The Saxon Visitation brought to light such a total decay of all
Christian knowledge and of Christian instruction as even Luther had not
anticipated. Aside from other evils (clergymen cohabiting with their
cooks, addicted to drink, or even conducting taverns, etc.), the people,
especially in the villages, were found to be grossly ignorant of even
the simplest rudiments of Christian doctrine and most unwilling to learn
anything, while many pastors were utterly incompetent to teach.
According to the official records, one priest, who enjoyed a great
reputation as an exorcist, could not even recite the Lord's Prayer and
the Creed fluently. (Koestlin, _Martin Luther,_ 2, 41.) Luther took part
in the visitation of the Electoral circuit from the end of October till
after the middle of November, 1528, and again from the end of December,
1528, till January, 1529, and on April 26, 1529, at Torgau, he, too,
signed the report on visitation. When Luther therefore describes the
decay of instruction in Popery, he speaks from personal experience.
About the middle of January, 1529, he wrote to Spalatin: "Moreover,
conditions in the congregations everywhere are pitiable, inasmuch as the
peasants learn nothing, know nothing, never pray, do nothing but abuse
their liberty, make no confession, receive no communion, as if they had
been altogether emancipated from religion. They have neglected their
papistical affairs (ours they despise) to such extent that it is
terrible to contemplate the administration of the papal bishops."
(Enders 7, 45.) The intense heartache and mingled feelings which came
over Luther when he thought of the ignorance which he found during the
visitation, are described in the Preface to the Small Catechism as
follows: "The deplorable miserable condition which I discovered lately
when I, too, was a visitor, has forced and urged me to prepare this
Catechism, or Christian doctrine, in this small, plain, simple form.
Mercy! Good God! what manifold misery I beheld! The common people,
especially in the villages, have no knowledge whatever of Christian
doctrine, and, alas! many pastors are altogether incapable, and
incompetent to teach. Nevertheless, all maintain that they are
Christians, all have been baptized and receive the holy Sacrament. Yet
they cannot recite either the Lord's Prayer, or the Creed, or the Ten
Commandments, they live like dumb brutes and irrational swine; and yet
now that the Gospel has come, they have nicely learned to abuse all
liberty like experts. O ye bishops! what will ye ever answer to Christ
for having so shamefully neglected the people and never for a moment
discharged your office? May all misfortune flee you! You command the
Sacrament in one form and insist on your human laws, and yet at the same
time you do not care in the least whether the people know the Lord's
Prayer, the Creed, the Ten Commandments, or any part of the Word of God.
Woe, woe, unto you forever!" (533, 1ff.)
To these experiences made during the visitation, Luther also refers when
he says in the Short Preface to the Large Catechism: "For I well
remember the time, indeed, even now it is a daily occurrence that one
finds rude old persons who knew nothing and still know nothing of these
things, and who, nevertheless, go to Baptism and the Lord's Supper, and
use everything belonging to Christians, notwithstanding that those who
come to the Lord's Supper ought to know more and have a fuller
understanding of all Christian doctrine than children and new scholars."
(575, 5.) In his "Admonition to the Clergy" of 1530, Luther describes
the conditions before the Reformation as follows: "In brief, preaching
and teaching were in a wretched and heart-rending state. Still all the
bishops kept silence and saw nothing new, although they are now able to
see a gnat in the sun. Hence all things were so confused and wild, owing
to the discordant teaching and the strange new opinions, that no one was
any longer able to know what was certain or uncertain, what was a
Christian or an unchristian. The old doctrine of faith in Christ, of
love, of prayer, of cross, of comfort in tribulation was entirely
trodden down. Aye, there was in all the world no doctor who knew the
entire Catechism, that is, the Lord's Prayer, the Ten Commandments, and
the Creed, to say nothing of understanding and teaching it, as now, God
be praised, it is being taught and learned, even by young children. In
support of this statement I appeal to all their books, both of
theologians and jurists. If a single part of the Catechism can be
correctly learned therefrom, I am ready to be broken upon the wheel and
to have my veins opened." (W. 30, 1, 301.)
Melanchthon, Jonas, Brenz, George of Anhalt, Mathesius, and many others
draw a similar picture of the religious conditions prevailing in
Germany, England, and other lands immediately prior to the Reformation.
To be sure, Papists, particularly Jesuits, have disputed the accuracy
and truth of these descriptions from the pen of Luther and his
contemporaries. But arrayed against these Romish apologetes is also the
testimony of Papists themselves. In his _Catholicus Catechismus,_
published at Cologne, 1543, Nausea writes: "I endeavored to renew the
instruction, once well known among all churches, which, however, not
only recently, but long ago (I do not know to whose stupidity,
negligence, or ignorance this was due) was altogether forgotten, not
without lamentable loss to the catholic religion. _Veterem illam
catechesin, per omnes quondam ecclesias percelebrem non modo tum, sed et
ante pridem, nescio quorum vel socordia vel negligentia vel ignorantia,
non sine poenitenda catholicae religionis iactura prorsus in oblivionem
coeptam repetere coepi_." (W. 30, 1, 467.) Moreover, when Romanists
dispute Luther's assertions, they refer to the one point only, that
religious instruction (as conceived by Catholics) had not declined in
the measure claimed by Luther. As to the chief point in Luther's
assertion, however, _viz._, the correct Evangelical explanation of the
Catechism, which, in Luther's opinion, is essential to all truly
Christian instruction, the Catholic Church has always been utterly
devoid of it not only prior to the Reformation, but also after it, and
down to the present day. True, even during the Reformation some Papists
were incited to greater zeal in preaching and teaching. It was a
reaction against the Reformation of Luther, who must be regarded as the
indirect cause also of the formal improvement in the instruction of the
young among the Romanists. To maintain their power, bishops and priests
were compelled to resume and cultivate it. This revival, however, meant
only an intensified instruction in the old work-righteousness, and
therefore was the very opposite of the instruction which Luther desired
and advocated. In the Apology, Melanchthon, after charging the Papists
with totally neglecting the instruction of the young, continues: "A few
among them now also begin to preach of good works. But of the knowledge
of Christ, of faith, of the consolation of consciences they are unable
to preach anything, moreover, this blessed doctrine, the precious holy
Gospel, they call Lutheran." (326, 44.)