History of the Reformation in the Sixteenth Century Volume III Part 3

[49] At mihi non obtrudent uxorem. L. Epp. ii. 40.

[Sidenote: STRUGGLE WITH MONACHISM.]

There was, indeed, a great difference between the two questions. The marriage of priests was not the destruction of the priesthood; on the contrary, this of itself might restore to the secular clergy the respect of the people; but the marriage of monks was the downfall of monachism. It became a question, therefore, whether it was desirable to disband and break up that powerful army which the popes had under their orders. "Priests," wrote Luther to Melancthon, "are of divine appointment, and consequently are free as regards human commandments.

But of their own free will the monks adopted celibacy; they are not therefore at liberty to withdraw from the yoke they voluntarily imposed on themselves."[50]

[50] Me enim vehementer movet, quod sacerdotum ordo, a Deo inst.i.tutus, est liber, non autem monachorum qui sua sponte statum eligerunt. L.

Epp. ii. 34.

The reformer was destined to advance, and carry by a fresh struggle this new position of the enemy. Already had he trodden under foot a host of Roman abuses, and even Rome herself; but monachism still remained standing. Monachism, that had once carried life into so many deserts, and which, pa.s.sing through so many centuries, was now filling the cloisters with sloth and often with licentiousness, seemed to have embodied itself and gone to defend its rights in that castle of Thuringia, where the question of its life and death was discussed in the conscience of one man. Luther struggled with it: at one moment he was on the point of gaining the victory, at another he was nearly overcome. At length, unable longer to maintain the contest, he flung himself in prayer at the feet of Jesus Christ, exclaiming: "Teach us, deliver us, establish us, by Thy mercy, in the liberty that belongs to us; for of a surety we are thy people!"[51]

[51] Dominus Jesus erudiat et liberet nos, per misericordiam suam, in libertatem nostram. To Melancthon, on Celibacy, 6th August 1521. Ibid.

40.

[Sidenote: VICTORY--THESES.]

He had not long to wait for deliverance; an important revolution was effected in the reformer's mind; and again it was the doctrine of justification by faith that gave him victory. That arm which had overthrown the indulgences, the practices of Rome, and the pope himself, also wrought the downfall of the monks in Luther's mind and throughout Christendom. Luther saw that monachism was in violent opposition to the doctrine of salvation by grace, and that a monastic life was founded entirely on the pretended merits of man. Feeling convinced, from that hour, that Christ's glory was interested in this question, he heard a voice incessantly repeating in his conscience: "Monachism must fall!"--"So long as the doctrine of justification by faith remains pure and undefiled in the Church, no one can become a monk," said he.[52] This conviction daily grew stronger in his heart, and about the beginning of September he sent "to the bishops and deacons of the Church of Wittemberg," the following theses, which were his declaration of war against a monastic life:--

[52] L. Opp. (W.) xxii. 1466.

"Whatsoever is not of faith is sin (Rom. xiv. 23).

"Whosoever maketh a vow of virginity, chast.i.ty, of service to G.o.d without faith, maketh an impious and idolatrous vow,--a vow to the devil himself.

"To make such vows is worse than the priests of Cybele or the vestals of the pagans; for the monks make their vows in the thought of being justified and saved by these vows; and what ought to be ascribed solely to the mercy of G.o.d, is thus attributed to meritorious works.

"We must utterly overthrow such convents, as being the abodes of the devil.

"There is but one order that is holy and makes man holy, and that is Christianity or faith.[53]

"For convents to be useful they should be converted into schools, where children should be brought up to man's estate; instead of which they are houses where adult men become children, and remain so for ever."

[53] Es ist nicht mehr denn eine einige Geistlichkeit, die da heilig ist, und heilig macht......L. Opp. xvii. 718.

[Sidenote: LUTHER REJECTS MONACHISM.]

We see that Luther would still have tolerated convents as places of education; but erelong his attacks against these establishments became more violent. The immorality and shameful practices that prevailed in the cloisters recurred forcibly to his thoughts. "I am resolved," wrote he to Spalatin on the 11th of November, "to deliver the young from the h.e.l.lish fires of celibacy."[54] He now wrote a book against monastic vows, which he dedicated to his father:--

[54] Adolescentes liberare ex isto inferno clibatus. L. Opp. ii.

