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Martin Luther, part XVI – Emperor Charles V

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Editor’s Note: This is the final article in a sixteen-part series on the life and times of Martin Luther. As we pause to meditate on the lives of Martin Luther and Charles V, what a striking contrast can be seen. Can we have the slightest doubt who was the greatest? The one, sitting in his closet, sent forth words which shook into ruin ancient systems of superstitious religion, rending the shackles from the consciences of men, and saying to the slave, “Be free.” He gave sight to the spiritually blind, raised up the fallen, and cast down the mighty. He led hearts captive, and plucked up and planted kingdoms. It was a God-like power which he exercised, because he trusted not in the arm of flesh, but in God’s Word.

When we look at the emperor in his magnificent palace, we find a totally different and far inferior set of forces at work. Before Charles V could achieve anything, he had to gather an army, collect great sums of wealth, blow his trumpets, and beat his kettle-drums; yet how little of real importance did he obtain from all of his bloodshed! Cities and provinces called him master, but waited for the first opportunity to throw off his yoke. What truth did he establish which can mold the lives of men and be a blessing in ages to come? It is now that we can see which of these two men exercised real power and which of the two was a true monarch. See The History of Protestantism, part 1, page 568, by J. A. Wylie.

The Schmalkald League

The Augsburg Diet ended in September 1530. On November 19, 1530, the emperor “issued a decree, addressed to the Protestant princes, States and cities, commanding them, under peril of his displeasure, to return to their obedience to the See of Rome, and giving them till the next spring (15th of April) to make their choice between submission and war.” The History of Protestantism, part 1, book 12, 95.

“The edict of the emperor forbade from that hour all further conversions to Protestantism, under pain of forfeiture of goods and life; it further enacted that all which had been taken from the Roman Catholics should be restored; that the monasteries and religious houses should be rebuilt; that the old ceremonies and rites should be observed; and that no one who did not submit to this decree should sit in the Imperial Chamber, the supreme court of judicature in the Empire; and that all classes should assist with their lives and fortunes in carrying out this edict. The edict of Spires was directed mainly against Luther; the ban of Augsburg was wider in its scope; it fell on all who held his opinions in Germany—on princes, cities, and peasants.” Ibid.

Melancthon was filled with dismay and Sleidan describes him as “drowned with sighs and tears.” Luther’s faith rose to the occasion and he faced the obstacles and produced a publication that foretold the failure of the edict. He declared that the emperor’s sword, though strong, could not extinguish the light and bring back the darkness.

Luther’s spirit fired the princes who met at Christmas, 1530, at Schmalkald to decide on the necessary action. They decided that their religion and liberties must be defended at all costs and that it was necessary to form a League. Known as the League of Schmalkald, the princes decided to join together to resist with military might any attempt to carry out the Edict of Augsburg. Their religious liberty was not the only question, since Charles was also involved in schemes that were dangerous to the constitution and civil liberties of Germany as well. The League was renewed the following year at Christmas, 1531, with many cities and princes joining. The Swiss Protestants were repulsed because of their views on the Lord’s Supper. Not long after this, Zwingle died in battle.

Luther was not pleased with the League. He shuddered at anything that would bring the Gospel and war into contact. He was assured that the League was for defensive purposes only and meant to exercise unity and their natural right to self-defense, and so he acquiesced in the League of the princes. It was political entanglements that Luther feared. “He foresaw the League growing strong and beginning to lean on armies, neglecting the development of the religious principle in whose vitality alone would consist the consolidation, power, and success of their federation.” Ibid., 98.

Spring came, but Charles was unable to carry out his threats. The Turks were again threatening war in eastern Europe and in addition, Charles’ old enemy, Francis of France, was making preparations for war against him. He had angered the Popish princes by making his brother Ferdinand, King of the Romans, and he could not turn to them for assistance. “It must have seemed, even to himself, as if a greater power than the Schmalkald Confederacy were fighting against him.” Ibid., 99.

He was forced to make peace with the Protestants and “after tedious and difficult negations, a peace was agreed upon at Nuremberg, July 23rd, and ratified in the Diet at Ratisbon, August 3rd, 1532. In this pacification the emperor granted to the Lutherans the free and undisturbed exercise of their religion, until such time as a General Council or an Imperial Diet should decide the religious question.” The Protestants promised to aid the emperor in war against the Turks, and Charles enjoyed victory over them. Charles then went on to other military projects in his dominions and the Church had rest, which lasted for close to a decade and a half.

The years that followed brought steady growth to the Protestant dominions. Wurtemberg, Brandenburg, and Brunswich were added to the League. By 1542, the whole of central and northern Germany was Protestant. Only Austria, Bavaria, and Palatinate remained with Rome, but great advances were made by Protestantism in these areas also.

Death and Burial of Luther

“The man of all others in Germany who loved peace was Luther. War he abhorred with all the strength of his great soul. He could not conceive a greater calamity befalling his cause than that the sword should be allied with it. Again and again, during the course of his life, when the opposing parties were on the point of rushing to arms the Reformer stepped in, and the sword leapt back into its scabbard. Again war threatens. On every side men are preparing their arms: hosts are mustering, and mighty captains are taking the field. We listen, if haply that powerful voice which had so often dispersed the tempest when the bolt was ready to fall shall once more make itself heard. There comes instead the terrible tidings—Luther is dead!” Ibid., 107.

The Counts of Mansfield had requested that Luther come in January of 1546, to arbitrate a boundary dispute. Luther did not care to meddle in such matters, but, since the matter was in the province of his birth, he consented to go as it would enable him to see his old birthplace once more. He was taken ill on the journey but recovered. On entering the province he was received like a prince.

After settling the dispute to the satisfaction of the counts, he occasionally preached in the church and took Communion, but he had many signs that warned him that he did not have long to live. ” ‘Here I was born and baptized,’ said he to friends, ‘what if I should remain here to die also?’ He was only sixty-three, but continual anxiety, ceaseless and exhausting labour, oft-recurring fits of nervous depression, and cruel maladies had done more than years to waste his strength.” Ibid.

On the 17th of February, after having dinner, he withdrew to pray as was his custom. Pain in his stomach caused him to go to bed early and he awakened in the night with an oppression in his chest and knowing that his life was soon to end. Three times he prayed, each time his voice more faint, confessing his faith and thankfulness to God. ” ‘Into thy hands I commit my spirit; thou hast redeemed me, O God of truth!’ He in a manner gently slept out of this life, without any bodily pain or agony that could be perceived.” Ibid., 107.

“Luther’s career had been a stormy one, yet its end was peace. He had waged incessant battle, not with the emperor and the Pope only, but also with a more dreadful foe, who had often filled his mind with darkness. Yet now he dies expressing his undimmed joy and his undying trust in his Saviour. It is also very remarkable that the man whose life had been so often sought by Popes, kings, priests, and fanatics of every grade, died on his bed. Luther often said that it would be a great disgrace to the Pope if he should so die . . . During the last twenty-five years of his life—that is, ever since his appearance at the Diet of Worms—the emperor’s ban and the Pope’s anathema had hung about him; yet there fell not to the ground a hair of his head . . . To be rid of him Rome would have joyfully given the half of her kingdom; but not a day, not an hour of life was she able to take from him.” Ibid., 109.

John, elector of Saxony, commanded that he should be laid to rest in Wittemberg. The procession grew with each town it passed through. The multitudes sang psalms and hymns. He was buried in the Schloss-kirk of Wittemberg where he had nailed his Theses.

The Schmalkald War and the Defeat of the Protestants

For two years, while Luther was yet alive, war had threatened but was withheld. Now it moved on rapidly as Charles hastened to arrange all of his affairs so that he might deal with the Protestants. He recruited soldiers and made a treaty with Pope Paul III. The Pope payed large sums of money and supplied a great number of soldiers for the battle in Germany.

“Another step toward war, though it looked like conciliation, was the meeting of the long-promised and long deferred Council . . . There had assembled at the little town of Trent some forty prelates, who assumed to represent the Universal Church, and to issue decrees which should be binding on all the countries of Christendom, although Italy and Spain alone were as yet represented in the Council . . . The Council, in its third session, decreed that the traditions of the Fathers are of equal authority with the Scripture . . . and that no one is to presume to interpret the Scriptures in a sense different from that of the Church . . . The Protestants affirmed that the one infallible authority was the Word of God. They made their appeal to the tribunal of Holy Scripture; they could recognize no other judge. The sole supremacy of Scriptures was in fact the corner-stone of their system, and if this great maxim were rejected their whole cause was adjudged and condemned.

“This was another way of saying, ‘you must submit to the Church.’ . . . They were told that they must accept their opponent for their judge . . . The first decree of the Council, then, embraced all that were to follow; . . . thoroughly Popish decisions . . . It was clear that the Fathers had assembled at Trent to pass sentence on the faith of the German people as heresy, and then the emperor would step in with his great sword and give it its death-blow.” Ibid., 113.

While he made great preparations for war, the emperor made even greater claims that he meant only peace. In a meeting with Phillip of Hesse, this prince, who held him most suspect, came to believe that he was indeed intent on peace, and the Protestants were lulled to sleep. It was the Pope who revealed the truth when he published a bull announcing his league with the emperor and their true intent and calling on all the faithful to concur in it. This caused Charles to let down his disguise but he still succeeded in convincing many Protestants that his warlike preparations, though they were indeed for Germany, were not meant to interfere with its religious opinions but to put down the Schmalkald League. Which was, he said, an empire within an empire and so it could not be tolerated by imperial supremacy.

“The pretext was a transparent one, but it enabled the timid, the lukewarm, and the wavering to say, ‘This war does not concern religion, it is a quarrel merely between the emperor and certain members of the League.’ How completely did the aspect the matter now assumed justify the wisdom of the man who had lately been laid in his grave in the Schloss-kirk of Wittemberg! How often had Luther warned the Protestants against the error of shifting their cause from a moral to a political basis! The former, he ever assured them, would, when the day of trial came, be found to have double the strength they had reckoned upon—in fact, to be invincible; whereas the latter, with an imposing show, would be found to have no strength at all.” Ibid., 115.

“On the 20th of July the blow fell . . . The war, now that it had come, found the League neither united nor prepared . . . The campaign, from its commencement in the mid-summer of 1546, to its close in the spring of 1547, was marked, on the part of the League, by vacillation and blundering. There was no foresight shown in laying its plans, no vigor in carrying them out.” Ibid., 116. One of the three leading princes in the League sided with the emperor. The war ended with the remaining two princes, John Frederick and Landgrave Phillip, in prison. Charles stripped them of their title and power, destroyed their castles, confiscated their lands, and lead them about from city to city as a spectacle to their former subjects.

“If, instead of stepping down into the arena of battle, they had offered themselves to the stake, not a tithe of the blood would have been shed that was spilt in the campaign, and instead of being lowered, the moral power of Protestantism thereby would have been immensely raised . . . No greater calamity could have befallen the Reformation than that Protestantism should have become, in that age, a great political power. Had it triumphed as a policy it would have perished as a religion.” Ibid., 117.

The Interim—Reestablishment of Protestantism

Charles then proceeded to frame a creed meant to let Lutheran Germany down easily. Styled as a halfway between Wittemberg and Rome, the “Interim taught, among other things, the supremacy of the Pope, the dogma of transubstantiation, the sacrifice of the mass, the invocation of the saints, auricular confession, justification by works, and the sole right of the Church to interpret the Scriptures; in short, not one concession did Rome make.” Ibid., 118. Protestants were offered two paltry boons. Married clergy would not have to put away their wives, and where the Sacrament was being offered in both types, it could continue to be tolerated.

This document was presented to a Diet at Augsburg on May 15, 1548, where not a single dissenting voice was raised against it. They sat silent before the emperor’s soldiers amassed around the city. “The Interim was straightway promulgated by the emperor: all were to conform to it under pain of his displeasure, and it was to remain in force until a free General Council could be held.” Ibid.

But Charles was to find that his Interim had no friends. The Vatican was sore displeased. “That the emperor in virtue of his sole authority should frame and promulgate a creed was not to be tolerated; it was to do the work of a Council; it was, in fact, to seat himself in the chair of the Pope and to say, ‘I am the Church.’ Besides, the cardinals grudged even the two pitiful concessions which had been made to the Protestants.” Ibid.

There were some areas of Germany where there was open resistance to the Interim while in others everything Protestant was removed. Old rites were restored, Protestant magistrates replaced, and Protestant pastors and their families forced from their homes. Those who did not escape were lead about in chains by their enemies.

“There is one submission that pains us more than all the others. It is that of Melancthon. Melancthon and the Wittemberg divines, laying down the general principles, that where things indifferent only are in question it is right to obey the commands of a lawful superior, and assuming that the Interim, which had been slightly manipulated for their special convenience, conflicted with the Augustan Confession in only indifferent points, and that it was well to preserve the essentials of the Gospel as seed-corn for better times, denied their Protestantism, and bowed down in worship of the emperor’s religion.” Ibid., 119.

“But amid so many prostrate one man stood nobly erect. John Frederick of Saxony, despite the suffering and ignominy that weighed upon him, refused to accept the Interim. Hopes of liberty were held out to induce him to endorse the emperor’s creed, but this only drew from him a solemn protestation of his adherence to the Protestant faith.” Ibid.

Charles believed that Roman Catholicism was the basis of his power and through thirty years of intrigues and wars he held fast to his determination to strike a fatal blow to Protestantism. This blow he had struck. “It was at this moment, when his glory was in its noon, that the whole aspect of affairs around the emperor suddenly changed . . . Not a friend or ally had he who did not now turn on him.” Ibid.

The Pope was alarmed at Charles’ conquests and feared that the Papacy was about to receive a master. He was also offended that he had received none of the spoils of their war. Paul III recalled his army and moved the Council of Trent to Bologna.

The Germans had lost many liberties and they felt deceived. They had been told that the war was not over religious questions and yet their pastors were banished, their churches taken over by mass-priests, and filled with burning tapers and chants and prayers in an unknown tongue. This all told of a promise unkept and to deception was added insult.

Prince Maurice, a professed Protestant who had sided with the emperor for ambition’s sake, now came to know that his defections would cause him to be swept away in the gathering storm. He determined to “atone for his betrayal of his Protestant confederates by treachery to the emperor.” Ibid., 120. He succeeded at length to convince the princes to join him in his schemes to win back the liberties of Germany. He yet had a sizable force in his charge which he was using in Charles’ service to besiege Magdeburg, which was brave in its resistance to the Interim. He was able to convince the citizens of that city to sign the Interim, in order to deceive Charles, while he secretly promised that they would never be deprived of their religious freedoms, and he convinced King Henry of France to move in from the south. All of this was done with masterly skill and secrecy.

At Innspruck, Charles was lulled into security by Maurice’s artifices. His campaigns had exhausted his money-chest and he had only a handful of guards at his side when the revolt broke out in March of 1552. He was hemmed in on every side. The Turks were watching by sea, the French to the south, before him was the angry Pope and behind was Maurice “pushing on by secret and forced marches, ‘to catch,’ as he irreverently said, ‘the fox in his hole.’ And probably he would have done as he said, had not a mutiny broken out among his troops on the journey, which, by delaying his march on Innspruck, gave Charles time to learn with astonishment that all Germany had risen, and was in full march upon Innspruck. The emperor had no alternative but flight.” Ibid., 121. The emperor was suffering from gout and had to be carried on a litter over rugged mountain paths by light of torches. Maurice entered Innspruck just hours after his prey had escaped. “The emperor’s power collapsed when apparently at its zenith.” Ibid. He was forced to sue for peace.

“There followed, in July, the Peace of Passau. The main article in that treaty was that the Protestants should enjoy the free and undisturbed possession of their religion till such time as a Diet of all the States should effect a permanent arrangement, and that failing such a Diet the present agreement should remain in force for ever. This was followed by the Treaty of Augsburg in 1555. This last ratified and enlarged the privileges conceded to the Protestants in the pacification of Passau, and gave a legal right to the Augustan Confession to exist side by side with the creed of the Romish Church. The ruling idea of the Middle Ages, that one form of religion only could exist in a country, was abandoned . . . The members of the Reformed Church, the followers of Zwingle and Calvin, were excluded from the privileges secured in the treaties of Passau and Augsburg, nor was legal toleration extended to them till the Peace of Westphalia, a century later.” Ibid., 122.

