I 
 
 !ii 'i 
 
 
 iyut 
 
 PRdHsf. 
 i Progress 
 
 JN THE SIXTEENTH CENTUKY 
 
 ' ear: 
 
 ■IKIl! 
 
Br 
 
 H3:i 
 
 
 
 PRESiI>ENT WHiTE LIBRARY 
 
 Cornell University 
 
1" 
 
 -XhA^jUU-eliows when this volume was taken. 
 
 To renew this book copy the call No. and give to 
 the hbrarian. 
 
 .iff 
 
 HOME USE RULES 
 
 ■•■■•JliiWi i^""fJW' 
 
 All Books subject to Recall 
 
 All borrowers must regis- 
 ter in the library to borrow 
 books for home use. 
 
 All books must be re- 
 turned at end of college 
 year for inspection and 
 repairs. 
 
 Limited books must be re- 
 turned within the four week 
 limit and not renewed. 
 
 Students must return all 
 books before leaving town. 
 Officers should arrange for 
 the return of books wanted 
 during their absence from 
 town. 
 
 Volumes of periodicals 
 and of pamphlets are held 
 in the library as much as 
 possible. For special pur- 
 poses they are given oUt for 
 a limited time. 
 
 Borrowers should not use 
 their library privileges for 
 the benefit of other persons. 
 
 Books of special value 
 and gift books, when the 
 giver wishes it, are not 
 allowed to circulate. 
 
 Readers are asked to re- 
 port all cases of books 
 marked or mutilated. 
 
 De not deface books by maiks and writing. 
 
 Cornell University Library 
 BR306 .H32 
 
 Protest and proaress in the sixteenth ce 
 
 olin 
 
 3 1924 029 240 426 
 
The original of tliis book is in 
 tine Cornell University Library. 
 
 There are no known copyright restrictions in 
 the United States on the use of the text. 
 
 http://www.archive.org/details/cu31924029240426 
 
THS CASTI<E CHURCH. 
 
PROTEST AND 
 PROGRESS 
 
 In the Sixteenth Century 
 
 By 
 
 CAROLUS P. HARRY 
 
 Philadelphia 
 
 Joint Lutheran Committee 
 
 on Celebration of 
 
 The Quadricentennial of the Reformation 
 
 1917 
 
/l,3?«3t 
 
 Copyright 1917 
 Carolus P. Harry 
 
DEDICATION 
 
 To the Members of the Mission Study Classes 
 at the Church of the Holy Spirit, Reading, 
 Pa., whose interest and faithfulness have been 
 my guide and Inspiration in preparing this book. 
 
FOREWORD. 
 
 This book has been prepared and issued at the 
 suggestion of members of the Sub-Committee on 
 Literature and Publicity for the Celebration of 
 the Quadricentennial of the Reformation in re- 
 sponse to numerous requests for such a volume 
 received by the Executive Secretary, Howard R. 
 Gold. To all our pastors, congregations, and 
 study groups the book is cordially commended. 
 Nathan R. Melhorn, 
 
 Chairman. 
 
TABLE OF CONTENTS. 
 
 Note to Leaders of Study Classes xiii 
 
 I. Political Movements at the Time of 
 
 THE Reformation i 
 
 11. Changes in Life and Thought Before 
 
 THE Reformation 17 
 
 III. Religious Movements Before the Refor- 
 
 mation 33 
 
 IV. Martin Luther's Life to 1517 53 
 
 V. From the Theses to the Diet of Worms 69 
 
 VI. Luther's Position Defined and Legalized 94 
 
 VII. Martin Luther 117 
 
 VIII. Other Reformations 134 
 
 Appendices I. Chronological Tables 147 
 
 II. The Ninety-five Theses iS4 
 
ILLUSTRATIONS FOR STUDY BOOK. 
 
 1. The Castle Church, Frontispiece 
 
 2. The Cotta Home, 56 
 
 3. Augustinian Monastery at Wittenberg 64 
 
 4. Frederick The Wise 14 
 
 5. Luther NaiUng the 95 Theses 72 
 
 6. Interior of Castle Church, 126 
 
 7. Four portraits of Luther, 106 
 
 8. Luther's Wife, 120 
 
 9. Melanchthon, 22 
 
 10. The Wartburg, 90 
 
 11. Room in Luther's House, 80 
 
ACKNOWLEDGMENT. 
 
 My hearty thanks are due to Rev. Prof. C. M. 
 Jacobs, D.D., Rev. Prof. A. R. Wentz, Ph.D., 
 Rev. N; R. Melhorn, D.D., for reading the man- 
 uscript and offering many valuable criticisms and 
 suggestions ; to Rev. H. R. Gold, Executive Sec- 
 retary of the Quadricentennial Committee, and 
 Rev. W. L. HuNTON, Ph.D., who obtained thb 
 pictures for me; and to my wife who rendered 
 valuable assistance uiroughout the preparation of 
 the book. 
 
NOTE TO LEADERS OF STUDY CLASSES. 
 
 This book is planned on the lines of the popu- 
 lar Mission Study Books which have been issued 
 for several years past by the Missionary Educa- 
 tion Movement. It is intended for discussion in 
 classes, especially in Lutheran congregations, 
 though it will be found useful in any group study- 
 ing the Reformation. 
 
 The Ci<ASS. Ten or a dozen are plenty for a 
 class. If more desire to do the work, organize 
 another class. 
 
 The Meetings should last for about one hour. 
 They should be held every week for eight to ten 
 weeks. One chapter should be discussed at each 
 meeting. 
 
 I usually open my study class meetings with 
 prayer. 
 
 The text should be read and studied by the 
 members of the class at home. 
 
 The Questions at the end of each chapter 
 should form the basis of the discussion. Assign 
 one or more questions to each member of the 
 class, so that they may report on that specific 
 question at the next meeting. The questions are 
 intended to throw into relief the important points 
 in the text. They are also intended to stimulate 
 thought on the part of the members and discus- 
 
xiv Note to Leaders of Study Classes 
 
 sion in the class. It is hoped that the somewhat 
 personal questions will enable the students to per- 
 sonally apply the principles they have been study- 
 ing, so that the book may be cultural and not 
 merely informing. The leader should not answer 
 questions which may arise in class without first 
 promoting discussion by eliciting the opinions of 
 the members of the class before giving his opin- 
 ion. The aim should always be to have the class 
 discuss the questions and so form an opinion as 
 a class. I will be glad to assist in answering the 
 questions of leaders for which their own re- 
 sources may be insufficient, if return postage is 
 sent with the inquiry. 
 
 I would urge leaders to obtain the following 
 pamphlets : 
 
 Lutheranism at a Glance, by Rev. J. R. B. 
 Hunt. 
 
 Distinctive Doctrines of Lutheranism, by A. G. 
 Voigt, D:D. 
 
 . The Reformation and Its Effects, by C. H. 
 Sipes. 
 
 ' Four Centuries of Luther, by Rev. A. R. 
 Wentz, Ph.D. 
 
 Prof. Willis M. West's Modern History (for 
 High Schools) will be helpful in a more thor- 
 ough understanding of the first two chapters. 
 Dr. McGiffert's Martin Luther, the Man and His 
 Work, or Dr. Preserved Smith's The Life and 
 Letters of Martin Luther will assi.st in a more de-- 
 
CHAPTER I. 
 
 politicai^ movsments at ths tlm^ o^ the 
 Reformation. 
 
 History, like life, is a unit in which various To describe 
 factors interplay inseparably. To describe any history we 
 
 . , . , . , must analyze 
 
 period of history, however, we must endeavor to it. 
 analyze it and describe its parts. Three factors 
 are especially important in Reformation history, 
 namely, the political and. social, the intellectual, 
 and the religious. 
 
 Political conditions at the time of the Refor- 
 mation played a large part in its success. There 
 had been many attempts at reformation before 
 Luther. Great kings, councils and popes as well 
 as abbots, monks, priests and knights had real- 
 ized the need of reform and had attempted it in 
 various ways. "The fullness of time" had not The fullness 
 
 . , . of time, 
 
 come; God had not prepared the nations for it. 
 He controls the course of history. With all the 
 freedom of choice for good or evil He has given 
 to men. He still sits upon the throne and over- 
 rules all our works to the accomplishment of His 
 eternal purpose. "In the fullness of time God 
 sent forth His Son." So it ever is. In the full- 
 ness of time God sends forth His prophets and 
 they dominate the course of history. So it was 
 
2 Protest and Progress 
 
 in Luther's time; so it will be to-day. Out of 
 the great turmoil of contemporary history shall 
 come a prophet from whose personality and life 
 future history will grow. 
 
 We must always study history in the light of 
 historic movements; it is a mistake to think only 
 of historic situations. A given situation is of 
 little importance; the trend of a movement is 
 vital. History is like a stream, not a lake. The 
 stream of history, however, is dominated by great 
 
 history.'^^™ °* personalities 'whose thought and life take color 
 from their surroundings and in some degree are 
 moulded by them, but whose essential principles 
 and characters rise above their time and change 
 the course of history like rocks in the midst of 
 the stream. Such were the great reformers. 
 
 The Reformation came somewhat past the 
 middle of a great movement from one ideal of 
 political life to another. Six hundred years be- 
 fore the Reformation men's ideals of political life 
 were held fast by the thought of universal em- 
 
 sai°'empi"'ir''" pifc. To-day, four hundred years after the 
 Reformation, nationalism is complete and is 
 nearly ready to give way to the newer ideal of 
 internationalism. From the time when Rome's 
 soldiers set forth on world conquest until the 
 Reformation men thought of Rome as the mis- 
 tress of the world ; first, as a great empire, then, 
 when that crumbled under the attacks of the 
 northern barbarians and its own corruption, as a 
 universal church whose dominion fextended over 
 
Political Movements 3 
 
 the whole world and over men's souls to all eter- 
 nity. The ideal of world empire had been re~ 
 vived under Charlemagne and with varying de- 
 grees of realization had continued until the time 
 of Charles V., before whom Luther stood at 
 Worms. 
 
 We no longer think or dream of one nation 
 dominating the world. We live in the time of 
 great nations — England, Germany, France, Italy, 
 Russia, Brazil, Japan, United States of America. 
 Throughout the civilized world men are gathered 
 into nations, separated in most cases by natural Nationliism 
 geographic boundaries of mountains, seas or 
 rivers and distinguished from each other by lan- 
 guage, laws, customs and social life. Some peo- 
 ples had achieved national unity at the time of 
 the Reformation ; other j, and notably Germany, 
 were divided into countless numbers of semi-in- 
 dependent duchies, dukedoms, free cities, etc. 
 
 We are living near the end of the epoch of na- 
 tionalism. The next few generations will, doubt- 
 less, witness another great change in political ^^ ^^^^^ 
 ideals, if we do not see it ourselves. The world nationalism, 
 is nearly ready to move from nationalism which 
 stands by itself and regards all other nations with 
 suspicion to internationalism which regards all 
 others as brothers to be helped and from whom 
 we may expect good-will and favor. 
 
 Several factors had tended to separate people Factors 
 into groups or nations, to determine their boun- SSiona"^ni. 
 daries and to produce national spirit. 
 
Protest and Progress 
 
 The Sea- 
 barrier, 
 
 Mountain 
 and River 
 Barriers. 
 
 Hereditary 
 Monarchies 
 
 1. Naturai, Barriers. Until a few years be- 
 fore lyUther was born the sea had been a natural 
 barrier separating people effectually. But it be- 
 came a highway instead of a barrier after the 
 land routes to India were closed when the Turks 
 captured Constantinople in 1453 and the early 
 discoverers found the way to India by sea around 
 the Cape of Good Hope. It was due to this 
 ancient sea-barrier that England developed a na- 
 tional life sooner than other European nations. 
 It is partly because we have learned to navigate 
 the sea so well that internationalism is advancing 
 very rapidly. The wide ocean has become a con- 
 venient highroad for the exchange of goods and 
 ideas, uniting the nations in interests and sym- 
 pathies. V 
 
 Mountains and rivers separated people. Erance 
 was shut in by the sea, the Rhine, the Alps, the 
 Rhone and the Pyrenees. The mountains and the 
 sea bounded Spain; the mountains separated 
 Italy and Germany. When natural barriers are 
 surmounted and people meet there is first sus- 
 picion, robbery, enmity and war ; then, commerce, 
 mutual understanding and alliance. European 
 history illustrates this. 
 
 2. HEREDITARY Monarchies. The people who 
 had lived under a long line of sovereigns in the 
 same family were more closely bound into na- 
 tional unity than those people whose ruler- were 
 being constantly changed. The people came to 
 
Political Movements 
 
 look up to the reigning family and to combine 
 personal loyalty and public interest. Such reign- 
 ing families were able by marriage and warfare 
 to overcome lesser nobles who opposed them, and 
 by favoring the people's cause against the nobles 
 to win their good-will and loyalty. 
 
 3. Rise of the "Middle Class." For many ^^f'^J^^J°: 
 centuries a simple agricultural life in which there 
 were three classes of people dominated Europe. 
 The nobles owned all the land. Their holdings 
 were hereditary. Their occupations were fight- Nobles, 
 ing each other, following the chase and oppress- 
 ing the peasants. It is true they also made laws, 
 held court and administered an elementary jus- 
 tice ; but as a rule they governed for their own 
 advantage rather than the good of their peasant 
 subjects. 
 
 The peasants were like slaves. They fought 
 their lords' battles and tilled the land to which 
 they were "attached," and made the rude cloth- 
 ing and tools they needed. In those days a man 
 and his land went together; a peasant could not 
 move from his cottage to another without his 
 lord's permission. This was seldom given. If 
 the land were sold the man and his family were 
 sold with it. He was as much a part of the land 
 as the house in which he lived. The peasants re- 
 ceived no wages ; but they were allowed to keep 
 what they could raise on narrow strips of land 
 after they had paid heavy taxes to their lord. 
 
 Peasants. 
 
6 Protest and Progress 
 
 They were subject always tO' his ca:ll for military, 
 or other service. 
 
 The third class was the clergy. It included all 
 who were officially connected with the Church. 
 
 Clergy. SoHie Were great bishops and archbishops who 
 
 lived in state like mighty lords and followed the 
 manners and customs of the princes and dukes 
 about them ; others were monks who lived in fine 
 monasteries, owning rich estates ; others were 
 begging friars who went from place to place liv- 
 ing on the alms of the people; last of all were 
 the parish priests who were as poor and ignorant 
 as the peasants to whom they ministered. The 
 clergy received a tenth of the produce of the 
 land. 
 
 During the century following the Crusades a 
 new class of people arose. They were manu- 
 facturers and merchants, living in towns. The 
 
 Towns towns were originally farming villages, fortified 
 
 to resist the attacks of hostile barons. It was 
 easier for the peasants to defend their homes and 
 families behind a wall or stockade than in the 
 open country. The nobles encouraged them to 
 do this because the fortified villages assisted 
 them in holding their lands against hostile neigh- 
 bors. Some of the great nobles granted those 
 living in fortified towns special privileges and 
 rights. In Germany the Emperor granted charters 
 to certain of the larger fortified towns by which 
 they were subject only to the Emperor himself. 
 
Political Movements 7 
 
 These cities were called "free cities." They 
 played an important part in the history of the 
 Empire. 
 
 Beginning in a small way goods were sold at 
 annual fairs held in the towns or at crossroads. 
 Purchases were made by trading with very little 
 use of money. Gradually the towns where the 
 fairs were customarily held, grew larger. Crafts- 
 men settled there. Travelling merchants began 
 to go from place to place. So in the course of Middil class; 
 time it came about that there were many men liv- 
 ing in the towns who were nobody's peasants. 
 They had become unattached craftsmen or mer- 
 chants. The craftsmen lived by hand-work in 
 leather, brass and wood or by weaving, tailoring, 
 smithing and other crafts. The merchants bought craftsmen, 
 the articles manufactured by the craftsmen and 
 sold them at a profit in other places. When the 
 nobles attempted to hamper them in their crafts Traders, 
 or trade, they organized into guilds in which they 
 also guarded the standard of their goods, de- '^"'■''^• 
 fended each other against rivals, and trained 
 young men to take their places and extend their 
 trade. 
 
 Thus in the course of time a class of free 
 craftsmen and traders grew up, acknowledging 
 no overlord, banded together into guilds and liv- 
 ing in free and independent towns. Among them Money, 
 money, banking cind credit was revived and used Credit, 
 instead of barter. The Jews were the leaders in 
 trade and banking. 
 
8 
 
 Protest and Progress 
 
 Town 
 Leagues. 
 
 The Growing 
 Power of the 
 Middle Class 
 strengthened 
 Nationalism 
 
 The Black 
 Death and 
 the Right to 
 Wages. 
 
 The Civil 
 Wars 
 Weaken the 
 
 Nobles. 
 
 As trade spread and goods were exported 
 across the sea or the mountains, groups of towns 
 formed leagues to defend their merchants against 
 robbers and to secure just rights in other lands. 
 
 The nobles and clergy frequently borrowed 
 from the middle class bankers and traders. This 
 strengthened the middle class and brought the 
 nobles and clergy under obligations tO' them. 
 The kings favored the towns against the nobles. 
 This also strengthened the middle class and pro- 
 moted national unity. For by their common lan- 
 guage, their common needs, their common stand- 
 ards of exchange the towns of each country grew 
 closer together and became a powerful factor in 
 stimulating national patriotism which was slowly 
 rising in. western Europe. 
 
 The power of the middle class was much in- 
 creased in the Fourteenth Century by the Black 
 Death, a great epidemic, which raged in Europe, 
 in many places carrying away half the popula- 
 tion. This enabled the peasants who survived 
 to dictate to their masters who sorely needed 
 their support. They won the right to_ serve for 
 wages and to move freely. This reduced the 
 peasant class and increased the middle class. At 
 the same time the nobles were weakened by fierce 
 struggles among themselves in which many were 
 slain and which cost them much money, bringing 
 them under still greater obligations to the mer- 
 chants and bankers. 
 
Political Movements 9 
 
 A brief glance at a map will show how far "The Map in 
 these national movements had progressed and 
 how the different nations of Europe were related 
 to each other at the time of the Reformation. 
 
 In England nationalism was far advanced. England, 
 England owed this chiefly to her island position ; 
 but, also, to a long line of hereditary sovereigns, 
 to the wars between great rival families, called 
 "The Wars of the Roses," and to the Black 
 Death which contributed to the power of her 
 peasant groups and merchants guilds. 
 
 France, too, was a well centralized monarchy France. 
 of somewhat the same boundaries as at present, 
 though to the east there were several independent 
 duchies in the Rhine valley. Centralization in 
 France was due particularly to the long line of 
 hereditary kings who by judicious marriages with 
 great nobles secured by inheritance most of the 
 land, and by favorable wars with the others, 
 overcame them and took their property. Na- 
 tional feeling had become well established in 
 France through the Hundred Years' War with 
 the English kings. 
 
 SWITZEKLAND. The SwisS cantons, as the Switzerland. 
 
 small states in the mountains were called, had 
 been banded into the Swiss Confederacy since 
 early in the Fourteenth Century. There was no 
 noble over them as a sovereign and the practical 
 establishment of the Swiss Republic came soon 
 after the middle of that century. 
 
10 Protest and Progress 
 
 Scandinavia. DENMARK, NORWAY and SwEDEN, each of 
 
 which had bee'n a more or less well organized 
 monarchy since they appeared in European his- 
 tory, formed practically one nation at the begin- 
 ning of the Reformation by the Union of Calmar, 
 a treaty made in 1397, by which each of the three 
 kingdoms retained its own constitution and laws 
 under one hereditary sovereign. Before 1500 
 this had made Norway and Sweden practically 
 dependencies of Denmark. 
 
 Spain. Spain under Ferdinand and Isabella had be- 
 
 come a united monarchy in 1492 with practi- 
 cally the same boundaries as today. Their grand- 
 son, Charles, was elected Emperor (see below) 
 and was a sovereign whose vacillation had much 
 to do with the successful establishment of the 
 Reformation in Germany. 
 
 The Nether- The NETHERLANDS were a group of semi- 
 
 independent duchies and free cities which a cen- 
 tury before had maintained their allegiance to 
 the great Duchy of Burgundy. Burgundy had 
 become united with the possessions of the dukes 
 of Austria by marriage. 
 
 iiaiv. Itaey was divided. In the center were the 
 
 The Papal Papal States governed directly as a poHtical 
 unit by the Pope. To the south of his lands was 
 
 Naples. the Kingdom of Naples, extending to the ex- 
 
 treme south of Italy and including the island of 
 Sicily. In consequence of wars and marriages 
 of the preceding century this kingdom was ruled 
 
Political Movements 
 
 11 
 
 The Cities of 
 the North. 
 
 by the King of Spain. Four great cities con- 
 trolled the north of Italy — Venice to the east, 
 Milan and Florence in the center, Genoa to the 
 west. 
 
 Italy had been closely related to Germany for 
 many centuries through the constant attempts 
 of German princes to control Italy as the Em- 
 perors of the "Holy Roman Empire" and of the 
 Pope to control Germany as the head of the 
 Catholic Church. The struggles between Pope 
 and Emperor for supremacy are an outstanding 
 feature of history for several centuries preced- 
 •ing, culminating at one time -in the complete sub- 
 mission of the Emperor and at other times in the 
 humiliation, of the Pope. Still the Pope held 
 spiritual dominion over the vast rnasses of the 
 people throughout Europe. Whether he was 
 successful or not in his political ambitions the 
 people still looked up to him as the Vicar of 
 Christ and the priests and bishops who repre- 
 sented him for entrance to heaven and pardon 
 for sin. The significant fact about the Reforma- 
 tion of the Sixteenth Century is that the people 
 broke their allegiance to the Pope and found as- 
 surance of absolution and salvation apart from 
 him. 
 
 Germany. When Charlemagne's great empire Germany. 
 broke up, the eastern part of it continued to be 
 known as the Empire and its ruler as the Em- 
 peror. At times one or another of the Emperors 
 succeeded in making the Germans a fairly well 
 
 Ambitions of 
 the Popes 
 and Emperors. 
 
12 
 
 Protest and Progress 
 
 The Emperor. 
 
 The Golden 
 Bull. 
 
 The Diet. 
 
 united nation. Several things, however, brought 
 about disunion. In the first place, the office of 
 Emperor did not remain for a long time in any 
 one family, so that it continued to be regarded 
 as an elective office and not an hereditary one. 
 
 There were many disputes and much difficulty 
 was frequently experienced among the haughty 
 nobles in the election of an Emperor, until the 
 matter was regulated by the "Golden Bull" which 
 was promulgated by the Emperor and approved 
 by the Diet or congress of nobles in 1356. The 
 Golden Bull provided that seven of the great 
 nobles should elect the Emperor. They were the 
 archbishops of Mayence, Cologne and Trier, the 
 King of Bohemia, the Duke of Saxony, the Mar- 
 grave of Brandenburg and the Count Palatine of 
 the Rhine. These seven were known as the "Elec- 
 tors." After that no other nobles had any part 
 in selecting the Emperor, although they did have 
 the right to sit in the Diet. The Diet was similar 
 to the English Parliament, in that it raised money 
 for the Emperor by taxation and afforded a 
 means of understanding and cooperation among 
 the nobles. 
 
 The Emperors did not devote their time to 
 the consolidation and improvement of Germany 
 as the kings of France had done in their coun- 
 try, but wasted their strength and opportuni- 
 ties in vainly trying to control Italy also, in 
 order that they might really be "Kings of Rome." 
 
Political Movements 
 
 13 
 
 For to be King of Rome, which was part of 
 their official title, meant more to them than to 
 be Emperor of Germany. The old idea of the 
 world-sovereignty of Rome had not yet died out. 
 This was the cause of countless quarrels which 
 prevented Italy and Germany from becoming 
 unified. 
 
 In 1433 Albert, Duke of Austria, was chosen 
 Emperor and from that time onward the title 
 continued in the ruling house of Austria, known 
 in history as the Hapsburgs. It was not the first 
 time the title had been in that family, but it re- 
 mained there until it was abolished in 1806. In 
 1493 Maximilian I., the grandson of Albert, was 
 elected Emperor. He tried hard to reconstruct 
 the Empire and make a nation for himself like 
 England or France but the petty jealousies and 
 ambitions of the local princes, with his own in- 
 competence, prevented that. 
 
 Germany was nothing more than an extremely 
 loose federation of great and small nobles and 
 free cities. In some cases their dominions in- 
 cluded only a few hundred acres surrounding 
 their fortified castles or towns; in others they 
 extended for many square miles. Yet great and 
 small alike were absolute sovereigns in their own 
 territories, ruling each according to his own 
 laws, levying custom duties on all who passed 
 through, sometimes even freely robbing the mer- 
 chants who went by their castles. Each was free 
 to coin his own money and to administer justice 
 
 "Kings of 
 Rome.'* 
 
 The Haps- 
 burgs. 
 
 A Loose 
 Federation. 
 
 The Nobles. 
 
14 
 
 Protest and Progress 
 
 The Free 
 Cities. 
 
 Charles V. 
 and bis 
 Dominions. 
 
 in his own way and to make war on any or all 
 the others as pleased him. Likewise the free 
 cities controlled the country in their own neigh- 
 borhood. They were fortified by walls and cas- 
 tles and were prepared either to stand siege or 
 to send their burger armies into the field to main- 
 tain their rights or extend their power or protect 
 their trade. They also made their own laws, 
 coined their money and were especially jealous of 
 the nobles and their power. They were always 
 ready to fight them. They were represented 
 in the Diet along with the nobles. The cities 
 were banded into great leagiies for mutual de- 
 fense at home and abroad. The principal leagues 
 were the Hanseatic League in the north, the 
 Rhenish in the Rhine region, and the Swabian. 
 
 Maximilian L married Mary of Burgundy, 
 thus uniting Austria and Burgundy, the Nether- 
 lands and the Hapsburg possessions on the up- 
 per Rhine. Their son, Philip, married Joanna, 
 daughter of Ferdinand and Isabella of Spain, 
 uniting Spain, Naples and Sicily to these pos- 
 sessions. In 1 5 19 his son, Charles, was elected 
 Emperor Charles V., adding the great estates of 
 Germany to the already vast empire inherited 
 from his father. 
 
 One other national factor must be noted— the 
 Turk. The Turks captured the city of Con- 
 stantinople in 1453, gaining a foothold in south- 
 eastern Europe. From the neighborhood of Con- 
 
FREJDERICH, THE WISE, 
 
The Turks. 
 
 the Nations. 
 
 Political Movements 15 
 
 stantinople the Danube valley stretches up into 
 northern Europe affording a natural highway 
 for trade or war. At the opening of the Six- 
 teenth Century the Turks had pushed up nearly 
 to the boundaries of Austria and were threat- 
 ening Christendom. The Turks were Moham- 
 medans, seeking to extend their power and re- 
 ligion by the sword. 
 
 It is true "the wrath of man shall praise 
 Thee." God uses the nations as His instruments, c^d rules 
 He putteth down one and setteth up another, not 
 always in accordance with their virtue, but in 
 the working out of His eternal purposes. The 
 very condition of Europe was, therefore, a large 
 factor in the success of the Reformation. The 
 rivalry of the King of France and the King of 
 Spain and the Pope and their varying alliances 
 and disagreements, the disintegrated condition of 
 Germany and Italy and the bids for the favor 
 of the German people and especially of the elec- 
 tor of Saxony, Luther's sovereign and protector, 
 along with the constant and at times acute danger 
 of Turkish invasion, led to innumerable delays 
 in the attempts of the Roman Church to crush 
 Luther and his followers, until at last his teach- 
 ings had taken such firm root they could not be 
 overthrown. 
 
16 Protest and Progress 
 
 QUESTIONS. 
 
 I. Why should we consider historic movements rather 
 than historic situations? 
 '2. Was Luther the first reformer? 
 • 3. What is meant by "the fullness of time" ? 
 
 4. Was the Reformation period such? 
 
 5. From what ideal of political life and toward what 
 
 ideal were the people of Europe moving? 
 
 6. Is Nationalism the final ideal? 
 
 7. What is meant by internationalism? 
 
 8. What natural barriers have helped in the realization 
 
 of Nationalism? 
 
 9. Why do they not continue to do so? 
 
 10. What classes of people were there before the na- 
 
 tional movement grew strong? 
 
 11. What new class hastened the national movement 
 
 and how? 
 
 12. How did that class arise? 
 
 13. What new things did they introduce in trade? 
 
 14. How did they become powerful? 
 
 15. In how far had the following peoples become na- 
 
 tions: England? France? Switzerland? Scan- 
 dinavia? The Netherlands? Spain? Italy? Ger- 
 many? 
 
 16. How were Spain, The Netherlands, Italy and Ger- 
 
 many related during the Reformation? 
 
 17. Who elected the Emperor? 
 iS. What was the Diet? 
 
 19. Why did not Italy and Germany, become nations 
 
 like France or England? 
 
 20. How did that help the Reformation? 
 
 ■ 21. What other people influenced the history of the 
 Sixteenth Century? How? 
 
 22. Do you believe in Providence? 
 
 23. Does God control history? 
 
CHAPTER 11. 
 
 Changes in Life and Thought Before the 
 Reformation. 
 
 It is difficult for us to realize the low tone 
 and filthy conditions of western Europe preced- 
 ing the Reformation. Living conditions were 
 squalid. Low frame and mud houses with 
 thatched roofs were the rule in the country and 
 in the villages. A few of the wealthy in the 
 larger cities had barn-like stone houses with tile 
 roofs, some of which may still be seen, but there 
 were no comforts and no attempt at sanitation 
 was made. The houses were not heated, excapt 
 from the hearth. Some of the rich had just be- 
 gun to use stoves. Waste was dumped at the 
 most convenient place which was usually the ori,?vfng^'"''*^ 
 street near the front door. The streets were 
 crooked and narrow, without paving or grading. 
 In dry weather they were filthy with dust; in 
 winter or after a storm they were deep with 
 slimy mud. 
 
