scrape together as much money as possible to support the wanton luxury and shameful licentiousness of his court1 and provide treasures for his children4 ,in their correspondence men who had dealings with him would refer to him in such terms as these3 ,that monstrous head--that infamous beast6 7,hoc monstruoso capite--hac infami belua67 ,at length the poison which the ,pope had meant for a rich cardinal1 in order to make himself master of his wealth1 brought upon himself well-deserved death4 ,the ,pope's butler had been bribed and exchanged the poison-cup intended for the ,pope's victim for the ,pope's cup1 and the ,pope took his own medicine4 ,on the basis of ,alegretti's notes1 ,ranke has drawn a fine pen-picture of the reign of terror which ,caesar ,borgia1 the favorite son of ,alexander ,,vi1 inaugurated at ,rome4 ,with no relative or favorite would ,caesar ,borgia endure the participation of his power4 ,his own brother stood in his way3 ,caesar caused him to be murdered and thrown into the ,tiber4 ,his brother-in-law was assailed and stabbed1 by his orders1 on the steps of his palace4 ,the wounded man was nursed by his wife and sister1 the latter preparing his food with her own hands1 to secure him from poison2 the ,pope set a guard upon the house to protect his son-in-law from his son4 ,caesar laughed these precautions to scorn4 ',what cannot be done at noonday1' said he1 'may be brought about in the evening4' ,when the prince was on the point of recovery1 he burst into his chamber1 drove out the wife and sister1 called in the common executioner1 and caused his unfortunate brother-in-law to be strangled4 ,toward his father1 whose life and station he valued only as a means to his own aggrandizement1 he displayed not the slightest respect or feeling4 ,he slew ,peroto1 ,alexander's favorite1 while the unhappy man clung to his patron for protection1 and was wrapped within the pontifical mantle4 ,the blood of the favorite flowed over the face of the ,pope4--,for a certain time the city of the apostles and the whole state of the ,church were in the hands of ,caesar ,borgia4 4 4 4 ,how did ,rome tremble at his name6 ,caesar required gold1 and possessed enemies4 ,every night were the corpses of murdered men found in the streets1 yet none dared move2 for who but might fear that his turn would be next8 ,those whom violence could not reach were taken off by poison4 ,there was but one place on earth where such deeds were possible--that1 namely1 where unlimited temporal power was united to the highest spiritual authority1 where the laws1 civil and ecclesiastical1 were held in one and the same hand4 ,pope ,julius1 who came into power after the twenty-six days' reign of ,pius ,,iii1 was a warlike man4 ,he engaged in the boldest operations1 risking all to obtain all4 ,he took the field in person1 and having stormed ,mirandola1 he pressed into the city across the frozen ditches and through the breach2 the most disastrous reverses could not shake his purpose1 but rather seemed to waken new resources in him4 ,he wrested ,perugia and ,bologna from their lords4 ,as the powerful state of ,venice refused to surrender her conquests1 he resolved at length1 albeit unwillingly1 to avail himself of foreign aid2 he joined the ,league of ,cambrai1 concluded between ,france and the ,emperor1 and assisted with spiritual and temporal weapons to subdue the republic4 ,venice1 now hard pressed1 yielded to the ,pope1 in order to divide this overwhelming alliance4 ,julius1 already alarmed at the progress of the ,french in ,italy1 readily granted his forgiveness1 and now commenced hostilities against the ,french and their ally1 ,alphonso1 ,duke of ,ferrara4 ,he declared that the king of ,france had forfeited his claim on ,naples1 and invested ,ferdinand the ,catholic with the solo dominion of his realm4 ,he issued a sentence of condemnation against the ,duke of ,ferrara4 ,lewis ,,xii strove in vain to alarm him by the ,national ,council of ,tours1--,germany1 by severe gravamina 7complaints of national grievances against the ,papal ,see71 and by the threat of the ,pragmatic ,sanction 7an imperial order to confirm the decrees of such reform councils as that of ,basel74 ,not even a ,general ,council1 summoned at ,pisa by the two monarchs for the first of ,september1 #aeaa1 with the dread phantom of a reform of the ,church1 could bend the violent ,pope4 ,the ,council of ,pisa the ,pope neutralized by convening a ,lateran ,council1 which at the ,pope's bidding hurled its thundering manifestos in the name of the ,almighty against the ,pope's enemies4 ,he died while this conflict was raging4 ,luther was in ,rome while the ,pope was engaged as just related4 ,what elements of appalling greed and levity had entered the holiest transactions of the ,church can be seen from the following summing up of the situation daring ,luther's time3 ,a large amount of worldly power was at this time conferred in most instances1 together with the bishoprics2 they were held more or less as sinecures according to the degree of influence or court favor possessed by the recipient or his family4 ,the ,roman ,curia thought only of how it might best derive advantage from the vacancies and presentations2 ,alexander extorted double annates or first-fruits1 and levied double1 nay1 triple tithes2 there remained few things that had not become matter of purchase4 ,the taxes of the papal chancery rose higher from day to day1 and the comptroller1 whose duty it was to prevent all abuses in that department1 most commonly referred the revision of the imposts to those very men who had fixed their amounts4 ,for every indulgence obtained from the datary's office1 a stipulated sum was paid2 nearly all the disputes occurring at this period between the states of ,europe and the ,roman ,court arose out of these exactions1 which the ,curia sought by every possible means to increase1 while the people of all countries as zealously strove to restrain them4 ,principles such as these necessarily acted on all ranks affected by the system based on them1 from the highest to the lowest4 ,many ecclesiastics were found ready to renounce their bishoprics2 but they retained the greater part of the revenues1 and not unfrequently the presentation of the benefices dependent on them also4 ,even the laws forbidding the son of a clergyman 767 to procure induction to the living of his father1 and enacting that no ecclesiastic should dispose of his office by will 7671 were continually evaded2 for as all could obtain permission to appoint whomsoever he might choose as his coadjutor1 provided he were liberal of his money1 so the benefices of the ,church became in a manner hereditary4 ,it followed of necessity that the performance of ecclesiastical duties was grievously neglected4 4 4 4 ,in all places incompetent persons were intrusted with the performance of clerical duties2 they were appointed without scrutiny or selection4 ,the incumbents of benefices were principally interested in finding substitutes at the lowest possible cost2 thus the mendicant friars were frequently chosen as particularly suitable in this respect4 ,these men occupied the bishoprics under the title 7previously unheard of in that sense7 of suffragans2 the cures they held in the capacity of vicars4 767 ,in order not to extend this review too long1 we shall refer only to one other ,pope1 ,leo ,x4 ,it was in the main a prosperous reign that was inaugurated by ,leo ,x4 ,a treaty was concluded with ,france1 which had invaded ,italy4 ,by a diplomatic maneuver the ,pragmatic ,sanction was annulled1 and the ,lateran ,council was ordered to pronounce its death-warrant4 ,france was humbled4 ,all resistance was vain against the alliance of the highest spiritual with the highest temporal power4 ,now1 at last1 the papacy seemed once more to have quelled the hostile spirit which had grown up at ,constance and ,basel 7two church councils which tried to reform the papacy1 but failed71 and found its stronghold in ,france1 and at this very time it was near its most grievous fall4 ,two years later ,luther1 not fathoming as yet the depths of iniquity which he was beginning to lay bare1 published his ,ninety-,five ,theses4 ,leo ,x is the ,pope that excommunicated ,luther4 ,ranke describes the closing hours of his life4 ,the ,pope had been extremely successful in his political schemes4 ,parma and ,placentia were recovered1 the ,french were compelled to withdraw1 and the ,pope might safely calculate on exercising great influence over the new sovereign of ,milan4 ,it was a crisis of infinite moment3 a new state of things had arisen in politics--a great movement had commenced in the ,church4 ,the aspect of affairs permitted ,leo to flatter himself that he should retain the power of directing the first1 and he had succeeded in repressing the second4 7,this refers to ,luther's protest2 the ,pope was1 of course1 mistaken in the view that he had put a stop to ,luther's movement by excommunicating him47 ,he was still young enough to indulge the anticipation of fully profiting by the results of this auspicious moment4 ,strange and delusive destiny of man6 ,the ,pope was at his villa of ,malliana when he received intelligence that his party had triumphantly entered ,milan2 he abandoned himself to the exultation arising naturally from the successful completion of an important enterprise1 and looked cheerfully on at the festivities his people were preparing on the occasion4 ,he paced backward and forward till deep in the night1 between the window and the blazing hearth--it was the month of ,november4 ,somewhat exhausted1 but still in high spirits1 he arrived at ,rome1 and the rejoicings there celebrated for his triumph were not yet concluded1 when he was attacked by a mortal disease4 ',pray for me1' said he to his servants1 'that ,i may yet make you all happy4' ,we see that he loved life1 but his hour was come1 he had not time to receive the sacrament nor extreme unction4 ,so suddenly1 so prematurely1 and surrounded by hopes so bright6 he died-'as the poppy fadeth4' ,in the record of ,sanuto1 who is witness for these events1 there is a ,lettera di ,hieronymo ,bon a suo barba1 a di #e ,dec4 which contains the following3 ,it is not certainly known whether the ,pope died of poison or not4 ,he was opened4 ,master ,fernando judged that he was poisoned1 others thought not4 ,of this last opinion is ,master ,severino1 who saw him opened1 and says he was not poisoned4 7,ranke1 ,i1 #cd ff42 ,gieseler1 ,,iii1 #bij ff41 at random47 ,out of such conditions grew ,luther's work4 ,but on these conditions ,catholic critics of ,luther maintain a discreet--shall we not say1 a guilty8--silence4 ,few ,catholic laymen to whom the horrors of ,luther's life are painted with repulsive effect know the horrors which ,luther faced4 ,they are only told that ,luther attacked ,holy ,mother4 ,they are not told that ,holy ,mother had become the harlot of the ages4 #f4 ,luther's ,birth and ,parentage4 ,catholic writers make thorough work in explaining the reasons for ,luther's defection from ,rome4 ,they apply to ,luther's stubborn resistance the law of heredity3 ,luther's wildness was congenital4 ,some have declared him the illegitimate child of a ,bohemian heretic1 others1 the oaf of a witch1 still others1 a changeling of ,beelzebub1 etc4 ,many of these writers1 giving themselves the airs of painstaking investigators who have made careful research1 repeat the tale of ,barbour1 viz41 that ,luther was born in the day-and-night room of an inn at ,eisleben4 ,if this is so1 ,luther's mother must have been a traveler on the day of her first confinement4 ,if this were so1 the fact could1 of course1 be easily explained without dishonor to ,luther's mother3 she merely miscalculated the date of the birth of her first-born1--not an unusual occurrence4 ,carlyle believed this story1 but gave it an almost too honorable turn1 by likening the inn at ,eisenach to the inn at ,bethlehem4 ,but this story of ,luther's birth in a bar-room is not history2 it belongs in the realm of mythology4 ,nobody knows to-day the house where ,luther was born4 ,preserved ,smith1 his latest ,american biographer1 says there is a house shown at ,eisleben as ,luther's birthplace1 but it is not well authenticated4 7p4 #b47 ,there is a bar and a restaurant in this particular building now1 for the accommodation of foreign visitors4 ,it is possible that in this mythical birthplace of ,luther you can get a stein of foaming monk's brew or a benedictine from the monastery at ,fecamp1 or a chartreuse from ,tarragona1 distilled according to the secret formula of the holy fathers of ,la ,grande ,chartreuse4 ,if you sip a sufficient quantity of these persuasive liquors1 you will find it possible to believe most anything4 ,and the blessing of the holy fathers who have prepared the beverages for your repast will be given you gratis in addition to their liquors4 ,the journey of ,luther's mother to ,eisleben which compelled her to put up at an inn is1 likewise1 imaginary4 ,melanchthon1 ,luther's associate during the greater part of the ,reformer's life1 investigated the matter and states that ,luther was born at his parents' home in ,eisenach during their temporary sojourn in that city1 prior to their removal to ,mansfeld4 ,these stories about the place and manner of ,luther's birth originated in the seventeenth century4 ,they were unknown in ,luther's time4 ,generations after a great man has died gossip becomes busy and begins to relate remarkable incidents of his life4 ,lincoln did not say or do one half of the interesting things related about him4 ,he has been drawn into that magical circle where myths are formed1 because his great name will arouse interest in the wildest tale4 ,that is what has happened to ,luther4 ,these myths are an unconscious tribute to his greatness4 ,one might let them pass as such and smile at them4 ,but the ,catholic version of ,luther's birth is needed by their writers as a corollary to another fact which they have discovered about ,luther's father ,hans4 ,hans ,luther1 so their story runs1 was a fugitive from justice at the time of his ,martin's birth4 ,in a fit of anger he had assaulted or slain a man in his native village of ,moehra1 and abandoning his small landholdings1 he fled with his wife1 who was in an advanced stage of pregnancy4 ,color is lent to this story by the discovery that the ,luthers at ,moehra were generally violent folk4 ,research in the official court-dockets at ,salzungen1 the seat of the judicial district to which ,moehra belonged1 shows that brawls were frequent in that village1 and some ,luthers were involved in them4 ,now follows the ,catholic deduction1 plausible1 reasonable1 appealing1 just like the assumption of ,mary3 ,out of the gnarly wood of this relationship1 consisting mostly of powerful1 pugnacious farmers1 assertive of their rights1 ,luther's father grew4 ,this story was started in ,luther's lifetime4 ,george ,wicel1 who had fallen away from the evangelical faith1 accused ,luther of having a homicide for a father4 ,in #aefe1 he published the story under a false name at ,paris1 but gave no details4 ,in ,moehra nothing was known of the matter until the first quarter of the twentieth century4 ,this circumstance alone is damaging to the whole story4 ,luther was during his lifetime exposed to scrutiny of his most private affairs as no other man4 ,if ,wicel's tale could have been authenticated1 we may rest assured that would have been done at the time4 ,in the eighteenth century a mining official in ,thuringia by the name of ,michaelis told the story of ,hans ,luther's homicide with the necessary detail to make it appear real4 ,observe1 this was #bbj years after the alleged event4 ,it had been this way3 ,hans ,luther had quarreled with a person who was plowing his field1 and had accidentally slain the man with the bridle1 or halter1 of his horse4 ,several ,protestant writers now began to express belief in the story4 ,travelers came to ,moehra for the express purpose of investigating the matter1 e4g41 ,mr4 ,mayhew of the ,london ,punch4 ,behold1 the story had assumed definite shape through being kept alive a hundred years3 the accommodating citizens of ,moehra were now able to point out to the inquiring ,englishman the very meadow where the homicide had taken place4 ,it takes an ,englishman on the average two years and four months to see the point of a joke4 ,by this time1 we doubt not1 it will be possible to exhibit to any confiding dunce the very horse-bridle with which ,hans ,luther committed manslaughter1 also the actual hole which he knocked into the head of his victim1 beautifully surrounded by a border of blue and green1 which are the colors which the bruise assumed six hours after the infliction4 ,the border may not be genuine1 but we dare any ,catholic investigator to disprove the genuineness of the hole4 ,writers belonging to a church that is rich in legends of the saints and in relics ought to know how a tale like ,wicel's can assume respectability and credibility in the course of time4 ,it is not any more difficult to account for these tales about ,hans ,luther's homicide than for the existence in our late day of the rope with which ,judas hanged himself1 or the tears which ,peter wept in the night of the betrayal1 or the splinters from the cross of the ,lord1 or the feathers from the wings of the angel ,gabriel1 and sundry other marvels which are exhibited in ,catholic churches for the veneration of the faithful4 ,no historian that has a reputation as a scholar to lose to-day credits the story of ,hans ,luther's homicide4 ,it is improbable on its face4 ,the small landholdings of ,hans at ,moehra are not real1 but irreal estate4 ,nobody has found the title for them4 ,there is1 however1 a very good reason why ,hans should want to leave ,moehra4 ,he was1 according to all that is known of his father's family1 the oldest son4 ,according to the old ,thuringian law the home place and appurtenances of a peasant freeholder passed to the youngest son4 ,mc,giffert regards the custom as admirably careful of those most needing care4 7p4 #d47 ,luther's father1 on coming of age1 was by this law compelled to go and seek his fortune elsewhere1 because opportunity for rising to independence there was none for him at ,moehra4 ,if ,hans was a fugitive from justice1 he was certainly unwise in not fleeing far enough4 ,for at ,eisenach1 whither he went1 he was still under the same ,saxon jurisdiction as at ,moehra4 ,he seems to have had no fear of abiding under the sovereignty which he is claimed to have offended4 ,this observation has led one of the most exact and painstaking of modern biographers of ,luther1 ,koestlin1 to say that the homicide story1 if it rests on any basis of fact1 must either refer to a different ,luther1 or if to ,hans1 the incident cannot have been a homicide4 ,it should be remembered that there is no authentic record which in any way incriminates ,hans ,luther4 ,lastly1 this homicide ,hans ,luther1 eight years after coming to ,mansfeld1 is elected by his fellow-townsmen one of the ,vierherren1 or aldermen1 of the town4 ,only most trusted and well-reputed persons were given such an office4 ,a homicide would not have been allowed to settle at ,mansfeld1 much less to govern the town4 ,any rogue in the town that he had to discipline in his time of office would have thrown his bloody record up to him4 ,a ,catholic writer says3 ,the wild passion of anger was an unextinguished and unmodified heritage transmitted congenitally to the whole ,luther family1 and this to such an extent that the ,lutherzorn 7,luther rage7 has attained the currency of a ,german colloquialism4 ,mr4 ,mayhew thinks that ,martin was a veritable chip of the hard old block1 the high-mettled foal cast by a fiery blood-horse4 ,catholic writers cite ,mr4 ,mayhew as a distinguished ,protestant4 ,if you have not heard of him before1 look him up in ,who is ,who8 most anywhere4 ,all this1 however1 is a desperate attempt to find proof against an assumed criminal by circumstantial evidence4 ,no direct evidence has ever been available to implicate ,luther's father in a village brawl4 ,as to the ,lutherzorn1 ,luther has in scores of places explained the real reason of it3 ,luther did not inherit1 but ,rome roused it4 ,this ,lutherzorn may arise in any person that is not remotely related to the ,luthers after reading ,catholic biographies of ,martin ,luther4 #g4 ,luther's ,great ,mistake4 ,catholic writers contend that ,luther made a mistake when he became monk4 ,protestants share this view1 but put the emphasis in the sentence3 ,luther became a monk1 at a different place4 ,in the ,protestant view the mistake is this1 that ,luther became a monk1 in the ,catholic view1 it is this1 that ,luther became a monk4 ,protestants regard monasticism largely as a perversion of the laws of nature and of ,christian morals4 ,in an institution of this kind ,luther could not find the relief he sought4 ,his mistake was that he sought it there4 ,catholics view monkery as the highest ideal of the ,christian life1 and blame ,luther for entering this mode of life when he was altogether unfit for it4 ,they regard ,luther as guilty of sacrilege far seeking admission into the order of ,augustinian friars4 ,when he was permitted to turn monk1 that which is holy was given unto a dog1 and pearls were cast before a swine4 ,catholics argue that ,luther's cheerless boyhood1 the poverty of his parents1 the hard work and close economy that was the order in the home at ,mansfeld1 the harsh and cruel treatment which ,luther received from parents that were given to fits of uncontrollable rage induced in ,luther a morose1 sullen spirit4 ,he became brooding and stubborn when yet a child4 ,he was a most unruly boy at school4 ,his character was not improved when he was sent abroad for his education and had to sing for his bread or beg in the streets4 ,his rebellious spirit found nourishment in these humiliations4 ,owing to his melancholy temperament and gloomy fits1 he made no friends4 ,he felt himself misunderstood everywhere4 ,even the little season of sunshine that came into his young life at the ,cotta home in ,eisenach did not cure him of the morbid feeling that nobody appreciated him4 ,he began to loathe the studies which he was pursuing in accordance with the wish of his father4 ,to certain occurrences1 like the slaying of a fellow-student1 an accident with which he met on a vacation trip1 and a sudden thunderstorm1 he gave an ominous interpretation which deepened his despondency4 ,at last he determined1 inconsiderately and precipitately1 to enter a cloister4 ,his friends instinctively felt he was not qualified or fitted for the sublime vocation to which he aspired1 and they accordingly used all their powers to dissuade him from the course he had chosen4 ,all their efforts were fruitless1 and from the gayety and frolic of the banquet which he had given his fellow-students as a farewell party he went to the monastery4 ,he was so reckless that he took this step even without the consent of his parents4 ,he knew little about the ways of ,god1 and was not well informed of the gravity and responsibilities of the step he was taking4 ,he was not called by ,god to conventual life2 4 4 4 he was driven by despair1 rather than the love of higher perfection1 into a religious career4 ,catholics feel so sure that they have a case against ,luther that in all seriousness they ask ,protestants the question3 ,did he act honestly when he knelt before the prior asking to be received into the order8 ,luther has later in life given various reasons for entering the monastery4 ,his case was not simple1 but complex4 ,one reason1 however1 which he has assigned is the severe bringing up which he had at his home4 ,hausrath is satisfied with this one reason1 and many ,catholic writers adopt his view4 ,but this remark of ,luther is evidently misapplied if it is made to mean that ,luther sought ease1 comfort1 leniency in the cloister as a relief from the hard life which he had been leading4 ,luther had grasped the fundamental idea in monkery quite well3 flight from the secular life as a means to become exceptionally holy4 ,he sought quiet for meditation and devotion1 but no physical ease and earthly comforts4 ,he knew of the rigors of cloister-life4 ,he willingly bowed to the gentle yoke of ,christ--thus ran the monkish ritual--which the life of an eremite among eremites was to impose on him4 ,his hard life in the days of his boyhood and youth had been an unconscious preparation for this life4 ,he had been strictly trained to fear ,god and keep ,his commandments4 ,the holy life of the saints had been held up to him as far back as he could remember as the marvel of ,christian perfection4 ,home and ,church had cooperated in deepening the impressions of the sanctity of the monkish life in him4 ,when he saw the emaciated ,duke of ,anhalt in monk's garb with his beggar's wallet on his back tottering through the streets of ,magdeburg1 and everybody held his breath at this magnificent spectacle of advanced ,christianity1 and then broke forth in profuse eulogies of the princely pilgrim to the glories of monkish sainthood1 that left an indelible impression on the fifteen-year-old boy4 ,when he observed the ,carthusians at ,eisenach1 weary and wan with many a vigil1 somber and taciturn1 toiling up the rugged steps to a heaven beyond the common heaven2 when he talked with the young priests at the towns where he studied1 and all praised the life of a monk to this young seeker after perfect righteousness2 when in cloister-ridden ,erfurt he observed that the monks were outwardly1 at least1 treated with peculiar reverence1 can any one wonder that in a mind longing for peace with ,god the resolve silently ripened into the act3 ,i will be a monk8 ,we1 too1 would call this an act of despair4 ,we would say with ,luther3 ,despair makes monks4 ,but the despair which we mean1 and which ,luther meant1 is genuine spiritual despair4 ,what ,catholics call ,luther's despair is really desperation1 a reckless1 dare-devil plunging of a criminal into a splendid ,catholic sanctuary4 ,that ,luther's act decidedly was not4 ,by ,rome's own teaching ,luther belonged in the cloister4 ,that mode of life was originally designed to meet the needs of just such minds as his4 ,his entering the monastery was the logical sequence of his previous ,catholic tutelage4 ,rome has this monk on its conscience1 and a good many more besides4 ,as piety went in those days1 ,luther had been raised a pious young man4 ,he was morally clean4 ,he was a consistent1 yea1 a scrupulous member of his ,church1 regular in his daily devotions1 reverencing every ordinance of the ,church4 ,also during his student years he kept himself unspotted from the moral contaminations of the academic life4 ,he abhorred the students who were devoted to ,king ,gambrinus and ,knight ,tannhaeuser4 ,he loathed the taverns and brothels of ,erfurt4 ,the ,cotta home was no ,bierstube in his day4 ,the banquet-hall where he met his friends the evening before he entered the cloister was no banquet-hall in the modern sense of the term4 ,that he played the lute at this farewell party1 and that there were some honorable maidens present1 is nowadays related with a wink of the eye by ,catholics4 ,but there was nothing wrong in all the proceedings of that evening4 ,it was indeed an honorable gathering4 ,luther was never a prudish man or fanatic4 ,he loved the decent joys and pleasures of life4 ,luther gathered his friends about him to take a decent leave of them4 ,he did not run away from them secretly1 as many monks have done4 ,he opened up his mind to them at this last meeting4 ,the conversation that ensued was a test of the strength of the convictions he had formed4 ,his was an introspective nature4 ,he had wrestled daily with the sin that ever besets us4 ,he knew that with all his conventional religiousness he could not pass muster before ,god4 ,over his wash-basin he was overheard moaning3 ,the more we wash1 the more unclean we become4 ,he felt like ,paul when he groaned3 ,o wretched man that ,i am1 who shall deliver me from the body of this death8 7,rom4 #g1 #bd47 ,he was sorrowing for his poor soul4 ,he was hungering and thirsting for righteousness4 ,when will ,i ever attain to that state of mind that ,i am sure ,god is pleased with me8 he mused distractedly4 ,what he could not find while engaged in his secular pursuits1 that1 he was told1 the cloister could give him4 ,to obtain that he entered the monastery4 ,if ever ,rome had an honest applicant for monkery1 ,luther is that man4 ,nor did he act precipitately4 ,as shown1 the thought of this act had been quietly forming in him for years4 ,when he made his rash vow to ,st4 ,anna1 he still allowed two weeks to pass before he put his resolution into action4 ,try and picture to yourself his state of mind during those fourteen days6 ,moving about in his customary surroundings1 he was daily probing the correctness of his contemplated change of life4 ,he fought a soul-battle in those days1 and the remembrance of his father made that battle none the easier4 ,from the ,catholic standpoint ,luther deserves an aureole for that struggle4 ,after entering the cloister1 he was still at liberty for a year and a half to retrace his fatal step4 ,but his first impressions were favorable2 monkery really seemed to bring him heart's ease and peace1 and there was no one to disabuse his mind of the delusion4 ,after nearly two years in the monastery1 while sitting with his father at the cloister board on the event of his ordination to the priesthood1 he declares to his father that he enjoys the quiet1 contemplative life that he has chosen4 ,surely1 he made a mistake by becoming monk1 but ,catholics cannot fault him for that mistake4 ,if the life of monks and nuns is really what they claim that it is3 the highest and most perfect form of ,christianity1 they should consistently give any person credit for making the effort to lead that life4 ,in fact1 they ought all to turn monks and nuns to honor their own principles4 #h4 ,luther's ,failure as a ,monk4 ,monasticism is a pagan shoot grafted on a ,christian tree4 ,at its base lies the heathenish notion that sin can be extirpated by severe onslaughts upon the body and the physical life4 ,it has existed in ,buddhism before some ,christians adopted it4 ,in the early days of ,christianity it was proclaimed as superior wisdom by the ,platonic philosophers4 ,like many a lie it has been decked out with ,bible-texts to give it respectability1 and to soothe disquieted consciences4 ,the ,scripture-sayings regarding fasting1 sexual continence1 chastity1 crucifying the flesh1 etc41 are made to stand sponsor for this bastard offspring of the brain of ,christian mystics4 ,with excellent discrimination ,mosheim has traced the origin of monasticism to the early ,christian fathers4 ,the earliest impulses to monasticism are contained in such writings as the ,epistle to ,zenas1 found among the writings of ,justinus1 the tracts of ,clement of ,alexandria on ,calumny1 ,patience1 ,continence1 and other virtues1 the tracts of ,tertullian on practical duties1 such as ,chastity1 ,flight from ,persecution1 ,fasting1 ,theatrical ,exhibitions1 the ,dress of ,females1 ,prayer1 etc4 ,these writings would be perused with greater profit1 were it not for the gloomy and morose spirit which they everywhere breathe4 4 4 4 ,in what estimation they ought to be held1 the learned are not agreed4 ,some hold them to be the very best guides to true piety and a holy life2 others1 on the contrary1 think their precepts were the worst possible1 and that the cause of practical religion could not be committed to worse hands4 4 4 4 ,to us it appears that their writings contain many things excellent1 well considered1 and well calculated to kindle pious emotions2 but also many things unduly rigorous1 and derived from the ,stoic and ,academic philosophy2 many things vague and indeterminate2 and many things positively false1 and inconsistent with the precepts of ,christ4 ,if one deserves the title of a bad master in morals who has no just ideas of the proper boundaries and limitations of ,christian duties1 nor clear and distinct conceptions of the different virtues and vices1 nor a perception of those general principles to which recurrence should be had in all discussions respecting ,christian virtue1 and therefore very often talks at random1 and blunders in expounding the divine laws2 though he may say many excellent things1 and excite in us considerable emotion2 then ,i can readily admit that in strict truth this title belongs to many of the ,fathers4 4 4 4 ,they admitted1 with good intentions no doubt1 yet most inconsiderately1 a great error in regard to morals1 and pernicious to ,christianity2 an error which1 through all succeeding ages to our times1 has produced an infinity of mistakes and evils of various kinds4 ,jesus1 our ,savior1 prescribed one and the same rule of life or duty to all ,his disciples4 ,but the ,christian doctors1 either by too great a desire of imitating the nations among whom they lived1 or from a natural propensity to austerity and gloom1 7a disease that many labor under in ,syria1 ,egypt1 and other provinces of the ,east17 were induced to maintain that ,christ had prescribed a twofold rule of holiness and virtue2 the one ordinary1 the other extraordinary2 the one lower1 the other higher2 the one for men of business1 the other for persons of leisure1 and such as desired higher glory in the future world4 ,they therefore early divided all that had been taught them either in books or by tradition1 respecting a ,christian life and morals1 into ,precepts and ,counsels4 ,they gave the name ,precepts to those laws which were universally obligatory1 or were enacted for all men of all descriptions2 but the ,counsels pertained solely to those who aspire after superior holiness and a closer union with ,god4 ,there soon arose1 therefore1 a class of persons who professed to strive after that extraordinary and more eminent holiness1 and who1 of course1 resolved to obey the ,counsels of ,christ1 that they might have intimate communion with ,god in this life1 and might1 on leaving the body1 rise without impediment or difficulty to the celestial world4 ,they supposed many things were forbidden to them which were allowed to other ,christians1 such as wine1 flesh1 matrimony1 and worldly business4 ,they thought they must emaciate their bodies with watching1 fasting1 toil1 and hunger4 ,they considered it a blessed thing to retire to desert places1 and by severe meditation to abstract their minds from all external objects1 and whatever delights the senses4 ,both men and women imposed these severe restraints on themselves1 with good intentions1 ,i suppose1 but setting a bad example1 and greatly to the injury of the cause of ,christianity4 ,they were1 of course1 denominated ,ascetics1 ,zealous ,ones1 ,elect1 and also ,philosophers2 and they were distinguished from other ,christians1 not only by a different appellation1 but by peculiarities of dress and demeanor4 ,those who embraced this austere mode of life lived indeed only for themselves1 but they did not withdraw themselves altogether from the society and converse of men4 ,but in process of time1 persons of this description at first retired into deserts1 and afterwards formed themselves into associations1 after the manner of the ,essenes and ,therapeutae4 ,the causes of this institution are at hand4 ,first1 the ,christians did not like to appear inferior to the ,greeks1 the ,romans1 and the other people among whom there were many philosophers and sages1 who were distinguished from the vulgar by their dress and their whole mode of life1 and who were held in high honor4 ,now among these philosophers 7as is well known7 none better pleased the ,christians than the ,platonists and ,pythagoreans1 who are known to have recommended two modes of living1 the one for philosophers who wished to excel others in virtue1 and the other for people engaged in the common affairs of life4 ,the ,platonists prescribed the following rule for philosophers3 ,the mind of a wise man must be withdrawn1 as far as possible1 from the contagious influence of the body4 ,and as the oppressive load of the body and social intercourse are most adverse to this design1 therefore all sensual gratifications are to be avoided2 the body is to be sustained1 or rather mortified1 with coarse and slender fare2 solitude is to be sought for2 and the mind is to be self-collected and absorbed in contemplation1 so as to be detached as much as possible from the body4 ,whoever lives in this manner shall in the present life have converse with ,god1 and1 when freed from the load of the body1 shall ascend without delay to the celestial mansions1 and shall not need1 like the souls of other men1 to undergo a purgation4 ,the grounds of this system lay in the peculiar sentiments entertained by this sect of philosophers and by their friends1 respecting the soul1 demons1 matter1 and the universe4 ,and as these sentiments were embraced by the ,christian philosophers1 the necessary consequences of them were1 of course1 to be adopted also4 ,what is here stated will excite less surprise if it be remembered that ,egypt was the land where this mode of life had its origin4 ,for that country1 from some law of nature1 has always produced a greater number of gloomy and hypochondriac or melancholy persons than any other2 and it still does so4 ,here it was long before the ,savior's birth1 not only the ,essenes and ,therapeutae--those ,jewish sects1 composed of persons with a morbid melancholy1 or rather partially deranged--had their chief residence2 but many others also1 that they might better please the gods1 withdrew themselves as by the instinct of nature from commerce with men and with all pleasures of life4 ,from ,egypt this mode of life passed into ,syria and the neighboring countries1 which in like manner always abounded with unsociable and austere individuals3 and from the ,east it was at last introduced among the nations of ,europe4 ,hence the numerous maladies which still deform the ,christian world2 hence the celibacy of the clergy2 hence the numerous herds of monks2 hence the two species of life1 the theoretical and mystical4 7,eccles4 ,hist41 ,i1 #abh f47 ,one may well feel pity for the original monks4 ,their zeal was heroic1 but it was spent upon an issue that is in its very root and core a haughty presumption and a lie4 ,exhaust all the ,scripture-texts which speak of indwelling sin1 of the lust that rages in our members1 of the duty to keep the body under by fasting and vigilance1 and there will not be found enough ,bible to cover the nakedness of the monastic principle4 ,its fundamental thought of a select type of piety to be attained by spectacular efforts at self-mortification flies in the face of the doctrine that we are rid of sin and sanctified by divine grace alone4 ,monkish holiness is a slander of the ,redeemer's all-sufficient sacrifice for sin and of the work of the ,holy ,spirit4 ,it started in paganism1 and wants to drag ,christianity back into paganism4 ,but monasticism in ,luther's day was no longer of the sort which one may view with a pathetic interest4 ,the old monastic ideals had been largely abandoned4 ,instead of crucifying the flesh1 the monks were nursing and fondling carnal-mindedness4 ,the cloisters had become cesspools of corruption4 ,because the reputation of monks was utterly bad1 and monks were publicly scorned and derided1 ,luther's friends tried to dissuade him from entering the cloister4 ,that was the reason1 too1 why ,luther's father was so deeply shocked when he heard of what his ,martin had done1 and ,luther had to assure his father that he had not gone into the herd of monks to seek what people believed men sought in that profligate company4 ,for that reason1 too1 he had chosen the ,augustinian order1 because a strong reform movement had been started in that order1 and its reputation was better than that of the other orders4 ,luther meant to be a monk of the original type4 ,since the days of ,alexander of ,hales1 ,albert the ,great1 and ,thomas ,aquinas the ,roman ,church teaches that there is in the ,church a treasury of supererogatory works1 that is1 of good works which ,christ and the saints have performed in excess of what is ordinarily demanded of every man in the way of upright living4 ,we shall meet with this idea again in another connection4 ,it flows from the monastic principles4 ,monks must have not only enough sanctity for their own needs1 but to spare4 ,of this superfluous sanctity they may make an assignment in favor of others4 ,do not smile incredulously2 monks actually make such assignments4 ,luther may not have thought of this when he entered the cloister1 but he rejoiced in this scheme of substitutive sanctity later4 ,he thought he had found in monkery a gold-mine of holiness that would be sufficient not only for himself1 but also for his parents4 ,while at ,rome some years later1 he was in a way sorry that his father and mother were not already in purgatory4 ,he had such a fine chance there to accumulate supererogatory good works which he might have transferred to them to shorten their agonies1 or release them entirely4 ,in order to make a successful monk1 one must be either a ,pharisee or an epicurean4 ,the ,pharisee takes an inventory of the works named in the ,law of ,god1 and sets out to perform these in an external1 mechanical manner4 ,he adds a few works of his own invention for good measure4 ,every work performed counts2 it constitutes merit4 ,on the basis of his two pecks and a half of merit the ,pharisee now begins to drive a bargain with ,god3 for so much merit he claims so much distinction and glory4 ,he figures it all out to ,god1 so that ,god shall not make a mistake at the time of the settlement3 ,i have not been this1 nor that1 nor the other thing2 ,i have done this1 and that1 and some more4 ,consequently 4 4 4 6 ,the epicurean is a jolly fatalist4 ,whatever is to happen will happen4 ,why worry8 ,go along at an even pace2 eat1 drink1 be merry1 but for ,heaven's sake do not take a serious or tragical view of anything6 ,take things as they are2 if you can improve them1 well and good2 if not1 let it pass2 forget it2 eat a good meal and go to sleep4 ,luther was never an epicurean4 ,the seriousness of life had confronted him at a very early date4 ,the sense of duty was highly developed in him from early youth4 ,in all that he did he felt himself as a being that is responsible to his ,maker and ,judge4 ,easy-going indifference and ready self-pity were not in his character4 ,for this ,luther is now faulted by ,catholics4 ,it is said he extended the rigors of monasticism beyond the bounds of reasonableness4 ,he was too severe with himself4 ,he outraged human nature4 ,quite correct2 but is not monasticism by itself an outrage upon human nature8 ,luther had endured the monastery for the very purpose of enduring hardness4 ,he did not flinch when the battle into which he had gone commenced in earnest4 ,luther is said to have been tardy and neglectful in the observance of the rules of the order4 ,sometimes he would omit the canonical hours1 that is1 the stated prayers1 or some form of prescribed devotion1 and then he would endeavor to make up for the loss by redoubled effort1 which overtaxed his physical strength4 ,quite true4 ,it is not such a rare occurrence that a monk forgets the one or the other of the minutiae of the daily monkish routine4 ,the regulations of his orders extended to such things as the posture which he must assume while standing1 while sitting1 while kneeling2 the movement of his arms1 of his hands2 how to approach1 how to move in front of the altar1 how to leave it1 etc4 ,when his mind was engrossed with the study of the ,bible or some commentary of a ,church ,father1 it was easy for ,luther to forget parts of the program which he was to carry out4 ,whenever this happened1 was it not his duty to endeavor to repair the damage8 ,were not penances imposed on him in the confessional for every default8 ,luther is said to have been led into still deeper gloom by his study of the doctrine of predestination4 ,true1 but even this study did not lead ,luther off into fatalism4 ,it terrified him1 because he studied that profound doctrine without a true perception of divine grace and the meaning of the ,redeemer's work4 ,however1 this study did not at any time permanently affect his vigorous striving after holiness4 ,when ,catholics explain ,luther's failure as a monk by such assertions1 they involve themselves in self-contradiction4 ,by their own principles monkery is not a natural life2 yet1 when a monk fails in his monkery1 they fault him for not being natural4 ,first1 they tell the applicant that he must not be what he is1 and afterwards they blame him for wanting to be what they told him to be1 and what he finds he cannot be4 ,if this is not adding insult to injury1 what is8 ,francis of ,assisi became a great saint by that very inhuman treatment of himself for which ,luther is censured4 ,but then ,francis of ,assisi did not quit his order and did not attack the ,pope4 ,the other reason why ,luther failed is1 because he could not make a ,pharisee of himself1 which is only another name for hypocrite4 ,the ,law of ,god had such a terrible meaning to him because he applied it as the ,lawgiver wants it applied1 to his whole inner life1 to the heart1 the soul1 the mind1 and all his powers of intellect and will4 ,it is comparatively easy to make the members of the body go through certain external performances1 but to make the mind obey is a different proposition4 ,the discovery which disheartened ,luther was1 that while he was outwardly leading the life of a blameless monk1 his inward life was not improved4 ,sin was ever present with him1 as it is with every human being4 ,he felt the terrible smitings of the accusing conscience because he was keenly alive to the real demands of ,god's ,law4 ,the holy ,law of ,god wrought its will upon him to the fullest extent3 it roused him to anger with the ,god who had given this ,law to man2 it led him into blasphemous thoughts1 so that he recoiled with horror from himself4 ,does the true ,law of ,god1 when properly applied1 ever have any other effect upon natural man8 ,paul says3 ,it worketh wrath 7,rom4 #d1 #ae71 namely1 wrath in man against ,god4 ,it drives man to despair4 ,that is its legitimate function3 ,no person has touched the essence of the ,law who has not passed through these awful experiences4 ,nor did any man ever flee from the ,law and run to ,christ for shelter but for these unendurable terrors which the ,law begets4 ,that was ,luther's whole trouble1 and that is why he failed as a monk3 he had started out to become a saint1 and he did not even succeed in making a ,pharisee of himself4 ,if ,rome has produced a monk that succeeded better than ,luther1 he ought to be exhibited and examined4 ,he will be found either an angel or a brazen fraud4 ,he will not be a true man4 #i4 ,professor ,luther1 ,d4 ,d4 ,catholic writers greedily grab every opportunity to belittle ,luther's scholarship4 ,incentives to study at home1 they say1 he received none4 ,his common school education was wretched4 ,during his high school studies he was favored with good teachers1 but hampered by his home-bred roughness and uncouthness and his poverty4 ,he applied himself diligently to his studies1 but gave no sign of being a genius4 ,at the ,university of ,erfurt1 too1 he was studious1 but he seems to have made no great impression on the ,university4 ,he paid little attention to grammatical details1 and never attained to ,ciceronian purity and elegance in speech and writing4 ,when he made his ,a4 ,b31 he ranked thirteenth in a class of fifty-seven4 ,he did a little better in his effort for the title of ,a4 ,m41 when he came out second among seventeen candidates4 ,but ,melanchthon is declared entirely wrong when he relates that ,luther was the wonder of the ,university4 ,his theological studies preparatory to his entering the priesthood were very hasty and superficial4 ,still less prepared was he for the work of a professor4 ,his duties in the cloister left him little time for learned studies4 ,yet he went to bibulous ,wittenberg1 to a little five-year-old university1 and lectured as best he could4 ,by the way1 our ,catholic friends seem to forget that bibulous ,wittenberg was a good old ,catholic town at the time4 ,all things considered1 ,luther's advancement was all too rapid2 it was not justified by his preparatory studies1 which had been anything but deep1 solid1 systematic4 ,the theological culture he received was not on a par with that required now by the average seminarian1 let alone a ,doctor of ,divinity4 ,he accepted the title of ,d4 ,d4 very reluctantly1 being conscious that he did not deserve it4 ,a feeling of the insufficiency of his education tormented him all through life4 ,it cannot be denied that he was industrious1 self-reliant1 ambitious1 but withal1 he was not a methodically trained man4 ,at bottom1 he was neither a philosopher nor a theologian1 and at no time of his life1 despite his efforts to acquire knowledge1 did he show himself more than superficially equipped to grapple with serious and difficult philosophical and religious problems4 ,his study never rose to brilliancy4 ,thus runs the ,catholic account of ,professor and ,doctor ,luther4 ,we have not quoted the worst ,catholic estimates of ,luther's scholarship4 ,he has also been called a dunce1 an ignoramus1 a barbarian4 ,again it seems to escape the ,catholics that this ill-trained1 insufficient1 half-baked ,doctor of ,divinity is a product of their own educational art4 ,whatever advancement he received in those days was actually forced upon him by ,catholics4 ,all his academic and ecclesiastical honors came from ,catholic sources1 came to him1 moreover1 as a good ,catholic4 ,also that highest and noblest distinction which made him a duly called and accredited expounder of the ,holy ,scriptures4 ,if there is fault to be found with anything in this matter1 it lies with the ,catholic method and process of making a young man within the space of ten years a ,bachelor of ,arts1 a ,master of ,arts1 a priest1 a professor1 and a ,doctor of ,sacred ,theology2 it does not lie with the innocent subject to whom this presto6 change6 process was applied4 ,but does this estimate of ,luther square with the facts in the case8 ,for a dunce or a mediocre scholar ,luther has been a fair success4 ,his little ability and scanty preparation makes his achievements all the more remarkable4 ,the most brilliant minds of the race1 for whom the home1 the ,church and the ,state1 religion1 science and art1 had done their best1 have accomplished immeasurably less than this poor and mostly self-taught country boy4 ,god give ,his ,church many more such dunces6 ,the net results of ,luther's learning are open to inspection by the world in his numerous works4 ,able scholars of most recent times have looked into ,luther's writings with a view of determining how much learned knowledge he had actually acquired1 even before he began his reformatory work1 ,they have found that ,luther was very well versed in the favorite ,latin authors of the day3 ,vergil1 ,terence1 ,ovid1 ,aesop1 ,cicero1 ,livy1 ,seneca1 ,horace1 ,catullus1 ,juvenal1 ,silius1 ,statius1 ,lucan1 ,suetonius1 ,sallust1 ,quintilian1 ,varro1 ,pomponius ,mela1 the two ,plinies1 and the ,germania of ,tacitus4 ,he possessed a creditable amount of knowledge of ,general ,history and ,church ,history4 ,he had made a profound study of the leading philosophers and scholastic theologians of the ,middle ,ages3 ,thomas of ,aquinas1 ,peter ,lombard1 ,bernard of ,clairvaux1 ,duns ,scotus1 ,occam1 ,gregory of ,rimini1 ,pierre d',ailly1 ,gerson1 and ,biel4 ,two of these he knew almost by heart4 ,he had studied the ancient ,church ,fathers3 ,irenaeus1 ,cyprian1 ,eusebius1 ,athanasius1 ,hilary1 ,ambrose1 ,gregory of ,nanzianzen1 ,jerome1 and such later theologians as ,cassiodorus1 ,gregory the ,great1 and ,anselm of ,canterbury2 ,tauler1 ,lefevre1 ,erasmus1 and ,pico della ,mirandola4 ,he was quite at home in the exegetical ,middle ,ages1 in the ,canon ,law1 in ,aristotle and ,porphyry4 ,he was one of the first ,german professors to learn ,greek and ,hebrew4 ,moreover1 ,luther possessed1 besides knowledge1 those indispensable requisites in a good professor3 the faculty of plain1 clear1 correct1 and independent thought1 resourcefulness1 acumen 7,boehmer1 p4 #agi f474 ,he had the courage to tell the ,church that it was a shame1 that a heathen philosopher1 ,aristotle1 should formulate the doctrines which ,christians are to believe and their pastors are to teach4 ,he threw this heathen1 who had for ages dominated ,christian teaching1 out of his lecture-room1 and took his students straight to the pure fountain of religious truth1 the ,word of ,god4 ,he publicly burned the ,canon ,law by which the ,roman ,church had forged chains for the consciences of men1 and which she upholds to this day4 ,his lecture-room became crowded with eager and enthusiastic students1 and the stripling university planted on the edge of civilization in the sands along the ,elbe became for a while the religious and theological hub of the world4 ,the students who gathered about ,luther knew that they had a real professor in him4 ,the world of his day came to this fledgling doctor with the weightiest questions1 and received answers that satisfied4 ,that part of the intelligent world of to-day which has read and studied ,luther endorses the verdict of ,luther's contemporaries as regards his ample learning and proficiency as a teacher4 ,more learned men1 indeed1 than ,luther there have been4 ,some of these have also made attempts to introduce needed reforms in the corrupt ,roman ,church4 ,rome met their learned and labored arguments with the consummate skill of a past master in sophistry4 ,those learned efforts came to naught4 ,rome will never be reformed by human learning and scholarship4 ,scholars are rarely men of action4 ,it is because ,professor ,luther taught and acted that ,rome hates him4 ,he would have been permitted to lecture in peace whatever he wished--others in the universities were doing that at the time--if he had only been careful not to do anything1 at least not publicly1 against the authority of the ,church4 ,that was the unpardonable blunder of ,luther that he wanted to live as he believed1 and that he taught others to do the same4 ,for this reason he is a dullard1 an ignoramus1 a poor scholar1 a poor writer1 in a word1 an inferior person from a literary and scholarly point of view4 ,in ,numbers 7chap4 #bb7 there is a story told of the prophet ,balaam1 who went out on a wicked mission for which a great reward had been promised him4 ,he rode along cheerfully1 feasting his avaricious heart on the great hoard he would bring back1 when suddenly the ass that bore him balked4 ,the prophet began to beat the animal1 but it did not budge an inch4 ,all at once this dunce of an ass which had never been put through a spelling-book began to talk and remonstrated with the prophet3 ,am ,i not thine ass8 ,what have ,i done unto thee that thou hast smitten me8 ,to his amazement the prophet was able to understand the ass quite well4 ,this dumb brute made its meaning plain to a learned man4 ,it was an intolerable outrage that an ass should lecture a doctor1 and balk him in his designs4 ,luther is that ass4 ,rome rode him1 and he patiently bore his wicked master until the angel of the ,lord stopped him and he would go no further4 ,the only difference is that ,balaam had his eyes opened1 left off beating his ass1 and felt sorry for what he had done4 ,rome's eyes have not been opened for four hundred years4 ,it is still beating the poor ass4 ,it does not see the ,lord who has blocked her path and said1 ,you shall go no further6 ,in #b ,kings1 chap4 #e1 there is another story told of the ,syrian captain ,naaman1 who came to be healed of his leprosy by the prophet ,elijah4 ,with his splendid suite the great statesman drove up in grand style to the prophet's cottage4 ,he expected that the holy man would come out to meet him1 and very deferentially engage to do the great lord's bidding4 ,the prophet did not even come out of his hut1 but sent ,naaman word to go and wash seven times in ,jordan and he would be cleansed4 ,now ,naaman flew into a rage1 because the prophet had1 in the first place1 not even deigned to speak to him1 and1 secondly1 had ordered a ridiculously commonplace cure for him4 ,he stormed that he would do no such thing as wash in that old ,jordan ,river4 ,he had better waters at home4 ,let the prophet keep his old ,jordan for such as he was4 ,and he rode off in great dudgeon4 ,rome is the leprous gentleman1 and ,luther is the man of ,god who told her how to become clean4 ,the only difference is this3 ,naaman listened to wise counsel1 and finally did what he had been told to do1 and was cleansed4 ,rome disdains to this day to listen to the ill-bred son of a peasant1 the theological upstart ,luther1 and remains as filthy as she has been4 #aj4 ,luther's ,discovery of the ,bible4 ,since ,luther's study of the ,bible has been referred to several times in these pages1 it is time that the righteousness of a certain indignation be examined which ,catholic writers display4 ,they pretend to be scandalized by the tale that in ,luther's time the ,bible was such a rare book that it was practically unknown4 ,with the air of outraged innocence some of them rise to protest against the stupid myth that ,luther discovered the ,bible4 ,they claim that their ,church had been so eager to spread the ,bible1 and had published editions of the ,bible in such rapid succession1 that in ,luther's age ,christian ,europe was full of ,bibles4 ,moreover1 that age1 they tell us1 was an age of intense ,bible-study4 ,not only the theologians1 but also the laymen1 not only the wealthy and highly educated1 but also the common people1 had unhindered access to the ,bible4 ,the historical data for ,rome's alleged zeal in behalf of the ,bible these ,catholic writers gather largely from ,protestant authors4 ,for greater effect they propose to buttress1 with the