So Charles was unable to extinguish the light of Protestantism. “Hundreds of thousands of lives had he sacrificed and millions of money had he squandered in the contest, but Protestantism, so far from being extinguished, had enlarged its area, and multiplied its adherents four-fold.” Ibid. And Charles, with a nearly empty treasury, his prestige diminished, and revolt on every side of his dominions, chose to abdicate in favor of his son Phillip. He retired to a Spanish monastery and ended his days nearly friendless in a sparsely furnished apartment spending his time in gardening and trying to reconcile the differences in his clocks which he was never able to make strike together.

The End

Martin Luther, part XV – The Diet at Augsburg

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Emperor Charles V had called for a Diet of all the German States in Augsburg on April 8, 1530. With spring and the opening of the Alps, Charles began his travels to Germany from Italy. He arrived at Innspruck in May. Here the counselor Gattinara, who had encouraged Charles to avoid using the sword against Protestantism, sickened and died. This left only Campeggio as counselor to Charles, and he was the Pope’s specially commissioned counseler, who called for an inquisition against the reformers. Many of the Protestant princes themselves called for war, but Luther replied, “No, let no man resist the emperor: if he demands a sacrifice, lead me to the altar.” History of Protestantism, 581. He wrote to the princes calling for Christian patience and firm faith and “his noble hymn, ‘A Strong Tower is Our God,’ began to be heard in all the churches of Germany. Its heroic strains pealed forth by thousands of voices, and swelling grandly aloft, kindled the soul and augmented the confidence and courage of the Protestant host. It continued to be sung in the public assemblies during all the time the Diet was in session.” Ibid., 581, 582.

In early April, the Protestant princes and the theologians began their journey to Augsburg. The people watched them leave with great anxiety. Not since the Diet at Worms in 1521, had there been such a widely felt and deep agitation in Germany. This contest was to decide great issues and the people, along with their representatives went in prayer to Augsburg . Luther’s hymn, sung by the travelers, drowned out the tramp of horses and the clank of armor, and served to increase their courage. Luther also preached a sermon at the end of each day’s march. Charles advanced closer to Augsburg, causing the hymn to be sung more loudly. Since he was to be present at the Diet, this brought out a full attendance of princes and deputies who were determined to also be present at this momentous occasion.

In March, Elector John of Saxony had issued an order for the theologians of Wittemburg to write a summary of the Protestant faith. It was meant to state, in a concise manner, how they differed from Rome. Luther, Melancthon, Jonas and Pomeranus worked on it jointly and presented it to the Elector before the trip. But a few weeks later at Augsburg, Melancthon enlarged and remodeled the articles, with a view in mind of having them read at the Diet. He worked long days and nights on this important task. “Nothing did he spare which a penetrating judgment and a lovely genius could do to make this Confession, in point of its admirable order, its clearness of statement, and beauty of style, such as would charm the ears and lead captive the understandings and hearts of the Roman Catholics in the Diet. ‘They must listen,’ he said, ‘in spite of themselves.’ Everything was put in the least offensive form. Wittemburg and Rome were brought as near to each other as the eternal barrier between the two permitted.” Ibid., 585.

During the journey it had been deemed best for Luther to stay at Elector John’s Castle of Coburg, rather than to be present at the Diet in person, since the Edict of Worms was still in effect. There he could still be kept informed of events and his advice could be sought, but he would not be in such danger. Luther studied and spent hours each day in prayer. Melancthon’s revised articles were sent to Luther at Coburg. He gave them his approval. “I have read over Master Philip’s apology: it pleases me right well, and I know not how to better or alter anything in it, and will not hazard the attempt; for I cannot tread so softly and gently. Christ our Lord help that it bear much and great fruit; as we hope and pray. Amen.” Ibid.

During the weeks that the crowds waited on Charles to arrive, they were given opportunity to hear the Protestant teachings, as the churches were opened and Protestant preachers gave daily messages which attracted thousands. The Papists were confounded by the courageous Lutherans, and they determined to replace these preachers with their own. These proved they had not learned how to preach and the crowds left them to deliver their noisy speeches in empty cathedrals.

The Emperor at Augsburg and the Opening of the Diet

June came, long past the April 8 date for the Diet, and Charles had still not arrived. The long delay caused Luther much anxiety. He used the time well, in study and prayer, and completed his translation of several books of the Old Testament during his confinement at Coburg. He daily spent three hours in prayer and added to this hours with the Scriptures. He needed rest but was not able to rest. He suffered from fears that seemed realities, but he wrote Scripture on the walls and claimed promises of safety and rest. He was able to come out the victor as he beheld in the skies the great firmament and the Hand that upheld it, and by faith he saw the mighty Hand that guided this movement. With this Hand in control what was the need of his own weak arm? From here he was able to strengthen Melancthon who was trying to uphold the heavens himself and was being crushed by its weight.

Melancthon was rushing here and there from one Romanist to another trying through every device to reconcile the parties. Luther clearly saw the two diametrically opposite churches and faiths in this matter, and he also saw that it was a waste of time and a risk to character and truth to try to reconcile the two. This Melancthon did not see. Luther counseled his friend, “If we are not the Church, where I pray is the Church?” Ibid., 593.

At last Charles made it to Augsburg on June 15, 1530 , and directed an assault against the Protestant sermons. “The crowds that gathered round the preachers were as great as ever. The emperor was galled by the sight of these enthusiastic multitudes . . . That the heresy which he had crossed the Alps to extinguish should be proclaimed in a score of churches, and within earshot of him, was more than he could endure. He sent for the Lutheran princes, and charged them to enjoin silence on their preachers. The princes replied that they could not live without the preaching of the Gospel, and that the citizens of Augsburg would not willingly consent to have the churches closed . . . After two days’ warm altercation it was concluded on the part of the Protestants—who feared to irritate too greatly the emperor, lest he should forbid the reading of their Confession in the Diet —that during the sitting of the Senate the Protestant sermons should be suspended; and Charles on his part agreed to appoint preachers who should impugn neither creed in their sermons, but steer a middle course between the old and the new faith . . . Those who went to witness the promised feat of preaching something that was neither Popery nor Protestantism, were not a little amused by the performances of this new sort of preachers. ‘Their sermons,’ said they, ‘are innocent of theology, but equally innocent of sense.’” Ibid., 589.

Charles opened the Diet with a speech. He told of the dangers presented by the Turks and then called for his hearers to execute the Edict of Worms. His speech shows the sad state of Christianity at this age. Priestcraft and despotism had so weakened the West that it was ready to be overcome by the Turks. Protestantism had arisen just in time to rekindle the nearly extinguished fires of patriotism and valor. Charles was calling for the death of the only hope the West had of being saved from being ruled from Constantinople and forced into Mohammedanism. The Diet had been called to deal with the problem of the Turks and to answer the religious questions. Charles decided to begin with the religious question.

Reading The Augsburg Confession

On the 23rd of June the Protestants met to sign their Confession which Melancthon had polished. This document had been prepared by theologians but it was signed by the laity. This was significant since “it proclaimed the forgotten fact that the laity form part of the Church . . . The Protestants agreed to demand that their Confession should be read publicly in the Diet. This was a vital point with them. They had not kindled this light to put it under a bushel, but to set it in a very conspicuous place; indeed, in the midst even of the princedoms, hierarchies, and powers of Christendom now assembled at Augsburg.” Ibid., 594.

After deliberations and delays, a public reading was granted to be given in a small hall that held only two hundred persons. Finally on the 25th of June the reading was given in German by Bayer, a chancellor of Elector John. All eyes were on the Protestants whose faces were radiant with joy. Bayer’s voice rang strong so all could hear, and for two hours the reading of the Confession continued. “Not a word was spoken all that time. This assembly of princes and warriors, statesmen and ecclesiastics, sat silent, held fast in the spell, not of novelty merely, but of the simplicity, beauty, and majesty of the truths which passed before them in the grand spiritual panorama which Melancthon’s powerful hand had summoned up. Till now they had known the opinions of the Protestants only as rumour had exaggerated, or ignorance obscured, or hatred misrepresented and vilified them: now they learned them from the pen of the clearest intellect and most accomplished scholar in the Lutheran host . . . The effect on some was surprise; on others, conviction; on most, it was the creation of a more conciliatory spirit towards the Lutherans.” Ibid., 599.

“The presentation of the Confession to the Diet was the culmination of the movement on German soil. It was the proudest hour of the Lutheran Church . . . The Augsburg Confession was not a perfectly accurate statement of Scripture truth by any means, but as a first attempt, made before the Reformation had completed its second decade, it was a marvellous effort . . . ‘Christ has been boldly confessed at Augsburg,’ said Luther, when the news reached him. ‘I am overjoyed that I have lived to this hour.’” Ibid., 601, 602.

“The Popish members were dismayed and confounded when they reflected on what had been done. The Diet had been summoned to overthrow the Reformation; instead of this it had established it.” Ibid. Two other Confessions followed, one from Bucer and signed by the four cities which held to the Zwinglian rather than the Lutheran view of the Lord’s supper, and the other from Zwingli stating his individual views. The Papists had hoped to find “a schism in a schism” but they found “that on one point only did they differ and that all were united in their repudiation and condemnation of Rome.” Ibid.

“Moreover, powerful princes were passing from the Romanist to the Protestant side . . . Their accession wellnigh doubled the political strength of the Reformation . . . The Confession was translated into most of the languages of Europe, and circulated in the various countries; the misrepresentations and calumnies which had obscured and distorted the cause were cleared away; and Protestantism began to be hailed as a movement bringing with it renovation to the soul and new life to States.” Ibid., 602, 603.

The morning after the reading, Charles knew that he had made a bad start of this matter. He determined to correct his first false move and he sought counsel. Some suggested concessions that might appease the Protestants while leaving the mass and the authority of the Church intact. Charles liked this idea but Campeggio convinced him not to follow this counsel. He listened to many and varied counselors and determined that he must look into this matter himself. He did not speak German and so he ordered a perfectly accurate translation of the Confession into French.

In the meantime he called the deputies of the free cities of Germany into his ante-chamber. They were astonished by the demand made upon them. After the reading of Melancthon’s eloquent words which had caused such obvious perplexity among the Romanists, they expected a concession or an overture of conciliation, but they received a demand that they withdraw their support of the “Protest of the Princes” given at Spires in 1529. The deputies answered that in a matter of such importance they must have time to make an answer.

They had not thought much of the protest at the time but it was becoming evident that a wisdom not their own had ruled in the matter. “The Protest had deposited in Christendom the one everlasting corner-stone of freedom and virtue—an emancipated conscience . . . An emancipated conscience they committed to the guardianship of the Bible: and the supremacy of the Bible they placed under the sovereignty of God. Thus they brought conscience in immediate contact with her Lord, and human society they placed under the rule of its rightful and righteous king.” Ibid. The Protest “restored society to God . . . Protestantism came to reinstate the Divine government over the world. It did so by placing the authority of Scripture above the chair of the Pope, and lifting the crown of Christ above the throne of the emperor.” Ibid., 605.

Attempted Refutation of the Confession

Charles summoned a council of the Popish members of the Diet to give him advice concerning the Confession. Their counsel was not wise and was more of a distraction and embarrassment to Charles than a help. In the end it was decided that a few learned doctors would be appointed to write a Refutation of the Lutheran Confession which would then be read to the princes and ratified by Charles. Those selected for the task were twenty extreme Romanists, and it was clear that there would be no concessions to the Protestants. “Before unsheathing the sword, they would first make trial with the pen. They would employ violence with all the better grace afterwards.” Ibid., 608.

All knew too that this Refutation could not stand against the Confession if the Bible were the basis of its arguments. “‘Doctor,’ inquired the Duke of Bavaria, addressing Eck, ‘can you confute that paper out of the Bible?’ ‘No,’ replied he, ‘but it may be easily done from the Fathers and Councils.’ ‘I understand,’ rejoined the duke, ‘I understand; the Lutherans are in Scripture, and we are outside .’” Ibid.

Luther was inspired and encouraged at the prospect of the battle, but Melancthon was in despair. Luther’s hours of prayer and his great faith begat faith, as he wrote to encourage his friend that the battle was God’s and that He would win. The adherents of Lutheranism might die, but the cause would win. “So did the battle proceed on the two sides. Wiles, frowns, threats, with the sword as the last resort, are seen on the one side—prayers, tears, and faith on the other.” Ibid., 610.

Charles had sent two groups away with instruction to return with answers. The first to return were the deputies of the free cities. Charles had hoped that the differences within the cities on the question of the Lord’s supper might split the Protestant front, but they stood united and firm against the common foe and stated that they could not obey the emperor’s wishes as this would cause them to disobey God. The second group to return were the Popish doctors with their refutation or more rightly stated condemnation of the Protestant Confession.

After seeing the 280 page document and finding that it made no refutation at all but was full of abuse, Charles could see that “her worst foe could not do Rome a more unkindly act, or Wittemburg a greater service, than to publish such a document.” It would never stand under contrast with the Confession. Another refutation must be attempted.

End of the Diet of Augsburg

Six weeks were required to rewrite the Refutation. In the mean time Charles attempted to split the Protestants through the princes. “They were taken one by one, in the hope that they would be found less firm when single than they were when taken together. Great offers—loftier titles, larger territories, more consideration—were made to them would they but return to the Church. When bribes failed to seduce them, threats were had recourse to . . . Neither were threats able to bend them to submission . . . Their faith taught them not to fear the wrath of the powerful Charles. No efforts were spared to compel the Elector John to bow the neck . . . He must make his choice between his crown and his Savior.” He could not be moved to deny his Lord. “John risked all; but in the end he retained all, and amply vindicated his title to the epithet given him—‘John the Constant.’” Ibid., 614.

On September 3, Charles called his princes together to hear the reading of the Refutation. There were some areas of agreement with the Confession of the Protestants, but this Refutation professed the old fabric of salvation by works and “maintained the Divine authority of the hierarchy, and of course the correlative duty of absolute submission to it; the Protestants acknowledged no infallible rule on earth but the Scriptures.” Ibid., 615.

“When the reading was finished the emperor addressed the elector and the other Protestant princes to the effect that, seeing their Confession had now been refuted, it was their duty to restore peace to the Church, and unity to the Empire, by returning to the Roman obedience. He demanded, in fine, consent to the articles now read, under pain of the ban of the Empire.” Ibid.

“The Protestant princes were not a little surprised at the emperor’s peremptoriness. They were told that they had been refuted, but unless they should be pleased to take the emperor’s word for it, they had no proof or evidence that they had been so . . . and as they knew of no power possessed by the emperor of changing bad logic into good, or of transforming folly into wisdom, the Protestant princes—a copy of the Refutation having been denied them—intimated to Charles that they still stood by their Confession.” Ibid.

Every attempt of the emperor and the Romish representative of the Diet had failed to bring the Protestants into submission. Everyday they seemed to display more courage and their cause was gaining strength, while the anger and perplexities of the Romanists increased. The emperor was at his wit’s end. He dared not carry out his threats against the Protestants. Luther, still in the Castle of Coburg was filled with joy and courage, and his letters reflect his assurance of victory and an elevation of faith.

“Meanwhile in the Diet promises had been tried and failed; threats had been tried and failed; negotiations were again opened, and now the cause had wellnigh been wrecked.” For though Luther was able to see by faith the Hands of God upholding all, Melancthon who was the chief negotiator for the Protestants seemed to imagine the imminent fall of the cause and was about to surrender all. For the sake of peace he all but sacrificed himself, his colleagues, and the work. His concessions were extraordinary. The lay Christians felt they were witnessing the burial of the movement. The Swiss Protestants were grief stricken. “Luther was startled and confounded.” He wrote to Augsburg. “I learned that you have begun a marvellous work, namely, to reconcile Luther and the Pope; but the Pope will not be reconciled, and Luther begs to be excused. And if in despite of them you succeed in this affair, then, after your example, I will bring together Christ and Belial.” Ibid., 616.

But Melancthon would not be counseled by Luther. His patience was short and his temper sour, and he was about to finish what he termed his work of conciliation when deliverance came from another avenue. The Romanists, as if smitten with madness, drew back at the very point of victory and refused to be reconciled. “Thus Rome lost the victory, which would in the end have fallen to her, had she made peace on the basis of Melancthon’s concessions. Her pride saved the German Reformation.” Ibid., 617.