 The towns simply grew up along the roads. 
 The houses were crowded together as closely 
 as possible, following the twists and turns of the 
 road. There were no s'treet lights. The danger 
 of thieves and the perilous condition of the 
 
18 
 
 Protest and Progress 
 
 The Beginning 
 of Better 
 Things. 
 
 Coarse Man- 
 ners and 
 Language. 
 
 Streets prevented any one going out at night, ex- 
 cept with a guard carrying lanterns and arms. 
 
 Inside the house it was not much better. 
 Animals shared the home with the family. They 
 dragged filth everywhere. Fleas, lice and other 
 vermin were common on both people and ani- 
 mals. Plague and pestilence spread with amaz- 
 ing rapidity. 
 
 Yet the beginning of better things was already 
 evident. Most of the great churches which are 
 still the admiration of the world were begun and 
 some of them were nearly completed. The mer- 
 chants had fine guild halls with beautiful meet- 
 ing rooms where the plans of the guild were made 
 and its affairs directed. Great castles and city 
 walls were so well built that they still stand. 
 
 ^Manners were as coarse and language was as 
 filthy as the streets. We are often shocked by 
 the coarseness of the addresses and letters of 
 even the most pious men and women of those 
 times. In Germany this was due in part tO' the 
 natural coarseness of a people just emerging 
 from semi-civilization; in Italy it was the result 
 of the degrading influence of pagan life and 
 thought which was then being imitated. Many 
 things never mentioned among us were constantly 
 spoken of, used as jokes or even as illustrations 
 in the sermons of the preachers. The literature 
 read and enjoyed by the best and most pious peo- 
 ple was positively indecent. The Reformation 
 
Changes in Life 19 
 
 began somewhat past the beginning of a new era 
 of thought and feehng, which was more open and 
 clean in mind and manner of life. 
 
 Until the year looo, roughly speaking, there 
 were very few schools. Little change in manner 
 of life or thought had taken place for several 
 centuries. 
 
 The peasant tilled the same strips of ground sJa'^ltlon' 
 that his father and grandfather had tilled. He \f°J^A. d. 
 used the same crude implements and worked in 
 the same time-honored way. He tended the de- 
 scendants of the same sheep and goats his an- 
 cestors had. He sheared the wool and the 
 women made homespun in the same way that pre- 
 ceding generations had done. They made and 
 ate the same cheese and the same coarse bread. 
 They brewed the same kind of beer and drank 
 the same kinds of wines. 
 
 The knights fought as their fathers had done 
 with the same weapons and against the same 
 hereditary enemies in neighboring castles. They 
 judged their peasants' disputes by the same rules 
 and in the same spirit that their fathers did. 
 
 The clergy droned out the same Latin masses 
 and celebrated the same festivals in the same way 
 that the Church had done for generations. Each 
 learned what he needed to know from those pre- 
 ceding him. The only schools were at the cathe- 
 drals. The cathedral schools trained the priests 
 to recite the Latin service and the choirs to make 
 
•20 
 
 Prbtest and Progress 
 
 Breaking up 
 the old ways. 
 
 Aristotle's 
 Influence. 
 
 Schools and 
 Universities 
 Opened. 
 
 .the .proper responses. They learned only So 
 much Latin as they needed to repeat the services. 
 They learned it by rote from dictation. Few 
 could either read or write. There was little 
 ■paper. Few books were written. It was difficult 
 to fnultiply and publish those they had. Few 
 thought of writing anything new or of question- 
 ing what they thought always had been and al- 
 ways would be. 
 
 Three things broke up the old lethargy. The 
 Crusades opened men's eyes to a kind of life that 
 -was different from that to which they had always 
 been accustomed. Trade with the East did the 
 same thing. Contact with the Arabians, espe- 
 cially at their great universities in Spain taught 
 them a new learning and new ways of thinking. 
 
 From the Arabians the teachers of western 
 Europe learned Aristotle, the great philosopher 
 of the Greeks. His methods and ideas were 
 quickly adopted and spread almost everywhere. 
 
 Merchants established schools at the larger 
 centers to train their sons and apprentices in 
 business, law, and medicine. Men's minds began 
 to open. Soon groups of young men became as- 
 sociated with wise or famous teachers who 
 taught them all that they knew. This is the be- 
 ginning of the universities. They were as truly 
 ■universities as ours are. Though their curricu- 
 lum was very limited, it incli'dp.d all men knew. 
 
Changes in Life 
 
 21 
 
 The Degrees. 
 
 The teaching at the universities was based on Dominated by 
 
 ° - Aristotle. 
 
 Aristotle's logic, physics and other writings. 
 The methods were those he prescribed. His 
 works were known only in Latin translations 
 which were not always accurate. The teachers 
 were usually monks assigned to that duty. The 
 students passed through grades in the same way 
 as the craftsmen passed the various degrees of 
 their trade. First they received the "bachelor's" 
 degree, then the "master's," carrying the right to 
 teach, and then the "doctor's" which carried the 
 right to teach teachers and control their work. 
 These degrees are still retained by our colleges 
 and universities. 
 
 The studies were in two groups. The first 
 was called the "trivium"; it consisted of lan- 
 guage, rhetoric, and logic. The second was 
 called the "quadrivium" ; it consisted of music, 
 arithmetic, geometry and astronomy. 
 
 The universities were chartered, usually by the 
 Pope. In addition to the "arts" course just out- 
 lined they furnished courses in law, medicine 
 and theology. They were under strong ecclesi- 
 astical influence and theology soon occiipied the 
 place of highest honor. Like everything else, it 
 was taught by Aristotle's method of logical de- 
 duction. 
 
 /The syllogism is the basis of this method. It 
 is a process of pure reasoning from one thing 
 to another. For example ; A is like B, B is like 
 
 The Studies. 
 
 "Arts." 
 
 I^aw. 
 
 Medicine. 
 
 Theology. 
 
 The Scholastic 
 Method. 
 
The Syllo- 
 
 22 Protest and Progress 
 
 C, therefore A is like C. This is a perfectly good 
 system and leads to correct results if we are 
 careful to see that our premises or first two 
 
 si™' propositions are true and that they are of the 
 
 same class or so related that they may fairly be 
 compared. Most errors in reasoning arise from 
 mistakes in one or both of these things. For 
 example: A stone is hard; this table is hard; 
 therefore this table is a stone. That is bad rea- 
 soning. Both premises are true enough, but they 
 are not so related as to be comparable in that 
 w^y. Instances might be multiplied. The error 
 is easily detected in common things where our 
 experience sets us right. In less familiar things 
 false premises and false conclusions are frequent. 
 For example in the following syllogism the er- 
 ror is not noticed. All men are equal; equals 
 have the same rights: therefore, all men should 
 have the same income, property, leisure, etc. We 
 accept without question the truth of the first 
 premise. It is really false. All men are not equal. 
 In fact no two men are equal. 
 
 The teachers of the Middle Ages did not ques- 
 tion their premises. In law they derived them 
 partly from Aristotle and partly from the Roman 
 
 p?emfses?"' laws presetvcd in the Canon, or Church, Law 
 and in the civil laws of the Empire and the cus- 
 toms of their fathers. In medicine the premises 
 were furnished by Aristotle's acute but fre- 
 quently mistaken and always incomplete ob- 
 

Changes in Life 
 
 23 
 
 servations. In theology they found them in the 
 dogmas of the Church. This system of thought 
 is called Scholasticism. It dominated the minds 
 of Eiurope for centuries and produced great in- 
 tellectual nimbleness with a blindness to actual 
 facts which is very remarkable. Until men be- 
 gan to question their premises and to observe 
 facts, they could not advance, however hard they 
 might reason. Until that took place their 
 thoughts were held in a bondage as immovable 
 as the lethargy from which Aristotle had aroused 
 them. 
 
 Science was confined almost exclusively to 
 alchemy and astrology. Alchemy was the search 
 for a reagent which would transform base metals 
 into gold. In that search they laid the founda- 
 tions for modern physics and chemistry. As- 
 trology observed the stars and their relative po- 
 sitions in order to cast a horoscope by which to 
 foretell the future. In so doing it ignorantly 
 prepared the way for modern astronomy. One 
 of the foremost scholars of the Reformation, 
 Melanchthon, was a firm believer in astrology. 
 Luther derided the suggestions of Copernicus 
 which are the foundation of modern astronomy, 
 and condemned them as contrary to Scripture. 
 
 Very few voices had been raised before the 
 middle of the Fifteenth Century in question of 
 the system or its conclusions. Such were Abe- 
 lard (died 1 142) and Bacon (died 1294). They 
 
 Alchemy and 
 Astrology. 
 
 Critics 
 Silenced. 
 
24 
 
 Protest and Progress 
 
 The Reformers 
 were Uni- 
 versity Men. 
 
 Secondary 
 Schools and 
 the Brethren 
 of the 
 Common I^ife. 
 
 were quickly silenced by the stern authority of 
 the Church and the immobility of the times. 
 
 It is especially important to note these facts 
 of university life for all the Reformers were 
 university men. Luther, for example, did his 
 work as a university professor, a doctor of the- 
 ology, not as a priest or monk. He began it as 
 a critical opposition to the current bondage to 
 Aristotle and the dogmas of the Church unsup- 
 ported by Scripture. 
 
 Early in the Fourteenth Century a new edu- 
 cational movement began which in many respects 
 paved the way for the Reformation. In Holland 
 a Brotherhood had been formed for mutual help 
 in practicing Christianity. The members of the 
 Brotherhood copied books, preached and taught 
 children. The Brothers and Sisters, for it in- 
 cluded women, were not bound by vows like 
 monks and nuns, but they associated voluntarily. 
 They usually had a common house and a common 
 purse. They were called the "Brethren of the 
 Common Life." The movement spread rapidly. 
 Establishments of the Brethren of the Common 
 Life were soon found in every considerable town 
 in western Europe. Their influence was of the 
 best and their teaching was of a high order. 
 Through their schools and the spirit cultivated in 
 them they prepared many for the changes which 
 came with the Renaissance and the Reformation. 
 They had schools in Germany even for girls. 
 
Changes in Life 
 
 25 
 
 The Renais- 
 sance. 
 
 Their success led many towns to open public 
 schools under municipal control. 
 
 During the four hundred years of Scholas- 
 ticism there had been, little change in thought or 
 teaching. But shortly before the Reformation 
 the very foundations were overturned. Men 
 started on a new line of development in which 
 we are still progressing and of which no man 
 can see the end. The beginning of it is called 
 the Renaissance. 
 
 Until 1300 all writing and learning had been 
 in Latin. No one thought of writing literature Troubadour 
 or philosophy in the common language of the 
 people. But early in the Fourteenth Century occa- 
 sional bands of wandering troubadours or min- 
 nesingers sang love songs and heroic ballads at 
 fairs or in the castles of the knights. Their 
 songs were unwritten, but they were usually in 
 the language of the people. 
 
 In the same century Dante began modern 
 literature by writing his Divine Comedy in the 
 language of the people of Florence where he 
 lived. It is one of the immortal works of liter- 
 ary art. It describes in verse what the author 
 saw in Hell and Purgatory and Heaven. At the 
 same time it criticizes and satirizes many things 
 in the life of his times. 
 
 Two other great Florentine writers stand at 
 the beginrfing of the Renaissance. Petrajh cre- 
 ated the sonnet form in poetry and collected 
 
 Dante. 
 
26 
 
 Protest and Progress 
 
 Humanism. 
 
 Influence of 
 Greek Ideas 
 and Litera- 
 ture. 
 
 ancient Greek manuscripts and works of art. 
 BoccaciO' is the father of modern prose fiction. 
 
 The whole movement in literature and thought 
 is called Humanism. It turned men's minds away 
 from the Church and the school of the preceding 
 centuries to the freer life of the old Greeks and 
 their art and literature. Many Greek writings 
 long neglected were discovered and translated. 
 Men began to learn to read and speak Greek. 
 This enabled them to read Aristotle in the origi- 
 nal. They discovered the errors of the current 
 Latin translations. This shook the foundations 
 of the old system. 
 
 Acquaintance with Plato, who was still greater 
 than Aristotle in Greek philosophy, further un- 
 dermined the old standards. All of this was ac- 
 celerated after the Turks captured Constanti- 
 nople in 1453 and forced thousands of Greek 
 Christians to flee. They found a home and a 
 welcome in western Europe where they taught 
 and interpreted Greek. Everywhere literary 
 clubs or "humanist circles" were formed. Men 
 spent much time in reading Greek poems and es- 
 says and in imitating them in their own lives and 
 writings. They sought to be as much like Greeks 
 as possible. They broke the chains which bound 
 them to the past with wonderful quickness and 
 started to live a free and pagan life like that of 
 ancient Greece. Greek life was morally rotten. 
 Its lewdness and vice spread in soil well pre- 
 
Changes in Life 
 
 27 
 
 The Renais- 
 sance in Art. 
 
 Features of 
 Gothic. 
 
 pared for it by the external severity and secret 
 vice of the past. Christianity was out of fashion 
 in Italy. The Popes lived like Greek nobles and 
 affected Greek manners. Luxury and frivolity 
 prevailed. 
 
 Art showed the effects of the Renaissance as 
 well as literature and philosophy. Gothic archi- 
 tecture gave place to a revival of ancient Greek 
 and Roman models. The best examples of 
 Gothic architecture are the great cathedrals of 
 Germany and France and the guild-houses of 
 Germany and Holland. Its characteristic fea- 
 tures are the pointed arch springing from the top 
 of columns without a capital, vaulting, wonder- 
 ful traceries and mouldings running along the 
 columns and the vaultings. Flying buttresses 
 often appear on the outside of the buildings. 
 The windows were narrow. They were filled 
 with stained glass in which the designs were 
 wrought as in a mosaic by putting small pieces 
 of the glass together and holding them in place 
 by leading. 
 
 In the Renaissance the round-headed arch of 
 the Romans takes the place of the pointed arch. 
 Capitals appear on the columns in one of the old Features of 
 Greek forms. The flat line of Greek archi- Architecture. 
 tecture takes the place of the vertical of the 
 Gothic. The exuberance of the Renaissance 
 shows itself in new and abundant decorations. 
 Painting and carving sought to reproduce nature 
 
28 
 
 Protest and Progress 
 
 Traditional 
 
 Theology 
 
 Questioned. 
 
 Printing. 
 
 instead of the conventional designs customary in 
 Gothic. Painted glass takes the place of glass 
 mosaics in the windows. 
 
 When the scholastic philosophy was shaken it 
 involved the traditional theology. The dogmas 
 of the Church had been woven into a system by 
 means of the scholastic method and in harmony 
 with scholastic philosophy. When scholasticism 
 passed, the theology which was its child, was also- 
 questioned. Moreover as men became accus- 
 tomed to reading Greek they naturally turned to 
 the original of the New Testament which was 
 Greek. In reading and studying it they discov- 
 ered mistranslations in the Latin to which they 
 were accustomed. These sometimes lay at the 
 basis of dogmas, thereby calling them into ques- 
 tion also. In this way men became used to ques- 
 tioning and criticizing the teachings of the 
 Church. 
 
 Still other movements and discoveries aug- 
 mented the disturbance. After several attempts 
 by others, Gutenberg made printing from mov- 
 able type practical about 1450. Presses were set 
 up everywhere. A new and better process -of 
 making paper was discovered about the same 
 time. Books could therefore be multiplied at a 
 rapid rate. New movements and discoveries be- 
 came known all over Europe much more quickly 
 than in the old days. Reading and writing were 
 stimulated. What had been known only to a 
 
Changes in Life 29 
 
 few in the lecture halls of the universities could 
 
 now be had by every one. Merchants read as l""^?^^ ■" 
 
 •^ •' Number of 
 
 they traveled on their carts. Craftsmen read in Readers, 
 the intervals of labor. 
 
 The mariners' compass with its needle always com^fss'"*"' 
 indicating north came into practical use. This 
 enabled sailors to pass out of sight of land with 
 less fear than before and to keep a straight 
 course. When the Turks captured Constanti- 
 nople they closed the old caravan routes by which Routesf"''^ 
 merchants carried European goods to India and 
 Cathay and brought back gems, silks, and spice. 
 The spice trade was especially important in those 
 times because there was no refrigeration. Eat- 
 ables could be kept only by spicing them. Spices 
 and condiments were used in large quantities in 
 the preparation of food in order to make it 
 palatable. It was therefore very important that Trade.""" 
 trade with the spice lands of the East should be 
 kept up. Adventurous sea-captains found their 
 way down the west coast of Africa. At last, in 
 1498, Vasco da Gama reached India around the 
 Cape of Good Hope. 
 
 Before that, Columbus had been urging upon Columbus, 
 an unbelieving world his theory that the earth is 
 
 , , ... , , 1 • The Round 
 
 round, so that by sailing west one would ulti- World, 
 mately reach the East. Men had always thought 
 the world was flat. There were a few excep- 
 tions but their views were not accepted and Co- 
 lumbus had great difficulty in securing backing 
 
30 Protest and Progress 
 
 for his daring scheme. We all know the result. 
 It is hard, however, to imagine the shock to 
 men's thoughts to find that the solid earth which 
 looks so flat is really round. Columbus' discov- 
 
 Mageiian. ^^ seemed to prove it. Magellan's great voyage 
 
 did prove it, when his storm-beaten ships arrived 
 in Spain after three years continual sailing to 
 the west. 
 
 The stagnation and dogmatism of six hundred 
 years had been shaken to its foundation. New 
 political ideas were crystallizing. A new eco- 
 nomic situation had arisen. New relations sub- 
 sisted between social classes.* The universities 
 
 All Things taught a new philosophy and a new theology. A 
 new art, a new literature and new sciences flour- 
 ished. The common man, who had never had a 
 book to read and for whom a book had never 
 been written, could purchase them in his own 
 language on almost any subject at the fairs and 
 innumerable bookshops. The books were writ- 
 ten for him. They shattered his ideas on many 
 subjects. Aristotle and the universities had been 
 wrong. The basis of some of the old doctrines 
 rested on a mistranslation or misunderstanding 
 of the Scriptures. The old ideas of art and 
 beauty were changed and liberated. The flat 
 earth was shown to be round. Men had reached 
 the East by sailing west. No wonder that the 
 words of the Reformers were heard and that 
 
 *See preceding chapter. 
 
 New. 
 
Changes in Life 31 
 
 men responded to them. Never before had life 
 ,been so shaken to its very foundations, as the 
 startUng events of the Fifteenth Century had 
 shaken it. 
 
 When men's minds are open and inquiring, ^T^^ 5f,.j°"f'^" 
 when they have the courage to cast oiif the the Renovation. 
 guesses of their fathers for the facts of their 
 own experience, when the means of diffusing 
 knowledge are widespread, when unheard of 
 things are happening with startling frequency 
 and no one knows what may take place next, 
 above all, when there is a youthful spirit of en- 
 thusiasm and vigorous living, progress is made, 
 old things pass away, all things become new. The 
 Reformation was part of that renovation of the 
 civilization of western Europe. 
 
 QUESTIONS. 
 
 1. Contrast conditions of life in the towns of the 
 
 Middle Ages with present-day conditions. 
 
 2. Is it fair to judge the standards of the Fifteenth 
 
 Century by those of today? 
 
 3. Does the fact that low standards are general make 
 
 them right? 
 
 4. Describe the intellectual conditions before the year 
 
 1000 A. D. 
 
 5. What factors led to a change then? 
 
 6. How did the universities begin? 
 
 7. What is the system of thought of the Middle Agej 
 
 called? 
 
 8. Upon whose teaching is it founded? 
 
 9. What methods did it employ? 
 
32 Protest and Progress 
 
 10. Give an original illustration of the dangers of the 
 
 method ? 
 
 11. What studies formed the "arts" course? What 
 
 other courses were offered? 
 
 12. What were the two great sciences of the Middle 
 
 Ages? 
 
 13. How did they pave the way for two modern sci- 
 
 ences ? 
 
 14. Name two medieval critics. 
 
 15. Who were the Brethren of the Common Life? 
 
 16. What did they do? 
 
 17. What was the nqw movement of the Fifteenth Cen- 
 
 tury called? 
 
 18. Who first used the language of the people for any- 
 
 thing except conversation and business? 
 
 19. Who were the great leaders of the Renaissance in 
 
 Italy? 
 
 20. What did each do? 
 
 21. What is Humanism? 
 
 22. How did Humanism affect morals in Italy? 
 
 23. What changes took place in art and architecture as 
 
 a result of the Renaissance? 
 
 24. How did the Renaissance affect knowledge of the 
 
 Bible? 
 
 25. What affected theology? 
 
 26. How did the invention of printing stimulate changes 
 
 in thought? 
 
 27. Why were spices important? 
 
 28. How did their use result in geographic discoveries? 
 
 29. What striking change took place in men's ideas of 
 
 the earth? 
 
 30. Who proved that the world is round? 
 
 31. What relation do these changes bear to the Refor- 
 
 mation? 
 
 32. Are our times similar or dissimilar to the times of 
 
 the Renaissance? Give the reasons for your an- 
 swer. 
 
 33. Would this be a favorable time for another Refor- 
 
 mation? Give the reasons for your answer. 
 
CHAPTER III. 
 
 Reijgious Movements Beeore the Reforma- 
 tion. 
 
 The Wealth 
 of the 
 Church. 
 
 Before the Reformation there was only one One Church 
 
 in Western 
 
 Church in all of western Europe. It was ruled Europe, 
 by the Bishop of Rome. Every one was a mem- 
 ber of that Church. Every child was baptized 
 as quickly as possible, thereby becoming a mem- 
 ber of that Church. To be excommunicated by 
 its authorities was worse than a sentence of 
 death. It was a sentence of death for this life 
 and for eternity. 
 
 The Church was rich and well organized. 
 Men paid their obligations to the Church much 
 as they pay their taxes today. Not to pay was 
 to be excommunicated. Few braved that. To 
 pay had become a part of their lives. There 
 was murmuring to be sure; and sometimes there 
 was open rebellion ; yet, in the end, the all-power- 
 ful church prevailed. Besides the Church owned Keai Estate, 
 much property; her archbishops were wealthy 
 lords. Half Europe belonged to. the Church. 
 Not only ecclesiastical dues but secular taxes 
 poured into her treasury. 
 
 Every man had to give a tenth of all his in- 
 crease to the Church. One out of every ten of 
 
 Tithes. 
 
34 
 
 Protest and Progress 
 
 Fees. 
 
 Penan 
 
 The Church's 
 Power over 
 Souls. 
 
 The Sacra- 
 ments. 
 
 Baptism. 
 
 Penance. 
 
 the cattle born on his farm belonged to the 
 Church. One out of every ten bushels of grain 
 his land produced was claimed by the Church. 
 
 When his children were baptized he had to pay 
 a fee. When they were confirmed or married 
 or ordained the priest had to be paid his fee. 
 Whenever a man went to confession, and most 
 people went frequently, some penance usually 
 requiring a payment of money or goods was ex- 
 acted. 
 
 The Church's great power over the people 
 lay in the doctrine that the power to save or 
 damn men's souls lay in her. The people were 
 taught that they were born corrupt and con- 
 demned to hell. Only the offices of the Church 
 could save them from that fate. Therefore, as 
 soon as possible, a new-born child was baptized. 
 By baptism he was saved from inherited sin 
 through the power residing in the Church. This 
 power had been given to her by the Lord 
 through St. Peter 'and his successors, the Popes. 
 It was exercised on behalf of the child in the 
 sacrament of Baptism. 
 
 Although a child was saved by baptism from 
 inherited sin, other sins were sure to follow in 
 life. To be free from them he had to go^ fre- 
 quently to the priest and enumerate them. No 
 sin could be forgiven unless it was confessed to 
 the priest and the penance he assigned, per- 
 formed. Absolution could be given only by a 
 
Religious Movements 35 
 
 priest. The penance might be a pilgrimage to 
 some shrine, burning a candle to one of the saints 
 or to the Virgin, worshipping a relic or paying 
 money in place of such or similar acts. 
 
 Between the ages of ten and fifteen Confirma- Confirmation. 
 tion was administered by the bishop. It con- 
 ferred a new spiritual grace and admitted to ''^''^ ^''^=- 
 Communion. A fee was required for Confirma- 
 tion. 
 
 At marriage again, the priest and his grace and unction'^ ^"^ 
 and his fee. At death's door he also stood to 
 anoint with oil and cleanse from sin for his fee. 
 
 To be raised to the order of the priesthood, a 
 man had not only to study and to be devout ; but 
 he had to pay for his ordination and for a place 
 in which to serve. Congregations did not call '^^'^ Priests. 
 their priests as pastors are called today. The 
 bishop who controlled the congregations of a 
 diocese as large as a county or larger, as a rule, 
 assigned the priests to the congregations under 
 his jurisdiction as he pleased. He appointed 
 those who paid more to the more attractive "liv- 
 ings." Those who could not pay so much took 
 what they could get. A priest performed many 
 of the functions of a magistrate of today. He 
 executed wills. He had oversight of his peo- 
 ple's morals, health and education. His income 
 came from the various sources already men- 
 tioned and from lands which belonged to the 
 parish church which were tilled for him by 
 
36 
 
 Protest and Progress 
 
 The Bishops. 
 
 The Bishop's 
 Court and 
 The Canon 
 I,aw. 
 
 Election of 
 the Bishop. 
 
 peasants in the same way as they tilled the land 
 for the nobles and other property owners of- the 
 community. 
 
 The bishops lived and ranked as nobles of the 
 land. They received the confirmation and ordi- 
 nation fees. But their chief source of revenue 
 was from the land, usually of considerable ex- 
 tent, connected with the Cathedral. This was 
 sometimes an entire city or a county. The 
 bishop frequently owned castles and fought side 
 by side with the nobles. 
 
 The bishop had exclusive jurisdiction over 
 Church affairs in his diocese. He had a court 
 to administer justice to those officially connected 
 with the Church. The laws in the bishop's court 
 were different from the law of the land. They 
 were called the Church laws or Canon Law. 
 The Canon Law was usually more lenient than 
 the law of the land. No Church officer could be 
 tried by a court of the land. He could be tried 
 only by his bishop's court. This frequently 
 caused disputes between the knights and the 
 bishops. 
 
 Nominally the bishop was elected by the chap- 
 ter or convocation of the clergy of his diocese. 
 But, since he often had so much civil power, the 
 counts and dukes claimed and exercised the right 
 to nominate the bishops within their territories. 
 The bishop was installed by the Pope or by an 
 archbishop appointed by him. These and other 
 
Religious Movements 
 
 37 
 
 elements led to many quarrels between the Church 
 authorities and the civil magistrates, sometimes 
 to the advantage of one and sometimes to that of 
 the other. All of these disputes increased the op- 
 
 'portimities for graft, or "simony" as it is called, 
 in the Church. (Simony gets its name from 
 Simon Magus who sought to buy the gift of the 
 Holy Spirit. Acts 8.) 
 
 At the head of the system, the source of its 
 power and its sovereign ruler, sat the Pope. 
 Originally he was merely Bishop of Rome. But 
 partly through the predominance of the Roman 
 Empire, partly through the prevalence of the idea 
 of universal Rome when the Empire fell, partly 
 because of political difficulties of which the 
 Roman bishops were not slow to take advantage, 
 partly because of great missionary operations, 
 the Bishops of Rome succeeded in building up 
 and consolidating their authority, supporting it by 
 the decisions of Church councils and the power 
 of Emperors and kings. Nothing was orthodox 
 or lawful that did not bear the approval of the 
 
 .Pope or his officials. He was the absolute head 
 of Christendom, the Vicar of Christ, ruling the 
 Church in His stead and giving to those who 
 compiled with its regulations, the salvation 
 Christ came to give to all men. The Popes 
 claimed the right to dissolve all human relation- 
 ships, even to free subjects from their rulers. 
 Final authority for all things resided in the Pope. 
 
 Simony. 
 
 The Pope. 
 
 Rise of tlie 
 Pope's Power. 
 
 The Vicar of 
 Christ. 
 
38 
 
 Protest and Progress 
 
 The Pope's 
 Income. 
 
 The Pope s 
 Court. 
 
 Corruption, 
 
 Vice. 
 
 In the Church organizations he invested the 
 chief officials with their powers. He judged dis- 
 puted elections. He filled vacancies, removed 
 disqualifications, and transferred men from one 
 office to another. 
 
 The Pope's income was very great. None of 
 the high offices could be obtained without the 
 payment of large fees. He also received half of 
 the first year's income from all the offices which 
 he gave. 
 
 He had the highest court in the Church, to 
 which appeals came from the bishop's court. It 
 was composed of various high officials and the 
 Cardinals. They lived in brilliance and luxury as 
 great as that of any king in the world. In the 
 century before the Reformation the Pope's 
 Court was the most immoral in the world. 
 
 Theoretically this vast and wonderful organi- 
 zation was to bring salvation to the lost souls of 
 men. That was what it professed to do. Actu- 
 ally the majority of its officials from the parish 
 priest to the Pope himself were moved by selfish- 
 ness, covetousness and the love of luxury.- 
 Simony was not the only sin. By Canon Law a 
 priest was not allowable to marry; he had to 
 be holier than other men. Yet many priests had 
 wives or concubines contrary to law, whom they 
 supported in secret. Their children were well 
 known. They were euphemistically called 
 "nieces" or "nephews." From Pope to priest 
 corruption and vice prevailed. 
 
