History of the Reformation in the Sixteenth Century Volume II Part 13

He begins with the pope. "It is monstrous," says he, "to see him who calls himself the vicar of Jesus Christ displaying a magnificence, unequalled by that of any emperor. Is this the way in which he proves his resemblance to lowly Jesus, or humble Peter? He is, it is said, the lord of the world. But Christ, whose vicar he boasts to be, has said, '_My kingdom is not of this world_.' Can the power of a vicegerent exceed that of his prince?..."

Luther proceeds to depict the consequences of the papal domination.

"Do you know of what use the cardinals are? I will tell you. Italy and Germany have many convents, foundations, and benefices, richly endowed. How could their revenues be brought to Rome?... Cardinals were created; then, on them, cloisters and prelacies were bestowed, and at this hour ... Italy is almost a desert--the convents are destroyed--the bishop.r.i.c.ks devoured--the towns in decay--the inhabitants corrupted--wors.h.i.+p dying out, and preaching abolished....

Why? Because all the revenues of the churches go to Rome. Never would the Turk himself have so ruined Italy."

Luther next turns to his countrymen.

[Sidenote: DANGER OF GERMANY. REMEDIES PROPOSED BY LUTHER.]

"And now that they have thus sucked the blood of their own country, they come into Germany. They begin gently, but let us be on our guard.

Germany will soon become like Italy. We have already some cardinals.

Their thought is--before the rustic Germans comprehend our design they will have neither bishop.r.i.c.k, nor convent, nor benefice, nor penny, nor farthing. Antichrist must possess the treasures of the earth.

Thirty or forty cardinals will be elected in a single day; to one will be given Bamberg, to another the duchy of Wurtzburg, and rich benefices will be annexed until the churches and cities are laid desolate. And then the pope will say, 'I am the vicar of Christ, and the pastor of his flocks. Let the Germans be resigned.'"

Luther's indignation rises.

"How do we Germans submit to such robbery and concussion on the part of the pope? If France has successfully resisted, why do we allow ourselves to be thus sported with and insulted? Ah! if they deprived us of nothing but our goods. But they ravage churches, plunder the sheep of Christ, abolish the wors.h.i.+p and suppress the word of G.o.d."

Luther then exposes the devices of Rome to obtain money and secure the revenues of Germany. Annats, palliums, commendams, administrations, expected favours, incorporations, reservations, etc., all pa.s.s in review. Then he says, "Let us endeavour to put a stop to this desolation and misery. If we would march against the Turks--let us begin with the worst species of them. If we hang pickpockets, and behead robbers, let us not allow Roman avarice to escape--avarice, which is the greatest of all thieves and robbers, and that too in the name of St. Peter and Jesus Christ. Who can endure it? Who can be silent? Is not all that the pope possesses stolen? He neither purchased it nor inherited it from St. Peter, nor acquired it by the sweat of his own brow. Where then did he get it?"

Luther proposes remedies for all these evils, and energetically arouses the German n.o.bility to put an end to Roman depredation. He next comes to the reform of the pope himself. "Is it not ridiculous,"

says he, "that the pope should pretend to be the lawful heir of the empire? Who gave it to him? Was it Jesus Christ, when he said, '_The kings of the earth exercise lords.h.i.+p over them, but it shall not be so with you'?_ (Luke, xxii, 25, 26). How can he govern an empire, and at the same time preach, pray, study, and take care of the poor? Jesus Christ forbade his disciples to carry with them gold or clothes, because the office of the ministry cannot be performed without freedom from every other care; yet the pope would govern the empire, and at the same time remain pope."...

[Sidenote: THE POPE. CELIBACY OF THE CLERGY.]

Luther continues to strip the sovereign pontiff of his spoils. "Let the pope renounce every species of t.i.tle to the kingdom of Naples and Sicily. He has no more right to it than I have. His possession of Bologna, Imola, Ravenna, Romagna, Marche d'Ancona, etc., is unjust and contrary to the commands of Jesus Christ. '_No man_,' says St. Paul, '_who goeth a warfare entangleth_ _himself with the affairs of this life_,' (2 Tim. ii, 2). And the pope, who pretends to take the lead in the war of the gospel, entangles himself more with the affairs of this life than any emperor or king. He must be disenc.u.mbered of all this toil. The emperor should put a bible and a prayer book into the hands of the pope, that the pope may leave kings to govern, and devote himself to preaching and prayer."[208]

[208] Ihm die Biblien und Betbucher dafur anzeigen .... und er predige und bete. (L. Op. xvii, p. 472.)

Luther is as averse to the pope's ecclesiastical power in Germany as to his temporal power in Italy. "The first thing necessary is to banish from all the countries of Germany, the legates of the pope, and the pretended blessings which they sell us at the weight of gold, and which are sheer imposture. They take our money--and why? For legalising ill gotten gain, for loosing oaths, and teaching us to break faith, to sin, and go direct to h.e.l.l.... Hearest thou, O, pope!

not pope most holy, but pope most sinful.... May G.o.d, from his place in heaven, cast down thy throne into the infernal abyss!"