Now it was left to Charles to end the Diet. An edict was sent out allowing the Protestants till April 15th to be reconciled to the Pope and forbidding the circulation of their books or proselytizing and demanding that they help to reduce the Anabaptists and the Zwinglians. “This edict Charles would have enforced at once with the sword, but the spirit displayed by the Protestant princes, the attitude assumed by the Turks, and the state of the emperor’s relations with the other sovereigns of Europe put war out of his power; and the consequence, was that the monarch who three months before had made his entry into Augsburg with so much pomp, and in so high hopes of making all things and parties bend to his will, retired from it full of mortification and chagrin, disappointed in all his plans, and obliged to conceal his discomfiture under a show of moderation and leniency.” Ibid.

The End

Martin Luther, part XIV – Charles V

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Charles had been present at the Diet of Worms in 1521 where Luther had been condemned as a heretic. For nine years he has been prevented from carrying out the edict against Luther. First the Pope, fearing Charles’s growing power, had joined in the “Holy League” with Francis I of France and Henry VIII of England, and from 1521 to 1525 Charles was in war against that league.

Charles set his brother Ferdinand in charge of the Diet at Spires in 1526 for the purpose of having the Edict of Worms executed, but the outcome was just the opposite, with every state being given the freedom to decide on religious matters within its borders. That same year Charles found it necessary to carry the battle against the “Holy League” to Rome. The Pope and his cardinals fled to the Castle of St. Angelo while twenty thousand of Charles’ troops terrorized Rome’s inhabitants and sacked and pillaged the city. For the next three years the King was kept busy with intrigues and battles, as ambition and war strove together.

“Now it is from the region of the Danube that the hoarse roar of battle is heard to proceed. There the Turk is closing on fierce conflict with the Christian, and the leisure of Ferdinand of Austria, which otherwise might be worse employed, is fully occupied in driving back the hordes of a Tartar invasion.” History of Protestantism, 566.

The cities of Germany waited in terror for the approach of the Asiatic warriors and were greatly cheered by news that the invaders had suffered a defeat at Vienna. “The scarcity of provisions to which the Turkish camp was exposed, and the early approach of winter, with its snow-storms, combined to effect the raising of the siege and the retreat of the invaders; but Luther recognized in this unexpected deliverance the hand of God, and the answer of prayer.” Ibid., 567.

These troubles in the political world left the church, in peace, to organize and spread the doctrines of the Reformation. During these years of peace for the church, Luther translated the Bible into German, wrote his “Larger and Smaller Catechisms,” and produced numerous tracts and Bible commentaries. Wittenberg was not quiet for a minute. The university continued to teach religion and theology as well as the sciences.

Charles Refocuses His Attack on the Reformation

Now the emperor is “victorious over the league which his enemies had formed against him. He has defeated the King of France; he has taught Henry of England to be careful of falling a second time into the error he committed in the affair of Cognac; he has chastised the Pope and compelled Clement VII to sue for peace with a great ransom and the offer of alliance; and now he looks around him and sees no opponent save one, and that one apparently the weakest of all. That opponent swept from his path, he will mount to the pinnacle of power. Surely he who has triumphed over so many kings will not have to lower his sword before a monk. The emperor has left Spain in great wrath, and is on his way to chastise those audacious Protestants, who are now, as he believes, fully in his power.” Ibid, 567.

It would be much easier for Charles if these rebels were in some other part of his realm. He could easily have carried out the Edict of Worms had the offenders been in Spain or Flanders, but in Germany, Charles must follow the constitutional forms he had agreed to, at his coronation as emperor. In Germany he had to consult the will of others, so he proceeded to convoke another Diet at Augsburg. He first needed to make sure the crafty Pope was going to abide by their alliance, and this necessitated a trip to Italy for a personal interview.

In the autumn of 1529, he set sail from Spain through the Mediterranean to Genoa. The Italians feared the approach of their new master and were pleasantly surprised to see, when he landed, not a ferocious conqueror but a prince of winning address and gentle manners. But this smiling prince could certainly frown sternly. The Protestant deputies that were on their way to meet with him would have the latter experience.

The Reformed princes had given the famous protest at Spires in April of 1529. The Arch-Duke Ferdinand, brother to Charles, had presided over that Diet. He had stormed and left the assembly, so the protesters had appealed to a general assembly and to posterity. They followed up this act with an appeal to the emperor, and their ambassadors, three in number, were now on their way to approach the emperor. “Their mission was deemed a somewhat dangerous one, and before their departure a pension was secured to their widows in case of misfortune. The prospect of appearing in the imperial presence was no pleasant one, for they knew that they had come to plead for a cause which Charles had destined to destruction. Their fears were confirmed by receiving an ominous hint to be brief, and not preach a Protestant sermon to the emperor.

“Unabashed by the imperial majesty and the brilliant court that waited upon Charles, these three plain ambassadors, when the day of audience came, discharged their mission with fidelity. They gave a precise narrative of all that had taken place in Germany on the matter of religion since the emperor quitted that country, which was in 1521. They specially instanced the edict of toleration promulgated by the Diet of 1526; the virtual repeal of the edict by the Diet of 1529; and Protest of the Reformed princes against that repeal; their challenge of religious freedom for themselves and all who should adhere to them, and their resolution, at whatever cost, never to withdraw from that demand, but to prosecute their Protest to the utmost of their power. In all matters of the Empire they would most willingly obey the emperor, but in the things of God they would obey no power on earth. So they spoke. It was no pleasant thing, verily, for the victor of kings and the ruler of two hemispheres to be thus plainly taught that there were men in the world whose wills even he, with all his power, could not bend. This thought was the worm at the root of the emperor’s glory. Charles deigned no reply; he dismissed the ambassadors with the intimation that the imperial will would be made known to them in writing.” Ibid., 569.

One month following their appearance before the emperor, the written answer was delivered by the emperor’s secretary, Alexander Schweiss. It stated that the emperor was well acquainted with matters in Germany, through his brother Ferdinand, and that he intended to carry out the last edict from Spires of a few months before. Namely, his intention was to abolish the toleration and advance to destroy the religious movement. He called for the Duke of Saxony to obey the decree because he owed allegiance to the emperor and if he chose not to obey, the emperor would find it necessary to punish him.

The ambassadors had already prepared an appeal; for they had guessed what would be the contents of the written reply from Charles. They sent this back to the emperor with his secretary. After reading the appeal, the emperor ordered Schweiss to go and arrest the ambassadors and hold them under house arrest, where they were not only kept inside, but they were also not permitted to write to friends, nor send any servant abroad, under penalty of death.

It so happened that one of the three deputies was away from the hotel when the emperor’s secretary came to carry out the order. His servant slipped out and told him what had happened. He was able to write an account of the happenings and send it by a trusty messenger to the Senate at Nuremberg. He then joined his fellows in the inn to share their fate. Within a few days the emperor’s great retinue set out for Bologna to meet with the Pope. He took the three Protestant deputies as captives.

The Schmalkald Articles

As the emperor was traveling to Bologna the letter from the captive deputies arrived in Nuremberg. News of the emperor’s stand against their protest and of the arrest of the ambassadors caused a profound sensation. The Elector of Saxony and the Landgrave of Hesse called a meeting of the Protestants in late November at Schmalkald. By this time Charles had released two of the deputies and the third had escaped. They were present to give a report in person. They “gave a full account of all that had befallen them at the court of the emperor. Their statement did not help to abate the fears of the princes. It convinced them to prepare against it; and the first and most effectual preparation, one would have thought, was to be united among them.” Ibid., 573.

Luther and friends had recently revised the Marburg Articles, in a strictly Lutheran sense, and these revised articles, known as the Schmalkald Articles were presented and signatures demanded, that they be first united on religion so they might be united for a political league. This required that all signers be agreed on transubstantiation. “This course was simply deplorable. Apart from religious belief, there was enough of clear political ground on which to base a common resistance to a common tyranny. But in those days the distinction between the citizen and the church-member, between the duties and the rights appertaining to the individual in his political and in his religious character, was not understood. All who would enter the proposed league must be of one mind on the tenet of consubsantiation. They must not only be Protestant, but Lutheran.” Ibid. The Lutheran princes would hear of no confederation with those who would not take the religious test. “The gulf between the Lutheran and the Reformed Churches was deepened at an hour when every sacrifice short of the principle of Protestantism itself ought to have been made to close it.” Ibid., 574.

Luther was not only opposed to union with those who did not see the Lord’s Supper in the exact light that he saw it, but he was also opposed to war. He believed that only the “sword of the spirit” should be used in the battle. “If then Luther must make his choice between the sword and the stake, between seeing the Reformation triumph on the field of war and triumph on the field of martyrdom, he infinitely prefers the latter. To have transferred the cause of Protestantism at that epoch from the pulpit, from the university, and the press, to the battle-field, would not have contributed to its final success.” Luther’s stand at Schmalkald is not defensible but the division did “ward off a great danger from Protestantism” and conducted “it into a path where it was able to give far sublimer proofs of its heroism, and to achieve victories more glorious and more enduring than any it could have won by arms.” Ibid.

Charles and Clement VII at Bologna

Bologna presents a splendid scene as the Pope and his host are housed in one palace with Charles and his troops in one that adjoins. The city is filled with church bells and military parades, “for religious ceremonies and military shows proceed without intermission.” A door is placed in the wall between the palaces of pope and emperor, and they are free to meet at all hours of the day or night. By day they meet with their counselors, and at night they meet secretly to form a plan against the Protestants.

Charles however has come to these meetings with a double mind. “He was now coming to see that to extinguish Luther would be to leave the Pope without a rival. The true policy was to tolerate Wittenberg, taking care that it did not become strong, and play it off, when occasion required, against Rome. He would muzzle it: he would hold the chain in his hand, and have the unruly thing under his own control. Luther and Duke John and Landgrave Philip would dance when he piped, and mourn when he lamented; and when the Pope became troublesome, he would lengthen the chain in which he held the hydra of Lutheranism, and reduce Clement to submission by threatening to let loose the monster on him. By being umpire Charles would be master.”

The counselors who were in Charles’ company were not less divided. “Campeggio and Gattinara advocated opposite policies. Campeggio was for dragging every Protestant to the stake and utterly razing Wittenberg.’ said he, ‘The first step in this process would be to confiscate property, civil or ecclesiastical, in Germany as well as in Hungary and Bohemia. For with regard to heretics, this is lawful and right. Is the mastery over them thus obtained, then must holy inquisitors be appointed, who shall trace out every remnant of them, proceeding against them as the Spaniards did against the Moors in Spain.’ . . . Not so did Gattinara counsel. He would heal the schism and unite Christendom, by other means. He called not for an army of executioners, but for an assembly of divines . . . ‘Assemble the pious men of all nations, and let a free Council deduce from the Word of God a scheme of doctrine such as may be received by every people.’ The policies of the two counselors stood markedly distinct—the sword, a Council.” Ibid., 575.

Pope Clement had more than one reason for opposing a council. Since the days of Pius IX and the decree of infallibility, the Pope had been the absolute head of the church. A council might threaten his superior authority. He also feared the council because he had gotten his pontifical chair by no blameless means, and had squandered the means of his office on his family inheritance, in Florence. A reckoning would be most inconvenient. “It is not” said he, “by the decree of councils, but by the edge of the sword, that we should decide controversies.” Charles sided with Gattinara. “The ecclesiastical potentate continued to advocate the sword, and the temporal monarch to call for a Council. It is remarkable that each distrusted the weapon with which he was best acquainted. ‘The sword will avail nought in this affair,’ urged the emperor; ‘let us vanquish our opponents in argument.’ ‘Reason,’ explained the Pope, ‘will not serve our turn; let us resort to force.’ ” Ibid., 578. The discussions continued through January. Battle on either front was not imminent since winter had closed the Alps and the emperor was quite comfortable in Bologna.

There was another reason that Charles preferred to have a council to an inquisition—because the Protestants were not small in number, and they had enough political power to be considered a threat to his throne. “It was clear that the burning of 100,000 Protestants or so would be only the beginning of the drama. The Pope would most probably approve of so kindly a blaze; but might it not end in setting States besides Germany on fire, and the Spanish monarchy among the rest? Charles, therefore, stuck to his idea of a Council; and being master, as Gattinara reminded him, he was able to have the last word in the conferences . . . Till a General Council could be convened, and as preparatory to it, the emperor, on the 20th January, 1530, issued a summons for a Diet of the States of Germany Augsburg on the 8th April.” Ibid., 578. The summons called for all parties to lay aside all differences and come together in one communion, one Church, and one unity.

Charles Crowned by the Pope.

The only thing Charles lacked in completing his grandeur was receiving the imperial diadem from the Pope. He had already been crowned emperor of Germany; crowned King of Lombardy by the Pope, on the 22nd of February, and on the 24th of February he was crowned as emperor of the Romans. The ceremonies included magnificent symbolism. Theocracy was the form of government in that day, so no king had any right to the throne unless he first became an officer in the church. Charles submitted to the elaborate ceremony by stripping his garments of royalty and replacing them with those of a deacon.

The End

Martin Luther, part XIII – The Marburg Conference

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The Protest of the Princes had clearly stated the ground that the Reformation claimed and planted for battle the flag of Protestantism. “No one then living suspected how long and wasting the conflict would be–the synods that would deliberate, the tomes that would be written, the stakes that would blaze, and the fields on which, alas! the dead would be piled up in ghastly heaps, before that liberty which the protestors had written up on their flag should be secured as the heritage of Christendom. But one thing was obvious to all, and that was the necessity to the Reformers of union among themselves.” The History of Protestantism, 554.  Philip, Landgrave of Hesse, was especially anxious to see unity among the parties of the Reformation. He was most active in his efforts to strengthen the cause and worked day and night to that end. He was rough, fiery, fearless, and full of energy. Elector John was prudent and somewhat timid. They complemented each other in much the same way as Luther and Melancthon. But Philip’s main concern was to unite the parties so as to combine the strength of their forces for military might.

One Issue of Disunity

There was one area and one alone where there was discord. This was concerning the manner in which Christ is present in the wine and bread–corporally or spiritually? On the fundamental truths the whole body of Protestantism was as one but for this point only. The Reformers of Switzerland and the Reformers of Germany could not find union over this question.

Philip grieved over this division and longed to see it healed as he believed it was not really two opinions but one opinion stated differently. Especially now was unity needed, he felt, when they were waiting for the attack from their foes so sure to come. “They had just flung their flag upon the winds; they had unfurled it in the face of all Christendom, in the face of Rome; they had said as a body what Luther said as an individual at Worms–‘Here we stand; we can do no otherwise, so help us God.’ Assuredly the gage would be taken up, and the blow returned, by a power too proud not to feel, and too strong in armies and scaffolds not to resent the defiance. To remain disunited with such a battle in prospect, with such a tempest lowering over them, appeared madness.” Ibid., 555.

“Ere this several pamphlets had passed between Luther and Zwingli on the question of the Lord’s Supper. Those from the pen of Luther were so violent that they left an impression of weakness. The perfect calmness of Zwingli’s replies, on the other hand, produced a conviction of strength. Zwingli’s calmness stung Luther to the quick. It humiliated him. Popes and emperors had lowered their pretensions in his presence; the men of war whom the Papacy had sent forth from the Vatican to do battle with him, had returned discomfited. He could not brook the thought of lowering his sword before the pastor of Zurich. Must he, the doctor of Christendom, sit at the feet of Zwingli? A little more humility, a little less dogmatism, a stronger desire for truth than for victory, would have saved Luther from these explosions, which but tended to widen a breach already too great, and provoke a controversy which planted many a thorn in the future path of the Reformation.” Ibid.

The Marburg Conference

Philip quickly acted to bring about a reconciliation between the German and the Swiss Protestants who had come to be called the Lutheran and the Reformed respectively. Shortly after returning from the Diet of Spires he sent invitations to the leaders of the two parties to come to his Castle of Marburg to discuss their differences. Zwingli was joyful at the invitation and anxious to mend the breach. Luther was not. He declined the offer. “He did not like that the landgrave should move in this matter; he suspected that there was under it the snake of a political alliance; besides, although he did not confess it to his friends, nor perhaps to himself, he seemed to have a presentiment of defeat.” Ibid. He felt that minds that loved things that they could understand would find Zwingli’s arguments attractive. He himself believed that this great mystery of the miracle of Christ’s real bodily presence in the Lord’s Supper was in the Gospels to test the faith of the believer. “This absurdity, which wears the guise of piety, had been so often uttered by great doctors that Luther could not help repeating it.” Ibid.