Religious Movements 
 
 39 
 
 Yet despite all these things the people looked 
 to the Holy Church to save them. They paid 
 their money and eased their consciences. They 
 made long pilgrimages to the places where the 
 relics of the saints were kept. These relics in- 
 cluded, for example, pieces of Christ's cross, 
 strands of saints' hair, bones of saints or their 
 tears and other like things. The people believed 
 that, as their prie?t had said and the Pope de- 
 clared, these holy acts would free them from sin. 
 
 Men and women lived under a great burden of 
 fear in Germany and northern Europe, difficult 
 for us to appreciate. They thought that devils 
 and goblins inhabited the woods and caves. 
 Storms and drought were caused by spiritual 
 foes, plagues and epidemics came from an ag- 
 grieved God. Uncertain rumors of Turkish in- 
 vasion kept them constantly alarmed. They had 
 no certain means of communication. They often 
 learned of important events long after they had 
 taken place. They were the more terrified on 
 that account. Through all was the great fear of 
 death. No sin could be forgiven unless con- 
 fessed to the priest. Those for which complete 
 satisfaction had not been made, had to be burned 
 out in purgatory, perhaps for centuries, before 
 heaven could be reached. They thought of 
 Christ as a dreadful Judge, not as a Saviour. 
 They expected Him to pronounce the final doom 
 from which the Church alone could save them. 
 
 The Church's 
 hold on the 
 People. 
 
 Relics and 
 Pilgrimages. 
 
 The Great 
 Fear. 
 
 Purgatory. 
 
 Judgment. 
 
40 
 
 Protest and Progress 
 
 Salvation 
 Through the 
 Church. 
 
 Preaching, 
 
 Processions. 
 
 The Monks. 
 
 So the people eagerly sought the Church ; prayed 
 to the saints to intercede with Christ; kissed 
 the relics of their bones ; made pilgrimages ; per- 
 formed penances and left endowments that the 
 priest might perform many times the unbloody 
 sacrifice of the Mass for them, that they might 
 be released as quickly as possible from purga- 
 tory. They bought pardons and indulgences to 
 accomplish the same results for themselves or 
 their friends. 
 
 There was little regular preaching in the 
 churches by the parish priests. The bulk of 
 the preaching was done by the Brotherhoods 
 organized for that purpose, by the Domin- 
 ican Friars and others. These preachers as a 
 rule were itinerant like the paid evangelists of 
 today. Their purpose in preaching was to incite 
 to a devouflife. Most of the sermons were con- 
 cerned with the lives of the saints and the won- 
 derful blessings they had received and were ready 
 to bestow on the faithful. 
 
 On important festivals, processions passed 
 through the streets, bearing the Host or conse- 
 crated wafer for the people to worship. Pom- 
 pousness and show in worship paralleled covet- 
 ousness and vice in living. 
 
 Those who truly tried to live a Christian life, 
 usually entered a monastery where they lived 
 under strict rules. Probably on the whole the 
 monks and friars were somewhat superior to the 
 
Religious Movements 41 
 
 general run of priests and bishops; certainly 
 they were more highly respected by the people. 
 A monk was not necessarily a priest, though many 
 became priests. He differed from the ordinary Their Vows, 
 layman in having taken three vows ; of poverty — 
 to own no property, of chastity — never to marry, 
 of obedience to the rules and rulers of the order. 
 Each order of monks was controlled by its own Rulers, 
 vicars and generals directly from the Pope, in- 
 dependent of local bishops and other authorities. 
 A monk differed from a priest, as every other 
 layman did, by not having Ordination which con- 
 veyed the power to celebrate the Mass, to give 
 absokition and to marry people. 
 
 When a man became a monk he spent a year Novitiate 
 in the monastery doing menial work, while being 
 instructed in the rules and customs of the order, 
 before taking the vows. Should he still desire to 
 enter at the end of that year, he took the vows 
 and became a monk for life. The monks did 
 many useful things. They copied books. They 
 taught in the universities and schools. They MonL'd'id- 
 managed their large properties very efficiently, p^^^'j"^^ 
 Besides they observed regular hours of prayer. 
 There were usually seven such during; the day 
 and three during the night. Their rules were 
 strict. Still, the orders constantly deteriorated Deterioration 
 and required internal reform. Though the monks ^""^ ^^^°'^ 
 were individually vowed to poverty, the monas- 
 teries as corporations were frequently very rich. 
 
 orm. 
 
42 
 
 Protest and Progress 
 
 Wealth. 
 
 The Friars. 
 
 Temporal 
 Power of the 
 Pope. 
 
 Limited where 
 national spirit 
 was strong. 
 
 Many bequeathed to them their estates. Their 
 holdings were no small part of the Church's prop- 
 erty. 
 
 The Friars were like monks except that they 
 lived by begging. In number they far exceeded 
 them. 
 
 The Pope claimed supreme authority not only 
 in Church affairs and over the souls of men, but 
 in the affairs of the nations of the world. As 
 Christ's vicar, he claimed that final appeal must 
 always be made to him. He placed the crown 
 of the Empire on the Emperors. The Church's 
 claims and those of the State often clashed, partic- 
 ularly about the great ecclesiastical offices, so that 
 there was constant interference by secular rulers 
 in Church affairs and by Church authorities in 
 civil matters. The interference of the Pope was 
 especially resented in the nations where national 
 spirit was strong. His rights and authority were 
 very much limited especially in England and 
 France. 
 
 But dissensions in the Church itself did more 
 to weaken the Pope's power than the growing 
 national spirit. As the nations grew strong, the 
 Pope's word and the influence of his judgment 
 was frequently sought, in order to settle dis- 
 putes. When the Pope was to be elected, each 
 king strove to have a man upon whose favor he 
 could depend, elected to the office. Early in the 
 Fourteenth Century, French influence secured 
 
Religious Movements 
 
 43 
 
 the election of Clement V. He was favorable to 
 the King of France, who further induced him to 
 remove his residence to Avignon in Provence. 
 Here he was directly under French influence. 
 This weakened his authority among the other 
 nations. The Popes remained at Avignon for 
 sixty years amid much luxury and considerable 
 vice. In 1377 the Cardinals elected Urban VI. 
 at Rome. The Cardinals who remained at 
 Avignon, elected Clement VII. Each Pope ex- 
 communicated the other. The supreme office 
 was thus held by two mutually hostile pontiffs. 
 The only way to solve the difficulty was to call a 
 general council of the whole Church. The coun- 
 cil convened at Pisa in 1409. It deposed both 
 Popes and elected another, — Alexander V. But 
 the other Popes refused to be deposed, and so a 
 third "infallible" was added. 
 
 To heal the schism and restore order in the 
 Church, the Emperor, Sigismund, called another 
 General Council which met at Constance 1414- 
 1417. It had three purposes, — to heal the 
 schism, to root out heresies and to undertake 
 reformation in the Church. The first of these 
 purposes was accomplished by declaring that a 
 general council was greater than the Pope. 
 After this, the Avignon Pope was deposed. The 
 resignation of the Roman Pope was accepted. 
 The Pisa Pope, fearing violence, fled. Then the 
 Council elected Martin V. After the heresy trial 
 
 The Great 
 Schism. 
 
 The Council 
 of Pisa. 
 
 The Council of 
 Constance. 
 
44 
 
 Protest and Progress 
 
 Spiritual Life. 
 
 jllKl 
 
 ■othi 
 
 Brotherhoods. 
 
 had culminated in the burning of John Huss, the 
 Council took up the matter of reform. It de- 
 cided that a general council should be held every 
 ten years. When other matters were suggested, 
 Martin dissolved the council. He later con- 
 demned the decree which made a|^eneral council 
 greater than the Pope. Nothing came of the 
 provision for decennial councils. 
 
 Beneath the organization and alongside the 
 corruption and in spite of the superstition, a 
 pure stream of spiritual life flowed on in the 
 Church. In almost all families the children 
 learned the simple elements of the faith and 
 were taught to pray. For almost fifty years be- 
 fore the Reformation, parts of Scripture had 
 been used and loved by the people in Germany. 
 Though the times were coarse and the clergy 
 full of sin, the worst things were condemned. 
 Though there was, no doubt, a much greater 
 looseness of morals than among us, not a few 
 maintained a pure, upright and just life. While 
 many visited the shrines and kissed the relics, 
 not a few did so out of pure devotion, and not a 
 few others had a pure faith which questioned 
 the value of such things. While superstition 
 was rampant, there were many who had humble 
 faith in God. 
 
 Many pious Christians who could not find sat- 
 isfaction in the services and sermons of the 
 Church, banded themselves-together in voluntary 
 
Religious Movements 45 
 
 brotherhoods for prayer, like modern prayer 
 circles. They met in the homes of members or 
 in the schools which they established. They 
 sought not only to deepen their own lives but to 
 be useful in the community by teaching the chil- 
 dren, by preaching to the people and by doing 
 works of charity. These brotherhoods also pro- 
 vided insurance for their members and burial 
 rights as a modern lodge does. 
 
 Many were mystics. They found God in their 
 hearts and rejoiced in love for Him more than Mystici. 
 in reasoning about Him. They set simple and 
 high standards of morality, as a rule. They en- 
 couraged reading the Scriptures. They exempli- 
 fied in their lives a pure and exalted faith. 
 
 Besides there were a good many men of prac- 
 tical common sense who conformed outwardly 
 to the Church, but who had no part in her spirit. 
 They were ready to oppose her exactions at any 
 time. They were plain men like L,uther's father. 
 They had learned the power of simple virtue. 
 They mocked at the Church's superstition, relics 
 and pilgrimages. They despised the priests and 
 their pretensions; and they cared nothing for 
 the monks. They sought to remedy the immor- 
 ality of the clergy and people by civic regula- 
 tions. They sought to further prosperity and to 
 minimize the opportunities for temptation by re- 
 ducing as far as possible the extraordinary num- 
 ber of holy days which had come to be ob- 
 
 Plain Men. 
 
46 Protest and Progress 
 
 served in the Church. Through these holy days 
 many had been kept idle half the week and the 
 way had been opened to laziness and vice. 
 While these laymen continued in the Church, 
 their hopes were for reform. They kept up cor- 
 respondence with others of similar mind in the 
 different towns and gave each other mutual sup- 
 port. They prepared the way for the Reforma- 
 tion. They played a large part in assisting its 
 rapid development. 
 
 It was a great mistake to think of Luther as 
 the pioneer or the first to lift his voice in the 
 
 Reformers Church against her sins. Many had seen the 
 corruption and had spoken plainly against it. 
 Three men who sought to reform the Church be- 
 fore Luther are especially prominent. Their 
 teachings are in part similar to his. They did 
 much to prepare the way for him. 
 
 The first of these was John Wiclif (died 
 1384), an Englishman and a graduate of Oxford 
 University. He opposed the interference of the 
 
 John wiciii. Pope in English politics and especially the pay- 
 ment of Church taxes which involved sending 
 English money to Rome. He was opposed by 
 the Church authorities in England who held their 
 offices from the Pope. Upon their complaint 
 five bulls were issued against him and his teach- 
 ings. But he had the support of the kings of 
 England. He had also the support of the peo- 
 ple. The thunderings of the Vatican, therefore. 
 
Religious Movements 47 
 
 came to naught. During the great schism Wiclif 
 was opposed to all the Popes. His most endur- 
 ing work was the translation of the Bible into 
 English. The first complete edition was pub- 
 lished in 1382. Together with John Purvey, he Bible Trans- 
 
 1 1 1 • • 1 . t lation. 
 
 at once began a thorough revision which was 
 completed by Purvey after Wiclif's death and 
 issued in 1388. It forms an epoch in both the 
 literary and religious life of England. 
 
 Wiclif's university turned against him because 
 of his attacks on the Church, especially his at- 
 tack on transubstantiation, i. e., that the bread 
 and wine in the Mass are changed into Christ's 
 Body and Blood when the priest consecrates the 
 bread and wine. His teachings are sometimes 
 vague but he is thoroughly opposed to Roman 
 doctrine. A Church Council condemned his 
 teachings and his followers, but he was so strong 
 in Parliament that they did not dare to touch 
 him. The last years of his life were used in 
 quiet pastoral work in the parish of Lutterworth 
 where he was afterwards buried. The Council 
 of Constance later condemned him. His bones 
 were dug up and burned. His ashes were scat- 
 tered on the River Swift. 
 
 He taught that the Bible alone is the supreme His Teachings, 
 authority, that the Church is the company of the 
 Elect, not necessarily identical with the ecclesias- 
 tical organization. His attitude on the Mass has 
 already been mentioned. He took pains to 
 
48 
 
 Protest and Progress 
 
 John Huss. 
 
 Influence o£ 
 Wiclif. 
 
 Teachings of 
 Huss. 
 
 spread his teaching through itinerant teachers 
 who were popularly called "Lollards." He was 
 a man of intellect rather than of feeling, always 
 conscious of his integrity and fearless in the ex- 
 pression of his views. 
 
 Wiclif's doctrines spread all over Europe. 
 They bore fruit especially at the University of 
 Prague in Bohemia which was in close touch 
 with Oxford. Wiclif's doctrines influenced John 
 Huss, a professor and teacher there. Huss's 
 endeavors to reform the Church met with the 
 favor of the archbishop at first, but he later op- 
 posed them. The Pope forbade Huss to preach 
 and later condemned all use of Wiclif's writ- 
 ings. Huss was supported by the^faculty of his 
 university. The archbishop excommunicated 
 him and laid the city under an interdict, i. e. for- 
 bade all religious services. Huss disregarded, 
 this. He held services and preached anyway to 
 great audiences which frequently burst into ap- 
 plause. He was opposed to indulgences, espe- 
 cially when the Pope used them to get money 
 to carry on a war against Naples. He claimed 
 the Pope as Christ's vicar, should never wage 
 war. He was opposed, also, to the Pope's pre- 
 tensions to infallibility. In 1412 he was com- 
 pelled to leave Prague. He continued to preach 
 and teach not far away. 
 
 When he was summoned to the Council of 
 Constance and given a safe-conduct, he gladly at- 
 
Religious Movements 49 
 
 tended. After waiting many weeks until the 
 matter of the Schism, which occupied the atten- 
 tion of the Council first, was disposed of, he was 
 imprisoned and directed to recant. He refused. 
 After several hearing's before the ecclesiastical ?"^^ 9°"'j 
 
 o demned and 
 
 court he was condemned as a heretic. The con- Burned, 
 demnation was read in the Cathedral. A tall 
 paper hat with "heretic" on it, was placed "on his 
 head and he was led out to be burned. His 
 teachings were similar to those of Wiclif. He 
 favored giving both bread and wine to the com- 
 municant in the Communion which was not done 
 in the Roman Church. His followers banded 
 together and fought for their freedom of con- 
 science. They were recognized by the Council 
 of Basel, 1430. This was the first time in his- 
 tory that a council of the Church treated with 
 heretics on an equality. It granted them free- 
 dom to preach, the use of both elements in the 
 Sacrament and a clergy uncorrupted by secular 
 rights. They were opposed by the Pope in 1462. |^^'=^^j'i'||j 
 But they were upheld and finally in 15 12 legally 
 established by the Parliament of Bohemia. This 
 is the first legal establishment of dissenters from 
 the Roman Church in western Europe. 
 
 Another of these reformers was Jerome Jerome 
 
 ■^ bavonarola. 
 
 Savonarola (1452-1498). He was the son of 
 well-to-do parents who intended him to become 
 a doctor. The frightful sins of his time, how- 
 ever, led him to- seek refuge in a Dominican 
 
so 
 
 Protest and Progress 
 
 His Powerful 
 Preaching. 
 
 His Civic 
 Reforms. 
 
 Monastery at Bologna, to save his soul. He de- 
 sired only the menial work but his superiors, ap- 
 preciating his ability, had him study theology. 
 He read the Bible and the works of Thomas 
 Aquinas, Augustine and other Church fathers. 
 He became a preacher of great power and was 
 sent on that account, to the monastery of San 
 Marc6 at Florence. He attacked the corrupt life 
 of the city unsparingly and urged moral reform 
 of Church and State. 
 
 Taking advantage of an invasion of Italy by 
 the King of France, Savonarola stirred up a re- 
 volt against the rulers of the city and reorgan- 
 ized it as a theocracy. Wonderful moral zeal 
 and spiritual exaltation carried the people of the 
 city away. The Pope, the wicked Alexander VI., 
 became alarmed. He first offered Savonarola a 
 bishopric and a cardinal's hat, but in vain. Then 
 he forbade him to preach and finally excommuni- 
 cated him. The expedition of the King of 
 France was unsuccessful; plague and famine 
 broke out in Florence. The jealousy of the 
 other monks in Florence at length caused a reacr 
 tion against him. He appealed to an ordeal by 
 fire, i. e., he was willing to pass through a 
 flame to show that it would not burn him to 
 prove that his teachings were true. This chal- 
 lenge was accepted by his enemies. A thunder- 
 storm prevented it taking place at the time ap- 
 pointed. The fickle people, disappointed at not 
 
Religious Movements 51 
 
 seeing the sight, turned from him. In a Church H'^ ■= f™- 
 
 ^ *=* demned and 
 
 Court he was quickly condemned as a heretic and Burned. 
 burned in the public square in 1498. 
 
 His movement was a moral one and was con- 
 fined almost exclusively to the city of Florence. 
 It depended entirely upon the devotion of the 
 people to him, aroused by his wonderful preach- 
 ing. These movements all came to naught. The 
 time was not yet ripe. 
 
 QUESTIONS. 
 
 1. Name six things in which the Church before the 
 
 Reformation differed from the Church of today. 
 
 2. How was the Church financed? 
 
 3. How could the Church hold such power over the 
 
 people? 
 
 4. What provisions did the Church make for saving 
 
 souls? 
 
 5. What were the rights and duties of a priest? of a 
 
 bishop? 
 
 6. What were the rights and duties of an archbishop? 
 
 7. How did the bishop of Rome come to be the su- 
 
 preme head of the Church? 
 
 8. What power did he exercise? 
 
 9. Were Church officials sincerely given to their work? 
 
 10. Why did the people trust them? 
 
 11. What superstitions prevailed? 
 
 12. What were reUcs? 
 
 13. What were pilgrimages? 
 
 14. How did the Church services differ from ours? 
 
 15. How did the monks differ from other people? 
 
 16. What did the monks do and how were they ruled? 
 
 17. In what else did the Pope claim authority? 
 
 18. How did these claims clash with national spirit? 
 
52 Protest and Progress 
 
 19. What dissensions in the Church caused the people 
 
 to lose respect for the Pope? 
 
 20. How was the Great Schism healed? 
 
 21. What else did the Council of Constance do? 
 
 22. Did the corruption in the organization of the 
 
 Church prevent all spiritual life among the peo- 
 ple? r -'•'- 
 
 23. Describe the Brotherhoods. 
 
 24. How did men of plain common sense take religion? 
 2$. What three reformers attempted to correct the 
 
 abuses in the Church before Luther? 
 
 26. Tell of Huss; of Wicliff; of Savonarola. 
 
 27. Make a list of the things in the Roman Chprch 
 
 which you think were right. 
 
 28. Make a similar list of the things you think were 
 
 wrong. 
 
 29. Make similar lists of the things you think right and 
 
 wrong in your own Church today. 
 
Luther of 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 Martin Luther's Life to 15 17. 
 
 The great personality of Martin Luther was 
 the rock about which the stream of history 
 swirled and by which it was divided in the Six- 
 teenth Century. From his character and experi- 
 ences much of modern history has grown. 
 
 Martin Luther sprang from peasant stock. 
 His father's family lived at Moehra, a little vil- Peasant stock. 
 lage fifteen miles through the beautiful Thurin- 
 gian forest from Eisenach, the largest town of 
 the region. His father, John Luther, was not the 
 youngest son and, therefore, in accordance with 
 the ancient peasant custom, had to find his liv- 
 ing elsewhere than on the ancestral farmland. 
 So, in 1483, nine years before Columbus discov- 
 ered America, he went to seek his fortune in the 
 mines of Mansf eld, sixty miles away. His bride, 
 Margaret Ziegler, accompanied him. When 
 they reached Eisleben on their journey, they 
 stopped. Martin Luther was born there on the ^°^_" no^'^'^' 
 tenth of November, 1483. He was baptized ac- '°' ''*^3. 
 cording to custom on the next day by the parish 
 priest in Eisleben. It was St. Martin's Day in 
 the Church calendar and so the boy received the 
 name of Martin. Later the Luthers went on to 
 
54 
 
 Protest and Progress 
 
 His Father. 
 
 His Mother. 
 
 Severe Dis- 
 cipline. 
 
 The Lot of a 
 
 Miner's Son. 
 
 Education in 
 Mansfeld. 
 
 Mansfeld and John Luther secured employment 
 in the mines there. 
 
 John L,uther "was a sturdy, frugal, hard-work- 
 ing man, that admirable type of man who, hav- 
 ing small natural gifts and no advantages, by 
 sheer industry and will power makes his way in 
 the world." Starting as a stranger and a com- 
 mon miner, he gradually won a small competence 
 and a place of honor among his fellow-citizens, 
 who eventually elected him to the highest office 
 in the town. 
 
 Luther's mother was earnest and devout, 
 strictly religious and very superstitious. Both 
 father and mother were very strict. Luther 
 himself tells us, "My father once whipped me so 
 severely that I fled from him and it was hard 
 for him to win me back." "My mother once 
 beat me until the blood flowed for having stolen 
 a miserable nut." 
 
 While he remained at home he endured all 
 the hard lot of a poor miner's son, for his father 
 did not acquire" a comfortable living until after 
 Luther had left home. His memories of his 
 home are not of the brightest. He reverenced 
 and feared his parents more than he loved them. 
 He had at least one brother and several sisters. 
 
 His earliest education was at the village school. 
 The teacher was much harder on the boy than 
 his parents were. He says, "Many a clumsy 
 schoolmaster by blustering, storming, striking 
 
Martin Luther's Life 55 
 
 and beating; and by treating children precisely 
 as though he were a hangman, completely ruins 
 children of good disposition and excellent abil- 
 ity."* Flogging took the place of real teaching ; 
 and the boy's road was hard. Latin was the 
 principal subject taught there. It was necessary 
 to read and speak Latin in order to acquire any 
 further education at all. 
 
 At home, no doubt, Luther was taught a few 
 prayers. He learned to think of God after the 
 cruel picture of a father presented by his earthly . 
 
 father. He thought of Jesus as a strict and se- Training. 
 vere Judge with whom the saints could be induced 
 to intercede on his behalf. He believed the 
 Church dispensed salvation through her priests. 
 He also drank in the superstitions of his parents 
 and surroundings. His vivid belief in devils and 
 witches never left him. To him they were the Superstition, 
 cause of natural phenomena, such as storms, 
 droughts, epidemics, the mysterious marsh lights, 
 and the vague rustlings in the trees. He thought 
 they assumed various forms, — men, monks, 
 women, not to speak of ghosts, cats and parrots 
 and "the strange caterpillar whose posterior is 
 suspiciously decked out with a little horn." 
 
 When Luther was thirteen years old he was To School at 
 
 _ , , - c 1 -n 1 Madgebuirg. 
 
 sent to one of the schools of the Brethren at 
 Magdeburg, forty miles from home. It was one 
 of those schools previously mentioned, which 
 
 ♦Translation in Jacobs' Martin Luther. 
 
56 
 
 Protest and Progress 
 
 To School at 
 Eisenach. 
 
 The Cotta 
 Family. 
 
 did so much and prepared so many for a true 
 religious life. He helped to pay his way by beg- 
 ging. It was a common custom for poor stu- 
 dents to go through the streets singing and play- 
 ing and asking alms at the doors. This was no 
 more disreputable at that time than accepting a 
 scholarship is today. 
 
 The next year he was sent to Eisenach to the 
 school of St. George. His mother had a relative 
 living there named Conrad Huetter, who, his 
 parents thought, would be of moral and material 
 assistance to him. He found a home not with 
 his kinsman, but with the Cotta family. Frau 
 Cotta was attracted by his fine singing and took 
 him in. Here he found for the first time a real 
 home. The Cottas were people of means and 
 refinement. The influence they exerted had a 
 marked effect for good on the growing young 
 man. His teacher there, John Trebonius, also 
 won his heart with a gentleness and kindness in 
 striking contrast to the teachers to whom he had 
 been accustomed. A Franciscan monastery was 
 located on the .outskirts of the town and he be- 
 came acquainted with many of the monks. This 
 may have turned his thoughts toward the mon- 
 astery. 
 
 Four years later, 1501, he went to the great 
 University of Erfurt. His father was getting 
 along better and could now pay his .son's way. 
 He was anxious for him to have every ad- 
 
the; cotta homb. 
 
Martin Luther's Life 
 
 57 
 
 vantage. The University, of Erfurt was one of ^' '.'"= Uni- 
 
 ^ •' versity ot 
 
 the largest in Germany. It was founded .in Erfurt. 
 1392, more than a hundred years before Luther 
 went there. It was also one of the most pro- 
 gressive universities of the times. Its faculty 
 taught the advanced views and used the newer 
 methods of humanism. Luther passed the usual 
 groups of three and four studies with great 
 credit. He received the degree of Bachelor of 
 Arts in 1502 and the degree of Master of Arts 
 in 1505. Luther was more attracted to the older 
 and more formal studies than he was to the new, 
 humanistic branches. His education was as 
 broad and as good as was possible at that time. 
 
 Conferring degrees was marked by a great 
 celebration. The students paraded through the 
 town. The degrees were solemnly conferred by 
 the university authorities dressed in their robes. 
 Afterward there was a feast and a holiday. 
 
 Luther's father wished him to study law. In 
 obedience to his wishes, though much against 
 his own inclination, he matriculated as a law stu- 
 dent at the same university, immediately after 
 receiving his degree of Master of Arts. 
 
 Luther's early training had left him with a 
 predominantly sober view of life. While he was 
 a fine fellow socially and often entertained his 
 fellow-students with songs and music and they 
 delighted in his company, his thoughts tended to 
 be serious. There is no record that he indulged 
 
 Graduation. 
 
 A Law Stu- 
 dent. 
 
 Luther's 
 Seriousness. 
 
58 
 
 Protest and Progress 
 
 He vows to 
 enter a 
 Monastery. 
 
 He enters the 
 Augustinian 
 Monastery at 
 Erfurt. 
 
 in the license which was common in student life 
 then as now. Luther had a very sensitive con- 
 science and a great longing for God. His great- 
 est desire was to find peace with God. He was 
 much distressed about his spiritual life and was 
 never satisfied with it. The violent death of a 
 friend added to his sombemess and thoughtful- 
 ness. In those times the place where burdened 
 souls found refuge was the monastery. No 
 doubt his thoughts often turned that way. His 
 acquaintance with the Franciscans at Eisenach and 
 the many monks he knew at Erfurt had a similar 
 effect. Erfurt had twenty monasteries and forty- 
 six churches and chapels. It was a very religious 
 place. The plague broke out in the city during 
 the summer of 1505 and some of the students 
 died from it. Many others sought safety in 
 flight. Luther attended the law school for a 
 month but be became thoroughly discouraged. 
 He went home, perhaps to secure his father's 
 permission to drop law. But if so, he failed, for 
 in a couple of weeks he started back to the Uni- 
 versity. On his way he was caught in a terrific 
 thunder-storm and, being greatly terrified, he 
 prayed to St. Anna and vowed that if she would 
 save him, he would become a monk. 
 
 Two weeks later he gathered his friends in 
 his rooms. After spending the evening in the 
 old time jollity and fun, he solemnly announced 
 that that was the last. The next day he went to 
 
Martin Luther's Life 59 
 
 the Augustinian monastery and applied for ad- 
 mission. When the door closed behind him, it 
 shut him oif forever from the old life. Luther's 
 reputation as a student was known very favor- 
 ably all over the city and in the monasteries. 
 His entrance was very gratifying to the superiors 
 of the monastery he chose. But the monks were 
 jealous of him. However, Luther did the hum- 
 ble tasks assigned to him without pride or dis- 
 play, for he sought the peace of his soul and not 
 the praise of men. His father was bitterly dis- 
 appointed and nearly cast him ofif. In Septem- 
 ber, 1506, Luther took the vows of the order and 
 became a regular monk. The monastery which 
 he entered was one of the best of its kind. 
 Within the order of the Augustinians a strict 
 rule was in force in some of the monasteries. 
 Luther entered one of these. Undoubtedly sin- 
 cere striving for the Christian life, as it was 
 then understood, characterized the monasteries 
 of the Augustine Hermits. 
 
 One of the rules of the order was the constant His severe 
 
 Self- 
 study of the Bible. In the monastery Luther Discipline. 
 
 also carried his study of philosophy further. 
 But most of all he sought by the strictest com- 
 pliance with the rules of the order to develope 
 such a spiritual life in himself as might please 
 God and by which he might find peace with Him. 
 He even went beyond the rules in the severity of 
 his discipline. He soon had the reputation of 
 
A Priest. 
 
 60 Protest and Progress 
 
 being a most saintly monk as well as a most bril- 
 liant student. Yet peace would not come. He 
 could not satisfy himself that his heart was 
 right. 
 
 In February, 1507, he was ordained a priest. 
 In May of the same year, he celebrated his first 
 Mass. His father and an old friend, John 
 Braun, priest at Eisenach, with others of his ac- 
 quaintance, were invited and attended. That he 
 should speak directly to God and by his act bring 
 Christ's holy Body and Blood upon the altar and 
 hold Him in his hands, was to Luther a most 
 solemn and awful thing. He celebrated the mass 
 with great hesitancy and fear. His father was 
 not yet reconciled to his son's place in the 
 Church. At the dinner given in honor of the 
 young priest afterward, he publicly said, when 
 Luther asked him if he was not now satisfied 
 with what he had done, "Have you never heard 
 the commandment, Honor thy father and thy 
 mother?" 
 
