Eric at once set steadily to work to study, attending regularly the
lectures of the various professors, more especially those of Dr Luther.
That wonderful leader of the Reformation was now giving a course of
sermons on important subjects in the chief church in the town. On all
occasions when he entered the pulpit the church was crowded with eager
and attentive listeners. He had a difficult task to perform. During
his absence at Wartburg various disorders occurred. Several
enthusiasts, from various parts of the country, mostly ignorant, and
little acquainted with the Gospel, assumed the title of prophets, and
violently attacked every institution connected with Rome--the priests in
some places were assailed with abuse as they were performing the
ceremonies of their Church--and these men, at length, coming to
Wittemburg, so worked on some of the students that the churches were
entered, the altars torn up, and the images carried away and broken and
burnt. The enthusiasts were known as the prophets of Zwickau, from the
place where they first began to preach their doctrines. To put a stop
to these disorders, Luther had been entreated to return from the
Wartburg to Wittemburg. The proceedings which have been described were
in direct opposition to the principles on which he, Melancthon, and
other leaders of the Reformation had been acting. Their whole aim from
the first, was to encourage learning, to insist on the study of the
Scriptures, to do nothing violently, and to persuade and lead their
fellow-men to a knowledge of the truth.
No great movement ever advanced with more slow and dignified steps than
the Reformation. The existence of gross abuses produced it. Had the
Romish hierarchy been willing to consent to moderate reforms, they might
not humanly speaking, have lost their influence, and the whole of Europe
might still have groaned under their power. But God had not thus
ordered it. By their own blindness and obstinacy they brought about
their own discomfiture. Luther himself was eminently conservative. He
never altogether got rid of some of the notions he had imbibed in the
cloister. Step by step he advanced as the light dawned on him--not
without groans and agitations of mind--yielding up point after point in
the system to which he had once adhered.
Eric was present at one of the first of the important series of sermons
which the great Doctor preached on his return to Wittemburg. The
enthusiasts had refused to be guided by the Gospel. They had asserted
(misunderstanding the Apostle) that it mattered little how a man lived,
provided he had faith, and that they had a right to compel others by
force, if necessary, to adopt their views.
"It is with the Word we must fight," said the great Doctor, in reply to
these opinions. "By the Word we must overthrow and destroy what has
been set up by violence. Let us not make use of force against the
superstitious and unbelieving. Let him who believes approach--let him
who believes not keep away. No one must be constrained. LIBERTY IS THE
VERY ESSENCE OF FAITH."
Entering the pulpit, he addressed the congregation in language full of
strength and gentleness, simple and noble, yet like a tender father
inquiring into the conduct of his children.
"He rejoiced," he told them, "to hear of the progress they had made in
faith," and then he added, "But, dear friends, WE NEED SOMETHING MORE
THAN FAITH, WE NEED CHARITY. If a man carries a drawn sword in a crowd,
he should be careful to wound no man. Look at the Sun--two things
proceed from it--light and heat. What king so powerful as to bend aside
his rays? They come directly to us, but heat is radiated and
communicated in every direction. Thus faith, like light, should be
straight, RADIATE ON EVERY SIDE, AND BEND TO ALL THE WANTS OF OUR
BRETHREN. You have abolished the mass, in conformity, you say, to
Scripture. You were right to get rid of it. But how did you accomplish
that work? What order--what decency did you observe? You should have
offered up fervent prayers to God, and obtained the sanction of the
legal authorities for what you proposed doing; then might every man have
acknowledged that the work was in accordance with God's will.
"The mass is, I own, a bad thing. God is opposed to it, but let no one
be torn from it by force. We must leave the matter in God's hands. His
word must act, and not we. We have the right to speak; we have _not_
the right to act. LET US PREACH; THE REST BELONGS TO GOD. Our first
object must be to win men's hearts, and to do this we must preach the
Gospel. God does more by His word alone than by the united strength of
all the world. God lays hold upon the heart, and when that is taken all
is gained. See how Saint Paul acted. Arriving at Athens, he found
altars raised to false gods. He did not touch one; but, proceeding to
the market-place, he explained to the people that their gods were
senseless idols. His words took possession of their hearts. Their
idols fell without Paul having raised his hand.