95.

"Do you desire," said he in his dedication to the old man at Mansfeldt, "do you still desire to rescue me from a monastic life? You have the right, for you are still my father, and I am still your son.

But that is no longer necessary: G.o.d has been beforehand with you, and has Himself delivered me by his power. What matters it whether I wear or lay aside the tonsure and the cowl? Is it the cowl--is it the tonsure--that makes the monk? _All things are yours_, says St. Paul, _and you are Christ's_. I do not belong to the cowl, but the cowl to me. I am a monk, and yet not a monk; I am a new creature, not of the pope, but of Jesus Christ. Christ, alone and without any go-between, is my bishop, my abbot, my prior, my lord, my father, and my master; and I know no other. What matters it to me if the pope should condemn me and put me to death? He cannot call me from the grave and kill me a second time......The great day is drawing near in which the kingdom of abominations shall be overthrown. Would to G.o.d that it were worth while for the pope to put us all to death! Our blood would cry out to heaven against him, and thus his condemnation would be hastened, and his end be near."[55]

[55] Da.s.s unser Blut mocht schreien, und dringen sein Gericht, da.s.s sein bald ein Ende wurde. L. Epp. ii. 105.

The transformation had already been effected in Luther himself; he was no longer a monk. It was not outward circ.u.mstances, or earthly pa.s.sions, or carnal precipitation that had wrought this change. There had been a struggle: at first Luther had taken the side of monachism; but truth also had gone down into the lists, and monachism had fallen before it. The victories that pa.s.sion gains are ephemeral; those of truth are lasting and decisive.

CHAPTER IV.

Archbishop Albert--The Idol of Halle--Luther's Indignation--Alarm of the Court--Luther's Letter to the Archbishop--Albert's Reply--Joachim of Brandenburg.

[Sidenote: ARCHBISHOP ALBERT.]

While Luther was thus preparing the way for one of the greatest revolutions that were destined to be effected in the Church, and the Reformation was beginning to enter powerfully into the lives of Christians, the Romish partisans, blind as those generally are who have long been in possession of power, imagined that, because Luther was in the Wartburg, the Reform was dead and for ever extinct; and fancied they should be able quietly to resume their ancient practices, that had been for a moment disturbed by the monk of Wittemberg.

Albert, elector-archbishop of Mentz, was one of those weak men who, all things being equal, decide for the truth; but who, as soon as their interest is put in the balance, are ready to take part with error. His most important aim was to have a court as brilliant as that of any prince in Germany, his equipages as rich, and his table as well furnished: the traffic in indulgences served admirably to obtain this result. Accordingly, the decree against Luther had scarcely issued from the imperial chancery, before Albert, who was then residing with his court at Halle, summoned the vendors of indulgences, who were still alarmed at the words of the reformer, and endeavoured to encourage them by such language as this: "Fear nothing, we have silenced him; let us begin to shear the flock in peace; the monk is a prisoner; he is confined by bolts and bars; this time he will be very clever if he comes again to disturb us in our affairs." The market was reopened, the merchandise was displayed for sale, and again the churches of Halle re-echoed with the speeches of the mountebanks.

But Luther was still alive, and his voice was powerful enough to pa.s.s beyond the walls and gratings behind which he had been hidden.

Nothing could have roused his indignation to a higher pitch. What! the most violent battles have been fought; he has confronted every danger; the truth remained victorious, and yet they dare trample it under foot, as if it had been vanquished!......That voice shall again be heard, which has once already put an end to this criminal traffic. "I shall enjoy no rest," wrote he to Spalatin, "until I have attacked the idol of Mentz with its brothel at Halle."[56]

[56] Non continebor quin idolum Moguntinum invadam, c.u.m suo lupanari Hallensi. L. Epp. ii. 59, 7th October.

[Sidenote: THE IDOL OF HALLE.]