 Continuing his studies, Luther began theology. 
 In 1508 he was called to the University of Wit- 
 tenberg to teach Aristotle's Ethics. Wittenberg 
 tcnberg. -^y^s a most Uninteresting village of a few hun- 
 
 dred thatched houses. It had only recently be- 
 come important. That it had a university was 
 due to the fact that Saxony had been divided be- 
 tween two heirs of the old line of rulers. The 
 Elector had received the portion of which Wit-' 
 
 Call to Wit- 
 
Martin Luther's Life 61 
 
 tenberg was the principal place. Every ruler 
 sought to have a university on his own territory. 
 Frederick the Wise was not behind other princes 
 in this respect, especially since he had the money 
 at hand. The Pope some time before had issued 
 an indulgence to provide money for a war 
 against the Turks. The plans for the war were J^^ Univcr- 
 abandoned. Instead of forwarding the money Wittenberg, 
 collected to Rome, Frederick decided it was bet- 
 ter to found a university for his own people. So 
 he started the University of Wittenberg. It was 
 the first university not to receive a charter from 
 the Pope. Its charter was given by the Em- 
 peror. Frederick had also built a castle and two 
 fine churches in the town. In locating the uni- 
 versity there he relied upon the services of the 
 monks of an Augustinian monastery at Witten- 
 berg. Luther was transferred from the mon- 
 astery at Erfurt to that in Wittenberg so that he 
 might teach in the university there. After teach- 
 ing Aristotle a while, he taught Holy Scripture. 
 He returned to Erfurt in 1509 where he con- 
 tinued to lecture until 1511 when he came back 
 to Wittenberg to spend the rest of his life there. 
 
 While still at Erfurt he was sent to Rome on ^^^^^^^ *° 
 business of the Order in the fall of 151 1. There 
 had been some difficulty about the control of cer- 
 tain monasteries in Germany and a decision from 
 the authorities at Rome was required. Luther 
 went as the companion of the real delegate in the 
 
62 Protest and Progress 
 
 business, John von Mecheln. It was a rule of 
 the Order that the brothers must always travel 
 in pairs. The journey was made entirely on 
 foot. The monks walked in single file from 
 monastery to monastery down- through Ger- 
 many, across the Alps and into Italy. Luther 
 felt that it was a great opportunity, not to see 
 Rome, but to find peace with God in the best 
 way the Church taught. Confession and wor- 
 ship at the shrines in Rome was believed to be 
 most effective in securing God's favor. So, 
 while John von Mecheln attended to the busi- 
 ness, Luther visited many of the shrines and 
 churches and adored the relics kept in the sacred 
 city. He was shocked by much that he saw and 
 heard, especially at the ignorance and frivolity 
 of the people, the irreverence of the priests, the 
 indifference to holy things and the prevalent im- 
 morality. He did all the Church taught and took 
 advantage of every offer of indulgence and yet 
 he was not satisfied. "The just shall live by 
 faith," was constantly ringing in his ears but it . 
 had not reached his heart. The return trip was 
 made in about seven weeks. The Brothers 
 reached Erfurt early in the spring of 15 12. In 
 the summer of the same year, Luther finally went 
 to Wittenberg. 
 A Doctor of He continued his studies and his lecturinsr at 
 
 Theology. . , - ° 
 
 Wittenberg. In 15 12 he received the degree of 
 Doctor of Theology at Erfurt. The degree of 
 
Martin Luther's Life 63 
 
 Dbctor brought with it new duties and privileges. 
 It is well to remember that Luther stood within 
 his rights as a Doctor of Theology in all his con- 
 flicts with the Pope. 
 
 From this time until the year of his death he ^^'^J'^'SH''" 
 
 -'■ on the Bible. 
 
 lectured daily on the Bible. He prepared his 
 lectures very carefully from the best available 
 sources. He used the most recent writers and 
 commentators. He eagerly acquired a copy of 
 Erasmus' revised and corrected Greek Testa- 
 ment when it appeared in 1516. His lectures 
 were fresh and stimulating because he did not 
 follow the regular, beaten paths of the old the- 
 ology but sought to explain the Bible itself and 
 to illustrate its truths by practical and familiar 
 facts of recent or contemporary history Natu- 
 rally this soon led to criticism of current life and 
 institutions. His lectures on Psalms and Ro- 
 mans were especially edifying. His lecture- 
 rooms were always crowded with students. 
 After a little, he began to advocate reforms in 
 the university curriculum. As his study con- 
 tinued, he became convinced that the philosophy 
 of Aristotle and the scholasticism in which he 
 had been trained, were wrong, and that the slavish 
 following of the old masters was a positive hin- 
 derance to true thought. He rebelled against the 
 scholastic system before he spoke against the 
 Church. 
 
64 
 
 Protest and Progress 
 
 A Preacher. 
 
 District 
 Vicar. 
 
 Preaching was not so frequent then as it is 
 now and Luther had never preached. After 
 much persuasion, he finally did so in a barn-like 
 building near the monastery. ' It held less than a 
 hundred. He was a very popular preacher and 
 soon preached regularly in the town church. 
 His sermons were practical and moral; criticiz- 
 ing the failures of the people to whom he min- 
 istered and pointing the way to better things. 
 They were very different from the sermons 
 usually heard then which were occupied in re- 
 lating old fables and stories of the saints and 
 their wonderful miracles. 
 
 In 15 15 he was appointed District Vicar in 
 charge of twelve monasteries. His time was very 
 fully occupied in preaching, teaching, and man- 
 aging the affairs of the monasteries. As he says 
 in a letter to John Lang at Erfurt, October 26, 
 1516: 
 
 A Busy an. ,ij jjgg^j ^ couple of amanuenses or secretaries, as 1 
 -do almost nothing the live-long day but write letters. 
 I do not know whether on that account I am always 
 repeating myself, but you can judge. I am convent 
 preacher, the reader at meals, am asked to deliver a 
 sermon daily in the parish church, am district vicar 
 (that is eleven times prior), business manager of our 
 fish farm at I<itzkau, attorney in our cases versus the 
 Herzbergers now pending at Torgau, lecturer on St. 
 Paul, assistant lecturer on the Psalter, besides having 
 my correspondence, which, as I said, occupies most of 
 my time, I seldom have leisure to discharge the 
 
Martin Luther's Life 65 
 
 canonical services, to say nothing of attending to my 
 own temptations with the world, the flesh and the devil. 
 You se how idle I am !"* 
 
 And yet the chief thing that Luther was doing, F'^ struggles 
 
 ■^ ° o' for Faith and 
 
 was working out from his fear into perfect faith Peace, 
 and peace. All his past contributed to this. His 
 early training, his life at the university and in 
 the monastery at Erfurt, the journey to Rome, 
 the study of Arisotle and the Bible, his preach- 
 ing, his supervision of the monasteries, the ap- 
 peals for help and light from others, the influ- 
 ence of old friends and true, all these were 
 factors which led him at last into the clear 
 Christian faith from which the Reformation in 
 Germany sprang, carrying with it the germ of 
 much that is best in the life of Europe and ' 
 America_ today. 
 
 Luther had been brought up in great fear of ^ea^hin^' 
 God and of the Lord Jesus Christ. His studies 
 in philosophy had been based on the idea that 
 God's will is purely and absolutely supreme and 
 that, in their own sphere, our wills are too. He 
 was taught that God has willed all things, even 
 the death of the sinner and that on our part by 
 resolving to do so and by proper exercises, we 
 may come to love God supremely. How to 
 change the sinful desires of his heart into perfect 
 love of a dreadful God was the problem by 
 which his sincere and sensitive conscience was 
 
 *Smith, Martin Luther, p. 32. 
 
Luther's 
 
 66 Protest and Progress 
 
 plagued. In order to bring his sinful nature un- 
 der the control of his desire to do right, he per- 
 formed all the exactions of the monastic life and 
 more. But he was not content with outward 
 conformity ; he wanted his heart to be right too. 
 "iEvery desire of the flesh appeared to him as clear 
 Despairing evidence that he had not yet brought himself into 
 
 Earnestness. -^ ° 
 
 the state which was pleasing to God. His con- 
 fessors were perplexed about him and unable to 
 give him niuch help. One of them reminded him 
 of the duty of believing in the article of the creed 
 which says, "I believe in the forgiveness of 
 sins." This helped him a little, but his Vicar, 
 John Staupitz, helped him most by his warm- 
 hearted sympathy and interest. His studies of 
 the New Testament in Greek brought fresh light. 
 St. Augustine's writings and mystics, like John 
 Tauler, also helped him. They enabled him to 
 , view his diiificulties from a different angle from 
 that which scholasticism had taught. 
 
 Luther came into peace when he realized what 
 
 Paul meant when he wrote, "The just shall live 
 
 by faith." Man, receives salvation not by works, 
 
 "The just such as penances, pilgrimages, fasts, alms, self- 
 
 shall live by . , . . , 
 
 faith." denials or moral perfection, but by free, whole- 
 
 hearted reliance on God and the promises of for- 
 giveness and life in His Word. Luther did not 
 reach assurance through wonderful visions or by 
 moral conversion from drunkenness or vice but 
 by pure, hard thought and study of God's Word. 
 
Martin Luther's Life 67 
 
 It is interesting to note that the Church which 
 bears Luther's name has not forgotten that and 
 seeks neither to arouse ecstasy or to "convert," 
 but relies entirely upon the power of pure and 
 sober Truth, seriously considered, to lead to light, 
 and peace and holiness. Luther w^s, as yet, not 
 conscious of any break with the past or of any 
 difference from the Church. When he speaks 
 out in the Ninety-five Theses on indulgences he 
 believes that he is attacking the errors of a few 
 mistaken men. He does not realize that his 
 teaching is contrary to the teaching of the 
 Church of his time. 
 
 QUESTIONS. 
 
 1. Who were Luther's father and mother? 
 
 2. In what circumstances of life was he born? 
 
 3. Had he a pleasant childhood? 
 
 4. What early religious training did he receive? 
 
 5. Where did he go to school? 
 
 6. What university did he attend? 
 
 7. Describe his disposition. 
 
 8. What led him to enter a monastery? 
 
 9. Why was he transferred to Wittenberg? 
 ID. What sort of place was Wittenberg? 
 
 11. Why did Luther go to Rome? 
 
 12. What did he do there? 
 
 13. What degrees did Luther have? 
 
 14. What were his daily occupations? 
 
 15. How did he feel toward the course of studies at 
 
 the university? 
 
 16. What was he seeking most of all? Are you? 
 
68 Protest and Progress 
 
 17. Why did he fail to find it? Are you failing to 
 
 find it? 
 
 18. What did he at last learn? 
 
 19. Compare his experience with "conversion." 
 
 20. How has the l,utheran Church shown confidence in 
 
 Luther's experience? Is she justified in so doing? 
 
 21. What do you mean by faith? 
 
 23. Do you know that you are saved? 
 
 23. If so, how did that assurance come to you? 
 
 24. How can you help others to the same sure faith? 
 
 25. Are you helping any one to such faith? 
 
CHAPTER V. 
 From the Theses to the Diet oe Worms. 
 
 The purchase and sale of indulgences was a 
 characteristic feature of the Church in Luther's 
 day. Indulgences were remissions of the penal- 
 ties that men were required to pay before they 
 could be entirely free from sin. It was believed 
 that the man who had confessed to a priest and 
 received his absolution, though not in danger of in^uiggnees 
 eternal punishment, had still a penalty to pay, ^^d Escape''^ 
 either in this life or in Purgatory. To escape ^™™ Purga- 
 Purgatory he must pay this penalty by doing 
 "good works." The Church defined these good 
 works as fasting, almsgiving, pilgrimages and 
 the like. If he did not perform these he might 
 still escape Purgatory by securing an indulgence 
 which freed him from the obligation to perform 
 them. 
 
 Indulgences were originally granted for doing 
 something especially meritorious, — making a pil- 
 grimage to a particularly holy shrine, contribut- 
 ing to the building of a church, or some similar 
 work. They were universally granted to all who 
 took part in the Crusades, whether they actually 
 went or paid for some one else to go. For a long 
 time before the Reformation they had been used 
 
70 
 
 Protest and Progress 
 
 The Treasury 
 of Merit. 
 
 Indulgences 
 for the Dead. 
 
 The Bankers' 
 Share. 
 
 as a means of raising money. The sale of indul- 
 gences, or "pardons," had become a regular busi- 
 ness. The practice grew up before the theory 
 was settled. Afterwards the theologians ac- 
 counted for this power of the Pope to grant in- 
 dulgences by referring it to the theory of the 
 Treasury of Merit of the Saints. That was, that, 
 to Christ's merits were added the accumulated 
 merits of the holy saints who had done good 
 deeds than they needed to carry them safely into 
 heaven. A Treasury of Merit was gathered from 
 the surplus from which the Pope might draw for 
 the benefit of some poor sinner who had not done 
 enough good to escape Purgatory, but who had a 
 few pennies or pounds to spend iof his spiritual 
 well-being. As time went on indulgences were 
 extended still further and were made effective for 
 the dead who had neglected to buy them for them- 
 selves or had not had the opportunity to do so. 
 In that case, their friends or relatives might pur- 
 chase indulgences for them, shortening or termin- 
 ating their stay in Purgatory. Buying indulgences 
 for the dead gradually became the most profitable 
 part of the business. Everyone had many friends 
 and relatives whom he would like to release from 
 Purgatory, while he needed only one indulgence 
 for himself. 
 
 Not all the money paid for indulgences re- 
 mained in the Church nor was it all devoted to 
 the object specified in the indulgence papers. 
 
From Theses to Diet of Worms 71 
 
 The Popes and bishops had become obligated to 
 the wealthy burghers and bankers by being forced 
 to borrow money from them to meet their heavy 
 expenses and to pay the bribes by which they 
 secured appointment to their offices. A clerk of 
 a rich merchant or banker usually accompanied 
 the indulgence-seller, keeping account of the 
 sales and taking a percentage for his master. 
 
 This was especially the case in the indulgence of gem:e^ of"'~ 
 1515-1522 which caused Luther to post the theses '515-1522. 
 which led to the Reformation. The purpose for 
 which the Jubilee or indulgence sale had been an- 
 nounced was that the money given for indul- 
 gences would be used for completing the great 
 Church of St.Teter at Rome, the largest church 
 in the world. But the Pope had a secret agree- 
 ment with Albert, the Archbishop of Mayence 
 and Madgeburg and administrator of the bishop- 
 ric of Halberstadt, that part of the returns 
 should be his so that he might pay the heavy 
 debts he had incurred in bribing the Pope to al- 
 low him to hold these three offices at once, even 
 though he was too young to hold any of them. 
 The banking house of the Fuggers, a wealthy |l;j,e^"^sers' 
 family of Augsburg, had managed the selling of 
 indulgences in Germany since 1507 for half the 
 proceeds. They managed this sale also on that 
 basis. Very little of the money found its way 
 into St. Peter's Church. 
 
72 
 
 Protest and Progress 
 
 John Tctzel. 
 
 Tetzel's 
 Preaching. 
 
 Luther vs. 
 
 Indulgences 
 
 1516. 
 
 The Elector of Saxony had forbidden the sale 
 of the indulgences within his dominions. But 
 the agents for it came to towns very near the 
 border and many of his subjects went to these 
 towns and bought them. The principal agent 
 selling them was John Tetzel, 5, Dominican 
 monk and a powerful preacher. He had a com- 
 mission from the Pope. He appeared with a 
 great red cross set up by his side. When he ap- 
 proached a town, the church-bells were rung and 
 as he passed through the streets the people bowed 
 before him. Mass was celebrated in the church. 
 Then just outside, Tetzel preached urging and 
 persuading the people to take this great oppor- 
 tunity to secure their own and their friends' sal- 
 vation. 
 
 "Lo ! heaven is open. When will you enter if not 
 now ? Oh, senseless men who do not appreciate such 
 a shedding forth of grace ! How hard-hearted ! For 
 twelve pennies you can deliver your father, and, never- 
 theless, you are so ungrateful as not to relieve him in 
 his distress. At the last judgment, I am free; but you 
 are responsible. I tell you that if you have but one 
 garment, you should part with it rather than fail of 
 such grace."* 
 
 Luther heard of these dangerous activities and 
 preached against them as early as October 31, 
 1516. However, many continued to go to the 
 nearest villages in which they were offered for 
 sale and bought them. 
 
 ♦Jacobs' Martin I<uther, p. 65. 
 
LUTHER NAILING THE 95 THESES. 
 
From Theses to Diet of Worms 73 
 
 It had long been a custom to hold public de- 
 bates on interesting questions. Those who de- 
 sired to debate posted their subjects in a public 
 place with a. few short statements or theses' in 
 regard to their positions as a challenge or an- 
 nouncement. In our days such a notice would 
 appear in the newspapers as an advertisement. 
 In accordance with this custom, on October 31, ^he Ninety- 
 1517, Luther posted Ninety-five Theses con- g'.^t Ji';""V. 
 cerning Indulgences on the door of the Castle 
 Church at Wittenberg, where such announce- 
 ments were usually made. The theses were an 
 invitation to debate the question of indulgences 
 and salvation. They were written in Latin, the 
 language of the educated at that time. Luther 
 had no idea they would make a stir or that his 
 act in posting them would be remembered as the 
 beginning of one of the greatest movements in 
 history and be celebrated four hundred years 
 afterwards. His general position was, that re- 
 pentance means turning from sin to God, that 
 when a man does turn from sin and trusts in 
 God, his sins are immediately and entirely for- 
 given without the absolution or indulgence of 
 Pope or priest.* 
 
 There were many people in Wittenberg, for it bution of^'the 
 was the eve of All Saints' Day and special indul- 
 gences were granted on that day to all who came 
 to venerate the Five- Thousand and Five relics 
 
 *See Appendix 8.- 
 
 6 
 
74 Protest and Progress 
 
 which the good Elector had gathered in his city at 
 great expense. Those who could do so copied the 
 Theses. Others held the chief points in memory. 
 Some translated them into German. They hur- 
 ried them to the printer. Thousands of copies 
 were made. In a short time they were all over 
 Germany and before long, all over the Christian 
 world. They were hailed by many as an expres- 
 sion of that which they had long felt. . In others 
 they aroused a storm of indignation. Letters 
 came to Luther from all sides and with all kinds 
 of opinions and advice. He had not intended 
 the Theses for world-wide distribution. He had 
 not arranged them with precision. There were 
 points in them on. which he was not clear. He 
 would have expressed many of them differently. 
 The Archbishop sent a copy to Rome where they 
 were lightly received and the whole matter was 
 regarded as a quarrel between the Dominicans, 
 the order to which Tetzel belonged, and the Au- 
 gustinians, Luther's order. 
 Meianchthon. Luthcr wcut ou with his regular work at the 
 
 university, whose faculty had been augmented 
 by the coming of Meianchthon to teach Greek. 
 Meianchthon became one of the greatest scholars 
 of the day. He was a cautious and systematic 
 thinker. In temperament he was quite the oppo- 
 site of Luther who was bold and unsystematic. 
 They assisted each other throughout their lives, 
 Meianchthon gathering strength and force from 
 
From Theses to Diet of Worms 75 
 
 Luther; Luther, profiting by Melanchthon's 
 scholarship and system. 
 
 At last the Pope was aroused. First, Staupitz, Attempts 
 
 J.1 -vr- /-\ 1 r 1 to Silence 
 
 the Vicar General of the Order, was instructed Luther. 
 to silence Luther. Instead, he resigned. Then 
 Luther was summoned to aippear at Rome to 
 answer charges of "suspected heresy," but Fred- Staupuz. 
 erick the Elector would not let him go. The 
 Pope sent a delegate, Cajetan, to secure Luther's Cajetan. 
 recantation. Luther and Cajetan met at Augs- 
 burg in 1 518. Luther had intended to define 
 his position and he was willing to be instructed 
 by Cajetan. But Cajetan refused to argue and de- 
 manded that Luther take back what he had said, 
 threatening to bind him and bring him to Rome 
 or, at least, to put him under the ban, (that is 
 declare him an outlaw), if he did not recant. 
 But Frederick would not surrender Luther with- 
 out definite charges being made and sustained. 
 Even Cajetan himself acknowledged that, at that 
 time, there was no clear case of heresy against 
 Luther, for the question of indulgences had never 
 been authoritatively settled. 
 
 Another Papal envoy, Miltitz, was sent to .j 
 Germany to bring Luther to Rome. Instead, 
 Miltitz, finding the German people and many of 
 the nobles enthusiastic in the support of Luther, 
 tried to effect a reconciliation. He agreed that 
 if Luther would keep quiet about the whole af- 
 fair, those who opposed him would keep quiet 
 
76 Protest and Progress 
 
 also. Miltitz had no authority to make such an 
 agreement and it was not kept. 
 The Election But Other matters claimed the attention of the 
 
 of the 
 
 Emperor. Pope, and Luther was allowed to continue his 
 
 quiet but effective work for many months. The 
 Emperor Maximilian died January 19, 1519. 
 The great question of electing his successor oc- 
 cupied men's minds more than the indulgence 
 controversy in Germany. There were two can- 
 didates for the honor, — Francis I. the King of 
 France, and Charles, Archduke of Austria and 
 King of Spain. Henry VIII. of England, was 
 also a candidate for a while but he withdrew. 
 The decision of the election really lay with Fred- 
 erick, the Elector of Saxony. Money to buy votes, 
 flowed freely. But Frederick kept clean from 
 all bribes. He was even mentioned for the place 
 himself. But he was too wise to permit his name 
 to go before the electors. He probably would 
 have been elected. The position of Emperor car- 
 ried with it much responsibility and little real 
 power. The Emperor depended for his power 
 upon the forces and wealth of his own heredi- 
 tary possessions and others who might be willing 
 
 Charles V. to ally themsclves with him. Saxony was not 
 strong enough to bear such a burden. Frederick 
 cast his vote for Charles as the one most likely to 
 favor the German people. His expectations in 
 Charles were disappointed. Charles' mother's 
 Spanish influence was stronger than his father's 
 
 1S19 
 
From Theses to Diet of Worms 77 
 
 Austrian influence. Charles always remained 
 an alien to his German subjects. He was elected 
 at Frankfort-on-the-Main in June, 15 19. He 
 was crowned at Aix la Chapelle October 20 of 
 the same year. Since it appeared that the Pope 
 favored the King of France, loyal Germans 
 gathered more closely about Luther and many 
 offered the assurance that they were ready tO' de- 
 fend him with the sword. 
 
 While the election of the Emperor was being Sebat^^'iTi's 
 effected Luther was at Leipsic taking part in a 
 great debate. One of the foremost theologians 
 of those times, Dr. John von Eck, had attacked 
 Carlstadt, one of the professors at Wittenberg, 
 who followed Luther's views. Eck had also 
 written indirectly against Luther himself. Eck 
 challenged them to a debate. Arrangements were 
 made to hold it at the University of Leipsic. 
 Carlstadt and Eck debated for a week on the 
 Freedom of the Will. On the 4th of July, 15 19, 
 Luther and Eck began their debate on the Di- 
 vine Authority of the Pope. In the course of 
 the argument Luther was compelled to admit that 
 on his principles, John Huss, who had been con- 
 demned and burned by the Council of Constance 
 in 1415, was right in many things. Luther con- 
 tended that the Pope did not have absolute au- 
 thority and that even a general council might 
 err. He held that the Bible was the one author- 
 ity above both Pope and council. This was a flat 
 
78 
 
 Protest and Progress 
 
 Luther Denies 
 the Authority 
 of the Pope. 
 
 University 
 Problems. 
 
 Approval of 
 Huss. 
 
 The Papal 
 Bull 1520. 
 
 An Open 
 Letter to the 
 German 
 Nobility. 
 
 denial of the claims of the Pope. It revealed to 
 both Luther and his opponents that he differed 
 fundamentally from the Church. After that, 
 there was little hope of reconciliation. Luther, 
 himself, was somewhat surprised at the logical 
 result to which his principles carried him ; yet 
 he stood his ground, unafraid of the truth. 
 
 When he returned to Wittenberg he quietly 
 resumed his university duties, constantly plan- 
 ning and working for its improvement. Its fame 
 was world-wide and many students crowded its 
 halls. Luther was led to study the writings of 
 Huss more carefully than he had done before, as 
 a result of the Leipsic debate. He found many 
 things in them of which he cordially approved. 
 
 After the election of the Emperor, the Pope 
 renewed the struggle with Luther. In June, 
 1520, he signed a "bull," or decree, condemning 
 Luther's works and those who accepted his 
 teachings, and calling upon him to recant within 
 sixty days under pain of excommunication. 
 The Pope entrusted the publication of the bull 
 in Germany to Eck. The German people were 
 almost everywhere opposed to it. Some of the 
 universities refused to publish it. 
 
 About the time of the preparation of the Bull 
 and several weeks before it appeared in Germany, 
 Luther published one of his great works, "An 
 Open Letter to the Christian Nobility of the Ger- 
 man Nation concerning The Reform of the Chris- 
 
From Theses to Diet of Worms 79 
 
 tian Estate." The opening of its argument will 
 illustrate its tenor. 
 
 "THE THREE WALI.S OF THE ROMANISTS." 
 
 "The Romanists, with great adroitness, have buih 
 three walls about them, behind which they have hitherto- 
 defended themselves in such wise that no one has been 
 able to reform them; and this has been the cause of 
 terrible corruption throughout all Christendom. 
 
 "First, when pressed by the temporal power, they Pretensions of 
 have made decrees and said that the temporal power "^'^ Papists, 
 has no jurisdiction over them, but, on the other hand, 
 that the spiritual is above the temporal power. Second, 
 when the attempt is made to reprove them out of the 
 Scriptures, they raise the objection that the interpreta- 
 tion of the Scriptures belongs to no one but the Pope. 
 Third, if threatened with a general council, they answer 
 with the fable that no one can call a council but the 
 Pope."* 
 
 Luther argued against this by showing that feren'c* be- ' 
 everyone is equal before God and that we differ and™ait"^^ 
 in life only in our vocations. "^^"^ '^' 
 
 "Those who are now called 'spiritual' — priests, 
 bishops, or popes — are neither diiiferent from other 
 Christians nor superior to them, except that they are 
 charged with the administration of the Word of God 
 and the sacraments, which is their work and office, so 
 it is with the temporal authorities, — they bear sword 
 and rod with which to punish the evil and to protect 
 the good. A cobbler, a smith, a farmer, each has the 
 work and office of his trade, and yet they are all alike 
 
 ♦Works of Martin Luther, Philadelphia Edition, Vol. 
 n, p. 65. 
 
80 
 
 Protest and Progress 
 
 The Right to 
 Interpret the 
 the Scrip- 
 tures. 
 
 The Right to 
 Call a Council. 
 
 consecrated priests and bishops, and every one by 
 means of his work or office must benefit and serve 
 every other, that in this way many kinds of work may 
 be done for the bodily and spiritual welfare of the. 
 community, even as all the members of the body serve 
 . one another."* 
 
 Against the second wall, he says : — 
 
 "It may well happen that the Pope and his followers 
 are wicked men, and no true Christians, not taught of 
 God, not having true understanding. On the other 
 hand, an ordinary man may have true understanding; 
 why then should we not follow him ? Has not the Pope 
 erred many times? Who would help Christendom 
 when the Pope errs, if we were not to believe another, 
 who had the Scriptures on his side, more than the 
 Pope? * * * They must confess that there are pious 
 Christians among us, who have the true faith. Spirit, 
 understanding, word and mind of Christ. Why, then, 
 should we reject their word and understanding and 
 follow the Pope, who has neither faith nor Spirit ?"t 
 
 Against the third wall, he says, that in the past 
 others than the Pope have called general coun- 
 cils which are recognized as such. He concludes 
 the first part of the Letter as follows : 
 
 "Thus I hope that the false, lying terror with which 
 the Romans have this long time made our conscience 
 timid and stupid, has been allayed. They, like all of us, 
 are subject to the temporal sword; they have no power 
 to interpret the Scriptures by mere authority without 
 learning; they have no authority to prevent a council 
 or, in sheer wantonness, to pledge it, bind it, or take 
 
 *Ibid., p. 6g. 
 tibid., pp. 74, 7S- 
 
w 
 
 D 
 O 
 
 K 
 
 P 
 
 O 
 
 o 
 
From Theses to Diet of Worms 
 
 81 
 
 away its liberty; but if they do this, they are in truth 
 the communion of anti-Christ and of the devil, and 
 have nothing at all of Christ except the name."* 
 
 The second part of the Letter treats of mat- 
 ters to be brought before such a council for re- 
 form especially the worldly pomp and the vain- 
 glorious claims of the Pope, his cardinals and 
 other officials and the graft and corruption which 
 prevailed in the obtaining and holding of these 
 offices. The Letter concludes with a third sec- 
 tion dealing with matters which the nobility 
 themselves may reform in their territories, e. g. 
 Church rights and taxes, jurisdiction of Bishop's 
 Courts, relations of the Pope and the Emperor, 
 abolition of pilgrimages, of mortuary Masses, 
 of Saints' Days, of special privileges, of mendi- 
 cancy, reform of the Monasteries and the Uni- 
 versities, and of social and economic abuses. 
 
 In October, just before the bull against him 
 was published in Germany, Luther issued an- 
 other "little song," as he called it, — "A Prelude 
 on the Babylonian Captivity of the Church." It 
 treats of the sacraments and their abuse in the 
 Church of Rome. His general positions may be 
 gathered from these two excerpts, the one oc- 
 curring near the beginning and the other, near 
 the end of the treatise. 
 