After second thoughts, Luther and Melancthon realized that they could not decline. Rome would believe them to be cowards and the Reformers would lay the cause of the breach at their door. They tried to convince Elector John to veto their trip but he refused. They even proposed that a Papist should be chosen as umpire for the discussions as an “impartial judge.” When all failed they planned their journey.

With Luther came Melancthon, Jonas, and Cruciger; Zwingli was accompanied by CEolampadius, Bucer, Hedio and Osiander. Philip entertained them in princely fashion bringing them together for meals in hopes that this would help to draw them together. The first day he planned that they should have private conferences two by two. The following day the debate was to be public with a table for the members of the debate and the hall filled with a few of the many distinguished men who had come to Marburg for the occasion.

Zwingli Fails To Convince Luther

The proceedings opened with Luther taking chalk and writing on the velvet table cloth “HOC EST MEUM CORPUS.” He lifted the cloth to show it to those around him and declared, “These are the words of Christ–‘This is my body’. From this rock no adversary shall dislodge me.” Ibid., 556.

All acknowledged that these were the words of Christ, but what was their meaning? Was this meaning to be learned by following the great Protestant principle that the Word of God is the supreme authority and that the obscure and doubtful passages were to be interpreted by other passages which were more clear? If they followed this principle they would have no trouble understanding the meaning of those words.

The Swiss argued that the Bible has many figures of speech. Luther recognized this point but denied that this was such an instance. They continued to point out that if these words are taken literally then there is a contradiction between the teaching of Christ in John 6 and his teaching in the Lord’s Supper. In John 6:62, 63, concerning His instruction for His followers to “eat His flesh and drink His blood,” Christ said, “It is the spirit that quickeneth; the flesh profiteth nothing; the words that I speak unto you, they are spirit, and they are life.” Here Luther’s arguments were so weak as to surrender the argument. He said that there was both a material eating and a spiritual eating and that the material eating was what Christ said profited nothing. This seemed to make a clear point as to the uselessness of believing in the value of a real presence, but Luther replied that we are not to question the value but just to do it.

The Swiss pointed out that the body cannot be present in two places at one time. They even used quotes from some ancient theologians to show that it was believed that this applied to the body of Christ since He took a human body. Luther said that there were more on his side than theirs. The Swiss said that they were not attempting to show authority from church Fathers for their beliefs, but to show that they were not inventing the belief. They went on to show that in numerous passages a sign is put for a thing signified. But to all arguments Luther answered little more than to repeat again and again the words that he had written on the tablecloth. He would assert that it was a matter to be believed and not understood. It might be against nature and science, but he was not concerned.

The Swiss arguments were not in vain. Many minds were opened. What had been so mysterious was now seen with the same clearness as the other institutions of the Economy of Grace and like them, as working spiritual effects by spiritual means. Luther remained unconvinced but in the audience there were many conversions. The ex–Franciscan, Francis Lambert was one notable convert. He who had enjoyed friendship and respect with Luther did not let this prevent him from taking his side with Zwingli. “The Wittemberg doctors bewailed his defection. They saw in it not a proof of the soundness of Zwingli’s argument, but an evidence of the Frenchman’s fickleness.” Ibid., 561.

Wittemberg Doctors Refuse Unity

“Two days had worn away in this discussion. The two parties were no nearer each other than at the beginning. The Swiss theologians had exhausted every argument from Scripture and from reason. Luther was proof against them all. He stood immovably on the ground he had taken up at the beginning; he would admit no sense of the words but the literal one; he would snatch up the cover from the table and, displaying triumphantly before the eyes of Zwingli and CEcolampadius the words he had written upon it–‘This is my body’–he would boast that there he still stood, and that his opponents had not driven him from this ground, nor ever should. Zwingli, who saw the hope so dearly cherished by him, of healing the schism, fast vanishing, burst into tears. He besought Luther to come to terms, to be reconciled, to accept them as brothers. Neither prayers nor tears could move the doctor of Wittemberg. He demanded of the Helvetian Reformers unconditional surrender. They must accept the Lord’s Supper in the sense in which he took it; they must subscribe to the tenet of the real presence. This the Swiss Protestants declared they could not do. On their refusal, Luther declared that he could not regard them as having standing within the Church, nor could he receive them as brothers. As a sword these words went to the heart of Zwingli. Again he burst into tears. Must the children of the Reformation be divided? Must the breach go unhealed? It must.” Ibid.

Writing about the conference a few days later, Luther described the scene, “They supplicated us to bestow upon them the title of ‘brothers.’ Zwinglius even implored the landgrave with tears to grant this. ‘There is no place on earth,’ said he, ‘where I so much covet to pass my days as at Wittemberg.’ We did not, however, accord to them this appellation of brothers. All we granted was that which charity enjoins us to bestow even upon our enemies. They, however, behaved in all respects with an incredible degree of humility and amiability.” Ibid.

Philip was extremely disappointed at this turn of events. He had worked hard and had such hopes of resolving the difficulty. When he looked toward the enemies of the Reformation he saw a strong union forming to crush both Wittemberg and Zurich, but these two camps in Protestantism were standing apart.

A terrible plague was sweeping Germany and leaving thousands dead. As it now approached Marburg there was another reason to end the conference. “Philip had welcomed the doctors with joy, he was about to see them depart in sorrow.” Ibid., 562. Charles and Clement were meeting nightly to make plans to exterminate the Protestants; the Moslems were marching on the Danube; and in Germany thousands of swords were ready to attack the adherents of the Reformation. “All round the horizon the storm seemed to be thickening; but the saddest portent of all, to the eye of Philip, was the division that parted into two camps the great Reformed brotherhood, and marshalled in two battles the great Protestant army.” Ibid.

Philip Attempts Unity Once More

Philip questioned to himself whether they were not all brothers even if Luther would not acknowledge it. He thought that if Rome saw them all as enemies then they must indeed be brothers. He made another attempt. He spoke to each participant one by one as to the advantages of unity in view of the troubles on the horizon. Out of a desire to satisfy the landgrave the parties agreed to meet again.

The interview presented a touching scene. Hundreds were dying all around from the plague. The Popish opposition was preparing for battle, eager to spill the blood of Zwinglian and Lutheran both. They cared not that Luther believed in the real presence and Zwingli differed. They saw both as heretics. Since they were all hated of men, was this not proof that they were all the followers of Christ?

“Taught by his instincts of Christian love, Zwingli opened the conference by enunciating a truth which the age was not able to receive. ‘Let us,’ said he, ‘proclaim our union in all things in which we are agreed; and as for the rest, let us forbear as brothers.’ adding that never would peace be attained in the Church unless her members were allowed to differ on secondary points . . .‘With none on earth do I more desire to be united than with you,’ said Zwingli, addressing Luther and his companions. CEcolampadius, Bucer and Hedio made the same declaration.

“This magnanimous avowal was not without its effect. It had evidently touched the hearts of the opposing rank of doctors. Luther’s prejudice and abduracy were, it appeared, on the point of being vanquished, and his coldness melted. Zwingli’s keen eye discovered this: he burst into tears–tears of joy–seeing himself, as he believed, on the eve of an event that would gladden the hearts of thousands in all the countries of the Reformation, and would strike Rome with terror. He approached: he held out his hand to Luther: he begged him only to pronounce the word ‘brother’. Alas! what a cruel disappointment awaited him. Luther coldly and cuttingly replied, ‘Your spirit is different from ours.’ It was indeed different.” Ibid., 563.

The Wittemberg doctors consulted together and agreed with Luther. ” ‘We,’ said they to Zwingli and his friends, ‘hold the belief of Christ’s bodily presence in the Lord’s Supper to be essential to salvation, and we cannot in conscience regard you as in communion of the Church.’

” ‘In that case,’ replied Bucer, ‘it were folly to ask you to recognize us as brethren. But we, though we regard your doctrine as dishonouring to Christ, now on the right hand of the Father, yet, seeing in all things you depend on him, we acknowledge you as belonging to Christ. We appeal to posterity.’ This was magnanimous . . .

“Their meekness was mightier than Luther’s haughtiness. Not only was its power felt in the conference chamber, where it made some converts, but throughout Germany.” Ibid. Their doctrine began, from this day, to spread throughout the Lutheran church. Even Luther’s last words to the conference revealed the effect, ‘We acknowledge you as friends; we do not consider you as brothers. I offer you the hand of peace and charity.’

The Marburg Confession

“Overjoyed that something had been won, the Landgrave Philip proposed that the two parties should unite in making a joint profession of their faith, in order that the world might see that on one point only did they differ, namely, the manner in which Christ is present in the Lord’s Supper, and that after all the great characteristic of the Protestant Churches was UNITY, though manifested in diversity.” Ibid. Both parties agreed and Luther was selected to draw up the articles of the Protestant faith. ” ‘I will draft them.’ said he, as he retired to his chamber to begin his task, ‘with strict regard to accuracy, but I don’t expect the Zwinglians to sign them.’ ” Ibid.

He wrote the Wittemberg view of the Christian system with fourteen points. After reading them before the assembly he was amazed when the Zwinglians cordially said Amen and were ready to sign them. Was it possible that they were so near to each other. But he had saved the argument on the Lord’s Supper till the last article. This brought the parties to an impasse and they could not advance further. They did agree however to walk together so far as they could agree and to avoid all bitterness and to regard each other with Christian charity.

They signed a joint profession of faith which marked them as distinct from the Romanist and from the enthusiasts. This document was to the oneness of Protestantism.

“But if the Church of the Reformation still remained outwardly divided, her members were thereby guarded against the danger of running into political alliances. This line of policy the Landgrave Philip had much at heart, and formed one of the objects he had in view in his attempts to conduct to a successful issue the conferences at Marburg. Union might have rendered the Protestants too strong. They might have leaned on the arm of flesh, and forgotten their true defence. The Reformation was a spiritual principle. From the sword it could derive no real help. Its conquests would end the moment those of force began. From that hour it would begin to decay, it would be powerless to conquer, and would cease to advance. But let its spiritual arm be disentangled from political armour, which could but weigh it down, let its disciples hold forth the truth, let them fight with prayers and sufferings, let them leave political alliances and the fate of battles to the ordering and overruling of their Divine Head–let them do this, and all opposition would melt in their path, and final victory would attest at once the truth of their cause, and the omnipotence of their King.” Ibid., 564.

The End

Martin Luther, part XII – The Protest at Spires

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For three years the Reformation had been left in peace by the wars and strife of her enemies against each other. The Pope was sided with Francis I of France and Henry VIII of England, against Charles V of Spain. Charles lost some battles but won the war decisively, and the Pope seeing he was not strong enough to curb Charles’ might, decided to throw Francis over and attempt to use the might of Charles to his advantage through craft. Clement made peace with Charles on the condition that the Emperor would do all in his power to root out the heretics and exalt the Roman See. Now the foes of the Reformation were again united in their determination to extinguish the heresy of Wittenberg.  The Diet of Spires of 1526, had given freedom to the various states to determine religious matters within their own borders. This freedom was to be in effect until a general council might be held. Charles moved swiftly to call another Diet at Spires for February of 1529.

The Reformers were apprehensive about the future and none the less for the apparent chaos in the natural atmosphere. Noisy meteors shot fire across the sky. Hyperborean lights illuminated the night skies. Rivers flooded whole provinces and great winds uprooted ancient trees. Even Luther partook of the general terror, writing that these signs announced the approach of the last day.

Otto Pack’s Plot

While many real dangers threatened the age, one very doubtful one nearly brought the Reformation to ruin. A nobleman named Otto Pack came to Phillip, the Landgrave of Hesse, claiming to have discovered a terrible secret of concern to the landgrave and the Elector of Saxony. For a sum he would reveal all. The landgrave’s fears were thoroughly aroused and he agreed to the terms.

Pack went on to say that the Popish princes had plotted to attack the two Reformed princes, seize their territories, and take Luther and his followers by force and reestablish the ancient worship. Pack had what he claimed was a copy of the league which bore all the ducal and electoral seals and it appeared to be authentic. Phillip was convinced.

Fearing that they had not a moment to lose, Phillip and John Federic entered into a formal compact and hastily raised an army for the protection of “the sacred deposit of God’s word for themselves and their subjects.” They believed they were facing impending destruction. They agreed to equip a force of 6,000 cavalry and 20,000 infantry. Next they looked for allies among the other Reformed princes and had in view a league with the King of Denmark. They resolved to strike the first blow.

“All Germany was in commotion. It was now the turn of the Popish princes to tremble. The Reformers were flying to arms, and before their own preparations could be finished, they would be assailed by the overwhelming host, set on by the startling rumors of the savage plot formed to exterminate them. The Reformation was on the point of being dragged into the battlefield. Luther shuddered when he saw what was about to happen. He stood up manfully before the two chiefs who were hurrying the movement into this fatal path, and though he believed in the reality of the plot, despite the indignant denial of the Duke of George and the Popish princes, he charged the elector and the landgrave not to strike the first blow, but to wait till they had been attacked. ‘There is strife enough uninvited,’ said he…’Battle never wins much, but always loses much, and hazards all; meekness loses nothing, hazards little, and wins all.’

“Luther’s counsels ultimately prevailed, time was given for reflection, and thus the Lutheran princes were saved from the tremendous error which would have brought after it, not triumph, but destruction.” Wylie, 545

Martyrs

The Reformation was winning victories far more glorious than any army could have won, for a martyr is worth more than many soldiers. In Bavaria, where the reformed doctrines could not be preached, these very doctrines were promoted by the burning of Leonard Caspar for holding that justification was by faith alone, that there are but two Sacraments, baptism and the Lord’s Supper, and that the mass avails nothing, and that Christ alone made satisfaction for us. Other martyrs followed in the provinces under the Popish princes. Nine persons of Landsberg suffered the fire. Twenty-nine at Munich were drowned. Others were victims of the poignard. George Winkler, preacher of Halle, was run through with daggers under suspicion of heresy.

Luther said, “I am but a wordy preacher in comparison with these great doers.” These martyrs testified that the weapons that will “break the power, foil the arts, and stain the pride of the enemy” are patience, meekness, and heroism. Ibid., 547

Famous Diet Of Spires

In this climate of political intrigue, natural disaster, and martyr piles, the famous Diet of Spires was convened. King Ferdinand was to preside in the absence of his brother Charles V. He arrived with trumpet call and a retinue of 300 armed knights. He was followed by the Popes princes with their troops. They exchanged boastful greetings that proclaimed their confidence in carrying the Diet their own way.

Last to arrive were the Reformed princes. John Frederic rode with only Melanchthon at his side. Phillip of Hesse had 200 horsemen. The Lutheran princes held public worship at their hotel with 8,000 attending.

When the deputies of the cities arrived, the Diet was complete and business was opened. The Diet had barely opened when the emperor’s reason for convoking it was made clear. Charles sent a curt and haughty message declaring his expectation of legislation to repeal the Edict of Spires (1526). The Diet was being asked to abolish religious freedom in Germany. The Edict of Spires would mean Luther’s execution and the uprooting of Reformation doctrine. It would mean a flood of persecution in Germany.

“The sending of such a message even was a violation of the constitutional rights of the several States, and an assumption of power which no former emperor had dared to make. The message, if passed into law, would have laid the rights of conscience, the independence of the Diet, and the liberties of Germany, all three in the dust.” Ibid., 548, 549

The struggle began with the Popish members insisting on a repeal of the Edict of Spires. The Reformed princes argued that repeal would mean that a central authority would usurp local rights of administration and destroy the independence of the individual states. The Lutheran princes made clear they would retain their right of resisting such a step with force of arms. To repeal the Edict was to open the way for revolution and war.

A middle ground was proposed which would not repeal but just maintain the current practice in each state with some major exceptions. Where Romanism reigned, the reformed doctrines would still be forbidden, but where Lutheranism was held, the Popish hierarchy, should be reestablished, the mass celebration permitted, and no one could abjure popery and embrace Lutheranism.

In other words no Protestant would be required to renounce his faith but no new converts would be permitted. It had no penalties for existing converts but if the light reached another soul, they must stifle their convictions or suffer the dungeon and the stake. “The proposal drew a line around the Reformation, and declared that beyond this boundary there must be no advance, and that Lutheranism had reached its utmost limits of development. But not to advance was to recede, and to recede was to die. This proposition, therefore, professedly providing for the maintenance of the Reformation, was cunningly contrived to strangle it.” Ibid., 549. It passed by a majority of votes.