fruits of the laborious research of ,protestants1 their charge that ,luther's ignorance of the ,bible was self-inflicted and really inexcusable4 ,what are the facts in the case8 ,the whole account which we possess of ,luther's discovery of the ,bible is contained in ,luther's ,table ,talk4 7#bb1 #hig47 ,this is a book which ,luther did not personally compose nor edit4 ,it is a collection of sayings which his guests noted down while at meat with ,luther1 or afterwards from memory4 ,from a casual remark during a meal ,mathesius obtained the information which he published in his biography of ,luther1 viz41 that1 when twenty-two years old1 ,luther one day had found the ,bible in a library at ,erfurt4 ,now1 we do not wish to question the general credibility of the ,table ,talk1 nor the authenticity of this particular remark of ,luther about his stumbling upon the ,bible by accident4 ,but it is certainly germane to our subject to strip the incident of the dramatic features with which ,catholic writers claim that most ,protestants still surround the event4 ,did ,luther say1 and did ,mathesius report1 that up to the year #aeje he had not known of the ,bible8 ,not at all4 ,he merely stated that up to that time he had not seen a complete copy of the ,bible4 ,luther himself has told scores of times that when a schoolboy at ,mansfeld1 and later at ,magdeburg and ,eisenach where he studied1 he had heard portions of the ,gospels and ,epistles read during the regular service at church4 ,some passages he had learned by heart4 ,luther's guests would have laughed at him if he had claimed such a discovery of the ,bible as ,catholic writers--and some of their ,protestant authorities--think that ,mathesius has claimed for him and modern ,protestants still credit him with4 ,what ,luther did relate we are prepared to show was not1 and could not be1 an unusual occurrence in those days4 ,even in the ,university of ,paris1 which was considered the mother and queen of all the rest1 not a man could be found1 when ,luther arose1 competent to dispute with him out of the ,scriptures4 ,this was not strange4 ,many of the doctors of theology in those times had never read the ,bible4 ,carolostadt expressly tells us this was the case with himself4 ,whenever one freely read the ,bible1 he was cried out against1 as one making innovations1 as a heretic1 and exposing ,christianity to great danger by making the ,new ,testament known4 ,many of the monks regarded the ,bible as a book which abounded in numerous error4 7,mosheim1 ,,iii1 #ae47 ,the spiritual atmosphere in which ,luther and all ,christians of his time were brought up was unfavorable to real ,bible-study4 ,but before we exhibit the true attitude of ,rome toward the ,bible1 it will be necessary to examine the ,catholic claim regarding the extensive dissemination and the intensive study of the ,bible among the people in and before ,luther's times4 ,before the age of printing one cannot speak1 of course1 of editions of the ,bible4 ,the earliest date for the publication of a printed edition of the ,bible is probably #adfj-- twenty-three years before ,luther's birth4 ,that was an event fully as momentous as the opening of the transatlantic cable in our time4 ,before printing had been invented1 the ,bible was multiplied by being copied4 ,that was a slow process4 ,even when a number of copyists wrote at the same time to dictation1 it was a tedious process1 requiring much time1 and not very many would join in such a cooperative effort of ,bible production4 ,besides1 few men in those early ages were qualified for this work4 ,a certain degree of literary proficiency was required for the task4 ,the centuries during which the papacy rose to the zenith of its power are notorious for the illiteracy of the masses4 ,it was considered a remarkable achievement even for a nobleman to be able to scribble his name4 ,among those who possessed the ability few had the inclination and persistency necessary for the effort to transcribe the ,bible4 ,the cloisters of those days were the chief seats of learning and centers of lower education1 but even these asylums of piety sheltered many an ignorant monk and others who were afflicted with the proverbial monks' malady--laziness4 ,it is to the credit of the pious members of the ,roman ,church in that unhappy age that they manifested such a laudable interest in the ,bible4 ,the achievement of copying the entire ,bible with one's own hand in that age is so great that it palliates some of the glaring evils of the inhuman system of monasticism4 ,but if every monk in every cloister1 every priest in every ,catholic parish1 every professor in every ,catholic university1 could have produced twenty copies of the ,bible during his lifetime1 how little would have been accomplished to make the ,bible available for the millions of men then living6 ,reading is the correlate of writing4 ,the person who cannot write1 as a rule1 cannot read4 ,for this reason the ,bible must have remained a sealed book to many who had ample opportunity to become acquainted with it4 ,the wide diffusion of ,bible knowledge which ,catholic writers would lead us to believe always existed in the ,roman ,church is subject to question4 ,it is true that in the first centuries of the ,christian era there was a great hunger and thirst for the ,word of ,god4 ,but that was before the ,roman ,church came into existence4 ,for it is a reckless assumption that the papacy is an original institution in the ,church of ,christ1 and that ,roman ,catholicism and ,christianity are identical4 ,it is also true that in the early days of the ,reformation the people manifested a great desire for the ,word of ,god4 ,it was as new to them as it had been to ,luther4 ,they would crowd around a person who was able to read1 and would listen for hours4 ,at ,st4 ,paul's in ,london public reading of the ,bible became a regular custom4 ,but between the early days of ,christianity and the beginning of the ,reformation lies a period which4 is known as the ,dark ,ages4 ,no amount of oratory will turn that age into a ,bright ,age4 ,from the seventh to the eleventh century books were so scarce that often not one could be found in an entire city1 and even rich monasteries possessed only a single text-book4 7,universal ,encycl41 #b1 #if47 ,these conditions were not greatly improved until printing was invented4 ,luther had to do with people who were emerging from the sad conditions of that age1 the effects of which were still visible centuries after4 ,he writes3 ,the deplorable destitution which ,i recently observed1 during a visitation of the churches1 has impelled and constrained me to prepare this ,catechism1 or ,christian ,doctrine1 in such a small and simple form4 ,alas1 what manifold misery ,i beheld6 ,the common people1 especially in the villages1 know nothing at all of ,christian doctrine2 and many pastors are quite unfit and incompetent to teach4 ,yet all are called ,christians1 have been baptized1 and enjoy the use of the ,sacraments1 although they know neither the ,lord's ,prayer1 nor the ,creed1 nor the ,ten ,commandments1 and live like the poor brutes and irrational swine4 7,preface to the ,small ,catechism47 ,remember1 these people lived in that age when ,luther was born and grew up1 which ,catholic writers picture to us as a ,bible-knowing and ,bible-loving age4 ,the invention of printing wrought a mighty change in this respect4 ,this glorious art became hallowed from the beginning by being harnessed for service to the ,bible4 ,but even this invention did not at once remove the prevailing ignorance4 ,we must not transfer modern conditions to the fifteenth century4 ,in #aijf1 one of the many ,protestant ,bible ,societies reported that it had disposed in one year of nearly #hj1jjj1jjj ,bibles and parts of the ,bible in many languages4 ,the ,bible is perhaps the cheapest book of modern times4 ,it was not so in the days of ,gutenberg1 ,froschauer1 ,luft1 and the ,claxtons4 ,even after printing had been invented1 ,bibles sold at prices that would be considered prohibitive in our day4 ,when the ,duke of ,anhalt ordered three copies of the ,bible printed on parchment1 he was told that for each copy he must furnish #cdj calf-skins1 and the expense would be sixty gulden4 7,luther's ,works1 #ba;b1 #bcgh47 ,but even the low-priced editions of the ,bible1 printed on common paper 7which was not introduced into ,europe until the thirteenth century71 cost a sum of money which a poor man would consider a fortune1 and which even the well-to-do would hesitate to spend in days when money was scarce and its purchasing power was considerably different from what it is to-day4 ,at a period not so very remote from the present a ,bible was considered a valuable chattel of which a person would dispose by a special codicil in his will4 ,for generations ,bibles would thus be handed down from father to son1 not only because of the sacred memories that attached to them as heirlooms1 but also because of their actual value in money4 ,everything considered1 then1 we hold the argument that the ,bible was a widely diffused book in the days before ,luther to be historically untrue1 because it implies physical impossibilities4 ,with the magnificent printing and publishing facilities of our times1 how many persons are still without the ,bible8 ,how many parishioners in all the ,catholic churches of this country to-day own a ,bible8 ,the modern ,bible societies are putting forth an energy in spreading the ,bible that is unparalleled in history4 ,still their annual reports leave the impression that all they accomplish is as a drop in the bucket over and against the enormous ,bible-need still unsupplied4 ,catholic writers paint the ,bible-knowledge of the age before ,luther in such exceedingly bright colors that one is led to believe that age surpassed ours4 ,they overshoot their aim4 ,nobody finds fault with the ,roman ,church for not having invented the printing-press4 ,all would rather be inclined to excuse her little achievement in spreading the ,bible during the ,middle ,ages on the ground of the poor facilities at her command4 ,every intelligent and fair person will accord the ,roman ,church every moiety of credit for the amount of ,bible-knowledge which she did convey to the people4 ,we heartily join ,luther in his belief that even in the darkest days of the papacy men were still saved in the ,roman ,church1 because they clung in their dying hour to simple texts of the ,scriptures which they had learned from their priests4 7#bb1 #egg47 ,but no one must try and make us believe that the ,roman ,church before ,luther performed marvels in spreading the ,bible4 ,she never exhausted even the poor facilities at her command4 ,far from wondering1 then1 that ,luther had not seen the complete ,bible until his twenty-second year1 we regard this as quite natural in view of his lowly extraction1 and we consider the censure which superficial ,protestant writers have applied to ,luther because of his early ignorance of the ,bible as uncommonly meretricious4 ,when we bear in mind the known character of the ,popes in ,luther's days1 we doubt whether even they had read the entire ,bible4 ,luther's discovery of the ,bible1 however is not regarded by ,protestants as a discovery such as ,columbus made when he found the ,american continent4 ,luther knew of the existence of the ,bible and could cite sayings of the ,bible at the time when he found the bulky volume in the library that made such a profound impression upon him4 ,and yet his find was a true discovery4 ,luther discovered that his ,church had not told him many important and beautiful things that are in the ,bible4 ,he became so absorbed with the novel contents of this wonderful book that the desire was wrung from his3 heart3 ,oh1 that ,i could possess this book6 ,but this enthusiastic wish at once became clouded by another discovery which he made while poring over the precious revelation of the very heart of ,jesus3 his ,church had told him things differently from what he found them stated in the ,bible4 ,he was shocked when he discovered that in his heart a new faith was springing up which had come to him out of the ,bible1--a faith which contradicted the avowed faith of the ,roman ,church4 ,poor ,luther6 ,he had for the first time come under the influence of that ,word which is quick and powerful1 and sharper than any two-edged sword1 piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit1 and of the joints and marrow 7,hebr4 #d1 #ab71 and he did not know it4 ,some of the noblest minds in the ages before him have had to pass through the same experience4 ,with the implicit trust which at that time lie reposed in the ,roman ,church1 ,luther suppressed his heretical thoughts4 ,he said3 ,perhaps ,i am in error4 ,dare ,i believe myself so smart as to know better than the ,church8 7,hausrath1 #a1 #ah47 ,yes1 ,luther had really discovered the ,bible1 namely1 the ,bible which the ,roman ,church never has been1 and never will be1 willing to let the people see while she remains what she is to-day4 ,this discovery-tale which so offends ,catholic writers could be verified in our day4 ,let ,catholic writers put into the hands of every ,catholic of ,america the true1 genuine1 unadulterated ,word of ,god1 without any glosses and comment1 and let them watch what is going to happen4 ,there will be astonishing discoveries made by the readers1 and those discoveries will be no fabrications4 #aa4 ,rome and the ,bible4 ,catholic writers claim for the ,roman ,church the distinction which at one time belonged to the ,hebrews1 that of being the keepers of the oracles of ,god4 ,they claim that to the jealous vigilance of the ,roman ,church over the sacred writings of ,christianity the world to-day owes the ,bible4 ,the pagan emperors of ,rome would have destroyed the ,bible in the persecutions which they set on foot against the early ,christians1 if the faithful martyrs had not refused to surrender their sacred writings4 ,again1 the ,roman ,church is represented as the faithful custodian of the ,bible during the political and social upheaval that wrecked the ,roman ,empire when the barbarian peoples of the ,north overran ,rome and ,greece4 ,only through the care of the ,roman ,church the ,bible is said to have been saved from destruction in the general confusion4 ,the reasoning of ,catholics on this matter is specious4 ,in the first place1 the early ,christian martyrs were not ,roman ,catholics4 ,the claim of the ,roman ,church that the papacy starts with ,peter is a myth4 ,in the second place1 much patient labor has been expended in the last centuries to collate existing manuscripts of the ,bible for the purpose of removing errors that had crept into the text and making the original text of the ,bible as accurate as it is possible to make it4 ,in these labors mostly ,protestants were engaged4 ,fell1 ,mill1 ,kuster1 ,bengel1 ,wetzstein1 ,griesbach1 ,lachmann1 ,tischendorf1 ,tregelles1 ,westcott and ,hort1 have through three centuries of untiring research cooperated in placing before the world the authentic text of the ,bible4 ,to-day we have not a single one of the autograph manuscripts of the ,gospels and ,epistles of the ,new ,testament4 ,if the ,roman ,church existed in the days when ,matthew1 ,mark1 ,luke1 ,john1 ,paul1 ,peter1 ,jude1 and ,james wrote1 and if she exercised such scrupulous care over the ,bible1 why has she not preserved a single one of these invaluable documents8 ,we suggest this thought only in view of the unfounded ,catholic boast2 we do not charge the ,catholic ,church with a crime for having permitted the autographs of our ,bible to become lost1 we only hold that the ,catholic ,church is not entitled to the eulogies which her writers bestow upon her4 ,even the condition of the copies that were made from the autograph writings of the apostles does not speak well for the care which the ,roman ,church took of the ,bible1 assuming1 of course1 that she existed in those early centuries4 ,it is evident that the original purity 7of the ,new ,testament text7 was early lost4 4 4 4 ,irenaeus 7in the second century7 alludes to the differences between the copies4 4 4 4 ,origen1 early in the third century1 expressly declares that matters were growing worse4 4 4 4 ,from the fourth century onward we have the manuscript text of each century1 the writings of the ,fathers1 and the various ,oriental and ,occidental versions1 all testifying to varieties of readings4 7,new ,schaff-,herzog ,encycl41 ,,ii1 #ajb47 ,our sole purpose in calling attention to this fact1 which every scholar to-day knows1 is1 to bring the fervor of ,catholic admiration for the ,bible-protecting and ,bible-preserving ,church of ,rome somewhat within the bounds of reason4 ,we do not charge the ,roman ,church with having corrupted the text1 but if the claim of ,catholics as to the age of their ,church is correct1 every corruption in the copies that were made from the original documents occurred while she was exercising her remarkable custodianship over the ,bible4 ,that officials of the ,church1 especially as we approach the ,middle ,ages1 had something to do with corrupting the sacred text is the belief of the authority just quoted4 ,the early ,church1 he says1 did not know anything of that anxious clinging to the letter which characterizes the scientific rigor and the piety of modern times1 and therefore was not bent upon preserving the exact words4 ,moreover1 the first copies were made rather for private than for public use4 ,not a few were found in sarcophagi2 they had been buried with their owners4 ,copyists were careless1 often wrote from dictation1 and were liable to misunderstand4 ,attempted improvements of the text in grammar and style2 efforts to harmonize the quotations in the ,new ,testament with the ,greek of the ,septuagint1 but especially to harmonize the ,gospels2 the writing out of abbreviations2 incorporation of marginal notes in the text2 the embellishing of the ,gospel narratives with stories drawn from non-apostolic1 though trustworthy1 sources1--it is to these that we must attribute the very numerous 'readings' or textual variations4 ,it is true that the copyists were sometimes learned men2 but their zeal in making corrections may have obscured the true text as much as the ignorance of the unlearned4 ,the copies1 indeed1 came under the eye of an official reviser1 but he may have sometimes exceeded his functions1 and done more harm than good by his changes4 ,all this happened while the ,roman ,church1 according to ,catholic writers1 was keeper of the ,bible4 ,the honor which these writers assert for their ,church is spurious4 ,if there is any class of men for whom the glory must be vindicated of having given to the world the pure ,word of ,god in a reliable text1 it is the band of textual1 or lower1 critics who have gathered and collated all existing manuscripts of the ,bible4 ,what an immense amount of painstaking labor this necessitated the reader can guess from the fact that for the ,new ,testament alone about #c1jjj manuscripts had to be examined word for word and letter for letter4 ,the men who undertook this gigantic task1 arid who are always on the watch for new finds1 do not belong in the ,roman fold1 and did not receive the incentive for their work from the ,roman ,church4 ,this work started soon after the ,reformation1 and the intense interest aroused in ,god's ,word by that movement is the true cause of it4 ,the ,protestant ,church1 not the ,church of ,rome1 has given back to the world the pure ,word of ,god in more than one sense4 ,the official ,bible of the ,roman ,church to-day is the ,latin ,vulgate4 ,this ,bible1 which is a revision by ,jerome and others of many variant ,latin texts in use towards the end of the fourth century1 has been elevated to the dignity of the inspired text4 ,the original purpose was good3 it was to remove the confusion of many conflicting texts and to establish uniformity in quoting the ,bible4 ,the errors of the ,vulgate are many1 but while it was understood that the ,vulgate was merely a translation1 the errors could be corrected from the original sources4 ,little1 however1 was done in this respect before the ,reformation1 and since then the ,roman ,church has become rigid and petrified in its adherence to this ,latin ,bible4 ,in its fourth session 7,april #h1 #aedf7 the ,council of ,trent decreed that of all ,latin editions the old and vulgate edition be held as authoritative in public lectures1 disputations1 sermons1 and expositions2 and that no one is to dare or presume under any pretext to reject it4 ,the meaning of this decree1 says ,hodge1 is a matter of dispute among ,romanists themselves4 ,some of the more modern and liberal of their theologians say that the council simply intended to determine which among several ,latin versions was to be used in the service of the ,church4 ,they contend that it was not meant to forbid appeal to the original ,scriptures1 or to place the ,vulgate on a par with them in authority4 ,the earlier and stricter ,romanists take the ground that the ,synod did intend to forbid an appeal to the ,hebrew and ,greek ,scriptures1 and to make the ,vulgate the ultimate authority4 ,the language of the council seems to favor this interpretation4 ,we might add1 the practise of ,romanists1 too4 ,at the debate in ,leipzig ,eck contended that the ,latin ,vulgate was inspired by the ,holy ,ghost4 7,koestlin1 ,i1 #dee47 ,whatever knowledge of ,scripture the people in the ,middle ,ages possessed was confined to those who could read ,latin4 ,catholic writers claim this was at that time the universal language of ,europe1 but they wisely add3 among the educated4 ,one of them says3 ,those who could read ,latin could read the ,bible1 and those who could not read ,latin could not read anything4 ,exactly4 ,and now1 to prove the wide diffusion of ,bible-knowledge in their ,church before ,luther1 these ,catholic writers should give us some exact data as to the extent of the ,latin scholarship in that age4 ,fact is1 the ,latin tongue acted as a lock upon the ,scriptures to the common people4 ,hence arose the desire to have the ,bible translated into the vernacular of various ,european countries4 ,this desire ,rome sought to suppress with brutal rigor4 ,the bloody persecutions of the ,waldensians in ,france1 which almost resulted in the extirpation of these peaceful mountain people1 of the followers of ,wyclif in ,england1 whose remains ,rome had exhumed after his death and burned1 of the ,hussites in ,bohemia1 were all aimed at translations of the ,bible into the languages which the common people understood4 ,in ,july1 #aaii1 ,pope ,innocent ,,iii issued a breve1 occasioned by the report that parts of the ,bible were found in ,french translation in the diocese of ,metz4 ,the breve praises in a general way the zeal for ,bible-study1 but applies to all who are not officially appointed to engage in such study the prohibition in ,ex4 #ai1 #ab4 #ac1 not to touch the holy mountain of the ,law4 ,during the reign of his successor1 ,honorius ,,iii1 in #abbj1 laymen in ,germany were forbidden to read the ,bible4 ,under ,gregory ,,ix the same prohibition was issued1 in #abbi1 to laymen in ,great ,britain4 ,in the same year the crusades against the ,albigenses were concluded1 and the ,council of ,toulouse issued a severe order1 making it a grave offense for a layman to possess a ,bible4 ,in #abcd1 the ,synod of ,tarragona demanded the immediate surrender of all translations of the ,bible for the purpose of having them burned4 ,in #abdf1 the ,synod of ,baziers issued a prohibition forbidding laymen to possess any theological books whatsoever1 and even enjoining the clergy from owning any theological books written in the vernacular4 ,eleven years after ,luther's death1 in #aeeg1 ,pope ,paul ,,iv published the ,roman ,index of ,forbidden ,books1 and1 with certain exceptions1 prohibited laymen from reading the ,bible4 ,not until the reign of ,king ,edward ,,vi was the ,act inhibiting the reading of the ,old and ,new ,testament in ,english tongue1 and the printing1 selling1 giving1 or delivering of any such other books or writings as are therein mentioned and condemned 7namely1 in #cd ,hen4 ,,viii4 ,cap4 #a7 abrogated4 ,the ,council of ,trent ordered all ,catholic publishers to see to it that their editions have the approval of the respective bishop4 ,not until ,february #bh1 #agei1 did ,pope ,clement ,,xiii give permission to translate the ,bible into all the languages of the ,catholic states4 ,not until ,november #ag1 #ahic1 did ,pope ,leo ,,xiii issue an encyclical enjoining upon ,catholics the study of the ,bible1 always1 however1 in editions approved by the ,roman ,church4 7,kurtz1 ,kirchengesch4 ,,ii1 #b1 #id4 #bag2 ,univers4 ,encycl41 under title ,bible2 ,peter ,heylyn1 ,ecclesia ,restaurata ,i1 #ii2 ,denzinger1 ,enchiridion1 #adbi4 #adci4 #aefg4 #afjg47 ,catholic writers seek to make a great impression in favor of their ,church by enumerating1 on the authority of ,protestant scholars1 the number of ,german translations of the ,bible that are known to have been in existence before ,luther4 ,but they omit to inform the public that not a single one of those translations obtained the approbation of a bishop4 ,one cannot view but with a pathetic interest these sacred relies of an age that was hungering for the ,word of ,god4 ,the origin of these early ,german ,bibles has been traced by scholars to ,wycliffite and ,hussite influences1 which ,rome never stamped out1 though her inquisitors tried their best to do so4 ,the earliest of these ,bibles do not state the place nor the year of publication4 ,can the reader guess why8 ,they were not published at the seat of the ,german ,archbishop1 ,mainz1 but most of them at the free imperial city of ,augsburg4 ,can the reader suggest a reason8 ,many of them are printed in abnormally small sizes1 facilitating quick concealment4 ,can the reader imagine a cause for this phenomenon8 ,in these old ,german ,bibles particular texts are emphasized1 for example1 ,rom4 #h1 #ah2 #a ,cor4 #d1 #i2 #b ,cor4 #d1 #h 2 #aa1 #bc2 #a ,pet4 #b1 #ai2 #d1 #af2 #e1 #i2 ,acts #e1 #ah4 #da2 #h1 #a2 #ab1 #d2 #ad1 #ai4 ,if the reader will take the trouble to look up these texts1 he will find that they warn ,christians to be prepared to be persecuted for their faith4 ,has the reader ever heard of such an officer of the ,roman ,church as the inquisitor1 one of whose duties it was to hunt for ,bibles among the people8 ,in places these old ,german ,bibles contain significant marginal glosses1 for example1 at #a ,tim4 #b1 #e one of them has this gloss3 ,ain mitler ,christus1 ach merk6 that is3 ,one mediator1 ,christ--note this well6 ,in #adhf1 ,archbishop ,berchtold of ,mainz1 ,primate of ,germany1 issued an edict1 full of impassioned malice against ,german translations of the ,bible1 and against laymen who sought edification from them4 ,he says that no prudent person will deny that there is need of many supplements and explanations from other writings than the ,bible1 to the end1 namely1 that a person may construe from the ,german ,bibles the true ,catholic faith4 ,fact is1 that faith is not in the ,bible4 ,this happened three years after the birth of ,luther4 7,kurtz1 ,,ii1 #b1 #cjd47 ,instead of finding fault1 then1 with ,luther's ignorance of the ,bible prior to #aeje1 we feel surprised that the young man knew as much of the ,bible as he did4 ,he must in this respect have surpassed many in his age4 ,the ,roman ,church does not permit her laymen to read a ,bible that she has not published with annotations4 ,believing herself to be the divinely appointed custodian and interpreter of ,holy ,writ1 says a writer in the ,catholic ,encyclopedia 7,,ii1 #ede71 she cannot1 without turning traitor to herself1 approve the distribution of ,scripture 'without note or comment4' ,for this reason the ,roman ,church has cursed the ,bible societies which early in the eighteenth century began to be formed in ,protestant ,churches1 and aimed at supplying the poor with cheap ,bibles4 ,in #ahaf1 ,pope ,pius ,,vii anathematized all ,bible societies1 declaring them a pest of ,christianity1 and renewed the prohibition which his predecessors had issued against translations of the ,bible4 7,kurtz1 ,,ii1 #b1 #id47 ,leo ,,xii1 on ,may #e1 #ahbd1 in the encyclical ,ubi ,primum1 said3 ,ye are aware1 venerable brethren1 that a certain ,bible society is impudently spreading throughout the world1 which1 despising the traditions of the holy ,fathers and the decree of the ,council of ,trent1 is endeavoring to translate1 or rather to pervert1 the ,scriptures into the vernacular of all nations4 4 4 4 ,it is to be feared that by false interpretation the ,gospel of ,christ will become the gospel of men1 or1 still worse1 the gospel of the devil4 ,pius ,,ix1 on ,november #i1 #ahdf1 in the encyclical ,qui ,pluribus1 said3 ,these crafty ,bible societies1 which renew the ancient guile of heretics1 cease not to thrust their ,bible upon all men1 even the unlearned--their ,bibles1 which have been translated against the laws of the ,church and after certain false explanations of the text4 ,thus the divine traditions1 the teaching of the fathers1 and the authority of the ,catholic ,church are rejected1 and every one in his own way interprets the words of the ,lord1 and distorts their meaning1 thereby falling into miserable error4 7,cath4 ,encycl4 ,,ii1 #ede47 ,the writer whom we have just quoted says3 ,the fundamental fallacy of private interpretation of the ,scriptures is presupposed by the ,bible societies4 ,these papal pronunciamentos arc directed chiefly against the ,canstein ,bibelgesellschaft and her later sisters1 such as the ,berliner ,bibelgesellschaft1 and against the ,british and ,american ,bible ,societies4 ,the face of the ,roman ,church is sternly set against the plain text of the ,scriptures4 ,to defeat the meaning of the original text1 she not only mutilates the text and adds glosses which twist the meaning of the text into an altogether different meaning1 but she declares that the ,bible is not the only source from which men must obtain revealed truth4 ,alongside of the ,bible she places an unwritten word of ,god1 her so-called traditions4 ,these1 she claims1 are divine revelations which were handed down orally from generation to generation4 ,the early fathers and the councils of the ,church referred to them in defining the true doctrine and prescribing the correct practise of the ,church4 ,nobody has collected these traditions1 and nobody will4 ,but to what extent the ,roman ,church operates with them1 is well known4 ,speaking of learned ,bible-study in the ,middle ,ages1 ,mosheim says3 ,nearly all the theologians were ,positivi and ,sententiarii that is1 they taught what the ,church ordered to be taught1 who deemed it a great achievement1 both in speculative and practical theology1 either to overwhelm the subject with a torrent of quotations from the fathers1 or to anatomize it according to the laws of dialectics that is1 the laws of reasoning1 logic4 ,and whenever they had occasion to speak of the meaning of any text1 they appealed invariably to what was called the ,glossa ,ordinaria that is1 the official explanation1 and the phrase ,glossa dicit 7the ,gloss says71 was as common and decisive on their lips as anciently the phrase ,ipse dixit 7he1 viz41 the teacher1 has said7 in the ,pythagorean school4 7,,iii1 #ae47 ,in his controversies with the theologians of ,rome1 ,luther found that they were constantly wriggling out of the plain text of the ,bible and running for shelter to the traditions1 to the fathers1 to the decrees of councils of the ,church4 ,at the ,council of ,trent some one rose to inquire whether all the traditions recognized as genuine by the ,church could not be named2 he was told that he was out of order4 7,pallavivini1 ,,vi1 #aa1 #i2 #ah1 #g47 ,hase has invited the ,roman ,church to say whether all the traditions are now known4 ,he has not been answered4 7,protest4 ,polem41 p4 #hc47 ,if ,romanists answer3 ,yes1 the reasonable request will be made of them to publish those traditions once for all time1 in order that men may know all that ,god is supposed to have really said to men that is not in the ,bible4 ,if they answer3 ,no1 the conclusion is inevitable that the ,christian faith is an uncertain thing4 ,any tradition may bob up that upsets a part of the ,creed4 ,add to this the dogma of papal infallibility1 promulgated ,july #ah1 #ahgj1 which asserts for the ,pope the entire plenitude of supreme power to determine the faith and morals of ,christians1 and we have reached a point where it becomes plain to any thoughtful person that the ,bible is1 from the ,catholic view-point1 not at all such a necessary book as men have believed4 ,nor can the faith of a ,romanist be a fixed and stable quantity4 ,any papal deliverance may bring about a change1 and the conscientious ,catholic must study the news from the ,vatican with the same vital interest as the merchant studies the market reports in his morning paper1 and a very pertinent question that he may ask his wife over his coffee at the breakfast table would be1 ,wife1 what do we believe to-day8 #ab4 ,luther's ,visit at ,rome4 ,catholic writers ask the world not to believe ,luther's tales about the city of ,rome4 ,luther1 they say1 came to ,rome as a callow rustic comes to a metropolis4 ,to the wily ,italians he was ,german ,innocence ,abroad2 they hoaxed him by telling him absurd tales about the ,popes1 the priests1 the wonders of the city1 etc41 and the credulous monk believed all they told him4 ,he left ,rome with his faith in the ,church unimpaired4 ,later in life1 after his defection from ,rome1 he told as true facts and as reminiscences of his visit at the ,holy ,city many of the false stories which had been palmed off on him4 ,this is said to have given rise to the prevailing ,protestant view that during his visit at ,rome ,luther's eyes were opened to the corruption of the ,roman ,church and his resolution formed to overthrow that ,church4 ,luther himself is said to be responsible for this false view4 ,he fostered it by his tales of what he had seen and heard at ,rome with disgust and horror4 ,his horrid impressions are declared pure fiction1 and simply serve to show how little the man can be trusted in anything he states4 ,to leave a way open for a decent retreat1 ,catholics also point to a difference in temperament between the phlegmatic ,luther coming from a northern clime1 which through its atmospheric rigors begets somber reflections and gloomy thoughts1 and the airy1 fairy ,italians1 who revel in sunshine1 flowers1 and fruits1 drink fiery wines1 and naturally grow up into a freedom of manners and lack of restraint that is characteristic of people living in southern climes4 ,all of which means-- if it means anything serious--that the ,ten ,commandments are subject to revision according to the geographic latitude in which a person happens to be4 ,when your austere gentleman1 raised among the fens and bogs of the ,frisian coast1 sees something in a grove in ,sicily which he denounces as wicked1 you must tell him that there is nothing wrong in what he has seen4 ,he has only omitted to adjust his temperament to the locality4 ,if you follow out this line of thought to the end1 you will come to a point where you strike hands with ,rudyard ,kipling1 who has sung enthusiastically about a certain locality beyond ,aden where the ,ten ,commandments do not exist4 ,and to think that this plea is made by people who have charged ,luther with having put the ,ten ,commandments out of commission for himself and others6 ,italians1 lovers of freedom and unrestraint1 were the first to fill the world with tales about the moral besottedness of ,luther6 ,this goes to show that in any application of the ,ten ,commandments it matters very much who does the applying4 ,we have in a previous chapter briefly reviewed the ,popes that were contemporaries of ,luther4 ,their character was stamped on the life of the ,holy ,city3 ,the ,popes and their following gave ,rome its moral1 or immoral1 face4 ,the chroniclers of those days have described the existing conditions4 ,luther need not have said one word about what wicked things he had seen and heard at ,rome1 either ten years1 or twenty years1 or thirty years after he had been there1 and the world would still know the record of the residence of the ,popes4 ,luther really saw very little of what he might have seen1 and it is probable that he has told less4 ,but what he did see and hear are facts4 ,he did not grasp their full meaning nor see their true bearing at the time4 ,the real import of his ,roman experiences dawned on him at a later period4 ,he spoke as a man of things that he had seen as a child4 ,but that does not alter the facts4 ,luther was shocked at the levity of ,italian monks who were babbling faulty ,latin prayers which they did not understand and remarked laughing to him3 ,never mind2 the ,holy ,ghost understands us1 and the devil flees apace4 ,luther's confidence in the boasted unity of the ,roman ,church was somewhat shaken when he discovered that he could not read mass in any church in the territory at ,milan1 because there the ,ambrosian form of service was prescribed while he had been trained to the ,gregorian4 ,luther shook his head at the freedom of certain public manners of the ,italians which reminded him of dogs and of what he had read about ,kerkyra4 ,luther heard of a ,lenten collation1 probably at the abbey of ,san ,benedetto de ,larione1 where the word fast had to be spelled with an e as the second letter4 ,the loquaciousness1 spicy talk1 blasphemy1 dishonesty1 treachery1 quarrelsomeness1 and deadly animosities of the ,italians1 ,luther regards as strange1 considering that they live so near to the ,holy ,city4 ,he wondered why the ,italians do not permit their women to go out of their houses except deeply veiled4 ,he finds that the ,italians show no respect for their beautiful churches and the divine service conducted in them4 ,even on great festivals the magnificent cathedrals are almost empty1 the worshipers are chatting with one another while the service is in progress4 ,even quarrels are settled at these holy places1 sometimes with the knife4 ,when there is a burial1 they hurry the corpse to the grave1 not even the relatives being in attendance4 ,he is grieved at the irreligious manner in which the priests at ,rome read mass4 ,they hurry through the performance with incredible rapidity4 ,they crowd each other away from the altar in their haste to get their performance finished4 ,hurry1 hurry6 ,begone6 ,come away6 he hears them calling to one-another4 ,sometimes two priests are reading mass at one altar at the same time4 ,they had finished the whole mass before ,luther had reached the ,gospel in the service of the mass4 ,and then they would receive money from the bystanders who had come in and had watched them4 ,in a half hour a priest could get a handful of silver4 ,luther refused such gifts4 ,luther heard few preachers at ,rome1 and those that he heard he did not like4 ,they were very lively in the delivery of their sermons1 they would run to and fro in their pulpit1 bend far over toward the audience1 utter violent cries1 change their voice suddenly1 and gesticulate like madmen4 ,luther saw ,pope ,julius from a distance several times4 ,he thought it queer that a healthy and strong man like the ,pope should have himself carried to church in a litter instead of walking thither1 and that such show should be made of his going there and a procession should be formed to accompany him4 ,he saw the ,pope sit at the altar and hold out his foot to be kissed by people4 ,he saw the ,pope take communion4 ,he did not kneel like other communicants1 but sat on his magnificent throne2 a cardinal priest handed him the chalice1 and he sipped the wine through a silver tube4 ,however1 these and other things did not at the time shake ,luther's belief in the ,catholic ,church4 ,he came to ,rome and left ,rome a devout ,catholic4 ,staupitz1 the vicar of his order1 had really gratified him in permitting him to go to ,rome as the traveling companion of another monk4 ,luther had expressed the wish to make a general confession at ,rome4 ,with this thought on his mind he started out1 and he treated the whole journey as a pilgrimage4 ,after the manner of pious monks the two companions walked one behind the other1 reciting prayers and litanies4 ,whether his general confession and his first mass at ,rome1 probably at ,santa ,maria del ,popolo1 gave him that sense of spiritual satisfaction which he craved1 he has not told us4 ,when he had come in sight of the city1 he had fallen on his face like the crusaders in sight of ,jerusalem1 and had fervently blessed that moment4 ,now he ran through the seven stations of ,rome1 read masses wherever he could1 gathered an abundance of indulgences by going through prescribed forms of worship at many shrines1 listened to miracle-tales1 knelt before the veil of ,st4 ,veronica near the ,golden ,gate at ,san ,giovanni and before the bronze statue of ,st4 ,peter in the chapel of ,st4 ,martin1 where a crucifix had of its own accord raised itself up and become transfixed in the dome1 saw the rope with which ,judas hanged himself fastened to the altar of the ,apostles ,simon and ,judas at ,st4 ,peter's1 the stone in the chapel of ,st4 ,petronella on which the penitential tears of ,peter had fallen1 cutting a groove in it two fingers wide1 had the guide show him the ,pope's crown1 the tiara1 which1 he thought1 cost more money than all the princes of ,germany possessed1 was perplexed at finding the heads and bodies of ,peter and ,paul assigned to different places1 at the ,lateran ,church and at ,san ,paolo ,fuori1 mounted the ,scala ,santa--,pilate's staircase--on his knees1 passed with awe the relief picture in one of the streets which the popular legend declared to be that of the female ,pope ,johanna and her child1 saw the ancient pagan deities of ,rome depicted in ,santa ,maria della ,rotonda1 the old ,pantheon1 stared at the head of ,john the ,baptist in ,san ,silvestro in ,capite1 tried1 but failed to read the famous ,saturday mass at ,san ,giovanni1 the oldest and greatest sanctuary of ,christianity1 rested from a fatiguing tour through the ,lateran in ,santa ,croce in ,gerusalemme1 where ,pope ,sylvester ,,ii1 the ,faustus of the ,italians1 was carried away by the devils1 went through the catacombs with its #f martyred ,popes and #agf1jjj other martyrs1 etc41 etc4 ,looking back to this visit later1 ,luther remarked1 ,i believed everything ,just what official ,rome expected every devout pilgrim to do1 just what it expects them to do to-day4 ,and these ,romanists want to point the finger of ridicule at the simpleton1 the easy dupe1 the holy fool ,luther6 ,does ,rome perhaps think the same of all the pious pilgrims that annually crowd ,rome8 ,luther heard himself called un buon ,christiano at ,rome and discovered that that meant as much as an egregious ass4 ,but he considered that a part of ,italian wickedness4 ,the ,church1 he was sure1 approved of all that he did1 in fact1 had taught him to do all that4 ,it required ten years or more to disabuse his mind of the frauds that had been practised on him1 and then he declared that he would not take #ajj1jjj gulden not to have seen with his own eyes how scandalously the ,popes were hoodwinking ,christians4 ,if it were not for his visit at ,rome1 he says1 he might fear that he was slandering the ,popes in what he wrote about them4 ,while ,luther's visit at ,rome1 then1 brought about no spiritual change in him1 it helped to give him a good conscience afterwards when his conflict with ,rome had begun4 #ac4 ,pastor ,luther4 ,luther's famous protest against the sale of indulgences1 published ,october #ca1 #aeag1 in the form of ninety-five theses1 is represented by ,catholic writers as an outburst of ,luther's violent temper and an assault upon the ,catholic ,church that he had long premeditated4 ,by this time1 it is said1 ,luther had become known to his colleagues as a quarrelsome man1 loving disputations and jealous of victory in a debate4 ,his methods of teaching at the university were novel1 in defiance of the settled customs of the ,church4 ,his dangerous innovations caused the suspicion to spring up that he was plotting rebellion against the authority of the ,church4 ,the arrival of the indulgence-hawker ,tetzel in the neighborhood of ,wittenberg gave him the long-looked-for occasion to strike a blow at the sacred teachings of the ,church which he had solemnly promised to support and defend against all heretics1 and from whose teachings he had already apostatized in his heart4 ,the fact is that ,luther was so little conscious of an intention to stir up strife for his ,church that he was probably the most surprised man in ,germany when he observed the excitement which his ,theses were causing4 ,the method he had chosen for voicing his opinion had no revolutionary element in it4 ,it was an invitation to the learned doctors to debate with him the doctrinal grounds for the sale of indulgences4 ,catholic writers point to the fact that ,luther declared at a later time that he did not know what an indulgence was when he attacked ,tetzel4 ,they seek to prove from this remark of ,luther that it was not conscientious scruples1 but the desire to cause trouble in the ,church that prompted ,luther to his action4 ,they do not see that this remark speaks volumes for ,luther4 ,by his ,theses he meant to get at the truth of the teaching concerning indulgences4 ,his ,theses were written in ,latin1 not in the people's language4 ,others translated them into ,german and scattered them broadcast throughout ,germany4 ,the ,theses are no labored effort to set up1 by skilful1 logical argument and in carefully chosen terms1 a new dogma in oppositon tr4 note3 sic to the teaching of the ,church1 but they are exceptions hurriedly thrown on paper1 like the notes jotted down by a speaker to guide him in a discussion of his subject4 ,last1 not least1 the ,theses1 while contradicting the prevailing practise of selling indulgences1 breathe loyalty to the ,catholic ,church4 ,from our modern standpoint ,luther appears in the ,theses as half ,protestant1 or evangelical1 half ,roman ,catholic4 ,in his own view he was altogether ,catholic4 ,his ,theses were merely a call3 ,let there be light6 ,let our consciences be duly instructed6 ,we still have a letter which ,luther wrote to ,pope ,leo ,x about six months after he had published the ,theses4 ,this letter shows in what an orderly and quiet way ,luther proceeded in his attack upon the traffic in indulgences1 and how much he believed himself in accord with the ,pope and the ,church4 ,we shall quote a few statements from this letter3 ,in these latter days a jubilee of papal indulgences began to be preached1 and the preachers1 thinking everything allowed them under the protection of your name1 dared to teach impiety and heresy openly1 to the grave scandal and mockery of ecclesiastical powers1 totally disregarding the provisions of the ,canon ,law about the misconduct of officials4 4 4 4 ,they met with great success1 the people were sucked dry on false pretenses1 4 4 4 but the oppressors lived on the fat and sweetness of the land4 ,they avoided scandals only by the terror of your name1 the threat of the stake1 and the brand of heresy1 4 4 4 if1 indeed1 this can be called avoiding scandals and not rather exciting schisms and revolt by crass tyranny4 4 4 4 ,i privately warned some of the dignitaries of the ,church4 ,by some the admonition was well received1 by others ridiculed1 by others treated in various ways1 for the terror of your name and the dread of censure are strong4 ,at length1 when ,i could do nothing else1 ,i determined to stop their mad career if only for a moment2 ,i resolved to call their assertions in question4 ,so ,i published some propositions for debate1 inviting only the more learned to discuss them with me1 as ought to be plain to my opponents from the preface to my ,theses4 ,this was1 by the way1 a common practise in those days among the learned professors at universities4 ,yet this is the flame with which they seek to set the world on fire6 4 4 4 7#ae1 #dja2 transl4 by ,preserved ,smith47 ,luther's publication of the ,theses was the act of a conscientious ,christian pastor4 ,being a priest1 ,luther had to hear confession4 ,through the confessional he learned how the common people viewed the indulgences3 they actually believed that by buying indulgences they were freed from all the guilt and punishment of their sins4 ,absolution became a plain business transaction3 you pay your money and you take your goods4 ,luther wrote this to his archbishop the same day on which he published his ,theses4 ,papal indulgences1 he says in the letter to ,albert1 ,archbishop of ,mayence and ,primate of ,germany1 for the building of ,st4 ,peter's are hawked about under your illustrious sanction4 ,i do not now accuse the sermons of the preachers who advertise them1 for ,i have not seen the same1 but ,i regret that the people have conceived about them the most erroneous ideas4 ,forsooth1 these unhappy souls believe that1 if they buy letters of pardon1 they are sure of their salvation2 likewise1 that souls fly out of purgatory as soon as money is cast into the chest2 in short1 that the1 grace conferred is so great that there is no sin whatever which cannot be absolved thereby1 even if1 as they say1 taking an impossible example1 a man should violate the mother of ,god4 ,they also believe that indulgences free them from all penalty and guilt4 7#ae1 #cia2 transl4 by ,preserved ,smith1 p4 #db47 ,luther had preached against the popular belief in indulgences1 pilgrimages to shrines of the saints and their relics1 for two years before he published his ,theses4 ,he was confident that the ,church could not countenance this belief4 ,forgiveness of sins is to the penitent in heart who are sorry for their sins1 and their sins are forgiven for ,christ's sake1 who atoned for them1 and in whom we have the forgiveness of sin by the redemption through ,his blood4 ,this is the ,scriptural doctrine of penitence1--that sorrowful1 contrite1 and believing attitude of the heart which is the characteristic of true ,christians throughout their lives4 ,through penitence we become absolved in the sight of ,god from all guilt and punishment of our sins1 and the minister1 by announcing this fact1 is to convey to the penitent the assurance that his sins have been forgiven4 ,whatever penances or pious exercises the ,church may impose an sinners who have confessed their sins can only be imposed as a wholesome disciplinary measure and as aids to the needed reformation of life4 ,these penances1 since they originate in the choice of the ,church1 may also be remitted by the ,church1 and for these penances the ,church may accept a commutation in money1 which payment1 however1 cannot supersede the paramount duty of the penitent to amend his sinful conduct4 ,such were ,luther's views in brief outline at the time he published his ,theses4 ,if we are to take modern ,catholic critics of ,luther seriously1 that has also been the teaching of their ,church on the subject of indulgences4 ,they claim that the good intentions of the ,popes were grossly misinterpreted and the system of indulgences was put to uses for which it was never intended4 ,if that is the case1 why do they attack ,luther for his attempt to have the abuses corrected8 ,according to their own presentation of the true teaching of the ,church on the subject of indulgences1 ,luther was the most dutiful son of the ,church in his day in what he did on ,all ,souls' ,eve1 #aeag4 ,but the ,roman teaching on indulgences is not such an innocent affair as ,catholics would have us believe4 ,the practise of substituting for penances some good work or contribution to a pious purpose had arisen in the ,church at a very early time4 ,this1 says ,preserved ,smith1 who has well condensed the history of indulgences1 was the seed of indulgence which would never have grown to its later enormous proportions had it not been for the crusades4 ,mohammed promised his followers paradise if they fell in battle against unbelievers1 but ,christian warriors were at first without this comforting assurance4 ,their faith was not long left in doubt1 however1 for as early as #hee ,leo ,,iv promised heaven to the ,franks who died fighting against the ,moslems4 ,a quarter of a century later ,john ,,viii proclaimed absolution for all sins and remission of all penalties to soldiers in the holy war1 and from this time on the 'crusade indulgence' became a regular means of recruiting1 used1 for example1 by ,leo ,,ix in #ajeb and by ,urban ,,ii in #ajie4 ,by this time the practise had grown up of regarding an indulgence as a remission not only of penance1 but of the pains of purgatory4 ,the means which had proved successful in getting soldiers for the crusade were first used in #aade or #aadf to get money for the same end1 pardon being assured to those who gave enough to fit out one soldier on the same terms as if they had gone themselves4 ,when the crusades ceased1 in the thirteenth century1 indulgences did not fall into desuetude4 ,at the jubilee of ,pope ,boniface ,,viii1 in #acjj1 a plenary indulgence was granted to all who made a pilgrimage to ,rome4 ,the ,pope reaped such an enormous harvest from the gifts of these pilgrims that he saw fit to employ similar means at frequent intervals1 and soon extended the same privileges as were granted to pilgrims to all who contributed for some pious purpose at their own homes4 ,agents were sent out to sell these pardons1 and were given power to confess and absolve1 so that in #acic ,boniface ,,ix was able to announce complete remission of both guilt and penalty to the purchasers of his letters4 ,having assumed the right to free living men from future punishment1 it was but a step for the ,popes to proclaim that they had the power to deliver the souls of the dead from purgatory4 ,the existence of this power was an open question until decided by ,calixtus ,,iii in #adeg1 but full use of the faculty was not made until twenty years later1 after which it became of all branches of the indulgence trade the most profitable4 ,the reader will note that the indulgence trade in its latest form had not become a general thing until about six years before ,luther's birth4 ,it was a comparatively new thing that ,luther attacked4 ,in our remarks on monasticism in a previous chapter we alluded to the ,roman teaching concerning the ,treasure of the ,merits of the ,saints1 or the ,treasure of the ,church4 ,this teaching greatly fructified the theory of indulgences4 ,it has never been shown1 and never will be1 how this ,treasure originates4 ,in the work of our ,redeemer there was nothing superabundant that the ,scriptures name4 ,he fulfilled the entire ,law for man1 and ,his merits are of inestimable value4 ,but they were all needed for the work of satisfying divine justice4 ,moreover1 all these merits of ,christ are freely given to each and every believer and cancel all his guilt1 according to the statement of ,paul3 ,christ is the end of the ,law for righteousness to every one that believeth4 ,as regards the merits of the saints1 which they accumulated by doing good works in excess of what they were required to do1 this is a purely imaginary asset of the papal bank of ,rome4 ,every man1 with all that he is and has and is able to do1 owes himself wholly to ,god4 ,at the best he can only do his duty4 ,there is no chance for doing good works in excess of duty4 ,if he were really to do all1 he would only do what it was his duty to do1 ,luke #ag1 #aj1 and would be told to regard himself1 even in that most favorable case1 as an unprofitable servant4 ,but supposing there were superabundant merits1 supererogatory works of ,christ and the saints1 who has determined their quantity8 ,who takes the inventory of this stock of the papal bank of ,rome8 ,is he the same party who determines the length of a person's stay in purgatory and can tell how much he has been in arrears in the matter of goodness and virtuousness1 and how much cash will purchase his release8 ,how is this intelligence conveyed to purgatory that ,mr4 ,so-and-so is free to proceed to heaven8 ,a multitude of such questions arising in all thinking minds that want to arrive at rock bottom facts in so serious a matter always baffle the theologians of ,rome4 ,they owe the world an answer on these questions for four hundred years4 ,is the world doing ,rome an injustice when it regards the sale of indulgences a pure confidence game in holy disguise1 the offer of a fictitious value for good cash1 the boldest and baldest gold-bricking that mankind has heen tr4 note3 sic subjected to8 ,the sale of indulgences which was started in ,luther's days was a particularly offensive enterprise4 ,it was not so much the theory of the ,church that excited ,luther's indignation as it was the practises of some of her agents4 ,they encouraged the common man to believe that the purchase of a papal pardon would assure him impunity without any real repentance on his part4 ,moreover1 whatever the theoretical worth of indulgences1 the motive of their sale was notoriously the greed of unscrupulous ecclesiastics4 ,the 'holy trade' as it was called had become so thoroughly commercialized by #aejj that a banking house1 the ,fuggers of ,augsburg1 were the direct agents of the ,curia in ,germany4 ,in return for their services in forwarding the ,pope's bulls1 and in hiring sellers of pardons1 this wealthy house made a secret agreement in #aejg by which it received one-third of the total profits of the trade1 and in #aead formally took over the whole management of the business in return for the modest commission of one-half the net receipts4 ,naturally not a word was said by the preachers to the people as to the destination of so large a portion of their money1 but enough was known to make many men regard indulgences as an open scandal4 ,the history of the particular trade attacked by ,luther is one of special infamy4 ,albert of ,brandenburg1 a prince of the enterprising house of ,hohenzollern1 was bred to the ,church and rapidly rose