"I will preach, discuss, and write, but I will constrain none, for faith
is a voluntary act. Observe what has been done: I stood up against the
Pope, indulgences and other abominations, but without violence or
tumults. I put forward God's Word. I preached and wrote. This was all
I did. Yet while I slept or gossiped with my friends, the Word that I
had preached overthrew Popery, so that not the most powerful prince nor
emperor could have done it so much harm. What would have been the
result had I appealed to force? Ruin and desolation would have ensued.
The whole of Germany would have been deluged with blood. I therefore
kept quiet and let the Word run through the world alone. `What, think
you,' Satan says, when he sees men resorting to violence to propagate
the Gospel, as he sits calmly, with folded arms, malignant looks, and
frightful grin? `Ah, how wise these madmen are to play my game!' But
when he sees the Word running and contending alone on the battle-field,
then he is troubled, his knees knock together, and he shudders and
faints with fear."
Speaking of the Lord's Supper, his remarks are of great importance. "It
is not the outward manducation that makes a Christian, but the inward
and spiritual eating, which works by faith, and without which all forms
are mere show and grimace," he observed. "Now this faith consists in a
firm belief that Jesus Christ is the Son of God; that, having taken our
sins and iniquities upon Himself, and having borne them on the Cross, He
is Himself their sole and almighty atonement; that He stands continually
before God; that He reconciles us with the Father, and that He hath
given us the sacrament of His body to strengthen our faith in His
unspeakable mercy. If I believe in these things, God is my defender;
although sin, death, hell, and devils attack me, they can do me no harm,
nor disturb a single hair of my head. This spiritual bread is the
consolation of the afflicted, health to the sick, life to the dying,
food to the hungry, riches to the poor."
These sermons caused much discussion, not only in the University, but
throughout Germany. Eric was among those who entered most eagerly into
the subjects brought forth by the Reformers. He soon formed several
friendships with his brother students. His most intimate friend was
Albert von Otten, who was rather older than himself, and had been some
years at the University. He was intimate, too, with Melancthon,
Armsdorff, and others.
"Dr Philip has written on that subject," observed Albert, speaking of
the last of Dr Martin's sermons. "Here are some remarks from
fifty-five propositions, which were published some time back."
"Just as looking at a cross," he says, "is not performing a good work,
but simply contemplating a sign that reminds us of Christ's death, just
as looking at the sun is not performing a good work, but simply
contemplating a sign that reminds us of Christ and His Gospel, so
partaking of the Lord's Supper is not performing a good work, but simply
making use of a sign that reminds us of the grace that has been given us
through Christ.
"But here is the difference, namely, that the symbols invented by men
simply remind us of what they signify, while the signs given us by God
not only remind us of the things themselves, but assure our hearts of
the will of God.
"As the sight of a cross does not justify, so the mass does not justify.
"As the sight of a cross is not a sacrifice either for our sins or for
the sins of others, so the mass is not a sacrifice.
"There is but one sacrifice--but one satisfaction--Jesus Christ.
Besides Him there is none other." Dr Carlstadt was the first to
celebrate the Lord's Supper in accordance with Christ's institutions.
On the Sunday before Christmas-day he gave out from the pulpit that, on
the first day of the New Year, he would distribute the Eucharist in both
kinds to all who should present themselves; that he would omit all
useless forms, and wear neither cope not chasuble. Hearing, however,
that there might be some opposition, he did not wait till the day
proposed. On Christmas-day, 1521, he preached in the parish church on
the necessity of quitting the mass and receiving the sacrament in both
kinds. After the sermon he went to the altar, pronounced the words of
consecration in German; then, turning to the people, without elevating
the host, he distributed the bread and wine to all, saying, "This is the
cup of my blood, the blood of the new and everlasting covenant." At the
end he gave a public absolution to all, imposing no other penance than
this, "Sin no more."