 "At the outset I must deny that there are seven sac- 
 raments, and hold for the present to but three — bap- 
 
 Matters to be 
 discussed in a 
 Council. 
 
 Matters to be 
 reformed by 
 the Nobility. 
 
 Another Little 
 Song: 
 
 The Babylon- 
 ian Captivity. 
 
 Concerning 
 the Sacra- 
 ments. 
 
 *Ibid., p. 79- 
 
82 Protest and Progress 
 
 tism, penance and the bread. * * * To be sure, if I de- 
 sired to use the term in its Scriptural sense, I should 
 allow but a single sacrament, with three sacramental 
 signs."* 
 
 Then he discusses each of the seven sacra- 
 ments of the Church and shows by the Scrip- 
 tures and the Church Fathers the errors that 
 have been taught in the Church to the burdening 
 of consciences. Near the end he says : — 
 
 Two Sacra- "It has seemed best to restrict the name of sacra- 
 
 Baptism, ment to such promises [of the Scriptures] as have 
 
 The Bread. signs attached to them. The remainder, not being 
 bound to signs, are bare promises. Hence there are, 
 strictly speaking, but two sacraments in the Church of 
 God — baptism and bread; for only in these two do we 
 find both the divinely instituted sign and the promise 
 of forgiveness of sins. * * * Baptism, however, which we 
 have applied to the whole life, will truly be a sufficient 
 substitute for all the sacraments we might need as long 
 as we live. And the bread is truly the sacrament of 
 the dying; for in it we commemorate the passing of 
 Christ out of this world, that we may imitate Him. 
 Thus we may apportion these two sacraments as fol- 
 lows, baptism belongs to the beginning and the entire 
 course of life, the bread belongs to the end and to 
 death. And the Christian should use them both as long 
 as he is in this poor body, until, fully baptized and 
 strengthened, he passes out of this world and is bom 
 unto the new life of eternity, to eat with Christ in the 
 Kingdom of His Father, as He promised at the Last 
 Supper, — 'Amen I say to you, I will not drink from 
 henceforth of this fruit of the vine, until it is fulfilled 
 
 *Ibid., p. 177. 
 
From Theses to Diet of Worms 83 
 
 in the kingdom of God.' Thus He seems clearly to 
 have instituted the sacrament of the bread with a view 
 to our entrance into the life to come. Then, when the 
 meaning of both sacraments is fulfilled, baptism and 
 bread will cease."* 
 
 Shortly after that, Miltitz, still persisting in Jf''\ '^Ij^i'^'t^an 
 his efforts, persuaded Luther to write to the ^^"• 
 Pope and express his submission. Luther com- 
 plied by sending to the Pope a little pamphlet on 
 The Liberty of a Christian Man, with a letter 
 expressing no personal antagonism to the Pope, 
 but attacking without stint the corruption of the 
 Pope's Court. Every Christian should own and 
 diligently study this admirable little tract which 
 reveals with wonderful clearness what that lib- 
 erty is with which Christ has made us free, and 
 what it is to "owe no man anything but to love 
 one another." Its thesis is: — 
 
 "A Christian man is a perfectly free lord of all, sub- 
 ject to none. 
 
 "A Christian man is a perfectly dutiful servant of 
 all, subject to all."t 
 
 This was published in November. Luther's 
 letter to the Pope did no good. He had gone so 
 far that it was impossible for the Pope with any 
 show of dignity to be reconciled to him or for 
 Luther himself to retract, even had he desired 
 to do so. 
 
 *Ibid., pp. 291, 292. 
 tibid., p. 312. 
 
84 Protest and Progress 
 
 The bull against Luther was slowly circulated 
 in Germany. Luther at last decided on a dra- 
 matic stand, namely, to burn the Pope's bull as 
 the Pope had ordered Luther's works burned. 
 Accordingly, early on the morning of December 
 Luther Burns lo, a uoticc appeared on the university bulletin 
 
 the Papal * i 
 
 Bull. board, — 
 
 "Let whosoever adheres to the truth of the Gospel 
 be present at nine o'clock at the church of the Holy 
 Cross outside the walls, where the impious books of 
 papal decrees and scholastic theology jvill b^- burnt ac- 
 cording to ancient apostolic usage, inasmuch as the 
 boldness of the enemies of the Gospel has waxed so 
 great that they daily burn the evangelic books of Lu- 
 ther. Come, pious and zealous youth, to this pious and 
 religious spectacle, for perchance now is the time when 
 the anti-Christ must be revealed !"* 
 
 There were no lectures in the university that 
 day. Students, faculty and townsfolk gathered 
 in a great crowd. The students started the fire, 
 One of the professors, Melanchthon, perhaps, 
 placed on it the Canon or Church Laws. Then 
 Luther solemnly laid on the Papal bull with the 
 words, — "Since thou hast tormented God's 
 Truth, He also torments thee in this fire. 
 Amen." This was not the thoughtless act of a 
 reckless fanatic. Luther deliberately planned 
 and carried it out to show his contempt for the 
 Papal claims of authority. He returned to the 
 
 ♦Translation in Smith, Martin Lather, p. lOO. 
 
From Theses to Diet of Worms 85 
 
 university and spent the day in prayer. Tiie 
 students piled on otiier books against Luther and 
 sang funeral songs about the fire in dishonor of 
 the Pope. 
 
 This was a complete break and early in Janu- ^mmunirated' 
 ary, 1521, the Pope issued the holy curse of ex- 's^i- 
 communication against Luther, severing his re- 
 lations to- the Church and forbidding the faithful 
 to shelter or care for him, and calling on the civil 
 authorities to. bring about his execution. Of 
 course his sovereign, the Elector Frederick, did 
 not execute him or did the people refuse him 
 shelter; on the contrary, thousands in Germany 
 were ready to stand by him to the death. Luther 
 appealed to the Emperor, hoping to have an im- 
 partial commission appointed to investigate his 
 claims. This was urged by many others also, 
 especially, by Erasmus, the acknowledged leader 
 of the culture of his time. 
 
 The Emperor came to Germany early in the woriS'^'s^^i 
 spring of 1521 to- hold his first Diet or Congress 
 in the city of Worms. There was considerable 
 business at the Diet, the drafting of a new con- 
 stitution for the Empire, the settlement of the 
 Roman tyranny and corruption in Germany, be- 
 sides other matters. 
 
 After the Diet had been in session for a month, ^"J^^J^gj 
 Luther's case came up and much against the de- 
 sires of the Pope's party, Luther was summoned 
 to appear before the Diet in person. The Em- 
 
86 Protest and Progress 
 
 peror's proceedings throughout were controlled 
 by policies of state. "As to the justice of the 
 condemnation, the sentence of the Pope was suffi- 
 cient for him, a loyal Catholic in everything per- 
 taining to his personal convictions and private 
 religious life." But Charles was determined to 
 require from the Pope the largest support he 
 could obtain against France in return for exe- 
 cuting the bull against Luther. 
 
 The summons reached Luther in Holy Week 
 and on Easter Monday he set out for Worms, 
 safe-guarded by the Imperial herald. His whole 
 journey was marked by ovations and expressions 
 of the greatest loyalty. His arrival at Worms 
 was heralded by the watchmen standing on the 
 tower of the Cathedral. Though it was dinner- 
 time, the whole city left their meal and rushed 
 Entrv""""''^' into the streets through which he passed to his 
 lodging. Attempts had been made by both 
 friends and enemies to persuade him to stay 
 away from Worms, but in vain. He did not fear 
 his foes and he did not heed the cautious advice 
 of his friends. He had been summoned to make 
 a public confession and to stand a public trial. 
 He could not be deterred by the arts of private 
 diplomacy. Instead of entering the city in the 
 disgrace of an excommunicated heretic, he came 
 accompanied and protected by the Imperial her- 
 ald, almost in state. His rooms were constantly 
 crowded with visitors. 
 
From Theses to Diet of Worms 87 
 
 The next day, April 17, he was summoned to ^is First Ap 
 
 •f ' r i 1 ^ pearancc be- 
 
 appear before the Diet at four o'clock. The ^"■Jj/'^j'^ '^''='- 
 streets were so crowded that he had to be con- 
 ducted through gardens and alleys to the bishop's 
 palace where the Diet was sitting. The hall, the 
 doors, the windows and the neighboring roofs 
 were crowded with people. It was six o'clock 
 before Luther finally stood before the Diet. His 
 books lay upon a table before the Emperor. 
 
 "Few moments in history have been at once so dra- 
 matic and so decisive as that in vifhich Luther appeared 
 before the Emperor and Diet at Worms. In the great- 
 ness of the tribunal, of the accused, and of the issues 
 involved, nothing is lacking to impress a thoughtful 
 mind. In the foreground of the assembly sat the young 
 Emperor, on vifhose brows were united the vast, if 
 shadowy, pretensions to Roman dominion and the 
 weight of actual sovereignty over a large congeries of 
 powerful states. Around him were the great princes 
 of the realm, spiritual and temporal, and the repre- 
 sentatives of the Free Cities of Germany. The nuncios, 
 representing the supreme power of the Church, were 
 conspicuous by their absence ; the Pope would not even 
 hear the rebel in his own defence. 
 
 "The son of peasants now stood before the son o£ 
 Cassars : the poor and till lately obscure monk before a 
 body professing to represent the official voice of united 
 Christendom. To challenge an infamous death was the 
 least part of his courage: to set up his own individual 
 belief and conscience against the deliberate, ancient, al- 
 most universal opinion of mankind required an audacity 
 no less than sublime."* 
 
 ♦Smith, Life and Letters of Martin Luther, p. 112. 
 
88 
 
 Protest and Progress 
 
 Time Granted 
 for Considera- 
 tion. 
 
 The Second 
 Time before 
 the Diet. 
 April 1 8. 
 
 L,uther was asked if the books on the table 
 were his, and whether he wished to recant in 
 whole or in part what they contained. Some 
 one demanded that the titles of the books on the 
 table be read. When this had been done, Luther 
 replied that the books were his ; but that before 
 he should recant or reassert all that they con- 
 tained, he ought to have time for consideration, 
 since it was a matter' of extreme importance. 
 The Emperor granted him twenty-four hours 
 and directed that he appear the next day at the 
 same time to answer "orally and not in writing." 
 
 Some thought because Luther had asked for 
 time, he had been intimidated and might recede 
 from his former bold positions. That possibility 
 Luther never contemplated. That night he 
 wrote, "I shall not recant an iota if Christ be 
 gracious to me." 
 
 The next day the crowds were even greater, 
 and it was already dark when Luther reached 
 the hall. He was asked the same question as on 
 the preceding day. In replying, he begged par- 
 don for any breach of etiquette that he may have 
 committed unwittingly, and then said that he 
 could not, of course, recant those things in his 
 books which all held to be true, or those written 
 against the tyranny and corruption of the Papacy 
 which were known to all. A third group of his 
 writings had been written against individuals 
 who had defended the Pope. In them, he ac- 
 
From Theses to Diet of Worms 
 
 89 
 
 knowledged that at times he had been too. harsh 
 and unsparing in his denunciations, but he could 
 not recant them without seeming to recede from 
 his former positions. This he was not willing 
 to do. After consultation the examiner de- 
 manded : — 
 
 "Luther, you have not answered to the point. You 
 ought not to call in question what has been decided 
 and condemned by councils. Therefore I beg you to 
 give a simple, unsophisticated answer without horns 
 (non cornutum). Will you recant or not?" 
 
 'Xuther retorted: — 
 
 "Since your Majesty and Lordships ask for a plain 
 answer, I will give you one without either horns or 
 teeth. Unless I am convicted by Scripture or by right 
 reason (for I trust neither in popes nor in councils, 
 since they have often erred and contradicted them- ^^^l is°capt"ive 
 selves) — unless I am thus convinced, I am bound by the *° ^=,Word 
 texts of the Bible, my conscience is captive to the Word 
 of God, I neither can nor will recant anything, since it 
 is neither right nor safe to act against conscience. God 
 help me. Amen."* 
 
 Uproar and confusion ensued. Those who 
 favored Luther and German freedom cheered; 
 others hissed or groaned. The Emperor could 
 not believe that Luther had really meant that 
 councils had erred. When the discussion became 
 more violent, the Emperor adjourned the session. 
 Luther commended himself to the clemency of 
 
 "I will not 
 recant." 
 
 The Effect of 
 His Stand. 
 
 *Smith, Op. Cit, p. 117. 
 
90 Protest and Progress 
 
 the Emperor, and cried out, "I cannot do other- 
 wise. Here I stand. God help me !" Guards ac- 
 companied him back to his lodgings. When he 
 reached them, he expressed his great relief by ex- 
 claiming, "I am through! I am through! I am 
 through! Even though I had a hundred heads 
 I would have had them all cut off at once before 
 I would have recanted anything." Many of the 
 German nobles were highly pleased with his 
 course, among them his own ruler, Frederick, the 
 Elector. Popular feeling was also strongly in 
 his favor. 
 Crascience After somc attempts at an understanding 
 
 Wor" ^""^ through a commission wh.ch bore no fruit, Lu- 
 ther left Worms on tl-e 26th of April. He had 
 made his great stand for liberty of conscience. 
 He had sounded the keynote of Protestantism — 
 no authority over the conscience except the 
 Word of God, reasonably and soundly inter- 
 preted. The Emperor wished to proceed against 
 Luther as a heretic so soon as his safe-conduct 
 should expire. The German princes strongly ad- 
 vised against this course but without much effect 
 upon the Emperor, except to delay the issuing of 
 the ban of the Empire, calling upon all to avoid 
 Luther and summoning the authorities to arrest 
 him. The ban was issued on the 26th of May 
 and dated May 8. ' 
 
 He starts back Before it had been issued, Luther, quietly pro- 
 
 to Wittenberg. i i y ±- 
 
 ceedmg on his way back to Wittenberg, was 
 
He is kept at 
 
 From Theses to Diet of Worms 91 
 
 stopped by a group of masked knights who cap- 
 tured him and took him to the Castle of the 
 Wartburg. The Elector had decided to keep him 
 here in secret until he should see how affairs 
 would turn out. 
 
 The Castle of the Wartburg is about a mile 
 from Eisenach upon the summit of a steep hill 
 overlooking the beautiful Thuringian valleys 
 covered with forests. Luther was here for ten }}}^ S^^9u °^ 
 
 the Wartburg. 
 
 months. His room was not in the main build- 
 ing of the castle. It was reached by a narrow 
 flight of stairs. K was furnished with a bed- 
 stead, table, stove and a stump for a stool. The 
 window was of leaded glass and looked out over 
 a fine view to the west. He was disguised as a 
 knight. He roamed the forests and sometimes 
 hunted with the others at the castle, though 
 hunting was distasteful to him out of sympathy 
 for the poor beasts slain. He spent most of his 
 time in study in his room. His chief study was 
 the Bible in Greek and Hebrew. 
 
 The best product of his stay at the Wartburg jj translates 
 was his translation of the New Testament into 'l'^ B''''^ '"'° 
 
 Oerman. 
 
 German. Luther had appealed to the Bible as the 
 only authority over a man's conscience. If that is 
 so every man must have the Bible in a language 
 which he can understand. There had been Ger- 
 man Bibles before Luther's time, but their trans- 
 lations were very imperfect. They had been made 
 from an imperfect Latin text. Luther made a 
 very accurate and clear translation into idiomatic 
 
92 Protest and Progress 
 
 German from the best Greek text available. His 
 Bible has formed the base of the German lan- 
 guage and literature. Although the work was 
 done with great care, it was done in a very short 
 space of time. The New Testament was pub- 
 lished in September, 1522. He continued to work 
 translating the Old Testament which was pub- 
 lished in 1534. 
 
 Though he was secretly hidden in the Wart- 
 burg and very few knew where he was, he was. 
 able to continue correspondence with his friends, 
 who kept him informed of the progress of events. 
 Other literary activities also occupied his time, 
 particularly a great treatise on Monastic vows, 
 dedicated to his father who had so bitterly op- 
 posed him when he took them. 
 
 QUESTIONS. 
 
 1. How and to what extent did the practice of grant- 
 
 ing indulgences grow? 
 
 2. By what theory were they justified? 
 
 3. What was done with the money collected? 
 
 4. Who was to profit by the Jubilee indulgence of 1515 
 
 in Germany? 
 
 5. How was the campaign for indulgences conducted? 
 
 6. For what purposes did Luther post the Ninety-five 
 
 Theses? 
 
 7. Why was the Pope antagonized by them? 
 
 8. Read the Theses, make an outline of them. Criti- 
 
 cize them. (Appendix II.) 
 g. What did Cajetan do? 
 10. What did Miltitz do? 
 
From Theses to Diet of Worms 93 
 
 11. What political changes gave the Reformation time 
 
 to grow? 
 
 12. What was the result of the Leipsic Debate? 
 
 13. What was the effect upon Germany of the Pope's 
 
 Bull against Luther? 
 
 14. What did the Open Letter to the German Nobility 
 
 contain ? 
 
 15. Of what did the Babylonian Captivity treat? 
 
 16. What is the pamphlet on the Liberty of a Christian 
 
 Man? 
 
 17. Describe the burning of the Bull. 
 
 18. Why was Luther summoned to Worms? 
 
 19. Describe Luther's appearances before the Diet. 
 
 20. Why was his stand at Worms important? 
 
 21. What became of Luther afterward? 
 
 22. What did he do at the Wartburg? 
 
 23. For what did Luther stand at Worms? Do you 
 
 think he was right? 
 
 24. For what Christian teachings are you ready to 
 
 stand public trial? 
 
 25. For what in your religion would you risk your life? 
 
 26. Do you hold your beliefs as a result of the study 
 
 of the Word or only because the Church says so 
 and you have been brought up that way? 
 
CHAPTER VI. 
 
 Luther's Position Defined and Legalized. 
 
 Imperial Poli- 
 tics prevents 
 the execution 
 of the Ban. 
 
 Carlstadt. 
 
 Changes in 
 Wittenberg. 
 
 The Diet of Worms branded Luther and his 
 followers as outlaws. That the ban was not car- 
 ried into immediate execution was due to the 
 political interests of the Emperor. After the 
 Diet of Worms he was absent from Germany 
 for nine years. He did not care to stir up the 
 German princes by Insisting upon the execution 
 of an edict which was distasteful to many of 
 them. He had enough to do himself, in putting 
 down rebellion in Spain, in crushing his rival, 
 Francis of France, in keeping the Pope in line 
 with his purposes and in increasing and consolid- 
 ating 'his Austrian possessions. The Imperial 
 Council, which controlled affairs in Germany dur- 
 ing his absence, was divided and unable to take 
 any decisive stand. 
 
 Luther's removal to the Wartburg had left 
 Andrew Bodenstein of Carlstadt, usually called 
 simply Carlstadt, the dean of the Wittenberg 
 faulty, at the head of the Reformation move- 
 ment in Wittenberg. He was an extremist and 
 began to make many changes in the Church there. 
 He encouraged two of the priests to marry. He 
 questioned the validity of monastic vows, in 
 
Luther's Position Defined 
 
 95 
 
 consequence of which many monks left their 
 monasteries. Luther wrote the treatise on mon- 
 astic vows, already noted, in order to define his 
 position on • this question. Luther was not op- 
 posed to these changes. Carlstadt also advo- 
 cated and introduced sweeping changes in the 
 public services of the Church. Along with Ga- 
 briel Zwilling he attacked the Mass and the ob- 
 servance of the Canonical Hours of prayer. 
 This was in the fall of 1521. There was much 
 rioting in the churches and in the city, most of it 
 by the students, and not infrequently from mere 
 student love of rough fun. Luther made a secret 
 visit to Wittenberg in December. He believed 
 that the disturbances were chiefly irresponsible 
 student aflfairs which would soon quiet down. He 
 left a warning to all Christians to keep from up- 
 roar and sedition. 
 
 On the twenty-seventh of December three men 
 came to Wittenberg from Zwickau where they 
 had attempted to violently reform both Church 
 and State on the plea of religious freedom. 
 The leader of the movements at Zwickau had 
 been Thomas Muenzer. When the authorities 
 took steps to put down their violence, Muenzer 
 escaped into Bohemia. These three men, his 
 companions, came to Wittenberg. They claimed 
 to be prophets, having visions from the Lord 
 who guided them directly by His Spirit without 
 the Word. They despised learning and order. 
 
 Rioting by the 
 Students. 
 
 The Zwicliau 
 "Prophets." 
 
96 Protest and Progress 
 
 They had been directed, they said, to overturn 
 existing authorities and to reorganize everything. 
 Carlstadt vi?as greatly influenced by them. He 
 praised direct revelation and disparaged learn- 
 ing. While many of the Lutherans at Witten- 
 berg did not approve the course things v^rere 
 taking, they were unable to prevent it. Me- 
 lanchthon, who was only twenty-four years old, 
 could not do much either. Indeed he was partly 
 won by some of their doctrines, especially, that 
 of not baptizing children, .but only adults who 
 confessed a conscious faith. Luther sought to 
 strengthen him by a letter in which he says : — 
 
 "Coming now to the 'prophets,' let me first say that 
 I do not approve your irresolution, especially as you 
 are more richly endowed with the spirit and with learn- 
 ing than I am. In the first place, those who bear wit- 
 ness of themselves are not to be believed, but spirits 
 must be proved. You act on Gamaliel's contrary ad- 
 vice. Hitherto I have heard of nothing said or done by 
 them which Satan could not emulate. Do you, in my 
 place, search out whether they approve their calling. 
 For God never sent any one who was not either called 
 H t d tect ^^ ™^" °^ attested by miracles, not even His own Son 
 False Proph- * * * Do not receive them if they assert that they come 
 by mere revelation * * * Pray search their innermost 
 spirit and see whether they have experienced those 
 spiritual straightenings, that divine birth, death and in- 
 fernal torture. If you find their experiences have been 
 smooth, bland, devout (as they say) and ceremonious, 
 do not approve them, though they claim to have been 
 snatched up to the third heaven * * * Divine Majesty 
 does not speak directly; rather no man shall see Him 
 
 cts. 
 
Luther's Position Defined 
 
 97 
 
 and live. Nature bears no small stars and no insignifi- 
 cant words of God i" * * Try not to see even Jesus in 
 glory until you have seen Him crucified."* 
 
 The tumults and riots, however, grew worse. 
 Altars and pictures were destroyed. Nobles and 
 princes protested to the civil authorities. Even 
 war was threatened. 
 
 In February the City Council of Wittenberg 
 sent a request to Luther to return. The Elector 
 was very much opposed to this, fearing both for 
 Luther's safety and his own. But Luther wrote 
 to him assuring him that God would' care for 
 him and that the plans he had in mind would be 
 helpful to the Elector himself. So Luther went 
 to Wittenberg, though he still wore a disguise. 
 He spent two days getting his bearings. Then, 
 throwing off his disguise, he preached eight ser- 
 mons in succession ; March 9 to 16, exhorting 
 moderation. As Christians we should not boast- 
 ingly take advantage of our freedom in Christ, 
 but seek to serve one another in love. In the 
 second of the sermons, he says : — 
 
 "Compel or force any one with power I will not, for 
 faith must be gentle and unforced. Take an example 
 by me. I opposed indulgences and all the papists, but 
 not with force; I only wrote, preached, and used God's 
 Word, and nothing else. That Word, while I slept and 
 drank beer with Melanchthon and Amsdorf, has 
 broken the papacy more than any king or emperor ever 
 broke it. Had I wished it, I might have brought Ger- 
 
 Luther re- 
 turns to 
 Wittenberg. 
 
 Eight Sermons 
 on Christian 
 Liberty. 
 
 Freedom of 
 Conscience 
 must be lim- 
 ited by re- 
 spect for 
 similar Free- 
 dom in others. 
 
 ♦Translation in Smith, Martin Luther, p. 139. 
 
98 Protest and Progress 
 
 many to civil war. Yes, at Worms I might have started 
 a game which would not have been safe for the Em- 
 peror, but it would have been a fool's game. So I did 
 nothing, but only let the Word act."* 
 
 After enunciating these general principles, 
 that the Church cannot be reformed by violence 
 and that Christian people are bound to submit 
 to the civil magistrates, he took up the matters 
 which had disturbed them in detail and applying 
 these principles to them, showed how Christians 
 should act in attempting reforms. 
 
 In a letter written about the same time, he 
 says : — 
 
 £^ 'Forced* "°' "^^ °" y°"'' S^LSLrd against all innovations made by 
 public decree or popular agitation. What our friends 
 attempt by force and violence must be resisted by word 
 only. It is Satan who urges us to extreme measures 
 * * * No one is to be compelled to the faith or to the 
 things that are of faith, but to be drawn by word that 
 he may believe and come of his own accord."t 
 
 The first limitation of the freedom of con- 
 Con^sdeMe^ ^cience for which Luther stood at Worms is, 
 ReTpelt for ^hat it must respect the same freedom of con- 
 o'f'oihersi^'''^^ science in others and force no one by law or vio- 
 lence to do or leave undone anything in matters 
 of faith. By the power of teaching alone the 
 truth shall win, convince and convert. "They are 
 not Christians who would go beyond the Word 
 
 ♦Translation in Smith, Martin Luther, p. 148. 
 tTranslation in Smith, Martin Luther, p. 149. 
 
Luther's Position Defined 99 
 
 and appeal to force even if they boast they are 
 full of holy spirits." 
 
 Carlstadt further held that polygamy might be 
 allowed because it is not forbidden by the Bible. 
 He also taught that the bread and wine in the 
 Sacrament are merely symbols, somewhat as 
 Zwingli taught in Switzerland. Luther held that 
 monogamy is God's will but he also allowed that 
 polygamy might be permitted under unusual cir- 
 cumstances on Scriptural grounds, citing the ex- 
 ample of the patriarchs. But Carlstadt's doctrine 
 of the Lord's Supper he could not accept, not Freedom of 
 finding it taught in the Bible that way. This is a {^""herTmit'- 
 second limitation on Freedom of the Conscience, ofdmatlon 
 namely, that it is hound in all things by the 
 Word. 
 
 In 1523 Franz von Sickingen and Ulrich von J^thF""''""^ 
 Hutten led an uprising of the lesser knights in 
 Germany. They claimed to be fighting for Lu- 
 ther's cause. The real cause was the ambition of 
 Sickingen. They attacked the Archbishop of 
 Treves, hoping eventually to overthrow all the 
 great princes, of whom he was one, and to estab- 
 lish the lesser knights in the power and prestige 
 they had formerly had. The uprising failed. Lu- 
 ther has little to say of it. What he does say is in 
 opposition to it. The freedom of the Christian is 
 not to be forced upon others. Religious liberty 
 does not mean freedom to force others in its 
 name. The uprising cast some discredit on the 
 
 ordination to 
 the Word. 
 
 Knights. 
 
100 
 
 Protest and Progress 
 
 The Peasant 
 Uprising. 
 
 The Twelve 
 Articles 1525, 
 
 Reformation. Some looked for the "new pope" 
 meaning Luther, to follow the "new emperor," 
 Sickingen, into defeat. 
 
 The next year another revolutionary uprising 
 claiming to have a basis in the Reformation took 
 place. No doubt it was made possible, in part, 
 by the disturbed condition of the times. It was 
 a general uprising of the peasants. Uprisings of 
 the peasants had been frequent for some time. 
 There was a more or less well defined understand- 
 ing amongst them which often caused local up- 
 risings. This rebellion was more widespread 
 and bloody than those which had preceded it. 
 Luther constantly preached against it. But his 
 stand for freedom of conscience and his many 
 writings claiming the essential equality of all 
 souls," coupled with his frequent flaying of those 
 in authority undoubtedly furnished a stimulus 
 which others carried to extremes of anarchy. The 
 peasant uprising began in 1524 and spread rapidly. 
 Their demands were embodied in Twelve Arti- 
 cles early in 1525. Groups of peasants met and 
 presented these demands to their lords. In many 
 cases they were cruelly driven away. This in- 
 creased their discontent. Preachers, like Muen- 
 zer, stirred them up, still more and held before 
 their minds the hopes of a socialistic state where 
 perfect equality would prevail. They tried to 
 persuade them that the way to bring this about, 
 was for them to rise and slay all in authority. 
 
Luther's Position Defined 101 
 
 Though Muenzer knew that Luther was opposed 
 to him, it is probable that most of the peasants 
 beheved that Luther's cause and theirs were one. 
 They loolced to him for Support and used his 
 words to reinforce their own ideals. In April, 
 1525, Luther, in an exhortation to peace in re- 
 sponse to the Twelve Articles of the peasants, 
 claimed that both sides were at fault. 
 
 "He informed the princes they had God against them, . ^, 
 
 , , , . , , . Luther ex- 
 
 not merely the peasants, and if they did not cease horts against 
 
 exploiting their subjects, they would suffer the divine ^'° '^""' 
 vengeance. On the other hand, he exhorted the peas- 
 ants to present their grievances in an orderly way, 
 without uproar or show of force. Their complaints 
 might be well founded, bjt violence was not thereby 
 justified. Only the constituted authorities had the right 
 to use the sword, and he who attacked them on any 
 ground whatever was worse than those whom he at- 
 tacked. The doctrine of the divine right of civil rulers, 
 already stated more than once by Luther, here again 
 found emphatic expression. 
 
 "It was still worse of the peasants, it seemed to him, 
 to seek justification for their conduct in the gospel of 
 Christ. If they wished to fight for their rights like 
 ordinary men, well and good, but he would not stand by 
 in silence while they used Christ's name in support of 
 their course and brought scandal on the gospel. Chris- 
 tianity comports only with passive resistance. If they 
 
 really wished to follow Christ, they would drop the ^. . . . 
 