by political influence to the highest ecclesiastical position in ,germany4 ,in #aeac1 he was elected1 at the age of twenty-three1 ,archbishop of ,magdeburg and administrator of the bishopric of ,halberstadt1--an uncanonical accumulation of sees confirmed by the ,pope in return for a large payment4 ,hardly had ,albert paid this before he was elected ,archbishop and ,elector of ,mayence and ,primate of ,germany 7,march #i1 #aead74 ,as he was not yet of canonical age to possess even one bishopric1 not to mention three of the greatest in the empire1 the ,pope refused to confirm his nomination except for an enormous sum4 ,the ,curia at first demanded twelve thousand ducats for the twelve apostles4 ,albert offered seven for the seven deadly sins4 ,the average between apostles and sins was struck at ten thousand ducats1 or fifty thousand dollars1 a sum equal in purchasing power to near a million to-day4 ,albert borrowed this1 too1 from the ,fuggers1 and was accordingly confirmed on ,august #ae1 #aead4 ,in order to allow the new prelate to recoup himself1 ,leo obligingly declared an indulgence for the benefit of ,st4 ,peter's ,church1 to run eight years from ,march #ca1 #aeae4 ,by this transaction1 one of the most disgraceful in the history of the papacy1 as well as in that of the house of ,brandenburg1 the ,curia made a vast sum4 ,albert did not come off so well4 ,first1 a number of princes1 including the rulers of both ,saxonies1 forbade the trade in their dominions1 and the profits of what remained were deeply cut by the unexpected attack of a young monk4 7,preserved ,smith1 p4 #hf ff47 ,luther had ample reason to dread the demoralizing effect of the indulgence-venders' activity upon the common people4 ,in the sermons of ,tetzel the church where he happened to do business was raised to equal dignity with ,st4 ,peter's at ,rome4 ,instead of confessing to an ordinary priest1 he told the masses they had now the rare privilege of confessing to an ,apostolical ,vicar1 specially detailed for this work4 ,with consummate skill he worked on the tender feelings of parents1 of mothers1 who were mourning the loss of children1 or of children who had lost their parents4 ,he impersonated the departed in their agonies in purgatory1 he made the people hear the pitiful moaning of the victims in the purgatorial fires1 and transmitted their heartrending appeals for speedy help to the living4 ,he clinched the argument by playing on the people's covetousness3 for the fourth part of a gulden they could transfer a suffering soul safely to the home of the eternal paradise4 ,had they ever had a greater bargain offered to them8 ,never would they have this indispensable means of salvation brought within easier reach4 ,now was the time1 now or never6 #j ye murderers1 ye usurers1 ye robbers1 ye slaves of vice1 he cried out1 now is the time for you to hear the voice of ,god1 who does not desire the death of the sinner1 but would have the sinner repent and live4 ,turn1 then1 ,o ,jerusalem1 to the ,lord1 thy ,god6 ,he declared that the red cross of the indulgence-venders1 with the papal arms1 raised in a church1 possessed the same virtue as the cross of ,christ4 ,if ,peter were present in person1 he would not possess greater authority1 nor could he dispense grace more effectually than he4 ,yea1 he would not trade his glory as an indulgence-seller with ,peter's glory2 for he had saved more souls by selling the indulgences than ,peter by preaching4 ,every time a coin clinked in his money chest a liberated soul was soaring to heaven4 ,catholic writers declare that the people were told that they must repent in order to obtain forgiveness4 ,so they were1 in the manner aforestated4 ,repenting meant buying a letter of pardon from the ,pope4 ,that is the reason why ,luther worded the first two of his ,ninety-five ,theses as he did3 ,our ,lord and ,master ,jesus ,christ in saying3 ,poenitentiam agite6 meant that the whole life of the faithful should be repentance4 ,and these words cannot refer to penance--that is1 confession and satisfaction4 ,the ,latin phrase poenitentiam agere has a double meaning3 it may mean repent and do penance4 ,our ,lord used the phrase in the first1 the indulgence-sellers in the second sense4 ,since the people had been raised in the belief that the ,church had the authority from ,god to impose church fines on them for their trespasses1 by which they were to remove the temporal punishment of their sins1 this was called doing penance1--they were actually led to believe that the were obeying a command of ,christ in buying a letter of indulgence4 ,and not only did the people believe that they were purchasing release from temporal punishment1 but from the guilt of sin and all its effects4 ,the common man from the fields and the streets did not make the fine distinction of the hair-splitting theologians3 his bargain meant to him that hell was closed and heaven open for him4 ,another favorite defense of modern ,catholic writers is1 that the money paid for an indulgence was not meant to purchase anything1 but was to be viewed as a thank-offering which the grateful hearts of the pardoned prompted them to make to the ,church who had brought them the pardon free1 gratis1 and for nothing4 ,this is ,cardinal ,gibbons's argument4 ,he points triumphantly to the fact that the letters of indulgence were never handed the applicants at the same desk at which the thank-offerings were received4 ,he does not say which desk the applicant approached first4 ,but1 supposing he obtained the letter first and then1 with a heart bounding with joy and gratitude1 hurried to the other desk1 we have an interesting psychological problem confronting us4 ,the two acts1 the delivery of the letter of indulgence and the surrendering of the thank-offering1 we are told1 are independent the one of the other4 ,both are free acts1 the one the free forgiveness of the ,church1 the other the free giving of the pardoned4 ,the ,church's grant of pardon has nothing to do with the payment of indulgence-money1 and the indulgence-money is not related to the letter of indulgence4 ,now1 then1 the purchaser of an indulgence performs this remarkable feat3 when he stands at the desk where the letter is handed to him1 he does not think of any cost that he incurs4 ,he views the letter as a pure gift4 ,then1 obeying a sudden impulse of gratitude1 he turns to the other desk and hands the official some money4 ,he manages to think that he is not paying for anything1 that would be utterly improper4 ,how could a person pay for a donation1 especially such a donation of spiritual and heavenly treasures8 ,one disturbing element1 however1 remains3 the amount of the thank-offering was fixed beforehand for particular sins1 probably to regulate the recipient's gratitude and make it adequate4 ,the writer has resolved to test the psychology of this process on himself the next time the ,boston ,symphony ,company comes to town4 ,he will try and think of the great singers as true benefactors of mankind1 who go about the country bestowing favors on the public1 and when he comes to the ticket-window he will merely make a thank-offering for the pleasure he is receiving4 ,the scheme ought to work as well in this instance as in the other4 #ad4 ,the ,case of ,luther's ,friend ,myconius4 ,there is a remarkable instance recorded in the annals of the ,reformation which strikingly illustrates the operations of the indulgence-venders4 ,this record deserves not to be forgotten4 ,gustav ,freitag1 the famous writer of ,german history1 has embodied it in his sketch ,doktor ,luther4 ,frederic ,mecum1 in ,latin ,myconius1 had become a monk in the ,franciscan order4 ,he had had an experience with ,tetzel which caused him to turn to ,luther with joy and wonder when the latter had published his ,theses4 ,few of the writings of ,myconius1 who afterwards became the evangelical pastor of the city of ,gotha1 have been preserved4 ,in the ducal library at ,gotha ,freitag found tr4 note3 sic an account in ,latin of the incident to which we have referred4 ,it is as follows3 ,john ,tetzel1 of ,pirna in ,meissen1 a ,dominican friar1 was a powerful peddler of indulgences or the remission of sins by the ,roman ,pope4 ,he tarried with this purpose of his for two years in the city of ,annaberg1 new at that time1 and deceived the people so much that they all believed there was no other way of obtaining the forgiveness of sins and eternal life except to make amends with our works2 concerning this making of amends1 however1 he said that it was impossible4 ,but a single way was still left1 that is1 if we purchased the same for money from the ,roman ,pope1 bought for ourselves1 therefore1 the ,pope's indulgence1 which he called the forgiveness of sins and a certain entrance into eternal life4 ,here ,i might tell wonders upon wonders and incredible things1 what kind of sermons ,i heard ,tetzel preach these two years in ,annaberg1 for ,i heard him preach quite diligently1 and he preached every day2 ,i could repeat his sermons to others1 too1 with all the gestures and intonations2 not that ,i made him an object of ridicule1 but ,i was entirely in earnest4 ,for ,i considered everything as oracles and divine words1 which one had to believe1 and what came from the ,pope ,i regarded as if coming from ,christ ,himself4 ,finally1 at ,pentecost1 in the year of our ,lord #aeaj1 he threatened he would lay down the red cross and lock the door of heaven and put out the sun1 and it would never again come about that the forgiveness of sins and eternal life could be obtained for so little money4 ,yes1 he said1 it was not to be expected that such charitableness of the ,pope should come hither again as long as the world would stand4 ,he also exhorted that every one should attend well to the salvation of his own soul and to that of his deceased and living friends4 ,for now was at hand1 according to him1 the day of his salvation and the accepted time4 ,and he said3 ',let no one under any condition neglect his own salvation2 for if you do not have the ,pope's letters1 you cannot be absolved and delivered by any human being from many sins and reserved cases' 7that is1 cases with which an ordinary priest was not qualified to deal74 ,on the doors and walls of the church printed letters were publicly posted in which it was ordered that one should henceforth not sell the letters of indulgence and the full power at the close as dear as in the beginning1 in order to give the ,german people a sign of gratitude for their devotion2 and at the end of the letter at the foot was written in addition1 ',pauperibus dentur gratis1' to the needy the letters of indulgence are to be given for nothing1 without money1 for the sake of ,god4 ,then ,i began to deal with the deputies of this indulgence-peddler2 but1 in truth1 ,i was impelled and urged to do so by the ,holy ,ghost1 although ,i myself did not understand at the time what ,i was doing4 ,my dear father had taught me in my childhood the ,ten ,commandments1 the ,lord's ,prayer1 and the ,christian ,creed1 and compelled me always to pray4 ,for1 he said1 we had everything from ,god alone1 gratis1 for nothing1 and ,he would also govern and lead us if we prayed with diligence4 ,of the indulgences and ,roman remission of sins he said that they were only snares with which one tricked the simple out of their money and took it from their purses1 that the forgiveness of sins and eternal life could certainly not be purchased and acquired with money4 ,but the priests or preachers became angry and enraged when one said such things4 ,because ,i heard then nothing else in the sermons every day but the greatest praise of the remission of sins1 ,i was filled with doubt as to whom ,i was to believe more1 my father or the priests as teachers of the ,church4 ,i was in doubt1 but still ,i believed the priests more than the instruction of my father4 ,but one thing ,i did not grant1 that the forgiveness of sins could not be acquired unless it was purchased with money1 above all by the poor4 ,on this account ,i was wonderfully well pleased with the little clause at the end of the ,pope's letter1 ',pauperibus gratis dentur propter ,deum4' ,and as they1 in three days1 intended to lay down the cross with special magnificence and cut off the steps and ladders to heaven1 ,i was impelled by my spirit to go to the commissioners and ask for the letters of the forgiveness of sins 'out of mercy for the poor4' ,i declared also that ,i was a sinner and poor and in need of the forgiveness of sins1 which was granted through divine grace4 ,on the second day1 around evening1 ,i entered ,hans ,pflock's house where ,tetzel was assembled with the father-confessors and crowds of priests1 and ,i addressed them in ,latin and requested that they might allow me1 poor man1 to ask1 according to the command in the ,pope's letter1 for the absolution of all my sins for nothing and for the sake of ,god1 'etiam nullo casu reservato1' without reserving a single case1 and in regard to the same they should give me the ,pope's 'literas testimoniales1' or written testimony4 ,then the priests were astonished at my ,latin speech1 for that was a rare thing at this time1 especially in the case of young boys2 and they soon went out of the room into the small chamber which ,i was alongside1 to the commissioner ,tetzel4 ,they made my desire known to him1 and also asked in my behalf that he might give me the letters of indulgence for nothing4 ,finally1 after long counsel1 they returned and brought this answer3 ',dear son1 we have put your petition before the commissioner with all diligence1 and he confesses that he would gladly grant your request1 but that he could not2 and although he might wish to do so1 the concession would nevertheless be naught and ineffective4 ,for he declared unto us that it was clearly written in the ,pope's letter that those would certainly share in the exceeding generous indulgences and treasures of the ,church and the merits of ,christ qui porrigerent manum adjutricem1 who offered a helping hand2 that is1 those who would give money4' ,and all that they told me in ,german1 for there was not one among them who could have spoken three ,latin words correctly with any one4 ,in return1 however1 ,i entreated anew1 and proved from the ,pope's letter which had been posted that the ,holy ,father1 the ,pope1 had commanded that such letters should be given to the poor for nothing1 for the sake of the ,lord2 and especially because there had also been written there 'ad mandatum domini ,papae proprium1' that is1 at the ,pope's own command4 ,then they went in again and asked the proud1 haughty friar1 that he might kindly grant my request and let me go from him with the letter of indulgence1 since ,i was a clever and fluently-speaking young man and worthy of having something exceptional granted me4 ,but they came out again and brought again the answer1 'de manu auxiliatrice1' concerning the helping hand1 which alone was fit for the holy indulgence4 ,i1 however1 remained firm and said that they were doing me1 a poor man1 an injustice2 the one whom both ,god and the ,pope were unwilling to shut out of divine grace was rejected by them for some few pennies which ,i did not have4 ,then a contention arose that ,i should at least give something small1 in order that the helping-hand might not be lacking1 that ,i should only give a groschen2 ,i said1 ',i do not have it1 ,i am poor4' ,at last it came to the point where ,i was to give six pfennigs2 then ,i answered again that ,i did not have a single pfennig4 ,they tried to console me and spoke with one another4 ,finally ,i heard that they were worried about two things1 in the first place1 that ,i should in no case be allowed to go without a letter of indulgence1 for this might be a plan devised by others1 and that some bad affair might hereafter result from it1 since it was clear in the ,pope's letter that it should be given to the poor for nothing4 ,again1 however1 something would nevertheless have to be taken from me in order that the others might not hear that the letters of indulgence were being given out for nothing2 for the whole pack of pupils and beggars would then come running1 and each one would want the same for nothing4 ,they should not have found it necessary to be worried about that1 for the poor beggars were looking more for their blessed bread to drive away their hunger4 ,after they had held their deliberation1 they came again to me and one gave me six pfennigs that ,i should give them to the commissioner4 ,through this contribution ,i1 too1 should become1 according to them1 a builder of the ,church of ,st4 ,peter1 at ,rome1 likewise a slayer of the ,turk1 and should furthermore share in the grace of ,christ and the indulgences4 ,but then ,i said frankly1 impelled by the ,spirit1 if ,i wished to buy indulgences and the remission of sins for money1 ,i could in all likelihood sell a book and buy them for my own money4 ,i wanted them1 however1 for nothing1 as gifts1 for the sake of ,god1 or they would have to give an account before ,god for having neglected and trifled away my soul's salvation on account of six pfennigs1 since1 as they knew1 both ,god and the ,pope wished that my soul should share in the forgiveness of all my sins for nothing1 through grace4 ,this ,i said1 and yet1 in truth1 ,i did not know how matters stood with the letters of indulgence4 ,at last1 after a long conversation1 the priests asked me by whom ,i had been sent to them1 and who had instructed me to carry on such dealings with them4 ,then ,i told them the pure1 simple truth1 as it was1 that ,i had not been exhorted or urged by any one at all or brought to it by any advisers1 but that ,i had made such a request alone1 without counsel of any man1 only with the confidence and trust in the gracious forgiveness of sins which is given for nothing2 and that ,i had never spoken or had dealings with such great people during all my life4 ,for ,i was by nature timid1 and if ,i had not been forced by my great thirst for ,god's grace1 ,i should not have undertaken anything so great and mixed with such people and requested anything like that of them4 ,then the letters of indulgence were again promised me1 but yet in such a way that ,i should buy them for six pfennigs which were to be given to me1 as far as ,i was concerned1 for nothing4 ,i1 however1 continued to insist that the letters of indulgence should be given to me for nothing by him who had the power to give them2 if not1 ,i should commend and refer the matter to ,god4 ,and so ,i was dismissed by them4 ,the holy thieves1 notwithstanding1 became sad in consequence of these dealings2 ,i1 however1 was partly downcast that ,i had received no letter of indulgence1 partly ,i rejoiced1 too1 that there was1 in spite of all1 still ,one in heaven who was willing to forgive the penitent sinner his sins without money and loan1 according to the words that ,i had often sung in church3 ',as true as ,i live1 says the ,lord1 ,i desire not the death of the sinner1 but that he be converted and live4' ,oh1 dear ,lord and ,god1 ,thou knowest that ,i am not lying in this matter1 or inventing anything about myself4 ,while doing this1 ,i was so moved that ,i1 on returning to my inn1 almost gushed forth and melted to tears4 ,thus ,i came to my inn1 went to my room1 and took the cross which always lay upon the little table in my study-room1 placed it upon the bench1 and fell down upon the floor before it4 ,i cannot describe it here1 but at that time ,i was able to feel the spirit of prayer and divine grace which ,thou1 my ,lord and ,god1 pouredst out over me4 ,the essential import of the same1 however1 was this3 ,i asked that ,thou1 dear ,god1 mightst be willing to be my ,father1 that ,thou mightst be willing to forgive me for my sins1 that ,i submitted myself wholly to ,thee1 that ,thou mightst make of me now whatsoever pleased ,thee1 and because the priests did not wish to be gracious to me without money1 that ,thou mightst be willing to be my gracious ,god and ,father4 ,then ,i felt that my whole heart was changed4 ,i was disgusted with everything in this world1 and it seemed to me that ,i had quite enough of this life4 ,one thing only did ,i desire1 that is1 to live for ,god1 that ,i might be pleasing to ,him4 ,but who was there at that time who would have taught me how ,i had to go about it8 ,for the word1 life1 and light of mankind was buried throughout the whole world in the deepest darkness of human ordinances and of the quite foolish good works4 ,of ,christ there was complete silence1 nothing was known about ,him1 or1 if mention was made of ,him1 ,he was represented unto us as a dreadful1 fearful ,judge1 whom scarcely ,his mother and all the saints in heaven could reconcile and make merciful with bloody tears2 and yet it was done in such a way that ,he1 ,christ1 thrust the human being who did penance into the pains of purgatory seven years for each capital sin4 ,it was claimed that the pain of purgatory differed from the pain of hell in nothing except that it was not to last forever4 ,the ,holy ,ghost1 however1 now brought me the hope that ,god would be merciful unto me4 ,and now ,i began to take counsel a few days with myself as to how ,i might take up some other vocation in life4 ,for ,i saw the sin of the world and of the whole human race2 ,i saw my manifold sin1 which was very great4 ,i had also heard something of the secret holiness and the pure1 innocent life of the monks1 how they served ,god day and night1 were separated from all the wicked life of the world1 and lived very sober1 pious1 and virtuous lives1 read masses1 sang psalms1 fasted1 and prayed at all times4 ,i had also seen this sham life1 but ,i did not know and understand that it was the greatest idolatry and hypocrisy4 ,thereupon ,i made my decision known to the preceptor1 ,master ,andreas ,staffelstein1 who was the chief regent of the school2 he advised me straightway to enter the ,franciscan cloister1 the rebuilding of which had been begun at that time4 ,and in order that ,i might not become differently minded in consequence of long delay1 he straightway went with me himself to the monks1 praised my intellect and ability1 declared in terms of praise that he bad considered me the only one among his pupils of whom he was entirely confident that ,i should become a very devout man4 ,i wished1 however1 first to announce my intention to my parents1 too1 and hear their ideas about the matter1 since ,i was a lone son and heir of my parents4 ,the monks1 however1 taught me from ,st4 ,jerome that ,i should drop father and mother1 and not take them into consideration1 and run to the cross of ,christ4 ,they quoted1 too1 the words of ,christ1 ',no one who lays hands to the plow and looks back is fit for the kingdom of ,god4' ,all of this was bound to impel and enjoin me to become a monk4 ,i will not speak here of many ropes and fetters with which they bound and tied my conscience4 ,for they said that ,i could never become blessed if ,i did not soon accept and use the grace offered by ,god4 ,thereupon ,i1 who would rather have been willing to die than be without the grace of ,god and eternal life1 straightway promised and engaged to come into the cloister again in three days and begin the year of probation1 as they called it1 in the cloister2 that is1 ,i wanted to become a pious1 devout1 and ,god-fearing monk4 ,in the year of ,christ #aeaj1 the #adth of ,july1 at two o'clock in the afternoon1 ,i entered the cloister1 accompanied by my preceptor1 some few of my school-comrades1 and some very devout matrons1 to whom ,i had in part made known the reason why ,i was entering the spiritual order4 ,and so ,i blessed my companions to the cloister1 all of whom1 amid tears1 wished me ,god's grace and blessing4 ,and thus ,i entered the cloister4 ,dear ,god1 ,thou knowest that this is all true4 ,i did not seek idleness or provision for my stomach1 nor the appearance of great holiness1 but ,i wished to be pleasing unto ,thee--,thee ,i wished to serve4 ,thus ,i at that time groped about in very great darkness 7p4 #ch ff4799 99,this account is published by the courtesy of the ,lutheran ,publication ,society of ,philadelphia2 it is taken from their publication ,doctor ,luther1 by ,gustav ,freitag4 ,few ,christians can read this old record without pity stirring in them4 ,the man of whom ,myconius tells all this1 ,tetzel1 has been recently represented to the ,american public as a theologian far superior to ,luther1 calm1 considerate1 kind1 and of his actions the public has been advised that they were so utterly correct that the ,roman ,catholic ,church of to-day does not hesitate one moment to do what ,tetzel did4 ,so mote it be6 ,we admire the writer's honesty1 and blush for his brazen boldness4 #ae4 ,luther's ,faith without ,works4 ,out of ,luther's opposition to the sale of indulgences there grew in the course of time one of the fundamental principles of ,protestantism3 complete1 universal1 and free salvation of sinners by grace through faith in ,jesus ,christ4 ,in the controversies which started immediately after the publication of the ,ninety-five ,theses1 ,luther was led step by step to a greater clearness in his view of sin and grace1 faith and works1 human reason and the divine revelation4 ,not yet realizing the full import of his act1 ,luther had in the ,theses made that article of the ,christian faith with which the ,church either stands or falls the issue of his lifelong conflict with ,rome--the article of the justification of a sinner before ,god4 ,it is1 therefore1 convenient to review the misrepresentations which ,luther has suffered from ,catholic writers because of his teaching on the subject of justification at this early stage in our review1 though in doing so a great many things will have to be anticipated4 ,catholic writers charge ,luther with having perverted the meaning of justifying faith4 ,luther held that justifying faith is essentially the assurance that since ,christ lived on earth as a man1 labored1 suffered1 died1 and rose again in the place of sinners1 the world en masse and every individual sinner are without guilt in the estimation of ,god4 ,god was in ,christ1 reconciling the world unto ,himself1 not imputing their trespasses unto them4 7#b ,cor4 #e1 #ai47 ,to this reconciliation the sinner has contributed nothing4 ,it has been accomplished without him4 ,he cannot add anything to it4 ,god only asks the sinner to believe in his salvation as finished by ,jesus ,christ4 ,to believe this fact does not mean to perform a work of merit in consideration of which ,god is willing to bestow salvation on the believer1 but it means to accept the work of ,christ as performed in our place1 to rejoice therein1 and to repose a sure confidence in this salvation in defiance of the accusations of our own conscience1 the incriminations which the broken ,law of ,god hurls at us1 and the terrors of the final judgment4 ,the believer regards himself as righteous before ,god not because of any good work that he has done1 but because of the work which ,christ has performed in his place4 ,the believer holds that1 when ,god1 by raising ,christ from the dead1 accepted ,his work as a sufficient atonement for men's guilt and an adequate fulfilment of the divine ,law1 ,he accepted each and every sinner4 ,the believer is certain that through the work of his ,great ,brother1 ,christ1 he has been restored to a child relationship with ,god and enjoys child's privileges with his ,father in heaven4 ,the idea that he himself has done anything to bring about this blessed state of affairs is utterly foreign to this faith in ,christ4 ,catholic writers assert that the doctrine which we have just outlined is not ,scriptural1 but represents the grossest perversion of ,scripture4 ,they say this doctrine originated in the erratic brain of ,luther4 ,luther was not an exact thinker1 and being unable to analyze an idea into its constituents1 as is necessary for one who will apprehend it correctly1 he failed to grasp questions which by the general mass of the people were thoroughly and correctly understood4 4 4 4 ,he allowed himself to cultivate an unnecessary antipathy to so-called 'holiness by works1' and this attitude1 combined with his tendency to look at the worst side of things1 and his knowledge of some real abuses then prevalent in the practise of works1 doubtless contributed to develop his dislike for good works in general1 and led him by degrees to strike at the very roots of the ,catholic system of sacraments and grace1 of penance and satisfaction1 in fact1 all the instruments or means instituted by ,god both for conferring and increasing ,his saving relationship with man4 ,luther's teaching on justification is said to be the inevitable reverse of his former self-exaltation4 ,abandoning the indispensable virtue of humility1 he had become a prey to spiritual pride1 and had entered the monastery to achieve perfect righteousness by his own works4 ,he had disregarded the wise counsels of his brethren1 who had warned him not to depend too much on his own powers1 but seek the aid of ,god4 ,then failing to make himself perfect1 he had run to the other extreme and declared that there was nothing good in man at all1 and that man could not of himself perform any worthy action4 ,finally he had hit upon the idea that justification means1 not an infusion of justice into the heart of the person justified1 but a mere external imputation of it4 ,faith1 in ,luther's view1 thus becomes an assurance that this imputation has taken place1 and man accordingly need not give himself any more trouble about his salvation4 ,this teaching1 ,catholic writers contend1 subverts the prominent teaching of the ,scriptures that man must obey ,god and keep ,his commandments1 that he must be perfect1 even as his ,father in heaven is perfect1 that he must follow in the footsteps of ,jesus who said3 ,i am not come to destroy the ,law1 but to fulfil it4 ,furthermore1 this teaching is said to dehumanize man and make out of him a stock and a stone1 utterly unfit for any spiritual effort4 ,god1 they say1 constituted man a rational being and imposed certain precepts on him which he was free to keep or violate as he might choose unto eternal happiness or eternal misery4 ,the sin which all inherit from ,adam has weakened the powers of man to do good1 but it has not entirely abolished them4 ,there is still something good in man by nature1 and if he wants to please ,god and obtain ,his aid in his good endeavors1 he must at least do as much as is still in his power to do1 and believe that ,god for ,jesus' sake will assist him to become perfect1 if not in this life1 then1 at any rate1 in the life to come4 ,he cannot avoid sin altogether1 but he can avoid sin to a certain extent2 he can at least lead an outwardly decent life4 ,that is worth something1 that is meritorious4 ,he may not feel a very deep contrition over his wrong-doings1 but he can feel at least an attrition1 that is1 a little sorrow1 or he can wish that he might feel sorry4 ,that is worth something2 that is meritorious4 ,he cannot love ,god with all his heart and all his soul1 and all his strength1 but he can love ,him some4 ,that is worth something2 that is meritorious4 ,accordingly1 when the rich young man asked the ,lord what he must do to gain heaven1 the ,lord did not say1 ,believe in ,me1 ,accept ,me for your personal ,savior1 ,have faith in ,me1 but ,he said3 ,if thou wilt enter into life1 keep the commandments4 ,paul1 likewise teaches that faith and love must cooperate in man1 for faith worketh by love4 ,therefore1 faith in love and love in faith justify1 but not faith alone4 ,faith without works is dead and cannot justify4 ,a live faith is a faith that has works to show as its credentials that it is real faith4 ,hence1 faith alone does not justify1 but faith and works4 ,love is the fulfilment of the ,law2 faith works by love1 hence1 by the fulfilment of the ,law4 ,therefore1 faith alone does not justify1 but faith plus the fulfilment of the ,law4 ,in endless variations ,catholic writers thus seek to upset with ,scripture ,luther's teaching that man is justified by faith in ,christ alone1 and that all the righteousness which a sinner can present before ,god without fear that it will be rejected is a borrowed righteousness1 not his own work-righteousness4 ,we might express a just surprise that ,catholics should be offended at the doctrine that the righteousness of ,christ is imputed1 that is1 reckoned or counted1 to the sinner as his own4 ,for1 does not their system of indulgences rest on a theory of imputation8 ,do they not1 by selling from the ,treasure of the ,church the superabundant merits of ,christ and the saints to the sinner who has not a sufficient amount of them1 make those merits the sinner's own by just such a process of imputation8 ,they surely cannot infuse those merits into the sinner4 ,but ,catholics probably object to the ,protestant imputation-teaching because that is too cheap and easy1 and because ,protestant success has spoiled a lucrative ,catholic imputation-business4--,this in passing4 ,let the ,bible decided tr4 note3 sic whether ,luther was right in teaching justification by faith alone1 by faith without works4 ,what does the ,bible say about the condition of natural man after the fall8 ,it says3 ,that which is born of the flesh is flesh1 that is1 corrupt 7,john #c1 #f72 ,the imagination of man's heart is evil from his youth 7,gen4 #h1 #ba72 ,they are all gone aside1 they are altogether become filthy3 there is none that doeth good1 no1 not one 7,ps4 #ad1 #c72 ,who can bring a clean thing out of an unclean8 ,not one 7,job #ad1 #d72 ,there is here no difference2 for all have sinned and come short of the glory of ,god 7,rom4 #c1 #bb4 #bc74 ,what does the ,bible say about the powers of natural man after the fall in reference to spiritual matters8 ,it says3 ,the natural man receiveth not the things of the ,spirit of ,god3 for they are foolishness unto him2 neither can he know them1 because they are spiritually discerned 7#a ,cor4 #b1 #ad72 ,ye were dead in trespasses and sins 7,eph4 #b1 #a72 ,the carnal mind1 that is1 the mind of flesh1 the natural mind of man1 is enmity against ,god 7,rom4 #h1 #g72 ,without ,me--,jesus is the ,speaker--ye can do nothing ,john #ae1 #e74 ,what does the ,bible say about the value of man's works of righteousness performed by his natural powers8 ,it says3 ,we are all as an unclean thing1 and all our righteousnesses are as filthy rags 7,is4 #fd1 #f72 ,a corrupt tree cannot bring forth good fruit 7,matt4 #g1 #ag74 ,what does the ,bible say about man's ability to fulfil the ,law of ,god8 ,it says3 ,cursed is he that confirmeth not all the words of this ,law to do them 7,deut4 #bg1 #bf7 2 ,whosoever shall keep the whole ,law1 and yet offend in one point1 he is guilty of all 7,jas4 #b1 #aj7 2 ,what the ,law could not do1 in that it was weak through the flesh1 ,god1 sending ,his own ,son in the likeness of sinful flesh and for sin1 condemned sin in the flesh 7,rom4 #h1 #ch72 ,the ,law worketh wrath1 that is1 by convincing man that he has not fulfilled it and never will fulfil it1 it rouses man's anger against ,god who has laid this unattainable ,law upon him 7,rom4 #d1 #ae74 ,what does the ,bible say about the relation of ,christ to the ,law and to sin8 ,it says3 ,god sent forth ,his ,son1 made of a woman1 made under the ,law1 that ,he might redeem them that were under the ,law 7,gal4 #d1 #d72 ,christ is the end of the ,law 'for righteousness to every one that believeth 7,rom4 #aj1 #d72 ,god hath made ,him to be sin for us who knew no sin1 that we might be made the righteous of ,god in ,him 7#b ,cor4 #e1 #ba72 ,christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the ,law2 being made a curse for us2 for it is written1 ,cursed is every one that hangeth on a tree 7,gal4 #c1 #ac74 ,what does the ,bible say about faith without works as a means of justification8 ,it says3 ,we conclude that a man is justified by faith1 without the deeds of the ,law 7,rom4 #c1 #bh72 ,to him that worketh not1 but believeth on ,him that justifieth the ungodly1 his faith is counted for righteousness 7,rom4 #d1 #e72 ,i rejoice in ,christ ,jesus1 and have no confidence in the flesh1 though ,i might also have confidence in the flesh4 ,if any other man thinketh that he hath whereof he might trust in the flesh1 ,i more3 circumcised the eighth day1 of the stock of ,israel1 of the tribe of ,benjamin1 an ,hebrew of the ,hebrews2 as touching the ,law1 a ,pharisee2 concerning zeal1 persecuting the ,church2 touching the righteousness which is in the ,law1 blameless4 ,the speaker is the apostle ,paul4 ,but what things were gain to me1 those ,i counted loss for ,christ4 ,yea1 doubtless2 and ,i count all things but loss for the excellency of the knowledge of ,christ ,jesus1 my ,lord1 for whom ,i have suffered the loss of all things1 and do count them but dung1 that ,i may win ,christ and be found in ,him1 not having mine own righteousness1 which is of the ,law1 but that which is through the faith of ,christ1 the righteousness which is of ,god by faith 7,phil4 #c1 #c-i7 2 ,if by grace1 then is it no more of works2 otherwise grace is no more grace4 ,but if it be of works1 then is it no more grace2 otherwise work is no more work 7,rom4 #aa1 #f74 7,the ,catholic ,bible omits the last half of this text47 ,what does the ,bible say about faith being assurance of pardon and everlasting life8 ,it says3 ,if ,god be for us1 who can be against us8 ,he that spared not ,his own ,son1 but delivered ,him up for us all1 how shall ,he not with ,him also freely give us all things8 ,who shall lay anything to the charge of ,god's elect8 ,it is ,god that justifieth4 ,who is he that condemneth8 ,it is ,christ that died1 yea1 rather1 that is risen again1 who is even at the right hand of ,god1 who also maketh intercession for us4 ,who shall separate us from the love of ,christ8 shall tribulation1 or distress1 or persecution1 or famine1 or nakedness1 or peril1 or sword8 ,nay1 in all these things we are more than conquerors through ,him that loved us4 ,for ,i am persuaded that neither death1 nor life1 nor angels1 nor principalities1 nor powers1 nor things present1 nor things to come1 nor height1 nor depth1 nor any other creature1 shall be able to separate us from the love of ,god which is in ,christ ,jesus1 our ,lord 7,rom4 #h1 #ca-ci72 ,i know whom ,i have believed1 and am persuaded that ,he is able to keep that which ,i have committed unto ,him against that day 7#b ,tim4 #a1 #ab74 ,here we rest our case4 ,if ,luther was wrong in teaching the justification of the sinner by faith1 without the deeds of the ,law1 then ,paul was wrong1 ,jesus ,christ was wrong1 the apostles and prophets were wrong1 the whole ,bible is wrong4 ,catholics must square themselves to these texts before they dare to open their mouths against ,luther4 ,if ,luther was a heretic1 the ,lord ,jesus made him one1 and ,he is making a heretic of every reader of the texts aforecited4 ,rome will have to answer to ,him4 ,but what about the answer of the ,lord to the rich young man8 ,what about the commandment to be perfect8 ,does not the doctrine of justification by faith alone1 without the deeds of the ,law1 abolish the holy and good ,law of ,god8 ,not at all4 ,when ,paul expounds to the ,galatians the doctrine of justification by faith as compared with justification by works1 he arrays the ,law against the ,gospel1 and raises this question3 ,is the ,law1 then1 against the promises of ,god8 ,his answer reveals the whole difficulty that attends every effort to obtain righteousness by fulfilling the ,law1 he says3 ,god forbid3 for if there had been a law given which could have given life1 verily1 righteousness should have been by the ,law4 7,gal4 #c1 #ba47 ,christ expressed the same truth when ,he said to the lawyer3 ,do this1 and thou shalt live4 7,luke #aj1 #bh47 ,the reason why the ,law makes no person righteous is not because it is not a sufficient rule or norm of good works by which men could earn eternal life1 but because it does not furnish man any ability to achieve that righteousness which it demands4 ,no law does that4 ,the law only creates duties1 and insists on their fulfilment under threat of punishment4 ,it is not the function of the law to make doers of the law4 ,originally the ,law was issued to men who were able to fulfil it1 because they were created after the image of ,god1 in perfect holiness and righteousness4 ,that they lost this concreate tr4 note3 sic ability through the fall is no reason why ,god should change or abrogate ,his ,law4 ,he purposes to help them in another way1 by sending them ,his ,son for a ,redeemer1 who fulfils the ,law in their stead4 ,but this wonderful plan of ,god for the rescue of lost man is not appreciated by any one who still believes1 as the ,catholics do1 that he has some good powers in him left which he can develop with the help of ,god to such an extent that he can make himself righteous4 ,to such a person ,jesus says to-day as ,he said to the rich young man3 ,keep the commandments6 ,that means1 since you believe in your ability1 proceed to employ it4 ,your reward is sure1 provided only you do what the ,law demands4 ,but just as surely the curse of ,god rests on you if you do not do it4 ,when you have become convinced that it is impossible to fulfil the ,law1 you may ask a different question1 a question which the knowledge of your spiritual disability has wrested from you as it did from the jailer at ,philippi3 ,what must ,i do to be saved8 and you will not receive the answer3 ,keep the commandments6 but3 ,believe in the ,lord ,jesus ,christ1 and thou shalt be saved1 7,acts #af1 #bi4 #cj47 ,not a word will be said any more about anything that you must do4 ,you will be told3 ,all that you ought to have done has been accomplished by ,one who died with the exclamation3 ,it is finished6 7,john #ai1 #cj71 and who now sends ,his messengers abroad inviting men to ,his free salvation3 ,come1 for all things are now ready6 7,luke #ad1 #ag47 ,ho1 every one that thirsteth1 come ye to the waters1 and he that hath no money2 come ye1 buy1 and eat2 yea1 come1 buy wine and milk without money and without price4 ,wherefore do ye spend money for that which is not bread8 and your labor for that which satisfieth not8 ,hearken diligently unto ,me1 and eat ye that which is good 7,is4 #ee1 #a4 #b47 ,when you have wearied yourself to death by your efforts to achieve righteousness1 as ,paul did when he was still the ,pharisee ,saul of ,tarsus1 as ,luther did while he was still in the bondage of popery1 when you have become hot in your confused and despairing mind against ,god and the ,law1 which you cannot fulfil1 you will appreciate the voice that calls to you as it has called to millions before you3 ,come unto ,me1 all ye that labor and are heavy laden1 and ,i will give you rest4 7,matt4 #aa1 #bh47 ,and if you are wise1 then1 with the wisdom which the ,spirit gives the children of ,god1 you will not delay a minute1 but come rejoicing that you need not get salvation by works1 and will sing3 ,just as ,i am1 without one plea ,but that ,thy blood was shed for me1 ,and that ,thou bidst me come to ,thee1 ,o ,lamb of ,god1 ,i come1 ,i come6 ,rome has cursed ,luther for teaching justification by faith1 without the deeds of the ,law4 ,the principles which he had timidly uttered in the ,theses led to bolder declarations later1 when the full light of the blessed ,gospel had come to him4 ,it brought him the curse of the ,pope in the bull ,exsurge1 ,domine6 of ,june #ae1 #aebj4 ,the following estimate by a recent ,catholic writer is a fair sample of the sentiments cherished by official ,rome for ,luther3 ,from out the vast number whom the enemy of man raised up to invent heresies1 which1 ,st4 ,cyprian says1 'destroy faith and divide unity1' not one1 or all together1 ever equaled or surpassed ,martin ,luther in the wide range of his errors1 the ferocity with which he promulgated them1 and the harm he did in leading souls away from the ,church1 the fountain of everlasting truth4 ,the heresies of ,sabellius1 ,arius1 ,pelagius1 and other rebellious men were insignificant as compared with those ,luther formulated and proclaimed four hundred years ago1 and which1 unfortunately1 have ever since done service against the ,church of the living ,god4 ,in ,luther most1 if not all1 former heresies meet1 and reach their climax4 ,to enumerate fully all the wicked1 false1 and perverse teachings of the arch-heretic would require a volume many times larger than the ,bible1 and every one of the lies and falsehoods that have been used against the ,catholic ,church may be traced back to him as to their original formulator4 ,the cause for this undisguised hatred of ,luther is chiefly ,luther's teaching of justification by faith1 without works4 ,in its ,sixth ,session the ,council of ,trent condemned the following doctrines3 ,on ,free ,will3 ,canon ,,iv3 ,if any one says that the free will of man1 when moved and stirred by ,god1 cannot1 by giving assent1 cooperate with ,god1 who is stirring and calling man1 so that he disposes and prepares himself for obtaining the grace of justification1 or that he cannot dissent if he wills1 but1 like some inanimate thing1 does absolutely nothing and is purely passive1--let him be accursed4 ,on ,justification3 ,canon ,,ix3 ,if any one says that the ungodly are justified by faith alone1 in the sense that nothing else is required on their part that might cooperate to the end of obtaining the grace of justification1 and that it is in no wise necessary that they be prepared and disposed 7for this grace7 by a movement of the will1--let him be accursed4 ,canon ,,xi3 ,if any one says that man is justified either by the imputation of the righteousness of ,christ alone or by the remission of his sins alone1 without grace and love being diffused through his heart by the ,holy ,spirit and inhering therein1 or that the grace whereby we are justified is merely the good will of ,god1--let him be accursed4 ,canon ,,xii3 ,if any one says that justifying faith is nothing else than trust in the divine mercy which forgives sins for ,christ's sake1 or that it is this trust alone by which we are justified1--let him be accursed4 ,canon ,,xxiv3 ,if any one says that righteousness1 after having been received1 is not conserved nor augmented before ,god by good works1 but that these works are merely the fruits or signs of the justification which one has obtained1 and that they are not a reason why justification is increased1--let him be accursed4 ,it is a well-known characteristic of the decrees of the ,council of ,trent that truth and error appear skilfully interwoven in them4 ,they are like a double motion that is offered in a deliberative body3 they contain things which one must affirm1 and other things which one must negative4 ,they cannot be voted on--many of them--except after a division of the question4 ,they contain riders like those in a bill that comes before a legislative body3 in order to pass the bill at all1 the rider must be passed along with the bill4 ,but enough crops out in these decrees to show that the ,catholic ,church is not willing to let the merits of ,christ be regarded as the only thing that justifies the sinner4 ,he must cooperate with the ,holy ,spirit to the end of being justified4 ,he must prepare and dispose himself for receiving justifying grace1 and this grace is infused into him1 and manifests itself in holy movements of the heart and by good works1 in acts of love4 ,the ,roman ,catholic ,christian is taught to believe that he is justified partly by what ,christ has done1 partly by what he himself is doing4 ,he cannot subscribe to ,paul's statement3 ,by grace are ye saved through faith1 and that not of yourselves3 it is the gift of ,god2 not of works1 lest any man should boast4 7,eph4 #b1 #h4 #i47 ,nor is his justification ever complete1 because his love is never perfect4 ,it must be increased even after his death4 ,the ,roman purgatory contains sinners whom ,god had justified as far as ,he could1 the sinners remaining in arrears with their1 part of the contract4 ,accordingly1 the sinner can never have the assurance that he will enter heaven4 ,it would be presumptuous for him to think so4 ,he must live on and work on at his poor dying rate1 and hope for the best4 ,this teaching of the ,church of ,rome subverts ,christianity4 ,it strikes at the root of the faith that saves4 ,it is a relapse into paganism and an affront offered to the ,savior4 ,it borrows the language of ,scripture to express the most hideous error4 ,by this teaching ,rome does not drive men into purgatory1--which does not exist1--but into hell4 ,it is only by a miracle of divine grace that sinners are saved where such teaching prevails3 they must forget what is told them about the necessity of their own works and cling only to the ,redeemer1 and must thus practically repudiate the teaching of their ,church4 ,some do this1 and escape the pernicious consequences of the error of their ,church4 ,all of them will rise up in the ,judgment to accuse their teachers of a heresy the worst imaginable4 ,rome has1 indeed1 assailed the article with which the ,church either stands or falls4 ,all its other errors1 crass1 grotesque1 and repulsive though they are1 are mere child's play in comparison with this damning and destructive error of justification by works4 ,luther rightly estimated the virulence of this abysmal heresy when he said that those who attacked his teaching of justification by grace through faith alone were aiming at his throat4 ,rome's teaching on justification is an attempt to strike at the vitals of ,christian faith and life4 ,it sinks the dagger into the heart of ,christianity4 #af4 ,the ,fatalist ,luther4 ,catholic writers have discovered a fatalistic tendency in ,luther's teaching of justification by faith without works4 ,they declare that ,luther's theory of the utter depravity of man by reason of inherited sin and his incapacity to perform any work that can be accounted good in the sight of ,god kills every ambition to virtuous living in man4 ,they argue that when you tell a person that he is not capable to do good1 he is apt to believe you and make no effort to perform a good deed4 ,the situation becomes still worse when the divine predestination is introduced at this point1 as has been done1 they say1 by ,luther4 ,if ,god has determined all things beforehand by a sovereign decree1 if there really is no such thing as human choice1 and all things occur according to a foreordained plan1 man no longer has any responsibility4 ,he is reduced to an automaton4 ,free will is denied him2 he cannot elect by voluntary choice to engage in any ,god-pleasing action2 for he is told that his natural reason is blinded by sin and his understanding darkened1 rendering it impossible for him to discern good and evil1 and leading him constantly into errors of judgment on what is right or wrong1 while he is made to believe that his will is enslaved by evil lusts and passions1 ever prone to wickedness and averse to godliness4 ,as a consequence1 it is claimed1 man must necessarily become morally indifferent3 he will not fight against sin nor follow after righteousness1 because he has become convinced that it is useless for him to make any effort either in the one direction or in the other4 ,the doctrine of man's natural depravity and the divine foreordination of all things1 it is held1 must drive man either to despair1 insanity1 and suicide1 or land him hopelessly in fatalism3 he will simply continue his physical life in a mechanical way1 like a brute or a plant2 he merely vegetates4 ,these fatal tendencies which are charged against ,luther are refuted by no one more effectually than by ,luther himself4 ,as regards the doctrine of original sin and man's natural depravity1 ,luther preached that with apostolic force and precision4 ,that doctrine is a ,bible-doctrine4 ,no person has read his ,bible aright1 no expounder of ,scripture has begun to explain the divine plan of salvation for sinners1 if he has failed to find this teaching in the ,bible4 ,this doctrine is1 indeed1 extremely humiliating to the pride of man2 it opens up appalling views of the misery of the human race under sin4 ,we can understand why men would want to get away from this doctrine4 ,but no one confers any benefit on men by minimizing the importance of the ,bible-teaching1 or by weakening the statements of ,scripture regarding this matter4 ,any teaching which admits the least good quality in man by which he can prepare or dispose himself so as to induce ,god to view him with favor is a contradiction of the passages of ,scripture which were cited in a previous chapter1 and works a delusion upon men that will prove just as fatal as when a physician withholds from his patient the full knowledge of his critical condition4 ,yea1 it is worse2 for a physician who is not frank and sincere to his patient may deprive the latter of his physical life1 but the teacher of ,god's ,word who instils in men false notions of their moral and spiritual power robs them of life eternal4 ,luther avoided this error4 ,he led men to a true estimate of themselves as they are by nature4 ,but over and against the fell power of sin he magnified the greater power of divine grace4 ,where sin abounded1 grace hath much more abounded 7,rom4 #e1 #bj71--;along this line ,luther found the solution for the awful difficulty which confronts every man when he studies the ,bible-doctrine of original sin1 and when he discovers1 moreover1 that this ,bible-doctrine is borne out fully by his own experience4 ,just for this reason1 because man can do nothing to restore himself to the divine favor1 ,god by ,his grace proposes to do all1 and has sent ,his ,son in the likeness of sinful flesh to do all1 and1 last not least1 publishes the fact that all has been done in the ,gospel of the forgiveness of sin by grace through faith in ,christ4 ,luther has taught men to confess3 ,i believe that ,i cannot by my own reason or strength believe in ,jesus ,christ or come to ,him1 but he taught them also to follow up this true confession with the other3 ,the ,holy ,ghost has called me by the ,gospel1 enlightened me with ,his gifts1 sanctified and kept me in the true faith4 ,the ,gospel is called in the ,scriptures the ,word of ,life1 not only because it speaks of the life everlasting which ,god has prepared for ,his children1 but also because it gives life4 ,it approaches man1 dead in trespasses and sins1 and quickens him into new life4 ,it removes from the mind of man its natural blindness and from the will of man its innate impotency4 ,it regenerates all the dead powers of the soul1 and makes man walk in newness of life4 ,the difficulty which original sin has created is not greater than the means and instruments which ,god has provided for coping with it4 ,god hath concluded all in unbelief1 that ,he might have mercy on all4 7,rom4 #aa1 #cb47 ,this is the only true salvation1 every other is fictitious4 ,it teaches man both to face the fearful odds against him because of his corruption1 and to relish all the more the points in his favor by reason of ,god's redeeming and regenerating grace4 ,it starts its work with crushing man's pride and self-confidence utterly1 and hurling him into the abyss of despair1 but it lifts him out of despair with a mighty power that breaks the power of evil in him4 ,this change is brought about in such a gentle1 tender way that the sinner has no sensation of being coerced into the new life by some farce which he cannot resist4 ,it wins him over to ,god and his ,christ in spite of his resistance1 and makes out of his unwilling heart a willing one1 which gladly coincides with the leadings of grace4 ,the ,roman scheme of salvation might be called the ostrich method3 it teaches men the foolish strategy of the bird of the desert1 which hides its head in the sand when it sees an enemy approaching1 and then imagines the enemy does not exist4 ,original sin may be disputed out of the ,bible by a false interpretation1 but it is not thereby ruled out of existence4 ,when face to face with his ,god--if no sooner1 then in the hour of death--every man feels that he is utterly corrupt and worthless1 and he will curse any teacher that caused him to believe otherwise4 ,free will is not created by assertions4 ,let the apostles of free will only try1 and they will find out that their freedom is nil4 ,catholics denounce ,luther for having declared the free will of man to be nothing than a word without substance3 we hear the sound when the word is pronounced1 and grasp its grammatical meaning1 but we do not realize it in ourselves4 ,every person1 however1 who has truly come to know himself will side with ,luther1 or rather with the ,bible4 ,furthermore1 to the same extent to which the ,roman view exalts man's natural powers for good1 it lowers and limits the work of ,christ and the ,holy ,spirit1 and begets a false confidence and security that is rudely shaken when the first slip and fall occurs in the person's ,christian life4 ,he has never really laid hold of the grace of ,god1 because he has not been taught to trust only to the grace of ,god to lead and preserve him in the way of life4 ,he will begin to distrust the ,gospel as a very inefficient instrument1 and this will lead him to become indifferent to it1 and finally fall away from it entirely4 ,a real danger of apostasy and despair exists wherever the ,roman dogma of man's natural free will is proclaimed4 ,it is1 however1 doing ,luther a flagrant injustice when he is made to deny that man has no longer any natural reason and will in the secular affairs of this life4 ,luther used to divide the entire life of man into two hemispheres1 the upper embracing man's relation to ,god1 holy things1 the interests of the soul here and hereafter1 and the lower1 embracing the purely human1 temporal1 and secular interests of man4 ,it is only in the higher hemisphere that ,luther denies the existence of free will4 ,throughout his writings ,luther asserts the existence1 the actual operation1 and the necessity of human free will1 though sadly weakened by sin1 in the affairs of this present life4 ,it will be sufficient to cite as evidence the ,augsburg ,confession which was