Luther set to work immediately; he cared little about the mystery with which some sought to envelop his residence in the Wartburg. He was like Elijah in the desert forging fresh thunderbolts against the impious Ahab. On the first of November he finished his treatise _Against the New Idol of Halle_.

Intelligence of Luther's plans reached the archbishop. Alarmed and in emotion at the very idea, he sent about the middle of October two of his attendants (Capito and Auerbach) to Wittemberg to avert the storm.

"Luther must moderate his impetuosity," said they to Melancthon, who received them cordially. But Melancthon, although mild himself, was not one of those who imagine that wisdom consists in perpetual concession, tergiversation, and silence. "It is G.o.d who moves him,"

replied he, "and our age needs a bitter and pungent salt."[57] Upon this Capito turned to Jonas, and endeavoured through him to act upon the court. The news of Luther's intention was already known there, and produced great amazement. "What!" said the courtiers: "rekindle the fire that we have had so much trouble to extinguis.h.!.+ Luther can only be saved by being forgotten, and yet he is rising up against the first prince in the empire!"--"I will not suffer Luther to write against the Archbishop of Mentz, and thus disturb the public tranquillity," said the elector.[58]

[57] Huic seculo opus esse acerrimo sale. Corp. Ref. i. 463.

[58] Non pa.s.surum principem, scribi in Moguntinum. L. Epp. ii. 94.

[Sidenote: LUTHER'S INDIGNATION.]

Luther was annoyed when these words were repeated to him. Is it not enough to imprison his body, but they will also enchain his mind, and the truth with it?......Do they fancy that he hides himself through fear, and that his retirement is an avowal of defeat? He maintains that it is a victory. Who dared stand up against him at Worms and oppose the truth? Accordingly when the captive in the Wartburg had read the chaplain's letter, informing him of the prince's sentiments, he flung it aside, determined to make no reply. But he could not long contain himself; he took up the epistle and wrote to Spalatin: "The elector will not suffer!......and I too will not suffer the elector _not_ to permit me to write......Rather would I destroy yourself, the elector, nay, the whole world for ever![59] If I have resisted the pope, who is the creator of your cardinal, why should I give way before his creature? It is very fine, forsooth, to hear you say that we must not disturb the public tranquillity, while you allow the everlasting peace of G.o.d to be disturbed!......Spalatin, it shall not be so! Prince, it shall not be so![60] I send you a book I had already prepared against the cardinal when I received your letter. Forward it to Melancthon."

[59] Potius te et principem ipsum perdam et omnem creaturam. L. Epp.

ii. 94.

[60] Non sic, Spalatine; non sic, princeps. Ibid.

Spalatin trembled as he read this ma.n.u.script; again he represented to the reformer how imprudent it would be to publish a work that would force the imperial government to lay aside its apparent ignorance of Luther's fate, and punish a prisoner who dared attack the greatest prince in the empire and the Church. If Luther persevered in his designs, the tranquillity would again be disturbed, and the Reformation perhaps be lost. Luther consented to delay the publication of his treatise; he even permitted Melancthon to erase the most violent pa.s.sages.[61] But, irritated at his friend's timidity, he wrote to the chaplain: "The Lord lives and reigns, that Lord in whom you court-folks do not believe, unless he so accommodate His works to your reason, that there is no longer any necessity to believe." He then resolved to write direct to the cardinal.

[61] Ut acerbiora radat. Ibid. 110.

[Sidenote: LETTER TO THE ARCHBISHOP.]

It is the whole body of Romish bishops that Luther thus brings to the bar in the person of the German primate. His words are those of a bold man, ardent in zeal for the truth, and who feels that he is speaking in the name of G.o.d himself.

"Your electoral highness," wrote he from the depth of the retreat in which he was hidden, "has set up again in Halle the idol that swallows the money and the souls of poor Christians. You think, perhaps, that I am disabled, and that the emperor will easily stifle the cries of the poor monk......But know that I shall discharge the duties that christian charity has imposed upon me, without fearing the gates of h.e.l.l, and much less the pope, his bishops, and cardinals.