It would have been an easy thing to seize the olive branch which Rome was holding out and to justify themselves in a wrong course by being contented with their own freedom. But the Reformed princes acted on faith from principle. They could not accept the right of Rome to coerce conscience and forbid free inquiry, or Rome’s authority to grant freedom only where she chose, thus denying freedom of conscience as a right.

The Reformed princes met for deliberation. The great—liberty or slavery to Christendom. “The princes comprehended the gravity of their position. They themselves were to be let alone, but the price they were to pay for this ignominious ease was the denial of the Gospel, and the surrender of the rights of conscience throughout Christendom. They resolved not to adopt so dastardly a course.” Ibid., 550

King Ferdinand was eager to close the Diet and called the members together and thanked them for voting the proposition. He declared that an imperial edict was soon to be published announcing the decision of the Diet. He turned to the Reformed princes and announced that there was nothing left for them to do but to submit. He would not wait to hear the answer of the Reformed princes. He promptly left the Diet and did not return.

The Great Protest At Spires

The following morning the Reformed princes entered the hall, and before the empty chair of Ferdinand, John Frederic, the Elector of Saxony, read a Declaration. The following are the most important passages.

“We cannot consent to its (the Edict of 1526) repeal. Because this would be to deny our Lord Jesus Christ, to reject His Holy Word, and thus give Him reason to deny us before His Father, as He has threatened…Moreover, the new edict declaring the ministers shall preach the Gospel, explaining it according to the writings accepted by the holy Christian Church; we think that, for this regulation to have any value, we should first agree on what is meant by the true and holy Church. Now seeing that there is great diversity of opinion in this respect; that there is no sure doctrine but such as is conformable to the Word of God: that each text of the Holy Scriptures ought to be explained by other and clearer texts: that this holy book is in all things necessary for the Christian, easy of understanding, and calculated to scatter the darkness: we are resolved, with the grace of God, to maintain the pure and exclusive preaching of His Word, such as it is contained in the Biblical books of the Old and new Testament, without adding anything thereto that may be contrary to it. This Word is the only truth; it is the sure rule of all doctrine and all life, and can never fail or deceive us. He who builds on this foundation shall stand against all powers of hell, whilst all the human vanities that are set up against it shall fall before the face of God.

“For these reasons, most dear lords, uncles, cousins, and friends, we earnestly entreat you to weigh carefully our grievances and our motives. If you do not yield to our requests, we protest by these present, before God, our only Creator, Preserver, Redeemer, and Saviour, and who will one day be our Judge, as well as before all men and all creatures, that we, for us and for our people, neither consent nor adhere in any manner whatsoever to the proposed decree, in anything that is contrary to God, to His Word, to our right conscience, to the salvation of our souls, and to the last decree of Spires.” Ibid., 550, 551

Considering the tyranny of Rome which had been practiced for so long, this document stands as “one of the grandest documents in all history, and marks an epoch in the progress of the human race second only to that of Christianity itself.” Ibid., 551. From this day forward the Reformers were known as Protestants.

Luther had stood alone at Worms eight years before but now a host stood with him and the Reformation was not just a doctrine but an organized church.

After meeting together in a small house to prepare a document outlining all that had transpired at the Diet, the princes left Spires. This was significant because Ferdinand had spoken his last word and left. This showed the firmness of their resolve.

Grandeur Of The Issues

“Even Luther did not perceive the importance of what had been done. The Diet he thought had ended in nothing. It often happens that the greatest events wear the guise of insignificance, and that grand eras are ushered in with silence.” Ibid., 551. But the principles of the Protest at Spires offered a wide field for development. “This Protest overthrew the lordship of man in religious affairs, and substituted the authority of God…Then what becomes of the pretended infallibility of Rome, in virtue of which she claims the exclusive right of interpreting the Scriptures, and binding down the understanding of man to believe whatever she teaches? It is utterly exploded and overthrown. And what becomes of the emperor’s right to compel men with his sword to practice whatever faith the Church injoins, assuming it to be the true faith, simply because the Church has enjoined it? It too is exploded and overthrown. The principle, then, so quietly lodged in the Protest, lays this two-fold tyranny in the dust.” Ibid., 551

“But the Protest does not leave conscience her own mistress; conscience is not a law to herself. That were anarchy—rebellion against Him who is he Lord. The Protest proclaims that the Bible is the law of conscience, and that its Author is her alone Lord. Thus steering its course between the two opposite dangers, avoiding on this hand anarchy, and on that tyranny, Protestantism comes forth unfurling to the eyes of the nations the flag of true liberty. Around that flag must all gather who would be free.” Ibid., 553

The centuries that followed demonstrated the results of this freedom to the nations. Where the nations rallied around the Protest there was seen progress of civilization, but where Romanism continued to rule, the people were left in slavery, and the nations experienced decay.

The End

Martin Luther, part XI – Church Organization

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During the three years following the sack of Rome, the political world was a stormy sea with ambition, intrigue, and war. But the strife of the political world brought peace to the Church as the Churches’ enemies were battling with each other. The Diet at Spires had decreed that until a general council could be held, each State was free to decide religious matters for itself. In the reformed states, freedom bloomed while persecution persisted in the states where the Reformation had not been able to take hold. Luther was quick to realize that this was the opportunity to build the church. Up to this time there had been a Reformation but no Reformed Church. There were Christians but no organization visible to society. The preaching of the Gospel had resulted in a number of men throughout the provinces who were united in heart around Christ, the one Living Center, and united in the truth, but they needed outward unity as well. Without a unity visible to the world the church would fail to propagate itself and would languish and die. “These Christians must be gathered into a family, and built up into a kingdom—a holy and spiritual kingdom.” Wylie, History of Protestantism, bk 1, 533

Reconstitution of the Ministry

First in the work of organization was an order of men to preach the Gospel and dispense the Sacraments. Luther studied how this reconstitution of the ministry, cut off from Rome, was to proceed. The existence of the Church was for the purpose of spreading salvation through the earth and this demands preaching. As a steadfast believer in the priesthood of all believers, he held that the functions of the ministers were the possession of the Church—of all believers. A chosen few were, of necessity, to carry out these functions. These few were not of self-appointment but were to be called by the congregation. This constituted a call by God through the instrumentality of man.

The ministers of the Lutheran Church were direct opposites of the Roman clergy in that the Lutheran ministers were chosen democratically by the people while the Roman priests were appointed by a sacerdotal monarch. “Wherever there is a line of sacramentally ordained men, there and there only is the Church, said Rome. Wherever the Word is faithfully preached, and the Sacraments purely administered, there is the Church, said the Reformation.” Ibid., 534

In organizing the ministry the Church did not surrender freedom, for the ministers were not elected with power that was autocratic. Those who held power were to be the Church’s servants, not her lords. The Church ever held the right of calling to account or deposing from office those who violated the conditions of their appointment. This right was the safeguard against corruption and the power to reform.

But Luther had not thought deeply about the question of Church and State, of how far the civil authorities may go in enacting ecclesiastical arrangements. He committed much of the organizing of the Church to the princes. It seemed a necessity of the times as the common people were not yet educated in these matters and the princes were prominent for their religious intelligence and their zeal.

The Visitations by Luther

On October 22, 1526, Luther persuaded Elector John of Saxony to commission a visitation of the Church. The Elector authorized four commissioners to inquire into the temporal condition of the Church and also into ecclesiastical matters involving schools, doctrine, and pastors. Melancthon drew up the instructions for the re-institution of the Church in Saxony. Luther, Melancthon, Spalatin, and Thuring were the chief commissioners.

Their visitation revealed many errors, abuses, mistakes and anomalies which had developed from centuries of Papal rule and which would require more than a day to cleanse. “From the living waters of the sanctuary only could a real purification be looked for, and the care of the visitors was to open channels, or remove obstructions, that this cleansing current might freely pervade the land.” Ibid., 536

Ignorant and immoral pastors were removed, and ministers were appointed in their place. Pastors of greater cities were given the title of superintendents, and appointed to supervise the smaller congregations and schools. “Armed with the authority of the elector, the visitors suppressed the convents; the inmates were restored to society, the buildings were converted into schools and hospitals, and the property was divided between the maintenance of public worship and national uses. Ministers were encouraged to marry, and their families became centers of moral and intellectual life throughout the Fatherland.” Ibid., 536

Melancthon’s plan of Church reform was very conservative. He discreetly veiled antagonistic points of Reformation doctrine. He aimed to alter as little as possible and conserve as much as possible. “Some called this moderation, others termed it trimming; the Romanist thought that the Reformation troops had begun their march back; the Wittenbergers were not without suspicion of treachery.” Ibid., 537. Images and tapers were tolerated in many churches. But despite these drawbacks, good was done and the preaching of the Word was made central. This plan was used in organizing the churches of many other provinces.

The Constitution of The Churches of Hesse

Thanks to the efforts of a remarkable man, Francis Lambert, a converted Franciscan monk, the Church of Hesse was exceptional in advancing reform. Lambert traversed the countries of Switzerland and Germany riding a donkey and wearing his grey monks robes tied with a cord and everywhere preaching by the way. When he reached Wittenberg, he went to visit Luther who found him to have a clearness of knowledge and a decisive character. Luther introduced him to Phillip of Hesse and the two men worked together for great good for the Churches of Hesse.

Lambert was invited by Phillip to frame a constitution for the Churches. The resulting one hundred and fifty-eight “Paradoxes” produced a basis broad enough to permit every member to exercise his influence in church governance. He nailed his document to the church doors. Some were torn down but others were read to crowds. In the first seven alone we see what might have been the foundation of a lofty church structure with its corner stone the “universal priesthood” of believers. “Not a select few only, but all believers, are to be built as living stones into this ‘holy house’. . . This was a catholicity of which the Church which claims catholicity as her exclusive possession knew nothing.” Ibid., 538. That church made one part of the church dependent on another for salvation, and made within the congregation two classes, the oligarchs and the serfs.

Lambert’s “Paradoxes” declared that “all that is deformed ought to be reformed.” That “the Word of God is the rule of all true Reformation. The Church is to judge in matters of faith” and that “the Church is the congregation of those who are united by the same spirit, the same faith, the same God, the same Mediator, the same Word, by which alone they are governed . . . The kingdom of heaven is open to him who believes the Word and shut against him who believes it not. Whoever, therefore, truly possesses the power of the Word of God, has the power of the keys . . . Christ is the only immortal and eternal Priest; and he does not, like men, need a successor . . . All Christians, since the commencement of the Church, have been and are participators in Christ’s priesthood.” Ibid., 538. In this document the ancient and established order was abolished. The authority for this came from Peter, who taught a very different order from the one claimed to generate from him by the Roman church. Peter’s statement to all believers is “Ye are all royal priests.” (See 1 Peter 2:4-10.)

Before these propositions could be used as a basis for reform in the Church, Lambert had to present them before the ecclesiastical authorities. The Romish party assailed the Paradoxes and Lambert defended them with such eloquence that every opponent was silenced. After three days of discussion his proposals were carried.

The Church constitution of Hesse, written from the Paradoxes, became the first of the Reformation. It differed a great deal from any subsequent enactment in Germany. Its origin and authority were exclusively from the Church. It made mention of neither the State or landgrave. Every member with competent learning and piety, was eligible to be a minister. Each congregation was to choose its own pastor. The pastors were equal and ordained by the laying on of the hands of three others. They were to meet with their congregations every Sabbath and an annual synod was to supervise the whole body. Switzerland and Scotland later adopted constitutions very similar but, in Germany where the Institutions of Melancthon were the rule, this constitution was not popular and in 1528 it was remodeled after the principles of the Church of Saxony.

More Than Just a Principle

The visitations marked a great event in the history of Protestantism. Prior to the organization of the Church, the Reformation had been simply a principle fighting against an established and organized system. Now it was a body through which the principle could act. Now its presence could be seen and its power felt by men. It did not borrow its organization from the traditions of the existing hierarchy, which were more like those of the pagan temples, but the New Testament contained the model—the simple apostolic organization. “Thus it disposed of the claims of the Romish Church to antiquity by attesting itself as more ancient than it.” Ibid., 540

In the visitations we see Luther with tenderness and pity. He is afraid of going too far and leaves some question as to whether he goes far enough. He is cautious that he does not hurt the feelings of a weak brother or act unjustly or severely to another. He instructs the preachers to preach “repent,” and to never disconnect repentance from faith. They “were not to fling stones at Romanism; the true light would extinguish the false.” Ibid., 540. They were to teach that man could refrain from sins but that God was to be sought for help, not the saints. Luther, clinging to Romanism, taught that in administering the Sacrament they were to teach the “real presence.”

Luther saw, during the visits, what he could have seen in no other way. He saw the deplorable ignorance of the common people. By withholding schools, preachers and the Bible, the Church of Rome had left the German peasants entirely without intellectual and spiritual culture. Here Luther became aware of another misdeed of Rome. He well knew of her pride as seen in the exceeding loftiness of the titles of the Popes. He understood her tyranny exhibited in the statutes of the canon law and the edicts of her Councils. Her intolerance had been seen in the long years of persecution, the slaughter of the Albigenses and the stakes of martyrs. Her avarice had long bled the people of their little substance. But here he saw another product of Rome. “It had covered the nations with a darkness so deep that the very idea of a God was almost lost . . . It was not the Romish system only, but all religion that was on the point of perishing.” Ibid., 542

Luther sat down and wrote his Shorter and Larger Catechisms which did much good by spreading knowledge and rooting and grounding the souls of the common people, as his commentaries had enlightened the nobility and the more educated. Wherever these little books went they evoked an outburst of spiritual activity. Intellectual and political reforms followed. These little books proved to be one of the best outcomes of the visitations.

The End

Martin Luther, part X – The Fanatics

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While many new friends were joining the Reformation, even in the face of persecution, a principle of weakness was growing from within the ranks of the reformers. Two camps began to form, dividing the Protestant world—the Luther an and the Reformed.

Fanatics arose calling for forsaking all outward ordinances claiming men were to be guided by an inner light and that religion was exclusively a spiritual communion. Luther saw that this theory would end in the destruction of not only the outward but also the inward spirit of religion. At first the differences were confined to Luther and Carlstadt who had stood together against Dr. Eck. They differed in the Sacrament of the Supper, and Luther, who at an earlier time seemed to recognize the presence of Christ in the Sacrament as a symbol, reverted backward to the old position that the body and blood of Christ were actually present in the bread and wine but that these maintained their natural substance as well. “His doctrine of justification by faith alone implied the total renunciation of this idea; but, as regards the Sacraments, he did not so fully vindicate his freedom from the old beliefs.” History of Protestantism, book 1, 508

Carlstadt would not give in on this point and he also “attacked Luther on the subject of images . . . Luther not only tolerated the presence of images in the churches, like Zwingli, for the sake of the weak; he feared to displace them even when the worshippers desired their removal. He believed they might be helpful. Carlstadt denounced these tendencies and weaknesses as Popery.” Ibid, 509

Hatred of images began to be shown through acts of violence as churches and cloisters were broken into and images burned. Luther called on Frederick to curb this fanatical spirit. This is evidence that the reformer believed that the Reformation had more to fear from fanaticism within than from the persecutors.

Carlstadt began to decry Luther and Lutherans and Elector Frederick ordered him out of his dominions. Carlstadt moved southward spreading not only his views of the Supper and images but also proclaiming loudly his hatred of Luther and blaming him for all of his calamities.
The aged Elector began to fear that the Reformation was going too far. The necessary process of causing men to question and seek answers and the extreme ideas of some caused him alarm but his faith in the Reformed doctrine grew even as his health failed. He was at peace as he dictated his last instructions to his brother and called for reading of the promises of God’s word as he breathed his last.

War of the Peasants

The oppression of the German peasants had grown for centuries. The privileges to roam the forest and hunt and build their huts where they pleased, had been removed. They were expected to remain on their native property and by their sweat till the fields of their masters and spill their blood defending their masters in their quarrels. The small income that they were given was stripped from them by the priest by spiritual threat. As they compared their lot with their masters they were embittered.

The Reformation came on the stage and could have worked to heal the hearts of princes and their subjects, but its progress was prevented by force and then it was accused of causing the unrest that it could have cured if it had been allowed to grow. The poor, by imposed ignorance, knew of only one way to right the situation—death to their oppressors and destruction of their castles and lands. The rulers were content to shut their eyes to their own misdeeds and blame the Gospel for the unrest.