drawn up with ,luther's aid and submitted to ,emperor ,charles ,v in #aecj as the joint belief of ,luther and his followers4 ,of the ,freedom of the ,will1 say the ,protestant confessors1 they teach that man's will has some liberty for the attainment of civil righteousness and for the choice of things subject to reason4 ,nevertheless1 it has not power1 without the ,holy ,ghost1 to work the righteousness of ,god1 that is1 spiritual righteousness1 since the natural man receiveth not the things of the ,spirit of ,god 7#a ,cor4 #b1 #ad72 but this righteousness is wrought in the heart when the ,holy ,ghost is received through the ,word4 ,these things are said in as many words by ,augustine in his ,hypognosticon 7,book ,,iii73 ',we grant that all men have a certain freedom of will in judging according to natural reason2 not such freedom1 however1 whereby it is capable1 without ,god1 either to begin1 much less to complete aught in things pertaining to ,god1 but only in works of this life1 whether good or evil4 ,good ,i call those works which spring from the good in ,nature1 that is1 to have a will to labor in the field1 to eat and drink1 to have a friend1 to clothe oneself1 to build a house1 to marry1 to keep cattle1 to learn divers useful arts1 or whatsoever good pertains to this life1 none of which things are without dependence on the providence of ,god2 yea1 of ,him and through ,him they are and have their beginning4 ,evil ,i call such things as1 to have a will to worship an idol1 to commit murder1' etc4 7,art4 #ah47 ,luther has always held that there is a natural intelligence and wisdom1 a natural will-power and energy which men employ in their daily occupations1 their trades and professions1 their trade and commerce1 their literature and art1 their culture and refinement1 yea1 that there is also a natural knowledge of ,god even among the ,gentiles1 who yet know not ,god1 and a seeming performance of the things which ,god has commanded4 ,but these natural abilities do not reach into the higher hemisphere2 they cannot pass muster at the bar of divine justice4 ,they do not spring from right motives1 nor do they aim at right ends2 they are determined by man's self-interest4 ,they come short of that glory which ,god ought to receive from worshipers in spirit and in truth 7,rom4 #c1 #bc2 ,john #d1 #bc72 they are evil in as far as they are the corrupt fruits of corrupt trees4 ,in condemning the moral quality of these natural works of civil righteousness1 ,luther has said no more than ,christ and ,his apostles have said4 ,luther taught the ,bible-doctrine that there is in ,god a hidden will which ,he has reserved to ,his majesty 7,dent4 #bi72 that ,his judgments are unsearchable and ,his ways past finding out 7,rom4 #aa1 #cc72 that not even a sparrow falls to the ground without ,his will1 and that the very hairs of our head are numbered 7,matt4 #aj1 #bi4 #cj72 that no evil can occur anywhere without ,his permission 7,amos #c1 #f2 ,is4 #de1 #g74 ,to deny these truths is to reject the ,bible and to destroy the sovereign omniscience and omnipotence of ,god4 ,those who attack ,luther for believing that also the evil in this world is related to ,god will have to change their bill of indictment3 their charge is really directed against ,scripture4 ,luther has1 however1 warned men not to attempt a study of this secret will of ,god1 for the plain reason that it is secret1 and it would be blasphemous presumption to try and find it out4 ,all our dealings with ,god must be on the basis of ,his revealed will4 ,if we only will study that1 we will be fully occupied our whole life4 ,as regards the ,scriptural doctrine of predestination1 that those who ultimately attain to the life everlasting have been chosen to that end1 ,luther has warned men not to study this doctrine outside of ,christ and the ,gospel4 ,god has told ,his children for their comfort amid the vicissitudes of this life that ,he has secured their eternal happiness against all dangers1 but ,he has not asked them1 nor does ,he permit them1 to find out a priori whether this or that person is elect4 ,jesus ,christ is the ,book of ,life in which the elect are to find their names recorded1 and in the general way of salvation through repentance1 faith1 and sanctification of life they are to be led to the heritage of the saints in light4 ,in his summary of the ninth1 tenth1 and eleventh chapters of ,romans1 ,luther states that by ,his eternal election ,god has taken our salvation entirely out of our hands and placed it in ,his own hands4 ,and this is most highly necessary4 ,for we are so feeble and fickle that1 if salvation depended upon us1 not a person would be saved2 the devil would overcome them all4 ,but since ,god is reliable and ,his election cannot fail or be thwarted by any one1 we still have hope over and against sin4 ,but at this point a limit must be fixed for the presumptuous spirits who soar too high4 ,they lead their reason first to this subject1 they start at the pinnacle1 they want to explore first the abyss of the divine election1 and wrestle vainly with the question whether they are elect4 ,these people bring about their own overthrow3 they are either driven to despair or become reckless4--,follow the order of this ,epistle3 ,first1 occupy yourself with ,christ and the ,gospel1 in order that you may learn to know your sin and ,his grace2 next1 begin to wrestle with your sin1 as chapters #a-h teach you to do4 ,then1 after you have reached the doctrine concerning crosses and tribulations in the eighth chapter1 you will rightly learn the doctrine of election in chapters #i-aa1 because you will realize what a comfort this doctrine contains4 ,for the doctrine of election can be studied without injury and secret anger against ,god only by those who have passed through suffering1 crosses1 and anguish of death4 ,accordingly1 the old ,adam in you must be dead before you can bear this subject and drink this strong wine4 ,see that you do not drink wine while you are still a babe4 ,there is a proper time1 age1 and manner for propounding the various doctrines of ,god to men4 ,what is there fatalistic about this8 #ag4 ,luther a ,teacher of ,lawlessness4 ,luther's teaching on the forgiveness of sin is sternly rebuked by ,catholic writers because of its immoral tendencies4 ,they say1 when the forgiveness of sins is made as easy as ,luther makes it1 the people will cease being afraid if sinning4 ,the danger of the ,gospel of the gracious forgiveness of sins being misapplied has always existed in the ,church4 ,every student of church history knows this4 ,catholic writers know this4 ,paul wrestled with this practical perversion of the loving intentions of our heavenly ,father in his day4 ,after declaring to the ,romans3 ,where sin abounded1 grace did much more abound1 he raises the question3 ,what shall we say then8 ,shall we continue in sin that grace may abound8 ,he returns this horrified answer3 ,god forbid6 ,how shall we1 that are dead to sin1 live any longer therein8 7,rom4 #e1 #bj-f1 #b47 ,actually there were people in the apostle's days who drew from his evangelical teaching this pernicious inference1 that by sinning they gave the forgiving grace of ,god a larger opportunity to exert itself1 hence1 that they were glorifying grace by committing more sin4 ,this meant putting a premium on sinning4 ,for ,god's sake1 how can you conceive a thought like that8 the apostle exclaims4 ,he repudiates the idea as blasphemous1 which it is4 ,to sin in the assurance that sin will be forgiven is not honoring1 but dishonoring ,god and ,his grace2 it is not exalting1 but traducing faith2 it is not ,christian1 but devilish4 ,summarizing the contents of ,romans1 chapter #e1 ,luther says3 ,in the fifth chapter ,paul comes to speak of the fruits and works of faith1 such as peace1 joy1 love of ,god and all men1 and in addition to these1 security1 boldness1 cheerfulness1 courage and hope amid tribulations and suffering4 ,all these effects follow where there is genuine faith1 because of the superabundant blessing which ,god has conferred upon us in ,christ by causing ,him to die for us before we could pray that ,he might do this1 yea1 while we were yet ,his enemies4 ,accordingly1 we conclude that faith justifies without works of any kind1 and yet it does not follow that we must not do any good works4 ,genuine good works cannot fail to flow from faith1--works of which the self-righteous know nothing1 and in the place of which they invent their own works1 in which there is neither peace1 joy1 security1 love1 hope1 boldness1 nor any other of the characteristics of a genuine ,christian work and faith4 ,in his ,preface to ,romans1 ,luther meets a somewhat different objection to faith3 ,christians1 after they have begun to believe1 still discover sin in themselves1 and on account of this imagine that faith alone cannot save them4 ,there must be something done in addition to believing to insure their salvation4 ,in replying to this scruple1 ,luther has given a classical description of the quality and power of faith4 ,this description serves to blast the ,catholic charge that ,luther's easy way of justifying the sinner leads to increased sinning4 ,luther says3 ,faith is not the human notion and dream which some regard as faith4 ,when they observe that no improvement of life nor any good works flow from faith even where people hear and talk much about faith1 they fall into this error that they declare3 faith is not sufficient1 you must do works if you wish to become godly and be saved4 ,the reason is1 these people1 when they hear the ,gospel1 hurriedly formulate by their own powers a thought in their heart which asserts3 ,i believe4 ,this thought they regard as genuine faith4 ,however1 as their faith is but a human figment and idea that never reaches the bottom of the heart1 it is inert and effects no improvement4 ,genuine faith1 however1 is a divine work in us by which we are changed and born anew of ,god4 7,john #a1 #ac47 ,it slays the old ,adam1 and makes us entirely new men in our heart1 mind1 ideas1 and all our powers4 ,it brings us the ,holy ,spirit4 ,oh1 this faith is a lively1 active1 busy1 mighty thing6 ,it is impossible for faith not to be active without ceasing4 ,faith does not ask whether good works are to be done1 but before the question has been asked1 it has accomplished good works2 yea1 it is always engaged in doing good works4 ,whoever does not do such good works is void of faith2 he gropes and mopes about1 looking for faith and good works1 but knows neither what faith nor what good works are1 though he may prate and babble ever so much about faith and good works4 ,there has never been a time when the ,gospel and the grace of ,god have not been wrested to wicked purposes by insincere men1 hypocrites1 and bold spirits4 ,for this reason ,god has instructed ,christians3 ,give not that which is holy unto the dogs1 neither cast ye your pearls before swine1 lest they trample them under their feet1 and turn again and rend you4 7,matt4 #g1 #f47 ,the danger of misapplied grace is a present-day danger in every evangelical community4 ,earnest ,christian ministers and laymen strive with this misapplication wherever they discover it4 ,can they do any more8 ,rome will say3 ,why do you not do as we do in our ,church8 ,we do not preach the ,gospel in such a reckless fashion1 we make men work for their salvation4 ,rome would abolish or considerably limit the preaching of free and abundant grace to the sinner4 ,we recoil from this suggestion because it makes the entire work of ,christ of none effect1 and wipes out the grandest portions of our ,bible4 ,if every abuse of something that is good must be stopped by abolishing the proper use1 then let us give up eating because some make gluttons of themselves2 drinking1 because some are drunkards2 wearing clothes1 because there is much vanity in dresses2 marriage1 because some marriages are shamefully conducted1 etc41 etc4 ,the ,roman ,church does not operate on evangelical principles4 ,does it succeed better in cultivating true holiness among its members by its system of penances and its teaching of the meritoriousness of men's acts of piety8 ,catholics say to us sneeringly3 ,it is easy to have faith2 it is very convenient1 when you wish to indulge1 or have indulged1 some passion1 to remember that there is grace for forgiveness4 ,but is any great difficulty connected with going through a penance that the priest has imposed1 buying a wax candle1 reciting sixteen ,paternosters and ten ,ave ,marias1 and then sitting down and saying to yourself3 ,good boy6 you've done it1 you have squared your account again with the ,almighty8 ,what sanctifying virtue lies in abstaining from beefsteak on ,friday8 ,rome nowhere has improved men by her mechanical piety4 ,what she has accomplished was made possible by the fear of purgatorial torments1 by slavish dread of her mysterious powers1 by ambition and bigotry4 ,we would not exchange our abused treasures for her system of workmongery4 ,but the ,catholic charge of tendencies to lawlessness that are said to be contained in4 ,luther's teaching of faith without works are more serious4 ,luther is cited by them as declaring that one may commit innumerable sins1 and they will not harm one as long as one keeps on believing in the grace of forgiveness4 ,it is true1 ,luther has spoken words to this effect1 and that1 on quite a number of occasions4 ,worse than that1 what ,luther has said is actually true4 ,as a matter of fact1 no sin can deprive the believer of salvation4 ,there is only one sin that ultimately damns1 final impenitence and unbelief1 by which is understood the rejection of the atonement which ,christ offered for the sins of the world4 ,that atonement is actually the full satisfaction rendered to our ,judge for all the sins which we have done1 are doing1 and will be doing till the end of our lives4 ,for the person that dies a perfect saint1 sinless and impeccable1 is still to be born4 ,the comfort that ,i derive from my ,redeemer to-day will be my comfort to-morrow1 that will be my only prop and stay in my dying hour4 ,i shall need ,him every hour4 ,this is a perfectly ,christian thought4 ,st4 ,john writes3 ,my little children1 these things write ,i unto you that ye sin not4 ,and if any man sin1-- mark this well3 ,if any man sin1 though he ought not to sin1--what does the apostle say to him8 ,he does not say3 ,then you are damned6 or3 ,it will require so many fasts1 masses1 and candles to restore you6 but this is what he says3 ,if any man sin1 we have an advocate with the ,father1 ,jesus ,christ the ,righteous2 and ,he is the propitiation for our sins1 and not for ours only1 but also for the sins of the whole world4 7#a ,john #b1 #a4 #b47 ,john1 then1 must be included in the ,catholic indictment of ,luther4 ,luther would not have been a preacher of the genuine and full ,gospel if he had not declared the impossibility of any sin or any number of sins depriving a believer of salvation4 ,but if the ,catholics mean to say that ,luther's evangelical declaration means that no believer can fall from grace by sinning1 that he may sin and remain in a state of grace1--that is simply slander4 ,luther holds1 indeed1 that a person does not cease to be a ,christian by every slip and fault1 but he insists that no dereliction of duty1 no deviation from the rule of godly living can be treated with indifference4 ,it must be repented of1 ,god's forgiveness must be sought1 and only in this way will the ,holy ,spirit again be bestowed on the sinner4 ,god may bear awhile with a ,christian who has fallen into sin1 but the backslider has no pleasant time with his ,god while he stays a backslider4 ,this being a question of every-day1 practical ,christianity1 ,luther frequently touches this subject in his sermons1 both in the ,church ,postil1 the ,house ,postil1 and in his occasional sermons4 ,luther's ,catholic critics could disabuse their mind about the tendencies to lawlessness in ,luther's teaching if they would look up references such as these3 #i1 #gcj4 #adef f42 #aa1 #agij2 #ab1 #ddh4 #dcc2 #ac1 #cid2 #f1 #bid4 #afjd4 ,in one of these references 7#i1 #adef7 ,luther comments on #a ,john #c1 #f3 ,whosoever abideth in ,him sinneth not2 whosoever sinneth hath not seen ,him1 neither known ,him1 as follows3 ',seeing' and 'knowing' in the phraseology of ,john is as much as believing4 ,that every one which seeth the ,son1 and believeth on ,him1 may have everlasting life' 7,john #f1 #dj74 ',this is life eternal1 that they might know ,thee the only true ,god1 and ,jesus ,christ1 whom ,thou hast sent4' ,accordingly1 he that sins does not believe in ,him2 for faith and sin cannot coexist4 ,we may fall1 but we may not cling to sin4 ,the kingdom of ,christ is a kingdom of righteousness1 not of sin4 ,in the ,smalcald ,articles ,luther says3 ,but if certain sectarists would arise1 some of whom are perhaps already present1 and in the time of the insurrection of the peasants came to my view1 holding that all those who have once received the ,spirit or the forgiveness of sins1 or have become believers1 even though they would afterwards sin1 would still remain in the faith1 and sin would not injure them1 and cry thus3 ',do whatever you please2 if you believe1 it is all nothing2 faith blots out all sins1' etc4 ,they say1 besides1 that if any one sins after he has received faith and the ,spirit1 he never truly had the ,spirit and faith4 ,i have seen and heard of many men so insane1 and ,i fear that such a devil is still remaining in some4 ,if1 therefore1 ,i say1 such persons would hereafter also arise1 it is necessary to know and teach that if saints who still have and feel original sin1 and also daily repent and strive with it1 fall in some way into manifest sins1 as ,david into adultery1 murder1 and blasphemy1 they cast out faith and the ,holy ,ghost4 ,for the ,holy ,ghost does not permit sin to have dominion1 to gain the upper hand so as to be completed1 but represses and restrains it so that it must not do what it wishes4 ,but if it do what it wishes1 the ,holy ,ghost and faith are not there present4 ,for ,st4 ,john says 7#a4 ,ep4 #c1 #i73 ',whosoever is born of ,god doth not commit sin1 4 4 4 and he cannot sin4' ,and yet that is also the truth which the same ,st4 ,john says 7#a4 ,ep4 #a1 #h73 ',if we say that we have no sin1 we deceive ourselves1 and the truth is not in us4' 7,part ,,iii1 ,art4 #c1 #db-de2 p4 #cbi47 ,the ,lutheran ,church has received this statement of ,luther into her confessional writings4 ,this is the ,luther of whom a modern ,catholic critic says3 ,this thought of the all-forgiving nature of faith so dominated his mind that it excluded the notion of contrition1 penance1 good works1 or effort on the part of the believer1 and thus his teaching destroyed root and branch the whole idea of human culpability and responsibility for the breaking of the ,commandments4 ,it is amazing boldness in ,catholics to prefer this charge against ,luther1 when they themselves teach a worse doctrine than they impute to ,luther4 ,the ,council of ,trent in its ,sixth ,session1 ,canon #ae1 also in its ,sixteenth ,session1 ,canon #ae1 ,coster in his ,enchiridion1 in the chapter on ,faith1 p4 #agh1 ,bellarminus on ,justification1 chapter #ae1 declare it to be ,catholic teaching that the believer cannot lose his faith by any1 even the worst1 sin he may commit4 ,they speak of believing fornicators1 believing adulterers1 believing thieves1 believing misers1 believing drunkards1 believing slanderers1 etc4 ,the very teaching which ,catholics falsely ascribe to ,luther is an accepted dogma of their own ,church4 ,their charge against ,luther is1 at best1 the trick of crying1 ,hold thief6 to divert attention from themselves4 ,but did not ,luther in the plainest terms advise his friends ,weller and ,melanchthon to practise immoralities as a means for overcoming their despondency8 ,is he not reported in his ,table ,talk to have said that looking at a pretty woman or taking a hearty drink would dispel gloomy thoughts8 that one should sin to spite the devil8 ,yes2 and now that these matters are paraded in public1 it is best that the public be given a complete account of what ,luther wrote to ,weller and ,melanchthon4 ,there are three letters extant written to ,weller during ,luther's exile at ,castle ,coburg while the ,diet of ,augsburg was in progress4 ,on ,june #ai1 #aecj1 ,luther writes3 ,grace and peace in ,christ6 ,i have received two letters from you1 my dear ,jerome this was ,weller's first name1 both of which truly delighted me2 the second1 however1 was more than delightful because in that you write concerning my son ,johnny1 stating that you are his teacher1 and that he is an active and diligent pupil4 ,if ,i could1 ,i would like to show you some favor in return2 ,christ will recompense you for what ,i am too little able to do4 ,magister ,veit has1 moreover1 informed me that you are at times afflicted with the spirit of despondency4 ,this affliction is most harmful to young people1 as ,scripture says3 ',a broken spirit drieth the bones' 7,prov4 #ag1 #bb74 ,the ,holy ,spirit everywhere forbids such melancholy1 as1 for instance1 in ,eccles4 #aa41 #i3 ',rejoice1 ,o young man1 in thy youth1 and let thy heart cheer thee in the days of thy youth1' and in the verse immediately following3 ',remove sorrow from thy heart1 and put away evil from thy flesh4' ,ecclesiasticus1 likewise1 says1 chap4 #cj1 #bb-be3 ',the gladness of the heart is the life of man1 and the joyfulness of a man prolongeth his days4 ,love thine own soul1 and comfort thy heart1 remove sorrow far from the2 for sorrow hath killed many1 and there is no profit therein4 ,envy and wrath shorten the life1 and carefulness bringeth age before the time4 ,a cheerful and good heart will have a care of his meat and diet4' ,moreover1 ,paul says #b ,cor4 #g1 #aj3 ',the sorrow of the world worketh death4' ,above all1 therefore1 you must firmly cling to this thought1 that these evil and melancholy thoughts are not of ,god1 but of the devil2 for ,god is not a ,god of melancholy1 but a ,god of comfort and gladness1 as ,christ ,himself says3 ',god is not the ,god of the dead1 but of the living' 7,matt4 #bb1 #cb74 ,what else does living mean than to be glad in the ,lord8 ,accordingly1 become used to different thoughts1 in order to drive away these evil thoughts1 and say3 ,the ,lord has not sent you4 ,this chiding which you experience is not of ,him who has called you4 ,in the beginning the struggle is grievous1 but by practise it becomes more easy4 ,you are not the only one who has to endure such thoughts1 all the saints were afflicted by them1 but they fought against them and conquered4 ,therefore1 do not yield to these evils1 but meet them bravely4 ,the greatest task in this struggle is not to regard these thoughts1 not to explore them1 not to pursue the matters suggested1 but despise them like the hissing of a goose and pass them by4 ,the person that has learned to do this will conquer2 whoever has not learned it will be conquered4 ,for to muse upon these thoughts and debate with them means to stimulate them and make them stronger4 ,take the people of ,israel as an example3 they overcame the serpents1 not by looking at them and wrestling with them1 but by turning their eyes away from them and looking in a different direction1 namely1 at the brazen serpent1 and they conquered4 ,in this struggle that is the right and sure way of winning the victory4 ,a person afflicted with such thoughts said to a certain wise man3 ,what evil thoughts come into my mind6 ,he received the answer3 ,well1 let them pass out again4 ,that remark taught the person a fine lesson4 ,another answered the same question thus3 ,you cannot keep the birds from flying over your head1 but you can keep them from building their nests in your hair4 ,accordingly1 you will do the correct thing when you are merry and engage in some pleasant pastime with some one1 and not scruple afterwards over having done so4 ,for ,god is not pleased with sadness1 for which there is no reason4 ,the sorrow over our sins is brief and at the same time is made pleasant to us by the promise of grace and the forgiveness of sins4 ,but the other sorrow is of the devil and without promise2 it is sheer worry over useless and impossible things which concern ,god4 ,i shall have more to say to you when ,i return4 ,meanwhile give my greetings to your brother2 ,i began writing to him1 but the messenger who is to take this letter along is in a hurry4 ,i shall write to him later1 also to ,schneidewein and others4 ,i commend your pupil to you4 ,may the ,spirit of ,christ comfort and gladden your heart6 ,amen4' 7#ba;a1 #adhg ff47 ,the second letter to ,weller was presumably written some time in ,july4 ,it reads as follows3 ,grace and peace in ,christ4 ,my dearest ,jerome1 you must firmly believe that your affliction is of the devil1 and that you are plagued in this manner because you believe in ,christ4 ,for you see that the most wrathful enemies of the ,gospel1 as1 for instance1 ,eck1 ,zwingli1 and others1 are suffered to be at ease and happy4 ,all of us who are ,christians must have the devil for our adversary and enemy1 as ,peter says3 ',your adversary1 the devil1 goeth about1' etc41 #a ,pet4 #e1 #h4 ,dearest ,jerome1 you must rejoice over these onslaughts of the devil1 because they are a sure sign that you have a gracious and merciful ,god4 ,you will say3 ,this affliction is more grievous than ,i can bear2 you fear that you will be overcome and vanquished1 so that you are driven to blasphemy and despair4 ,i know these tricks of ,satan3 if he cannot overcome the person whom he afflicts at the first onset1 he seeks to exhaust and weaken him by incessantly attacking him1 in order that the person may succumb and acknowledge himself beaten4 ,accordingly1 whenever this affliction befalls you1 beware lest you enter into an argument with the devil1 or muse upon these death-dealing thoughts4 ,for this means nothing else than to yield to the devil and succumb to him4 ,you must rather take pains to treat these thoughts which the devil instils in you with the severest contempt4 ,in afflictions and conflicts of this kind contempt is the best and easiest way for overcoming the devil4 ,make up your mind to laugh at your adversary1 and find some one whom you can engage in a conversation4 ,you must by all means avoid being alone1 for then the devil will make his strongest effort to catch you2 he lies in wait for you when you are alone4 ,in a case like this the devil is overcome by scorning and despising him1 not by opposing him and arguing with him4 ,my dear ,jerome1 you must engage in merry talk and games with my wife and the rest1 so as to defeat these devilish thoughts1 and you must be intent on being cheerful4 ,this affliction is more necessary to you than food and drink4 ,i shall relate to you what happened to me when ,i was about your age4 ,when ,i entered the cloister1 it happened that at first ,i always walked about sad and melancholy1 and could not shake off my sadness4 ,accordingly1 ,i sought counsel and confessed to ,dr4 ,staupitz1 --,i am glad to mention this man's name4 ,i opened my heart to him1 telling him with what horrid and terrible thoughts ,i was being visited4 ,he said in reply3 ,martin1 you do not know how useful and necessary this affliction is to you2 for ,god does not exercise you thus without a purpose4 ,you will see that ,he will employ you as ,his servant to accomplish great things by you4 ,this came true4 ,for ,i became a great doctor--,i may justly say this of myself--2 but at the time when ,i was suffering these afflictions ,i would never have believed that this could come to pass4 ,no doubt1 that is what is going to happen to you3 you will become a great man4 ,in the mean time be careful to keep a brave and stout heart1 and impress on your mind this thought that such remarks which fall from the lips chiefly of learned and great men contain a prediction and prophecy4 ,i remember well how a certain party whom ,i was comforting for the loss of his son said to me3 ,martin1 you will see1 you will become a great man4 ,i often remembered this remark1 for1 as ,i said1 such remarks contain a prediction and a prophecy4 ,therefore1 be cheerful and brave1 and cast these exceedingly terrifying thoughts entirely from you4 ,whenever the devil worries you with these thoughts1 seek the company of men at once1 or drink somewhat more liberally1 jest and play some jolly prank1 or do anything exhilarating4 ,occasionally a person must drink somewhat more liberally1 engage in plays1 and jests1 or even commit some little sin from hatred and contempt of the devil1 so as to leave him no room for raising scruples in our conscience about the most trifling matters4 ,for when we are overanxious and careful for fear that we may be doing wrong in any matter1 we shall be conquered4 ,accordingly1 if the devil should say to you3 ,by all means1 do not drink6 you must tell him3 ,just because you forbid it1 ,i shall drink1 and that1 liberally4 ,in this manner you must always do the contrary of what ,satan forbids4 ,when ,i drink my wine unmixed1 prattle with the greatest unconcern1 eat more frequently1 do you think that ,i have any other reason for doing these things than to scorn and spite the devil who has attempted to spite and scorn me8 ,would ,god ,i could commit some real brave sin to ridicule the devil1 that he might see that ,i acknowledge no sin and am not conscious of having committed any4 ,we must put the whole law entirely out of our eyes and hearts1--we1 ,i say1 whom the devil thus assails and torments4 ,whenever the devil charges us with our sins and pronounces us guilty of death and hell1 we ought to say to him3 ,i admit that ,i deserve death and hell2 what1 then1 will happen to me8 ,why1 you will be eternally damned6 ,by no means2 for ,i know ,one who has suffered and made satisfaction for me4 ,his name is ,jesus ,christ1 the ,son of ,god4 ,where ,he abides1 there will ,i also abide4 7#ba;a1 #aecb ff47 ,the third letter to ,weller is dated ,august #aeth4 ,it reads as follows3 ,grace and peace in ,christ4 ,i have forgotten1 my dear ,jerome1 what ,i wrote you in my former letter concerning the spirit of melancholy1 and ,i may now be writing you the same things and harping on the same string4 ,nevertheless1 ,i shall repeat what ,i said1 because we all share each other's afflictions1 and as ,i am suffering in your behalf1 so you1 no doubt1 are suffering in mine4 ,it is one and the same adversary that hates and persecutes every individual brother of ,christ4 ,moreover1 we are one body1 and in this body one member suffers for every other member1 and that1 for the sole reason that we worship ,christ4 ,thus it happens that one is forced to bear the other's burden4 ,see1 then1 that you learn to despise your adversary4 ,for you have not sufficiently learned to understand this spirit1 who is an enemy to spiritual gladness4 ,you may rest assured that you are not the only one who bears this cross and are not suffering alone4 ,we are all bearing it with you and are suffering with you4 ,god1 who commanded3 ',thou shalt not kill1' certainly declares by this commandment that ,he is opposed to these melancholy and death-bringing thoughts1 and that ,he1 on the contrary1 would have us cherish lively and exceedingly cheerful thoughts4 ,so the ,psalmist declares1 saying3 ',in ,his favor is life1' ,ps4 #cj1 #e ,luther understands this to mean3 ,he favors life and in ,ezekiel ,god says3 ',i have no pleasure in the death of the wicked1 but that the wicked turn from his way and live' 7chap4 #cc1 #aa74 ,on the other hand1 etc4 ,now1 then1 since it is certain that such melancholy is displeasing to ,god1 we have this reliable comfort that if this demon cannot be entirely removed from us1 divine strength will be supplied to us1 so that we may not feel the affliction so much4 ,i know that it is not in our power to remove these thoughts at our option1 but ,i also know that they shall not gain the upper hand2 for we are told3 ',he shall not suffer the righteous to be moved1' if we only learn to cast our burden upon ,him4 ,the ,lord ,jesus1 the mighty ,warrior and unconquerable ,victor1 will be your aid4 ,amen4 7#ba;a1 #aedc f47 ,these three letters constitute the whole evidence for the ,catholic charge against ,luther that he offered advice to ,weller that is immoral and demoralizing4 ,the indictment culminates in these three distinct points3 ,luther advises ,weller #a4 to drink freely and be frivolous2 #b4 to commit sin to spite the devil2 #c4 to have no regard for the ,ten ,commandments4 ,since we shall take up the last point in a separate chapter1 we limit our remarks to the first two points4 ,when ,luther advises ,weller to drink somewhat more liberally1 that does not mean that ,luther advises ,weller to get drunk4 ,this1 however1 is exactly what ,luther is made to say by his ,catholic critics4 ,they make no effort to understand the situation as it confronted ,luther1 but pounce upon a remark that can easily be understood to convey an offensive meaning4 ,neither does what ,luther says about his own drinking mean that he ever got drunk4 ,we have spoken of this matter in a previous chapter1 and do not wish to repeat4 ,luther's remarks about jesting1 merry plays1 and jolly pranks in which he would have ,weller engage are likewise vitiated by the ,catholic insinuation that he advises indecent frivolities1 yea1 immoralities4 ,why1 all the merriment which he urges upon ,weller is to take place in ,luther's home and family circle1 in the presence of ,luther's wife and children1 in the presence of ,weller's little pupil ,hans1 who at that time was about four years old4 ,the friends of the family members of the ,faculty at the ,university1 ministers1 students who either stayed at ,luther's home1 like ,weller1 or frequently visited there1 are also included in this circle whose company ,weller is urged to seek4 ,imagine a young man coming into this circle drunk1 or half drunk1 and disporting himself hilariously before the company6 ,we believe that not even all ,catholics can be made to believe the insinuations of their writers against ,luther when all the facts in the case are presented to them4 ,let us1 moreover1 remind ourselves once more that1 to measure the social proprieties of the sixteenth century by modern standards1 is unfair4 ,a degree of culture in regard to manners and speech can be reached by very refined people that grows away from naturalness4 ,the old ,latin saying3 ,naturalia non sunt turpia 7,we need not feel ashamed of our natural acts71 will never lose its force4 ,there are expressions in ,luther's writings--and in the ,bible--that nowadays are considered unchaste1 but are in themselves chaste and pure4 ,even the extremest naturalness that speaks with brutal frankness about certain matters is a better criterion of moral purity than the supersensitive prudishness that squirms and blushes1 or pretends to blush1 at the remotest reference to such matters4 ,it all depends on the thoughts which the heart connects with the words which the mouth utters4 ,this applies also to the manner in which former centuries have spoken about drinking4 ,we sometimes begin to move uneasily1 as if something ,pecksniffian had come into our presence1 when we behold the twentieth century sitting in judgment on the manners and morals of the sixteenth century4 ,in ,luther's remarks about sinning to spite the devil we have always heard an echo from his life at the cloister4 ,one's judgment about the monastic life is somewhat mitigated when one hears how ,dr4 ,staupitz and the brethren in the convent at ,erfurt would occasionally speak to ,luther about the latter's sins4 ,staupitz called them ,puppensuenden4 ,it is not easy to render this term by a short and apt ,english term2 peccadillo would come near the meaning4 ,a child playing with a doll will treat it as if it were a human being1 will dress it1 talk to it1 and pretend to receive answers from it1 etc4 ,that is the way1 good ,catholics were telling ,luther1 he was treating his sins4 ,his sins were no real sins1 or he had magnified their sinfulness out of all proportion4 ,this same advice ,luther hands on to another who was becoming a hypochondriac as he had been4 ,when the mind is in a morbid state it imagines faults1 errors1 sins1 where there are none4 ,the melancholy person in his self-scrutiny becomes an intolerant tyrant to himself4 ,he will flay his poor soul for trifles as if they were the blackest crimes3 ,in such moments the devil is very busy about the victim of gloom and despair4 ,luther has diagnosed the case of ,weller with the skill of a nervous specialist4 ,he counsels ,weller not to judge himself according to the devil's prompting1 and1 in order to break ,satan's thrall over him1 to wrench himself free from his false notions of what is sinful4 ,in offering this advice1 ,luther uses such expressions as3 ,sin1 commit sin1 but the whole context shows that he advises ,weller to do that which is in itself not sinful1 but looks like sin to ,weller in his present condition4 ,when ,luther declares he would like to commit a real brave sin himself as a taunt to the devil1 he adds3 ,would that ,i could6 ,that means1 that1 as a matter of fact1 he could not do it and did not do it1 because it was wrong4 ,what bold immoral act did ,weller commit in consequence of ,luther's advice8 ,what immoralities are there in ,luther's own life8 ,luther's letters did not convey the meaning to his morbid young friend that ,catholic writers think and claim they did4 ,luther's advice to ,melanchthon which is so revolting to ,catholics that they have made it the slogan in their campaign against ,luther refers to a state of affairs that is identical with what we noted in our review of the correspondence with ,weller4 ,it is contained in a letter which ,luther wrote ,august #a1 #aeba1 while he was an exile in the ,wartburg4 ,he says to his despondent friend and colleague at the ,university of ,wittenberg3 ,if you are a preacher of grace1 do not preach a fictitious1 but the true grace4 ,if grace is of the true sort1 you will also have to bear true1 not fictitious1 sins4 ,god does not save those who only acknowledge themselves sinners in a feigned manner4 ,be a sinner1 then1 and sin bravely1 but believe more bravely still and rejoice in ,christ1 who is the ,victor over sin1 death1 and the world4 ,we must sin as long as we are in this world2 the present life is not an abode of righteousness2 however1 we look for new heavens and a new earth wherein dwelleth righteousness1 says ,peter 7#b4 ,ep4 #c1 #ac74 ,we are satisfied1 by the richness of ,god's glory1 to have come to the knowledge of the ,lamb that taketh away the sins of the world4 ,no sin shall wrest us from ,him1 were we even in one day to commit fornication and manslaughter a thousand times4 ,do you think the price paltry and the payment small that has been made for us by this great ,lamb8 7#ae1 #behi47 ,be a sinner1 and sin bravely1 but believe more bravely still--this is the chef d'oeuvre of the muck-rakers in ,luther's life4 ,the reader has the entire passage which contains the outrageous statement of ,luther before him1 and will be able to judge the connection in which the words occur4 ,what caused ,luther to write those words8 ,did ,melanchthon contemplate some crime which he was too timid to perpetrate8 ,according to the horrified expressions of ,catholics that must have been the situation4 ,luther1 in their view1 says to ,melanchthon3 ,philip1 you are a simpleton4 ,why scruple about a sin8 ,you are still confined in the trammels of very narrow-minded moral views4 ,you must get rid of them4 ,have the courage to be wicked1 ,make a hero of yourself by executing some bold piece of iniquity4 ,be an ,uebermensch4 ,sin with brazen unconcern2 be a fornicator1 a murderer1 a liar1 a thief1 defy every moral statute1 --only do not forget to believe in the ,lord ,jesus ,christ4 ,his grace is intended1 not for hesitating1 craven sinners1 but for audacious1 spirited1 high-minded criminals4 ,this1 we are asked to believe1 is the sentiment of the same ,luther who in his correspondence with ,weller declares that he could not if he would commit a brave sin to spite the devil4 ,can the reader induce himself to believe that ,luther advised ,melanchthon to do what he himself knew was a moral impossibility to himself because of his relation to ,god8 ,and again we put the question which we put in connection with the ,weller letters3 ,what brave sin did ,melanchthon actually commit upon being thus advised by ,luther8 ,one glance at the context1 a calm reflection upon the tenor of this entire passage in the letter to ,melanchthon1 suffices to convince every unbiased reader that ,luther is concerned about ,melanchthon as he was about ,weller3 he fears his young colleague is becoming a prey to morbid self-incrimination4 ,it is again a case of ,puppensuenden being expanded till they seem ethical monstrosities4 ,but1 as the opening words of the paragraph show1 ,luther had another purpose in writing to ,melanchthon as he did4 ,melanchthon was a public preacher and expounder of the doctrine of evangelical grace4 ,he must not preach that doctrine mincingly1 haltingly4 ,is that possible8 ,indeed1 it is4 ,just as there are preachers afraid to preach the divine ,law and to tell men that they are under the curse of ,god and merit damnation1 so there are preachers afraid1 actually afraid1 to preach the full ,gospel1 without any limiting clauses and provisos4 ,just as there are teachers of ,christianity who promptly put on the soft pedal when they reach the critical point in their public deliverances where they must reprove sin1 and who hate intensive preaching of the ,ten ,commandments1 so there are evangelical teachers who dole out ,gospel grace in dribbles and homeopathic doses1 as if it were the most virulent poison1 of which the sinner must not be given too much4 ,luther tells ,melanchthon3 ,if you are afraid to draw every stop in the organ when you play the tune of ,love ,divine1 ,all ,love ,excelling1 you had better quit the organ4 ,there are some sinners in this world that will not understand your faint evangelical whispers2 they need to have the truth that ,christ forgives their sins1 all their sins1--their worst sins1 blown into them with all the trumpets that made the walls of ,jericho fall4 ,if ,melanchthon did not require a strong faith in the forgiving grace of ,god for himself1 he needed it as a teacher of that grace to others2 he must1 therefore1 familiarize himself with the immensity and power of that grace4 ,in conclusion1 it should be noted that the ,catholic writers who express their extreme disgust at the immoral principles of ,luther belong to a ,church whose theologians have made very questionable distinctions between venial sins and others4 ,papal dispensations and decisions of ,catholic casuists1 especially in the order of the ,jesuits1 have startled the world by their moral perverseness4 ,yea1 the very principles of probabilism and mental reservation which the ,jesuits have espoused are antiethical4 ,in accordance with the principle last named1 when important interests are at stake1 a negative or modifying clause may remain unuttered which would completely reverse the statement actually made4 ,this principle justified unlimited lying when one's interest or convenience seemed to require it4 ,where the same word or phrase has more than one sense1 it may be employed in an unusual sense with the expectation that it will be understood in the usual4 ,this is called amphibology by them4 ,such evasions may be used under oath in a civil court4 ,equally destructive of good morals was the teaching of many ,jesuit casuists that moral obligation may be evaded by directing the intention when committing an immoral act to an end worthy in itself2 as in murder1 to the vindication of one's honor2 in theft1 to the supplying of one's needs or those of the poor2 in fornication or adultery1 to the maintenance of one's health or comfort4 ,nothing did more to bring upon the society the fear and distrust of the nations and of individuals than the justification and recommendation by several of their writers of the assassination of tyrants1 the term 'tyrant' being made to include all persons in authority who oppose the work of the papal church or order4 ,the question has been much discussed1 ,jesuits always taking the negative side1 whether the ,jesuits have taught that 'the end justifies the means4' ,it may not be possible to find this maxim in these precise words in ,jesuit writings2 but that they have always taught that for the 'greater glory of ,god1' identified by them with the extension of ,roman ,catholic 7,jesuit7 influence1 the principles of ordinary morality may be set aside1 seems certain4 ,the doctrine of philosophical sin1 in accordance with which actual attention to the sinfulness of an act when it is being committed is requisite to its sinfulness for the person committing it1 was widely advocated by members of the society4 ,the repudiation of some of the most scandalous maxims of ,jesuit writers by later writers1 or the placing of books containing scandalous maxims on the ,index1 does not relieve the society or the ,roman ,catholic ,church from responsibility1 as such books must have received authoritative approval before publication1 and the censuring of them does not necessarily involve an adverse attitude toward the teaching itself1 but way be a more measure of expediency4 7,a4 ,h4 ,newman1 in ,new ,schaff-,herzog ,encycl41 #f1 #adf47 #ah4 ,luther1 ,repudiates the ,ten ,commandments8 ,in ,luther's correspondence with ,weller there occurs a remark to the effect that ,weller must put the ,decalog out of his mind4 ,similar statements occur in great number throughout ,luther's writings4 ,in some of these statements ,luther speaks in terms of deep scorn and contempt of the ,law1 and considers it the greatest affront that can be offered ,christians to place them under the ,law of ,moses4 ,he declares that ,moses must be regarded by ,christians as if he were a heretic1 excommunicated by the ,church1 and assigns him to the gallows4 ,some of the strongest invectives of this kind are found in his exposition of the ,epistle to the ,galatians4 ,these stern utterances of ,luther against the ,law serve the ,catholics as the basis for their charge that ,luther is the most destructive spirit that has arisen within the ,church4 ,he is said to have destroyed the only perfect norm of right and wrong by his violent onslaughts on ,moses4 ,once the commandments of ,god are abrogated1 the feeling of duty and responsibility1 they argue1 is plucked from the hearts of men1 and license and vice rush in upon the world with the force of a springtide4 ,the reader will remember what has been said in a previous chapter about ,luther's labors to expound and apply the divine ,law1 also about the intimate and loving relation which he maintained to the ,ten ,commandments to the end of his life4 ,luther has spoken of ,moses as a teacher of true holiness in terms of unbounded admiration and praise4 ,ho declares the writings of ,moses the principal part of our ,bible1 because all the prophets and apostles have drawn their teaching from ,moses and have expanded the teaching of ,moses4 ,christ ,himself has appealed to ,moses as an authority in matters of religion4 ,the greatest distinction of ,moses in ,luther's view is that he has prophesied concerning ,christ1 and by revealing the people's sin through the teaching of the ,law has made them see and feel the necessity of a redemption through the ,mediator4 ,however1 also the laws of ,moses are exceedingly fine1 ,luther thinks4 ,the ,ten ,commandments are essentially the natural moral law implanted in the hearts of man4 ,but also his forensic laws1 his civil statutes1 his ecclesiastical ordinances1 his regulations regarding the hygiene1 and the public order that must be maintained in a great commonwealth1 are wise and salutary4 ,the ,catholics are forced to admit that alongside of the open contempt which ,luther occasionally voices for ,moses and the ,mosaic righteousness inculcated by the ,law there runs a cordial esteem of the great prophet4 ,luther regards the ,law of ,moses as divine2 it is to him just as much the ,word of ,god as any other portion of the ,scriptures4 ,to save their faces in a debate they must concede this point1 but they charge ,luther with being a most disorderly reasoner1 driven about in his public utterances by momentary impulses3 ,he will set up a rule to-day which he knocks down to-morrow4 ,he will cite the same ,principle for or against a matter4 ,he is so erratic that he can be adduced as authority by both sides to a controversy4 ,the ,catholic may succeed with certain people in getting rid of ,luther on the claim that his is a confused mind1 and that in weighty affairs he adopts the policy of the opportunist4 ,most men will demand a better explanation of the seeming self-contradiction in ,luther's attitude toward the divine ,law4 ,there is only one connection in which ,luther speaks disparagingly of the ,law1 and we shall show that what he says is no real disparagement1 but the correct ,scriptural valuation of the ,law4 ,luther holds that the ,ten ,commandments do not save any person nor contribute the least part to his salvation4 ,they must be entirely left out of account when such questions are to be answered as these3 ,how do ,i obtain a gracious ,god8 ,how is my sin to be forgiven8 ,how do ,i obtain a good conscience8 ,how can ,i come to ,i live righteously8 ,how can ,i hope to die calmly1 in the confidence that ,i am going to heaven8 ,on such occasions ,luther says3 ,turn your eyes away from ,moses and his ,law2 he cannot help you2 you apply at the wrong office when you come to him for rest for your soul here and hereafter4 ,he gives you no comfort1 and he cannot1 because it is not his function to do so4 ,it is ,another's business to do that4 ,him you grossly dishonor and traduce when you refuse to come to ,him for what ,he alone can give1 and when you go to some one who does not give you what you need1 though you pretend that you get it from this other4 ,a proper relation to ,god is established for us only by ,jesus ,christ4 ,he is the exclusive ,mediator appointed by ,god for ,his dealing with man and for man in his dealings with ,god4 ,there is salvation in none other2 nor can our hope of heaven be placed on any other foundation than that which ,god laid when ,he appointed ,christ our ,redeemer 7,acts #d1 #ab2 #a ,cor4 #c1 #aa74 ,this is ,bible-doctrine4 ,the ,law was given by ,moses1 but grace and truth came by ,jesus ,christ1 says ,john 7chap4 #a1 #ag74 ,here the two fundamental teachings of the ,scriptures are strictly set apart the one from the other4 ,they have much in common3 they have the same holy ,author1 ,god2 their contents are holy2 they serve holy ends4 ,but they are differently related to sinful man3 the ,law tells man what he must do1 the ,gospel1 what ,christ has done for him2 the ,law issues demands1 the ,gospel1 gratuitous offers2 the ,law holds out rewards for merits or severe penalties1 the ,gospel1 free and unconditioned gifts2 the ,law terrifies1 the ,gospel cheers the sinner2 the ,law turns the sinner against ,god by proving to him his incapacity to practise it1 the ,gospel draws the sinner to ,god and makes him a willing servant of ,god4 ,paul demands of the ,christian minister that he rightly divide the ,word of ,truth 7#b ,tim4 #b1 #ae74 ,to preach the ,bible-doctrine of salvation aright and with salutary effect1 the ,law and the ,gospel must be kept apart as far as ,east is from the ,west4 ,the ,law is truth1 but1 it is not the truth that saves1 because it knows of no grace for the breakers of the ,law4 ,the ,gospel teaches holiness and righteousness1 however1 not such as the sinner achieves by his own effort1 but such as has been achieved for the sinner by his ,substitute1 ,jesus ,christ4 ,the ,gospel is not for men who imagine that they can do the commandments of ,god2 ,jesus ,christ says3 ,i came not to call the righteous1 but sinners1 to repentance 7,matt4 #i1 #ac74 ,on the other hand1 the ,law is not for sinners who know themselves saved4 ,the ,law is not made for a righteous man 7#a ,tim4 #a1 #i74 ,christians employ the ,law for the regulation of their lives1 as a pattern and index of holy works which are pleasing to ,god and as a deterrent from evil works1 but they do not seek their salvation1 neither wholly nor in part1 in the ,law1 nor do they look to the ,law for strength to do the will of ,god4 ,moreover ,christians1 while they are still in the flesh1 apply the ,law to the old ,adam in themselves2 they bruise the flesh with its deceitful lusts with the scourge of ,moses1 and thus they are in a sense under the ,law1 and can never be without the ,law while they live4 ,but in another sense they are not under the ,law3 all their life is determined by divine grace2 their faith1 their hope1 their charity1 is entirely from the ,gospel1 and the new man in them acknowledges no master except ,jesus ,christ1 who is all in all to them 7,eph4 #a1 #bc74 ,when ,luther directed men for their salvation away from the ,law1 he did what ,christ ,himself had done when ,he called to the multitudes3 ,come unto ,me1 all ye that labor and are heavy-laden1 and ,i will give you rest 7,matt4 #aa1 #bh74 ,the people to whom these words were addressed had the ,law of ,moses and wearied themselves with its fulfilment1 such as it was under the direction of teachers and guides who had misinterpreted and were misapplying that ,law continually4 ,even in that false view of the ,law which they had been taught1 and which did not at all exhaust its meaning1 there was no ease of conscience1 no assurance of divine favor1 no rest for their souls4 ,christ with ,his gracious summons told them1 in effect3 ,you must forget the ,law and the ordinances of your elders and your miserable works of legal service4 ,you must turn your back upon ,moses4 ,in ,me1 only in ,me1 is your help4 ,moses himself never conceived his mission to be what the ,catholics declare it to be by their doctrine of salvation by faith plus works4 ,moses directed his people to the greater ,prophet who was to come in the future1 and told them3 ,unto ,him shall ye hearken 7,deut4 #ah1 #ae74 ,jesus was pointed out to the world as that ,prophet of whom ,moses had spoken1 when the ,father at the baptism and the transfiguration of ,christ repeated from heaven the warning cry of ,israel's greatest teacher under the old dispensation 7,matt4 #c1 #ag2 #ag1 #e74 ,but was it necessary1 in speaking of the inability of the ,law to save men1 to use such strong and contemptuous terms as ,luther has used8 ,yes4 ,the ,catholics do not seen to know in what strong terms the ,bible has rejected the ,law as a means of salvation4 ,paul denounces the ,galatians again and again as foolish1 bewitched1 and bastards of a bondwoman1 because they think they will be saved by their works done according to the ,law 7chap4 #c1 #a4 #c2 #d1 #ba ff474 ,he calls them godless infidels1 slaves1 silly children still in their nonage1 because they imagine that they become acceptable to ,god by their own righteousness 7chap4 #d1 #i2 #c1 #bc ff474 ,yea1 he reprobates their legal service when he says3 ,as many as are of the works of the ,law are under the curse 7chap4 #c1 #aj74 ,how contemptuous does it not sound to hear him call the legal ordinances which the ,galatians were observing beggarly elements 7chap4 #d1 #i71 and the law a schoolmaster 7chap4 #c1 #bd71 that is1 a tutor fit only for little abecedarians who cannot be treated as full-grown persons that are able to make a right use of their privileges as children and heirs of ,god4 ,why do not the ,catholics turn up their nose at ,paul1 as they do at ,luther1 when ,paul calls all his legal righteousness dung 7,phil4 #b1 #h71 or when he speaks slightingly of the observance on which the ,colossians prided themselves as rudiments of the world 7,col4 #b1 #bj78 ,why does he call the ,law the handwriting of ordinances that has been blotted out 7,col4 #b1 #ad7 but to declare to the ,colossians that they are to fear the ,law as little as a debtor fears a canceled note that had been drawn against him8 ,what was it that ,paul rebuked ,peter for when he told him that he was building again the things which they both had destroyed 7,gal4 #b1 #ah78 ,mark you1 he says1 destroyed4 ,why1 it was this very thing for which ,luther is faulted by ,rome1 the ,law as an instrument for obtaining righteousness before ,god4 ,could a person renounce the ,law in more determined1 one might almost say1 ruthless fashion1 than by saying3 ,i am dead to the ,law1 that ,i might live unto ,god8 ,paul is the person who thus speaks of the ,law 7,gal4 #b1 #ai74 ,the ,catholics have again taken hold of the wrong man when they assail ,luther for repudiating the ,law of ,god2 they must start higher up2 they will find the real culprit whom they are trying to prosecute among the holy apostles4 ,yea1 even the apostles will decline the honor of being the original criminals1 they will pass the charges preferred against them higher up still2 for what contemptuous terms were used by them in speaking of the ,law were inspired terms which they received from ,god the ,holy ,ghost4 ,that contempt for the ,law which ,luther voices under very particular circumstances ,luther has learned from his ,bible and under the guidance of the ,holy ,ghost4 ,that contempt is a mark of every evangelical preacher to-day4 ,if ministers of the ,gospel to-day do not denounce the ,law when falsely applied1 they betray a sacred trust and become traitors to ,christ and the ,church4 ,for every one who teaches men to seek their salvation in any manner and to any degree in their own works serves not ,christ1 but ,antichrist4 ,this is such a fearful calamity that no terms should be regarded as too scathing in which to rebuke legalistic tendencies4 ,these tendencies are the bane and blight of ,christianity2 if they are not rooted out1 ,christianity will perish from off the face of the earth4 ,workmongers are missionaries of the father of lies and the murderer from the beginning3 so far as in them lies1 they slay the souls of men