The Christian tribune pursues his course. After citing the pope to his bar, he cites all the abuses in the train of the papacy, and endeavours to sweep away from the Church all the rubbish by which it is enc.u.mbered. He begins with the monks.

"And now I come to a lazy band which promises much, but performs little. Be not angry, dear Sirs, my intention is good; what I have to say is a truth at once sweet and bitter; viz., that it is no longer necessary to build cloisters for mendicant monks. Good G.o.d! we have only too many of them, and would they were all suppressed.... To wander vagabond over the country never has done, and never will do good."

The marriage of ecclesiastics comes next in course. It is the first occasion on which Luther speaks of it.

[Sidenote: FEAST DAYS. SUPPRESSION OF HERESY.]

"Into what a state have the clergy fallen, and how many priests are burdened with women and children and remorse, while no one comes to their a.s.sistance? Let the pope and the bishops run their course, and let those who will, go to perdition; all very well! but I am resolved to unburden my conscience and open my mouth freely, however pope, bishops, and others may be offended!... I say, then, that according to the inst.i.tution of Jesus Christ and the apostles, every town ought to have a pastor or bishop, and that this pastor may have a wife, as St.

Paul writes to Timothy, "_Let the bishop be the husband of one wife_,"

(1 Tim. iii. 2,) and as is still practised in the Greek Church. But the devil has persuaded the pope, as St. Paul tells Timothy (1 Tim.

iv, 1-3), to forbid the clergy to marry. And hence, evils so numerous, that it is impossible to give them in detail. What is to be done? How are we to save the many pastors who are blameworthy only in this, that they live with a female, to whom they wish with all their heart to be lawfully united? Ah! let them save their conscience! let them take this woman in lawful wedlock, and live decently with her, not troubling themselves whether it pleases or displeases the pope.

The salvation of your soul is of greater moment than arbitrary and tyrannical laws, laws not imposed by the Lord."

In this way the Reformation sought to restore purity of morals within the Church. The Reformer continues:--

"Let feast-days be abolished, and let Sunday only be kept, or if it is deemed proper to keep the great Christian festivals, let them be celebrated in the morning, and let the remainder of the day be a working-day as usual. For by the ordinary mode of spending them in drinking and gaming and committing all sorts of sins, or in mere idleness, G.o.d is offended on festivals much more than on other days."

He afterwards attacks the dedications of Churches, (which he describes as mere taverns,) and after them fasts and fraternities. He desires not only to suppress abuses, but also to put an end to schisms. "It is time," says he, "to take the case of the Bohemians into serious consideration, that hatred and envy may cease, and union be again established." He proposes excellent methods of conciliation, and adds--"In this way must heretics be refuted by Scripture, as the ancient fathers did, and not subdued by fire. On a contrary system, executioners would be the most learned of all doctors. Oh! would to G.o.d that each party among us would shake hands with each other in fraternal humility, rather than harden ourselves in the idea of our power and right! Charity is more necessary than the Roman papacy. I have now done what was in my power. If the pope or his people oppose it, they will have to give an account. The pope should be ready to renounce the popedom, and all his wealth, and all his honours, if he could thereby save a single soul. But he would see the universe go to destruction sooner than yield a hair-breadth of his usurped power.[209] I am clear of these things."

[209] Nun liess er ehe dei Welt untergehen, ehe er ein Haarbreit seiner varmessenen Gewalt liesse abbrechen. (L. Op. (L.) xvii, p.

483.)

Luther next comes to universities and schools.

[Sidenote: CHRISTIAN EDUCATION. ROME SHOULD BE RETAKEN.]

"I much fear the universities will become wide gates to h.e.l.l, if due care is not taken to explain the Holy Scriptures, and engrave it on the hearts of the students. My advice to every person is, not to place his child where the Scripture does not reign paramount. Every inst.i.tution in which the studies carried on lead to a relaxed consideration of the Word of G.o.d must prove corrupting;[210] a weighty sentiment, which governments, literary men, and parents in all ages would do well to ponder."

[210] Es muss verderben, alles was nicht Gottes Wort ohn Unterla.s.s treibt. (L. Op. L. xvii, p. 486.)

Towards the end of his address he returns to the empire and the emperor.

"The popes," says he, "unable to lead the ancient masters of the Roman empire at will, resolved on wresting their t.i.tle and their empire from them and giving it to us Germans. This they accomplished, and we have become bondmen to the pope. For the pope has possessed himself of Rome, and bound the emperor by oath never to reside in it; and the consequence is, that the emperor is the emperor of Rome without having Rome. We have the name; the pope has the country and its cities. We have the t.i.tle and the insignia of empire; the pope its treasury, power, privileges, and freedom. The pope eats the fruit, and we amuse ourselves with the husk. In this way our simplicity has always been abused by the pride and tyranny of the Romans.

"But now, may G.o.d who has given us such an empire, be our aid! Let us act conformably to our name, our t.i.tle, our insignia; let us save our freedom, and give the Romans to know that, through their hands it was committed to us by G.o.d. They boast of having given us an empire. Very well! let us take what belongs to us. Let the pope surrender Rome, and every part of the empire that he possesses. Let him put an end to his taxes and extortions. Let him restore our liberty, our power, our wealth, our honour, our soul, and our body. Let the empire be all that an empire ought to be; and let the sword of princes no longer be compelled to lower itself before the hypocritical pretensions of a pope."