No one opposed him, and in January the Council and University of
Wittemburg regulated the celebration of the Lord's Supper according to
the new ritual.
Thus fell the mass--the chief bulwark of Rome. It, and
Transubstantiation, had for three centuries been established. "It had
tended to the glory of man--the worship of the priest. It was an insult
to the Son of God; it was opposed to the perfect grace of His Cross, and
the spotless glory of His everlasting Kingdom. It lowered the Saviour,
it exalted the priest, whom it invested with the unparalleled power of
reproducing, in his hand, and at his will, the Sovereign Creator."
From the time of its establishment the Church seemed to exist not to
preach the Gospel, but simply to reproduce Christ bodily. The Roman
Pontiff, whose humblest servants created at pleasure the body of God
Himself, sat as God in the temple of God, and claimed a spiritual
treasure, from which he issued at will indulgences for the pardon of
souls. [Note 1.]
Luther at length agreed to have a conference with the prophets of
Zwickau. They said that they could work miracles. He desired them to
do so. They became furiously enraged. He quickly upset their
pretensions, and they, the same day, quitted Wittemburg, thoroughly
defeated. Thus by the wisdom of one man, tranquillity was restored, and
the Reformation was able to proceed with sure and certain footsteps,
unmolested.
The work of all others with which, next to the Testament, Eric was most
delighted, was Melancthon's "Common-places of Theology," written during
the time Luther had resided in the Wartburg.
It was a body of doctrine of solid foundation and admirable proportion,
unlike any before written. He considered that the foundation on which
the edifice of Christian theology should be raised is "a deep conviction
of the wretched state to which man is reduced by sin."
Thus the truth was promulgated through the length and breadth of the
land, while Luther, by his translation of the Bible, was preparing the
means by which all classes could imbibe it from its fountain head. Not
only the students at the universities, but women and children, soldiers
and artisans, became acquainted with the Bible, and with that in their
hands, were able successfully to dispute with the doctors of the schools
and the priests of Rome. Eric had been very anxious to learn more of
the early life of Dr Luther than he before knew, that he might refute
the statements Father Nicholas had been fond of making concerning him.
He could not have applied to a better person than Albert, who had been
acquainted with the family of Conrad Cotta, with whom Martin had resided
while at Eisenach, and who had ever after taken a deep interest in his
welfare and progress.
It is that Ursula, Conrad Cotta's wife, the daughter of the burgomaster
of Ilefeld, who is designated in the Eisenach chronicles as the pious
Shunamite, Martin, while singing to obtain food with which to support
himself while pursuing his studies at the school of Eisenach, and having
often been harshly repulsed by others had attracted her attention. She
had before been struck by hearing his sweet voice in church. She
beckoned him in, and put food before him that he might appease his
hunger. Conrad Cotta not only approved of his wife's benevolence, but
was so greatly pleased with the lad's conversation that he from
henceforth gave him board and lodging in his house, and thus enabled him
to devote all his time and energies to study.