by their false teaching of the ,law4 ,however1 ,luther reveals another attitude toward the ,law4 ,at three distinct times in his public career he had to do with people who had assumed a hostile attitude to the ,law of ,god4 ,if the contention of ,luther's ,catholic critics were true1 ,luther ought to have hailed these occasions with delight and made common cause with the repudiators of the ,law4 ,while he was at the ,wartburg1 a disturbance broke out at ,wittenberg4 ,under the leadership of ,carlstadt1 a professor at the ,university1 men broke into the churches and smashed images4 ,church ordinances of age-long standing were to be abrogated1 the cloisters were to be thrown open1 and a new order of things was to be inaugurated by violence4 ,against the will of the ,elector of ,saxony1 who had afforded ,luther an asylum in his castle1 ,luther1 at the risk of his life1 came out of his seclusion1 boldly went to ,wittenberg1 and preached a series of sermons by which he quelled the riotous uprising4 ,even before his return to ,wittenberg he had published a treatise in which he warned ,christians to avoid tumult and violent proceedings4 ,the eight sermons which he preached to the excited people of ,wittenberg are an invaluable evidence that ,luther meant to proceed in the way of order4 ,the mass and the confessional would have been abolished at that time1 had it not been for ,luther's interference4 ,he made some lifelong enemies by insisting that the reformatory movement must be conservative4 ,he held that before men's consciences had been liberated by the teaching of ,christ1 they were not qualified for exercising true ,christian liberty1 and their violent proceedings were nothing but carnal license4 ,everybody knows how deeply ,luther himself was interested in the abolition of the idolatrous ,mass and the spiritual peonage which ,rome had created for men by means of the confessional4 ,only a person who puts principles above policies could have acted as ,luther did in those turbulent days4 ,he wanted for his followers1 not wanton rebels and frenzied enthusiasts1 but men who respect the ,word of ,cod1 discreet and gentle men whose weapons of warfare were not carnal4 ,a man who is so cautious as not to approve the putting down of acknowledged evils because he is convinced that the attempt is premature and exceeds the limits of propriety1 will not lend his hand to abolishing the divine norm of right1 the holy commandments of ,god4 ,the second occasion on which ,luther in a most impressive manner showed his profound regard for the maintenance of human and divine laws was during the bloody uprising of the peasants4 ,while thoroughly in sympathy with the rebellious peasants in their righteous grievances against their secular and spiritual oppressors1 the barons and the bishops1 and pleading the peasants' cause in its just demands before their lords1 he unflinchingly rebuked their extreme demands and their still extremer actions4 ,if by his preaching of the ,gospel ,luther had been the instigator of the peasants' uprising1 what a brazen hypocrite he must have been in denouncing acts which he must have acknowledged to be fruits of his teaching6 ,among the noblemen of ,germany ,luther counted not a few frank admirers and staunch supporters of his reformatory work4 ,their influence was of the highest value to him in those critical days when his own life was not safe4 ,yet he rebuked the sins of the high and mighty1 their avarice and insolence1 which had brought on this terrible disturbance4 ,in his writings dealing with this sad conflict ,luther impresses one like one of the ancient prophets who stand like a rock amid the raging billows of popular passions and with even-handed justice deliver the oracles of ,god to high and low1 calling upon all to bow before the supreme will of the righteous ,lawgiver4 ,would the great lords of the land have meekly taken ,luther's rebuke if they had been able to charge ,luther with being an accessory to the peasants' crimes8 ,the third occasion on which ,luther's innocence of the charges of ,romanists that he was an instigator of lawlessness was most effectually vindicated was the ,antinomian controversy4 ,this episode1 more than any other1 embittered the life of the aging ,reformer4 ,the ,antinomians drew from the evangelical teachings those disastrous consequences which the ,catholics impute to ,luther3 they claimed that the ,law is not in any way applicable to ,christians4 ,they insisted that the ,ten ,commandments must not be preached to ,christians at all4 ,christians1 they claimed1 determine in the exercise of their sovereign liberty what they may or may not do4 ,being under grace1 they are superior to the ,law and a law unto themselves4 ,at first ,luther had been inclined to treat this error mildly1 because it seemed incredible to him that enlightened children of ,god could so fatally misread the teaching of ,god's ,word4 ,he thought the ,antinomians were either misunderstood by people who had no conception of the ,gospel and of evangelical liberty1 or they were grossly slandered by persons ill-disposed to them because of their successful preaching of the ,gospel4 ,when their error had been established beyond a doubt1 he did not hesitate a moment to attack it4 ,in sermons and public disputations1 before the common people of ,wittenberg and the learned doctors and the students of the ,university1 he defended the holy ,law of ,god as the norm of right conduct and the mirror showing up the sinfulness of man also for ,christians1 and he insisted that those who had fallen into this error must publicly recant4 ,it was due to ,luther's unrelenting opposition that ,agricola1 one of the leaders of the ,antinomians and at one time a dear friend of ,luther1 withdrew his false teaching and offered apologies in a published discourse4 ,to his guests ,luther in those days remarked at the table3 ,satan1 like a furious harlot1 rages in the ,antinomians1 as ,melanchthon writes from ,frankfort4 ,the devil will do much harm through them and cause infinite and vexatious evils4 ,if they carry their lawless principles into the ,state as well as the ,church1 the magistrate will say3 ,i am a ,christian1 therefore the law does not pertain to me4 ,even a ,christian hangman would repudiate the law4 ,if they teach only free grace1 infinite license will follow1 and all discipline will be at an end4 7,preserved ,smith1 p4 #bhc47 ,luther held that forbidding the preaching of the ,law meant to prohibit preaching ,god's truth 7#bj1 #afce71 and to abrogate the ,law he regarded as tantamount to abrogating the ,gospel 7#bb1 #ajbi74 ,far from repudiating the ,ten ,commandments1 then1 ,luther1 by insisting on a distinction between ,law and ,gospel1 and assigning to each a separate sphere of operation in the lives of ,christians1 has done more than any other teacher in the ,church since the days of ,paul to impress men with a sincere respect of the ,law1 and to honor it by obedience to its precepts4 #ai4 ,luther's ,invisible ,church4 ,in his ,theses against the sale of indulgences1 especially in the first two1 ,luther had uttered a thought which led to a new conception of the ,church4 ,he had declared that ,christian life does not consist in the performance of certain works of piety1 such as going to confession1 performing the penances imposed by priests1 hearing ,mass1 etc41--all of which are external1 visible acts1--but in a continuous penitential relation of the heart to ,god4 ,the ,christian1 conscious of his innate corruption and his daily sinning1 faces ,god at all times in the attitude of a humble suitor for mercy4 ,the posture of the publican is the typical attitude of the ,christian4 ,he recognizes no merit in himself1 he pleads no worthiness which would give him a just claim upon ,god's favor4 ,his single hope and sole reliance is in the merit and atoning work of his ,savior ,jesus ,christ4 ,the ,christian's penitence embraces as a constituent element faith in the forgiveness of sin for ,christ's sake4 ,in the strength of his faith the ,christian begins to wrestle with the sin which is still indwelling in him and which besets him from without4 ,the agony of the ,redeemer which he places before his eyes at all times proves a deterrent from sin1 and the holy example of ,jesus1 who ran with rejoicing the way of the commandments of ,god1 becomes an inspiring example to him3 actuated by gratitude for the love of the ,son of ,god who gave ,himself for him and reclaimed him from certain perdition1 he begins to reproduce the life of ,jesus in his own conversation4 ,his whole life is determined by his relation to ,jesus3 his thoughts1 affections1 words1 and deeds are a reflex of the life of his ,lord4 ,for him to live is ,christ 7,phil4 #a1 #ba74 ,all his acts become expressions of his faith4 ,he says with ,paul3 ,i live2 yet not ,i1 but ,christ liveth in me3 and the life which ,i now live in the flesh ,i live by the faith of the ,son of ,god1 who loved me1 and gave ,himself for me 7,gal4 #b1 #bj74 ,during the discussions which followed the publication of the ,theses1 especially during the ,leipzig ,debate with ,eck in #aeai1 this thought of ,luther was expanded1 and applied to the idea of the ,church4 ,christianity1 in ,luther's teaching1 came to be set forth as something vastly different from the external and mechanical religiousness which had been accepted as ,christianity by ,rome4 ,christianity meant a new life1 swayed by new motives1 governed by new principles4 ,it was seen to be entirely inward1 an affair of the heart and soul and mind1 and1 ulteriorly1 an affair of the body and the natural life4 ,the religion of ,rome1 with its constant emphasis on works of men's piety and the merit resulting therefrom1 had become thoroughgoing externalism4 ,so many prayers recited1 so many altars visited1 so many offerings made1 meant so many merits achieved4 ,the scheme worked out with mathematical precision4 ,devout ,catholics might well keep a ledger of their devotional acts1 as ,gustav ,freitag in his ,ancestors represents ,marcus ,koenig as having done4 ,in the ,catholic view the ,church is a visible society1 an ecclesiastical organization with a supreme officer at the head1 and a host of subordinate officers who receive their orders from him1 and lastly1 a lay membership that acknowledges the rule of this organization4 ,the ,church in this view is a religious commonwealth1 only in form and operation differing from secular commonwealths4 ,cardinal ,gibbons calls it the ,christian ,republic4 ,in ,luther's view the ,church is1 first of all1 an invisible society1 known to ,god1 the ,searcher of hearts1 alone4 ,the ,church of ,christ is the sum-total of believers scattered through the whole world and existing in all ages4 ,to this ,church we refer when we profess in the ,apostles' ,creed3 ,i believe one holy1 ,christian ,church1 the communion of saints4 ,this is the ,church1 the real ,church1 the ,church which ,god acknowledges as the spiritual body of ,christ1 who is the ,head of the ,church1 and with which ,he maintains the most intimate and tender relations4 ,this invisible ,church exists within the visible societies of organized ,christianity1 in the local ,christian congregations4 ,christian faith is never independent of the means which ,god has appointed for producing faith1 the ,gospel and the ,sacraments4 ,faith cometh by hearing1 and hearing by the ,word of ,god 7,rom4 #aj1 #ag74 ,this faith-creating word of evangelical grace is an audible and visible matter4 ,its presence in any locality is cognizable by the senses4 ,it becomes attached1 moreover1 by ,christ's ordaining1 to certain visible elements1 as the water in ,baptism and the bread and wine in the ,lord's ,supper4 ,hence these two ,christian ordinances--the only two for which a divine word of command and promise1 hence1 a divine institution can be shown--also become related to faith1 to its origin and preservation4 ,for of ,baptism our ,lord says3 ,except a man be born of water and the ,spirit1 he cannot enter into the kingdom of ,god 7,john #c1 #e74 ,to be born again1 or to become a child of ,god1 according to ,john #a1 #ab1 is the same as to believe4 ,accordingly1 ,paul says3 ,ye are all the children of ,god by faith in ,christ ,jesus4 ,for as many of you as have been baptized into ,christ have put on ,christ 7,gal4 #c1 #bf4 #bg74 ,of the ,sacrament our ,lord says3 ,this is the blood of the covenant which is shed for many for the remission of sins 7,matt4 #bf1 #bh72 and ,his apostle declares that communicants1 as often as they eat of this bread and drink of this cup1 do show the ,lord's death till ,he come 7#a ,cor4 #aa1 #bf74 ,the ,gospel and the ,sacraments1 now1 become the marks of the ,church1 the unfailing criteria of its existence in any place4 ,for1 according to the declaration of ,god1 they are never entirely without result1 though many to whom they are brought resist the gracious operation of the ,spirit through these means4 ,by ,isaiah ,god has said3 ,as the rain cometh down1 and the snow from heaven1 and returneth not thither1 but watereth the earth1 and maketh it bring forth and bud1 that it may give seed to the sower and bread to the eater3 so shall ,my ,word be that goeth forth out of ,my mouth3 it shall not return unto ,me void1 but it shall accomplish that which ,i please1 and it shall prosper in the thing whereto ,i sent it 7,is4 #ee1 #aj4 #aa74 ,among the people who in a given locality rally around the ,word and the ,sacraments and profess allegiance to them1 there is the ,church1 because there is the power of ,god unto salvation1 the faith-producing and faith-sustaining ,gospel of ,jesus ,christ4 ,those who embrace what the ,gospel offers with a lively faith1 and in the power of their faith proceed to lead holy lives in accordance with the teaching of ,god's ,word1 are the members of the true ,church of ,god1 the kingdom of ,christ4 ,those who adhere only externally to these institutions are merely nominal members4 ,they may at heart be hypocrites and secret blasphemers4 ,catholic writers charge ,luther with having set up this teaching1 partly to spite the ,pope whom he hated1 partly to gratify his vainglorious aspirations to become famous4 ,he had at one time held the ,catholic dogma that the ,church is the visible society of men who profess allegiance to the ,bishop of ,rome and accept his overlordship in matters of their religion4 ,but through neglect of his religious duties and the failure to bridle his imperious temper he had by degrees begun to revolt from the teaching of the ,catholic ,church1 until he publicly renounced the ,church that had existed in all the ages before him1 and set up his own ,church4 ,by forsaking the communion of the ,roman church organization he severed his soul from ,christ and became an apostate4 ,for1 according to ,catholic belief1 ,christ founded the ,church to be a visible organization with a visible head1 the ,pope1 and plainly and palpably governing men4 ,everybody who has read the records of ,luther's work knows that no thought was more foreign to his mind than that of founding a new church4 ,he believed himself in hearty accord with the ,catholic ,church and the ,pope when he published his ,theses4 ,he did not wantonly leave the ,church1 but was driven from it by most ruthless measures4 ,it was while he was defending the principles which he had first uttered against ,tetzel that his eyes were opened to the appalling defection which had occurred in the ,catholic ,church from every true conception of what the ,church really is4 ,his appeals to the ,word of ,god were answered by appeals to the ,church1 the councils of the ,church1 the ,pope4 ,in his unsophisticated mind ,luther held that ,church1 councils1 and ,pope are all subject to ,christ1 the ,head of the ,church4 ,they cannot teach and decree anything but what ,christ has taught and ordained4 ,it is only by abiding in the words of ,christ that men become and remain the true disciples of ,christ1 hence1 ,his ,church 7,john #h1 #ca74 ,now1 he was told that ,christ had erected the visible organization of the ,catholic ,church with the ,pope at its head into the ,church1 and had handed over all authority to this society1 with the understanding that there can be no appeal from this body to ,christ ,himself4 ,salvation is only by submitting to the rule of this society1 adopting its ways1 following its precepts4 ,from this teaching ,luther recoiled with horror1 and rightly so4 ,at one time ,god had erected a theocracy on earth1 a ,church which was a visible society1 and for which ,he had made special laws and ordinances4 ,the ,church of the ,old ,covenant is the only visible ,church which ,god created4 ,but even in this ,church ,he declared that external compliance with its ways did not constitute any one a true member of ,his ,church4 ,he told the ,jews by ,isaiah3 ,to this man will ,i look1 even to him that is poor and of a contrite spirit1 and trembleth at ,my ,word4 ,he that killeth an ox is as if he slew a man2 he that sacrificeth a lamb1 as if he cut off a dog's neck2 he that offereth an oblation as if he offered swine's blood2 he that burneth incense1 as if he blessed an idol 7chap4 #ff1 #b4 #h74 ,here ,god abominates the mere external performance of acts of worship as an outrage and a crime that is perpetrated against ,his holy name4 ,repeating a saying of this same prophet1 our ,lord said to the members of the ,jewish ,church in ,his day3 ,ye hypocrites1 well did ,isaiah prophesy of you1 saying1 ,this people draweth nigh unto ,me with their mouth1 and honoreth ,me with their lips2 but their heart is far from ,me4 ,but in vain do they worship ,me1 teaching for doctrines the commandments of men 7,matt4 #ae1 #g-i74 ,the ,pharisees in the days of ,christ are the true ancestors of ,catholics in their belief that the ,church is a great1 powerful1 visible organization in this world1 subject to the supreme will of a visible ruler1 and capable of being employed in great worldly enterprises like a political machine4 ,the ,pharisees were always looking for the establishment of a mighty church organization which would dominate the world4 ,they expected the ,messiah to inaugurate a ,church of this kind4 ,with this ambitious thought in their heart they approached ,christ on a certain occasion and asked ,him when the kingdom of ,god should come4 ,he answered them and said1 ,the kingdom of ,god cometh not with observation2 neither shall they say1 ,lo1 here6 or1 ,lo1 there6 for1 behold1 the kingdom of ,god is within you 7,luke #ag1 #bj4 #ba74 ,to the same effect ,paul declares ,he is not a ,jew which is one outwardly1 neither is that circumcision which is outward in the flesh2 but he is a ,jew which is one inwardly2 and circumcision is that of the heart1 in the spirit1 and not in the letter 7,rom4 #b1 #bh4 #bi74 ,and to a young pastor whom he had trained for work in the ,church1 he describes the ,church as follows3 ,the foundation of ,god standeth sure1 having this seal1 ,the ,lord knoweth them that are ,his4 ,and1 ,let every one that nameth the name of ,christ depart from iniquity 7#b ,tim4 #b1 #ai74 ,by making the ,gospel the mark of the ,church and faith the ,gospel the badge of membership in the ,church ,luther has rendered an incalculable service to ,christianity4 ,this view of the ,church shows the immense importance of a live1 intelligent1 and active personal faith4 ,it puts a ban on religious indifference and mechanical worship4 ,it destroys formalism1 ceremonialism1 ,pharisaism in the affairs of religion4 ,justly ,luther has ridiculed the implicit1 or blind1 faith of ,catholics1 when he writes3 ,the papists say that they believe what the ,church believes1 just as it is being related of the ,poles that they say3 ,i believe what my king believes4 ,indeed6 ,could there be a better faith than this1 a faith less free from worry and anxiety8 ,they tell a story about a doctor meeting a collier on a bridge in ,prague and condescendingly asking the poor layman1 ',my dear man1 what do you believe8' ,the collier replied1 ',whatever the ,church believes4' ,the doctor3 ',well1 what does the ,church believe8' ,the collier3 ',what ,i believe4' ,some time later the doctor was about to die4 ,in his last moments he was so fiercely assailed by the devil that he could not maintain his ground nor find rest until he said1 ',i believe what the collier believes4' ,a similar story is being told of the great ,catholic theologian ,thomas ,aquinas1 viz41 that in his last moments he was driven into a corner by the devil1 and finally declared1 ',i believe what is written in this ,book4' ,he had the ,bible in his arms while he spoke these words4 ,god grant that not much of such faith be found among us6 ,for if these people did not believe in a different manner1 both the doctor and the collier have been landed in the abyss of hell by their faith4 7#ag1 #bjac47 ,luther's teaching regarding the ,church leads to a proper valuation of the means of grace4 ,only through the evangelical ,word and the evangelical ordinances is the ,church planted1 watered1 and sustained4 ,it is1 therefore1 necessary that the world be supplied in abundance with the ,word through the missionary operations of ,christians1 and that the ,christians themselves have the ,word dwell among them richly 7,col4 #c1 #af74 ,he that abideth in ,me1 and ,i in him1 the same bringeth forth much fruit2 for without ,me ye can do nothing1 says the ,head of the ,church to ,his disciples 7,john #ae1 #e72 and in ,his last prayer ,he pleads with the ,father in their behalf3 ,sanctify them through ,thy truth3 ,thy ,word is truth 7,john #ag1 #ag74 ,for the same reason it is necessary that the ,word and ,sacraments be preserved in their ,scriptural purity1 that any deviation from the clear teaching of the ,bible be resisted1 and orthodoxy be maintained4 ,errors in doctrine are like tares in a wheat-field3 they are useless in themselves1 and they hinder the growth of good plants4 ,error saves no one1 but some are still saved in spite of error by clinging to the truth which is offered them along with the error4 ,luther believed that this happened even in the error-ridden ,catholic ,church4 ,luther's teaching regarding the ,church enables us1 furthermore1 to form a right estimate of the ministry in the ,church4 ,christ wants all believers to be proclaimers of ,his truth and grace4 ,the apostle whom ,catholics regard as the first ,pope says to all ,christians3 ,ye are a chosen generation1 a royal priesthood1 an holy nation1 a peculiar people1 that ye should show forth the praises of ,him who hath called you out of darkness into ,his marvelous light 7#a ,pet4 #b1 #i74 ,to the local congregation of believers1 which is to deal with an offending brother1 even to the extent of putting him out of the church1 ,christ says3 ,if he neglect to hear the church1 let him be unto thee as an heathen man and a publican4 ,verily1 ,i say unto you1 ,whatsoever ye shall bind on earth shall be bound in heaven3 and whatsoever ye shall loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven4 ,there is nothing that ,god denies even to the smallest company of believers while they are engaged in the discharge of their rights and duties as members of the ,church2 for ,christ adds3 ,again ,i say unto you1 ,that if two of you shall agree on earth as touching anything that they shall ask1 it shall be done for them of ,my ,father which is in heaven4 ,for where two or three are gathered together in ,my name1 there am ,i in the midst of them 7,matt4 #ah1 #ag-bj74 ,all rights and duties of the ,church are common to all members4 ,all have the right to preach1 to administer the ,sacraments1 etc4 ,over and above this1 however1 ,christ has instituted also a personal ministry1 men who can be sent even as ,he was sent by the ,father 7,john #bj1 #ba2 comp4 ,rom4 #aj1 #ae3 ,how shall they preach1 except they be sent872 men who are to devote themselves exclusively to the reading of the ,word 7#a ,tim4 #d1 #ac71 to teaching and guiding their fellow-believers in the way of divine truth 7see the ,epistles to ,timothy and ,titus74 ,but the ministry in the ,church does not represent a higher grade of ,christianity1--the laymen representing the lower1--but the ministry is a service ordained for the perfecting of the saints and the edifying of the body of ,christ1 viz41 ,his ,church 7,eph4 #d1 #aa4 #ab2 #a1 #bc74 ,minister is derived from minus1 less1 not from magis--from which we have ,magister--meaning more4 ,the ministry of the ,church of the ,new ,testament is not a hierarchy1 endowed with special privileges and powers by the ,lord1 but a body of humble workmen who serve their fellow-men and fellow-,christians in the spirit of ,christ1 who said3 ,the ,son of ,man came not to be ministered unto1 but to minister and to give ,his life a ransom for many 7,matt4 #bj1 #bh74 ,ministers merely exercise in public the common rights of all believers and are the believers' representatives in all their official acts4 ,so ,paul viewed the absolution which he pronounced upon the penitent member of the ,corinthian congregation 7#b ,cor4 #b1 #aj74 ,when the ,corinthians had begun to exalt their preachers unduly1 he told them that they were carnal4 ,who is ,paul1 he exclaims1 and who is ,apollos1 but ministers by whom ye believed8 4 4 4 ,let no man glory in men4 ,for all things are yours2 whether ,paul1 or ,apollos1 or ,cephas1 or the world1 or life1 or death1 or things present1 or things to come2 all are yours 7#a ,cor4 #c1 #d4 #e4 #bj4 #ba74 ,and ,peter1 the original ,pope in the ,catholics' belief1 says3 ,the elders which are among you ,i exhort1 who am also an elder1 and a witness of the sufferings of ,christ1 and also a partaker of the glory that shall be revealed3 ,feed the flock of ,god which is among you1 taking the oversight thereof1 not by constraint1 but willingly1 not for filthy lucre1 but of a ready mind2 neither as being lords over ,god's heritage1 but being ensamples to the flock 7#a ,pet4 #e1 #a-c74 ,lastly1 ,luther's teaching regarding the ,church affords a wealth of comfort and sound direction in view of the divided condition of the visible ,church4 ,through the ignorance and malice of men and through the wily activity of ,satan1 who creates divisions and offenses contrary to the doctrine of ,christ1 and is busy sowing tares among the wheat1 there have arisen many church organizations1 known by party names1 differing from one another in their creedal statements1 and warring upon each other4 ,this is a sad spectacle to contemplate1 and grieves ,christian hearts sorely4 ,but these divisions in the external and visible organizations do not touch the body of ,christ1 the communion of saints1 the one holy ,christian ,church4 ,in all ages and places the true believers in ,christ are a unit4 ,among those who by faith have put on the new man1 which is renewed in knowledge after the image of ,him that created him1 there is neither ,greek nor ,jew1 circumcision nor uncircumcision1 barbarian1 ,scythian1 bond1 nor free2 but ,christ is all1 and in all 7,col4 #c1 #aj4 #aa74 ,this is the true ,catholic1 that is1 universal1 ,church4 ,the visible society which has usurped this name never was1 nor is to-day1 the universal ,church4 ,before ,protestantism arose1 there was the ,eastern ,church1 which has maintained a separate organization4 ,this holy ,christian ,church is indestructible1 because the ,word of ,christ1 which is its bond1 shall never pass away1 and ,christ rules even in the midst of ,his enemies4 ,visible church organizations are valuable only in as far as they shelter1 and are nurseries of1 the invisible ,church4 ,luther never conceived the idea of founding a visible organization more powerful than the ,catholic2 he did not mean to pit one ecclesiastical body of men against another4 ,his single aim was to restore the purity of teaching and the right administration of the ,sacraments in accordance with the ,scriptures4 ,that his followers were named after him1 we have shown not to be ,luther's fault3 ,luther did not form a ,church1 but reformed the ,church2 he did not establish a new creed1 but reestablished the old4 ,the visible society of ,lutherans to-day does not regard itself as the alone-saving ,church1 or as immune from error1 or as infallible1 but it does claim to be the ,church of the pure ,word and ,sacraments4 ,it knows that it is one in faith with all the children of ,god throughout the world and in all ages4 #bj4 ,luther on the ,god-,given ,supremacy of the ,pope4 ,in the opinion of ,catholics ,luther's greatest offense is what he has done to their ,pope4 ,this is ,luther's unpardonable sin4 ,luther has done two things to the ,pope3 he has denied that the ,pope exists by divine right1 and he has in the most scurrilous manner spoken and written about the ,pope and made his vaunted dignity the butt of universal ridicule4 ,the indictment is true1 but when the facts are stated1 it will be seen to recoil on the heads of those who have drawn it4 ,luther denies that ,matt4 #af1 #ah4 #ai establishes the papacy in the ,church of ,christ4 ,he denies that this text creates a one-man power in the ,church1 that it vests one individual with a sovereign jurisdiction over the spiritual affairs of all other men1 making him the sole arbiter of their faith and the exclusive dispenser of divine grace1 and1 last1 not least1 that it says one word about the ,pope4 ,luther makes1 indeed1 a clean and sweeping denial of every claim which ,catholics advance for the ,god-given supremacy of their ,popes4 ,inasmuch as the papacy stands or falls with ,matt4 #af1 #ah4ai1 he has put the ,catholics in the worst predicament imaginable4 ,catholics believe that ,peter was singled out for particular honors in the ,church by being declared the rock on which ,christ builds ,his ,church1 and by being given the keys of the kingdom of heaven4 ,peter's supremacy as ,primate of the ,world1 they hold1 passed over to ,peter's successor and is perpetuated in an unbroken line of succession in the ,roman ,popes4 ,three questions1 then1 confronted ,luther in the study of this text in ,matthew4 ,first1 does the rock in ,matt4 #af1 #ah signify ,peter8 ,the ,lord had addressed to all ,his disciples the question1 ,whom say ye that ,i am8 ,instead of all of them answering and creating a confusion1 ,peter1 the most impulsive of the apostles1 speaks up and says1 ,thou art the ,christ1 the ,son of the living ,god4 ,with these words ,peter expressed the common faith of all the disciples4 ,not one of them dissented from his statement2 he had voiced the joint conviction of them all4 ,peter was the spokesman1 but the confession was that of the apostles4 ,any other apostle might have spoken first and said the same1 had he been quicker than ,peter4 ,if there is any merit in ,peter's confession of ,christ1 all other disciples1 yea1 all who confess ,christ as ,peter did1 share that merit4 ,in replying to ,peter the ,lord takes all merit away from ,peter by saying to him3 ,blessed art thou1 ,simon ,barjona2 for flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee1 but ,my ,father which is in heaven4 ,he addresses ,peter by the name he had borne before he became an apostle3 ,simon1 son of ,jonas1 and tells him that if he were still what he used to be before he came to ,christ1 he could not have made the confession which he had just uttered4 ,in his old unconverted state he would not have formed any higher opinion concerning ,christ than the people throughout the country1 some of whom thought that ,christ was ,john the ,baptist risen from the dead2 others1 that he was ,jeremias2 still others1 that he was one of the ancient prophets come back to life4 ,the deity of ,jesus and ,his mission as ,christ1 that is1 as the ,messiah1 our ,lord says1 are grasped by men only when the ,father reveals these truths to them4 ,a spiritual nature1 a new mind such as the ,spirit gives in regeneration1 is required for such a confession4 ,the glory of ,peter's confession1 therefore1 is the glory of every believer4 ,to every ,sunday-school child which recites ,luther's explanation of the ,second ,article3 ,i believe that ,jesus ,christ1 true ,god1 begotten of the ,father from eternity1 and also true man1 born of the ,virgin ,mary1 is my ,lord1 who has redeemed me1 the ,lord would say the same thing as ,he did to ,peter3 ,my child1 yours is an excellent confession2 there is nothing fickle or undecided in it like in the vague and changing opinions which worldly men form about ,me4 ,thank ,god that ,he has given you the grace to know ,me as ,i ought to be known4 ,but did not the ,lord proceed to declare ,peter the rock on which ,he would build ,his ,church8 ,that is what ,catholics believe1 in spite of the fact that this would be the only place in the whole ,bible where a human being would be represented as the foundation of the ,church1 while there are scores of passages which name quite another person as the rock that supports the ,church4 ,catholics read this text thus3 ,thou art ,peter1 and on thee will ,i build ,my ,church4 ,that is precisely what ,christ did not say1 and what ,he was most careful not to express4 ,the words ,peter and rock are plainly two different terms and denote two different objects4 ,that is the most natural view to take of the matter4 ,in the original ,greek we find two words similar in sound1 but distinct in meaning for the two objects to which ,christ refers3 ,peter's name is ,petros1 which is a personal noun2 the word for rock is petra1 which is a common noun4 ,in the ,greek1 then1 ,christ's answer reads thus3 ,thou art ,petros1 and on this petra will ,i build my ,church4 ,catholics claim that ,christ1 in answering ,peter1 introduced a play upon words1 such as a witty person will indulge in3 ,petros1 the apostle's name1 signifies a rock-man1 a firm person1 and from this meaning it is an easy step to petra1 which is plain rock or stone4 ,if this interpretation is admitted1 the expression upon thee may be substituted for the expression on this rock4 ,yet not altogether4 ,by adopting the peculiar phraseology upon this rock in the place of upon thee1 ,christ avoids referring to the individual ,peter1 to the person known as ,peter1 and refers rather to a characteristic in him1 namely1 his firmness and boldness in confessing ,christ4 ,this every careful interpreter of this text will admit4 ,christ could easily have said3 ,upon thee will ,i build ,my ,church1 if it had been ,his intention to say just that4 ,and we imagine on such a momentous occasion ,christ would have used the plainest terms1 containing no figure of speech1 no ambiguities whatever2 for was he not now introducing to the ,church the distinguished person who was to preside over its affairs8 ,catholics claim that when ,christ spoke these words1 upon this rock1 ,he had extended ,his hand and was pointing to ,peter4 ,that would help us considerably in the interpretation of the text4 ,the trouble is only that we are not told anything about such a gesture of ,christ1 and if a gesture must be invented1 it is possible to invent an altogether different one1 as we shall see4 ,but if ,christ1 by saying1 upon this rock1 instead of saying1 upon thee1 referred not to ,peter as a person1 but to a quality in ,peter1 namely1 to his firm faith1 then it follows that the ,church is not built on the person of ,peter1 but on a quality of ,peter4 ,this is the best that ,catholics can obtain from the interpretation which they have attempted4 ,but if the ,church is built on firm faith1 there is no reason why that faith should be just ,peter's4 ,would not every firm believer in the deity and ,redeemership of ,christ become the rock on which the ,church is built just as much as ,peter8 ,luther declared quite correctly3 ,we are all ,peters if we believe like ,peter4 ,really1 the ,catholics ought to be willing to help strengthen the foundation of the ,church by admitting that the rock would become a stouter support if1 instead of the firm faith of one man1 the equally firm faith of hundreds1 thousands1 and millions of other men were added to prop up the ,church4 ,in all seriousness1 it will be absolutely necessary to give ,peter some assistants2 for we know that the job of holding up the ,church was too big for him on at least two occasions4 ,what became of the ,church in the night when ,peter denied the ,lord8 ,in that night1 the ,catholics would have to believe1 the ,church was built on a liar and blasphemer4 ,what became of the ,church in the days when ,peter came to ,antioch and ,paul withstood him to the face because he was dissembling his ,christian convictions not to offend a ,judaizing party in the ,church8 7,gal4 #b47 ,was the ,church in those days built on a canting hypocrite8 ,but the greatest difficulty in admitting the ,catholic interpretation is met when one remembers those ,bible-texts which name an altogether different rock as the foundation and corner-stone of the ,church4 ,paul says that in their desert wanderings the ,israelites were accompanied by ,christ4 ,he was their unseen ,guide and ,benefactor4 ,he supported their faith4 ,they drank of that spiritual ,rock that followed them2 and that ,rock was ,christ 7#a ,cor4 #aj1 #d74 ,at the conclusion of the ,sermon on the ,mount the ,lord relates a parable about a wise and a foolish builder4 ,the foolish builder set up his house on sand2 the wise builder built on rock4 ,by the rock1 however1 the ,lord would have us understand these sayings of ,mine 7,matt4 #g1 #bd74 ,paul speaks of the ,church to the ,ephesians thus3 ,ye are built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets1 ,jesus ,christ ,himself being the chief corner-stone 7chap4 #b1 #bj74 ,most fatal1 however1 to the ,catholic interpretation is the testimony of ,peter4 ,exhorting the ,christians to eager study of the ,word of the ,lord1 he goes on to say3 ,to whom coming1 as unto a living stone1 disallowed indeed of men1 but chosen of ,god1 and precious1 ye also1 as lively stones1 are built up a spiritual house1 an holy priesthood1 to offer up spiritual sacrifices1 acceptable to ,god by ,jesus ,christ4 ,wherefore also it is contained in the scripture1 ,behold1 ,i lay in ,sion a chief corner-stone1 elect1 precious2 and he that believeth on ,him shall not be confounded4 ,unto you therefore which believe ,he is precious1 but unto them which be disobedient1 the stone which the builders disallowed1 the same is made the head of the corner1 and a stone of stumbling1 and a rock of offense1 even to them which stumble at the ,word1 being disobedient 7#a ,pet4 #b1 #d-h74 ,here ,peter in the plainest and strongest terms declares ,christ to be the rock on which the ,church is built4 ,the scribes and ,pharisees rejected ,him1 as had been foretold1 but the common people who heard ,him gladly embraced ,his message of salvation1 and rested their faith on what ,he had taught them and done for them4 ,peter evidently did not understand the text in ,matthew as the ,catholics understand it4 ,peter in his ,epistle is really a heretic in what he says about the rock1 and if the ,catholics could spare him from under the ,church1 they ought to burn him4 ,instead of connecting the two parts of the statement3 ,thou art ,peter1 and1 ,upon this rock ,i will build ,my ,church1 as closely as ,catholics do1 the two parts ought to be kept separate4 ,what the ,lord says to ,peter may be paraphrased thus3 ,peter1 there was a time when you were merely ,simon1 ,jonas's son4 ,at that time you had thoughts and formed opinions about holy matters such as your flesh and blood1 your natural reason1 suggested to you4 ,all that is changed now that you are a ,peter1 a firm believer in the revelation which the ,father makes to men about ,me4 ,what you have confessed is the exact truth2 cling to that against all odds2 for upon this person whom you have confessed1 as upon a rock1 ,i will build ,my ,church4--,and now we may imagine that the ,lord1 while uttering the words1 upon this rock1 pointed to ,himself4 ,the text does not say that the ,lord made such a gesture2 we simply imagine this1 but our imagination is not only just as good as that of the ,catholics1 but better1 for the gesture which we assume agrees with the teachings of all the ,scriptures that speak of ,christ's person and work4 ,however1 the ,catholics remind us that ,christ gave to ,peter the keys of the kingdom of heaven and made him the doorkeeper of paradise4 ,yes1 so the text reads1 and with ,luther we should now inquire3 ,was it a brass1 or silver1 or golden1 or wooden key8 ,is the lock on the gate of heaven a common padlock1 or like the cunning contrivances which are nowadays employed in safety vaults8 ,catholics are very much offended when one speaks thus of the keys of ,peter4 ,they say sarcasm is out of place in such holy matters4 ,that is quite true2 but1 again with ,luther1 we would urge that the keys of which we are speaking sarcastically are not the keys in ,matt4 #af1 #aj1 but the keys in the ,catholic imagination4 ,and these latter one can hardly treat with reverence4 ,the ,catholics must admit that no real key1 or anything resembling a key1 was given to ,peter by ,christ4 ,the language in this text is figurative3 the words which follow state the ,lord's meaning in plain terms4 ,the power of the keys is the preaching of the forgiveness of sins to penitent sinners1 and the withholding of grace from those who do not repent4 ,if that is admitted to be the meaning1 we need turn only one leaf in our ,bible1 and read what is stated in ,matt4 #ah1 #ah4 ,there the ,lord confers the same authority on all the disciples which ,he is said in ,matt4 #af1 #ai to have conferred on ,peter exclusively4 ,on this latter occasion ,peter1 if the ,catholics have the right view of the keys1 ought to have interposed an objection and said to the ,lord1 ,what you give to the others is my property4 ,evidently ,peter did not connect the same meaning with the words of ,christ about the keys as the ,catholics4 ,christ spoke of this matter once more1 and in terms still plainer1 at the meeting on ,easter ,eve1 and again addressed all the disciples4 ,again ,peter made no complaint4 7,john #bj47 ,it should be noted 1 moreover1 that in this entire text in ,matthew the ,lord speaks in the future tense3 ,i will build1 ,i will give4 ,the words do not really confer a grant1 but are at best a promise4 ,it is necessary now that the ,catholics find a complement to this text in ,matthew1 a text which relates that ,christ actually carried out later what ,he promised to ,peter in ,matt4 #af1 #ah4 #ai4 ,the ,lord seems to have forgotten the fulfilment of ,his promise1 and the matter seems to have slipped ,peter's mind1 too2 for we are not told that he reminded the ,lord of ,his promise1 though he asked him on another occasion what would be the reward of his discipleship4 7,matt4 #ai1 #bg ff47 ,luther has1 furthermore1 appealed to the ,catholics to prove from the ,scriptures that ,peter ever exercised such an authority as they claim for him4 ,if ,peter had been created the prince of the apostles or the visible head of the ,church1 we should expect to find evidence in our ,bible that ,peter acted as a privileged person and was so regarded by the other apostles4 ,but we may read through the entire book of ,acts and all the apostolic epistles3 they tell us very minutely how the ,church was planted in many lands1 how it grew and spread1 but there is not even a faint hint that ,peter was regarded as the primate1 or ,pope1 in his day4 ,when a certain question of doctrine was to be decided in which the congregations of ,paul were interested1 ,paul did not lay the matter before ,peter to obtain his judgment on it1 but referred it to a council of the ,church4 ,at this council many spoke1 and it was not ,peter's1 but ,james's speech which finally decided the matter4 7,acts #ae47 ,when ,philip had organized congregations in ,samaria1 the church at ,jerusalem sent ,peter and ,john to visit them4 ,peter did not assume control of these churches by his own right1 nor had ,philip in the first place directed the ,samaritans to ,peter as their head4 7,acts #h1 #ad ff47 ,we have thirteen letters of ,paul1 three of ,john1 besides the ,revelation1 one of ,james1 and one of ,jude4 ,the state of the ,church1 its affairs and development1 are the subject-matter of all these writings1 but not one of them reveals the popedom of ,peter4 ,yea1 ,peter himself has written two epistles and appears utterly ignorant of the fact that the ,lord had created him ,his vicegerent and the visible head of the ,church4 ,the ,catholic argument for the ,god-given supremacy of their ,pope1 however1 becomes perfectly reckless when we bear in mind that their banner text speaks only of ,peter1 but says nothing at all about ,peter's successors4 ,if ,peter possessed the supremacy that ,catholics claim for him1 how and by what right did he dispose of it at his death8 ,how did this power become attached to ,rome8 ,on all these questions the ,bible is silent4 ,catholics construct a skilful argument from fragmentary and doubtful historical records1 which are not ,god's ,word1 to show that ,peter chore ,rome as his episcopal see1 and therewith transferred his primacy for all time to this place4 ,to fabricate a dogma that is to be binding on the consciences of all ,christians in such a way is daring impudence4 ,the devout ,catholic must close his eyes to all history if he is to believe that ,christ really appointed a ,pope4 ,when he reads the history of the ,popes1 and comes to the period of the papal schism1 when the ,church had not only one1 but two visible heads1 one residing at ,rome1 the other at ,avignon1 yea1 when he reads of three contestants for papal honors1 and beholds the ,church as a tricephalous monster1 he must stop thinking4 ,luther regarded the papacy as the most monstrous fraud that has been practised on ,christianity4 ,in its gradual and persistent development and the success with which it has maintained itself through all reverses1 it impresses one as something uncanny4 ,it requires more than human wiliness to originate1 foster1 perfect1 and support such a thoroughly unbiblical and antichristian institution4 ,luther spoke of the papal deception as one of the signs foreboding the end of the world4 ,he has not spoken in delicate terms of the ,popes4 ,his most virulent utterances are directed against the ,vicar of ,christ at ,rome4 ,he traces the papacy to diabolical origin4 ,when he lays bare the shocking perversions of revealed truths of which ,rome has been guilty1 and talks about the foul practises of the ,popes and their courtesans1 ,luther's language becomes appalling4 ,in a series of twenty-six cartoons ,luther's friend ,cranach depicted the rule of ,christ and ,antichrist4 ,the series was published under the title ,passional ,christi und ,antichristi4 7#ad1 #ahd ff47 ,by placing alongside of one another scenes from the life of the ,lord and scenes from the lives of the ,popes1 the artist displayed very effectually the contrast between the true religion which the ,redeemer had taught men by ,his ,word and example1 and the false religiousness which was represented by the papacy4 ,on the one side was humility1 on the other1 pride2 poverty was shown in contrast with wealth2 meekness was placed over and against arrogance1 etc4 ,at a glance the people saw the chasm that yawned between the preaching and practise of ,jesus and that of ,his pretended representative and vicar1 and they verified the pictures showing the ,pope in various attitudes from their own experience4 ,these cartoons became very popular1 and have maintained their popularity till the most recent times4 ,during the ,kulturkampf which the ,german government under ,bismarck waged against the aggressive policy of the ,vatican1 the ,german painter ,hofmann issued a new edition of the ,passionale1 and ,emperor ,william ,i sent a copy to the ,pope with a warning letter4 ,catholics complain about the rudeness and nastiness of these cartoons and others that followed4 ,luther is supposed to have furnished the rhymes and descriptive matter which accompanied them4 ,lather is also cited as uttering most repulsive and scurrilous sentiments about the ,pope4 ,what are we to say about this antipapal violence of ,luther8 ,certainly1 it is not a pleasant subject4 ,we are in this instance facing essentially the same situation as that which confronted us when we studied ,luther's coarseness 7chap4 #e71 and all that was said in that connection applies with equal force to the subject now before us4 ,one may deplore the necessity of these passionate outbursts ever so much1 but when all the evidence in the case has been gathered and the jury begins to sift the evidence and weigh the arguments on either side1 there is at the worst a drawn jury4 ,all who have truly sounded the mystery of iniquity which has been set up in the ,church by the papacy will affirm ,luther's sentiments about the ,pope as true4 ,it is necessary1 however1 to point out certain facts that may be regarded as additional argument to what was said in chap4 #e4 ,in the first place1 the cartoon is a recognized weapon in polemics4 ,the struggle of the ,protestants against the ,pope was not altogether a religious and spiritual one2 political matters were discussed together with affairs of religion at every ,german diet in those days4 ,the age was rude and largely illiterate4 ,many who could never have made any sense out of a page of printed matter1 very easily understood a picture4 ,it conveyed truthful information1 though in a form that hurt1 as cartoons usually do1 and it roused a healthy sentiment against a very malignant evil in the ,church and in the body politic4 ,if the ,popes would keep out of politics1 they and their followers would enjoy more quiet nerves4 ,in the second place1 it should be borne in mind that the claim of papal supremacy is no small and innocent matter4 ,the ,popes wrested to themselves the supreme spiritual and temporal power in the world4 ,they pretended to be the custodians of heaven1 the directors of purgatory1 and the lords of the earth4 ,across the history of the world in the era of ,luther is written in all directions the one word ,,rome4 ,it is ,rome at the altar swinging the censer1 ,rome in the panoply of battle storming trenches and steeping her hands in gore1 ,rome in the councils of kings1 ,rome in the halls of guilds1 ,rome in the booth of the trader at a town-fair1 ,rome in the judge's seat1 ,rome in the professor's chair1 ,rome receiving ambassadors from1 and dispatching nuncios to1 foreign courts1 ,rome dictating treaties to nations and arranging the cook's menu1 ,rome labeling the huckster's cart and the vintner's crop1 ,rome levying a tax upon the nuptial bed1 ,rome exacting toll at the gate of heaven4 ,out of the wreck of the imperial ,rome of the ,caesars has risen papal ,rome4 ,once more1 though through different agents1 the ,city of the ,seven ,hills is ruling an orbis terrarum ,romanus1 a ,roman world-empire4 ,the rule extends through nearly a thousand years4 ,how deftly do cunning priests manipulate every means at their command to increase their power6 ,learning1 wealth1 beauty1 art1 piety1--everything is used as an asset in the ambitious game for absolute supremacy which the mitered vicegerent of ,christ is playing against the world4 ,rome's ancient pontifex maximus --the pagan high priest of the ,rome before ,christ--had been a tool of the consuls and the ,caesars2 the new pontiff makes the ,caesars his tools4 ,princes kiss his feet and hold the stirrup for him as he mounts his bedizened palfrey4 ,an emperor stands barefoot in the snow of the ,pope's courtyard suing pardon for having dared to govern without the ,pope's sanction4--,the forests of ,germany are reverberating with the blows of axes which ,rome's missionaries wield against ,donar's ,oaks4 ,the sanctuaries of pagan ,germany are razed4 ,out of the wood of idols crucifixes are erected along the highways4 ,chapels and abbeys and cathedrals rise where the aurochs was hunted4 ,sturdy barbarians bend the knee at the shrines of saints4 ,hosts set out to see the land where the ,lord had walked and suffered1 and brave all dangers and hardships to wrest its possession from infidel hands4 ,but at the place where all these activities center1 and whence they are being fed1 a shocking abomination is seen3 ,venus is worshiped1 and ,bacchus1 and ,mercurius1 and ,mars1 while white-robed choirs chant praises to the mother of ,god1 and clouds of incense are wafted skyward4 ,here is a mystery--a mystery of iniquity3 the son of perdition in the temple of ,god6 ,proud1 haughty ,rome1 wealthy1 wicked and wanton1 is filling up her measure of wrath against the day of retribution4--,we are now so far removed from these scenes that they seem unreal2 in ,luther's days they were decidedly real4 ,rome's aggressiveness has been perceptibly checked during the last four centuries2 in ,luther's days papal pretensions were a more formidable proposition4 ,human arrogance may be said to have reached its limit in the papacy4 ,the ,pope is practically a ,god on earth4 ,sitting in the temple of ,god as ,god1 he is showing himself that he is ,god 7#b ,thess4 #b1 #d74 ,he has been addressed by his followers in terms of the ,deity4 ,when the ,pope thinks1 it is ,god thinking1 wrote the papal organ of ,rome1 the ,civilta ,cattolica1 in #ahfi4 ,he has asserted the right to make laws for ,christians1 and to dispense with the laws of the ,almighty4 ,although this seemed a superfluous proceeding1 he declared himself infallible on ,july #ah1 #ahgj4 ,under a glowering sky1 as if ,heaven frowned angrily at the ,pope's attempt1 ,plus ,,ix had entered ,st4 ,peter's4 ,as a second ,moses he mounted the papal throne to read the ,constitution ,aeternus ,pater1 the document in which he made the following claims3 ,canon ,,iii3 ,if any one says that the ,roman ,pontiff has only authority to inspect and direct1 but not plenary and supreme authority of jurisdiction over the entire ,church1 not only in matters which relate to faith and morals1 but also in matters that belong to the discipline and government of the ,church scattered through the whole earth2 or that he has only the more eminent part of such authority1 but not the full plenitude of this supreme authority2 or that this authority of his is not his ordinary authority which he holds from no intermediary1 and that it does not extend over all churches and every single one of them1 over all pastors and every single one of them1 over all the faithful and every single one of them1 --let him be accursed6 ,canon ,,iv3 ,with the approval of the ,sacred ,council we teach and declare it to be a dogma revealed from heaven that the ,roman ,pontiff1 when he speaks ex cathedra1 that is1 when1 in accordance with his supreme apostolic authority1 be discharges his office as ,pastor and ,teacher of all ,christians1 and defines a doctrine relating to the faith or morals which is to be embraced by the entire ,church1 he is1 by divine assistance promised to him in the blessed ,peter1 vested with that infallibility with which the divine ,redeemer desired ,his ,church to be endowed in defining the doctrine of faith and morals2 and that for this reason such definitions of the ,roman ,pontiff are in their very nature1 not1 however1 by reason of the consent of the ,church1 unchangeable4 ,if--which ,god may avert6--any one should presume to contradict this definition of ours1--let him be accursed6 ,amid flashes of lightning and peals of thunder this document was read to a council whose membership had shrunk during seven months of deliberation from #gfg to #edg attendants1--#bgg qualified members had never put in an appearance1--and of these all but two had been cowed into abject submission4 ,when one recalls scenes like these1 and remembers that ,catholic teaching on justification attacks the very heart of ,christianity1 anything that ,luther has said about the ,popes appears mild4 ,such heaven-storming and ,god-defying arrogance deserves to be dragged through the mire--with apologies to the mire4 #ba4 ,luther the ,translator of the ,bible4 ,a violent attack upon ,luther by ,catholic writers is caused by the admiration which ,protestants manifest for ,luther because he translated the ,bible into ,german4 ,catholics1 of course1 cannot deny that ,luther did translate the ,bible1 and that his translation is still a cherished treasure of ,protestants2 but in order to belittle this achievement of ,luther1 which inflicted incalculable damage on ,rome1 they talk about ,luther's unfitness for the work of ,bible-translation and about the unwarranted liberties ,luther took with the ,bible4 ,these writers claim that ,luther was1 in the first place1 morally unfit to undertake the translation of the ,bible4 ,to show to what desperate means ,luther's ,catholic critics will resort in order to make out a case against him1 we note that one of the most recent disparagers of ,luther informs the public that ,luther's original name had been ,luder4 ,this name conveys the idea of carrion1 beast1 low scoundrel4 ,when ,luther began to translate the ,bible1 we are told1 he changed his name into ,squire ,george4 ,once before this1 at the time of his entering the university1 ,catholics note that he changed his name from ,luder to ,lueder4 ,but these changes of his name1 they say1 did not improve his character4 ,we are told that1 while ,luther was engaged upon the work of rendering the ,bible into ,german1 he was consumed with fleshly lust and given to laziness4 ,luther's own statements in letters to friends are cited to corroborate this assertion4 ,the conclusion which we are to draw from these facts is this3 ,such a corrupt person could not possibly be a proper instrument for the ,holy ,spirit to employ in so pious an undertaking as the translation of the ,word of ,god4 ,catholics should be reminded that they misquote the book of matriculation in which the students at ,erfurt signed their names on entering the university4 ,luther's signature is not ,lueder but ,ludher4 ,other forms of the name ,luder and ,lueder occur elsewhere4 ,but in any form the name has a more honorable derivation and meaning than ,catholic writers are inclined to give it4 ,it is derived from ,luither1 which means as much as ,people's ,man1 7 der ,leute ,herr74 ,another well-known