 /TM t 1 1 -1 Cnristianity 
 
 sword and resort to prayer. Ihe gospel has to do with comports only 
 spiritual, not temporal, affairs. Even to condemn slav- "^'si'strnce!'"^ 
 ery on Christian grounds is to turn spiritual freedom 
 into physical, and reduce the gospel to a fleshly thing. 
 Earthly society cannot exist without inequalities; the 
 
 8 
 
102 Protest and Progress 
 
 true Christian finds his Christian Hberty and his oppor- 
 tunity for Christian service in the midst of them and 
 in spite of them."* 
 
 Luther sug- He finally suggested arbitration. His exhorta- 
 
 gestsarbi- . . ., , , . , ^ 
 
 tration. tioH, however, was m vain, though at the risk of 
 
 his life, he went through the rebellious district 
 preaching these great Christian principles. When 
 he found that the storm was growing worse 
 and that the princes feared to put it down, he 
 
 When violence addrcsscd a ringing exhortation to them to main- 
 
 increases, he o o 
 
 urges the ^aiu their God-given authority by the power of 
 
 nobles to use ^ j J x- 
 
 the sword. the sword He had entrusted to them and to put 
 
 down the revolt with vigor. His advice was 
 
 They do heeded. Under the leadership of Philip of 
 
 and'^wlth''' Hessc scvcral thousand peasants were defeated 
 
 cruelty. ^j^^j Scattered at Frankenhausen on May 15. 
 
 Muenzer was captured and killed. The defeat 
 
 of the peasants was followed by acts of wanton 
 
 cruelty and bloodshed on the part of the princes. 
 
 Public indignation was rightly aroused. Luther 
 
 was blamed for their excesses, but he says 
 
 truly : — 
 
 "But neither did I undertake to instruct those mad, 
 raging, insane tyrants, who even after their combat 
 Ivuther is not <^an"ot satiate their thirst for blood and never in their 
 to blame for v?hole lifelong ask for Christ, for it is all the same 
 to such bloodhounds whether they are guilty or inno- 
 cent, or whether they please God or the devil. They 
 
 ♦McGiffert, Martin Luther, p. 253. 
 
Luther's Position Defined 103 
 
 use the sword to satisfy their passions, so I leave them 
 to their master, the devil."* 
 
 Freedom of conscience does not mean that 
 equality in worldly things is to be grasped or that 
 divinely ordained institutions of government are 
 to be overthrown. The Christian does not rebel. 
 His freedom is not external, but inner and spir- 
 itual. On the other hand, the ruler who holds 
 the sword by God's will in order that he may de- 
 cide external things according to God's law, dare 
 not permit rebellion to go unpunished, but he 
 mustmaintain the orderand peace of society. The The Third 
 
 •' L-imitation 
 
 third limitation on the interpretation of the free- on Christian 
 
 ^ _ Freedom: 
 
 dom for which Luther stood is, that freedom of 
 conscience does not permit laivlessness, or the Christian 
 
 ^ _ ' Freedom does 
 
 violent overthrow of social conditions. The as- not permit 
 
 ' Lawlessness 
 
 sertion of these principles cost Luther much or seek So- 
 
 ^ ^ ^ cial Reforms 
 
 popularity. Many, misunderstanding the free- W violence. 
 dom for which he stood, found in his principles 
 the root of anarchy and pointed to the Peasants 
 Revolt as the evidence of it. Others believed that 
 he had been frightened and cowardly deserted 
 the cause of freedom when he counselled mod- 
 eration and then called on the rulers to put down j^^^^^^.^ 
 violence with force. Neither apprehended the ^"^"etsel. 
 great spiritual truth for which he stood. 
 
 In 1525 Luther's controversy with Erasmus 
 defined from another angle what he meant by 
 evangelical faith and freedom. It alienated still 
 
 ♦Translation in Smith, Op. Cit., p. 165. 
 
104 
 
 Protest and Progress 
 
 Desiderius 
 Erasmus. 
 
 "Tlack to 
 Christ." 
 
 Greek New 
 Testament. 
 
 Praise 
 Folly. 
 
 Reform by 
 Education, 
 not by 
 Revolution. 
 
 Erasmus fa- 
 vors lyuther. 
 
 Others from him. Desiderius Erasmus of Rotter- 
 dam, was the greatest humanist of his time. 
 Though Erasmus was a humanist, he had not 
 fallen under the: pagan and atheistic influences 
 which had made Italy Christian in name only. 
 His religious interest was, "back to Christ." To 
 enable people to get back to Christ, he had pub- 
 lished a revised Greek New Testament in 1516. 
 It was the best text of the Greek Testament avail- 
 able. Erasmus desired reform in the Church and 
 he was working in his own way to bring it about. 
 He wrote a book called "The Praise of Folly." It 
 is a satire on the vices and the superstitious follies 
 of the priests and monk. He aimed to raise the 
 moral standards of Christians to conformity with 
 Christ's teachings through clear instructions ac- 
 cording to the New Testament and through 
 ridiculing the abuses and faults of his times. He 
 had no faith in violence or extremes, believing 
 that in the end they did more harm than good. 
 
 "Evils he believed could be eradicated only by a slow 
 and gradual process. Education, not revolution, was 
 the one effective method of reform. He therefore re- 
 mained to the end of his days within the Catholic fold, 
 declining to be dragged into open conflict with the ec- 
 clesiastical authorities and refusing to countenance re- 
 bellion and schism."* 
 
 He praised Luther's theses on indulgences and 
 used all his influence in Euther's favor with the 
 authorities at the Diet of Worms. 
 
 *McGiffert, Martin Luther, p. 263. 
 
Luther's Position Defined 105 
 
 But when Luther attacked the Church with 
 increasing vigor, he alienated Erasmus who could 
 not help feeling that Luther's violent language 
 and precipitancy spoiled reform in the only way 
 it could be accomplished. Luther regarded Eras- Erasmus alien 
 mus as half-hearted, cowardly and even anti- ^^if proceeds. 
 Christian. They both avoided public controversy 
 as long as possible. 
 
 At last, responding to the earnest entreaties of 
 his friends, Erasmus published a book on the 
 Freedom of the Will which contradicted Lu- 
 ther's positions on the bondage of the will. Erasmus on 
 Erasmus did not desire the controversy and of'the'v/iT 
 chose a subject on which Luther differed not only 
 with the Romanists but also with the human- 
 ists. For, in denying the freedom of the natural 
 will of man, Luther departed both from the Cath- 
 olic idea of meritorious good works, and also 
 from the trust in human ability that character- 
 ized humanists. Luther did not reply at once. 
 When he did reply he showed clearly the differ- 
 ence between Erasmus and himself with his 
 usual sharpness. 
 
 "Nothing could be more extreme than his statement Repl" ^ 
 of the theory of determinism [in Luther's reply]. Re- 
 garding it as a fundamental doctrine, inextricably 
 bound up with his gospel of salvation by faith alone, 
 he defended it with all the earnestness and vigor he 
 was capable of; while he took the pains to denounce 
 in sweeping terms any dependence upon human reason 
 as impious and heathen. To accept unquestionably 
 
106 Protest and Progress 
 
 God's revelations of truth, however irrational they may- 
 appear, is as much a duty as to submit uncomplainingly 
 to His absolute decrees, however harsh they seem. 
 
 "Nowhere does the difference between lyUther's • reli- 
 gious principles and those of the typical humanist ap- 
 pear more clearly than in this book. What we know as 
 the evangelical type of Christian experience, with its 
 renunciation of all self-confidence, is as far as possible 
 from the rationalistic, with its emphasis upon the moral 
 and intellectual ability of man. Luther was a genuine 
 evangelical. And if Erasmus was not a thoroughgoing 
 rationalist, as his book on free will, with its recogni- 
 tion of the constant need of divine grace abundantly 
 shows, his spirit was akin to that of the rationalists of 
 all ages. Religious and ethical as the great humanist 
 really was, to Luther he appeared no better than a 
 heathen ; while to Erasmus Luther's Christianity seem- 
 ed benighted to the last degree."* 
 
 Christian Free- So the leading intellectuals were also alienated 
 
 dom is not . t j.t. 
 
 natural, it is from i^uther. 
 
 God. . The Christian freedom for which Luther stood 
 
 is therefore further limited by its recognition of 
 complete dependence on God. It is not a proud 
 freedom in which we walk by our own power 
 and goodness. We are saved by grace, not by 
 our merits or works. We are justified by faith, 
 not by our accomplishments. God comes to us 
 with the offer of salvation, we cannot go to Him 
 and demand it. The controversy between the 
 evangelicals and the rationalists still continues. 
 Pure culture — pure science, pure art, pure phil- 
 
 ■''McGiffert, Martin Luther, p. 267. 
 
FOUR PORTRAITS OF I^UTHER. 
 
Luther's Position Defined 
 
 107 
 
 osophy — with faith in mankind and human 
 progress will ever be adverse to pure religion. 
 Nevertheless, evangelical religion stands for a 
 deeper truth than all the sciences and arts and 
 philosophies of men. It is deeper than culture, 
 more fundamental than refinement, more vital 
 than logic. Religion is the action of God upon 
 the soul. Rationalistic culture is the reaction of 
 the soul to its environment. 
 
 The next definition of Luther's position was 
 against another stream of the Reformation. A 
 reformation of the Church had taken place in 
 German Switzerland under the leadership of Ul- 
 rich Zwingli. Zwingli had quickly won the sup- th^"Refo™a- 
 port of the government of the city of Zurich sw?tze"riand, 
 which was practically independent. His aim was 
 social as well as religious reform. His tendencies 
 and tastes were humanistic. His outlook was 
 broader than Luther's. He had not passed 
 through the deep religious experiences that Lu- 
 ther had. He approaches the Gospel from the 
 point of view of social reform rather than that 
 of the soul's salvation. With Luther he held 
 
 . riT-i'iiif Political and 
 
 to the supreme authority of the Bible ; but he Social as well 
 
 approached it as the revelation of God's will for 
 
 our lives, while Luther found in it the power of 
 
 God unto salvation. Zwingli's theology and 
 
 church practices differed accordingly. He was 
 
 opposed to the pretensions of the Papacy, as 
 
 much as Luther was. He had united several of 
 
108 
 
 Protest and Progress 
 
 The Kmperor 
 and the Prot- 
 sstant Princes. 
 
 The Protest 
 of 1529. 
 
 the Swiss cantons or states into a strong political 
 alliance against the Roman power. He hoped to 
 extend this alliance to the Lutheran princes of 
 Germany and perhaps to the King of France 
 against the Pope and the Emperor in order to 
 establish Christian liberty and a reconstructed 
 Germany. 
 
 The course of politics in Germany had gone 
 against the Lutheran princes and they had begun 
 to feel the need of greater military support. The 
 Kmperor crushed the King of France in 1524. 
 He then intimated that he would move against 
 the Protestants of Germany. Therefore the Prot- 
 estant princes, in 1526, formed a league, known 
 as the League of Torgau. But at the first Diet 
 of Spires in the same year, the Emperor favored 
 the Protestants because the Pope had absolved 
 the King of France from the treaty obligations 
 into which he had entered with the Emperor 
 after his defeat. The Emperor lost the fruits of 
 his victory by this action of the Pope and re- 
 taliated by favoring the Protestants in Germany. 
 The Diet therefore decreed that the question of 
 the evangelical princes enforcing the Edict of 
 Worms should be deferred. The Emperor then 
 proceeded against the Pope and sacked Rome. 
 
 In 1529 at the second Diet of Spires, things, 
 had changed and the Catholic princes were in 
 the majority. They voted against the evangeli- 
 cal cause. Five evangelical princes and fourteen 
 
Luther's Position Defined 109 
 
 evangelical cities then drew up a protest from 
 which the name of Protestants has ever since 
 been given to those who are opposed to Rome. 
 
 A military alliance of the Protestant princes 
 was proposed by Philip of Hesse. He would 
 have been glad to include Protestant Switzer- 
 land, together with Strassburg, Basel and other pi,iiip of 
 cities where Lutheran views were prevalent. po"s%n"" 
 Luther opposed the alliance on general principles, '^"'''"'=^- 
 and he was unalterably opposed to any alliance 
 not based on a common view of the Gospel. So 
 Philip of Hesse arranged that Luther and 
 Zwingli should meet at Marburg in order to se- 
 cure, if possible, a uniform theological basis for 
 the alliance. Luther and Zwingli came to prac- 
 tical agreement on all the points presented ex- 
 cept the doctrine of the Lord's Supper. Luther zwingM ^"t 
 constantly affirmed that Christ's actual body and " ^'^^' 
 blood are really present in the Lord's Supper; 
 whereas, Zwingli regarded the bread and wine 
 as mere symbols and the supper itself as nothing 
 more than a memorial. Luther said that he 
 would have gladly adopted Zwingli's views years the Lord's 
 before, for it would have been a powerful 
 weapon against the Roman doctrine of the Mass, 
 but he could not conscientiously find that his 
 Bible said that. So once more limiting his free- 
 dom by the Scriptures, he withstood Zwingli at 
 Marburg as he had withstood the Pope at 
 Worms. He refused to make common cause 
 
 Supper. 
 
110 Protest and Progress 
 
 with Zwingli and therefore refused to give him 
 his hand in token of alliance. They parted as 
 friends in mutual good-will. L,uther saw that 
 there was a real difference between them and 
 an alliance between them would have compro^ 
 mised him in his clear witness for the Word. 
 
 Nothing so vividly attests Luther's moral cour- 
 age and his faith as the way in which he fear- 
 lessly stands on the Word of God as he sees it, 
 even though his stand alienates his friends and 
 makes it impossible for his cause to have the 
 support of others who are also interested in re- 
 form. Luther never swerved from his entire 
 Luther stands submissiou to the Word. He sought to avoid 
 Worf°of God every departure from it which he felt must lead 
 into extravagances like those of Carlstadt and 
 Muenzer. Besides he was averse to advancing 
 the cause of faith by rebellion and force of 
 arms. He did not wish to be a party to a plot 
 against the Emperor. He was unwilling to 
 jeopardize the pure truth of the Word by an 
 alliance in which he was not fully agreed. His 
 disagreement with Zwingli is not the result of a 
 reaction on his part. It is the firm carrying out 
 of his great principles of freedom, but of free- 
 dom only in and under the Word of God. 
 
 Many misunderstand Luther and call him in- 
 tolerant and self-contradictory but throughout 
 his principle is the same — the Word of God is 
 supreme. He never sought the freedom so many 
 
Luther's Position Defined 111 
 
 have sought from his day to ours, — autonomy or 
 self-government. He stood only for the Word. 
 He desired not to be free, but only to be free to 
 obey the Word. Luther is the champion of free- 
 dom, the freedom of the Word. Zwingli, Calvin 
 and Erasmus appeal to a man more readily than 
 Luther does, unless a deep experience of sin 
 and salvation similar to Luther's, forms part 
 of his life. Others may trust their reason or 
 their learning or their power ; Luther and those 
 like him depend absolutely on the Word. Others 
 sought to make sweeping reforms; Luther 
 sought' only to establish and defend the truth of 
 God's Word, centering in Christ, the only ?r°'Le"™ing°" 
 Saviour. Once more the freedom of the Lu- ""' ^°"'=''- 
 theran Christian is absolutely limited by the 
 Word of God. Every thought must be in sub- 
 jection to Christ. However promising or reason- 
 able an argument or a theory may be, he cannot 
 support it if it is against the Word of God. 
 Even though his adherence to the Word as he 
 understands it, appears to be unreasonable and 
 even though it alienates friends and allies, he 
 still stands by that Word. 
 
 Charles V. called a Diet to meet at Augsburg 
 in 1530. His wars with France being success- 
 ful and an alliance concluded with the Pope and 
 the Turk driven back, he was once more free to 
 turn his attention to Germany. He announced 
 that he intended to settle the religious question 
 
112 Protest and Progress 
 
 in Germany and that he was willing to give a 
 fair hearing to all. Accordingly the Lutherans 
 prepared a confession. It was written by Me- 
 lanchthon and approved by Luther who could 
 not attend in person, because he was still under 
 
 Confets^i^n^""'^ the ban. This confession is the famous Augs- 
 burg Confession. It is the fundamental confes- 
 sion of all Lutherans to the present day. The 
 Diet assembled in June, 1530, when the confes- 
 sion was presented. The Roman Catholics did 
 
 Confutatbi? '^ot prcscut 3. coufcssiou but sometime later of- 
 fered a refutation of the Lutheran confession. 
 Other Protestants also presented their confes- 
 sions. 
 
 The discussions of the Diet dragged on for 
 several months. A committee was appointed in 
 which Melanchthon was the only Protestant. 
 His readiness to concede many things in the in- 
 terests of peace was known to all. The result of 
 the work of this commission was feared by the 
 Protestants. Strong letters from Luther kept 
 up their courage and prevented yielding. Fi- 
 
 The Protestant nally in September, after some of the Protestant 
 
 Princes with- . i i i r -r-n .1. c -c-r 
 
 draw. pnnces had left, among them Philip of Hesse, 
 
 who left in August, and was much feared because 
 of his power, the Emperor submitted to the Diet 
 
 Decree that a "reccss," or dccrce, calling on the Protestants 
 
 the Protes- , ' 
 
 tants shall to recaut bcforc the fifteenth of the following 
 
 recant, a .i . 1 • c • i * * 
 
 April, Since their confession had been refuted. 
 Melanchthon prepared an answer to the Catholic 
 
Luther's Position Defined 113 
 
 document. It is known as the Apology of the 
 Augsburg Confession. This was also presented 
 to the Diet. No action was taken. The Apology 
 was published later by the Protestants. The ^he ApoIo 
 Protestant princes withdrew from the Diet; the 
 Catholic, remained in session until November. A 
 threatening invasion of the Turk again saved the 
 Protestant cause, for the Catholic princes of 
 Germany were unwilling to risk civil war in in"v*ira. 
 forcibly carrying out the Edict with the possi- 
 bility of a Turkish invasion at any time. 
 
 The Augsburg Confession remains the funda- confe'^s^iof "'^ 
 mental position of the Lutheran Church in all to"i,uTheral 
 lands. It marks the establishment of a Church "™' 
 on the principles for which Luther stood alone at 
 Worms. 
 
 The course of the Reformation in Germany tion becom«^' 
 from this point is military and political rather political. 
 than religious, and it may be dismissed in a few 
 words. After the Protestant princes had failed to 
 secure recognition at Augsburg, they formed the 
 Schmalkald League to defend themselves and kaw League. 
 their subjects in the evangelical faith. Even 
 Luther approved of this step, though he had pre- 
 viously opposed it. Overtures were made to 
 France, Denmark, and to the Catholic Dukes of 
 Bavaria. The Catholic princes of Germany also 
 banded into a league and so Germany was di- 
 vided. In 1532 the Emperor and the Diet agreed 
 not to proceed against the Protestants until a 
 
114 
 
 Protest and Progress - 
 
 Protestants 
 crushed in 
 1546. 
 
 Matters re- 
 versed in 
 1552- 
 
 The religious 
 Peace of 
 Augsburg 
 1555- 
 
 Lutheran Doc- 
 trine Locally 
 Legalized. 
 
 General Council of the Church should be called. 
 After that Charles V. was occupied in wars with 
 France and the Turks until 1S46. In that year 
 he attacked and crushed the Protestant princes. 
 But in 1552 Maurice of Saxony suddenly ac- 
 cepted the evangelical faith, turned against the 
 Emperor, defeated him in battle and concluded 
 the Convention of Passau. This gave the ad- 
 herents of the Augsburg Confession freedom in 
 the exercise of their religion until the next, meet- 
 ing of the Diet. On the twenty-fifth of Septem- 
 ber, 1555, the Religious Peace of Augsiburg 
 granted to the territorial princes and free cities 
 which then acknowledged the Augsburg' Confes- 
 sion, freedom to worship in accordance with it in' 
 their territories ; and it conferred the same 
 rights on the Catholic princes. It was intended 
 to prevent the spread of the Reformation and' to 
 maintain things as they then were. If legalized 
 L,utheran doctrine' in certain territories. It estab- 
 lished the principle of territorial religion': — =-the 
 faith of a state determined by its ruler. 
 
 The great principle of justification by faith 
 born, of the Word of God, fir^t finding its way in 
 the heart of Luther as he searched for assurance 
 of salvation, had now become the legal and con- 
 stitutional principle of the religion of half of 
 Germany. It was a long struggle before the 
 principle became established. The end was not 
 yet. Before the religious differences of the Em- 
 
Luther's Position Defined 115 
 
 pire were settled, Europe had to pass through an- 
 other reHgious war. This war ended with the 
 Peace of WestphaHa in 1648, by which the 
 boundaries of the nations and the recognition of 
 the principles which have underlain the history 
 of modern Burope were established. 
 
 QUESTIONS. 
 
 1. Who was the leader of the Reformation in Witten- 
 
 berg when Luther was absent? 
 
 2. In what ways did he mislead? 
 
 3. By whom was he influenced? 
 
 4. Why did Luther leave the Wartburg? 
 
 5. What was Luther's attitude toward violence in re- 
 
 form ? 
 
 6. Is it ever right to use force in the interests of 
 
 faith? 
 
 7. What was the rising of the Knights? 
 
 8. Why did the Peasants revolt? 
 
 9. Who was their leader? 
 
 10. In what did they summarize their demands? 
 
 11. What was Luther's advice to them? 
 
 12. What had Luther to say to the nobles ? 
 
 13. What duty does a Christian ruler have? 
 
 14. What duty does a Christian subject have? 
 
 15. Does Christian liberty justify rebellion? 
 
 16. Does Christian liberty imply political freedom? 
 
 17. Does Christian Uberty imply social equality? 
 
 18. Who was Erasmus? 
 
 19. How did Erasmus help the Reformation ? 
 
 20. Do you agree with Luther or Erasmus? 
 
 21. What is the difference, between Christianity and 
 
 culture ? 
 
 22. Do you believe men are helped more by religion or 
 
 by learning? 
 
 9 
 
116 Protest and Progress 
 
 23. Why could not Luther agree to an alliance with 
 
 Zwingli ? 
 
 24. Was he right? 
 
 25. For what kind of freedom did Luther fight? 
 
 26. What is the fundamental Lutheran confession? 
 
 27. Have you read it? 
 
 28. What character does the reformation movement 
 
 have after 1530? 
 
 29. What agreement finally established the Lutherans 
 
 on an equality with the Catholics in Germany? 
 
 30. Summarize the limitations on Christian liberty noted 
 
 in this chapter. 
 
 31. How does evangelical faith differ from worldly 
 
 wisdom? 
 
 32. How does evangelical faith differ from Roman 
 
 Catholic faith? j 
 
 33. Make a brief statement of your own belief. 
 
 54. Make a brief summary of the Augsburg Confession. 
 35. Compare your belief with that expressed in the 
 Augsburg Confession. 
 
CHAPTER VII. 
 Martin Luther. 
 
 Luther was a man of medium height. His Lmher's a 
 complexion was dark. He had strong, rugged p^arance. 
 features. His eyes attracted most attention, 
 whether they flamed in anger and scorn on his 
 foes or were lighted by the glory of faith and 
 triumph. As a young man he was very thin, but 
 he became quite stout in later life. 
 
 His dress was always plain. Until 1524 he His Dress, 
 wore the habit of a monk of his order. After 
 that he wore the usual clothing of a university 
 teacher. His clothes were often shabby and 
 patched. On special occasions he wore his Doc- 
 tor's gown and a gold chain. 
 
 Luther was fond of jokes and good cheer. He is fond of 
 His language was not always above reproach, °° ''"' 
 but he was considerably above the standards of 
 his times. Though his conversation was coarse 
 sometimes, no stain rests on his life. He was a 
 moderate drinker, fond of good beer and wine, 
 at a time when those beverages were used as com- 
 monly as tea and coffee are today. He never 
 seems to have drunk to excess, though drunken- 
 ness was common in those days. 
 
 He was fond of society and loved to see peo- i^?™/^Dancing 
 pie enjoy themselves. He favored athletic Thtat'rl; 
 
118 
 
 Protest and Progress 
 
 Disliked being 
 alone. 
 
 Sought com- 
 panionship for 
 the blues. 
 
 Not a 
 
 pleasure 
 
 seeker. 
 
 games and sports both for their social and hy- 
 gienic features. He approved of dancing and 
 the theatre. McGiffert says: — 
 
 "His chief relaxation he always found in social inter- 
 course. Particularly when depressed, as he often was, 
 he sought comfort and relief in the society of his 
 friends, and was continually prescribing the same 
 remedy for like depression in others. He once re- 
 marked : 'When Eve went walking by herself in Para- 
 dise the devil tempted and led her astray;' and on an- 
 other occasion he declared he would rather associate 
 with his swineherd and the swine than stay alone. 
 Light conversation, jesting, and story-telling he thought 
 especially good for low spirits, and often indulged in 
 them, he said, just on that account. He also advised 
 hearty eating and drinking for many a one, though 
 not for everybody. To one of his young table com- 
 panions, Jerome Weller, who was subject to frequent 
 attacks of the blues, he wrote : 'Whenever the devil 
 vexes you with such thoughts immediately seek the so- 
 ciety of men, or drink more freely, or joke, or talk non- 
 sense, or do some other hilarious thing. Why do you 
 think I drink so much, converse with such freedom, 
 and eat so often, if not to make sport of the devil and 
 vex him when he is trying to vex and make sport of 
 me?'"* 
 
 Though LjUther was capital company and de- 
 lighted in all these good things, he was not a 
 glutton or pleasure seeker. He often forgot to 
 eat entirely or snatched a bite only when he had 
 to, so engrossed did he become in his work, par- 
 ticularly in his younger days. 
 
 *McGiffert, Martin Luther, p. 2g9. 
 
Martin Luther 119 
 
 In later life the stress of his lone conflict, in Ji'""',y«'" 
 
 o ' his old age 
 
 which he was personally attacked most bitterly, gf^^f^^^ 
 coupled with constant illness — (he was subject '"■""bie. 
 to indigestion, calculus, rheumatism, gout, sci- 
 atica, heart and nervous disorders whicii caused 
 him much suffering), — made him very irritable 
 and he cannot be said to have had a mellow old 
 age. His temper was always fiery. When 
 aroused no language was too strong or bitter for 
 him to ernploy. He was outspoken at all times. 
 His faults were the inevitable accompaniment of 
 his virtues. His indomitable will and sensitive 
 conscience made him a jealous advocate of the 
 truth. Much of his wrath is not personal. It is Always out- 
 directed against the mistaken and anti-Christian *''°'^«"- 
 teachings of his contemporaries. 
 
 In June, 1525, Luther married Catherine von ca^thTdne"^^ 
 Bora. She was twenty-six and he was forty- erclped'^Nun" 
 two. She had been a nun. Stirred by the teach- 
 ings of the Reformation, twelve nuns, of whom 
 Catherine was one, escaped from the convent in 
 which they had taken their vows. Nine of them 
 came to Wittenberg in 1523. They found shelter 
 in the Black Cloister. Three of them went di- 
 rectly to their own homes. Luther cared for 
 those at the Black Cloister until satisfactory ar- 
 rangements could be made for them with rela- 
 tives, or until they were married. The last one 
 remaining was Catherine. 
 
120 Protest and Progress 
 
 Not from ro- fhe match does not seem to have been one of 
 
 mantle lyOve. 
 
 romantic love. Luther did not think of marry- 
 ing Catherine at first. She had been engaged to 
 a young student at the university hut he failed 
 to return to, marry her. Luther had also urged 
 the cause of another with her before he thought 
 of marrying her himself. During the year pre- 
 ceding his marriage, he wrote a great deal 
 favoring marriage for others and against the 
 celibate vows of priests and monks. Many urged 
 him to put his own teachings into practice. At 
 last moved, perhaps,' by pity for Catherine, and, 
 perhaps, by desire to show that he really was as 
 free to marry as he wrote of being, and, perhaps, 
 to please his father, who was very anxious for 
 him to marry, he decided to ask Catherine to be 
 his wife. She accepted him. He chose a strange 
 time to take the step. The peasant uprising was 
 very serious just then and his great friend and 
 benefactor, the Elector Frederick, had died only 
 a month' befoi:e. Once decided upon, the engage- 
 A Quiet ment was short. They were very quietly mar- 
 
 Wedding. ■' J ~i. . 
 
 ried in the living room of the Black Cloister. 
 Only five others were present. Luther's an- 
 nouncement of the wedding to Asmdorf when he 
 invited him to be present at the public announce- 
 ment and banquet, held two weeks after the mar- 
 riage, is interesting: — 
 
 "The report is true that I married Katharine sud- 
 denly that I might not be compelled to hear the noisy 
 
Luther's wife. 
 
Martin Luther 121 
 
 talk customary on such an occasion. I hope I shall still # 
 
 live for a little while, and this last service I did not Announce- * 
 wish to refuse my father, who asked it of me. At the ,"v?tat!on to 
 same time I wished to confirm what I had taught by Amsdorf. 
 my deed, for I find so many pusillanimous despite the 
 light of the Gospel. Thus God has willed and done. 
 For I am not passionately in love, but I esteem my wife. 
 And hence to celebrate my marriage I shall give a ban- 
 quet next Tuesday, when my parents will be present. 
 I want especially to have you here; wherefore I now 
 invite you, and beg you will not stay away if you can 
 possibly help it."* 
 
 The sensation 
 
 opinions the 
 
 marriage 
 
 caused. 
 