Some justification for this view was supplied as Thomas Munzer, a professed convert of the Reformation, used a religious element to fire the already hot tempers of the peasants. He put himself at the head of the revolted peasantry and taught them to put on the sword of Gideon and seek their liberty by their own hands. The peasants wrote twelve articles of demands which were quite moderate and reasonable but which the unwise princes chose to deny with their hands pressed to their swords.

Luther must now decide on the right course for the Reformation concerning this battle ready to erupt. “He knew that to ally so holy a cause as the Reformation with a movement at best but political, would be to profane it; and that to borrow the sword of men in its behalf was the sure way to forfeit the help of the mightier sword which alone could win such a battle. The Reformation had its own path and its own weapons, to which if it adhered, it would assuredly triumph in the end. It would correct all wrongs, would explode all errors, and pacify all feuds, but only by propagating its own principles, and diffusing its own spirit among men. Luther, therefore, stood apart.” Ibid, 514

This course made it possible for him to try to work with both parties. He was able to speak to each side. He told the peasants that they had chosen the wrong way to try to improve their lot. They must exercise Christian submission and wait for the healing power of the Gospel. He urged them to allow the process of reform to do its work and he argued that “it was preachers, not soldiers—the gospel, not rebellion, that is to benefit the world. And he warned them that if they should oppose the gospel in the name of the gospel, they would only rivet the yoke of their enemies upon their neck.” Ibid, 514

He worked faithfully with the princes reminding them of the tyranny which they and their fathers had long exerted toward the people. He spoke more plainly to the bishops revealing how they had hid the Gospel from the people replacing the doctrines of truth with fables and cheats. He said they were only reaping what they had sown and that God was using the peasantry as His instrument for their chastisement.

The courage and wisdom of the Reformer were evident as Luther spoke with these parties at the brink of war, but his mediation was not successful in preventing the cruel violence which soon erupted. Insurrection began to spread like wildfire, in the summer of 1524, filling towns with tumults, sedition and terrors. The twelve articles were published and demands for their enforcement were followed by armies of peasants who trampled fields, looted barns and storehouses, demolished castles of the nobility, and burned convents to the ground.

Death and destruction raged from town to town and the princes seemed to be chased before this whirlwind. But they recovered and joined their forces to oppose the rebels. On May 15th, 1525, they found the rebel camp of Munzer and his forces who were poorly armed. The princes sent a messenger with an offer of pardon if the rebels would lay down their arms. The rebels killed the messenger at Munzer’s suggestion and both camps prepared for battle. Munzer stood before his army and claimed that the Lord would fight for them and that they would be delivered as Israel at the Red Sea, David with Goliath, and Jonathan when he attacked the Philistine garrison. He vowed that his own coat would catch all the bullets shot at them and insisted that victory was theirs.

The first onset of battle, however, found the rebels at flight with Munzer among the first to try to escape. He was captured and more than five thousand peasants were slain. The battle moved into another region where over two-hundred castles had burned besides noblemen’s houses and monasteries. “Luther raised his voice again, but this time to pronounce an unqualified condemnation on a movement which, from a demand for just rights, had become a war of pillage and murder. He called on all to gird on the sword and resist it.” Ibid, 517

The war ended with terrible retaliation taken by the princes against the peasants. Estimates of the slain range from 50,000 to 100,000, with the high figure probably more accurate. Munzer was decapitated after torture on the rack where he admitted his crimes. Other rebel leaders were convicted and died with dreadful tortures.

In the end, the revolt was not seen in the places where the Gospel had taken hold. The differences between Protestantism and Romanism were illustrated. If only the Reformation had been allowed to do its work in all of the provinces, how different would have been the result. “This outbreak taught the age, moreover, that Protestantism could no more be advanced by popular violence than it could be suppressed by aristocratic tyranny.” Ibid, 518

The Battle of Pavia

Romanism, because it mixed with the politics of Europe, found its fortunes rose and fell with the King or Emperor with which it sided. Protestantism, free from this encumbrance, was able to develop principles and find its course apart from the turmoil of the political arena. But, God could intervene in the political arena for the benefit of the Reformation. Marvelous was the outcome where man could never have maneuvered such victories. This was made manifest in the Battle of Pavia and the resulting Diet at Spires and the effects of these on Protestantism.

The Kings of France and Spain were battling one another for possession of Italy. Of course, the Pope thought that he was rightful ruler and he used his political influence to try to keep these two kings of about equal power so that one would check the other. All three were agreed on one thing however, they were enemies of the Reformation. During the course of battle, the Spanish Charles V defeated the French Francis I, capturing the well fortified Pavia and taking Francis captive. The king was carried to Madrid as a trophy and spent a year in captivity. Charles worked out an agreement for Francis’ release which stipulated among other things that they would fight together the Turks and the enemies of the Church, rooting out heretics.

Charles thought this was his chance to finally rid the world of the hated monk who had none to defend him. He called for a diet at Augsburg for the purpose of executing the Edict of Worms. The prospects for Protestantism grew darker every hour. The emperor had never been stronger and Frederick was now dead. The princes which backed Protestantism were new to the cause and were discouraged by the dangers. Germany was divided, the Ratisbon League was rampant and it appeared that the author of the Edict of Worms was about to carry out the order. “The only man who did not tremble was Luther . . . He knew that if the Gospel had been stripped of all earthly defense it was not because it was about to perish, but because a Divine hand was about to be stretched out in its behalf, so visibly as to give proof to the world that it had a Protector, though ‘unseen’, more powerful than its enemies.” Ibid, 521

Luther Marries

While calamity seemed about to strike, Luther did not run but he took Catherine von Bora as his wife. Many of his friends were stunned that he could make such a move while disaster seemed eminent. “Even some of the disciples of the Reformation were scandalized at Luther’s marrying an ex-nun, so slow are men to cast off the trammels of ages.

“With Catherine von Bora there entered a new light into the dwelling of Luther. To sweetness and modesty, she added a more than ordinary share of good sense. A genuine disciple of the Gospel, she became the faithful companion and help-meet of the Reformer in all the labours and trials of his subsequent life.” Ibid, 522

The Diet at Spires

Events seemed to foretell a repeat of the crusades and the extinction of Protestantism but to the amazement of all the storm moved and dispensed its fury over Rome.

One would have thought that the Pope would have thrown his lot with Charles at this important juncture but in a suicidal policy he turned from the emperor and called for a league against him. Clement did not want the emperor to be too strong for he designed to set Italy as an independent kingdom with he himself as its temporal monarch. His dream, of restoring the power of the papacy to its glories under Gregory VII, misled him. The “Holy League,” of all the nations who feared the emperors overgrown power, was set in motion with the King of England at its head.

In Germany, meantime, the diet at Augsburg had been so poorly attended in the autumn of 1525, that it was adjourned to midsummer of the next year in Spires. June of 1526, found the assembling of all the electoral princes except the Prince of Brandenburg. None was aware of the league against the emperor.

The Reformed princes made a strong showing, riding into the city with large retinues of armed retainers bearing a banner embroidered with five letters which stood for, in translation, “The Word of the Lord endureth for ever.” Under this banner they would conquer. They first demanded a church for the preaching of the gospel and when denied they opened their hotels for worship. On one occasion as many as 8,000 were gathered to hear the sermon. Luther’s tracts were freely distributed and helped to move the public strongly in the Reformed direction.

Charles had made his brother Ferdinand of Austria to preside over the diet. He thought to see something of the movement of the diet before reading his brothers instructions. In August, the Reformed princes gave a paper with certain complaints against the policies of the emperor. Seeing the diet turning toward Wittenberg, Ferdinand drew forth the emperor’s letter demanding that all within his kingdom move forward according to the form and tenor of the Edict of Worms. What was to happen now? What was to be done? The Reformation seemed at the Red Sea, blocked on every side.

At this hour a strange rumor reached Spires. There was strife between the emperor and the pope! Here were the great workings of the unseen hand made evident. The mighty confederacy was broken into two camps as the walls of the Red Sea and the Protestant army under its sacred banner were to march through to safety. “Instead of girding himself to fight against Lutheranism for the Pope, Charles must now ask the aid of Lutheranism in the battle that he was girding himself to fight against the Pope and his confederate kings.” Ibid, 529. “Thus the storm passed away. Nay, the crisis resulted in great good to the Reformation.” Ibid, 530

The Diet of Spires resulted in a decree which made the existence of Protestantism legal in the Empire with every state free to act in religion according to its own judgment. “This edict was the first legal blow dealt at the supremacy and infallibility of Rome.” Ibid, 530

By November, an army of 20,000 was marching through the snow to join the emperor’s general and march on Rome with an iron chain with which to hang the Pope. On the 5th of May, the troops reached Rome and were within the walls in hours. The Pope and his cardinals fled to the Castle of St. Angelo, and when he would not surrender the attack began.

In the first assault, the general was slain and the army left without a strong leader. The unrestrained army proceeded to plunder the magnificent city of the accumulated wealth of centuries. Their rage and greed resulted in unsparing and pitiless pillage. Even the corpses of the Popes were robbed of their rings and ornaments. Plunder was piled in heaps in the market places.

The remaining inhabitants suffered cruel tortures. Estimates of the number of victims range from 5,000 to 10,000 with all ages, ranks and both sexes suffering together. The more than 30,000 armed men of the city knew no bravery. They might have stopped the advancing army or chased them from their walls if they had been courageous. But in a matter of days, the city fell from the prime of her medieval glory which it had taken centuries to develop and which centuries have not been able to restore.

The End

Martin Luther, part IX – Diet of Worms Aftermath

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After the Diet of Worms, Charles had returned to Spain. To conduct the affairs of state during his absence, had had appointed a Diet of Regency to administer from Nuremberg. The main business which brought the diet together was the inroads of the Turks. Soliman’s armies had made progress to a degree that it struck terror to the nations of Europe. At the diet, Chieregato, the papal nuncio, presented himself. Through Adrian VI, in common with the rest of Europe, was concerned about the Turks, his greater concern, and the one he sought to share with the diet, was for the rapid spread of Luther ‘s ideas in Germany. He longed to see them deal with Luther as Peter had struck Ananias and Sapphira with sudden death for lying against God.

On entering Germany, the nuncio found himself met with less than overwhelming enthusiasm. As Chieregato passed along, he raised his two fingers, after the usual manner, to bless the people, only to have them respond by raising theirs, to show how little they cared for either himself or his benediction. Though this was mortifying, greater mortifications awaited him.

Arriving in Nuremberg, he found, to his great dismay, that the pulpits were occupied by Protestant preachers and the churches were filled with attentive listeners. Upon presenting the diet with his concerns, they informed him that Nuremberg was a free city and that the magistrates were largely Lutheran. Frustrated, he next intimated that he might take matters into his own hands and, on his own authority, apprehended the ministers himself, in the pontiff’s name. The Archbishop of Mainz, and others, informed him that if he embarked on such a risky course, they would immediately quit the city and leave him to deal with the indignant burghers as best he could.

Greatly baffled and humiliated by the little reverence that he had received, the nuncio approached the diet. He admitted to past abuses by the Church but pointed out that Adrian was sincere in his desire to work reform. He was even ready to admit that corruption extended throughout the whole church; but he went to great lengths to urge that those who would push for reforms with too great haste should have nothing but the stake. He therefore urged the diet to execute the imperial edict of death for heresy upon Luther . As regarding the reforms that Adrian proposed to work out, he would neither move too precipitously nor too extremely; it must be done gently, and by degrees. Luther , in translating the papal brief into German, with marginal notes, interpreted this to mean a few centuries between each step.

The Diet Favors Reform

The diet responded by telling Adrian that the idea of executing the Edict of Worms against Luther would be madness. To put to death the Reformer for advocating the very changes that Adrian admitted of being necessary would be no less unjust than dangerous, as it would certainly deluge Germany in blood. Luther must be refuted from the Scriptures, since Luther ‘s writings were in the hands of the people. They knew of only one way that his controversy could be settled, and that was by a General Council. They therefore called for such a council to be held in a neutral town in Germany within the year and included a demand that both laity, as well as clergy, would have a seat and voice in it. Such an unpalatable request was made even more odious by the addition of “Hundred Grievances,” a terrible catalogue of the exactions, frauds, oppressions, and wrongs that Germany had suffered at the hands of the popes.

Chieregato, sensing that he had overstayed his welcome, promptly left Nuremberg, leaving it with someone else to be the bearer of the unwelcome tidings to the pontiff.

In due time, the decree of the diet reached Rome. The otherwise meek Adrian was beside himself with rage. Not only had the diet refused to execute the Edict of Worms and burn Luther and called for a General Council, but they had enumerated a hundred grievances that needed to be addressed. Only thinly veiled was the threat that if the pope failed to act, there were others who would. Seating himself, Adrian poured forth a torrent of threatenings that was more bitter than anything yet to have emanated from the Vatican. Frederick of Saxony, against whom the denunciation was aimed, placed his hand on the hilt of his sword when he read it. Luther, however, who was the only one of the three who was fully in control of his temper, quietly but firmly insisted that no one was to fight for the gospel. The peace was preserved.

Charles V would gladly have brought luther to the stake, had he the power to do so; but in Germany, he could act only so far as the princes would go with him. Consequently, it was the low countries to which he directed his displeasure. In Brussels, on July 1, 1523, three stakes were erected and the first of many martyrs were burned for their faith. This apparent victory for the powers of darkness was but the signal for its defeat. Luther received the news of their death with thanksgiving, knowing that a cause which had produced martyrs bore the seal of Divine authentication and was sure of victory. In the words of Erasmus, “Wherever the smoke of their burning blew, it bore with it the seeds of heretics.” Wylie, History of Protestantism, book 1, 490

Adrian’s Policies Reversed

Adrian lived to hear of the death of these youths, but in September of the same year, he died; and with him passed all interest in reforming the Church. Cardinal Guilio de Medici, an unsuccessful contender for the papal crown in the previous election, was more successful this time. Ascending to the pontifical throne under the name of Clement VII, he hastily reversed the policy of his predecessor.

As Clement assumed his duties, wherever the eye might turn, there was trouble. Two powerful kings were fighting in Italy; the Turks were threatening the Austrian frontier; but the most troublesome, and that which caused the greatest concern, was the situation in Wittenberg. Leo X had underestimated the threat. Adrian had thought to blunt it by working reforms in the church, but both had met with signal failure. Clement determined that for his part, he would prove himself an abler pilot; he would act as a statesman and a pope.

In the spring of 1524, Nuremberg was the scene of the second Imperial Diet. The pope’s first concern was to choose the right man to represent the interests of the Church. The man of his choosing was Cardinal Campeggio. An astute envoy, his great ability and experience seemed to qualify him as best. His journey to the northern Italian border was like a triumphal march; but upon crossing the German border, all tokens of public enthusiasm forsook him. Upon his arrival at Nuremberg, he looked in vain for the usual procession of magistrates and clergy to bid him welcome. As an ordinary traveler, the proud representative of Clement made his way, unescorted, through the streets and entered his hotel.

Campeggio’s instructions were to first of all soothe the Elector of Saxony, who was still smarting from Adrian’s furious letter. Second, he was to make any promise necessary and use whatever diplomacy that was required to bring the diet into submission. Having accomplished these preliminary tasks, he was to attend to Luther. If only the monk could be brought to the stake, all would be well.

A Plea for Loyalty to Rome

The papal nuncio presented himself to the diet. In addressing the princes, he alluded to his devotion to Germany, which had led him to accept this difficult mission when all others had declined. He described the tender solicitude of the pope for his flock. He could not, however, refrain from expressing wonderment that so many great and honorable princes should suffer the religion wherein they were born and in which their father’s had died, to be ill-treated and trampled upon. He begged them to consider what the end of such a course must be, namely, a universal uprising by the people against their rulers and the destruction of Germany. As for the Turks, it did not seem necessary that he should say much, as all knew of the threat that they posed to Christianity.

The princes listened with respect and thanked him for his goodwill and kindly counsel. The matter most pressing, however, and that for which they desired an answer, was the matter of the list of grievances which they had submitted to Rome; they would like to know if the pope had returned an answer and what that answer might be.