form of the same name is ,lothar1 which some1 tracing the derivation still further1 derive from the old ,german ,chlotachar1 which means as much as loudly hailed among the army 7 hluit1 loud1 and chari1 army74 ,respectable scholars to-day so explain the name ,luther4 ,at the ,wartburg1 where ,luther was an exile for ten months1 his name was changed by the warden of the castle1 ,count von ,berlepsch4 ,this was done the better to conceal his identity from the henchmen of ,rome1 who by the imperial edict of outlawry had been given liberty to hunt ,luther and slay him where they found him4 ,the sexual condition of ,luther during the years before his marriage was the normal condition of any healthy young man at his age4 ,luther speaks of this matter as a person nowadays would speak about it to his physician or to a close friend4 ,the matter to which he refers is in itself perfectly pure3 it is an appeal of nature4 ,do ,luther's ,catholic critics mean to infer that ,luther was the only monk1 then or now1 that felt this call which human nature issues by the ordination of the ,creator8 ,rome can inflict celibacy even on priests that look like stall-fed oxen1 but she cannot unsex men4 ,mohammedans are less inhuman to their eunuchs4 ,moreover1 it must be borne in mind that ,luther complains of this matter as something that disturbs him4 ,it vexed his pure mind1 and he fought against it as not many monks of his day have done1 by fasting1 prayer1 and hard work4 ,yes1 hard work6 ,the remarks of ,luther about his physical condition are simply twisted from their true import when ,luther is represented as a victim of fleshly lust and a habitual debauchee4 ,luther's ,catholic critics fail to mention that during his brief stay at the ,wartburg ,luther not only translated the greater part of the ,new ,testament1 but also wrote about a dozen treatises1 some of them of considerable size1 and that of his correspondence during this period about fifty letters are still preserved4 ,surely1 a fairly respectable record for a lazy man6 ,catholic writers also declare ,luther spiritually unfit for translating the ,bible4 ,they say that all the time that ,luther spent at the ,wartburg he was haunted by the devil4 ,he would hear strange noises and see weird shadows flit before him4 ,he felt that he had come under the sway of the powers of darkness4 ,this1 we are assured1 was because he had risen in rebellion against the divine power of the papacy4 ,the ,holy ,father whom he had attacked was being avenged upon ,luther by an accusing conscience4 ,luther was given a foretaste of the terrors that await the reprobate4 ,he had become an incipient demoniac4 ,the inference which we are to draw from this delightful description is this3 ,could such an abandoned wretch as ,luther was during the exile at the ,wartburg be favored with the holy calm and composure and the heavenly light which any person must possess who sets out upon the arduous task of telling men in their own tongue what ,god has said to them in a foreign tongue8 ,there is hardly a period in ,luther's life that is entirely free from spiritual affliction4 ,in this respect ,luther shares the common lot of godly men in responsible positions in ,church or ,state during critical times4 ,moreover1 ,luther with all ,christians believed in a personal and incessantly active devil4 ,luther's devil was not the denatured metaphysical and scientific devil of modern times1 which meets us in the form of the principle of negation1 or logical contradiction1 or a demoralizing tendency and influence1 but an energetic devil1 possessed of an intelligence and will of his own1 and going about as a roaring lion1 seeking whom he may devour4 ,luther accepted the teaching of the ,bible that this devil is related to men's sinning1 that men can be made to do1 and are doing1 his will1 and are led about by the devil like slaves4 ,luther knew that for ,his own reasons ,god permits the devil to afflict ,his children1 as happened to ,job and ,paul4 ,add to this the reaction that must have set in after ,luther had quitted the stirring scenes and the severe ordeals through which he had passed before the imperial court at ,worms4 ,in the silence and solitude of his secluded asylum in the ,thuringian ,forest the recent events in which he had been a principal actor passed in review before his mind1 and he began to spell out many a grave and ominous meaning from them4 ,if it is true that the devil loves to find a lonely man1 here was his chance4 ,and if the devil ever had material interests at stake in attacking a particular person1 he made no mistake in assailing this isolated monk1 ,martin ,luther1 in his moments of brooding and depression4 ,lastly1 ,luther's physical condition at the ,wartburg must be taken into consideration4 ,trained to frugal habits in the cloister and habituated to fasts and mortification of the flesh1 ,luther found the new mode of living which he was compelled to adopt uncongenial4 ,he was the guest of a prince and was treated like a nobleman4 ,the rich and abundant food that was served him was a disastrous diet for him1 even though he did not yield overmuch to his appetite4 ,he complains in his letters to friends during the ,wartburg period about his physical distress1 chiefly constipation1 to which he was constitutionally prone4 ,but after all these elements have been noted1 it must be stated that the reports about diabolical visitations to which ,luther was subject at the ,wartburg are overdrawn for a purpose by ,catholics4 ,luther's references to this matter in his letters written at the time suggest only spiritual conflicts1 but no physical contact with the devil4 ,reminiscences of his first exile which he relates at a much later period to the guests at his table are also exaggerated4 ,these soul-battles1 far from unfitting him for the work of translating the ,bible1 were rather a fine training-school through which ,god put ,his humble servant1 and helped him to understand the sacred text over which he sat poring in deep meditation4 ,lastly1 ,catholic critics have pronounced ,luther intellectually disqualified for translating the ,bible4 ,his ,greek scholarship1 they say1 was poor4 ,he had barely begun to study that language4 ,it stands to reason that his translation must be very faulty4 ,they also emphasize the rapidity with which ,luther worked4 ,the translation of the entire ,new ,testament was completed between ,december #h1 #aeba1 and ,september #bb the following year4 7,it will be remembered that ,luther had returned to ,wittenberg in the first days of ,march1 #aebb1 and all through the spring and summer of that year was busily engaged1 with the aid of friends1 on his ,german ,new ,testament47 ,finally1 ,catholics1 in their efforts to belittle ,luther's works1 have claimed that he plagiarized a ,german translation already in existence1 the so-called ,codex ,teplensis4 ,it seems a mere waste of time to answer these criticisms4 ,they remind one of a scene in the life of ,columbus3 the learned ,catholic divines of ,salamanca had to their own satisfaction routed the bold navigator with their arguments that he could not possibly start out by his proposed route4 ,no doubt1 some of them contended that he never made his famous voyage even after his return4 ,what profit can there be in arguing the impossibility of a thing when the reality confronts you8 ,luther's translation is before the world2 everybody who knows ,greek can compare it with the original text4 ,the ,teplensian translation1 too1 can be looked into4 ,in fact1 all this has been done by competent scholars1 and ,luther's translation has been pronounced a masterpiece4 ,not only does it reproduce the original text faithfully1 but it speaks a good and correct ,german4 ,luther's translation of the ,bible is now regarded as one of the classics of ,german literature4 ,it is true that the philological attainments of the world have increased since ,luther1 and that improvements in his translations have been suggested1 but they do not affect any essential teaching of the ,christian religion4 ,bible commentators to-day are still citing ,luther's rendering as an authority4 ,the movement recently started in ,germany to replace ,luther's translation by a modern one deserves little consideration because it originated in quarters that are professedly hostile to ,christianity4 ,the things in ,luther's ,german ,bible which vex ,catholics most are in the original ,greek text4 ,luther did not manufacture them1 he merely reproduced them4 ,it is the fact that ,luther made it possible for ,germans to see what is really in the ,bible that hurts4 ,to please the ,catholics1 ,luther should not have translated the ,bible at all4 ,the truth of this remark is readily seen when one examines specific exceptions which ,catholics have taken to ,luther's translation4 ,they find fault with ,luther's translation of the angel's address to ,mary3 ,du ,holdselige1 that is1 ,thou gracious one1 or well-favored one4 ,the ,catholics demand that this term should be rendered full of grace1 because in their belief ,mary is really the chief dispenser of grace4 ,they complain that in ,matt4 #c1 #b ,luther has rendered the ,baptist's call3 ,tut ,busse1 that is1 ,repent1 instead of1 ,do penance4 ,they fault ,luther for translating in ,acts #ai1 #ah3 ,und verkuendigten1 was sie ausgerichtet hatten1 that is1 ,they reported what they had accomplished4 ,catholics regard this text as a stronghold for their doctrine of confession1 especially for that part of it which makes satisfaction by works of penance a part of confession2 they insist that the text must be rendered3 ,they declared their deeds1 that is1 the works which they had performed by order of their confessors4 ,catholics charge ,luther with having inserted a word in ,rom4 #d1 #ae1 which he translates3 ,das ,gesetz richtet nur ,zorn an1 that is1 ,the law worketh only wrath1 or nothing but wrath4 ,they object to the word only1 because in their view man can by his own natural powers make himself love the ,law4 ,they set up a great hue and cry about another insertion in ,rom4 #c1 #bh1 which ,luther translates3 ,so halten wir es nun1 dass der ,mensch gerecht werde ohne des ,gesetzes ,werk'1 allein durch den ,glauben1 that is1 ,we conclude1 therefore1 that a man is justified without the deeds of the ,law1 by faith alone2 they object to the word alone1 because in their teaching justification is by faith plus works4 ,it is known that there are translations before ,luther which contain the same insertion4 ,on this insertion ,luther deserves to be heard himself4 ,i knew full well1 he says1 that in the ,latin and ,greek texts of ,rom4 #c1 #bh the word solum 7alone7 does not occur1 and there was no need of the papists teaching me that4 ,true1 these four letters sola1 at which the dunces stare as a cow at a new barn-door1 are not in the text4 ,but they do not see that they express the meaning of the text1 and they must be inserted if we wish to clearly and forcibly translate the text4 ,when ,i undertook to translate the ,bible into ,german1 my aim was to speak ,german1 not ,latin or ,greek4 ,now1 it is a peculiarity of our ,german language1 whenever a statement is made regarding two things1 one of which is affirmed while the other is negatived1 to add the word solum1 'alone1' to the word 'not' or 'none4' ,as1 for instance3 ,the peasant brings only grain1 and no money4 ,again3 ,indeed1 ,i have no money now1 but only grain4 ,as yet ,i have only eaten1 and not drunk4 ,have you only written1 and not read what you have written8 ,innumerable instances of this kind are in daily usage4 ,while the ,latin or the ,greek language does not do this1 the ,german has this peculiarity1 that in all statements of this kind it adds the word 'only' 7or 'alone'71 in order to express the negation completely and clearly4 ,for1 though ,i may say3 ,the peasant brings grain and no money1 still the expression 'no money' is not as perfect and plain as when ,i say3 ,the peasant brings grain only1 and no money4 ,thus the word 'alone' or 'only' helps the word 'no' to become a complete1 clear ,german statement4 ,when you wish to speak ,german1 you must not consult the letters in the ,latin language1 as these dunces are doing1 but you must inquire of a mother how she talks to her children1 of the children how they talk to each other on the street1 of the common people on the market-place4 ,watch them how they frame their speech1 and make your translation accordingly1 and they will understand it and know that some one is speaking ,german to them4 ,for instance1 ,christ says3 ,ex abundantia cordis os loquitur4 ,if ,i were to follow the dunces1 ,i would have to spell out those words and translate3 ',aus dem ,ueberfluss des ,herzens redet der ,mund6' ,tell me1 would that be ,german8 ,what ,german would understand that8 ,what sort of thing is 'abundance of heart 7,ueberfluss des ,herzens7' 8 ,no ,german person could explain that1 unless he were to say that1 possibly1 the person had enlargement of the heart1 or too much heart4 ,and that would not be the correct meaning4 ',ueberfluss des ,herzens' is not ,german1 as little as it is ,german to say ',ueberfluss des ,hauses 7abundance of house71 ,ueberfluss des ,kachelofens 7abundance of tile-oven71 ,ueberfluss der ,bank 7abundance of bench74' ,this is the way the mother speaks to her children and the common people to one another3 ',wes das ,herz voll ist1 des gehet der ,mund ueber4' ,that is the way to speak good ,german4 ,that is what ,i have endeavored to do1 but ,i did not succeed nor achieve my aim in all instances4 ,latin terms are an exceedingly great hindrance to one who wishes to talk good ,german4 7#ai1 #igd47 ,in insisting on the principle that a translation must reproduce the exact thought of a language1 that idiomatic utterances of the one language must be replaced by similar utterances in the other1 and that the genius of both the language from which and the one into which the translation is made must be observed by the translator1 ,luther has every rhetoric and grammar on his side4 ,those who find fault with him on this score deserve no better titles than those which he applied to them1 all the more because he knew the true reason of their faultfinding4 ,the ,catholic charges of ,bible perversion against ,luther flow1 not from a knowledge of good grammar1 but from bad theology4 ,luther was1 of course1 fundamentally in error according to the opinion of ,catholics by not making his translation from the approved and authorized ,latin ,vulgate1 the official ,catholic ,bible1 but from the ,greek original4 ,to return favor for favor1 we shall note a few places where ,catholics might bring their own ,bible into better harmony with the original text4 ,in ,gen4 #c1 #ae their translation reads3 ,she shall crush thy head1 and thou shalt lie in wait for her heel4 ,this rendering has been adopted in order to enable them to refer this primeval prophecy of the future ,redeemer to ,mary4 ,gen4 #d1 #ac they have rendered3 ,my iniquity is greater than that ,i may deserve pardon4 ,this is to favor their teaching of justification on the basis of merit4 ,the rendering ,speak not much for ,use not vain repetitions in ,matt4 #f1 #g weakens the force of the ,lord's warning4 ,in ,rom4 #ad1 #e the ,catholic ,bible tells its readers3 ,let every man abound in his own sense1 whatever the sense of that direction may be4 ,what the apostle really means is3 ,let every man be fully persuaded in his own mind4 ,in ,gal4 #c1 #bd the ,catholic ,bible calls the ,law our pedagog in ,christ2 the correct rendering is3 our schoolmaster to bring us unto ,christ4 ,in the ,catholic ,bible the following remarkable event takes place in ,luke #af1 #bb3 ,the rich man also died3 and he was buried in hell4 ,the pall-bearers1 funeral director1 and mourners at these obsequies deserve a double portion of our sympathy4 ,in ,acts #b1 #db we are told that the disciples at ,jerusalem were persevering in the communication of the breaking of the bread4 ,the last verse in ,galatians1 chap4 #d1 is made to read3 ,so then1 brethren1 we are not the children of the bondwoman1 but of the free3 by the freedom wherewith ,christ has made us free4 ,the next chapter begins3 ,stand fast1 etc4 ,luther has expressed opinions of certain books of the ,bible which question their divine authorship4 ,these opinions are being assiduously canvassed by ,catholic writers to prove that ,luther accepted only such portions of the ,bible as suited his purpose1 and rejected all the rest as spurious4 ,he is said to have arrogated to himself the authority to declare any book of the ,scriptures inspired or not inspired1 and is1 therefore1 justly regarded as the father of the higher criticism of modern times1 which has taken the ,bible to pieces and destroyed its power4 ,but ,catholic writers fail to state that the uncertainty which ,luther occasionally manifests regarding the divine origin and authenticity of certain books of the ,bible is due to the confusion which the ,catholic ,church has created by decreeing that the apocryphal books shall be considered on a par with the canonical writings of the ,bible4 ,setting aside the verdict of the ancient ,church1 and even of their famous church-father ,jerome1 the ,catholic ,church has by an arbitrary decree ruled the following books into the ,bible3 #a ,esdras1 #b ,esdras1 ,tobit1 ,judith1 ,the ,rest of ,esther1 ,the ,wisdom of ,solomon1 ,ecclesiasticus 7,sirach71 ,baruch1 with the ,epistle of ,jeremiah1 ,the ,song of the ,three ,holy ,children1 ,the ,history of ,susanna1 ,bel and the ,dragon1 ,the ,prayer of ,manasses1 #a and #b ,maccabees4 ,these writings are called apocrypha because their divine origin is in doubt4 ,scrupulously careful to keep the divinely inspired writings separate from all other writings1 no matter how godly their contents might seem to be1 the ,church of the ,old ,covenant excluded these writings from the canon1 that is1 from the list of fully accredited inspired writings4 ,besides1 in the ,catholic ,bible in ,luther's days there were apocryphal portions inserted in canonical writings like ,esther4 ,in the course of his studies ,luther learned that certain writings in the ,catholic ,bible represented as ,biblical were no part of the ,bible4 ,acting upon the direction which the ,lord gave to the ,jews3 ,search the ,scriptures 4 4 4 they are they which testify of ,me 7,john #e1 #ci71 he considered this a good test of the genuineness of any portion of the ,bible1 viz41 that it conveyed to him knowledge of ,christ and the way of salvation4 ,the ,bible1 he held1 can speak only for1 never against ,christ4 ,by this principle he determined for himself the respective value of various writings in the ,bible4 ,ecclesiastes and ,jonah did not appeal to him as very full of ,christ4 ,in the ,new ,testament he seems strongly attracted by the ,gospel of ,john4 ,but there are statements in his writings in which he expresses a preference for ,matthew1 ,mark1 and ,luke4 ,one must understand ,luther's view-point and aim on a given occasion to grasp these valuations4 ,in regard to ,job he expressed the opinion that the book is dramatic rather than historical3 it does not relate actual occurrences1 but rather points a moral in the form of a narrative4 ,in the ,new ,testament the overgreat emphasis which he thought ,james placed on works as against faith caused him to depreciate this ,epistle and to question its apostolic authorship4 ,luther also knew that in the earliest centuries of the ,christian era the question had been raised whether ,second ,peter1 ,jude1 ,james1 ,revelation1 really belonged in the canon4 ,unbiased readers will see in all these remarks of ,luther nothing but the earnest struggle of a sincere soul to get at the real ,word of ,god4 ,a person may express a preference for certain portions of the ,bible without declaring all the rest of the ,bible worthless4 ,doubts concerning the divine character of certain1 portions of the ,scripture arise and are occasionally expressed by the best of ,christians4 ,but ,luther's critical attitude toward certain books of the ,bible is either misunderstood or misrepresented when it is made to appear that ,luther permanently rejected1 or tore out of his ,bible1 such books as ,esther1 ,jonah1 ,ecclesiastes1 ,second ,peter1 ,james1 ,hebrews1 ,jude1 and ,revelation4 ,some ,catholics go so far as to charge ,luther with having rejected the ,pentateuch1 the first five books in the ,bible1 because he speaks slightingly of ,moses' law as a means of justification4 ,not only did ,luther translate and take into his ,german ,bible all the writings just named1 but he also cites them in his doctrinal writings as proof-texts4 ,in the ,index of ,scripture citations which ,dr4 ,hoppe1 the editor of the only complete edition of ,luther's works printed in ,america1 has added to the last volume we find #aa such references to ,job1 #ab to ,ecclesiastes1 #f to ,jonah1 #dh to ,second ,peter1 #ah to ,james1 #f to ,jude1 #fa to ,hebrews1 #ag to ,revelation4 ,we have counted only such references as show that ,luther employed these writings as divine in his doctrinal arguments4 ,by actual enumeration it would be found that he has referred to them much more frequently4 ,on ,jonah1 ,second ,peter1 and ,jude he wrote special commentaries1 and for all the books of the ,bible he furnished illuminating summaries1 in some cases1 as in ,revelation1 the summaries are furnished chapter for chapter4 ,this goes to prove that ,luther had ultimately reached very clear and settled opinions regarding the authenticity and divine character of those books of the ,bible which he is charged with having blasphemously criticized4 ,luther's criticism of these portions of the ,bible is the most respectable criticism that has come to our knowledge4 ,it shows his scrupulous care not to admit anything as being ,god's ,word of the divine origin of which he was not fully convinced4 ,it is ,rome1 not ,luther1 that has vitiated the ,bible and created confusion in ,christian minds1 by admitting into the sacred volume portions which do not belong there4 ,luther's questioning attitude towards the books of the ,bible1 which we have named is the attitude of the early ,christians4 ,there was doubt expressed in the first centuries as to the genuineness of these books1 and it required convincing information in those days when facilities for communication were poor to secure the adoption of the books which we now have in the ,bible4 ,why do not the ,catholics embrace the early ,christians in their charge of ,bible mutilation8 ,nor were those early ,christians who questioned the divine authorship of certain books about the origin of which they had no definite knowledge any less ,christian than those who had convincing information about them4 ,for the former possessed in the writings which they had accepted as authentic the same truths which the latter had embraced4 ,luther voices his profound reverence for the ,scriptures in innumerable places throughout his writings4 ,the ,holy ,scriptures1 he says1 did not grow on earth4 7#g1 #bjid47 ,again3 ,when studying the ,scriptures1 you must reflect that it is ,god ,himself who is speaking to you4 7#c1 #ba47 ,again3 ,the ,scriptures are older and possess greater authority than all ,councils and ,fathers4 ,moreover1 all the angels side with ,god and the ,scriptures4 4 4 4 ,if age1 duration1 greatness1 multitude of followers1 holiness1 are inducements to believe something1 why do we believe men who live but a short time rather than ,god1 who is the ,oldest1 the ,greatest1 the ,holiest1 the ,mightiest of all8 ,why do we not believe all the angels1 since a single one of them has greater authority than the ,pope8 ,why do we not believe the ,bible1 when one passage of ,scripture outweighs all the books in the world8 7#ai1 #agcd47 ,again3 ,the ,bible alone is the true lord and master over all writings on earth4 ,if this is not so1 of what use is the ,bible8 ,then let us cast it aside1 and be satisfied with the books and teachings of men4 7#ae1 #adha47 ,again3 ,all ,scripture is full of ,christ1 the ,son of ,god and ,mary4 ,its sole object is to teach us to know ,him as a distinct person1 and that through ,him we may in eternity behold the ,father and the ,holy ,ghost1 one ,god4 ,the ,scriptures are ajar to him who has the ,son1 and in the same proportion as his faith in ,christ increases the ,scriptures become clear to him 7#c1 #aiei47 ,how little ,luther would have in common with the destructive higher critics of the ,bible in our day1 we can gather from the following statement3 ,if cutting and tearing the ,bible to pieces were a great art1 what a famous ,bible would ,i produce6 ,especially if ,i were to lay my hand on the important passages1 those on which the articles of our faith rest4 4 4 4 ,my position1 then1 is this3 ,in view of the fact that our faith is supported by ,holy ,writ1 we must not depart from its words as they read1 nor from the order in which they are placed4 4 4 4 ,otherwise1 what is to become of the ,bible8 7#bj1 #bac47 #bb4 ,luther a ,preacher of ,violence against the ,hierarchy4 ,in his fight against papal supremacy ,luther discovered that the ,roman priesthood was the ,pope's chief support4 ,the principle of community of interests had knitted both the higher and the lower clergy1 the cardinals1 archbishops1 bishops1 abbots1 priors1 parish priests1 monks1 etc41 together into one firmly compacted society4 ,all its members understood that they were working in a common cause1 and kept in constant and close rapport with one another3 ,what concerned one concerned all the rest4 ,each aided and abetted the other1 and all strove jointly to exalt their master1 the ,pope4 ,like a huge net the rule of priests was spread over mankind1 and all men1 with their spiritual and secular interests1 were caught in this net4 ,the system was called a hierarchy1 that is1 a holy government4 ,the priesthood and the holy orders were the ,pope's collateral4 ,all its members derived what authority they possessed from the ,pope2 their fortunes were bound up in the ,pope's4 ,this priest-rule ,luther overthrew by causing men to see the liberty with which ,christ has made them free4 ,catholic critics claim that by so doing ,luther rebelled against an ordinance of ,god4 ,we have shown in chapter #ah that ,luther acknowledges in the ,church of ,christ a ministry that exists by divine appointment4 ,hence the ,catholic charge that ,luther revolted from ,god when he disputed the divine right of the hierarchy is silly4 ,however1 ,luther is said to have recklessly encouraged the destruction of the episcopate1 and openly commanded sacrilege and murder to mobs4 ,the appeal of ,luther that the rule of bishops be exterminated is interpreted to mean that the bishops be exterminated4 ,this is one of the most wanton charges that could be preferred against ,luther4 ,by the ,theses against ,tetzel the attention of many prominent men in ,germany was attracted to ,luther4 ,princes and noblemen of the ,empire had for some time been studying from a secular point of view the evils which ,luther had begun to attack on spiritual grounds4 ,these men understood the character of the ,roman hierarchy much better than ,luther4 ,they saw at once that ,luther's action would lead to serious complication that might ultimately have to be settled with the sword4 ,when ,luther was still dreaming about convincing the ,pope with arguments from ,scripture1 ,german noblemen were preparing to defend him against physical violence4 ,they knew that the hierarchy would not without a fierce struggle submit to any curtailment of their power4 ,they offered ,luther armed support4 ,luther recoiled with horror from this suggestion4 ,in a letter from the ,wartburg which he wrote to his friend ,spalatin who was still tarrying at ,worms1 ,luther refers to one of these warlike knights as follows3 ,what ,hutten has in mind you can see from the writings of the knight which he enclosed4 ,i would not like to see men fight for the ,gospel with force and bloodshed4 ,i have answered that parson 7dem ,menschen7 accordingly4 ,by the ,word the world has been overcome1 the ,church has been preserved2 by the ,word it will also be restored4 ,as to ,antichrist1 he began his rule without physical force1 and will also be destroyed without physical force1 by the ,word4 7#ae1 #bejf47 ,the letter from which these words are quoted is dated ,january #af1 #aebb4 ,nine months before this date1 on ,may #ad1 when he had been on the ,wartburg about ten days1 ,luther writes to the same party3 ,it is for good reasons that ,i have not answered your letter ere this3 ,i hesitated from fear that the report recently gone out of my being held captive might prompt somebody to intercept my letters4 ,a great many things are related about me at this place2 however1 the opinion is beginning to prevail that ,i was captured by friends sent for this purpose from ,franconia4 ,to-morrow the safe-conduct granted me by the emperor expires4 ,i am sorry that1 as you write me1 there is an intention to apply the very severe imperial edict also for the purpose of exploring men's consciences2 not on my account1 but because they the papists are ill-advised in this and will bring misfortune on their own heads1 and because they continue to load themselves with very great odium4 ,oh1 what hatred will this shameless violence kindle6 ,however1 they may have their way2 perhaps the time of their visitation is near4 --,so far ,i have not heard from our people either at ,wittenberg or elsewhere4 ,about the time of our arrival at ,eisenach the young men the students at ,erfurt had1 during the night1 damaged a few priests' dwellings1 from indignation because the dean of ,st4 ,severus ,institute1 a great papist1 had caught ,magister ,draco1 a gentleman who is favorably inclined to us1 by his cassock and had publicly dragged him from the choir1 pretending that he had been excommunicated for having gone to meet me at my arrival at ,erfurt4 ,meanwhile people are fearing greater disturbances2 the magistrates are conniving1 for the local priests are in ill repute1 and it is being reported that the artisans are allying themselves with the student-body4 ,the prophetic saying seems about to come true which runs3 ,erfurt is another ,prague4 ,there was rioting in ,prague in the days of ,hus1 whom ,rome burned at the stake4--,i was told yesterday that a certain priest at ,gotha has met with rough treatment because his people had bought certain estates 7,i do not know which71 in order to increase the revenue of the church1 and1 under pretext of their ecclesiastical immunity1 had refused to pay the incumbrances and taxes on the same4 ,we see that the people1 as also ,erasmus writes1 are unable and unwilling any longer to bear the yoke of the ,pope and the papists4 ,and still we do not cease coercing and burdening them1 although--now that everything has been brought to light--we have lost our reputation and their good will1 and our former halo of sanctity can no longer avail or exert the influence which it exerted formerly4 ,heretofore we have increased hatred by violence and by violence have suppressed it2 however1 whether we can continue suppressing it experience will show4 7#ae1 #beaj47 ,to ,melanchthon he wrote about this time3 ,i hear that at ,erfurt they are resorting to violence against the dwellings of priests4 ,i am surprised that the city council permits this and connives at it1 and that our dear friend ,lang keeps silent4 ,for although it is good that those impious men who will not desist are kept in check1 still this procedure will bring the ,gospel into disrepute1 and will cause men justly to spurn it4 ,i would write to ,lang1 but as yet ,i dare not4 ,for such a display of friendliness to our cause as these people show is very offensive to me1 because it clearly shows that we are not yet worthy servants in ,god's sight1 and that ,satan is mocking and laughing at our efforts of reform4 ,oh1 how ,i do fear that all this is like the fig tree in the parable1 of which the ,lord1 ,matt4 #ba1 predicts that it will merely sprout before the ,day of ,judgment1 but will bear no fruit4 ,what we teach is1 indeed1 the truth2 however1 it amounts to nothing if we do not practise what we preach4 7#ae1 #aijf47 ,disquieting rumors of excesses that were being perpetrated by radical followers of the evangelical teaching had reached ,luther also from ,wittenberg4 ,to obtain a clear insight into the actual state of affairs1 he made a secret visit to his home town in the beginning of ,december1 #aeba4 ,returning to his exile1 he wrote his ,faithful ,admonition to ,all ,christians to ,avoid ,tumult and ,rebellion4 ,in this treatise ,luther reasons as follows3 ,the papacy1 with all its great institutions1 cloisters1 universities1 laws and doctrines1 is nothing but lies4 ,on lies it was raised1 by lies it is supported1 with lies and frauds and cheats it deceives1 misleads1 and oppresses men4 ,accordingly1 all that is necessary to overthrow its dominion is to recognize its lying character1 and to publish it and the papacy will collapse as if blown aside by the breath of the ,almighty1 as ,scripture says it shall happen to ,antichrist4 ,to start a riot against the papists would never improve them1 and would only cause them to vilify the cause of their opponents4 ,in times of tumult1 people lose their reason and do more harm to innocent people than to the guilty4 ,public wrongs should be redressed by the magistrates1 who are vested with authority for that purpose4 ,no matter how just a cause may be1 it never justifies rioting4 ,luther declares that he will rather side with those who suffer in1 than with those who start1 a riot4 ,rioting is forbidden in ,god's ,law 7,dent4 #af1 #bj2 #cb1 #ce74 ,this particular rioting against the papists has been instigated by the devil1 in order to divert people's minds from the real spiritual issues of the times1 and to bring the cause of the ,gospel into disrepute4 ,luther feels these tumultuous proceedings as a disgrace4 ,people who read and understand my teaching correctly1 he says1 do not start riots4 ,they were not taught such things by me4 ,if any engage in such proceedings and drag my name into it1 what can ,i do to stop them8 ,how many things are the papists doing in the name of ,christ which ,christ never commanded6 ,luther begs all who glory in the name of ,christians to conduct themselves as ,paul demands #b ,cor4 #f1 #c3 ,giving no offense in anything1 that the ministry be not blamed4 7#aj1 #cfj ff47 ,whoever can1 ought to treat himself to the reading of this fine treatise of the exiled monk of ,wittenberg4 ,the iconoclastic uprising which broke out in ,wittenberg in the closing days of the month of ,february1 #aebb1 finally decided ,luther1 at the risk of his life1 to quit his exile and to fight the devil1 who was trying to subvert his good doctrine by such wicked practises4 ,the world knows that it was ,luther who quelled the riot in his town4 ,luther's face was ever sternly set against those who wanted to wage the ,lord's wars with the devil's weapons4 ,no murder or sacrilege that was committed in those days can be laid at the door of ,luther's teaching4 ,the ,catholics are trying to divert attention from their own unwarranted and violent proceedings by charging ,luther with preaching a war of extermination against their hierarchy4 ,how did they treat the just claims and reasonable demands of the ,german nation for measures that were admitted to be crying needs of the times8 ,no ,german diet met but a long list of grievances was submitted by the suffering people4 ,it was of no avail4 ,the haughty clergy rode over the people's rights and prayers rough-shod4 ,the tyrannous devices which their cunning had invented were executed with brazen impudence4 ,how had they treated simple laymen in whose possession a ,bible was found8 ,what was their inquisitorial court but the anteroom to holy butchers' shambles1 the legal vestibule to murder that had been sanctioned by the ,popes8 ,how had they treated ,luther8 ,if the papal nuncio at the ,diet of ,worms had had his way with the emperor and the princes1 ,luther would not have left that city alive4 ,they openly declared to the emperor that he was not obliged to keep his plighted word for a safe-conduct to a heretic4 ,these people come now at this late day prating about violence that they have suffered from this sacrilegious and bloodthirsty ,luther4 ,they themselves were the perpetrators of the most appalling violence against ,god and men3 their whole system rests1 as ,johann ,gerhard in his famous ,confessio ,catholica rightly asserts1 on ,fraus et ,vis1 that is1 ,fraud and ,violence4 #bc4 ,luther1 ,anarchist and ,despot ,all in ,one4 ,extremes met1 with most disastrous effect-so ,catholic writers tell us-in ,luther's views of the political rights of men4 ,at one time he was so outspoken in his condemnation of the oppression which the common people were suffering from the clergy1 the nobility1 and their aristocratic governors that he incited them to discontent with their humble lot in life1 to unrest1 and to open rebellion against their magistrates4 ,at another time he became the spokesman for the most pronounced absolutism and despotism4 ,he turned suddenly against the very people whose cause he had so signally championed1 and who hailed him as their prophet and leader4 ,when the poor1 downtrodden people needed him most1 ,luther cowardly deserted them1 and by frenzied utterances excited the nobility to slay the common people without mercy in the most ruthless fashion1 and even promised the lords whom he had denounced as tyrants heaven for enacting the barbaric cruelties to which he was urging them4 ,this is the ,catholic portrayal of ,luther during the ,peasants' ,war4 ,the relation of the peasant uprising to ,luther's preaching is grossly misrepresented when the impression is created that ,luther had before this sad upheaval worked hand in glove with the malcontent rustics for the overthrow of the government4 ,disturbances of this kind had been periodical occurrences in ,europe for many hundreds of years4 ,the heavy taxes and tithes1 and the forced labor which the lords exacted from their tenants1 who were little better than serfs1 the galling restrictions in regard to hunting1 fishing1 gathering wood in the forests which they had imposed on them1 the foreign ,roman law under which they tried cases in court1 and1 in general1 their haughty and contemptuous bearing toward the common people had for many generations created strained relations between the upper and the lower classes4 ,the estrangement which developed into open defiance existed among the peasants before ,luther had begun to preach4 ,nor can ,luther's teaching be said to have fanned the slumbering embers of discontent into a huge flame4 ,the liberty of a ,christian man which he had proclaimed was not such liberty as the peasants demanded and wrested to themselves when the revolt had reached its height4 ,luther had consistently taught that obedience to the government is a ,christian duty4 ,he had1 as we have shown in the preceding chapter1 warned with telling force against riot1 tumult1 and sedition4 ,he had deprecated any allying of the cause of the ,gospel and of spiritual freedom with the carnal strivings of disaffected men for mere temporal and secular advantages4 ,he had reminded ,christians that it was their duty to suffer wrong rather than do wrong4 ,on the other hand1 ,luther had pleaded the cause of the poor before the lords1 and had earnestly warned the nobility not to continue their tyranny1 but conciliate their subjects by yielding to their just demands4 ,he had fearlessly pointed out to the lords what was galling in their conduct to the common1 people-their pride and luxurious living1 their disregard of the commonest rights of man1 their despotic dealings with their humble subjects1 their rude behavior and exasperating conduct toward the men1 women1 and children whom they made toil and slave for them4 ,maintaining1 thus1 an honest equipoise between the two contrary forces1 and dealing out even-handed justice to both1 ,luther was conscious of serving the true interests of either side and laboring for the common welfare of all4 ,with his implicit faith in the power of ,god's ,word he was hoping for a gradual improvement of the situation4 ,the conflict would be adjusted in a quiet and orderly manner by the truth obtaining greater and greater sway over the minds of men4 ,luther had had no inkling of an impending clash between the peasants and the nobility when the revolt broke out with the fury of a cyclone4 ,luther was shocked4 ,he promptly hurried to the scene of the disturbances by request of the ,count of ,mansfeld4 ,it speaks volumes for the integrity of ,luther that both sides were willing to permit him to arbitrate their differences4 ,the invitation came originally from the peasants and was addressed to ,luther1 ,melanchthon1 ,bugenhagen1 and the ,elector ,frederick jointly1 but it was not acted on until ,count ,albert invited ,luther to come to ,eisleben4 ,the ,exhortation to ,peace on the ,twelve ,articles of the ,peasants which ,luther issued1 after having investigated the situation1 rebukes the lords with considerably more sternness than the commoners1 but makes fair suggestions for the composition of the differences4 ,before ,luther takes up the ,twelve ,articles of the ,peasants for detailed discussion1 he informs them that he considers their whole procedure wrong1 even if all their demands were just1 because they have resorted to force to secure their right4 ,a beautiful sentiment for an anarchist to utter1 is it not8 ,in ,article ,i the peasants demanded freedom to elect their own pastors1 who were to preach the ,gospel without any human additions4 ,that this request should be embodied in the peasants' plea for their political rights1 and that it should be made the foremost demand1 is highly suggestive as to the principal cause of their unrest4 ,to this article ,luther gave his unreserved endorsement4 ,article ,,ii sought to regulate the income of priests-again a very suggestive request3 preachers were to receive for their sustenance no more than the tithes1 the remainder of the church-income was to be set aside so as to render it unnecessary to tax the poor in war-times4 ,on this point ,luther held that the tithes belong to the government1 and to turn them over to any one else would be simple robbery4 ,article ,,iii demanded the abolition of serfdom1 however1 as a test whether the ,christianity of the lords was genuine4 ,the peasants implied that their political liberty had been secured by ,christ1 and that the lords were withholding it from them4 ,this argument ,luther rejected as a carnal perversion of the ,gospel4 ,articles ,,iv-,x submitted these demands3 ,the poor man is to be accorded the right to fish and hunt2 all wooded lands usurped by bishops or noblemen without making payment therefor are to revert to the community1 and in case payment had been made1 a settlement is to be effected by mutual agreement2 burdensome exactions1 services1 taxes1 and fines are to be rescinded2 court trials are to be free from partiality and jealousy2 meadows and lands which of right belong to the community are to be returned by their present owners4 ,on these points ,luther suggests that the opinions of good lawyers be obtained4 ,article ,,xi deals with the right of heriot1 or the death-tax imposed upon the widow or heir of a tenant4 ,this was approved4 ,in the last article the peasants express their readiness to withdraw any or all of these requests that are shown to be contrary to ,scripture1 and ask permission to substitute others for them4 ,luther was in a fair way of bringing about an amicable settlement of the differences4 ,philip of ,hesse had at the same time come to a full agreement with the peasants in his domains1 and peace seemed near1 when the real genius of the whole peasant movement1 ,muenzer1 interfered4 ,luther had suspected for some time that this unscrupulous agitator was spreading the teaching of unbridled license under pretense of preaching liberty1 and that the mystical piety which he was reported as practising1 his leaning towards the reform movement1 and his references to ,luther and the new ,gospel1 were nothing but the angel's garment which a very wicked devil had borrowed for purposes of deception4 ,when ,muenzer at the head of hordes of men who through his inflammatory speeches had been turned into unreasoning brutes was spreading ruin and desolation along his path1 wiping out in a few days the products of the patient labors of generations1 subverting the fundamental principles of honesty1 justice1 and morality on which the organized public life of the community and the private life of the individual must rest1 and rapidly changing even the well-meaning and reasonable among the peasants into frenzied madmen1 ,luther recognized that conciliatory measures and arbitration would not avail with these mobs4 ,his duty as a teacher of ,god's ,word and as a loyal subject of his government demanded prompt and stern action from him4 ,however1 back of the terrible mien with which ,luther now faced the wild peasants there is a heart of love2 in the appalling language which he now uses against men whose cause he had befriended there is discernible a note of pity for the poor deluded wretches who thought they were rearing a paradise when they were building bedlam4 ,above all1 the great heart of ,luther is torn with anguish over the shame that is now being heaped on the blessed ,gospel of his dear ,lord4 ,luther did not desert the peasants1 but they deserted him2 they were the traitors1 not he4 ,there is a diabolical streak in the character of ,thomas ,muenzer4 ,he parades as the ,people's ,man1 and the ,german people in the sixteenth century never had a worse enemy4 ,his fluent speech and great oratory seemed honey to the peasants1 but they were the veriest poison4 ,he spoke the language of a saint1 and lived the life of a profligate and a reprobate4 ,it is hard to believe that his error was merely the honest fanaticism of a blind bigot2 there is a malign element in it that betrays conscious wickedness4 ,this raving demon should be studied more by ,catholics when they investigate the ,peasants' ,revolt4 ,they have their eyes on ,luther2 his every word and action are placed under the microscope4 ,but the real culprit is treated as the hero in a tragedy4 ,he was a blind enthusiast2 he mistook his aims2 he selected wrong means and methods for achieving his aim4 ,he did wickedly1 and we may have to curse him some for decency's sake1 but be deserves pity1 too1 for he was the misguided pupil of that arch-heretic ,luther4 ,that is ,catholic equity in estimating ,luther's share in the peasant uprising4 ,we only note in conclusion that ,thomas ,muenzer died in the arms of the alone-saving ,church1 a penitent prodigal that had returned to the bosom of ,holy ,mother4 ,luther did not die thus1 and that makes a great deal of difference4 ,catholics father upon ,luther not only the ,peasants' ,revolt1 but every revolutionary movement which since then has occurred in ,europe4 ,the political unrest which has at various times agitated the masses in ,france1 ,england1 and ,germany1 the changes in the government which were brought about in such times1 are all attributed to the revolutionary tendencies in ,luther's writings4 ,so is the disrespect shown by citizens of the modern ,state to persons in authority1 the bold and scathing criticism indulged in by subjects against their government4 ,there is hardly a political disturbance anywhere but what ingenious ,catholics will manage to connect with ,luther4 ,read ,luther1 and you will inevitably become an anarchist4 ,but ,luther is also credited with the very opposite of anarchism4 ,when the ,peasants' ,revolt had been put down by the lords1 they began to strengthen their despotic power over the people1 and a worse tyranny resulted than had existed before4 ,it is pointed out that absolutism1 the claim of kings that they are ruling by divine right and are not responsible to the people1 has taken firm root in all ,protestant countries1 and that even the ,protestant churches in these countries are mere fixtures of the ,state4 ,this1 too1 we are asked to believe1 is a result of ,luther's teaching4 ,luther is not only the spiritual ring-leader of mobs1 but also the sycophant of despots4 ,it is particularly offensive to ,catholics to see ,luther hailed as the champion of political liberty4 ,let us try and make up our minds about ,luther's views of the secular government from ,luther's own words4 ,dr4 ,waring1 in his ,political ,theories of ,luther1 has made a very serviceable collection of statements of ,luther on this matter4 ,in his tract on ,secular ,authority 7#aj1 #cgd ff47 ,luther maintains that the ,state exists by ,god's will and institution2 for the ,apostle ,paul writes3 ',let every soul be subject unto the higher powers4 ,for there is no power but of ,god3 the powers that be are ordained of ,god4 ,whosoever therefore resisteth the power resiseth tr4 note3 sic the ordinance of ,god2 and they that resist shall receive to themselves damnation' 7,rom4 #ac1 #a4 #b74 ,the ,apostle ,peter exhorts3 ',submit yourselves to every ordinance of man for the ,lord's sake1 whether it be to the king1 as supreme1 or unto governors1 as unto them that are sent by him for the punishment of evil-doers1 and for the praise of them that do well' 7#a ,pet4 #b1 #ac4 #ad74 ,the right of the sword has existed since the beginning of the world4 ,when ,cain killed his brother ,abel1 he was so fearful of being put to death himself that ,god laid a special prohibition thereupon that no one should kill him1 which fear he would not have had1 had he not seen and heard from ,adam that murderers should be put to death4 ,further1 after the ,flood1 ,god repeated and confirmed it in explicit language1 when ,he declared3 ',whoso sheddeth man's blood1 by man shall his blood be shed' 7,gen4 #i1 #f74 ,this law was ratified later by the law of ,moses3 ',but if a man come presumptuously upon his neighbor1 to slay him with guile1 thou shalt take him from ,mine altar1 that he may die' 7,ex4 #ba1 #ad72 and yet again3 ',life for life1 eye for eye1 tooth for tooth1 hand for hand1 foot for foot1 burning for burning1 wound for wound1 stripe for stripe' 7,ex4 #ba1 #bc-be74 ,christ confirmed it also when ,he said to ,peter in the garden3 ',all they that take the sword shall perish with the sword' 7,matt4 #bf1 #eb74 ,the words of ,christ3 ',but ,i say unto you1 ,that ye resist not evil' 7,matt4 #e1 #ch4 #ci71 ',love your enemies1 4 4 4 do good to them that hate you' 7,matt4 #e1 #dd71 and similar passages1 having great weight1 might seem to indicate that ,christians under the ,gospel should not have a worldly sword2 but the human race is to be divided into two classes1 one belonging to the kingdom of ,god and the other to the kingdom of the world4 ,to the first class belong all true believers in ,christ and under ,christ1 for ,christ is ,king and ,lord in the kingdom of ,god 7,ps4 #b1 #f1 and throughout the ,scriptures74 ,these people need no worldly sword or law1 for they have the ,holy ,ghost in their hearts who suffer wrong gladly and themselves do wrong to no one4 ,there is no need of quarrel or contention1 of court or punishment4 ,st4 ,paul says3 ',the law is not made for a righteous man1 but for the lawless and disobedient1 for the ungodly and for sinners' 7#a ,tim4 #a1 #i71 for the righteous man of himself does everything that the law demands1 and more2 but the unrighteous do nothing right1 and they therefore need the law to teach1 constrain1 and compel them to do right4 ,a good tree requires no instruction or law that it may bring forth good fruit1 but its nature causes it to bear fruit after its kind4 ,thus are all ,christians so fashioned through the ,spirit and faith that they do right naturally1 more than man could teach them with all laws4 ,all those who are not ,christians in this particular sense belong to the kingdom of the world4 ,inasmuch as there are few who are true ,christians in faith and life1 ,god established1 in addition to the kingdom of ,god1 another rule-that of temporal power and civil government1 and gave it the sword to compel the wicked to be orderly4 ,it is for this worldly estate that law is given4 ,christ rules without law1 alone through the ,spirit1 but worldly government protects the peace with the sword4 ,likewise1 true ,christians1 although not in need of it for themselves1 nevertheless render cheerful obedience to this government1 through love for the others who need it4 ,a ,christian himself may wield the sword when called upon to maintain peace among men and to punish wrong4 ,this authority1 which is ,god's handmaid1 as ,st4 ,paul says1 is as necessary and good as other worldly callings4 ,god therefore instituted two regimens1 or governments-the spiritual1 which1 through the ,holy ,ghost under ,christ1 makes ,christians and pious people1 and the worldly or temporal1 which warns the non-,christians and the wicked that they must maintain external peace4 ,we must clearly distinguish between these two powers and let them remain-the one that makes pious1 the other that makes for external peace and protects against wickedness4 ,neither one is sufficient in the world without the other2 for without the spiritual estate of ,christ no one can be good before ,god through the worldly estate4 ,where civil government alone rules1 there would be hypocrisy1 though its laws were like ,god's commandments themselves2 for without the ,holy ,spirit in the heart none can be pious1 whatever good works he may perform4 ,where the spiritual estate rules over land and people1 there will be unbridled wickedness and opportunity for all kinds of villainy1 for the common world cannot accept or understand it4-,but it may be said1 ,if1 then1 ,christians do not need the temporal power or law1 why does ,st4 ,paul say to all ,christians3 ',let every soul be subject unto the higher powers' 7,rom4 #ac1 #a78 ,in reply to this1 it is to be said again that ,christians among themselves and by and for themselves require no law or sword1 for to them they are not necessary or useful4 ,but because a true ,christian on earth lives for and serves not himself1 but his neighbor1 so he also1 from the nature of his spirit1 does that which he himself does not need1 but which is useful and necessary to his neighbor4 ,the sword is a great and necessary utility to the whole world for the maintenance of peace1 the punishment of wrong1 and the restraint of the wicked4 ,so the ,christian pays tribute and tax1 honors civil authority1 serves1 assists1 and does everything he can do to maintain that authority with honor and fear4 7p4 #gc ff47 ,in his ,appeal to the ,german ,nobility 7#aj1 #bff ff47 ,luther says3 ,forasmuch as the temporal power has been ordained by ,god for the punishment of the bad and the protection of the good1 therefore we must let it do its duty throughout the whole ,christian body1 without respect of persons1 whether it strike ,popes1 bishops1 priests1 monks1 nuns1 or whoever it may be4 ,if it were sufficient reason for fettering the temporal power that it is inferior among the offices of ,christianity to the offices of priest or confessor1 to the spiritual estate1-if this were so1 then we ought to restrain tailors1 cobblers1 masons1 carpenters1 cooks1 cellarmen1 peasants1 and all secular workmen from providing the ,pope or bishops1 priests and monks1 with shoes1 clothes1 houses1 or victuals1 or from paying them tithes4 ,but if these laymen are allowed to do their work without restraint1 what do the ,romanist scribes mean by their laws8 ,they mean that they withdraw themselves from the operation of temporal ,christian power1 simply in order that they may be free to do evil1 and thus fulfil what ,st4 ,peter said3 ',there shall be false teachers among you1 4 4 4 and through covetousness shall they with feigned words make merchandise of you' 7#b ,pet4 #b1 #a4 #c74 ,therefore the temporal ,christian power must exercise its office without let or hindrance1 without considering whom it may strike1 whether ,pope or bishop1 or priest4 ,whoever is guilty1 let him suffer for it4-,whatever the ecclesiastical law has said in opposition to this is merely the invention of ,romanist arrogance4 ,for this is what ,st4 ,paul says to all ,christians3 ',let every soul' 7,i presume1 including the ,popes7 'be subject unto the higher powers4 4 4 4 ,do that which is good1 and thou shalt have praise of the same1 4 4 4 for he beareth not the sword in vain2 for he is the minister of ,god1 a revenger to execute wrath upon him that doeth evil' 7,rom4 #ac1 #a-d74 ,also ,st4 ,peter3 ',submit yourselves to every ordinance of man for the ,lord's sake2 4 4 4 for so is the will of ,god' 7#a ,pet4 #b1 #ac4 #ae74 ,he has also foretold that men would come who would despise government 7#b ,pet4 #b71 as has come to pass through ecclesiastical law4-,although the work of the temporal power relates to the body1 it yet belongs to the spiritual estate4 ,therefore it must do its duty without let or hindrance upon all members of the whole body1 to punish or urge1 as guilt may deserve1 or need may require1 without respect of ,pope1 bishops1 or priests1 let them threaten or excommunicate as they will4 ,that is why a guilty priest is deprived of his priesthood before being given over to the secular arm2 whereas this would not be right if the secular powers had not authority over him already by divine ordinance4-,it is1 indeed1 past bearing that the spiritual law should esteem so highly the liberty1 life1 and property of the clergy1 as if laymen were not as good spiritual ,christians1 or not equally members of the ,church4 ,why should your body1 life1 goods1 and honor be free1 and not mine1 seeing that we are equal as ,christians1 and have received alike baptism1 faith1 spirit1 and all things8 ,if a priest is killed1 the country is laid under an interdict2 why not also if a peasant is killed8 ,whence comes this great difference among equal ,christians8 ,simply from human laws and inventions4 7p4 #if ff47 ,this citation deserves to be specially pondered in view of the ,catholic charge