 The marriage created a great sensation. For and d?vl?se°' 
 Luther, a former monk, to marry an escaped nun 
 was a violation both of their personal vows and 
 of the laws of Church. Many were disgusted 
 with the Reformation in consequence. Some 
 thought that, after all, this was what Luther had 
 chiefly desired and that at last the significance of 
 the Reformation was revealed. False tales 
 about him and his bride appeared in great num- 
 bers. His friends did not know what to think. 
 Many of them feared he had made a fatal mis- 
 take. A lawyer, Jerome Schurf, before Luther 
 was married, said: — 
 
 "If this monk takes a wife, the whole world and the 
 devil himself will laugh, and all the work he [Luther] 
 has accomplisjied will come to naught." 
 
 Others thought that, if he wished to marry, he 
 should have chosen someone who could have help- 
 
 *McGiffert, Martin Luther, p. 281. 
 
122 Protest and Progress 
 
 ed him and the cause more than Catherine ap- 
 peared able to do. 
 
 beMme's'a" ^^^ ^* '^^^ ^°^ ^ ^^^^^ mistake; nor did the 
 Home. work he had accomplished come to naught. The 
 
 significance of the Reformation was indeed re- 
 vealed — the cloister was transformed into a 
 home. The false teaching that celibacy is a 
 holier thing than marriage was blasted. The 
 great principle of freedom from the old system 
 and its false asceticism was vindicated and car- 
 ried out. 
 
 Catherine had splendid abilities hidden behind 
 a rather homely appearance. Luther's esteem 
 for her grew with acquaintance. He treasured 
 her, he said, more than France or Venice. An 
 early comment he made on married life is 
 amusing : — 
 
 Early Com- "!« the first year of marriage one has strange 
 
 M™ried"Lif thoughts. At table he thinks- 'Formerly I was alone, 
 now I am with some one.' In bed when he wakes, he 
 sees beside him a pair of pigtails which he did not see 
 before. The first year after our marriage Katie sat 
 beside me when I studied, and when she could think 
 of nothing else to say asked" foolish and ignorant 
 questions.* 
 
 Later he makes a beautiful comment on mar- 
 ried life : — 
 
 "Ah, dear Lord, marriage is not an affair of nature, 
 but a gift of God. It is the sweetest and dearest, yes, 
 
 *Translation in Smith, Martin Luther, p. 177. 
 
Martin Luther 
 
 123 
 
 A Later Ap- 
 preciation. 
 
 purest life. It is far better than celibacy when it turns 
 out well; but when it turns out ill, it is hell. For 
 though all women as a rule know the art of taking a 
 man captive with tears, lies, and persuasions, and are 
 able to distort everything and employ fair words, never- 
 theless, when truth and faith, children and fruits of 
 love are there, and marriage is regarded as holy and 
 divine, then it is indeed a blessed state. How eagerly 
 I longed for my dear ones as I lay deadly ill at 
 Schmalkalden ! I thought I should never again see 
 wife and children here. How I mourned over the sepa- 
 ration! I am convinced that the natural longing and 
 love a husband has for his wife and parents for their 
 children are greatest of all in those who are dying. 
 Now that I am by God's grace well again, I cherish my 
 wife and children so much the more. No one is so 
 spiritual as not to feel such inborn love and longing. 
 For the union and communion of man and wife are a 
 great thing."* 
 
 The Black Cloister was given to Luther and Soist^hs 
 his wife by the Elector of Saxony to whom it be- HonJe"""^' 
 longed. It was their home as long as Luther 
 lived. The management of it devolved entirely 
 upon Catherine. It is fortunate that she was a 
 fine manager for Luther spent his money and 
 gave it away most freely. Through her care they 
 were able to make ends meet and to entertain the 
 many who were constantly there. They boarded Household. 
 students attending the university, as most of the 
 professors did. Besides there were always 
 friends from many parts of Europe visiting them 
 
 ♦Translation in McGiffert, Op. Cit., p. 287. 
 
124 Protest and Progress 
 
 for longer or shorter periods. Poor relatives 
 were frequently sheltered and made welcome. 
 In 1542 George Held described the house as, 
 "inhabited by a miscellaneous and promiscuous 
 crowd of youths, students, girls, widows, old 
 maids, and children, and very unrestful." 
 Six Children. Martin and Catherine had six children. The 
 oldest was a son named John ; the next a daugh- 
 ter, Elizabeth, who died in infancy. Of her Lu- 
 ther wrote: — 
 
 "My dear little daughter Elizabeth is dead. She has 
 left me wonderfully sick at heart and almost woman- 
 ish, I am so moved by pity for her. I could never have 
 beKeved how a father's heart could soften for his 
 child."* 
 
 The next daughter, Magdalene, named for her 
 aunt, died at fourteen. The account left of her 
 death is very sweet. 
 "As his daughter lay very ill, Dr. Luther said: 'I 
 iviagdalene's '°'^^ ^^'' '^^'^^ much, but dear God, if it be Thy will 
 Deatli. to take her, I submit to Thee.' Then he said to her 
 
 as she lay in bed: 'Magdalene, my dear little daugh- 
 ter, would you like to stay here with your father, or 
 would you willingly go to your Father yonder?' She 
 answered: 'Darling father, as God wills.' Then said 
 he: 'Dearest child, the spirit is willing but the flesh 
 is weak.' Then he turned away and said : 'I love her 
 very much; if my flesh is so strong, what can my 
 spirit do? God has given no bishop so great a gift in 
 a thousand years as He has given me in her. I am 
 angry with myself that I cannot rejoice in heart and be 
 thankful as I ought.' 
 
 ♦Translation in Smith, Martin Luther, p. 251. 
 
Martin Luther 125 
 
 "Now as Magdalene lay in the agony of death, her 
 father fell down before the bed on his knees and wept 
 bitterly and prayed that God might free her. Then she 
 departed and fell asleep in her father's arms * * * As 
 they laid her in the coffin he said: 'Darling Lena, you 
 will rise and shine like a star,, yea, like the sun * * * 
 I am happy in spirit, but the flesh is sorrowful and will 
 not be content, the parting grieves me beyond measure 
 * * * I have sent a saint to heaven.' "* 
 
 His next child was a boy whom they named 
 Martin. Shortly after his birth Luther wrote : — 
 
 "The youngest children are always the most loved by 
 the parents. My little Martin is my dearest treasure. Little Martin. 
 Hans and Lena can now speak and do not need so much 
 care, therefore it is that parents always love the little 
 infants who need their love the most."t 
 
 Luther's death is characteristic of his life. 
 He persistently followed where duty led and of the Counts 
 there met the unknown and unexpected. Two 
 brothers, Counts of Mansfeld, had quarreled 
 over some property. Luther was called in to be 
 the mediator. Twice he went to meet them only 
 to find that they had gone elsewhere. The third 
 attempt in January and February, 1546, was suc- 
 cessful. After much hardship from the weather Mediat'or. 
 and the floods, he reached their castle in Eisleben. 
 After several weeks the dispute was settled. The 
 day before he intended to start home again, he 
 was not feeling well and had to be rubbed with 
 
 ♦Translation in Smith, Op. Cit., p. 353. 
 tTranslation in Ibid., p. 352. 
 
126 Protest and Progress 
 
 hot cloths on retiring. He woke early in the 
 morning with severe pain and called out : — 
 
 "O Lord God, how I suffer! Dear Dr. Jonas, I be- 
 lieve I am going to remain here in Eisleben, where I 
 was born and baptized." 
 
 Luther's Physicians were called at once. He soon passed 
 
 Feb. is, 1546. into a stupor from which he was aroused with 
 difficulty by Jonas' question, "Reverend father, 
 •do you stand firm by Christ and the doctrine you 
 have preached?" After replying, "Yes," in a 
 faint voice, he again became unconscious. He 
 died quietly between two and three o'clock in the 
 morning of the eighteenth of February. 
 
 The cause of his death has been disputed. 
 Some attribute it to apoplexy; others to heart 
 The Burial at ^i^ease. Escortcd by a great company, the body 
 Feb'^22^'^^' ^^^ taken to Wittenberg at the urgent request 
 of the Elector of Saxony, and buried in the 
 Castle Church on the twenty-second of Febru- 
 ary, 
 primarily a Luthcr Spent his life primarily as a teacher. 
 
 Teacher. fjjg writings grew out of his teachings. They 
 
 were written to combat the errors which he found 
 in the Church and the university. He preached 
 frequently, and for many years, regularly in 
 Wittenberg. His sermons were always of a 
 practical nature. The needs of the people led 
 him into many pastoral duties. His reform work 
 laid upon him many of the duties of a bishop. 
 
INTERIOR OF CASTLE CHURCH. 
 
Martin Luther 127 
 
 Records of every phase of his activities remain 
 in his numerous letters, addresses and pamph- 
 lets. 
 
 His three "Primary Works" have been noted, B/^ie*^^™*" 
 — The Open LrCtter to the German Nobility, The 
 Babylonian Captivity of the Church, and The 
 Liberty of the Christian Man. Perhaps his 
 greatest literary work is the translation of the 
 Bible into German. This has also been mention- 
 ed. It is remarkable for its fidelity, boldness, 
 clearness and intimate personal touch. It has 
 formed the basis of German literature to an even 
 greater degree than The King James Version, 
 vifhich is indebted to it, underlies modern Eng- 
 lish. 
 
 Luther regarded the Bible as the Word of 
 God, infallible in its sphere. Yet he freely criti- 
 cised it, anticipating some of the results attained 
 by modern literary criticism. The chief thing in. 
 the Bible Luther held to be the message of the AttHudl 
 Gospel— salvation by faith in Christ. That is ^bmY.'^ ""^ 
 the central truth of the Bible by which all else is 
 to be interpreted and in relation to which all else 
 is to be valued. He had no difficulties with the 
 very evident mistakes and contradictions in parts 
 of the Bible, so long as the clear Gospel was 
 safe-guarded. Indeed he sometimes said : "The 
 Word of God is the Gospel." He did not find 
 in it a law-book covering all the relations of life 
 beyond which, one dare not go, nor did he find 
 
 11 o 
 
128 
 
 Protest and Progress 
 
 Luther and 
 
 Biblical 
 
 Criticism. 
 
 Luther's 
 Catechisms, 
 
 it a revelation concerning all human knowledge; 
 but he valued it as "the Holy Scriptures which are 
 able to make thee wise unto salvation through 
 the faith which is in Christ Jesus." (2 Tim. 3 : 
 15.) He would no doubt rejoice in the great 
 results obtained by modern literary criticism 
 ■which have done so much to make the Bible 
 clear. He would likewise rejoice in the results 
 of the researches of the archeologists and his- 
 torians which have given us a truer and more 
 vivid idea of the life and times of the Bible. But 
 he would have no patience with the scholars who 
 find in the Bible nothing but the guesses of He- 
 brew philosophers and who see in Jesus nothing 
 more than a morai teacher. He would not toler- 
 ate the criticism which destroys the Gospel mes- 
 sage and makes light of the marvelous facts of 
 redemption in Christ. He comes to the Bible to 
 find salvation, not wisdom, and so differs from 
 many of his contemporaries and from a majority 
 of modern Biblical scholars. 
 
 His Catechisms are next in importance. In 
 visiting the churches of Saxony, he found igno- 
 rance of the fundamental truths of Christianity 
 in both priests and people. So he prepared two 
 Catechisms, the larger for parents and teachers, 
 the smaller, "irt the plain form in which it is 
 to be taught by the head of the family." Both 
 are gems of simple and lucid explanation. The 
 small Catechism is a "heart book, doctrine ex- 
 
Martin Luther 129 
 
 pressed in living devotion." It is the foundation 
 for instruction before confinnation in all Lu- 
 theran churches. It is brief and easy to memor- 
 ize. The Catechisms were published in 1529. 
 
 Luther's Reformation of the Church Service 
 was, perhaps, next in importance. After he had 
 finally broken with the Roman Church it seemed 
 incongruous to continue its ceremonies. The ex- 
 cesses of Carlstadt and others showed what 
 might happen if changes in the Services were not 
 carefully made. So Luther prepared a form of His Reform 
 service which retained all the Scriptural elements "1523.^ 
 of the customary services of the Church, remov- 
 ing only the prayers to the Virgin and Saints and 
 the references to the Mass as a sacrifice. The 
 result was a strong and inspiring Order of Serv- 
 ice. It was published in December, 1523. It 
 formed the basis for others drawn up shortly 
 afterwards in diififerent provinces in Germany, 
 and in other lands. These are the sources from 
 which the Common Service, used in the Lutheran 
 ■Churches of America, has been drawn. This 
 Service of Luther's also furnished a model to 
 a considerable extent for the compilers of the 
 Prayer Book of the Church of England when 
 they revised their services. It is on that account 
 that the services in the Lutheran and Episcopal 
 Churches are very similar. Luther's Order for 
 the Chief Service or Communion was preceded in 
 the year 1523 by revised orders for Daily Serv- 
 
130 
 
 Protest and Progress 
 
 ices in the Churches and by a translation of the 
 form to be used in Baptism. 
 
 In order that the people might take part in 
 worship, Luther began to write and translate 
 hymns to be sung during the service. Formerly 
 His Hymns, the people had no part in the services except to 
 watch the spectacle performed by the priests and 
 the choir. A collection of eight hymns, six of 
 which were by Luther himself appeared in 1524. 
 It was quickly followed by collections of twenty- 
 five and thirty-two hymns respectively. These 
 are the first hymn books of the Evangelical 
 Church. In 1527 he published the great hymn, 
 "A Mighty Fortress is Our God." 
 
 Luther's controversial treatises and pamphlets 
 cover a wide range of subjects, both doctrinal 
 and practical. They do not present a complete 
 theological system for he wrote them to meet 
 specific emergencies and took no trouble to guard 
 his utterances against contradiction in detail. 
 Many of his sermons are also in existence. They 
 are models of clear and intelligent treatment, 
 combined with the utmost simplicity. 
 
 He was a great letter writer, receiving and an- 
 
 ■ swering letters from persons all over Europe. It 
 
 is marvelous that he was able to write so much. 
 
 Yet all of his writings show careful thought and 
 
 Letters. wide culture, a tenacious memory and brilliant 
 
 selection of materials. 
 
 Treatises, 
 
 Pamplilets, 
 
 Sermons. 
 
McGiffert's 
 
 Martin Luther 131 
 
 Dr. McGiflfert says of Luther: — 
 
 "After all, the overmastering impression upon any- 
 one who has followed day by day the course of Lu- estimate of 
 ther's life is not the extent of his influence and the ^"^^"• 
 reach of his prophetic vision, but the greatness of his 
 personality. Full of faults he was, faults of temper 
 and of taste, — passionate, domineering, obstinate, preju- 
 diced, violent, vituperative, and coarse — but he was a 
 man through and through, — a man of heroic mould, 
 courageous, strong, masterful, frank, sincere and gen- 
 erous, as far from petty jealousy and cowardly du- 
 plicity as from priggishness and cant. Deadly in ear- 
 nest, and yet with the rare and saving grace of humor, 
 which guarded him from the danger of taking trivial 
 things too seriously, relieved the strain both for him- 
 self and his followers in times of greatest stress, and 
 gave him entrance to the hearts of men the wide world 
 over. Born to rule, though he never held official posi- 
 tion, and owed nothing to his station, though he died 
 as he had lived, a mere preacher and professor of the- 
 ology in a small and out-of-the-way town, he domi- 
 nated more than half the western world, and the whole 
 of it has changed because he lived. He was built on no 
 ordinary scale, this redoubtable German. He was of 
 titanic stature, and our common standards fail ade- 
 quately to measure him. But his life lies open to the 
 world, as do few other lives in history. To know it as 
 we may is well worth the effort."* 
 
 Dr. C. p. Krauth says of him : — 
 
 "Though he rose wonderously to a divine ideal, he 
 did not cease to be a man of men. He won the trophies 
 of power, and the garlands of affection. Potentates 
 feared him, and little children played with him * * * He 
 
 *McGiffert, Martin Luther, concluding paragraphs. 
 
132 Protest and Progress 
 
 was the best teacher of freedom and of loyalty. He 
 has made the righteous throne stronger, and the inno- 
 cent cottage happier. He knew how to laugh, and how 
 *"" 'i, 5.""*'' to weep * * * He was tried by deep sorrow, and bril- 
 liant fortune; he begged the poor scholar's bread, and 
 from Emperor and estates of the realm received an 
 embassy with a. prince at its head; * * * but whether 
 lured by the subtlest flattery or assailed by the powers 
 of hell, tempted with the mitre, or threatened with the 
 stake, he came off more than conqueror in all. He 
 made a world rich forevermore, and, stripping him- 
 self in perpetual charities, died in poverty. He knew 
 how to command — for he had learned how to obey. 
 * * * He combined the aggressiveness of a just radical- 
 ism with the moral resistance — which seemed to the 
 fanatic the passive weakness — of a true conservatism. 
 Faith-inspired, he was faith-inspiring. * * * The world 
 knows his faults. He could not hide what he was. 
 His transparent candor gave his enemies the material 
 of their misrepresentation; but they cannot blame his 
 infirmities without being witness to the nobleness 
 which made him careless of appearance in a world of 
 defamers. For himself, he had as little of the virtue 
 of caution as he had, toward others, of the vice of 
 dissimulation. Living under thousands of jealous and 
 hating eyes, in the broadest light of day, the testimony 
 of enemies but fixes the result : that his faults were 
 those of a nature of the most consummate grandeur 
 and fulness."* 
 
 What a marvelous man he was ! How humble ! 
 How strong his faith ! How human his sym- 
 pathy ! How sharp his recoil from sin and false- 
 hood! With all the mighty conflicts of his life, 
 
 ♦Krauth, Conservative Reformation, p. 86f. 
 
Martin Luther 133 
 
 he never ceased his close and intimate touch with 
 the common things of normal human life. In 
 the midst of his trials he writes to his little chil- 
 dren. He defies the Pope with a flower in his 
 hand. Assailed on the right hand and on the 
 left, he steered a straight course and true, stand- 
 ing firmly on the Word of God. 
 
 QUESTIONS. 
 
 1. Describe Luther's appearance. 
 
 2. Describe his disposition and, tastes. 
 
 3. Tell of his marriage. 
 
 4. Describe his home life. 
 
 5. Tell of his children. 
 
 6. What were Luther's occupations? 
 
 7. What is his greatest work? 
 
 8. How did he value the Bible? 
 
 9. Why do you value the Bible? 
 
 10. Why did he write his Catechisms? 
 
 11. Have you read both and memorized the Small 
 
 Catechism ? 
 
 12. How did he change the Order of Service in the 
 
 Church? 
 
 13. What relation does his revision bear to the services 
 
 in use today in the Lutheran and Episcopal 
 Churches ? 
 
 14. Is it better to have a form of service or to wor- 
 
 ship without forms? 
 
 15. Why did Luther introduce Hymn Singing? 
 
 16. What else did Luther write? 
 
 17. State your estimate of Luther. 
 
CHAPTER VIII. 
 
 Other Reformations. 
 
 The Lutheran 
 Reformation 
 in Denmark; 
 
 John Tausen. 
 
 Bugenhagen. 
 
 The Reformation in Germany was not the only 
 reformation in the Sixteenth Century. In fact 
 it was but one of many. Reformation was in the 
 air all over Europe. 
 
 Shortly after Luther burned the Papal Bull in 
 1520 the King of Denmark, Christian II., sought 
 to introduce the Reformation into his dominions. 
 He was especially eager to lay hands on the ex- 
 tended properties of the Church. His cruelty 
 caused a revolt and he was compelled to flee 
 from the country. 
 
 His successor, Frederick I., was successful in 
 introducing the Reformation. Through the in- 
 fluence of John Tausen, the "Luther of Den- 
 mark," Lutheran teachings made great progress 
 among the people of every rank, especially alfter 
 the Roman clergy refused to debate with the Lu- 
 therans in 1530. 
 
 In 1536 the bishops were stripped of their 
 civil authority and property. Bugenhagen was 
 sent by Luther to assist in the establishment of 
 the Church in Denmark. Seven superintendents 
 were appointed, who were later known as 
 bishops. The Reformation was carried on in a 
 
Other Reformations 135 
 
 conservative way. Revised services were intro- 
 duced and the people gradually instructed in the 
 Lutheran faith. 
 
 Sweden revolted from Denmark in 1520 fol- ^"forma'tion 
 lowing a cruel massacre by Christian II. Gus- '" Sweden, 
 tavus Ericson or Vasa was made regent. In 
 1523 he was crowned King of Sweden. Two- 
 thirds of the land in Sweden belonged to the 
 clergy and the rest to the nobles. .Gustavus had 
 gone into debt to bring the revolt to a successful 
 issue. He had a hard problem before him — to 
 pay his debts and finance the Kingdom. Lu- 
 theran doctrine had been preached in Sweden 
 since 1519 when Olaus and Laurentius Petri re- BrothCTsy 
 turned from studying at Wittenberg in Germany. 
 They had been deeply influenced by Luther. 
 Among many other converts they succeeded in 
 winning a prominent archdeacon, Laurentius Laurentius 
 Andrese. Gustavus Vasa himself had heard and ° ''^' 
 approved their preaching. He therefore pro- valar"' 
 tected them against attacks by the Roman clergy. 
 He even promoted them to positions of influence 
 and honor. The Catholic bishops demanded 
 that they be silenced. They replied by challeng- 
 ing the Catholics to a debate, which added to 
 their prestige. In 1526 Laurentius Petri pub- 
 lished the New Testament in Swedish. In 1527 
 the .King presented an ultimatum to the Diet. 
 He could no longer conduct the government on 
 the slender income which remained after the 
 
136 
 
 Protest and Progress 
 
 The King, 
 Head of the 
 Church. 
 
 Conservative 
 Reformation. 
 
 Zwingli in 
 Zurich 1510 
 
 His Political 
 Reformation. 
 
 clergy and nobles had absorbed most of the reve- 
 nue of the realm. He demanded that all Church 
 property should become the property of the 
 King. At first the Diet refused. The King then 
 presented his resignation. After three days' de- 
 bate, he won. The Church lands were confis- 
 cated and the clergy made subordinate to the 
 King. The Diet passed ordinances and regula- 
 tions which legalized the Reformation. So the 
 King became supreme in the Swedish Church. 
 Episcopal government was retained. The Refor- 
 mation was carried out on very conservative lines. 
 In 1530 a Hymn Book was adopted. In 1531 a 
 Form of Service revised on Lutheran models 
 was inaugurated. Laurentius Andrese had been 
 appointed Archbishop of Upsala in 1527 and the 
 National Synod of 1528 was conservatively Lu- 
 theran. 
 
 While Luther was working for reform in Ger- 
 many, Ulrich Zwingli was doing similar work in 
 Zurich, the chief city of eastern or German 
 Switzerland. Zwingli was about the same age 
 as Luther. He began his reformation in Zurich 
 after he had been chosen City Preacher in 1519. 
 Zurich enjoyed many privileges and was practi- 
 cally independent. By 1524 Zwingli had suc- 
 ceeded in overthrowing the power of the Pope 
 in Zurich. He diflfered from Luther in some 
 points as has already been noted (p. 109), and 
 he went farther in changing the services and 
 
Other Reformations 137 
 
 Church customs than Luther did. Zwingli's re- 
 forms were not only ecclesiastical but he planned 
 to overthrow both Pope and Emperor. He 
 formed a political alliance of the Cantons or 
 small states of Switzerland which were ready 
 to support the Reformation. Thus politics early 
 entered and colored the Swiss Reformation, c^ath at the 
 Zwingli was killed at the Battle of Cappel fought Cappei,°i53i. 
 between the Catholic and Protestant troops of 
 Switzerland in 1531. His principles and doc- 
 trines were held in the south of Germany, along 
 the Rhine and in the Netherlands. In 1563 
 Zwinglian theologians drew up the Heidelburg i "'sfutlT'Sr- 
 Catechism which has remained the chief state- the"Shfne"^ 
 ment of the doctrine of the Zwinglian or Re- Netherlands. 
 formed Church to the present day. 
 
 Three years after Zwingli's death William 
 Farel began to preach reformed doctrine in 
 Geneva, the chief city of western or French in Geneva. 
 Switzerland. It was also a free city with un- 
 usual privileges of self-government. He per- 
 suaded John Calvin, an able Frenchman, who 
 had favored the Reformation since his student 
 days in Paris, to remain in Geneva and assist 
 him in his plans for the Reformation there. 
 Calvin reluctantly acquiesced. He soon became 
 the leader and practical dictator of the ChUrch 
 in Geneva. Shortly before he went to Geneva he 
 published "the Institutes of the Christian Re- ',"''=.^?f ^^ 
 
 ^ Christian 
 
 ligion." It is a careful and logical exposition of Religion." 
 
 John Calvin. 
 
 The "Insti- 
 
138 
 
 Protest and Progress 
 
 Calvin and 
 
 Municipal 
 
 Government. 
 
 The Hugue- 
 nots in 
 France. 
 
 John Knox. 
 Calvinism in 
 Scotland. 
 
 Presbyterian- 
 ism. 
 
 The Reforma- 
 tion in Eng- 
 land. 
 
 Lutheran In- 
 fluence. 
 
 Christian doctrine. . Though he was exiled from 
 Geneva from 1 539-1 541, the people were glad to 
 call him back. Until the end of his life he di- 
 rected the religious and civil government of the 
 city and guided the progress of the Reformation 
 in France. Just as Zwingli had turned his at- 
 tention to political reformation in Zurich, so 
 Calvin did in Geneva. The city was governed 
 most strictly but most efficiently under his di- 
 rection. . In both of the Swiss Reformation 
 movements political reform is included in reli- 
 gious reform and directed by it. Though the 
 German Reformation was influenced by politics 
 and in turn influenced political developments 
 there, Luther never attempted to dictate the 
 policy of the state as both Zwingli and Calvin 
 did in Switzerland. 
 
 Calvinism spread in France where the Prot- 
 estants were called Huguenots. 
 
 One of his ardent disciples, John Knox, car- 
 ried it to Scotland and became the founder of 
 Scotch Presbyterianism which led to the Puritan 
 movement in England, influenced the Baptists 
 very largely, and lies at the root of American 
 Presbyterianism. 
 
 In the universities of England many of the 
 teachers were influenced by Luther as well as by 
 the reform movements and doctrines of the pre- 
 ceding century. They wished for a reformation. 
 Henry VIII. was able to take advantage of these 
 
Other Reformations 
 
 139 
 
 movements and secured the Act of Supremacy 
 from Parliament in 1534. This separated the 
 Church in England from the Church of Rome 
 and made the King supreme. Henry made few 
 changes in the doctrines or practices of the 
 Church. But the way was opened for his suc- 
 cessors to make the Church of England dis- 
 tinctly Protestant, particularly under Edward 
 VI. and Queen Elizabeth. In 1559 the Book of 
 Common Prayer was issued in a revised and 
 Protestant form. In 1562 the Thirty-Nine Arti- 
 cles which still form the authoritative statement 
 of the doctrine of the Church of England, were 
 adopted. The influence of Calvinism is strong in 
 them. Many Calvinists, however were not satis- 
 fied with them and the Puritan movement de- 
 veloped before the end of the century. 
 
 In the Church of Rome itself a counter refor- 
 mation took place. Its doctrinal positions were 
 defined by a council, called the Council of Trent, 
 though the council was not in session at Trent 
 all the time. The results of its deliberations 
 were published in 1564. At the same time a Ro- 
 man Catechism appeared. Its service forms 
 were standardized in the Breviary of 1568 and 
 the Missal 1570. In 1590 a Latin Bible was pub- 
 lished and declared to be infallible. 
 
 So by the end of the century north Germany 
 and Scandinavia were Lutheran. South Ger- 
 many, the Rhine region, German Switzerland 
 
 Henry VIII. 
 IS34. 
 
 Edward VI. 
 and Elizabeth. 
 
 The Thirty- 
 nine Articles. 
 
 Puritanism. 
 
 The Counter 
 Reformation 
 in the Roman 
 Church, 1564. 
 
 Geographical 
 Distribution of 
 Protestantism 
 in the 
 Sixteenth 
 Century. 
 
140 
 
 Protest and Progress 
 
 Various Ap- 
 peals of the 
 Reformation 
 to various 
 classes of 
 men. 
 
 Tlie Reforma- 
 tion part of a 
 Great Move- 
 ment of New 
 Thought 
 and Life. 
 
 The Various 
 Sources of the 
 Reformation 
 
 and the Netherlands, predominantly Reformed. 
 French Switzerland, Scotland, England and the 
 Huguenots in France were Calvinistic. Spain, 
 Italy, most of France and parts of Germany re- 
 mained Roman Catholic. 
 
 The Reformation of the Sixteenth Century was 
 a complex movement. Men assisted or hindered 
 it from various motives. Kings found it a 
 handy instrument with which to curb the power 
 of the nobles or to influence the Pope. The 
 nobles often favored it when it helped them 
 against the exactions of the Church or their 
 Kings. Scholars welcomed it as liberating them 
 from the trammels of the dead past. The com- 
 mon people hoped to find in it a means of break- 
 ing the power of their lords and the bondage of 
 centuries. The merchants and manufacturers 
 favored it when it increased the power of their 
 class. Men of troubled conscience found in it 
 the way to peace and were willing to die for its 
 truths. The Reformation must never be thought 
 of in isolation. It was part of the great recon- 
 struction of the whole of life and thought which 
 beginning in the Renaissance of Art and Learn- 
 ing, through discoveries in science and manu- 
 facturing, spread to every part of life in every 
 state of Europe. 
 