In these words there is not only energy and eloquence, but also sound argument. Never did orator so speak to the n.o.bility of the empire, and to the emperor himself. Far from being surprised that so many German states revolted from Rome we should rather wonder that all Germany did not proceed to the banks of the Tiber, and there resume that imperial power, the insignia of which the popes had imprudently placed on the head of their chief.

Luther thus concludes his intrepid address.

[Sidenote: BOOK NOT PUBLISHED.]

"I presume, however, that I have struck too high a note, proposed many things that will appear impossible, and been somewhat too severe on the many errors which I have attacked. But what can I do? Better that the world be offended with me than G.o.d!... The utmost which it can take from me is life. I have often offered to make peace with my opponents, but, through their instrumentality G.o.d has always obliged me to speak out against them. I have still a chant upon Rome in reserve, and if they have an itching ear, I will sing it to them at full pitch. Rome! do ye understand me?"... It is probable that Luther here refers to a treatise on the papacy which he was preparing for publication, but which never was published. Rector Burkhard, writing at this time to Spengler, says, "There is, moreover, a short tract, _De Execranda Venere Romanorum_, but it is kept in reserve." The t.i.tle of the work seems to intimate something which would have given great offence, and it is pleasing to think that Luther had moderation not to publish it.

"If my cause is just," continues he, "it must be condemned on the earth, and justified only by Christ in heaven. Therefore, let pope, bishops, priests, monks, doctors, come forward, display all their zeal, and give full vent to their fury. a.s.suredly they are just the people who ought to persecute the truth, as in all ages they have persecuted it."

Where did this monk obtain this clear knowledge of public affairs, which even the states of the empire often find it so difficult to unravel? Whence did this German derive this courage which enables him to hold up his head among his countrymen who had been enslaved for so many ages, and deal such severe blows to the papacy? By what mysterious energy is he animated? Does it not seem that he must have heard the words which G.o.d addressed to one of ancient times; "Lo! I have strengthened thy face against their faces, I have made thy forehead like a diamond, and harder than flint; be not then afraid because of them"?

[Sidenote: ADDRESS TO THE GERMAN n.o.bILITY.]

This exhortation, being addressed to the German n.o.bility, was soon in the hands of all those for whom it was intended. It spread over Germany with inconceivable rapidity. Luther's friends trembled, while Staupitz, and those who wished to follow gentle methods, thought the blow too severe. "In our days," replied Luther, "whatever is treated calmly falls into oblivion, and n.o.body cares for it."[211] At the same time, he displayed extraordinary simplicity and humility. He was unconscious of his own powers. "I know not," writes he, "what to say of myself; perhaps I am the precursor of Philip (Melancthon). Like Elias, I am preparing the way for him, in spirit and in power, that he may one day trouble Israel, and the house of Ahab."[212] But there was no occasion to wait for any other than he who had appeared. The house of Ahab was already shaken. The _Address to the German n.o.bility_ was published on the 26th of June, 1520, and, in a short time, 4000 copies were sold, a number at that period unprecedented. The astonishment was universal, and the whole people were in commotion. The vigour, spirit, perspicuity, and n.o.ble boldness by which it was pervaded, made it truly a work for the people, who felt that one who spoke in such terms truly loved them. The confused views which many wise men entertained were enlightened. All became aware of the usurpations of Rome. At Wittemberg, no man had any doubt whatever, that the pope was Antichrist. Even the Elector's court, with all its timidity and circ.u.mspection, did not disapprove of the Reformer, but only awaited the issue. The n.o.bility and the people did not even wait. The nation was awakened, and, at the voice of Luther, adopted his cause, and rallied around his standard. Nothing could have been more advantageous to the Reformer than this publication. In palaces, in castles, in the dwellings of the citizens, and even in cottages, all are now prepared, and made proof, as it were, against the sentence of condemnation which is about to fall upon the prophet of the people. All Germany is on fire, and the bull, come when it may, never will extinguish the conflagration.

[211] Quae nostro saeculo quiete tractantur, mox cadere in oblivionem.... (L. Ep. i, p. 479.)

[212] Ibid. p. 478.

CHAP. IV.

Preparations at Rome--Motives to resist the Papacy--Eck at Rome--Eck gains the Day--The Pope is the World--G.o.d produces the Separation--A Swiss Priest pleads for Luther--The Roman Consistory--Preamble of the Bull--Condemnation of Luther.

At Rome every thing necessary for the condemnation of the defender of the liberty of the Church was prepared. Men had long lived there in arrogant security. The monks of Rome had long accused Leo X of devoting himself to luxury and pleasure, and of spending his whole time in hunting, theatricals, and music,[213] while the Church was crumbling to pieces. At last, through the clamour of Dr. Eck, who had come from Leipsic to invoke the power of the Vatican, the pope, the cardinals, the monks, all Rome awoke and bestirred themselves to save the papacy.