His Most Illustrious and Mighty Imperial Majesty,
and to
the Christian Nobility of the German Nation,
Doctor Martin Luther.
Grace and power from God, Most Illustrious Majesty, and most gracious
and dear Lords.
It is not out of sheer frowardness or rashness that I, a single, poor
man, have undertaken to address your worships. The distress and
oppression which weigh down all the Estates of Christendom, especially
of Germany, and which move not me alone, but everyone to cry out time
and again, and to pray for help[5], have forced me even now to cry
aloud that God may inspire some one with His Spirit to lend this
suffering nation a helping hand. Ofttimes the councils[6] have made
some pretence at reformation, but their attempts have been cleverly
hindered by the guile of certain men and things have gone from bad to
worse. I now intend, by the help of God, to throw some light upon the
wiles and wickedness of these men, to the end that when they are
known, they may not henceforth be so hurtful and so great a hindrance.
God has given us a noble youth to be our head and thereby has awakened
great hopes of good in many hearts[7]; wherefore it is meet that we
should do our part and profitably use this time of grace.
In this whole matter the first and most important thing is that we
take earnest heed not to enter on it trusting in great might or in
human reason, even though all power in the world were ours; for God
cannot and will not suffer a good work to be begun with trust in our
own power or reason. Such works He crushes ruthlessly to earth, as it
is written in the xxxiii. Psalm, "There is no king saved by the
multitude of an host: a mighty man is not delivered by much strength."
[Ps. 33:16] On this account, I fear, it came to pass of old that the
good Emperors Frederick I[8] and II[9], and many other German emperors
were shamefully oppressed and trodden under foot by the popes,
although all the world feared them. It may be that they relied on
their own might more than on God, and therefore they had to all. In
our own times, too, what was it that raised the bloodthirsty Julius
II[10] to such heights? Nothing else, I fear, except that France, the
Germans and Venice relied upon themselves. The children of Benjamin
slew 42,000 Israelites[11] because the latter relied on their own
strength.
That it may not so fare with us and our noble young Emperor Charles,
we must be sure that in this matter we are dealing not with men, but
with the princes of hell, who can fill the world with war and
bloodshed, but whom war and bloodshed do not overcome. We must go at
this work despairing of physical force and humbly trusting God; we
must seek God's help with earnest prayer, and fix our minds on nothing
else than the misery and distress of suffering Christendom, without
regard to the deserts of evil men. Otherwise we may start the game
with great prospect of success, but when we get well into it the evil
spirits will stir up such confusion that the whole world will swim in
blood, and yet nothing will come of it. Let us act wisely, therefore,
and in the fear of God. The more force we use, the greater our
disaster if we do not act humbly and in God's fear. The popes and the
Romans have hitherto been, able, by the devil's help, to set kings at
odds with one another, and they may well be able to do it again, if we
proceed by our own might and cunning, without God's help.