Feigning surprise, Campeggio replied that, “As to their demands, there had been only three copies of them brought privately to Rome, whereof one had fallen into his hands; but the pope and college of cardinals could not believe that they had been framed by the princes; they thought that some private persons had published them in hatred of the court of Rome; and thus he had no instructions in that particular.” Ibid., 491. Campeggio’s answer was met with mixed indignation and anger.

Charles had been prevented from attending because of his war with France, but he sent his ambassador, John Hunnaart, to complain that the diet had not enforced the Edict of Worms and to demand that it be put to execution—in other words, that Luther be put to death and the gospel proscribed in Germany.

The deputies, realizing the impossibility of such a thing, dissented; but Campeggio and Hunnaart insisted that they should put into effect the edict to which they had been consenting parties. The diet was in a quandary as to what course to pursue.

The Edict of Worms Nullified

Though they did not dare to repeal the edict, they finally hit upon a clever device for appeasing the pope without arousing the wrath of the people. They passed a decree saying that the Edict of Worms should be rigorously enforced as far as possible. For all practical purposes, it was a repeal of the edict, for the majority of the German states had already declared that it was not possible to enforce. While seeming to have gained a victory, Campeggio and Hunnaart had in reality met defeat, the first of more to come.

Undaunted by the signal failure of past councils to be an end in settling abuses and ending all controversies, the princes, haaving successfully nullified the emperor’s ban, next moved to demand a General Council. The papal legate and the envoy of Charles V both offered stout resistance, but to no avail. They presented to the princes what an affront such a resolve would be to papal authority, what an attack on the prerogatives of the pontiff. The princes, however, remained unchanged in their determination to call for a council and decreed that a diet should assemble at Spires in November. In the mean time, the free towns of Germany were encouraged to express their minds relative to the abuses to be corrected and the reforms to be instituted so that when the council met, the diet might be able to speak in the name of the Fatherland, demanding the reforms that the nation wished.

Sensing a political climate that favored the spread of the gospel, the Protestant preachers continued to preach the gospel with increased zeal. There were two cathedrals in Nuremberg and both were filled to overflowing with attentive audiences. The mass was forsaken, as were images, and the Scriptures were explained according to the early church fathers. The papal legate had the humiliating experience of being jostled in the streets by the throngs hurrying to the Protestant meetings, but there was nothing he could do about it. Germany seemed closer than at any previous time to a national reformation.

It was not only Clement’s authority that was tottering in Germany for if the German states should break away from the Roman faith, the emperor’s influence would be so greatly weakened as to be irreparable damaged. The imperial dignity would be so shorn of its splendor as to threaten the emperor’s schemes, leaving their implementation impracticable.

As alarmed as were the papal nuncio and Charles’s representative, it paled relative to the concern in the Vatican. Clement comprehended at a glance the full extent of the disaster that was threatening the full extent of the disaster that was threatening the papal throne; the half of his kingdom was about to be torn from him. He determined to leave no stone unturned to prevent at all costs the meeting scheduled to take place at Spires. Meanwhile, all eyes now turned to Spires where the fate of popedom was to be decided.

As preparations for the fateful meeting were in progress, the consternation of the Romish party was in proportion to the success of the princes friendly to the Reformed faith. To meet the challenge, Campeggio adopted the old policy of “divide and conquer.”

The Ratisbon Reformation

Withdrawing from the diet, Campeggio retired to Ratisbon where he set to work to form a party among the princes of Germany. Drawing around him Ferdinand, Archduke of Austria; the Dukes of Bavaria; the Archbishop of Salzburg; the Bishops of Trent and Ratisbon; and later the princes of southern Germany; he represented to them that should Wittenberg triumph, it would spell the end of their power as well as the dissolution of the existing order of things. He assured them that the prosperity of the papacy was closely linked with their own welfare. To avert these terrible evils, the princes passed a resolution that called for a ban on the printing of all of Luther’s books, the recall of all youth from their dominions, and no toleration for changes in the mass or public worship. In short, they determined to wage a war of extermination against the new faith. Offsetting these stern measures, they promised a few mind reforms.

The legate had done his work well, and now the pope urged Charles to act against a threat that was a greater detriment to the throne than was Rome. Charles needed no urging, having been stung to the quick by what he viewed as a usurpation of his authority by the princes in seeking to convene a diet. He informed them in sharp terms that it belonged to him as emperor to demand of the pope that a council be convoked and that he and the pope alone were the judge as to a fitting time to convoke such an assembly. Furthermore, he informed them that until such a council should be summoned, it was their responsibility to confine themselves to enforcing the previous Edict of Worms. He further forbade the meeting of the diet at Spires under penalty of high treason and the ban of the empire. The princes eventually submitted, and the proposed diet never met.

Persecution Renewed

Archduke Ferdinand and the papal legate, journeying together to Vienna, determined that to successfully carry out the league, the sword must be unsheathed. Gaspard Tauber of Vienna was charged with the crime of circulating Luther’s books. The idea was circulated that he was disposed to recant. Two pulpits were erected in the churchyard of St. Stephen’s. From the one Tauber was to read his recantation, while from the other a priest was to magnify the act as a new triumph for the Roman Church. Tauber arose and to the amazement of the waiting crowd, made a bolder confession of his faith than ever before. He was immediately dragged to execution, decapitated, and his body thrown to the flames.

This fanatical rage continued for some time and extended even to some parts of northern Germany. From the humble peasant to magistrate on his bench, there was no safety to be found. The countryside swarmed with spies.

While its enemies were forming leagues against the Reformation, new friends were stepping out of the ranks of the Romanists to place themselves on its side. No sooner had the members of the league left Ratisbon, than the deputies of the towns, whose bishops had taken part in the alliance, in surprise and indignation, met at Spires, declaring that their ministers, in spite of the prohibition of the bishops, should preach the gospel. Before the end of the year, the deputies of these cities, with many nobles, met and swore a mutual defense pact.

While the cities were aligning themselves with the Reformation, many princes were also joining the cause.

In early June of 1924, as Melancthon was returning from a visit to his mother, he met a brilliant train near Frankfort. It was Philip, the landgrave of Hesse, who three years earlier had met Luther at Worms. Philip was on his way to Heidelberg, where all the princes of Gemany were to be present at a tournament. Being informed by one of his attendants that it was Melancthon approaching, the young prince quickly rode up to the doctor and asked, “Is your name Philip?” “It is,” replied the surprised scholar. Somewhat intimidated, Melancthon prepared to dismount. “Keep your seat,” said the prince; “turn around, and come and pass the night with me; there are some matters on which I desire to have a little talk with you.” D’Aubigne’s History of the Reformation, book 10, chap. 8

The two Philips rode side by side, the prince asking questions, and the doctor answering them. The landgrave was impressed by the clear answers he received. Upon parting, the landgrave asked that Melancthon, upon further study, send him a replay to his questions in writing.

Shortly after returning from the tournament at Heidelberg, the prince published an edict, in opposition to the league of Ratisbon, allowing the free preaching of the gospel in his territory.

Other princes, including the King of Denmark soon followed in the same direction, lending their influence to the Reformation.

Charles V and the pope had opposed a national assembly at Spires for fear that it would release the Word of God, but, like the dawn spreading across the land, it made itself manifested in every part of the empire, attesting to the truth that the Word of God cannot be bound.

Martin Luther, part VIII – Leaving Worms

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On April 26, Luther, attended by twenty gentlemen on horseback, passed in peace through the gates of the city from which no one had ever expected to see him come alive. As he left, he said, “The devil himself guarded the pope’s citadel; but Christ has made a wide breach in it, and Satan was constrained to confess that the Lord is mightier than he.” D’Aubigne, History of the Reformation, book 7, chapter 11.

On the evening of April 27, Luther reached Frankfort where he took the first leisure that he had experienced in a long time. From there he wrote to Lucas Cranach, the celebrated painter. He said, “I thought his majesty would have assembled some fifty doctors at Worms to convict the monk outright. But not at all.—Are these your books?—Yes!—Will you retract them?—No!—Well, then, be gone!—There’s the whole history. O blind Germans! . . . how childishly we act to allow ourselves to be the dupes and sport of Rome!” Ibid.

In a private conversation at Worms, Spalatin made known to Luther that for a time his liberty must be sacrificed to the anger of Charles and the pope. Though he knew nothing of the details, he was made aware that he would not be returning to Wittenberg.

On the ninth day after leaving Worms, Luther and several of his remaining traveling companions separated. Luther and Amsdorff struck northward to the town of Mora to visit Luther’s grandmother, while the rest of the party continued on to Wittenberg. Luther spent a quiet evening in the small town and the next morning resumed his journey. They had reached a lonely spot near the Castle of Altenstein in the forest of Thuringia when suddenly they found themselves surrounded by five, masked horsemen, who were armed from head to foot. Without saying a word, James, Luther’s younger brother immediately sprang from the wagon and ran as fast as his legs would carry him. The driver was ordered to stop and would have resisted, but one of the strangers, cried, “Stop!” and fell on him, throwing him to the ground. A second masked rider laid hold of Amsdorff, separating him from Luther, while the other three men roughly pulled Luther from the wagon, threw a military cloak around his shoulders, and placed him on a horse. Then, as quickly as they had appeared, all six riders disappeared in the thick forest. All day they rode this direction and that, assuring themselves that anyone attempting to follow them would be completely baffled. After darkness settled in, they began to ascend a mountain and a little before midnight, approached a castle at its summit. The drawbridge was let down, the portcullis raised, and the mysterious troop entered. Luther was led to an apartment where he was told that he must stay for an indefinite length of time and that during his stay, he must lay aside his ecclesiastical dress and dress in the custom of a knight. He was, he was told, to be known only as Knight George. His abduction was carried out so mysteriously that, for a time, even Frederick of Saxony was not aware of his whereabouts.

When morning broke, Luther looked from the castle window upon a familiar scene. Though the town could not be seen from his position, beneath him stretched the countryside that surrounded the village of Eisenach. He could not but have known that he was in Wartburg castle in friendly keeping.

Luther in Seclusion

How quickly the scene had changed. But a short time before, Luther had walked the dizzy heights as all eyes were fixed upon him. Now, suddenly, the man on whom the eyes of all the world had been turned, had disappeared. While there were those who received the news of Luther’s disappearance with joy, the grief of the friends of the Reformation was great. As spring turned to summer and summer gave way to autumn, it was as if he had suddenly disappeared from the face of the earth.

Aleander and his partisans rejoiced. The fate of the Reformation seemed sealed as the light of the gospel seemed about to be extinguished. But God reigns, and the blow that seemed about to destroy the Reformation was in truth but the preparation for even more far reaching conquests. God had not withdrawn His servant merely to preserve him from the wrath of his enemies. As men rejoice in the freedom that truth brings to them, they are inclined to view the instrument, who is the channel of truth, as the origin, and in so doing, place a man where only God should be. In His providence, God removed Luther for a time that he might not only have time to reflect and grow in his knowledge of truth, but that men might be led to realize their dependence upon God and be led to trust Him. The light of truth was yet to shed its light in even brighter radiance.

At first Luther rejoiced at being released from the heat of the battle; but after a time, he became restless and criticized himself for his idleness. Even as his enemies congratulated themselves that he had been silenced, a host of tracts began to issue from his pen and be circulated throughout Germany. In addition to his other writing, Luther began his translation of the New Testament into the German language.

Luther had a weakness that, if not checked, threatened to endanger the work that he was doing. He assumed that others should see the points of truth as readily as he himself did. He had dared to defy the pope, and in so doing had vanquished the emperor. Eager to advance the cause of truth, he would not only defy the strong, but at times, lacking a consideration for their infirmities, he tended to walk on the weak. In his enforced seclusion, he was now led to examine his heart and distinguish between that which had been the work of passion and that which properly represented the working of the Holy Spirit of God. As he was led to the Bible, not only was his theological understanding expanded, but his nature was sanctified and enriched. “The study of the Word of God revealed to him likewise, what he was apt in his conflicts to overlook, that there was an edifice to be built up as well as one to be pulled down, and that this was the nobler work of the two.” Wylie, History of Protestantism, book 1, 476.

No more had Luther disappeared from view in Wartburg than the political sky of Europe became overcast with dark and foreboding clouds. The states had been about to unsheathe their sword over Luther’s head when suddenly some hundred thousand Turkish scimitars were unsheathed over theirs! Soliman, whom thirteen battles had rendered the terror of Germany, suddenly appeared on the scene. Quickly gaining many small tows and castles, it was but a short time before they had also taken Belgrade. The states of the Empire had sufficient work to do in compelling Soliman and his hordes to return to their own lands, without troubling themselves about the Reformer.

While this danger threatened the East, news from Spain told of seditions that had broken out in the emperor’s absence. For the time, Charles was forced to return home in order to quell the dissension and secure his hereditary dominions.

To complicate matters more, war next broke out between Charles and Francis I. With the aid of the papal arms of Leo X, the French were driven from the Duchies of Parma, Piacenza, and Milan, which they had held for six years. To their even greater humiliation, they were driven from Lombardy.

Great was Leo’s delight at having the Papal States returned. Coming as it did on the back of the emperor’s edict proscribing Luther; it was enough to make joy complete. He received the news in his country seat at Mallina. Amidst the popular celebration, he returned to Rome, reaching it before the festivities ended. His hour of victory was short-lived, however. Scarcely had he entered his palace when he was seized with a sudden illness. The malady ran its course so quickly that he died without the Sacrament. Leo had reigned with magnificence but died deeply in debt. The Romans never forgave him for dying without the Sacrament, and he died among manifest contempt.

The nephew of the deceased pope, Cardinal Guilio de Medici, aspired to take the place of his uncle. The political scene was shifting, however, and the monarch of Spain was a more potent factor in the affairs of Europe than the rich merchants of Florence. The conclave to elect a new pope lasted long; and Guilio de Medici, despairing of gaining the throne for himself, proposed that the Cardinal of Tortosa, who had been Charles’ tutor, should be elevated to the pontificate. He was an elderly man and entirely without ambition. Avoiding all show, he occupied himself with his religious duties. He was in every way the exact opposite of Leo.

Attempts to Reform the Church

Assuming the title Adrian VI, the new pope, who was in Spain on the emperor’s business, made his way to Rome. He viewed with indifference, if not displeasure, the magnificence of the papal palace. The humble and pious Adrian believed that a more profitable way to counteract the Reformation was to originate another. He began with a startling confession: “It is certain that the pope may err in matters of faith in defending heresy by his opinions or decretals.” Ibid., 477. This admission, meant to be the start of a moderate reform, became even more inconvenient in later years than it was at the time that he spoke it, when in the Encyclical and Syllabus of Pius IX and the Infallibility Decree, issued in July 18, 1870, he stated exactly the opposite to be true when he said that in matters of faith and morals, the pope cannot err. If Adrian spoke the truth, it follows that the pope may indeed err. If he did not, it leaves the church in a very difficult position to explain the matter, as the decree of the Vatican Council of 1870, which looked both backwards and forwards, declares that error is impossible on the part of the pope.

Wherever Adrian turned to effect reform, he found himself faced by insurmountable obstacles. If he touched an abuse, all who were interested in its maintenance would rise in arms to defend it. He found that were he to purse Rome of all but the virtuous, it would leave few but himself. He was finally forced to recognize that a middle path was impossible to follow and that his only choice lay between Luther’s reform on the one hand, and the policies of Charles V on the other. He chose the latter.

While Luther was in seclusion and the princes of the empire were occupied with political considerations, the progress of the reform moved forward. As with any reformation, however, Satan was not idle. In the place of true reform, fanaticism began to move in. “A few men, deeply affected by the excitement in the religious world, imagined themselves to have received special revelations from Heaven and claimed to have been divinely commissioned to carry forward to its completion the Reformation which, they declared, had been but feebly begun by Luther. In truth, they were undoing the very work which he had accomplished. They rejected the great principle which was the very foundation of the Reformation—that the Word of God is the all-sufficient rule of faith and practice; and for that unerring guide they substituted the changeable, uncertain standard of their own feelings and impressions. By this act of setting aside the great detector of error and falsehood, the way was opened for Satan to control minds as best pleased himself.” The Great Controversy, 186.

