There is a remarkable instance recorded in the annals of the Reformation
which strikingly illustrates the operations of the indulgence-venders.
This record deserves not to be forgotten. Gustav Freitag, the famous
writer of German history, has embodied it in his sketch "Doktor Luther."
Frederic Mecum, in Latin Myconius, had become a monk in the Franciscan
order. He had had an experience with Tetzel which caused him to turn to
Luther with joy and wonder when the latter had published his Theses. Few
of the writings of Myconius, who afterwards became the evangelical
pastor of the city of Gotha, have been preserved. In the ducal library
at Gotha Freitag found [tr. note: sic] an account in Latin of the
incident to which we have referred. It is as follows: "John Tetzel, of
Pirna in Meissen, a Dominican friar, was a powerful peddler of
indulgences or the remission of sins by the Roman Pope. He tarried with
this purpose of his for two years in the city of Annaberg, new at that
time, and deceived the people so much that they all believed there was
no other way of obtaining the forgiveness of sins and eternal life
except to make amends with our works; concerning this making of amends,
however, he said that it was impossible. But a single way was still
left, that is, if we purchased the same for money from the Roman Pope,
bought for ourselves, therefore, the Pope's indulgence, which he called
the forgiveness of sins and a certain entrance into eternal life. Here I
might tell wonders upon wonders and incredible things, what kind of
sermons I heard Tetzel preach these two years in Annaberg, for I heard
him preach quite diligently, and he preached every day; I could repeat
his sermons to others, too, with all the gestures and intonations; not
that I made him an object of ridicule, but I was entirely in earnest.
For I considered everything as oracles and divine words, which one had
to believe, and what came from the Pope I regarded as if coming from
Christ Himself.
"Finally, at Pentecost, in the year of our Lord 1510, he threatened he
would lay down the red cross and lock the door of heaven and put out the
sun, and it would never again come about that the forgiveness of sins
and eternal life could be obtained for so little money. Yes, he said, it
was not to be expected that such charitableness of the Pope should come
hither again as long as the world would stand. He also exhorted that
every one should attend well to the salvation of his own soul and to
that of his deceased and living friends. For now was at hand, according
to him, the day of his salvation and the accepted time. And he said:
'Let no one under any condition neglect his own salvation; for if you do
not have the Pope's letters, you cannot be absolved and delivered by any
human being from many sins and "reserved cases"' (that is, cases with
which an ordinary priest was not qualified to deal). On the doors and
walls of the church printed letters were publicly posted in which it was
ordered that one should henceforth not sell the letters of indulgence
and the full power at the close as dear as in the beginning, in order to
give the German people a sign of gratitude for their devotion; and at
the end of the letter at the foot was written in addition, _'Pauperibus
dentur gratis,'_ to the needy the letters of indulgence are to be given
for nothing, without money, for the sake of God.
"Then I began to deal with the deputies of this indulgence-peddler; but,
in truth, I was impelled and urged to do so by the Holy Ghost, although
I myself did not understand at the time what I was doing.
"My dear father had taught me in my childhood the Ten Commandments, the
Lord's Prayer, and the Christian Creed, and compelled me always to pray.
For, he said, we had everything from God alone, gratis, for nothing, and
He would also govern and lead us if we prayed with diligence. Of the
indulgences and Roman remission of sins he said that they were only
snares with which one tricked the simple out of their money and took it
from their purses, that the forgiveness of sins and eternal life could
certainly not be purchased and acquired with money. But the priests or
preachers became angry and enraged when one said such things. Because I
heard then nothing else in the sermons every day but the greatest praise
of the remission of sins, I was filled with doubt as to whom I was to
believe more, my father or the priests as teachers of the Church. I was
in doubt, but still I believed the priests more than the instruction of
my father. But one thing I did not grant, that the forgiveness of sins
could not be acquired unless it was purchased with money, above all by
the poor. On this account I was wonderfully well pleased with the little
clause at the end of the Pope's letter, _'Pauperibus gratis dentur
propter Deum.'_
"And as they, in three days, intended to lay down the cross with special
magnificence and cut off the steps and ladders to heaven, I was impelled
by my spirit to go to the commissioners and ask for the letters of the
forgiveness of sins 'out of mercy for the poor.' I declared also that I
was a sinner and poor and in need of the forgiveness of sins, which was
granted through divine grace. On the second day, around evening, I
entered Hans Pflock's house where Tetzel was assembled with the
father-confessors and crowds of priests, and I addressed them in Latin
and requested that they might allow me, poor man, to ask, according to
the command in the Pope's letter, for the absolution of all my sins for
nothing and for the sake of God, _'etiam nullo casu reservato,'_ without
reserving a single case, and in regard to the same they should give me
the Pope's _'literas testimoniales,'_ or written testimony. Then the
priests were astonished at my Latin speech, for that was a rare thing at
this time, especially in the case of young boys; and they soon went out
of the room into the small chamber which I was alongside, to the
commissioner Tetzel. They made my desire known to him, and also asked in
my behalf that he might give me the letters of indulgence for nothing.