"John Luther, Dr Martin's father, was a miner, residing at Eisleben,
where, on the 10th of November, 1483, our Doctor was born," began
Albert. "When he was not six months old, his parents removed to
Mansfeldt. John Luther was a superior man, industrious and earnest. He
brought up his children with great strictness. Believing that Martin
had talent, he was anxious that he should study for the law, and he
obtained for him the best education in his power. First he was sent to
Magdeburg, but finding it impossible to support himself at that place,
he moved to Eisenach. Among the professors was the learned John
Trebonius, who, whenever he entered the schoolroom, raised his cap. One
of his colleagues inquired why he did so? `There are among those boys,
men of whom God will one day make burgomasters, counsellors, doctors,
and magistrates. Although you do not see them with the badges of their
dignity, it is right that you should treat them with respect,' was the
answer. Martin had been two years at Erfurth, and was twenty years old,
when, one day, examining the books in the public library, he found a
Latin Bible--a rare book--unknown in those days. Till then he imagined
that the fragments selected by the Church to be read to the people
during public worship composed the whole Word of God. From that day it
became his constant study and delight. A severe illness, brought on by
hard study, gave him time for meditation. He felt a strong desire to
become a monk, under the belief that by so doing he should attain to
holiness. All this time living with the excellent Cotta family, nothing
could be more exemplary and orderly than his life. Though animated and
lively and delighting in music, he had, from his boyhood, been
serious-minded and earnest in the extreme, and at no period did he give
way to the excesses of which his enemies accuse him. On his recovery
from his illness, he paid a visit to his parents at Mansfeldt; but he
did not venture to express the wish he entertained of entering a
monastery, from fearing that his father would disapprove of it. On his
return journey he was overtaken by a fearful storm, and he made a vow
that, should he escape destruction, he would devote himself to the
service or God. His whole desire was now to attain holiness. He
believed that he could not find it in the world. He bade farewell to
his friends, he entered the cloister, his father's expostulations and
anger caused him grief, but he persevered. In spite of all the penances
and severities he underwent, he could not attain to the holiness he
sought. It was not to be found in the convent. He found, too, a true
friend in Staupitz, the Vicar-general of the Augustines for all Germany,
a man eminent for his learning, his liberality, and true piety. The
elector, Frederick the Wise, founded, under his direction, the
University of Wittemburg, to which, by his advice, the young doctor was
shortly appointed professor. It is worthy of remark that, long after
Dr Martin had ceased to think of purchasing heaven by his abstinence,
so simple were his tastes, that a little bread and a small herring often
composed his only meal in the day, while often he was known to go days
together without eating or drinking. The great movement owes much to
Staupitz. Dr Martin opened all his heart to him, and told him of all
his fears about his own want of holiness, and the unspeakable holiness
of God. `Do not torment yourself with these speculations,' answered the
Vicar-general. `Look at the wounds of Jesus Christ--to the blood that
He has shed for you; it is there that the grace of God will appear to
you. Instead of torturing yourself on account your sins, throw yourself
into your Redeemer's arms. Trust in Him--in the righteousness of His
life--in the atonement of His death. Do not shrink back, God is not
angry with you; it is you who are angry with God. Listen to the Son of
God, He became man to give you the assurance of Divine favour. He says
to you, You are my sheep, you hear my voice; no man shall pluck you out
of my hand.' Still Dr Martin could not understand how he was to
repent, and be accepted by God. `There is no real repentance except
that which begins with the love of God and of righteousness,' answered
the venerable Staupitz. `In order that you may be filled with the love
of what is good, you must be filled with the love for God. If you
desire to be converted, do not be curious about all these
mortifications, and all these tortures, Love Him who first loved you.'
A new light broke on Dr Martin's soul, and, guided by it, he began to
compare the Scriptures, looking out for all the passages which treat on
repentance and conversion. This was his delight and consolation. He
desired, however, to go further; Staupitz checked him. `Do not presume
to fathom the hidden God, but confine yourself to what He has manifested
to us in Jesus Christ,' he said; `Look at Christ's wounds, and then you
will see God's counsel towards man shine brightly forth. We cannot
understand God out of Jesus Christ. In Him the Lord has said, You will
find what I am and what I require; nowhere else, neither in heaven nor
in earth, will you discover it.' Again Staupitz advised him to make the
study of the Scriptures his favourite occupation, and represented to him
that it was not in vain that God exercised him in so many conflicts, for
that He would employ him as His servant for great purposes. Truly have
the words of the good old man come true. Yet Dr Martin was far from
enlightened. He was to obtain full emancipation from the thraldom of
Rome in Rome itself. He was sent there to represent seven convents of
his own order, who were at variance with the Vicar-general. He had
always imagined Rome to be the abode of sanctity. Ignorance, levity,
dissolute manners, a profane spirit, a contempt for all that is sacred,
a scandalous traffic in divine things. Such was the spectacle afforded
by this unhappy city. Even when performing their most sacred
ceremonies, the priests derided them. Some of them boasted that when
pretending to consecrate the elements, they uttered the words `_Panis es
et panis manebis; vinum es et vinum manebis_.' While himself performing
mass, on one occasion, the priest near him, who had finished his, cried
out, `_Passa_--_passa_--_quick_--_quick_!--have done with it at once!'