that ,luther was a defender of absolutism1 the divine right of kings4 ,if ,rome's attitude to kingcraft be studied1 it will be found that ,rome has been the supporter of the most tyrannous rulers4 ,it is well1 too1 to remember ,rome's claim of a divine right of priests4 ,special laws of exemption and immunity1 laws creating special privileges for priests1 are not unknown in the annals of the world's history4 ,whoever can1 ought to read the entire ,appeal to the ,german ,nobility2 it will tell him many things that explain the ,peasants' ,revolt4 ,in his ,severe ,booklet against the ,peasants 7#af1 #ga ff47 ,luther explains the reasons for the harsh language which he uses against the marauders4 ,he says that the maxims dealing with mercy belong to the kingdom of ,god and among ,christians1 not to the kingdom of the world1 which is the instrument of godly wrath upon the wicked4 ,the instrument in the hand of the ,state is not a garland of roses or a flower of love1 but a naked sword4 ,as ,i declared at the time1 he says1 so declare ,i yet3 ,let every one who can1 as he may be able1 cut1 stab1 choke1 and strike the stiff-necked1 obdurate1 blind1 infatuated peasants2 that mercy may be shown towards those who are destroyed1 driven away1 and misled by the peasants2 that peace and security may be had4 ,it is better to mercilessly cut off one member rather than lose the entire body through fire or plague4 ,furthermore1 the insurgents are notoriously faithless1 perjured1 disobedient1 riotous thieves1 robbers1 murderers1 and blasphemers1 so that there is not one of them but has well deserved death ten times over without mercy4 ,if my advice had been followed in the very beginning1 and a few lives had been taken1 before the insurrection assumed such large proportions1 thousands of lives would have been saved4 ,the experience should make all parties involved wise4 -,if it be said1 he continues1 that ,i myself teach lawlessness1 when ,i urge all who can to cut down the rioters1 my booklet was not written against common evil-doers1 but against seditious rioters4 ,there is a marked distinction between such a one and a murderer or robber and other ordinary criminals2 for a murderer or similar criminal lets the head and civil authority itself stand1 and attacks merely its members or its property4 ,he1 indeed1 fears the government4 ,now1 while the head remains1 no individual should attack the murderer1 because the head civil authority call punish him1 but should wait for the judgment and sentence of that authority to which ,god has given the sword and office4 ,but the rioter attacks the head itself1 so that his offense bears no comparison with that of the murderer4 7p4 #adg47 ,under the restriction under which this book was written as regards space1 we cannot enter as we would like to upon an exhaustive discussion of ,luther's political views4 ,luther was in this respect the most enlightened ,european citizen of his age4 ,he has voiced sound principles on the rights of the ,state and its limitations and the objects for which the ,state exists and does not exist1 on the separation of ,church and ,state1 on the removal of bad rulers from authority1 and especially on liberty4 ,the power of the ,state he values because it secures to each individual citizen the highest degree of liberty possible in this life4 ,those who represent ,luther as a defender of anarchy or tyranny either do not know what they are talking about1 or they do it for a purpose1 and deserve the contempt of all intelligent men4 #bd4 ,luther the ,destroyer of ,liberty of ,conscience4 ,catholics claim that ,luther's work1 though ostensibly undertaken in behalf of religious liberty1 necessarily had to result in the very opposite of freedom4 ,they point to the fact that in most countries which accepted the ,protestant faith the ,church became subservient to the ,state4 ,these state churches of ,europe1 however1 which in the view of ,catholics are the product of ,luther's reform movement1 are to be regarded as only one symptom of the intolerance which characterizes the entire activity of ,luther4 ,he had indeed adopted the principle of private interpretation of the ,scriptures1 however1 only for himself4 ,he was unwilling to accord to others the right which he claimed for himself4 ,all who dissented from his teaching were promptly attacked by him1 and that1 in violent and scurrilous language4 ,the ,protestant party in the course of time became a warring camp of ,ishmaelites1 ,luther fighting everybody and everybody fighting ,luther4 ,religious intolerance and persecution became the prevailing policy of ,protestants in their dealings with other ,protestants4 ,the burning of ,servetus at ,geneva by ,calvin was the logical outcome of ,luther's teaching4 ,the maxim1 ,cuius regio1 eius religio1 that is1 ,the prince1 or government1 in whose territory ,i reside determines my religion1 became a ,protestant tenet4 ,america got its first taste of religious liberty1 not from the original ,protestant settlers1 but from the ,catholic colonists whom ,lord ,baltimore brought to ,maryland1 etc41 etc4 ,the view here propounded is in plain contravention of what the world has hitherto believed1 and to a very large extent still believes1 regarding ,luther's attitude toward the right of the individual to choose his own religion and to determine for himself matters of faith4 ,the position which ,luther occupies in his final answer before the ,emperor at ,worms is generally believed to state ,luther's position on the question of religious liberty in a nutshell4 ,unless convinced by the ,word of ,god or by cogent reason that he was wrong1 he declared at the ,diet of ,worms1 he could not and would not retract what he had written4 ,the individual conscience1 he maintained1 cannot be bound4 ,each man must determine the meaning of the ,word for himself4 ,and the inevitable result of this principle is individual liberty4 ,this principle ,luther maintained to the end of his life4 ,his appeal to the magistrates to suppress the ,peasants' ,revolt was not a call to suppress the false teachings of the peasants1 but their disorderly conduct4 ,against their spiritual aberrations ,luther proposed to wage war with his written and oral testimony4 ,the peace and order of the ,state must be maintained against disorder1 personal violence1 destruction of property1 public immorality1 and treason1 though they come in the guise of religion4 ,the ,state must grant liberty of conscience1 freedom of speech1 and the privilege of the press4 ,these are inalienable rights belonging alike to every individual1 subject only to the limitation that they are not permitted to encroach upon the rights of others4 ,the natural1 the almost inevitable1 consequence of the declaration and recognition of these principles was eventually the establishment of modern constitutional law4 ,it was not in consequence of his teaching1 but merely in spite of it1 that for the next two centuries 7in certain instances7 monarchical government became more autocratic1 as feudalism was being transformed into civil government4 4 4 4 ,all through ,luther's writings1 and in his own acts as well1 is to be read the right of the individual to think and believe in matters political1 religious1 and otherwise as he sees proper4 ,his is the right to read the ,bible1 and any other book he may desire4 ,he has the right to confer and counsel1 with others1 to express and declare his views pro and con1 in speech and print1 so long as he abides by1 and remains within1 the laws of the land4 ,luther firmly believed in the liberty of the individual as to conscience1 speech1 and press4 ,the search for truth must be untrammeled4 7,waring1 ,political ,theories of ,luther1 p4 #bce f47 ,this testimony of one who has made a careful investigation of ,luther's writings on the subject of liberty of conscience is1 of course1 not first-hand evidence2 it merely shows what impressions people take away from their study of ,luther4 ,let us hear ,luther himself4 ,in the ,appeal to the ,german ,nobility he says3 ,no one can deny that it is breaking ,god's commandments to violate faith and a safe-conduct1 even though it be promised to the devil himself1 much more then in the case of a heretic4 4 4 4 ,even though ,john ,hus were a heretic1 however bad he may have been1 yet he was burned unjustly and in violation of ,god's commandments1 and we must not force the ,bohemians to approve this1 if we wish ever to be at one with them4 ,plain truth must unite us1 not obstinacy4 ,it is no use to say1 as they said at the time1 that a safe-conduct need not be kept if promised to a heretic2 that is as much as to say1 one may break ,god's commandments in order to keep ,god's commandments4 ,they were infatuated and blinded by the devil1 that they could not see what they said or did4 ,god has commanded us to observe a safe-conduct2 and this we must do though the world should perish2 much more1 then1 where it is only a question of a heretic being set free4 ,we should overcome heretics with books1 not with fire1 as the old ,fathers did4 ,if there were any skill in overcoming heretics with fire1 the executioner would be the most learned doctor in the world2 and there would be no need of study1 but he that could get another into his power could burn him4 7#aj1 #ccb47 ,in his treatise ,on the ,limits of ,secular ,authority1 ,luther says3 ,unbearable loss follows where the secular authority is given too much room1 and it is likewise not without loss where it is too restricted4 ,here it punishes too little2 there it punishes too much4 ,although it is more desirable that it offend on the side of punishing too little than that it punish too severely2 because it is always better to permit a knave to live than to put a good man to death1 inasmuch as the world still has and must have knaves1 but has few good men4 ,in the first place1 it is to be noted that the two classes of the human race1 one of whom is in the kingdom of ,god under ,christ1 and the other in the kingdom of the world under civil authority1 have two kinds of laws2 for every kingdom must have its laws and its rights1 and no kingdom or regime can stand without law1 as daily experience shows4 ,temporal government has laws that do not reach farther than over person and property1 and what is external on the earth2 for ,god will not permit any one to rule over the soul of man but ,himself4 ,therefore1 where temporal power presumes to give laws to the soul1 it touches ,god's rule1 and misleads and destroys the souls4 ,we wish to make that so clear that men may comprehend it1 in order that our knights1 the princes and bishops1 may see what fools they are when seeking to force people by their laws and commandments to believe thus or so4 ,when a man lays a human law or commandment upon the soul1 that it must believe this or that1 as the man prescribes1 it is assuredly not ,god's ,word4 4 4 4 ,therefore it is a thoroughly foolish thing to command a man to believe the ,church1 the ,fathers1 the councils1 although there is nothing on it from ,god's ,word4 ,now tell me1 how much sense does the head have that lays down a command on a matter where it has no authority8 ,who would not hold as of unsound mind the person who would command the moon to shine when it wishes8 ,how fitting would it be if the ,leipzig authorities would lay down laws for us at ,wittenberg1 or we at ,wittenberg for the people of ,leipzig8 ,moreover1 let men thereby understand that every authority should and may concern itself only where it can see1 know1 judge1 sentence1 transform1 and change2 for what kind of judge is he to me who would blindly judge matters he neither hears nor sees8 ,now tell me1 how can a man see1 know1 judge1 sentence1 and change the heart8 ,for that is reserved to ,god alone4 ,a court should and must be certain when it sentences1 and have everything in clear light4 ,but the soul's thoughts and impulses can be known to no one but ,god4 ,therefore it is futile and impossible to command or compel a man by force to believe thus or so4 ,for that purpose another grip is necessary4 ,force does not accomplish it4 ,for my ungracious lords1 ,pope and bishops1 should be bishops and preach ,god's ,word2 but they leave that and have become temporal princes and rule with laws that concern only person and property4 ,they have reversed the order of things4 ,instead of ruling souls 7internally7 through ,god's ,word1 they rule 7externally7 castles1 cities1 lands1 and people1 and kill souls with indescribable murder4 ,the temporal lords should1 in like manner1 rule 7externally7 land and people2 but they leave that4 ,they can do nothing more than flay and shave the people1 set one tax and one rent on another2 there let loose a bear and here a wolf2 respect no right1 or faith1 or truth1 and conduct affairs so that robbers and knaves increase in number2 and their temporal regime lies as far beneath as the regime of the spiritual tyrants4 ,faith is a matter concerning which each one is responsible for himself2 for as little as one man can go to heaven or hell for me1 so little can he believe or not believe for me2 and as little as he can open or close heaven or hell for me1 so little can he drive me to belief or unbelief4 ,we have the saying from ,st4 ,augustine3 ',no one can or should be compelled to believe4' ,the blind and miserable people do not see what a vain and impossible thing they undertake2 for1 however imperiously they command1 and however hard they drive1 they cannot force people any farther than they follow with their mouth and the hand4 ,they cannot compel the heart1 though they should break it4 ,for true is the maxim3 ,gedanken sind zollfrei4 7,no toll is levied on thought47 ,when weak consciences are driven by force to lie1 deceive1 and say otherwise than they believe in the heart1 they burden themselves also with a heavy sin2 for all the lies and false witness given by such weak consciences rest upon him who forces them4 ,christ ,himself clearly recognized and concisely stated this truth when ,he said3 ',render therefore unto ,caesar the things which are ,caesar's1 and unto ,god the things that are ,god's' 7,matt4 #bb1 #ba74 ,now1 when imperial authority stretches itself over into ,god's kingdom and authority and does not keep within its own separate jurisdiction1 this discrimination between the two realms has not been made4 ,for the soul is not under authority of the emperor4 ,he can neither teach nor guide it1 neither kill it nor give it life1 neither bind nor loose1 neither judge nor sentence1 neither hold nor let alone2 which necessarily would exist had he authority so to do1 for they are under his jurisdiction and power4 ,david long ago expressed it briefly3 ',the heaven1 even the heavens1 are the ,lord's2 but the earth hath ,he given to the children of men' 7,ps4 #aae1 #af74 ,that is to say1 over what is on the earth and belongs to the temporal earthly kingdom1 man has power from ,god2 but what belongs to heaven and to the eternal kingdom is under the ,lord of heaven alone4 ,but finally1 this is the meaning of ,peter3 ',we ought to obey ,god rather than men' 7,acts #e1 #bi74 ,he here clearly marks a limit to temporal authority2 for were men obliged to observe everything that civil authority wished1 the command1 ',we ought to obey ,god rather than men1' would have been given in vain4 ,if1 now1 your princes or temporal lord command you to believe this or that1 or to dispense with certain books1 say3 ',i am under obligations to obey you with body and estate2 command me within the compass of your authority on earth1 and ,i will obey you4 ,put if you command me as to belief1 and order me to put away books1 ,i will not obey1 for then you become a tyrant and overreach yourself1 and command where you have neither right nor power4' ,if your goods are taken and your disobedience is punished1 you are blessed1 and you may thank ,god that you are worthy to suffer for ,god's ,word4 ,when a prince is in the wrong1 his subjects are not under obligations to follow him1 for no one is obliged to do anything against the right2 but we must obey ,god1 who desires to have the right rather than men4 ,but thou sayest once more3 ',yea1 worldly power cannot compel to belief4 ,it is only external protection against the people being misled by false doctrine4 ,how else can heretics be kept it bay8' ,answer3 ,that is the business of bishops1 to whom the office is entrusted1 and not to princes4 ,for heresy can never be kept off by force2 another grip is wanted for that4 ,this is another quarrel and conflict than that of the sword4 ,god's ,word must contend here4 ,if that avail nothing1 temporal power will never settle the matter1 though it fill the world with blood4 ,heresy pertains to the spiritual world4 ,you cannot cut it with iron1 nor burn it with fire1 nor drown it in water4 ,you cannot drive the devil out of the heart by destroying1 with sword or fire1 the vessel in which he lives4 ,this is like fighting a blade of straw4 7#aj1 #cie ff47 ,referring to the ,anabaptists1 ,luther wrote in #aebh3 ,it is not right1 and ,i think it a great pity1 that such wretched people should be so miserably slain1 burned1 cruelly put to death2 every one should be allowed to believe what he will4 ,if he believe wrongly1 he will have punishment enough in the eternal fire of hell4 ,why should he be tortured in this life1 too2 provided always that it be a case of mistaken belief only1 and that they are not also unruly and oppose themselves to the temporal power8 7#ag1 #bahh47 ,to his friend ,cresser he wrote3 ,if the courts wish to govern the churches in their own interests1 ,god will withdraw ,his benediction from them1 and things will become worse than before4 ,satan still is ,satan4 ,under the ,popes he made the ,church meddle in politics2 in our time he wishes to make politics meddle with the ,church4 7#ba;b1 #biaa4 ,translations by ,waring47 ,but why did not these excellent principles attain better results in ,luther's own time8 ,on this question we have no better answer than that given by ,bryce3 ,the remark must not be omitted in passing how much less than might have been expected the religious movement did at first actually effect in the way of promoting either political progress or freedom of conscience4 ,the habits of centuries were not to be unlearned in a few years1 and it was natural that ideas struggling into existence and activity should work erringly and imperfectly for a time4 7,holy ,roman ,empire1 p4 #cha47 ,this would be ,luther's own answer4 ,his work was among people who were just emerging from the ignorance and spiritual bondage in which they had been reared in the ,catholic ,church4 ,they had to be gradually and with much patience taught1 not only in regard to their rights and privileges1 but also in regard to their proper and most efficient application4 ,but it is not in agreement with the facts when the charge is directed against ,luther that he employed the authority of the ,state for furthering the ends of the ,church because he urged the ,saxon ,elector to arrange for a visitation of the demoralized churches in the country1 and to order such improvements to be made as would be found necessary 7,erlangen ,ed4 #ee1 #bbc72 also when he sought the ,elector's aid for the reform party at ,naumburg at the election of a new bishop 7#ag1 #aac74 ,in both instances he speaks of the ,elector as a ,notbischof1 that is1 an emergency bishop4 ,but his remarks must be carefully studied to get his exact meaning4 ,for he declares that the ,elector as a magistrate is under no obligation to attend to these matters4 ,they are not state business4 ,but he is asked as a ,christian to place himself at the head of a laudable and necessary movement1 and to place his influence and ability at the disposition of the ,master1 just as a ,christian laborer1 craftsman1 merchant1 musician1 painter1 poet1 author1 consecrate their abilities to the ,lord4 ,this means that the emergency bishop has not the right to issue commands in the ,church1 but he has the privilege and duty to serve4 ,the people needed a leader1 and who was better qualified for that than their trusted prince8 ,besides1 the churches had to be protected in their secular and civil interests in those days4 ,the young ,protestant faith would have been mercilessly extirpated by ,rome1 which was gathering the secular powers around her to fight her battles with material weapons against ,protestants4 ,the ,protestant princes would have betrayed a trust which citizens rightly repose in their government1 if they had not taken steps to afford the ,protestant churches in their domains every legal protection4 ,the protection of citizens in the exercise of their religious liberty is within the sphere of the civil magistrates4 ,the citizens can appeal to the government for such protection1 and when the government in the interest of religious liberty represses elements that are hostile1 it is not intolerant1 but just4 ,if a religion1 like that of the bomb-throwing anarchists and the vice-breeding ,mormons1 is forbidden to practise its faith in the land1 that is not intolerance1 but common equity4 ,one of the most pathetic spectacles which the student of medieval history has to contemplate is the treatment of the ,jews at the hands of the ,christians4 ,few were the monarchs of ,christendom1 says ,prof4 ,worman1 who rose above the barbarism of the ,middle ,ages4 ,by considerable pecuniary sacrifices only could the sons of ,israel enjoy tolerance4 ,in ,italy their lot had always been most severe4 ,now and then a ,roman pontiff would afford them his protection1 but1 as a rule1 they have received only intolerance in that country4 ,down even to the time of the deposition of ,pius ,,ix from the temporal power 7#ahaj7 it has been the barbarous custom1 on the last ,saturday before the ,carnival1 to compel the ,jews to proceed en masse to the capitol1 and ask permission of the pontiff to reside in the city another year4 ,at the foot of the hill the petition was refused them1 but1 after much entreaty1 they were granted the favor when they had reached the summit1 and as their residence the ,ghetto was assigned them4 ,in ,france a prelate condemned the ,jews because the country people looked upon them as the only people of ,god1 whereupon all joined in a carnival of persecution1 and the history of the ,jews became nothing else than a successive series of massacres4 ,in ,spain the ,jews were treated more kindly by the ,moors than by the ,catholics4 ,at first their services were valued in the crafts and trades1 but the extravagance and consequent poverty of the nobles1 as well as the increasing power of the priesthood1 ultimately brought about a disastrous change4 ,the estates of the nobles and1 it is also believed1 those attached to the cathedrals and churches1 were in many cases mortgaged to the ,jews2 hence it was not difficult for 'conscience' to get up a persecution when goaded to its 'duty' by the pressure of want and shame4 ,gradually the ,jews were deprived of the privilege of living where they pleased2 their rights were diminished and their taxes augmented4 ,to their lowest stage of misery1 however1 the ,jews were reduced during one of the most holy enterprises which the papacy launched during the ,middle ,ages--the ,crusades4 ,the crusading movement was inaugurated by a wholesale massacre and persecution first of the ,jew1 and afterwards of the ,mussulman4 4 4 4 ,shut out from all opportunity for the development of their better qualities1 the ,jews were gradually reduced to a decline both in character and condition4 ,from a learned1 influential1 and powerful class of the community1 we find them1 after the inauguration of the ,crusades1 sinking into miserable outcasts2 the common prey of clergy and nobles and burghers1 and existing in a state worse than slavery itself4 ,the ,christians deprived the ,jews even of the right of holding real estate2 and confined them to the narrower channels of traffic4 ,their ambition being thus fixed upon one subject1 they soon mastered all the degrading arts of accumulating gain2 and prohibited from investing their gain in the purchase of land1 they found n more profitable employment of it in lending it at usurious interest to the thoughtless and extravagant4 ,in course of time the borrowers recouped their losses by inaugurating raids upon the ,jews4 ,jew-baiting1 persecutions1 expatriations of ,jewish settlers1 were of frequent occurrence4 ,towards the end of the thirteenth century #af1jjj ,jews were expelled from ,england and their property confiscated4 ,in ,germany they had to pay all manner of iniquitous taxes--body tax1 capitation tax1 trade taxes1 coronation tax1 and to present a multitude of gifts1 to mollify the avarice or supply the necessities of emperor1 princes1 and barons4 ,it did not suffice1 however1 to save them from the loss of their property4 ,the populace and the lower clergy also must be1 satisfied2 they1 too1 had passions to gratify4 ,a wholesale slaughter of the 'enemies of ,christianity' was inaugurated4 ,treves1 ,metz1 ,cologne1 ,mentz1 ,worms1 ,spires1 ,strassburg1 and other cities were deluged with the blood of the 'unbelievers4' ,the word ,hep 7said to be the initials of ,hierosolyma est perdita1 ,jerusalem is taken7 throughout all the cities of the empire became the signal for massacres1 and if an insensate monk sounded it along the streets1 it threw the rabble into paroxysms of murderous rage4 ,the choice of death or conversion was given to the ,jews2 but few were found willing to purchase their life by that form of perjury4 ,rather than subject their offspring to conversion and such ,christian training1 fathers presented their breast to the sword after putting their children to death1 and wives and virgins sought refuge from the brutality of the soldiers by throwing themselves into the river with stones fastened to their bodies4 7,mc,clintock and ,strong ,cyclop41 #d1 #ijh f47 ,all this happened under the most ,christian rule of the ,popes4 ,the characteristic temper of the ,jew in the ,middle ,ages1 his fierce hatred of ,christianity1 his sullen mood1 his blasphemous treatment of matters and objects sacred to ,christians1 are the result of the treatment he received even from the members and high officials of the ,church4 ,now here comes ,rome in our day asserting the kindness and generosity shown the ,jews by their ,popes1 because these afforded them shelter in the ,ghetto of the ,holy ,city6 ,how differently1 they say1 was this from the treatment accorded the ,jews by ,luther4 ,why1 these ,catholic writers do not tell the hundredth part of the truth about the attitude of their ,church to the ,jews in the ,middle ,ages4 ,let this be remembered when ,luther's remarks about the ,jews are taken up for study4 ,he is very outspoken against them2 his utterances1 however1 relate for the most part to the false teaching and religious practises1 to their perversion of the text and the meaning of the ,scriptures1 and to the blasphemies which they utter against ,god1 ,jesus ,christ1 and ,his ,church1 and to the lies which they assiduously spread about the ,christian religion4 ,in all that ,luther says against the ,jews under this head he is simply discharging the functions of a teacher of ,christianity2 for ,scripture says that it was given also for reproof 7#b ,tim4 #c1 #af74 ,no one can be a true theologian without being polemical on occasion4 ,in another class of his references to the ,jews ,luther refers to their character3 their arrogance and pride1 their stiffneckedness and contumacy1 their greed and avarice1 which makes their presence in any land a public calamity4 ,though their church and state has long been overthrown1 and they are a people without a country1 homeless wanderers on the face of the earth1 they still boast of being the people of ,god1 and are indulging the wildest dreams about the reestablishment of their ancient kingdom4 ,they are looking for a ,messiah who will be a secular prince1 and will make them all barons living in beautiful castles and receiving the tribute of the ,goyim4 ,one may reason and plead with them and show them that their belief contradicts their own ,scriptures1 that their ,talmud is filled with palpable falsehoods1 and that their hope is a chimera2 but they turn a deaf ear to argument and entreaty1 and turn upon you with fierce resentment at your efforts to show them the truth4 ,although they know that their habits of grasping and hoarding wealth1 driving hard and unfair bargains1 their hunting for small profits by contemptible methods like hungry dogs searching the offal in the alley1 rouses the enmity of communities against them and causes them to become a blight to all true progress1 to honest trade and business in any land where they have become firmly established1 so that laws must be made against them1 still they blindly and passionately continue their covetous strivings4 ,when ,luther observes the corrupting influence of the ,jews on the public life and morals1 he declares that they ought to be expelled from the country1 and their synagogs ought to be destroyed1 that is1 they have deserved this treatment4 ,but it is a remarkable fact that even in these terrible denunciations of the ,jews ,luther moves on ,bible ground1 as any one can see that will examine his exposition of an imprecatory psalm1 like ,psalm #aji and #ei4 ,if these words of ,god mean anything and admit of any application to an apostate and hardened race1 the ,jews are that race1 and a teacher of the ,bible has the duty to point out this fact4 ,but ,luther has not been a ,jewbaiter2 he has not incited a riot against then1 nor headed a raid upon them1 as ,prof4 ,worman tells us that ,catholic priests in the ,middle ,ages occasionally would do4 ,what ,luther thought of persecuting the ,jews for their religion can be seen from his exposition of ,psalm #ad4 ,he did not believe in a general conversion of the ,jews1 but he held that individual ,jews would ever and anon be won for ,christ and would be grafted on the olive-tree of the true ,church4 ,therefore1 he says1 we ought to condemn the rage of some ,christians--if they really deserve to be called ,christians--who think that they are doing ,god a service by persecuting the ,jews in the most hateful manner1 imagining all manner of evil about them1 proudly and haughtily mocking them in their pitiful misery4 ,according to the statement in this ,psalm 7,ps4 #ad1 #g7 and the example of the ,apostle ,paul in ,rom4 #i1 #a1 we ought rather to feel a profound and cordial pity for them and always pray for them4 4 4 4 ,by their tyrannical bearing these wicked people1 who are nominally ,christians1 cause not a little injury1 not only to the cause of ,christianity1 but also to ,christian people1 and they are responsible for1 and sharers in1 the impiety of the ,jews1 because by their cruel bearing toward them they drive them away from the ,christian faith instead of attracting them with all possible gentleness1 patience1 pleading1 and anxious concern for them4 ,there are even some theologians so unreasonable as to sanction such cruelty to the ,jews and to encourage people to it2 in their proud conceit they assert that the ,jews are the ,christians' slaves and tributary to the emperor1 while in truth they are themselves ,christians with as much right as any one nowadays is ,roman ,emperor4 ,good ,god1 who would want to join our religion1 even though he were of a meek and submissive mind1 when he sees how spitefully and cruelly he is treated2 and that the treatment he can expect is not only unchristian1 but worse than bestial8 ,if hating ,jews and heretics and ,turks makes people ,christians1 we insane people would indeed be the best ,christians4 ,but if loving ,christ makes ,christians1 we are beyond a doubt worse than ,jews1 heretics1 and ,turks1 because no one loves ,christ less than we4 ,the rage of these people reminds me of children and fools1 who1 when they see a picture of a ,jew on a wall1 go and cut out his eyes1 pretending that they want to help the ,lord ,christ4 ,most of the preachers during ,lent treat of nothing else than the cruelty of the ,jews towards the ,lord ,christ1 which they are continually magnifying4 ,thus they embitter believers against them1 while the ,gospel aims only at showing and exalting the love of ,god and ,christ4 7#d1 #ibg47 ,the ,catholic claim that the ,maryland ,colony in the days of the ,calverts became the first home of true religious liberty on ,american soil has been so often blasted by historians that one is loath to enter upon this moth-eaten claim for fear of merely repeating what others have more exhaustively stated4 ,catholics seem to forget what ,bishop ,perry has called attention to3 ,the ,maryland charter of toleration was the gift of an ,english monarch1 the nominal head of ,church of ,england1 and the credit of any merit in this donative is due the giver1 and not the recipient1 of the kingly grant4 ,prof4 ,fisher has called attention to another fact3 ,only two references to religion are to be found in the ,maryland charter4 ,the first gives to the proprietary patronage and advowson of churches4 ,the second empowers him to erect churches1 chapels1 and oratories1 which he may cause to be consecrated according to the ecclesiastical laws of ,england4 ,the phraseology is copied from the ,avalon patent 7drawn up in ,england in #afbc for a portion of the colony of ,newfoundland7 that was given to ,sir ,george ,calvert 7first ,lord ,baltimore7 when he was a member of the ,church of ,england4 ,yet the terms were such that recognition of that ,church as the established form of religion does not prevent the proprietary and the colony from the exercise of full toleration toward other ,christian bodies4 7,colonial ,era1 p4 #fd47 ,the ,maryland ,colony was admittedly organized as a business venture1 and its original members were largely ,protestants4 ,it was to secure the financial interests of the proprietary that tolerance was shown the colonists4 ,prof4 ,fisher says3 ,any attempt to proscribe ,protestants would have proved speedily fatal to the existence of the colony4 ,in a document which emanated partly from ,baltimore himself1 it is declared to be evident that the distinctive privileges 'usually granted to ecclesiastics of the ,roman ,catholic ,church by ,catholic princes in their own countries could not be possibly granted hero 7in ,maryland7 without great offense to the ,king and ,state of ,england4' 7p4 #fc47 ,we have not the space in this review of ,catholic charges and claims to go into the religious history of the ,maryland ,colony as we should like to do2 otherwise we should explain the machinations of the ,jesuits in this colony1 and prove that what tolerance ,maryland in its early days enjoyed it owed to the preponderating influence of non-,catholic forces4 ,it requires an unusual amount of courage for a ,catholic writer at this late day to parade his ,church as the mother and protectress of religious liberty and tolerance4 ,any person who has but a smattering knowledge of the history of the world during the last four centuries will smile at this claim4 ,the old ,rome of the days of the ,inquisition and the auto da fes may seem tolerant in our days1 but she is so from sheer necessity1 not from any voluntary and joyous choice of her own4 ,her intolerant principles remain the same1 only she has not the power to carry them into effect4 ,one of the ,catholic bishops who was opposed to the dogma of papal infallibility1 ,reinkens1 published a book bearing the remarkable title ,revolution and ,church4 ,in this book a thought is suggested which connects the ,roman ,curia with political disturbances that occur in the world4 ,the author regards the declaration of papal infallibility as another step forward in the imperialistic program of the ,curia looking towards world-dominion4 ,he argues that it is in the interest of the ,vatican policies to foment trouble and breed revolutions in the commonwealths of the world4 ,the thoughts of the ,roman ,curia1 he says1 are not the thoughts of ,god4 ,inasmuch1 however1 as it is these latter that are realized with increasing force in the history of the world1 and that animate the formation of every true civil and ecclesiastical institution1 the ,curia is gradually forced into a conflict with the whole world4 4 4 4 ,the ,curia 7to carry its aims into effect7 tries one last means3 its last attempt is to bring about a revolution4 ,as 'the ,church' succeeded in digging her charter out of the ruins of the commonwealths of the ancient world1 so the spirits of ,vaticanism hope again to rebuild the palace of their dominion out of ruins4 7p4 #d47 ,again3 ,bishop ,hefele entertains the fear that the recent elevation of the ,pope to power 7the infallibility dogma7 will soon become the primary dogma in the instruction of children4 ,we regret to say that this fear has proven well founded3 all the governments1 even the ,german1 aid in this instruction of the schoolchildren1 because they retain religious instruction on a confessional basis we in ,america say on sectarian lines1 hence also that prescribed by the ,vatican1 as obligatory1 and the infallibilist clergy is salaried by the ,state for providing this instruction ,the divine authority of the ,pope extending over all men tends to disturb the minds of the children in the schools3 they are taught at an early age to obey the ,viceregent of ,god in preference to obeying the ,emperor and the ,state4 ,in the higher schools this is done by the clergy that is commissioned to teach in such schools4 7p4 #g47 ,again3 ,the ,roman order of the ,jesuits is not only spread like a net over all countries1 but it sinks its roots into every age1 sex1 estate1 and loosens and forces apart the ligaments of civil institutions4 7p4 #h47 ,luther's views on human free will are brought forward once more to show that his teaching necessarily is hostile to liberty4 ,luther's famous reply to ,erasmus ,on the ,bondage of the ,will is made to do yeoman's service in this respect4 ,what ,luther has declared regarding the sovereignty of ,god's rulership over men1 regarding the relation of ,god also to the evil existing in this world1 regarding the absence of chance in the affairs of men1 regarding man's utter helplessness over and against the supreme will of ,god1 is cited to prove that ,luther's teaching leads1 not to liberty1 but either to recklessness or despair4 ,luther's views on the captive1 or enslaved1 will are declared to be the most degrading and demoralizing teaching that men have been offered during the last centuries4 ,luther's famous illustration1 viz41 that man is like a horse which either ,god or the devil rides1 has prompted the following remarks of one of ,luther's most recent critics3 ,this parable summarizes the whole of ,luther's teaching on the vital and all-important subject of man's free will4 4 4 4 ,all who are honest and fearless of consequences must admit in frankest terms that ,luther's teaching on free will1 as expounded in his book1 and explicitly making ,god the author of man's evil thoughts and deeds1 cannot but lend a mighty force to the passions and justify the grossest violations of the moral law4 ,indeed1 the enemy of souls1 as ,anderson remarks1 'could not inspire a doctrine more likely to effect his wicked designs than ,luther's teaching oil the enslavement of the human will4' ,there is a dogmatic reason for this excoriation of ,luther3 ,rome's teaching of righteousness by works and human merit4 ,the same author says1 in immediate connection with the foregoing3 ,likening man to a 'beast of burden1' does ,luther not maintain that man is utterly powerless 'by reason of his fallen nature' to lead a godly life1 and merit by the practise of virtue the rewards of eternal happiness8 ,does he not say3 ',it is written in the hearts of men that there is no freedom of will1' that 'all takes place in accordance with inexorable necessity1' and that1 even 'were free will offered him1 he should not care to have it'8 ,but does not all this contradict the ,spirit of ,god when1 speaking in the ,book of ,ecclesiasticus1 ,he says3 ',before man is life and death1 good and evil2 that which he shall choose shall be given him'8 ,we submitted in chap4 #ae the ,scriptural evidence on the spiritual disability of man4 7,the passage from ,ecclesiasticus in the last quotation is not ,scripture47 ,it is useless to argue with a person who refuses to accept this teaching of ,scripture4 ,we can only repeat what we said before3 ,let the advocates of human free will proceed to do what they claim they are able to do1 and do it thoroughly4 ,no one will begrudge them the crown of glory when they obtain it4 ,on the other hand1 they will have none but themselves to blame if they do not obtain it4 ,in the light of ,god's holy ,word1 in the light1 moreover1 of the experience of the most spiritual-minded and saintly men that have lived on earth1 we see in the claim of the advocates of human free will regarding the fulfilment of ,god's ,law nothing but a vain boast1 and a most mischievous attempt to be smarter than ,god4 ,the theory of salvation by merit is the most disastrous risk that the human heart can take4 ,christ has mercifully warned men not to take this risk4 ,if they will not hear ,him1 they will have to perish in their sins 7,john #h1 #bd74 ,in chap4 #ae we also explained ,luther's views on human free will in the affairs of this life4 ,we only have to add a word on the subject of contingency4 ,are ,luther's ,catholic1 critics really so blind as not to see that man even in his ordinary affairs of common every-day life is subject to the inscrutable government of ,god8 ,our physical life in its most trivial aspects is entirely dependent not only on the laws of nature1 which are nothing but the order which the ,creator has appointed for the created universe1 but also on extraordinary acts of ,god over which no man has control4 ,the farmer sows his wheat and expects to reap a crop4 ,how8 ,by reason of the power of germination which the ,creator has put in the grain1 and the laws which govern atmospheric changes1 which laws1 again1 the ,creator governs4 ,the farmer can do nothing to make the wheat grow and ripen4 ,he is utterly dependent upon ,god4--,a merchant decides that he will make a business trip to ,new ,york4 ,he will leave the next morning on the nine o'clock train4 ,he orders his transportation1 and the next morning-he does not leave4 ,something happened2 ,i had to change my plans1 he tells his friends4 ,ah1 says our ,catholic critic1 but was he not free to change his mind8 ,we say3 ,you may talk as much as you wish about the person's freedom2 the fact remains that the person would not have changed his mind unless he had to4 - ,let us follow this merchant a little further3 ,he actually starts on his trip two days later4 ,he is to arrive at his destination at two o'clock in the afternoon of the next day1 and very much depends on his arriving just at that time4 ,but he does not even get to ,cincinnati4 ,something happened1 he wires to his friend4 ,and now his human free will goes into operation again3 he changes his mind4 - ,man proposes1 but ,god disposes1 this belief is ineradicably written into the consciousness of all intelligent men1 even of intelligent pagans1 and no philosophy of free will will wipe it out4 ,the wise farmer1 after he has finished sowing his field1 says1 ,god willing1 ,i shall reap a good crop4 ,the wise merchant says1 ,god willing1 ,i shall be in ,new ,york to-morrow4 ,and ,god approves of this wise reservation which causes the prudent to submit their most ordinary actions to divine revision4 ,he says in ,jas4 #d1 #ac-af3 ,go to now1 ye that say1 ,to-day or to-morrow we will go into such a city1 and continue there a year1 and buy and sell1 and get gain1 whereas ye know not what shall be on the morrow4 ,for what is your life8 ,it is even a vapor that appeareth for a little time1 and then vanisheth away4 ,for that ye ought to say1 ,if the ,lord will1 we shall live1 and do this1 or that4 ,but now ye rejoice in your boastings3 all such rejoicing is evil4 ,let ,luther's ,catholic critics wrestle with these and similar texts of ,scripture1 with these and similar facts of daily life4 ,luther has rightly declared the sovereignty of ,god a mighty ax and thunderbolt that shatters the assertion of human free will4 ,we have shown that ,luther is no fatalist4 ,his warning1 on the one hand1 not to disregard the secret will of ,god1 and on the other1 not to seek to find it out1 is a masterpiece of wisdom4 ,in view of the absolute sovereignty of ,god and man's absolute dependence upon it1 ,luther urges man to go to work in his chosen occupation in childlike reliance upon ,god4 ,he is to employ to the utmost capacity all his ,god-given energies of mind and body and work as if everything depended on his industry1 strength1 prudence1 thrift1 planning1 and arranging4 ,having done all1 he is to say3 ,dear ,lord1 it is all subject to ,thy approval4 ,thou art ,master2 do ,thou boss my business4 ,if ,thou overrulest my plans1 ,i have nothing to say2 ,thou knowest better4 ,not my will1 but ,thine1 be done4 ,this is the whole truth in a nutshell that ,luther drives home in that part of his reply to ,erasmus which treats of contingency4 ,if ever statements garbled from the context are unfair to the author1 what the ,catholics are constantly doing in quoting ,luther on the ,bondage of the ,will is one of the most glaring exhibitions of unfairness on record4 ,this treatise of ,luther deserves to be studied thoroughly and repeatedly1 and measured against the facts of the common experience of all men4 ,for a profitable study of this treatise there is1 moreover1 required a very humble mind1 a mind that knows its sin1 and is sincere in acknowledging its insufficiency4 ,the generation of ,luther and the generations after him have had this particular teaching of ,luther before them four hundred years4 ,what effect has it had on human progress in every field of secular activity in ,protestant lands8 ,has it created that chaos and confusion which ,catholics claim it must inevitably lead to8 ,quite the contrary has happened4 ,and now let the patrons of the theory of human free will measure their own success as recorded by history against that of ,protestants4 #be4 ,the ,adam and ,eve of the ,new ,gospel of ,concubinage4 ,this is the honorary title which ,catholics bestow upon ,martin ,luther and ,catherine von ,bora1 who were married ,june #ac1 #aebe1 during the ,peasants' ,war4 ,luther was forty-two years old at the time and his bride past twenty-six4 ,she had left the cloister two years before her marriage1 and had found employment during that time in the home of one of the citizens of ,wittenberg4 ,their first child1 ,hans1 was born ,june #g1 #aebf4 ,the grounds on which ,catholics object to this marriage are1 chiefly1 three4 ,in the first place1 they declare the marriage the outcome of an impure relation which had existed between ,luther and ,catherine prior to their marriage4 ,the marriage had virtually become a matter of necessity1 to prevent greater scandal4 ,moreover1 in this impure relationship ,luther with his lascivious and lustful mind1 in which fleshly desires were continually raging1 had been the prime mover4 ,the second ground on which ,catholics object to ,luther's marriage is1 because ,luther held professedly low views of the virtue of chastity and the state of matrimony4 ,he had stripped matrimony of its sacramental character1 and regarded it as a mere physical necessity and a social and civil contract4 ,thirdly1 ,catholics criticize ,luther's marriage because it was entered into by both the contracting parties in violation of a sacred vow3 ,luther had been a monk and ,catherine a nun1 both sworn to perpetual celibacy4 ,moral cleanness is indelibly stamped upon hundreds of pages of ,luther's writings4 ,the ,sixth ,commandment in its wider application to the mutual relation of the sexes and the sexual condition of the individual was to ,luther the solemn voice of ,god by which the holy and wise ,creator guards and protects the fountains whence springs human life4 ,because there is among us1 he says1 such a shameful mixture and the very dregs of all kinds of vice and lewdness1 this commandment is also directed against all manner of impurity1 whatever it may be called2 and not only is the external act forbidden1 but every kind of cause1 incitement1 and means1 so that the heart1 the lips1 and the whole body may be chaste and afford no opportunity1 help1 or persuasion for impurity4 ,and not only this1 but that we may also defend1 protect1 and rescue wherever there is danger and need2 and give help and counsel1 so as to maintain our neighbor's honor4 ,for wherever you allow such a thing when you could prevent it1 or connive at it as if it did not concern you1 you are as truly guilty as the one perpetrating the deed4 ,thus it is required1 in short1 that every one both live chastely himself and help his neighbor do the same4 7,large ,catechism1 p4 #dai47 ,the reason why ,god in the ,sixth ,commandment refers to only one form of sexual impurity ,luther states correctly thus3 ,he expressly mentions adultery1 because among the ,jews it was a command and appointment that every one must be married4 ,therefore also the young were early married1 so that the state of celibacy was held in small esteem1 neither were public prostitution and lewdness tolerated as now4 ,therefore adultery was the most common form of unchastity among them4 7,ibid47 ,in his ,appeal to the ,german ,nobility ,luther says3 ,is it not a terrible thing that we ,christians should maintain public brothels1 though we all vow chastity in our baptism8 ,i well know all that can be said on this matter2 that it is not peculiar to one nation1 that it would be difficult to demolish it1 and that it is better thus than that virgins1 or married women1 or honorable women should be dishonored4 ,but should not the spiritual and temporal powers combine to find some means of meeting these difficulties without any such heathen practise8 ,if the people of ,israel existed without this scandal1 why should not a ,christian nation be able do so8 ,how do so many towns and villages manage to exist without these houses8 ,why should not great cities be able to do so8 4 4 4 ,it is the duty of those in authority to see the good of their subjects4 ,but if those in authority considered how young people might be brought together in marriage1 the prospect of marriage would help every man and protect him from temptations4 7#aj1 #cdi2 transl4 by ,waring47 ,this is the ,luther of whom ,catholic writers say that he would not be considered qualified to sit with a modern ,vice ,commission4 ,but what about the many coarse references in ,luther's writings to sexual matters-references which are unprintable nowadays8 ,do these not show that ,luther was far from being even an ordinary gentleman1 that he was depraved in thought and vulgar nauseating1 in speech whenever he approached the subject of marriage and sexual conditions8 ,we have just cited a few of ,luther's references to these matters4 ,they are clean and proper4 ,we could fill pages with them1 and they would prove most profitable reading in our loose1 profligate1 and adulterous age4 ,those other references which are also found in ,luther's writings should be studied in their connection4 ,leaving out of the account humorous references and playful remarks1 which only malice can twist into a lascivious meaning1 they are indignant and scornful expostulations with the defenders and practisers of vice that flaunted its shame in the face of the public4 ,righteous anger will give a person the courage to speak out boldly and in no mincing words about things which otherwise nauseate him4 ,when ,catholic writers cull from ,luther vile and disgusting remarks about sexual affairs1 it should be investigated to whom ,luther made those remarks1 and what reason he had for making them4 ,there is another side to this matter1 and that concerns medieval ,catholicism itself4 ,we have indicated in sundry places in this review the social conditions in respect of the sex relations that existed under the spiritual sovereignty of the ,roman ,church in ,luther's day in the very city of ,rome1 and had grown up and were being fostered by her leading men4 ,luther's references to lustfulness are paraded as evidence of the lust that was consuming him2 they are1 in reality1 evidences of the lust that he knew to be raging in very prominent people with whom he had dealings4 ,luther's words and teaching would count for little if his personal conduct and his acts were in open contradiction to his chaste professions4 ,we would simply have to set him down as a hypocrite4 ,but so would the people in ,luther's own day have done4 ,it is a poor argument to say that the common people were no match for ,luther in an argument4 ,they were cowed into silence1 they were afraid to tell him to his face that he ought to practise what he preached4 ,luther's work proved the spiritual emancipation of the common people1 and one of the effects which mark his reformatory work is the intelligent layman1 who forms his own judgment on what he hears and sees1 and speaks out to his superiors4 ,the ,wittenbergers in ,luther's day were not a set of ninnies2 the constant association with the professors and students of the university1 the growing fame of their town1 which brought many strangers to it1 important civil and religious affairs on which they had to come to a decision1 had made many of them far-sighted and resolute men of affairs4 ,luther's home life before and after his marriage was open to public inspection as few homes are4 ,the most intimate and delicate affairs had to be arranged before company at times4 ,in a small town-and ,wittenberg was no modern metropolis-what one person knows becomes public information in a short time4 ,small communities have no secrets1 or at least find it extremely difficult to have any4 ,but the lewdness which ,luther attacked in his writings on chastity existed chiefly among persons of wealth and among the nobility4 ,not a few of them resented ,luther's invectives against their mode of life4 ,they surely did not lack the courage nor the ability to express themselves in retaliation against ,luther if they had known him to be immoral himself while preaching morality to others4 ,last1 not least1 there were the ,catholic priests and dignitaries of the ,roman ,church whose scandalous life ,luther exposed4 ,aside from their disagreement from ,luther in point of doctrine1 personal revenge animated not a few of them with the desire to find a flaw in ,luther's conduct4 ,a few reckless spirits among them insinuated and declared openly that ,luther was immoral1 but the animus back of the charge was so well understood at the time1 and the people who were in daily and close touch with ,luther were so fully convinced of the purity of his life1 that the charges were treated with contempt4 ,luther's life from the age of puberty to his marriage was1 indeed1 a fight against temptations to unchastity4 ,is it anything else in the case of other men8 ,the physical effects of adolescence1 as we remarked before1 are a natural and morally pure phenomenon2 ,luther's frank way of speaking of them does not make them impure4 ,but this physical condition in a growing young man or woman may become the occasion for impure acts4 ,against these ,luther strove as every ,christian strives against them who has not the special grace of which our ,lord speaks ,matt4 #ai1 #ab1 in the first part of the verse4 ,luther had his flesh fairly well in subjection to the ,spirit4 ,history has not recorded those acts of immorality which his enemies insinuate or openly charge him with4 ,the illegitimate children which are imputed to him were born in ,catholic fancy4 ,his constitutional amorous propensities1 too1 are fiction4 ,though ,luther admits a few months prior to his marriage that he wears no armor plate around his heart1 it is known that he had been all his life anything rather than a ladies' man4 ,luther's courtship of ,catherine--if we may call it that--was almost void of romance4 ,the nine nuns who had fled from the cloister at ,nimpschen to escape the impurities of the life of celibacy1 had turned to ,wittenberg in their trouble4 ,they were not seeking new impurities1 but running away from old ones4 ,what was more natural than that they should seek the protection of the man whose teaching had opened the road to liberty for them4 ,they did not come to ,wittenberg to surrender themselves to ,luther1 but to seek his protection1 advice1 and help in beginning a new1 natural life after the unnatural life which they had been leading4 ,luther responded to the call of distress4 ,he did not receive them into his own domicile in the cloister where he lived1 but found shelter for them with kind citizens of the town4 ,next1 he found husbands for them4 ,in less than two years after the escape from the cloister all had been respectably married1 except ,catherine4 ,a love-affair of hers with ,jerome ,baumgaertner of ,nuernberg had terminated unhappily1 in spite of ,luther's urging the young man4 ,another choice which ,luther proposed to her--,dr4 ,glatz of ,orlamuende--was declined peremptorily by ,catherine1 because1 it seems1 she had read the man's character4 ,in declining this second offer1 ,catherine had made complaint to ,luther's friend ,amsdorf that ,luther was trying to marry her against her will4 ,she appears to have been a frank and resolute woman2 in her conversation with ,amsdorf she remarked that her decision would be altogether different if either he or even ,luther were to ask for her hand4 ,this was not1 as has been said1 a bald invitation to either of these two gentlemen1 but only ,catherine's energetic way of explaining what sort of a husband she would like1 and why she would not take ,glatz4 ,amsdorf so understood her remark and made nothing of it4 ,by an accident he came to relate it to ,luther six months later1 when the latter had written to him in great despondency1 describing his lonely life and the disorderly state of his domicile which needed very much the care of a woman's hand4 ,then it was that ,amsdorf related what ,catherine had remarked4 ,luther