"The Romans, to guard against every species of reformation, have
surrounded themselves with three walls. When attacked by the temporal
power, they denied its jurisdiction over them, and maintained the
superiority of the spiritual power. When tested by Scripture, they
replied, that none could interpret it but the pope. When threatened
with a council, they again replied, that none but the pope could
convene it.
[Sidenote: POWER OF THE CIVIL MAGISTRATE.]
"They have thus carried off from us the three rods destined to
chastise them, and abandoned themselves to all sorts of wickedness.
But now may God be our help, and give us one of the trumpets which
threw down the walls of Jericho. Let us blow down the walls of paper
and straw which the Romans have built around them, and lift up the
rods which punish the wicked, by bringing the wiles of the devil to
the light of day."
Luther next commences the attack, and shakes to the foundation that
papal monarchy which had for ages united the nations of the West into
one body under the sceptre of the Roman bishop. There is no sacerdotal
caste in Christianity. This truth, of which the Church was so early
robbed, he vigorously expounds in the following terms:--
"It has been said that the pope, the bishops, the priests, and all
those who people convents, form the spiritual or ecclesiastical
estate; and that princes, nobles, citizens, and peasants, form the
secular or lay estate. This is a specious tale. But let no man be
alarmed. All Christians belong to the spiritual estate, and the only
difference between them is in the functions which they fulfil. We have
all but one baptism, but one faith, and these constitute the spiritual
man. Unction, tonsure, ordination, consecration, given by the pope or
by a bishop, may make a hypocrite, but can never make a spiritual man.
We are all consecrated priests by baptism, as St. Peter says, 'You are
a royal priesthood;' although all do not actually perform the offices
of kings and priests, because no one can assume what is common to all,
without the common consent. But if this consecration of God did not
belong to us, the unction of the pope could not make a single priest.
If ten brothers, the sons of one king, and possessing equal claims to
his inheritance, should choose one of their number to administer for
them, they would all be kings, and yet only one of them would be the
administrator of their common power. So it is in the Church. Were
several pious laymen banished to a desert, and were they, from not
having among them a priest consecrated by a bishop, to agree in
selecting one of their number, whether married or not, he would be as
truly a priest, as if all the bishops of the world had consecrated
him. In this way were Augustine, Ambrose, and Cyprian elected.
"Hence it follows that laymen and priests, princes and bishops, or, as
we have said, ecclesiastics and laics, have nothing to distinguish
them but their functions. They have all the same condition, but they
have not all the same work to perform.
[Sidenote: PAPAL USURPATION. RUIN OF ITALY.]
"This being so, why should not the magistrate correct the clergy? The
secular power was appointed by God for the punishment of the wicked
and the protection of the good, and must be left free to act
throughout Christendom without respect of persons, be they pope,
bishops, priests, monks, or nuns. St. Paul says to all Christians,
'_Let every soul_,' (and consequently the pope also,) '_be subject to
the higher powers; for they bear not the sword in vain_.'"[207]
[207] Πᾶσα Ψυχή, Rom. xiii. 1. 4.
Luther, after throwing down the other two walls in the same way, takes
a review of all the abuses of Rome. With an eloquence of a truly
popular description he exposes evils which had, for ages, been
notorious. Never had a nobler remonstrance been heard. The assembly
which Luther addresses is the Church, the power whose abuses he
attacks is that papacy which had for ages been the oppressor of all
nations, and the Reformation for which he calls aloud is destined to
exercise its powerful influence on Christendom, all over the world,
and so long as man shall exist upon it.
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 bishopricks devoured--the towns in decay--the
inhabitants corrupted--worship 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 bishoprick, 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 worship and suppress the word of God."
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 pass 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 nobility 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 lordship 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 title 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 disencumbered 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 Betbücher dafür 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 hell.... Hearest thou, O, pope!
not pope most holy, but pope most sinful.... May God, 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 encumbered. 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 God! 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 assistance? 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 institution 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, God 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
God 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 hell, 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
institution in which the studies carried on lead to a relaxed
consideration of the Word of God 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 Unterlass
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 title 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 title 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 God who has given us such an empire, be our aid! Let us
act conformably to our name, our title, our insignia; let us save our
freedom, and give the Romans to know that, through their hands it was
committed to us by God. 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 nobility 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 God!... The utmost which it can
take from me is life. I have often offered to make peace with my
opponents, but, through their instrumentality God 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 title
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. Assuredly 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 God 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 NOBILITY.]
This exhortation, being addressed to the German nobility, 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 nobody 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 Nobility_ 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 noble 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
circumspection, did not disapprove of the Reformer, but only awaited
the issue. The nobility 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] Quæ nostro sæculo quiete tractantur, mox cadere in
oblivionem.... (L. Ep. i, p. 479.)
[212] Ibid. p. 478.