The heresies of the Church were so numerous and so great that many could
not help perceiving them. But the popes were for many centuries so
powerful that any one who dared to oppose them would fare badly. John
Huss in Bohemia had preached against the sale of indulgences, and was
therefore burned alive at a great church meeting held in the city of
Constance, even though the emperor had given his word that he should be
permitted to depart in peace from the meeting. The emperor was informed
that he was under no obligation to keep his word to a heretic.
Meanwhile more and more people began to have their eyes opened to the
condition of the Church. Education became greater and more extended, for
the art of printing had been invented.
About one hundred years after Huss was burned, Martin Luther stood forth
and began that great improvement in the condition of the Church which is
called The Reformation. Luther was born in 1483, of poor parents, in the
city of Eisleben, Saxony, in the center of Germany. According to the
intention of his father he was to read law, but on account of his
anxiety for his soul’s salvation he, at the age of twenty-two, entered a
convent and became a monk. Here he faithfully performed all the
requirements of a life in the convent: prayed, fasted and mortified his
flesh; but he could not find peace for his soul. An old monk advised him
to seek consolation in the old, then almost forgotten words: I believe
in the forgiveness of sins. These words Luther took to heart, and as he
diligently read the Bible and the writings of the church fathers[8], he
at last clearly saw that man is justified by faith apart from the works
of the law. After Luther had been in a convent for three years, he was
called as teacher to the university at Wittenberg. Hither came a hawker
of indulgences, a monk named Tetzel, who with the greatest audacity sold
forgiveness of sins for money. At this, Luther was filled with
indignation, and on the 31st of October, 1517, he nailed on the door of
the castle church in Wittenberg ninety-five theses against the sale of
indulgences and other errors. These theses were quickly circulated
throughout Germany, and many pious and educated men acknowledged that
Luther was right. It was not Luther’s intention to attack the pope, for
he yet believed that the papacy was instituted of God, and thought that
when the pope should be informed of the true condition of the case, he
would grant his approval of Luther’s act. But they thought differently
in Rome. Luther was placed under the ban of the Church. In the meantime
he had diligently read the Bible and history, and it was clear to him
the papacy was not instituted of God. He therefore paid no attention to
the ban, but took the bull[9] of the pope and burned it under an oak
outside of the city of Wittenberg. He was now summoned to appear before
Charles V., emperor of the Roman empire, at the diet held in the city of
Worms, 1521. Many dissuaded him from going; they reminded him of the
fate of Huss; but Luther answered: If there were as many devils in Worms
as there are tiles on the roofs, yet would I go. When he came to Worms,
he was ushered into the diet, an assembly where the emperor, the legate
of the pope and many princes and bishops were gathered. It was demanded
that he at once should recant everything he had taught; but Luther
answered: Unless I am convinced by the Scriptures, or by clear and
binding reasons, I neither can nor will recant; for it is not advisable
to do anything against conscience. Here I stand; I cannot do otherwise.
God help me! Amen.
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Footnote 8: Church fathers: The early teachers in the Church.
Footnote 9: Bull: The writing containing the ban.
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He was now declared an outlaw, and any one could with impunity kill him.
He was, however, permitted to leave Worms in peace. But the elector of
Saxony, his prince and protector, caused his own servants to seize him
as he was departing, and had him secretly carried to the castle of
Wartburg. Here he abode unknown for ten months, and the world believed
he was dead. In this place he began his excellent translation of the
Bible into German, and finished the New Testament. At the end of that
time he returned to Wittenberg and continued to labor by preaching and
writing. In 1529 he published his Small Catechism, to be used in the
instruction of children and youth, and his Larger Catechism as an aid
for the teachers.
Luther’s adherents daily became more numerous. Among them were many
princes. At the diet of Augsburg, in 1530, they laid before the emperor
a confession of their faith, written by the learned and gentle Philip
Melanchthon, and approved by Luther. In the Augsburg Confession the
Lutherans had now secured a confession, in which they all united. All
who would could now see for themselves that Luther did not teach a new
doctrine, but the old, true Christian faith.
When Luther died, in 1546, his doctrine was spread over half of Germany,
the whole of Denmark, Norway and Sweden, and had gained adherents in
England, France and other countries.
Contemporaneously with Luther, Ulric Zwingli stood forth in Switzerland
against the sale of indulgences and other errors. His work was continued
by the Frenchman, John Calvin. Calvin’s adherents are called Calvinists,
or Reformed; they differ from the Lutherans in the doctrine concerning
the Lord’s Supper, predestination and some other doctrines. The Reformed
confessions are held in Switzerland, Holland, Scotland, England, and to
some extent in France. Lutherans and Calvinists are called, although
historically improperly, with one common name, Protestants, in
opposition to the adherents of the pope, who are called Roman Catholics.