Finally, after long counsel, they returned and brought this answer:
_'Dear son, we have put your petition before the commissioner with all
diligence, and he confesses that he would gladly grant your request, but
that he could not; and although he might wish to do so, the concession
would nevertheless be naught and ineffective. For he declared unto us
that it was clearly written in the Pope's letter that those would
certainly share in the exceeding generous indulgences and treasures of
the Church and the merits of Christ _qui porrigerent manum adjutricem,_
who offered a helping hand; that is, those who would give money.' And
all that they told me in German, for there was not one among them who
could have spoken three Latin words correctly with any one.
"In return, however, I entreated anew, and proved from the Pope's letter
which had been posted that the Holy Father, the Pope, had commanded that
such letters should be given to the poor for nothing, for the sake of
the Lord; and especially because there had also been written there _'ad
mandatum domini Papae proprium,'_ that is, at the Pope's own command.
"Then they went in again and asked the proud, haughty friar, that he
might kindly grant my request and let me go from him with the letter of
indulgence, since I was a clever and fluently-speaking young man and
worthy of having something exceptional granted me. But they came out
again and brought again the answer, _'de manu auxiliatrice,' concerning
the helping hand, which alone was fit for the holy indulgence. I,
however, remained firm and said that they were doing me, a poor man, an
injustice; the one whom both God and the Pope were unwilling to shut out
of divine grace was rejected by them for some few pennies which I did
not have. Then a contention arose that I should at least give something
small, in order that the helping-hand might not be lacking, that I
should only give a groschen; I said, 'I do not have it, I am poor.' At
last it came to the point where I was to give six pfennigs; then I
answered again that I did not have a single pfennig. They tried to
console me and spoke with one another. Finally I heard that they were
worried about two things, in the first place, that I should in no case
be allowed to go without a letter of indulgence, for this might be a
plan devised by others, and that some bad affair might hereafter result
from it, since it was clear in the Pope's letter that it should be given
to the poor for nothing. Again, however, something would nevertheless
have to be taken from me in order that the others might not hear that
the letters of indulgence were being given out for nothing; for the
whole pack of pupils and beggars would then come running, and each one
would want the same for nothing. They should not have found it necessary
to be worried about that, for the poor beggars were looking more for
their blessed bread to drive away their hunger.
"After they had held their deliberation, they came again to me and one
gave me six pfennigs that I should give them to the commissioner.
Through this contribution I, too, should become, according to them, a
builder of the Church of St. Peter, at Rome, likewise a slayer of the
Turk, and should furthermore share in the grace of Christ and the
indulgences. But then I said frankly, impelled by the Spirit, if I
wished to buy indulgences and the remission of sins for money, I could
in all likelihood sell a book and buy them for my own money. I wanted
them, however, for nothing, as gifts, for the sake of God, or they would
have to give an account before God for having neglected and trifled away
my soul's salvation on account of six pfennigs, since, as they knew,
both God and the Pope wished that my soul should share in the
forgiveness of all my sins for nothing, through grace. This I said, and
yet, in truth, I did not know how matters stood with the letters of
indulgence.
"At last, after a long conversation, the priests asked me by whom I had
been sent to them, and who had instructed me to carry on such dealings
with them. Then I told them the pure, simple truth, as it was, that I
had not been exhorted or urged by any one at all or brought to it by any
advisers, but that I had made such a request alone, without counsel of
any man, only with the confidence and trust in the gracious forgiveness
of sins which is given for nothing; and that I had never spoken or had
dealings with such great people during all my life. For I was by nature
timid, and if I had not been forced by my great thirst for God's grace,
I should not have undertaken anything so great and mixed with such
people and requested anything like that of them. Then the letters of
indulgence were again promised me, but yet in such a way that I should
buy them for six pfennigs which were to be given to me, as far as I was
concerned, for nothing. I, however, continued to insist that the letters
of indulgence should be given to me for nothing by him who had the power
to give them; if not, I should commend and refer the matter to God. And
so I was dismissed by them.
"The holy thieves, notwithstanding, became sad in consequence of these
dealings; I, however, was partly downcast that I had received no letter
of indulgence, partly I rejoiced, too, that there was, in spite of all,
still One in heaven who was willing to forgive the penitent sinner his
sins without money and loan, according to the words that I had often
sung in church: 'As true as I live, says the Lord, I desire not the
death of the sinner, but that he be converted and live.' Oh, dear Lord
and God, Thou knowest that I am not lying in this matter, or inventing
anything about myself.