 The various streams of the Reformation rose 
 from different sources and progressed under the 
 guidance of men of differing personality and 
 
Other Reformations 
 
 141 
 
 training to varying results : Lutheranism, Zwin- 
 glianism, Calvinism, Anabaptism, Puritanism, 
 etc. The very principle that all these movements 
 had in common, — Individual Interpretation of 
 the Bible as the only authority in faith and 
 religion, naturally led to various doctrines and 
 practices. As long as Protestantism stands 
 on that foundation we must look for division 
 among her forces. Division is not to be feared so 
 much as hypocrisy. Division, however, does not 
 imply that cooperation is impossible. For that 
 we must work. Differences of national, racial 
 and personal experiences lead to differences of 
 point of view. Predominant interest in political, 
 social, intellectual, artistic or other problems of 
 human life will also cause differences of per- 
 spective and emphasis. 
 
 When we learn Paul's great lesson that the 
 body, even the body of Christ, is not one mem- 
 ber but many; and that each has its own func- 
 tion necessary to all, at the same time that all are 
 necessary to it; and that respecting and honor- 
 ing each the other we work together 
 
 "With all lowliness and meekness, with long-suffering, 
 forbearing one another in love ; giving diligence to keep 
 the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. There is 
 one body, and one Spirit, even as ye also were called 
 in one hope of your calling; one Lord, one faith, one 
 baptism, one God and Father of all, who is over all, 
 and through all, and in all. But unto each one of us 
 was the grace given according to the measure of the 
 
 The Common 
 Principle of 
 Protestanism 
 
 Results in 
 Diversity. 
 
 Diversity is 
 Normal. 
 
 Cooperation of 
 Various Units 
 with various 
 functions 
 necessary. 
 
142 Protest and Progress 
 
 gift of Christ * * * for the perfecting of the saints, 
 unto the work of ministering, unto the building up of 
 the body of Christ: till we all attain unto the unity of 
 the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, 
 unto a full-grown man, unto the measure of the stature 
 of the fullness of Christ : * * * speaking the truth in . 
 Paul on \ovt, may grow up in all things into Him, who is the 
 
 Diversity and head, even Christ ; from whom all the body fitly framed 
 and knit together through that which every joint sup- 
 plieth, according to the working in due measure of 
 each several part, niaketh the increase of the body 
 unto the building up of itself in love."* 
 
 When we karn and practice that, we shall 
 
 nominations truly Carry on the work of the Twentieth Century 
 
 each other and bring to perfection the Reformation begun in 
 
 gethe™"^ the Sixteenth Century. Unity in the faith is not 
 
 uniformity. If each of the various denominations 
 
 will truly and sincerely teach that for which it 
 
 stands with respect for the sincerity of others and 
 
 with willing cooperation where there is possibility 
 
 of united effort, Protestantism will undoubtedly 
 
 advance and the souls of men be reached and 
 
 saved. 
 
 QUESTIONS. 
 
 1. How did the Reformation begin in Denmark? 
 
 2. Who introduced Lutheran doctrine in Sweden? 
 
 3. How was the Lutheran Reformation established in 
 
 Sweden? 
 
 4. Who was Zwingli? 
 
 ♦Epistle to the Ephesians. 
 
Other Reformations 143 
 
 5. How did his reform movement differ from Lu- 
 
 ther's ? 
 
 6. In what countries was Zwinglianism dominant? 
 
 7. Who began the Reformation of French Switzer- 
 
 land? 
 
 8. Who carried it to completion? 
 
 9. What book did he publish? 
 
 10. Into what countries did Calvinism spread? 
 
 11. How did the Reformation affect the Church in 
 
 England? 
 
 12. Under what sovereigns was Protestantism estab- 
 
 lished in England? 
 
 13. What is the statement of faith of the Church of 
 
 England called and what is its nature? 
 
 14. How did the Reformation affect the Church of 
 
 Rome? 
 
 15. What great Council determined the doctrine of the 
 
 Church of Rome? 
 
 16. What publications fixed its form of worship? 
 
 17. What is the Roman Bible? 
 
 18. Show in what countries of Europe the various 
 
 streams of Protestantism prevailed. 
 
 19. Briefly review the motives that led different classes 
 
 of men to support the Reformation. 
 
 20. Why did the Reformation have different doctrines 
 
 and practices in different places? 
 
 21. Can we expect a united Protestantism? 
 
 22. How can Protestantism be strong and effective 
 
 without unity? 
 
 23. What in your estimation prevents unity of Prot- 
 
 estants today? 
 
 24. Name the efforts in which you think that Protestants 
 
 might cooperate fruitfully. 
 
 25. How does the Lutheran Church cooperate with 
 
 others ? 
 
 II 
 
144 Protest and Progress 
 
 26. In what does your congregation cooperate with 
 
 others? 
 
 27. In what ways is your congregation showing dis- 
 
 tinctly to what denomination it belongs? 
 
 28. How are you personally showing your colors? 
 
 29. How are you helping and cooperating with other 
 
 Christians ? 
 
APPENDICES. 
 
APPENDIX I. 
 Chsonologicai, Tables. 
 
 TABLE A. 
 
 General Table of Dates. 
 
 1450 Printing by Gutenberg. 
 
 1453 Constantinople captured by the Turks. 
 
 1483 November 10, Martin Luther born. 
 
 1484 January i, Ulrich Zwingli born. 
 1492 Columbus discovered America. 
 1497 Melanchthon born. 
 
 1501 Luther at Erfurt. 
 
 1505 Luther enters the Monastery. 
 
 John Knox born. 
 
 1509 John Calvin born. 
 
 1512 Luther made a Doctor of Theology. 
 
 1517 October 31, The Ninety-five Theses. 
 
 1518 Zviringli preaches against Indulgences. 
 
 1519 Death of Emperor Maximilian I. ; Election of 
 
 Charles V. 
 Leipsic Debate. 
 Zwingli preacher at Zurich. 
 Cortez in Mexico. 
 
 1520 Luther's Open Letter to the Nobility, Babylonian 
 
 Captivity. 
 Liberty of a Christian Man. 
 Luther burns the Papal Bull. 
 
 1521 Luther at the Diet of Worms, April. 
 
 Luther at the Wartburg, May 4 to March 3, 1522. 
 Luther begins to translate the New Testament in 
 
 December. 
 Magellan sails around the world. 
 
148 Protest and Progress 
 
 1522 Luther returns to Wittenberg. 
 
 New Testament published in September. 
 Zwinghan Theology in the Netherlands. 
 
 1523 Luther's revised Order of Public Worship. 
 Gustavus Vasa, King of Sweden. Reformation 
 
 introduced into Sweden. 
 
 1524 The Peasants' Revolt. 
 
 First Lutheran Hymn Book. 
 
 Thorough Zwinglian Reformation in Zurich. 
 
 1525 End of the Peasants' Revolt. 
 
 Death of Frederick the Wise, Elector of Saxony ; 
 
 John the Constant succeeds him. 
 Luther against Erasmus. 
 Luther marries Catherine yon Bdra. 
 Anabaptist movement. 
 1527 Frederick I. King of Denmark; Lutheran Refor- 
 mation in Denmark. 
 Luther visits the Churches of Saxony. 
 Zwingli's political reformation in Switzerland. 
 
 1529 The Protest at the Diet of Spires. 
 Luther's Catechisms. 
 Switzerland divided. 
 
 Luther and Zwingli meet at Marburg. 
 
 1530 The Augsburg Confession. 
 
 Zwingli plans to abolish Pope and Emperor. 
 
 1531 Zwingli slain. 
 
 The Schmalkald League. 
 
 1532 John Frederick becomes Elector of Saxony. 
 1534 Reformation in Geneva. Wm. Farel. 
 
 ■ English Parliament passes the Act of Supremacy 
 making the King of England the only supreme 
 head on earth of the Church in England. 
 .1536 Reformation firmly established in Denmark. 
 Calvin's "Institutes" published. 
 Calvin comes to Geneva. 
 
Appendix I 149 
 
 1540 The Society of Jesus (Jesuits) constituted by 
 the Pope against Protestants : Ignatius Loyola. 
 Xavier. 
 
 1542 Presbyterian government in Geneva under Cal- 
 vin. 
 
 1545-1563 Council of Trent. Roman CathoHc doc- 
 trines finally determined. 
 
 1546 February 18, Luther's Death. 
 
 1548 Book of Common Prayer in England. Revised 
 1553; 1559- 
 
 I5SS Rehgious Peace of Augsburg; Lutherans grant- 
 ed territorial fights. 
 
 1558 Queen Elizabeth in England. 
 
 1559 John Knox in Edinburgh. 
 
 1560 Scotch Confession and Presbyterian regulations. 
 
 1562 Thirty-nine Articles of the Church of England. 
 Huguenots gain right to worship outside of cities. 
 
 1563 Heidelberg Catechism of the Zwinglians or Re- 
 
 formed. 
 
 1567 Puritans in England. 
 
 Inquisition in the Netherlands. 
 
 1572 Massacre of Protestants (St. Bartholomevvr) in 
 France. 
 
 1579 Independence of the Netherlands. Protestant 
 triumph. 
 
 1577 Formula of Concord. 
 
 1579 Independence of the Netherlands. Protestant. 
 
 1588 The Defeat of the Spanish Armada. 
 
 1598 Edict of Nantes. Liberty of conscience in 
 France. Rights secured (temporarily) to Prot- 
 estants. 
 
 TABLE B. 
 
 Lutheran Dates. 
 
 1483 Luther born. 
 
 1517 The Ninety-five Theses. 
 
150 Protest and Progress 
 
 1519 The Leipsic Debate. 
 
 1521 The Diet at Worms. 
 
 1523 Lutheran Reformation in Sweden. 
 1527 Lutheran Reformation in Denmark. 
 
 1529 Luther's Catechisms ; Protest at Spires. 
 
 1530 The Augsburg Confession. 
 1546 Luther's Death. 
 
 iSSS The Religious Peace of Augsburg. 
 IS77 The Formula of Concord. 
 
 Lutheran Reformation predominated in North 
 Germany, Denmark and Scandinavia. 
 
 TABIE C. 
 
 Zwinglian Dates. 
 
 1484 Zwingli born. 
 1519 Zwingli in Zurich. 
 
 1522 Zwinglian Theology in the Netherlands. 
 
 1524 Reformation established in Zurich. 
 
 1527 Zwingli's Political Reform in Switzerland. 
 
 1530 Zwingli against Pope and Emperor. 
 
 1531 Zwingli's Death. 
 
 1559 Inquisition in the Netherlands. 
 1563 Heidelberg Catechism. 
 
 Zwinglianisra predominated in South Germany, 
 along the Rhine, and in the Netherlands. 
 
 TABIiE D. 
 
 Calvanistic Dates. 
 
 1505 Knox born. 
 
 1509 Calvin bom. 
 
 1534 Farel's reformation in Geneva. 
 
 1536 Calvin in Geneva. 
 
Appendix I 151 
 
 1541-1564 Calvin ruling Geneva. 
 
 1559 First Reformed Synod at Paris. 
 
 1560 Scotch Confession and Presbyterianism. 
 
 1562 Protestant Worship tolerated in France outside 
 
 the cities. 
 1572 Massacre of St. Bartholomew. 
 1598 Edict of Nantes. 
 
 Calvinism predominated in western Switzerland 
 
 and Scotland. It had a foothold in France and 
 
 England and the Netherlands. 
 
 TABLE E. 
 
 English Reformation Dates. 
 
 1534 Act of Supremacy. 
 
 1540 Book of Common Prayer ; revised later. 
 1559 Act of Uniformity. Book of Common Prayer. 
 1562 The Thirty-nine Articles. 
 
 1567 Puritan reaction against clericalism and uni- 
 formity. 
 
 TABLE F. 
 
 Roman Catholic Dates. 
 
 1503-13 Pope Julius II. 
 
 1513-21 Pope Leo X. 
 
 1522-23 Pope Adrian VI. 
 
 1523-34 Pope Clement VII. 
 
 1527 Sack of Rome by Charles V. 
 
 1534-49 Pope Paul III. 
 
 1540 Jesuits constituted. Xavier in Asia. 
 
 1545 Beginning of the Council of Trent. 
 
 1550-54 Pope Julius III. 
 
 ISSS-S9 Pope Paul IV. 
 
 1559-65 Pope Pius IV. 
 
 1564 The Index of Prohibited Books. 
 
152 Protest and Progress 
 
 1566-72- Pope Pius V. 
 
 1568 The Breviary. 
 
 1570 The Roman Missal. 
 
 1572-85 Pope Gregory XIII. 
 
 1585-93 Pope Sixtus V. 
 
 1590 The "Infallible" edition of the Latin Vulgate. 
 
 TABi,E e. 
 Famous Men in Art, Science, Literature, etc, 
 
 1473-1543 Copernicus, founder of modern astronomy. 
 
 1571-1630 Kepler, great mathematician and astrono- 
 mer. 
 
 1546-1601 Tycho Brahe, mathematician and astrono- 
 mer. 
 
 1452-1519 Leonardo da Vinci, Italian artist. 
 
 1471-1528 Albrecht Duerer, German artist and engraver. 
 
 1475-1564 Michael Angelo, Italian artist and architect. 
 
 1478-1535 Sir Thomas More. (Utopia, 1516.) 
 
 1485-1536 Tyndale. 
 
 1553-1599 Edmund Spencer. 
 
 1564-1616 William Shakespeare. 
 
 
 TABtE H. 
 
 
 Sovereigns. 
 
 The Emperors 
 
 
 1493-15 19 
 
 Maximilian I. 
 
 1519-1556 
 
 Charles V. 
 
 1556-64 
 
 Ferdinand I. 
 
 1564-76 
 
 Maximilian II. 
 
 1576-1612 
 
 Rudolph. 
 
 Jzdigianu. 
 
 1509-47 
 
 Henry VIII. 
 
 IS47-S3 
 
 Edward VI. 
 

 Appendix I 
 
 
 ISS3-58 
 
 Mary (Bloody). 
 
 
 1558-1603 
 
 Elizabeth. 
 
 
 France. 
 
 
 
 1515-1547 
 
 Francis I. 
 
 
 1547-59 
 
 Henry II. and Catherine d 
 
 ie Medici. 
 
 1559-60 
 
 Francis II. 
 
 
 1560-74 
 
 Charles IX. 
 
 
 1574-89 
 
 Henry III. 
 
 
 1589-1610 
 
 Henry IV. (Navarre). 
 
 
 Denmark. 
 
 
 
 1523-33 
 
 Frederick I. 
 
 
 Sweden. 
 
 
 
 1523-60 
 
 Gustavus Vasa. 
 
 
 Spain. 
 
 
 
 1516-58 
 
 Charles. 
 
 
 1558-98 
 
 Philip II. 
 
 
 153 
 
APPENDIX II. 
 
 THE THESES. 
 
 In the desire and with the purpose of elucidating 
 the truth, a disputation will be held on the underwritten 
 propositions at Wittenberg, under the presidency of 
 the Reverend Father Martin Luther, Monk of the Order 
 of St. Augustine, Master of Arts and Sacred Theology, 
 and ordinary Reader of the same in that place. He 
 therefore asks those who can not be present and dis- 
 cuss the subject with us orally, to do so by letter in 
 their absence. In the name of our L,ord Jesus Christ. 
 Amen. 
 
 1. Our Lord and Master, Jesus Christ, in saying; 
 "Repent ye," etc., intended that the whole life of be- 
 lievers should be penitence. 
 
 2. This word can not be understood of sacramental 
 penance, that is, of the confession and satisfaction 
 which are performed under the ministry of priests. 
 
 3. It does not, however, refer solely to inward peni- 
 tence; nay, such inward penitence is naught, unless it 
 outwardly produces various mortifications of the flesh. 
 
 4. The penalty thus continues as long as the hatred of 
 self: — that is, true inward penitence — continues ; namely, 
 till our entrance into the kingdom of heaven. 
 
 5. The Pope has neither the will nor the power to re- 
 mit any penalties, except those which he has imposed 
 by his own authority, or by that of the canons. 
 
 6. The Pope has no power to remit any guilt, except 
 by declaring or warranting it to have been remitted by 
 God; or at most by remitting cases reserved for him- 
 self ; in which cases, if his power were despised, guilt 
 would certainly remain. 
 
Appendix II 155 
 
 7- God never remits any man's guilt, without at the 
 same time subjecting him, humbled in all things, to the 
 authority of his representative, the priest. 
 
 8. The penitential canons are imposed only on the 
 living, and no burden ought to be imposed on the dying, 
 according to them. 
 
 p. Hence the Holy Spirit acting in the Pope does 
 well for us, in that, in his decrees, he always makes 
 exception of the article of death and of necessity. 
 
 10. Those priests act wrongly and unlearnedly, who," 
 in the case of the dying, reserve the canonical penances 
 for purgatory. 
 
 11. Those tares about changing of the canonical into 
 the penalty of purgatory seem surely to have been sown 
 while the bishops were asleep. 
 
 12. Formerly the canonical penalties were imposed 
 not after, but before absolution, as tests of true con- 
 trition. 
 
 13. The dying pay all penalties by death, and are al- 
 ready dead to the canon laws, and are by right relieved 
 from them. 
 
 14. The imperfect soundness or charity of a dying 
 person necessarily brings with it great fear, and the less 
 it is, the greater the fear it brings. 
 
 15. This fear and horror is sufficient by itself, to say 
 nothing of other things, to constitute the pains of pur- 
 gatory, since it is very near to the horror of despair. 
 
 16. Hell, purgatory and heaven appear to differ as 
 despair, almost despair, and peace of mind differ. 
 
 17. With souls in purgatory it seems that it must 
 needs be that, as horror diminishes, so charity in- 
 creases. 
 
 18. Nor does it seem to be proved, by any reasoning 
 or any Scriptures, that they are outside of the state of 
 merit or of the increase of charity. 
 
156 Protest and Progress 
 
 ; 19. .Nor does this appear to be proved, that they are 
 sure, and confident of their own blessedness, at least 
 all of them, though we may be very sure of it. 
 
 20. Therefore the Pope, when he speaks of the 
 plenary remission of all penalties, does not mean sim- 
 ply of all, but only of those imposed by himself. 
 
 21. Thus those preachers of indulgences are in error 
 who say that, by the indulgences of the Pope, a man is 
 loosed and saved from all punishment. 
 
 22. For in fact he remits to souls in purgatory no 
 penalty which they would have had to pay in this life 
 according to the canons. 
 
 , 23. If any entire remission of all penalties can be 
 granted to any one, it is certain that it is granted to 
 none but the most perfect, that is, to very few. 
 
 24. Hence the greater part of the people must needs 
 be deceived by this indiscriminate and high-sounding 
 promise of release from penalties. 
 
 25. Such powers as the Pope has over purgatory in 
 general, such has every bishop in his own diocese, and 
 every curate in his own parish, in particular. 
 
 26: The Pope acts most rightly in granting remis- 
 sion to souls, not by the power of the keys (which is 
 of no avail in this case), but by the way of suffrage. 
 
 27. They preach man, who say that the soul flies out 
 of purgatory as soon as the money thrown into the 
 chest rattles. 
 
 28. It is certain that, when the money rattles in the 
 chest, avarice and gain may be increased, but the suf- 
 frage of the Church depends on the will of God alone. 
 
 29. Who knows whether all the souls in purgatory 
 desire to be redeemed from it, according to the story 
 told of Saints Severinus and Paschal? 
 
 30. No nian is sure of the reality of his own contri- 
 tion, much less of the attainment of plenary remission. 
 
Appendix II 157 
 
 31. Rare as is a true penitent, so rare is one who 
 truly buys indulgences — that is to say most rare. 
 
 32. Those who believe that, through letters of par- 
 don, they are made sure of their own salvation, will be 
 eternally damned alon^ with their teachers. 
 
 - 33- We must especially beware of those who say that 
 these pardons from the Pope are that inestimable gift- 
 of God by which man is reconciled to God. 
 
 34. 1^0 r the grace conveyed by these pardons has re-' 
 spect only to the penalties of sacramental satisfaction, 
 which are of human appointment. 
 
 35. They preach no Christian doctrine, who teach 
 that contrition is not necessary for those who buy souls 
 out of purgatory or buy confessional licenses. 
 
 36. Every Christian who feels true compunction has 
 of right plenary remission of pain and guilt, even with- 
 out letters of pardon. 
 
 ZT- Every true Christian, whether living or dead, has 
 a share in all the benefits of Christ, and of the Church, 
 given him by God, even without letters of pardon. 
 
 38. The remission, however, imparted by the Pope is 
 by no means to be despised, since it is, as I have saidj 
 a declaration of divine remission. 
 
 39. It is a most difficult thing, even for the most 
 learned theologians, to exalt at the same time in the 
 eyes of the people the ample effect of pardons and the 
 necessity of true contrition. 
 
 40. True contrition seeks and loves punishment; 
 while the ampleness of pardon relaxes it, and causes 
 men to hate it, or at least gives them occasion for them 
 to do so. 
 
 41. Apostolic pardons ought to be purchased with 
 caution, lest the people should falsely suppose that they 
 are placed before other good works of charity. 
 
 42. Christians should be taught that it is not the 
 mind of the Pope that the buying of pardons is to be 
 in any way compared with works of mercy. 
 
158 Protest and Progress 
 
 43. Christians should be taught that he who gives to 
 a poor man or lends to a needy man, does better than 
 if he bought pardons. 
 
 44. Because, by a work of charity, charity increases, 
 and the man becomes better; while, by means of par- 
 dons, he does not become better, but only freer from 
 punishment. 
 
 45. Christians should be taught that he who sees any 
 one in need, and, passing him by, gives money for 
 pardons, is not purchasing for himself the indulgence 
 of the Pope, but the anger of God. 
 
 46. Christians should be taught that, unless they have 
 superfluous wealth, that they are bound to keep what 
 is necessary for the use of their own households, and 
 by no means to lavish it on pardons. 
 
 47. Christians should be taught that, while they are 
 free to buy pardons, they are not commanded to do so. 
 
 48. Christians should be taught that the Pope, in 
 granting pardons, has both more need and more desire 
 that devout prayer should be made for him, than that 
 money should be readily paid. 
 
 49. Christians should be taught that the Pope's par- 
 dons are useful, if they do not put their trust in them, 
 but most hurtful, if through them they lose the fear 
 of God. 
 
 50. Christians should be taught that, if the Pope 
 were acquainted with the exactions of the preachers 
 of pardons, he would prefer that the Basilica of St. 
 Peter should be burnt to ashes, than that it should be 
 built up with the skin, iiesh, and bones of his sheep. 
 
 51. Christians should be taught that, as it would be 
 the duty, so it would be the wish of the Pope, even to 
 sell, if necessary, the Basilica of St. Peter, and to give 
 of his own money to the very many of those from 
 whom the preachers of pardons extract money. 
 
Appendix II 159 
 
 52. Vain is the hope of salvation through letters of 
 pardon, even if a commissary— nay, the Pope himself, 
 — were to pledge his own soul for them. 
 
 53- They are enemies of Christ and of the Pope, who, 
 in order that pardons may be preached, condemn the 
 Word of God to utter silence in their churches. 
 
 54. Wrong is done to the Word of God when, in the 
 same sermon, an equal or longer time is spent on par- 
 dons than on it. 
 
 55. The mind of the Pope necessarily is that, if par- 
 dons, which are a very small matter, are celebrated with 
 single bells, single processions, and single ceremonies, 
 the Gospel, which is a very great matter, should be 
 preached with a hundred bells, a hundred processions, 
 and a hundred ceremonies. 
 
 56. The treasures of the Church, whence the Pope 
 grants indulgences, are neither sufficiently named or 
 known among the people of Christ. 
 
 57. It is clear that they are at least not temporal 
 treasures, for these are not so readily lavished, but only 
 accumulated by many of the preachers. 
 
 58. Nor are they the merits of Christ and of the 
 saints, for these, independently of the Pope, are always 
 working grace to the inner man, and the cross, death, 
 and hell to the outer man. 
 
 59. St. Lawrence said that the treasures of the 
 Church are the poor of the Church, but he spoke ac- 
 cording to the use of the word in his time. 
 
 60. We are not speaking rashly when we say that the 
 keys of the Church, bestowed through the merits of 
 Christ, are that treasure. 
 
 61. For it is clear that the power of the Pope is 
 alone sufficient for the remission of penalties and of 
 reserved cases. 
 
 62. The true treasure of the Church is the Holy Gos- 
 pel of the glory and grace of God. 
 
160 Protest and Progress 
 
 . 63. This treasure, however, is deservedly most hate- 
 ful, because it makes the first to be the last. 
 
 64. While the treasure of indulgences is deservedly 
 most acceptable, because it makes the last to be the 
 
 • first. 
 
 65. Hence the treasures of the Gospel are nets, 
 wherewith of old they fished for the men of riches. 
 
 66. The treasures of indulgences are nets, wherewith 
 they now fish for the riches of men. 
 
 dj. Those indulgences, which the preachers loudly 
 proclaim to be the greatest graces, are seen to be truly 
 such as regard the promotion of gain. 
 
 68. Yet they are in reality in no degree to be com- 
 pared to the grace of God and the piety of the cross. 
 
 69. Bishops and curates are bound to receive the 
 commissaries of apostolical pardons with all reverence. 
 
 70. But they are still more bound to see to it with all 
 their eyes, and take heed with all their ears, that these 
 men do not preach their own dreams in place of the 
 Pope's commission. 
 
 71. He who speaks against the truth of apostolic par- 
 dons, let him be anathema and accursed. 
 
 72. But he, on the other hand, who exerts himself 
 against the wantonness and licenses of speech of the 
 preachers of pardons, let him be blessed. 
 
 73. As the Pope justly thunders against those who 
 use any kind of contrivance to the injury of the traffic 
 in pardons. 
 
 74. Much more it is his intention to thunder against 
 those who, under the pretext of pardons, use contri- 
 vances to the injury of holy charity and of truth. 
 
 75. To think that Papal pardons have such power 
 that they could absolve a man even if — by an impossi- 
 bility — he had violated the Mother of God, is madness. 
 
 76. We affirm on the contrary that Papal pardons 
 cannot take away even the least of venial sins, as re- 
 gards its guilt. 
 
Appendix II 161 
 
 , ^^. The saying that, even if St. Peter were now 
 Pope, r.e could grant no greater graces, is blasphemy 
 against St. Peter ancijhe Pope. 
 
 78. We affirm en the contrary that both he and any 
 other Pope has greater graces to grant, namely, the 
 Gospel, powers, gifts of healing, etc. (i Cor. 12:9). 
 
 79. To say that the cross set up among the insignia 
 of the Papal arms is of equal, power with the cross of 
 Christ is blasphemy. 
 
 80. Those bishops, curates, and theologians who al- 
 low such discourses to have currency among the people, 
 will have to render an account. 
 
 81. This license in the preaching of pardons makes 
 it no easy thing, even for learned men, t protect the 
 reverence due to the Pope against the calumnies or 
 at all events, the keen questioning of the laity. 
 
 82. As for instance : Why does not the Pope empty 
 purgatory for the sake of most holy charity and of the 
 jupreme necessity of souls — this being the most just 
 of all reasons — if he redeems an infinite number of 
 souls for the sake of that most fatal thing, money, to 
 be spent on building a Basilica — this being a very slight 
 reason ? 
 
 83. Again : Why do funeral masses and anniversary 
 masses for the deceased continue and why does not 
 the Pope return, or permit the withdrawal of funds be- 
 queathed for this purpose, since it is a wrong for them 
 to pray for those who are already redeemed? 
 
 84. Again : What is this new kindness of God and 
 the Pope, in that, for money's sake, they permit an 
 impious man and an enemy of God to redeem a pious 
 soul which loves God, and yet do not redeem the same 
 pious and beloved soul, out of free charity, on account 
 of its own need? 
 
 85. Again : Why is it that the penitential canons, 
 long since abrogated and dead in themselves in very 
 fact and not only by usage, are yet still redeemed with 
 
162 Protest and Progress 
 
 money, through the granting of indulgences, as if they 
 were full of life? 
 
 86. Again : Why does not the Pope, whose riches 
 are at this day more ample than those of the wealth- 
 iest of the wealthy, build the. one Basilica of St. Peter 
 with his own money, rather than that of poor be- 
 lievers ? 
 
 87. Again : What does the Pope remit or impart to 
 those who, through perfect contrition, have a right to 
 plenary remissions and participations? 
 
 88. Again : What greater good would the Church 
 receive if the Pope, instead of once, as he does now, 
 were to bestow these remissions and participations a 
 hundred times a day on any one of the faithful? 
 
 89. Since it is the salvation of souls, rather than 
 money, that the Pope seeks by his pardons, why does 
 he suspend the letters and pardons granted long ago, 
 since they are equally efficacious? 
 
 90. To repress these scruples and arguments of the' 
 laity by force alone, and not to solve them by giving 
 reasons, is to expose the Church and the Pope to the 
 ridicule of their enemies, and to make Christian men 
 unhappy. 
 
 91. If then pardons were preached according to the 
 spirit and mind of the Pope, all these questions would 
 be resolved with ease; nay, would not exist. 
 
 92. Away then with all those prophets who say to 
 the people of Christ: "Peace, Peace," and there is no 
 peace. 
 
 93. Blessed be all those prophets, who say to the 
 people of Christ : "The cross, the cross," and there is 
 no cross. 
 
 94. Christians should be exhorted to strive to follow 
 Christ, their Head, through pains, deaths and hells. 
 
 95. And thus to enter heaven through many tribula- 
 tians rather than in the security of peace. 
 
'i;;i.'i'i'fi''i|'|i| 
 
 ''Mm 
 
 Mil ! li li'-liPill! 
 
 ll'.llllll