had never thought of her in such a relation4 ,he had been attracted1 it seems1 by another of the nine escaped nuns1 ,ave von ,schoenfeld1 but whatever affection he may have entertained for her must have been a passing incident1 never seriously entertained1 for it must be remembered that at that time ,luther declared that he would live and die a bachelor4 ,besides1 ,ave had now been happily married to another4 ,at this juncture the influence of another woman enters into the private life of ,luther4 ,argula von ,staufen1 a noblewoman who had been won over to the cause of the ,reformation and was actively engaged in breaking down the power of the hierarchy even by her pen1 wrote to ,luther1 expressing her surprise that he who had written so ably and so well on the holy estate of matrimony was still single4 ,among the peasants1 too1 the question was being debated whether ,luther would follow up his preaching with the logical action4 ,luther was ruminating on these matters when the ,peasants' ,revolt broke out1 and with them in his mind went to ,mansfeld4 ,he soon reached the conclusion that he owed it to his profession as a preacher of the divine ,word1 to his ,creator1 to himself1 and to the lonely ,catherine to marry4 ,he foresaw that the celibate clergy of ,rome would raise a hue and cry about the act1 but he considered it a noble work to offend these men1 because they had by their law of celibacy offended the most holy ,god4 ,he would marry to spite all of them1 and the ,pope1 and the devil4 ,this resolution was promptly carried out1 for ,luther was not in the habit of dallying long with serious matters4 ,if he had asked his timid friend ,melanchthon1 he would most likely have been advised against his marriage4 ,faint-hearted ,philip was not the man to advise in a matter which at the time required a heroic faith4 ,philip1 therefore1 was duly shocked when he heard about it4 ,his consternation is now used by ,catholics to prove that he regarded ,luther's marriage as a wanton act prompted by lust4 ,this is utterly unhistorical3 ,philip was only afraid of the wild talk that would now be started against all of them4 ,on the right and duty of the clergy to marry he believed with ,luther4 ,and now a word about the chastity of ,rome1 particularly that peculiar brand which was inaugurated by ,gregory ,,vii for the ,roman clergy and the religious of both sexes1 and riveted upon them by the ,council of ,trent- the chastity of the celibate state4 ,that the unnatural principle had never worked out toward true chastity1 that the robbery which it has perpetrated on men and women had to be compensated for by connivance at1 and open permission of1 concubinage1 is a matter of current knowledge4 ,luther's advice to priests and bishops who had opened their hearts to him on the state of their chastity to marry their cooks1 even if they had to do it secretly2 rather than maintain the other relation to them1 was a good man's effort to meet a grave difficulty as best he could4 ,this advice is now used to show that ,luther was ready to approve any kind of cohabitation4 ,the very opposite is true3 it was because he did not approve of any kind of sexual intercourse1 but because he desired to obtain some kind of a legal character for that relation1 that he gave the advice to which we have referred4 ,before the assembled representatives of the ,church and of the ,german nation the following statements were read in ,article ,,xxiii of the ,augsburg ,confession3 ,there has been common complaint concerning the examples of priests who were not chaste4 ,for that reason1 also1 ,pope ,pius is reported to have said that there were certain reasons why marriage was taken away from priests1 but that there were far weightier ones why it ought to be given back2 for so ,platina writes4 ,since1 therefore1 our priests were desirous to avoid these open scandals1 they married wives1 and taught that it was lawful for them to contract matrimony4 ,first1 because ,paul says 7#a ,cor4 #g1 #b73 ',to avoid fornication1 let every man have his own wife4' ,also 7#i73 ',it is better to marry than to burn4' ,secondly1 ,christ says 7,matt4 #ai1 #aa73 ',all men cannot receive this saying1' where ,he teaches that not all men are fit to lead a single life2 for ,god created man for procreation 7,gen4 #a1 #bc74 ,nor is it in man's power1 without a singular gift and work of ,god1 to alter this creation4 ,therefore1 those that are not fit to lead a single life ought to contract matrimony4 ,for no man's law1 no vow1 can annul the commandment and ordinance of ,god4 ,for these reasons the priests teach that it is lawful for them to marry wives4 ,it is also evident that in the ancient ,church priests were married men4 ,for ,paul says 7#a ,tim4 #c1 #b7 that a bishop should be the husband of one wife4 ,and in ,germany1 four hundred years ago for the first time1 the priests were violently compelled to lead a single life1 who indeed offered such resistance that the ,archbishop of ,mayence1 when about to publish the ,pope's decree concerning this matter1 was almost killed in the tumult raised by the enraged priests4 ,and so harsh was the dealing in the matter that not only were marriages forbidden for the time to come1 but also existing marriages were torn asunder1 contrary to all laws1 divine and human1 contrary even to the canons themselves1 made not only by the ,popes1 but by most celebrated councils4 ,seeing also that1 as the world is aging1 man's nature is gradually growing weaker1 it is well to guard that no more vices steal into ,germany4 ,furthermore1 ,god ordained marriage to be a help against human infirmity4 ,the old canons themselves say that the old rigor ought now and then1 in the latter times1 to be relaxed because of the weakness of men2 which1 it is to be devoutly wished1 were also done in this matter4 ,and it is to be expected that the churches shall at length lack pastors1 if marriage should any longer be forbidden4 ,but while the commandment of ,god is in force1 while the custom of the ,church is well known1 while impure celibacy causes many scandals1 adulteries1 and other crimes deserving the punishments of just magistrates1 yet it is a marvelous thing that in nothing is more cruelty exercised than against the marriage of priests4 ,god has given commandment to honor marriage4 ,by the laws of all well-ordered commonwealths1 even among the heathen1 marriage is most highly honored4 ,but now men1 and also priests1 are cruelly put to death1 contrary to the intent of the canons1 for no other cause than marriage4 ,paul 7in #a ,tim4 #d1 #c7 calls that a doctrine of devils which forbids marriage4 ,this may now be readily understood when the law against marriage is maintained by such penalties4 ,but as no law of man can annul the commandment of ,god1 so neither can it be done by any vow4 ,accordingly ,cyprian also advises that women who do not keep the chastity they have promised should marry4 ,his words are1 these 7,book ,i1 ,epistle ,,xix73 ',but if they be unwilling or unable to persevere1 it is better for them to marry than to fall into the fire by their lusts2 at least1 they should give no offense to their brethren and sisters4' ,and even the canons show some leniency toward those who have taken vows before the proper age1 as heretofore has generally been the case4 7p4 #dh f47 ,not a word of dissent arose in the august assembly while these facts and arguments were presented4 ,the ,germans had not forgotten the riotous proceedings and the cruel heartaches that were caused by the enforcement of the decrees of the ,lenten ,synod of #ajgd under the theocratic ,gregory ,,vii1 who wanted to set up a universal monarchy over the whole world and required an unmarried priesthood as his consecrated army4 ,in his historical novel1 ,die ,letzten ihres ,geschlechts1 ,m4 ,ruediger has graphically described the scenes enacted throughout ,germany when ,gregory's inhuman order was put into effect4 ,similar statements regarding priestly celibacy are found in ,art4 ,,xxvii of the ,first1 and in ,art4 ,,xxix of the ,second ,helvetic ,confession of the ,reformed4 ,the ,episcopal ,church has declared itself to the same effect in ,art4 ,,xxxii of the ,thirty-nine ,articles4 ,however1 did not ,luther and ,catherine both perjure themselves by marrying8 ,what about their religious vow1 which had been given to ,god8 ,also on this matter we might cite ,luther's numerous statements and expository writings1 but we prefer to quote again the ,augsburg ,confession which grew out of ,luther's testimony for the truth4 ,in ,article ,,xxvii the ,lutheran confessors state3 ,what is taught on our part concerning monastic vows will be better understood if it be remembered what has been the state of the monasteries1 and how many things were daily done in those very monasteries1 contrary to the canons4 ,in ,augustine's time they were free associations4 ,afterward1 when discipline was corrupted1 vows were everywhere added for the purpose of restoring discipline1 as in a carefully planned prison4 ,gradually1 many other observances were added besides vows4 ,and these fetters were laid upon many before the lawful age1 contrary to the canons4 ,catherine von ,bora had taken the veil at the age of sixteen4 ,many also entered into this kind of life through ignorance1 being unable to their own strength1 though they were of sufficient age4 ,being thus ensnared1 they were compelled to remain1 even though some could have been freed by the provision of the canons4 ,and this was more the case in convents of women than of monks1 although more consideration should have been shown the weaker sex4 ,this rigor displeased many good men before this time1 who saw that young men and maidens were thrown into convents for a living1 and what unfortunate results came of this procedure1 and what scandals were created1 what snares were cast upon consciences6 ,they were grieved that the authority of the canons in so momentous a matter was utterly despised and set aside4 ,to these evils was added an opinion concerning vows1 which1 it is well known1 in former times1 displeased even those monks who were more thoughtful4 ,they taught that vows were equal to ,baptism2 they taught that1 by this kind of life1 they merited forgiveness of sins and justification before ,god4 ,yea1 they added that the monastic life not only merited righteousness before ,god1 but even greater things1 because it kept not only the precepts1 but also the so-called 'evangelical counsels4' ,thus they made men believe that the profession of monasticism was far better than ,baptism1 and that the monastic life was mere meritorious than that of magistrates1 than the life of pastors and such like1 who serve their calling in accordance with ,god's commands1 without any man-made services4 ,none of these things can be denied2 for they appear in their own books4 4 4 4 ,these things we have rehearsed without odious exaggerations1 to the end that the doctrine of our teachers1 on this point1 might be better understood4 ,first1 concerning such as contract matrimony4 ,here the #bgth ,article rehearses in the main the argument of ,article ,,xxiii4 ,in the second place1 why do our adversaries exaggerate the obligation or effect of a vow1 when1 at the same time1 they have not a word to say of the nature of the vow itself1 that it ought to be in a thing possible1 free1 and chosen spontaneously and deliberately8 ,but it is not known to what extent perpetual chastity is in the power of man4 ,and how few are they who have taken the vow spontaneously and deliberately6 ,young men and maidens1 before they are able to judge1 are persuaded1 and sometimes even compelled1 to take the vow4 ,wherefore it is not fair to insist so rigorously on the obligation1 since it is granted by all that it is against the nature of a vow to take it without spontaneous and deliberate action4 4 4 4 ,but although it appears that ,god's command concerning marriage delivers many from their vows1 yet our teachers introduce also another argument concerning vows to show that they are void4 ,for every service of ,god ordained and chosen of men without commandment of ,god to merit justification and grace is wicked as ,christ says 7,matt4 #ae1 #i73 ',in vain they worship ,me with the commandments of men4' ,and ,paul teaches everywhere that righteousness is not to be sought by our own observances and acts of worship devised by men1 but that it comes by faith to those who believe that they are received by ,god into grace for ,christ's sake4 ,the confessors then proceed to show how spiritual pride was fostered by the monkish teaching of perfection1 and how by their rites and ordinances and rules the true worship of ,god was obscured1 and men were withdrawn from useful pursuits in life to be buried in cloisters4 ,they conclude3 ,all these things1 since they are false and empty1 make vows null and void4 7p4 #eg ff47 ,luther never had taken his own nor other monks' vows lightly4 ,he spoke and wrote to ,melanchthon from the ,wartburg against the mere throwing off of the vows on the ground that they were not binding anyway4 ,he argued the sacredness of the oath1 and held that first the consciences of those bound by vows must be set free through the evangelical teaching2 then1 when they are qualified to make an intelligent choice on spiritual grounds1 they may discard their vows4 ,when he married ,catherine1 he had long become a free man in his mind4 ,so had ,catherine4 ,luther is charged with having entertained a purely secular view of the essence of marriage4 ,it is true that ,luther repudiated the ,catholic view of the sacramental character of matrimony4 ,by the teaching of the ,roman ,church a legal marriage can be effected only by the ratification of the marriage-promise and the blessing spoken over the couple by a consecrated priest1 who thus1 by his official quality1 imparts to the marriage which he solemnizes a sacred character4 ,in ,luther's days it was held that the ,church alone properly had jurisdiction over the question of marriage1 and the canonical laws 7of the ,church7 included civil as well as spiritual affairs4 ,luther repudiated these canonical laws on the subject of marriage1 and separated its civil from its ecclesiastical aspect4 ,he maintained that marriage1 as the basis of all family rights1 lies entirely within the province of the ,state1 and mast be regulated of necessity by the civil government4 ',marriage and the married state1' he declared in his ,traubuechlein 7#aj1 #gba71 'are civil matters1 in the management of which we priests and ministers of the ,church must not intermeddle4 ,but when we are required1 either before the church1 or in the church1 to bless the pair1 to pray over them1 or even to marry them1 then it is our bounden duty to do so4' 7,waring1 p4 #bba47 ,in #aijf1 a papal decree was published which declares any betrothal or marriage entered into by a ,catholic with a ,catholic1 or by a ,catholic with a non-,catholic1 to be valid only on condition that either the betrothal or the marriage take place in the presence or with the sanction of a ,catholic priest ,this decree is known as the ,ne ,temere decree4 ,it is called thus according to a custom prevailing in the ,catholic ,church by which the official deliverances of the ,popes are cited by giving the initial word1 or words1 of such a deliverance4 ,the two ,latin terms ,ne ,temere are a warning against reckless action1 and the reckless action intended is the one indicated above4 ,we quote a few statements from the ,ne ,temere decree1 from the work of ,dr4 ,leitner of ,passau1 which was issued in its fifth edition at ,regensburg in #aijh4 ,dr4 ,leitner is a ,catholic professor at ,passau and bears the title ,doctor of ,theology and ,canon ,law4 ,dr4 ,leitner's book is in ,german3 ,die ,verlobungs- und ,eheschliessungsform nach dem ,dekrete ,ne ,temere1 which means1 ,the ,form of ,betrothal and ,marriage according to the ,ne ,temere ,decree4 ,throughout his book the author cites the original language of the papal deliverance4 ,the decree reaffirms1 in the first place1 the decree of the ,council of ,trent1 to this effect3 ,the ,holy ,congregation declares any person who dares to enter into the estate of matrimony1 except upon license from the parish priest or of some other priest of the same parish1 or of the ordinary1 and of two or three witnesses1 incapacitated for such a contract1 and contracts of this kind are declared null and void4 7p4#i47 ,regarding betrothals the decree declares3 ,only such betrothals are regarded as valid and efficacious1 according to the law of the ,church1 as are set down in a document signed by the contracting parties and by the parish priest1 or the local ordinary1 and by at least two witnesses4 ,regarding marriage the decree hands down the following ruling3 ,only such marriages are valid as are entered into in the presence of the parish priest1 or the local ordinary1 or of a priest delegated for the purpose by either of these1 and of two witnesses4 ,again3 ,to the above law are amenable all persons baptized in the ,catholic ,church1 also who have joined the ,catholic ,church from errorist or schismatic societies 7notwithstanding the fact that either former or the latter have apostatized later7 whenever they entered into betrothal or matrimony4 ,lastly3 ,the laws apply to the aforenamed ,catholics whenever they enter into betrothal or matrimony with non-,catholics1 baptized or not1 even when they have obtained a dispensation from the obstacle of a mixed religion or of a disparity of cult2 except the ,holy ,see decrees otherwise for a certain or locality4 ,the operations of this decree have been peculiar4 ,some countries as ,germany and ,belgium1 promptly secured exemption from it4 ,in ,canada the decree has caused law suits4 ,one of them1 ,morin vs4 ,le ,croix1 was tried in ,justice ,greenshield's court at ,montreal1 ,june #ba1 #aiab4 ,the judge in his ruling said2 ,no ,church1 be it the powerful ,roman ,catholic ,church1 or the equally great and powerful ,anglican ,catholic ,church1 possesses any authority to overrule the civil law4 ,such authority as any ,church has 7in the matter of marriages7 is given it by the civil law and is subservient to the civil law4 ,the ,protestant ,magazine1 in ,vol4 ,,iv1 ,no4 #b1 published a facsimile of a baptismal certificate for ,anna ,susanna ,dagonya1 daughter of ,stephen ,dagonya1 ,roman ,catholic1 and ,mary ,csoma1 ,reformed1 who were married at ,perth ,amboy1 ,n4 ,j41 ,august #d1 #aiji1 by ,rev4 ,louis ,nannassy1 ,reformed4 ,their child was born ,november #f1 #aiaj1 and baptized by ,rev4 ,francis ,gross1 priest of the ,holy ,cross ,church at ,perth ,amboy4 ,in writing out the baptismal certificate1 the priest has stated that the child is illegitimate1 and that the parents are living in concubinage4 ,under the civil laws of most states the ,ne ,temere decree will lead to actions for libel4 ,as related to the authority of the ,state1 it is riotous and seditious4 ,for the ,state will protect even those for whom the decree is specially published in their civil rights as over against their ,church4 ,but the decree shows to what absurdities the logical application of ,rome's teaching on matrimony leads4 ,concubinage--that is the name which it applies to every marriage which she has not sanctioned4 ,marriages of this kind began to be celebrated in countries which ,rome had theretofore held firmly under its jurisdiction1 when ,martin ,luther and ,catherine von ,bora were married4 ,accordingly1 they are entitled to the distinction of being called the ,adam and ,eve of the non-,catholic paradise of concubinage which pretends to be matrimony4 ,enough said4 #bf4 ,luther an ,advocate of ,polygamy4 ,during the debate on the abolition of polygamy ,congressman ,roberts of ,utah1 on ,january #bi1 #aijj1 made a speech in the ,house of ,representatives in which he said3 ,here1 in the resident portion of this city you erected--,may #ba1 #ahhd--;a magnificent statue of stern old ,martin ,luther1 the founder of ,protestant ,christendom4 ,you hail him as the apostle of liberty and the inaugurator of a new and prosperous era of civilization for mankind1 but he himself sanctioned polygamy with which ,i am charged4 ,for me you have scorn1 for him a monument4 ,taking his cue from this ,mormon speaker1 one of the most recent of ,luther's ,catholic critics remarks3 ,let the wives and mothers of ,america ponder well the polygamous phase of the ,reformation before they say ',amen' to the unsavory and brazen laudations of the profligate opponent of ,christian marriage1 ,christian decency1 and ,christian propriety4 ,compare the teachings of ,luther on polygamy with those of ,joseph ,smith1 the ,mormon prophet and visionary1 and see their striking similarity4 ,mormonism in ,salt ,lake ,city1 in ,utah1 which has brought so much disgrace to the ,american people1 is but a legitimate outgrowth of ,luther and ,lutheranism4 ,this1 then1 is what will have to be done3 a comparison will have to be instituted between the teaching of ,martin ,luther and that of the ,mormon prophet on the subject of polygamy4 ,we may assume that the teachings of the latter are universally known1 and shall1 accordingly1 confine ourselves to ,luther4 ,two curious facts may be noted before we start our investigation of ,luther's writings3 #a4 ,is it not remarkable that ,joseph ,smith himself does not cite ,luther as his authority in defense of plural marriages8 ,what an impression would the man have made1 had he known what ,mr4 ,roberts and some ,catholics know6 #b4 ,charging ,lutheranism1 that is1 the ,lutheran ,church1 with teaching polygamy1 implies that the confessional writings of the ,lutheran ,church contain this teaching4 ,the person who will furnish the evidence for this charge from the ,book of ,concord1 which contains the symbolical writings of the ,lutheran ,church1 will become famous4 ,mr4 ,roberts was not so bold as to embrace ,lutheranism among the sponsors of his polygamous cult2 he only spoke of ,luther4 ,he was wise4 ,and now1 what does ,luther say on the subject of polygamy8 ,we pass by1 as unworthy of note1 ,luther's humorous remarks made in a spirit of banter to his wife1 that he would marry another wife4 ,only ill-will can find in this friendly jest an evidence of ,luther's polygamous propensities4 ,serious references to this matter occur in ,luther's remarks on the practise of polygamy among the ,israelites4 ,the ,mosaic account of ,abraham's relation to ,agar1 the two marriages of ,jacob1 the regulations regarding women who had become captives in war1 the harems of the kings of ,judah and ,israel1--all these ,biblical records1 which have perplexed many a student of the ,bible1 necessarily interested ,luther as a theologian and expounder of the ,scriptures4 ,every reader of the ,bible has to form an opinion on these matters4 ,polygamous thoughts1 therefore1 did not originate in the lustful mind of ,luther1 but statements on the subject of polygamy were demanded of him as a religious teacher4 ,he held that the polygamous relations which the ,bible notes among the ,israelites1 even among saintly members of this people1 must be explained either on the ground of a special dispensation of ,god for which we do not know the reason1 or they must be regarded in the same light as ,christ regarded the divorces among the ,jews of ,his day1 namely1 as things which ,god permits among men because of their hardness of heart1 and in order to prevent greater evils4 7#c1 #aeef47 ,this view determined ,luther's attitude toward ,carlstadt1 after this turbulent spirit had quitted ,wittenberg and gone to ,orlamuende1 where he advocated1 amongst other things1 the introduction of polygamy4 ,inasmuch as ,carlstadt did not mean to enforce his strange reforms by arms1 as ,muenzer and the peasants were doing1 ,luther inclined to condone his views on polygamy4 ,he evidently regards this matter as a matter of public policy1 like prostitution1 which every community and commonwealth must regulate by such statutes as can be devised1 because of the hardness of men's hearts4 ,luther has frequently propounded this perfectly sound view regarding the life and conduct of non-,christians3 since these people do not acknowledge the laws of ,god as binding1 it matters little what practises they adopt4 ,all that can be done to keep the animal impulses in them somewhat in check is to fix certain limits by means of civil laws beyond which their license may not go4 ,for their rejection of ,god's laws they will have to answer to their future ,judge4 ,in a letter addressed to ,joseph ,levin ,metzsch of ,december #i1 #aebf1 ,luther says3 ,your first question3 ,whether person may have more than one wife8 ,i answer thus3 ,let unbelievers do what they please2 ,christian liberty1 however1 is regulated by love 7charity71 so that all that a ,christian does is done to serve his fellow-man1 provided only that he can render such service without jeopardy and damage to his faith and conscience4 ,nowadays1 however1 everybody is striving for a liberty that profits and pleases him1 without regard for the profit and improvement which his neighbor might derive from his action4 ,this is contrary to the teaching of ,st4 ,paul1 who says3 ',all things are lawful unto me1 but all things are not expedient' 7#a ,cor4 #f1 #ab74 ,only see that your liberty does not become an occasion to the flesh4 4 4 4 ,moreover1 although the patriarchs had many wives1 ,christians may not follow their example1 because there is no necessity for doing this1 no improvement is obtained thereby1 and1 especially1 there is no word of ,god to justify this practise1 while great offense and trouble may come from it4 ,accordingly1 ,i do not believe that ,christians any longer have this liberty4 ,god would have to publish a command that would declare such a liberty4 7#ba;a1 #ija f47 ,to ,clemens ,ursinus1 pastor at ,bruck1 ,luther writes under date of ,march #ba1 #aebg3 ,polygamy1 which in former times was permitted to the ,jews and ,gentiles1 cannot be honestly approved of among ,christians1 and cannot be engaged in with a good conscience1 unless in an extreme case of necessity1 as1 for instance1 when one of the spouses is separated from the other by leprosy or for a similar cause4 ,accordingly1 you may say to the carnal people 7with whom you have to do71 if they want to be ,christians1 they must keep married fidelity and bridle their flesh1 not give it license4 ,if they want to be heathen1 let them do what they please1 at their own risk4 7#ba;a1 #ibh47 ,in his comment on the question of the ,pharisees regarding divorce 7,matt4 #ai1 #c-f71 ,luther says3 ,many divorces occur still among the ,turks4 ,if a wife does not yield to the husband1 nor act according to his whim and fancy1 he forthwith drives her out of the house1 and takes one1 two1 three1 or four additional wives1 and defends his action by appealing to ,moses4 ,they have taken out of ,moses such things as please them and pander to their lust4 ,in ,turkey they are very cruel to women2 any woman that will not submit is cast aside4 ,they toy with their women like a dog with a rag4 ,when they are weary of one woman1 they quickly put her beneath the turf and take another4 ,moses has said nothing to justify this practise4 ,my opinion is that there is no real married life among the ,turks2 theirs is a whorish life4 ,it is a terrible tyranny1 all the more to be regretted because ,god does not withhold the common blessing from their intercourse3 children are procreated thereby1 and yet the mother is sent away by the husband4 ,for this reason there is no true matrimony among the ,turks4 ,in my opinion1 all the ,turks at the present time are bastards4 7#g1 #ife47 ,all this is plain enough and should suffice to secure ,luther against the charge of favoring polygamy4 ,the seeming admission that polygamy might be permissible relates to cases for which the laws of all civilized nations make provisions4 ,how a ,christian must conduct himself in such a case must be decided on the evidence in each case4 ,likewise1 the reference to the ,christian's liberty from the law does not mean that the ,christian has the potential right to polygamy1 but it means that he must maintain his monogamous relation from a free and willing choice to obey ,god's commandments in the power of ,god's grace4 ,polygamy1 this is the firm conviction of ,luther1 could only be sanctioned if there were a plain command of ,god to that effect4 ,luther's remarks about matrimony among the ,turks should be remembered when ,catholics cite ,luther's remarks about ,king ,ahasuerus dismissing ,vashti and summoning ,esther1 and the right of the husband to take to himself his maid-servant when his wife refuses him4 ,by all divine and human laws the matter to which ,luther refers is a just ground for divorce1 and that is all that ,luther declares4 ,but did not ,luther sanction the bigamy of ,philip of ,hesse8 ,so he did4 ,luther's decision in this case must be studied in the light of all the evidence which we possess4 ,catholic theologians1 before all others1 should be able to appreciate ,luther's claim that what was said to the ,landgrave was said to him in the person of ,christ1 as the counsel which a confessor gave to a burdened conscience4 ,catholics fail to mention that ,luther repelled bigamous thoughts in ,philip of ,hesse fourteen years before the ,landgrave took ,margaret von der ,saal4 ,the evidence was found in the state archives at ,kassel1 now at ,marburg1 in a fragment of a letter which ,niedner published in the ,zeitschrift fuer historische ,theologie1 #aheb1 ,no4 #b1 p4 #bfe4 ,the letter is dated ,november #bh1 #aebf2 ,philip's bigamous marriage took place ,march #i1 #aedj4 ,in this letter ,luther says to ,philip3 ,as regards the other matter1 my faithful warning and advice is that no man1 ,christians in particular1 should have more than one wife1 not only for the reason that offense would be given1 and ,christians must not needlessly give1 but most diligently avoid giving1 offense1 but also for the reason that we have no word of ,god regarding this matter on which we might base a belief that such action would be well-pleasing to ,god and to ,christians4 ,let heathen and ,turks do what they please4 ,some of the ancient fathers had many wives1 but they were urged to this by necessity1 as ,abraham and ,jacob1 and later many kings1 who according to the law of ,moses obtained the wives of their friends1 on the death of the latter1 as an inheritance4 ,the example of the fathers is not a sufficient argument to convince a ,christian3 he must have1 in addition1 a divine word that makes him sure1 just as they had a word of that kind from ,god4 ,for where there was no need or cause1 the ancient fathers did not have more than one wife1 as ,isaac1 ,joseph1 ,moses1 and many others4 ,for this reason ,i cannot advise for1 but must advise against1 your intention1 particularly since you are a ,christian1 unless there were an extreme necessity1 as1 for instance1 if the wife were leprous or the husband were deprived of her for some other reason4 ,on what grounds to forbid other people such marriages ,i know not 7#ba;a1 #ijj f47 ,this letter effected that the ,landgrave did not carry out his intention1 but failing1 nevertheless1 to lead a chaste life1 he did not commune1 except once in extreme illness1 because of his accusing conscience4 ,how ,luther1 fourteen years later1 was induced to virtually reverse his opinion he has told himself in a lengthy letter to the ,elector ,frederick4 ,this letter is ,luther's best justification4 ,it is dated ,june #aj1 #aedj1 and reads3 ,most serene1 high-born ,elector1 most gracious ,lord3--,i am sorry to learn that ,your ,grace is importuned by the court of ,dresden about the ,landgrave's business4 ,your ,grace asks what answer to give the men of ,meissen4 ,as the affair was one of the confessional1 both ,melanchthon and ,i were unwilling to communicate it even to ,your ,grace1 for it is right to keep confessional matters secret1 both the sin confessed and the counsel given1 and had the ,landgrave not revealed the matter and the confessional counsel1 there would never have been all this nauseating unpleasantness4--,i still say that if the matter were brought before me to-day1 ,i should not be able to give counsel different from what ,i did4 ,setting apart the fact that ,i know ,i am not as wise as they think they are1 ,i need conceal nothing1 especially as it has already been made known4 ,the state of affairs is as follows3 ,martin ,bucer brought a letter and pointed out that1 on account of certain faults in the ,landgrave's wife1 the ,landgrave was not able to keep himself chaste1 and that he had hitherto lived in a way which was not good1 but that he would like to be at one with the principal heads of the ,evangelic ,church1 and he declared solemnly before ,god and his conscience that he could not in future avoid such vices unless he were permitted to take another wife4 ,we were deeply horrified at this tale and the offense which must follow1 and we begged his ,grace not to do as he proposed4 ,but we were told again that he could not abandon his project1 and if he could not obtain what he wanted from us1 he would disregard us and turn to the ,emperor and ,pope4 ,to prevent this we humbly begged that if his ,grace would not1 or1 as he averred before ,god and his conscience1 could not1 do otherwise1 yet that he could keep it a secret4 ,though necessity compelled him1 yet he could not defend his act before the world and the imperial laws2 this he promised to do1 and we accordingly agreed to help him before ,god and cover it up as much as possible with such examples as that of ,abraham4 ,this all happened as though in the confessional1 and no one can accuse us of having acted as we did willingly or voluntarily or with pleasure or joy4 ,it was hard enough for our hearts1 but we could not prevent it1 we thought to give his conscience such counsel as we could4--,i have indeed learned several confessional secrets1 both while ,i was still a papist and later1 which1 if they were revealed1 ,i should live to deny or else publish the whole confession4 ,such things belong not to the secular courts1 nor are they to be published4 ,god has here ,his own judgment1 and must counsel souls in matters where no worldly law nor wisdom can help4 ,my preceptor in the cloister1 a fine old man1 had many such affairs1 and once had to say of them with a sigh3 ',alas1 alas6 such things are so perplexed and desperate that no wisdom1 law1 nor reason can avail2 one must commend them to divine goodness4' ,so instructed1 ,i have1 accordingly1 in this case also acted agreeably to divine goodness4--,but had ,i known that the ,landgrave had long before satisfied his desires1 and could well satisfy them with others1 as ,i have now just learned that he did with her of ,eschwege1 truly no angel would have induced me to give such counsel4 ,i gave it only in consideration of his unavoidable necessity and weakness1 and to put his conscience out of peril1 as ,bucer represented the case to me4 ,much less would ,i ever have advised that there should be a public marriage1 to which 7though he told me nothing of this7 a young princess and young countess should come1 which is truly not to be borne and is insufferable to the whole empire4 ,but ,i understood and hoped1 as long as he had to go the common way with sin and shame and weakness of the flesh1 that he would take some honorable maiden or other in secret marriage1 even if the relation did not have a legal look before the world4 ,my concession was on account of the great need of his conscience--such as happened to other great lords4 ,in like manner ,i advised certain priests in the ,catholic lands of ,duke ,george and the bishops secretly to marry their cooks4--,this was my confessional counsel about which ,i would much rather have kept silence1 but it has been wrung from me1 and ,i could do nothing but speak4 ,but the men of ,dresden speak as though ,i had taught the same for thirteen years1 and yet they give us to understand what a friendly heart they have to us1 and what great desire for love and unity1 just as if there were no scandal or sin in their lives1 which are ten times worse before ,god than anything ,i ever advised4 ,but the world must always smugly rail at the moat in its neighbor's eye1 and forget the beam in its own eye4 ,if ,i must defend all ,i have said or done in former years1 especially at the beginning1 ,i must beg the ,pope to do the same1 for if they defend their former acts 7let alone their present ones71 they would belong to the devil more than to ,god4--,i am not ashamed of my counsel1 even if it should be published in all the world2 but for the sake of the unpleasantness which would then follow1 ,i should prefer1 if possible1 to have kept it secret4 ,martin ,luther1 with his own hand4 7#ba;b1 #bdfg2 transl4 by ,preserved ,smith47 ,about a year later a ,hessian preacher1 by the name of ,johann ,lening1 undertook to justify the bigamy of the ,landgrave4 ,under the pseudonym ,huldricus ,neobulus he published a ,dialogus1 that is1 an amicable conversation between two persons on the question whether it is in accordance with1 or contrary to1 divine1 natural1 imperial1 and spiritual laws for a person to have more than one wife at a time1 etc4 ,the writer defended bigamy4 ,in an unfinished reply to this book ,luther takes strong grounds against him4 ,referring to the author's argument that bigamy was sanctioned by ,moses1 ,luther says3 ,the reference to the fathers of whom ,moses speaks is irrelevant3 ,moses is dead4 ,granted1 however1 that bigamy was legal in the days of the fathers and ,moses1 --which can never be established1--still they had ,god's word for it that such a permission was given them4 ,that we have not4 ,and although it was permitted to the ,jews and tolerated by ,god1 while ,god ,himself considered it wrong1 4 4 4 it was merely a dispensation4 4 4 4 ,now1 there is a great difference between a legal right and a dispensation1 or something that is tolerated or permitted4 ,a legal right is not a dispensation1 and a dispensation is not a legal right2 whoever does1 obtains1 or holds something by a dispensation does not do1 obtain1 or hold it by legal right4 ,luther then enters upon a brief discussion of the bigamous relationships which were created by the ,mosaic laws1 and explains that legislation as emergency legislation4 ,he says3 ,what need is there why we should try to find all sorts of reasons to explain why the fathers under ,moses were permitted to have many wives8 ,god is sovereign2 ,he may abrogate1 alter1 mitigate a law as ,he pleases1 for emergency's sake or not4 ,but it does not behoove us to imitate such instances1 much less to establish them as a right4 ,but this ,tulrich so ,luther calls the unknown author rashly declares carnal lust free1 and wants to put the world back to where it was before the ,flood1 when they took them wives1 not like the ,jews by ,god's permission1 or because of an emergency or for charity's sake towards homeless women1 as ,moses directs1 but1 as the text says1 'which they chose' 7,gen4 #f1 #b74 ,that is the way nowadays to rise to the stars4 ,in this way we have ,moses and the fathers with their examples as beautiful cloaks for carnal liberty2 we say with our lips that we are following the examples of the fathers1 but in very deed we act contrary to them4 ,lord1 have mercy6 ,if the world continues1 what all may we not expect to happen these times1 if even now shameless fellows may print what they please4 7#ba;b1 #bfia f47 ,one might go more exhaustively into the evidence1 but the materials here submitted will suffice to convince most men that1 while ,luther's advice to ,philip did create a bigamous relation1 ,luther was not a defender of bigamy4 ,every one who has had to deal with questions relating to married life knows that situations arise in the matrimonial relation which simply cannot be threshed out in public1 and in which the honest advice of a pious person is invoked to find a way out of a complication4 ,that was the situation confronting ,luther3 what he advised was meant as an emergency measure to prevent something that was worse4 ,in the same manner ,luther had expressed the opinion that it would have been easier to condone a bigamous relation in ,henry ,,viii of ,england than the unjust divorce which the king was seeking4 ,as a matter of fact1 however1 ,luther and his ,wittenberg colleagues were grossly hoodwinked in the matter1 both by the ,landgrave himself and1 what is worse1 by the ,landgrave's court-preacher1 ,bucer4 ,had the true facts been known1 the advice1 as ,luther clearly states1 would never have been given4 ,but we can well understand how ,luther can declare that under the circumstances under which he thought he was acting he could not have given any different advice4 ,personally1 we have always resented the veiled threat in the ,landgrave's request that he would apply to the ,pope or the ,emperor4 ,perhaps the remark was not understood as a threat1 but as an expression of despair4 ,at any rate1 ,philip was confident of getting from ,rome what he was not sure of obtaining from ,luther4 ,ought not this remark of the ,landgrave caution ,luther's ,catholic critics to be very careful in what they say about the heinousness of ,luther's offense in granting a dispensation from a moral precept8 ,have they really no such thing as a dispensation at ,rome8 ,has not the married relationship come up for dispensation in the chancelleries of the ,vatican innumerable times8 ,has not one of the canonized saints of ,rome1 ,st4 ,augustine1 declared that bigamy might be permitted if a wife was sterile8 ,was not concubinage still recognized by law in the sixteenth century in ,ireland8 ,did not ,king ,diarmid have two legitimate wives and two concubines8 ,and he was a ,catholic4 ,what have ,catholics to say in rejoinder to ,sir ,henry ,maine's assertion that the ,canon ,law of their ,church brought about numerous sexual inequalities8 ,or to ,joseph ,mac,cabe's statement that not until #ajfj was there any authoritative mandate of the ,church against polygamy1 and that even after this prohibition there were numerous instances of concubinage and polygamic marriages in ,christian communities8 ,or to ,hallam in his ,middle ,ages1 where he reports concubinage in ,europe8 ,or to ,lea1 who proves that this evil was not confined to the laity8 7,see ,gallighan1 ,women under ,polygamy1 pp4 #dc4 #bib4 #bie4 #cjc4 #ccj4 #cci47 ,all that has so far been said about ,luther's views on the subject of polygamy could be most powerfully reinforced by a review of ,luther's teaching on matrimony as a divine institution1 which ,luther consistently throughout his writings regards as monogamous4 ,but this is too well known to require restatement1 and is really outside of the scope of this review1 which must content itself with submitting the direct argument in rebuttal of the ,catholic charge of ,luther's advocacy of polygamy4 ,this polygamous ,luther1 too1 is a vision that is rendered possible only through spectacles of hopeless bias4 #bg4 ,luther ,announces ,his ,death4 ,mark ,twain awoke one morning to find himself reported dead4 ,he did not accept the invitation suggested in the report1 but wired to his friends3 ,reports of my death grossly exaggerated4 ,luther was placed in a similar predicament by ,catholics who were deeply interested in the question how long he was to continue to live4 ,one day1 in the early part of ,march1 #aede1 he was handed a printed letter in ,italian which contained the news of his demise under curious circumstances4 ,he thought that he ought not to withhold this interesting information from the world3 he had a ,german translation made of the document1 which he published with his remarks as follows3 ,copy of a ,letter of the ,ambassador of the ,most ,christian ,king regarding a ,horrible ,sign which ,occurred in the ,shameful ,death of ,martin ,luther4 ,a horrible and unheard-of miracle which the blessed ,god has wrought in the shameful death of ,martin ,luther1 who went to hell1 soul and body1 as may be clearly seen from a chapter of the letter of the ambassador of the ,most ,christian ,king1 to the praise and glory of ,jesus ,christ and the confirmation and comfort of the faithful4 ,copy of the ,letter4 #a4 ,martin ,luther1 having been taken ill1 desired the holy ,sacrament of the body of our ,lord ,jesus ,christ4 ,he died immediately upon receiving it4 ,when he saw that his sickness was very violent and he was near death1 he prayed that his body might be placed on an altar and worshiped as ,cod4 ,but the goodness and providence of ,god had resolved to put an end to his great error and to silence him forever4 ,accordingly1 ,god did not omit to work this great miracle1 which was very much needed1 to cause the people to desist from the great1 destructive1 and ruinous error which the said ,luther has caused in the world4 ,as soon as his body had been placed in the grave1 an awful rumbling and noise was heard1 as if hell and the devils were collapsing4 ,all present were seized with a great fright1 terror1 and fear1 and when they raised their eyes to heaven1 they plainly saw the most holy host of our ,lord ,jesus ,christ which this unworthy man was permitted to receive unworthily4 ,i affirm that all who were present saw the most holy host visibly floating in the air4 ,they took the most holy host very devoutly and with great reverence1 and gave it a decent place in the sanctuary4 #b4 ,when this had been done1 no such tumult and hellish rumbling was heard any more that day4 ,however1 during the following night1 at the place where ,martin ,luther's corpse had been buried1 there was heard by everybody in the community a much greater confusion than the first time4 ,the people arose and flocked together in great fear and terror4 ,at daybreak they went to open the grave where the wicked body of ,luther had been placed4 ,when the grave was opened1 you could clearly see that there was no body1 neither flesh nor bone1 nor any clothes4 ,but such a sulphuric stench rose from the grave that all who were standing around the grave turned sick4 ,on account of this miracle many have reformed their lives by returning to the holy ,christian faith1 to the honor1 praise1 and glory of ,jesus ,christ1 and to the strengthening and confirmation of ,his holy ,christian ,church1 which is a pillar of truth4 ,luther appended the following comment to this pious document3 ,and ,i1 ,martinus ,luther1 ,d41 do by these indentures acknowledge and testify that ,i have received this angry fiction concerning my death on the twenty-first day of ,march1 and that ,i have read it with considerable pleasure and joy1 except the blasphemous portion of the document in which this lie is attributed to the exalted majesty of ,god4 ,otherwise ,i felt quite tickled on my knee-cap and under my left heel at this evidence how cordially the devil and his minions1 the ,pope and the papists1 hate me4 ,may ,god turn them from the devil6 ,however1 if it is decreed that theirs is a sin unto death1 and that my prayer is in vain1 then may ,god grant that they fill up their measure and write nothing else but such books for their comfort and joy4 ,let them run their course2 they are on the right track2 they want to have it so4 ,meanwhile ,i want to know how they are going to be saved1 and how they will atone for and revoke all their lies and blasphemies with which they have filled the world4 7#ba;b1 #ccgf f47 ,similar1 even more grotesque tales have been served the faithful by ,catholic writers4 ,the star production of this kind was published years ago in the ,ohio-,waisenfreund4 ,it related that horrible and uncanny signs had accompanied ,luther's death4 ,weird shrieks and noises were heard1 devils were flying about in the air2 the heavens were shrouded in a pall of gloom4 ,when the funeral cortege started from ,eisleben1 a vast flock of ravens had gathered and accompanied the corpse croaking incessantly and uttering dismal cries all the way to ,wittenberg1 etc41 etc4 ,these crude stories have now been censored out of existence4 ,catholics nowadays prefer to lie in a more refined and cultured manner about ,luther's death3 ,luther committed suicide2 he was found hanging from his bedpost one morning4 ,comment is unnecessary4 ,luther died peacefully in the presence of friends1 confessing1 ,christ and asserting his firm allegiance to the faith he had proclaimed with his last breath4 ,the probable cause of his death was a stroke of paralysis4 ,luther began to feel pains in the chest late in the afternoon of ,february #ag1 #aedf4 ,he bore up manfully and continued working at his business for the ,count of ,mansfeld who had called him to ,eisleben4 ,after a light evening meal he sat chatting in a cheerful mood with his companions1 and retired early1 as was his custom in his declining years4 ,the pains in the chest became worse1 and he began to feel chilly4 ,medicaments were administered1 and after a while he fell into a slumber1 which lasted an hour4 ,he awoke with increased pain and a feeling of great congestion1 which caused the death-perspiration to break out4 ,he was rapidly turning cold4 ,all this time he was praying and reciting portions from the ,psalms and other texts4 ,three times in succession he repeated his favorite text1 ,john #c1 #af4 ,gradually he became peaceful1 and his end was so gentle that the bystanders were in doubt whether he had expired or was only in a swoon4 ,they worked with him1 trying to rouse him1 until they were convinced that he had breathed his last4 ,the ,catholic apothecary ,john ,landau1 who had been called in while ,luther was thought to be in a swoon1 helped to establish the fact of his death4 #bh4 ,luther's ,view of ,his ,slanderers4 ,luther was the subject of gross misrepresentation and vile slander during his lifetime3 ,at first he used to correct erroneous reports about himself1 usually in his polemical writings1 later he merely noted them with a brief and scornful comment1 and finally ignored them altogether4 ,he relates that he had treated many slanderous publications of ,eck1 ,faber1 ,emser1 ,cochlaeus1 and many others with silent contempt4 7#ah1 #aiia2 #ad1 #cca47 ,it was a physical impossibility for him to reply to all the misleading and vicious reports that were being circulated about him4 ,he was convinced that he must use his time and strength for more necessary matters4 ,his friends in many instances relieved him of the unpleasant task4 ,moreover1 after he had answered those who had first assailed him in the beginning of his public activity1 he could afford to disregard many slanders1 because they were mere repetitions4 ,luther was aware that he was probably the worst-hated man of his times4 ,he declares his belief that in the last hundred years there has not lived a man to whom the world was more hostile than to himself4 7#bb1 #affj47 ,persons praising him1 he says1 are regarded as having committed a more grievous sin than any idolater1 blasphemer1 perjurer1 fornicator1 adulterer1 murderer1 or thief4 7#i1 #eec47 ,anything that ,luther has said1 he observes1 is denounced as coming from the devil2 what ,duke ,george 7one of his fiercest enemies71 ,faber1 or ,bucer say or do is highly approved1 7#d1 #afjf47 ,like ,elijah1 he was charged with having disturbed ,israel3 before he began preaching there was peace and quiet1 now all is confusion4 7#i1 #ehg47 ,he is held responsible for the ,peasants' ,revolt and the rise of the ,sacramentarian sects4 7#bb1 #afjb47 ,a laborer whom his wife had hired became drunk and committed murder2 at once the rumor was spread that ,luther kept a murderer as his servant4 7#ba;b1 #bbbe47 ,what he writes is represented as having been inspired by envy1 pride1 bitterness1 yea1 by ,satan himself2 those1 however1 who write against him are regarded as being inspired by the ,holy ,ghost4 7#ah1 #bjje47 ,he observes that beggars become rich1 obtain favors from princes and kings1 remunerative positions1 honors1 and bishoprics by turning against him4 7#ah1 #bjje47 ,some attribute the election of ,adrian ,,vi as ,pope to ,luther 7this ,pope was believed to favor reforms3 he did not last long72 and ,luther expects that he is helping ,dr4 ,schmid to become a cardinal because he is opposing him4 7#ai1 #acdg47 ,dunces become doctors1 knaves become saints1 and the most besotted characters are glorified when they try their vile mouths and pens against ,luther4 7#ai1 #acdg47 ,the easiest way for any man to become a canonized saint even during his lifetime1 though he were a person of the stripe of a ,nero or ,caligula1 is by hating ,luther4 7#ah1 #bjje47 ,on the cover of the pamphlet containing his ,sermon on the ,sacrament ,luther ordered a picture consisting of two monstrances printed2 this was promptly explained to mean that he had adopted the ,bohemian errors1 for ,hus had administered the ,lord's ,supper in both kinds4 7#ai1 #deg47 ,some pretended that they could see two geese in this picture2 the meaning was plain3 one of them signified ,hus 7,hus in ,bohemian means goose71 the other1 ,luther4 7#ai1 #deh47 ,luther would not have been human if incidents like these had not caused him pain4 ,occasionally he would give vent to his grief1 but his manly courage1 too1 would soon assert itself1 and he would expose the hollowness1 insincerity1 and futility of the lying tales that were spread about him4 ,at a public meeting in ,campo ,flore he was cursed1 sentenced to death1 and burned in effigy4 7#ba;a1 #agd47 ,he has read offensive reports about himself1 and puts them down with the calm declaration3 ,there is not a man that writes against ,luther without having to resort to horrible and manifest lies4 7#ai1 #ehc47 ,he is sure that he has not had an opponent who in an argument would stick to the point2 they all had to evade the issue4 7#bb1 #feh47 ,shameful falsehoods are canvassed about him at the court of ,king ,ferdinand 7#ae1 #bfbc72 ,luther comforts himself with the reflection that others have suffered the same vilification before him1 for instance1 ,wyclif1 ,hus1 and others 7#e1 #cjh74 ,besides1 he is able to understand that the real reason why the papists regard him as such a perverse and untractable person is because they are utterly perverse themselves4 7#d1 #adii47 ,but his sweetest comfort is in reflecting that it is his preaching which has brought his manifold afflictions upon him4 ,poor ,luther is always wrong3 the ,sacramentarians and ,anabaptists hate him worse than they hate the ,pope1 and the ,pope hates him worse than he hates other heretics1 because they all fight against the ,gospel which ,luther preaches4 7#bb1 #ajae47 ,if ,i were to keep silent1 he says1 or preach as ,i used to do1 concerning indulgences1 pilgrimages1 adoration of the saints1 purgatory1 the carnival of the ,mass1 ,i could easily keep the favor and friendship of the great4 7#h1 #efi47 ,but for the sake of the true doctrine and those who profess it1--whom his opponents wish to suppress1 ,luther is willing to suffer hatred1 persecution1 calumnies1 and everything else that his enemies may devise against him4 7#e1 #ehg47 ,what have ,i done1 he exclaims1 to deserve the enmity of the ,pope and his rabble1 except that ,i have preached ,christ8 7#h1 #efi47 ,he is convinced from the papists' own confession that he is being persecuted for no other reason than because he is preaching the ,gospel4 7#h1 #cii4 ,knowing the reason why he is hated1 ,luther glories in his tribulations4 ,duke ,george1 he says1 calls me a desperate1 low-bred1 perjured knave3 ,i shall consider those ugly names my emeralds1 rubies1 and diamonds4 7#ai1 #deg47 ,he would fear that there must be something wrong about his teaching if the people whom he knows would not fight against him3 if these people do not condemn his doctrine1 his doctrine cannot be acceptable to ,god4 7#aj1 #cea47 ,he prefers to have them rage against him4 ,their violence shall not disturb him greatly1 because he has championed the ,lord's cause1 and that1 in all sincerity1 without malice toward any person4 7#ba;a1 #cja47 4 ,let the papists exhaust themselves in slanders against him3 he knows he has the ,scriptures on his side1 and they have the ,scriptures against them4 7#e1 #caj47 ,they intend to grind ,luther to pieces1 not a hair of him is to remain2 he knows that they will not be able to harm a hair on his head4 7#h1 #aai47 ,thus ,luther thought and spoke of his detractors and defamers4 ,such was his comfort and his courage in the face of base calumnies and undeserved hatred4 ,those who know him best will continue to love him1 and admire him the more for the enemies he has made4 -- ,if the reader of this book has had the sensation of a traveler in a storm-tossed vessel1 he has experienced mentally what ,luther faced in dread reality during almost the whole of his agitated life4 ,he had to weather many a squall1 and storm1 and hurricane4 ,outwardly his life seems a continuous hurly-burly4 ,yet there is in this man's heart a great and holy calm4 ,the tumult of his life is all on the surface4 ,he reminds one of the lines in ,harriet ,beecher ,stowe's ,hymn3 ,when winds are raging o'er the upper ocean1 ,and billows wild contend with angry roar1 ',t is said1 far down beneath the wild commotion1 ,that peaceful stillness reigneth evermore4 ,far1 far beneath1 the noise of tempest dieth1 ,and silver waves chime ever peacefully1 ,and no rude storm1 how fierce soe'er it flieth1 ,disturbs the ,sabbath of that deeper sea4 ,we have had glimpses of the hidden depths in ,luther's mind3 his thought reaches down to the lowest depths of human misery1 and then goes deeper still towards the limits of ,god's rescuing love and conquering grace which human mind has never reached4 ,for these divine profundities no plummet will ever sound4 ,he who could surrender himself wholly to the study of the greatness and beauty of ,luther's constructive thought would enjoy a spiritual luxury and be drawn into that sublime and solemn peace of ,god which passes all understanding4 ,he would behold this strenuous man2 who has been shown mostly in his working-clothes in these pages1 in his holiday-attire1 with that ,sabbath in his heart which occurs wherever ,christ is the loved and adored object of the thinker's contemplation4