"While doing this, I was so moved that I, on returning to my inn, almost
gushed forth and melted to tears. Thus I came to my inn, went to my
room, and took the cross which always lay upon the little table in my
study-room, placed it upon the bench, and fell down upon the floor
before it. I cannot describe it here, but at that time I was able to
feel the spirit of prayer and divine grace which Thou, my Lord and God,
pouredst out over me. The essential import of the same, however, was
this: I asked that Thou, dear God, mightst be willing to be my Father,
that Thou mightst be willing to forgive me for my sins, that I submitted
myself wholly to Thee, that Thou mightst make of me now whatsoever
pleased Thee, and because the priests did not wish to be gracious to me
without money, that Thou mightst be willing to be my gracious God and
Father.
"Then I felt that my whole heart was changed. I was disgusted with
everything in this world, and it seemed to me that I had quite enough of
this life. One thing only did I desire, that is, to live for God, that I
might be pleasing to Him. But who was there at that time who would have
taught me how I had to go about it? For the word, life, and light of
mankind was buried throughout the whole world in the deepest darkness of
human ordinances and of the quite foolish good works. Of Christ there
was complete silence, nothing was known about Him, or, if mention was
made of Him, He was represented unto us as a dreadful, fearful Judge,
whom scarcely His mother and all the saints in heaven could reconcile
and make merciful with bloody tears; and yet it was done in such a way
that He, Christ, thrust the human being who did penance into the pains
of purgatory seven years for each capital sin. It was claimed that the
pain of purgatory differed from the pain of hell in nothing except that
it was not to last forever. The Holy Ghost, however, now brought me the
hope that God would be merciful unto me.
"And now I began to take counsel a few days with myself as to how I
might take up some other vocation in life. For I saw the sin of the
world and of the whole human race; I saw my manifold sin, which was very
great. I had also heard something of the secret holiness and the pure,
innocent life of the monks, how they served God day and night, were
separated from all the wicked life of the world, and lived very sober,
pious, and virtuous lives, read masses, sang psalms, fasted, and prayed
at all times. I had also seen this sham life, but I did not know and
understand that it was the greatest idolatry and hypocrisy.
"Thereupon I made my decision known to the preceptor, Master Andreas
Staffelstein, who was the chief regent of the school; he advised me
straightway to enter the Franciscan cloister, the rebuilding of which
had been begun at that time. And in order that I might not become
differently minded in consequence of long delay, he straightway went
with me himself to the monks, praised my intellect and ability, declared
in terms of praise that he bad considered me the only one among his
pupils of whom he was entirely confident that I should become a very
devout man.
"I wished, however, first to announce my intention to my parents, too,
and hear their ideas about the matter, since I was a lone son and heir
of my parents. The monks, however, taught me from St. Jerome that I
should drop father and mother, and not take them into consideration, and
run to the cross of Christ. They quoted, too, the words of Christ, 'No
one who lays hands to the plow and looks back is fit for the kingdom of
God.' All of this was bound to impel and enjoin me to become a monk. I
will not speak here of many ropes and fetters with which they bound and
tied my conscience. For they said that I could never become blessed if I
did not soon accept and use the grace offered by God. Thereupon I, who
would rather have been willing to die than be without the grace of God
and eternal life, straightway promised and engaged to come into the
cloister again in three days and begin the year of probation, as they
called it, in the cloister; that is, I wanted to become a pious, devout,
and God-fearing monk.
"In the year of Christ 1510, the 14th of July, at two o'clock in the
afternoon, I entered the cloister, accompanied by my preceptor, some few
of my school-comrades, and some very devout matrons, to whom I had in
part made known the reason why I was entering the spiritual order. And
so I blessed my companions to the cloister, all of whom, amid tears,
wished me God's grace and blessing. And thus I entered the cloister.
Dear God, Thou knowest that this is all true. I did not seek idleness or
provision for my stomach, nor the appearance of great holiness, but I
wished to be pleasing unto Thee--Thee I wished to serve.
"Thus I at that time groped about in very great darkness" (p. 38 ff.)*
*This account is published by the courtesy of the Lutheran
Publication Society of Philadelphia; it is taken from their publication
_Doctor Luther,_ by Gustav Freitag.
Few Christians can read this old record without pity stirring in them.
The man of whom Myconius tells all this, Tetzel, has been recently
represented to the American public as a theologian far superior to
Luther, calm, considerate, kind, and of his actions the public has been
advised that they were so utterly correct that the Roman Catholic Church
of to-day does not hesitate one moment to do what Tetzel did. So mote it
be! We admire the writer's honesty, and blush for his brazen boldness.