It was the fashion at the Papal Court to attack Christianity, and no
person could pass for a well-bred man unless he could satirise the
doctrines of the Church. These, and numberless other abominations,
which he saw and heard, must greatly have shaken his faith in the
sanctity of Rome; and, at length, on a certain occasion, his eyes were
completely opened. The Pope had promised an indulgence to all who
should ascend on their knees a staircase, which it is pretended was
brought from Pilate's Judgment-hall, and that down it our blessed Lord
had walked. It is called `Pilate's Staircase.' While he, with others,
desirous of obtaining the promised indulgence, was laboriously climbing
up the stair on his knees, he thought that he heard a voice of thunder
crying out, `_The just shall live by faith_.' He rose at once,
shuddering at the depth to which superstition had plunged him, and fled
from the scene of his folly. Yes, those words are the key-note of all
the arguments by which our glorious work must be supported," exclaimed
Albert. "Yes, _faith without works justifies us before God_; that is
the fundamental article Dr Martin holds. Soon after his return he was
made Doctor of Divinity, and could now devote himself to the study of
the Holy Scriptures, and, which was of the greatest importance, lecture
on them. While thus engaged, he ever, from the first, pointed to the
Lamb of God. The firmness with which he relied on the Holy Scriptures
imparted great authority to his teaching. In him also every action of
his life corresponded with his words. It is known that these discourses
do not proceed merely from his lips--they have their source in his
heart, and are practised in all his works. Many influential men, won
over by the holiness of his life, and by the beauty of his genius, not
only have not opposed him, but have embraced the doctrine to which he
gave testimony by his works. The more men love Christian virtues, the
more men incline to Dr Martin. But I need say no more to refute the
calumnies which have been uttered against him. See what instances he
has given, too, of his dauntless character. When the plague broke out
here he refused to fly, but remained employed in translating the New
Testament. See how boldly he nailed his theses against indulgences to
the church doors; how bravely he burnt the Pope's bull. Although the
Elector would not allow Tetzel to enter his dominions, he got to a place
within four miles of Wittemburg, and many people purchased indulgences.
While Dr Martin was seated in the confessional, many of these poor
dupes came to him and acknowledged themselves guilty of excesses.
`Adultery, licentiousness, usury, ill-gotten gains'--still they would
not promise to abandon their crimes, but trusting to their letters of
indulgence obtained from Tetzel, showed them, and maintained their
virtue. Dr Martin replied, `Except ye repent, ye shall all likewise
perish.' This circumstance still further opened his eyes to the abuses
and evil system of the Church to which he belonged, but not even yet had
the idea of separating from her occurred to his mind, not indeed until
the Pope anathematised Dr Martin for speaking the truth did he
acknowledge that he was indeed Antichrist, and that no true Christians
could hold communion with him."
Eric soon became as warm an admirer of Dr Martin Luther, as was his
friend, Albert von Otten. The Reformation movement was now proceeding,
seemingly with far more rapid strides than before. The Bible was being
disseminated; the convents thrown open--or, at all events, their inmates
were leaving them--superstitions were being abolished; a pure form of
worship was being established in numerous places; and, what was of the
greatest importance, young men of high talent and courage were being
educated in the principles of the Reformation to spread the pure light
of the Gospel throughout all parts of Germany.
Little Thomas Platter made great progress in his studies, and bid fair
to grow up an earnest Christian and industrious man, amply paying Eric
for the care he bestowed on him.
Hans Bosch, when his young master was about to return home, begged that
he might come back with him to Wittemburg.
"I there got an abundance of substantial food for my soul, while Father
Nicholas serves us out only piecrust, filled with dry dust that is
neither meat nor drink," said the old man, as he looked up while packing
his young master's valise.
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