These men found followers in Wittenberg. The students of the university left their studies, considering them useless in the presence of an internal illumination which promised to teach them all that they needed to know without having to experience the toil of study. The enemies of the Reformation were exultant, deeming that they were about to witness its speedy disorganization and ruin. News of what was taking place in Wittenberg reached Wartburg, and Luther was filled with dismay and grief. He was torn between his desire to complete his translation of the New Testament and his desire to return to Wittenberg and meet the new fanaticism. At last, to his great joy, he completed his German version of the New Testament on March 3, 1522. The disorganization that was reigning at Wittenberg was a greater danger to the Reformation than the sword of Charles. The crisis was a serious one, and Luther immediately set out for Wittenberg.

On the first Sunday morning after his arrival, Luther entered the parish church. Intense excitement, yet deep stillness reigned in the audience. Never had Luther appeared more grand and truly great. As did the apostle, he reminded his hearers that the weapons of their warfare were not carnal but spiritual. The Word, he said, must be freely preached and left to work upon the heart. While he was against the abuses and errors of Rome, the heart of man must never be forced but won by the power of the Word. He pointed to the mighty victory that had already been won in weakening the power of the papacy to a degree that no prince or emperor had ever before been able to break it. And yet, as he pointed out, this had all been accomplished by the power of God’s Word.

Luther continued his series of discourses through the entire week. Every day the church was filled as many flocked from the surrounding villages to receive the bread of life. Without mentioning them by name, the Reformer was able to meet and defeat the various fanatical groups. By his wisdom and moderation, he carried the day; and the Word of God was restored to its supremacy. It was a great battle—greater in some respects than that which had been fought at Worms. Without tumult and without offense to anyone, Luther safely guided the Reformation through the crisis and again established it on the Word of God.

Day Dawns in Germany

In proportion as the Reformation strengthened at its center in Wittenberg, it was diffused more widely throughout Germany. To the terror of Rome, it seemed to be breaking out on all sides. A number of priests were converted to the reformed faith and preached it to their flocks. Great was the wrath of Rome as she saw her soldiers turning their arms against her. The world’s winter appeared to be passing; and with the coming of spring, the German nation began to emerge from the ignorance of the darkness into the dawning of light. “Whilst in the year 1513 only thirty-five publications had appeared, and thirty-seven in 1517, the number of books increased with astonishing rapidity after the appearance of Luther’s theses. In 1518 we find seventy-one different works; in 1519, one hundred and eleven; in 1520, two hundred and eight; in 1521, two hundred and 11; in 1522, three hundred and forty seven; and in 1523, four hundred and ninety eight.” D’Aubigne, History of the Protestant Reformation, book 9, chapter 11. For the most part, these were printed in Wittenberg. Generally they were authored by Luther and his friends. In 1522, while 130 of the Reformer’s writings were published, and in the following year, 183, only 20 Roman Catholic publications appeared.

What Luther and his friends published, others circulated. Monks, convinced of the unlawfulness of the monastic life, became colporteurs carrying the books through the length and breadth of Germany. Germany swarmed with these bold colporteurs. It was in vain that the emperor and princes published edicts against the writings of the Reformers. As soon as an inquisitorial visit was to be paid, the book dealers, who had received secret information in advance, concealed the books that were proscribed. The eager multitude, who were ever anxious for that which was prohibited, immediately bought them up and read them with great eagerness. Neither was it in Germany alone that such scenes were enacted. Luther’s writings were translated into French, Spanish, English, and Italian and circulated among these nations as well.

Elector Frederick had declared that he would allow the bishops to preach freely in his states, but he would deliver no one into their hands. Consequently, evangelical teachers persecuted in other countries soon found asylum in Saxony. Here they conversed with the Reformers, and at their feet were strengthened in the faith. At the same time, they were able to communicate to their teachers from their own experience the knowledge that they had acquired.

As Luther witnessed the success of the gospel, his confidence increased. He had foreseen nothing of the magnitude when he first rose up against Tetzel. Vainly would men seek to explain the movement by mere human circumstances. God, the Author of the work in its minutest detail, was breathing new life into Christianity. The church was passing through a state of transformation and of bursting the bonds in which it had so long been confined, returning in life and vigor to a world that had forgotten its ancient power. Not withstanding the violent and repeated efforts to stifle the progress, the gospel rose with a force that no human power was able to resist in its progress.

Martin Luther, part VII – The Diet of Worms

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Luther was conducted into the hall and brought to stand directly in front of the emperor. The chancellor of the Elector of Treves began speaking, addressing Luther first in Latin and then repeating his words in German.

“Martin Luther! yesterday you begged for a delay that has not expired. Assuredly it ought to have been conceded, as every man, and especially you, who are so great and learned a doctor in the Holy Scriptures, should always be ready to answer any question touching his faith. . . . Now, therefore, reply to the question put by his majesty, who has behaved to you with so much mildness. Will you defend your books as a whole, or are you willing to disavow some of them?” D’Aubigne, History of the Reformation, book 7, chap. 8

A deep silence settled over the room as every ear strained to catch Luther’s reply. What a moment! The fate, not only of the Reformation, but of nations was at that moment hanging in the balance.

Luther began by graciously saluting the emperor, the princes, and the lords. While he spoke firmly, he addressed the assembly in modest tones. “Most serene emperor! illustrious princes! gracious lords! I appear before you this day, in conformity with the order given me yesterday, and by God’s mercies I conjure your majesty and your august highnesses to listen graciously to the defense of a cause which I am assured is just and true. If, through ignorance, I should transgress the usages and proprieties of courts, I entreat you to pardon me; for I was not brought up in the palaces of kings, but in the seclusion of a convent.

“Yesterday, two questions were put to me on behalf of his imperial majesty: the first, if I was the author of the books whose titles were enumerated; the second, if I would retract or defend the doctrine I had taught in them. To the first question I then made answer, and I preserve in that reply.

“As for the second, I have written works on many different subjects. There are some in which I have treated of faith and good works, in a manner at once so pure, so simple, and so scriptural, that even my adversaries, far from finding anything to censure in them, allow that these works are useful and worthy of being read by all pious men. The papal bull, however violent it may be, acknowledges this. If, therefore, I were to retract these, what should I do? . . . Wretched man! Among all men, I alone should abandon truths that friends and enemies approve, and I should oppose what the whole world glories in confessing. . . .

“Second, I have written books against the papacy, in which I have attacked those who, by their false doctrine, their evil lies, or their scandalous example, afflict the Christian world and destroy both body and soul. The complaints of all who fear God are confirmatory of this. Is it not evident that the laws and human doctrines of the popes entangle, torment, and vex the consciences of believers, while the crying and perpetual extortions of Rome swallow up the wealth and the riches of Christendom, and especially of this illustrious nation? . . .

“Were I to retract what I have said on this subject, what should I do but lend additional strength to this tyranny and open the floodgates to torment of impiety? Overflowing with still greater fury than before, we should see these insolent men increase in number, behave more tyrannically, and domineer more and more. And not only would the yoke that now weighs upon the Christian people be rendered heavier by my retraction, but it would become, so to speak, more legitimate; for by this very retraction it would receive the confirmation of your most serene majesty and of all the states of the holy empire. Gracious God! I should thus become a vile cloak to cover and conceal every kind of malice and tyranny! . . .

“Lastly, I have written books against individuals who desired to defend the Romish tyranny and to destroy the faith. I frankly confess that I may have attacked them with more acrimony than is becoming my ecclesiastical profession. I do not consider myself a saint, but I cannot disavow these writings; for by so doing I should sanction the impiety of my adversaries, and they would seize the opportunity of oppressing the people of God with still greater cruelty.

“Yet I am but a mere man, and not God; I shall therefore defend myself as Christ did. If I have spoken evil, bear witness of the evil (see John 18:23) said He. How much more should I, who am but dust and ashes and who may so easily go astray desire every man to state his objections to my doctrine.

“For this reason, most serene emperor and you, most illustrious princes, and all men of every degree, I conjure you, by the mercy of God, to prove from the writings of the prophets and the apostles that I have erred. As soon as I am convinced of this, I will retract every error and be the first to lay hold of my books and throw them into the fire.” Ibid.

In closing, Luther drew the attention of the assembly to a judgment that they must each face: not a judgment beyond the grave but of the here and now. They were each, he pointed out, on trial. By their decisions, they were to determine whether their thrones were to be established or to be swept away in a coming deluge of wrath. “I might speak,” Luther continued, “of Pharaohs, the kings of Babylon, and those of Israel whose labours never more effectually contributed to their own destruction than when they sought by counsels, to all appearance most wise, to strengthen their dominion.” Ibid.

Luther’s Defense Repeated

Luther had spoken in German with great modesty and firmness. The imposing assembly, as well as his own emotion, had greatly fatigued him. The emperor, however, greatly disliked the German language, and it was now demanded of Luther that he repeat his defense in Latin. Frederick of Thun, the privy councilor of the Elector of Saxony, had been stationed by Luther’s side to see that no violence was used against him. Seeing Luther’s exhausted condition, he said, “If you cannot repeat what you have said, that will do, doctor.” Ibid. But Luther, after a brief pause, repeated his speech with the same energy he had presented his first. “God’s providence directed in this matter. The minds of many of the princes were so blinded by error and superstition that at the first delivery they did not see the force of Luther’s reasoning; but the repetition enabled them to perceive clearly the points presented.” The Great Controversy, 159

When he had finished speaking, the Chancellor of Treves said with indignation, ” ‘You have not answered the question put to you. You were not summoned hither to call in question the decisions of councils. You were required to give a clear and precise answer. Will you, or will you not, retract?’ Upon this Luther replied without hesitation: ‘Since your most serene majesty and your high mightinesses require from me a clear, simple, and precise answer, I will give you one, and it is this: I cannot submit my faith either to the pope or to the councils, because it is clear as the day that they have frequently erred and contradicted each other. Unless therefore I am convinced by the testimony of Scripture, or by the clearest reasoning,—unless I am persuaded by the means of the passages I have quoted,—and unless they thus render my conscience bound by the Word of God, I cannot and I will not retract, for it is unsafe for a Christian to speak against his conscience.’ And then, looking round on this assembly before which he stood and which held his life in its hands, he said: ‘Here I stand, I can do no other; May God help me! Amen!’ ” D’Aubigne’s History of the Reformation, book 7, chap. 8

The words of the Reformer had a profound impact on the assembly. Many of the princes could scarcely conceal their admiration. In all, Luther had spoken for nearly two hours. The effects of Aleander’s address, given so eloquently before the diet but a short time before, had dissipated in less than a week; but Luther’s was to live on to stir men’s hearts for hundreds of years to come.

To their amazement, the princes discovered that the roles had completely reversed. But two hours earlier Luther had stood before them apparently condemned, but they found that they had now been summoned to stand before his bar. Unawed by the crowns they wore, or the armies they commanded, this simple monk had entreated, admonished, and reproved them. It mattered not what they might do with the Reformer; the victory was clearly his. Nothing that Rome might now do could reverse her defeat, or conceal the victory that had been won. What light has time shed on the words that he spoke! The history of the Catholic nations of Europe and the New World bear testimony to their truthfulness.

As soon as the assembly had partially recovered, the chancellor spoke. ” ‘If you do not retract, the emperor and the states of the empire will consult what course to adopt against an incorrigible heretic.’ At these words Luther’s friends began to tremble; but the monk repeated: ‘May God be my helper; for I can retract nothing.’ ” Ibid.

After Luther withdrew, the princes deliberated. The partisans of Rome could not bring themselves to concede defeat, and Luther was again summoned before them. The speaker for the diet again addressed him. “Martin, you have not spoken with the modesty becoming your position. The distinction you have made between your books was futile; for if you retracted those that contained your errors, the emperor would not have allowed the others to be burnt. It is extravagant in you to demand to be refuted by Scripture, when you are reviving heresies condemned by the general council of Constance. The emperor, therefore, calls upon you to declare simply, yes or no, whether you presume to maintain what you have advanced, or whether you will retract a portion?’—’I have no other reply to make than that which I have already made,’ answered Luther calmly.” Ibid. Firm as a rock, the Reformer remained unmoved by the waves beating about him. His firm, unshaken stand made a profound impression upon the assembly. Charles V arose, and with him all of the assembly. Deliberations were at an end until the morrow.

Two imperial officers formed Luther’s escort. Some imagined that Luther was being led forth to the scaffold, and a great tumult broke out. It was quickly quelled when Luther assured them that he was merely being escorted to his hotel.

Upon his return to his room, Luther was surrounded by Spalatin and other friends. Together they gave thanks to God for the events of the day. As they were talking together, a messenger from the Elector of Saxony came with orders for Spalatin to come to him immediately. When Spalatin arrived at the duke’s quarters, the duke had just seated himself for supper. Arising, he motioned Spalatin to follow him. As soon as they were alone in the duke’s bed chamber, he informed Spalatin of his resolution to more actively protect the doctor in the future.

Aleander recognized the impression that Luther had made upon the assembly. He saw that he must act quickly if he were to counteract the influence that was rapidly gaining ground. War was imminent between Charles and Francis. Leo X, desiring to enlarge his estates, was secretly negotiating with both parties. Aleander, however, sought to use the influence of an alliance with the pope against Francis as the means of influencing Charles, thereby deciding the fate of the Reformer. He knew that the life of a single monk was a mere trifle if it could purchase the pontiff’s friendship.

Charles Rejects the Reformation

On the day following Luther’s appearance, the emperor ordered a prepared message to be read to the diet. In the message, he affirmed his intentions to support the Catholic Church. While confirming the safe-conduct that he had extended to Luther, he expressed his resolve to move against the Reformer as soon as it should expire and to martial all of the resources at his command to crush the heresy.

Not all of the members of the diet were pleased with the address. Charles, in his youthful haste, had failed to comply with the usual form of consulting with the diet before forming his decision. On the other extreme, the elector of Brandenburg and several of the ecclesiastical princes demanded the safe-conduct given to Luther should not be respected. The Rhine, they said, should receive his ashes as it had the ashes of John Huss a century before. Against such a base proposal a number of the princes of Germany objected. The Bavarian nobles, though mostly papal, protested against the violation of public faith. Even George of Saxony, Luther’s avowed enemy, said, “The princes of Germany will not permit a safe-conduct to be violated. This diet, the first held by our new emperor, will not be guilty of so base an action. Such perfidy does not accord with the ancient German integrity.” Ibid., chap. 9. The proposal was turned down with scorn and indignation.

Charles, who was yet very young, shrank from the idea of committing perjury. He is reported to have said, “Though honour and faith should be banished from all the world, they ought to find a refuge in the hearts of princes.” A somewhat less charitable assessment was given by Vettori, the friend of Leo X, who alleged that Charles spared Luther only that he might be a check on the pope. Charles, it would seem, only half trusted Leo, and in the game of international intrigue in which he was then engaged, he believed that a living Luther would be a more valuable counter than a dead one. There was also reason to believe that he was not blind to the danger that public sentiment was running so high that should the safe-conduct be violated, his first diet could easily be his last one. Charles is, however, credited with having repented of his decision in after years. He is reported to have stated, near the close of his life, that he was not obliged to have kept his promise to a heretic who had offended a Master greater than he—God Himself. He might, he then believed, have stifled the heresy in its infancy.

The Safe-conduct Honored

The discussion as to what to do with the Reformer lasted two days. During this time, the emotions of the citizens ran high. According to some sources, there were four hundred nobles ready to enforce Luther’s safe-conduct, if necessary, with the sword. Sickingen, it was reported, had assembled many knights and soldiers behind the impregnable ramparts of his stronghold but a dozen miles from Worms. The enthusiasm of the people, not only in Worms but throughout Germany, as well as the intrepidity of the knights and the attachment that many of the princes felt for the cause of the Reformer, convinced Charles that it would be disastrous to follow the course proposed by the Romanists. Though it was only a question of burning a simple monk, the partisans of Rome had not the strength or courage to do so. To have violated the safe-conduct would have immediately convulsed Germany in a civil war. Luther was ordered to return home under the emperor’s safe-conduct, the violent propositions of Aleander having been rejected.

The Elector Frederick was delighted with the appearance that Luther had made before the diet, but he was not alone in his appreciation of the Reformer. From that time on, many others who heard him became friends of the Reformation. Some of them expressed their change of sentiment at the time, while with others it bore fruit years later. Though Frederick had determined more than ever to protect Luther, he knew that the less his hand was seen in the matter, the more effectively he could further the cause and protect its champion. He therefore avoided all personal contact with Luther.

On the morning of April 26, Luther, surrounded by twenty gentlemen on horseback, left Worms. A few days after his departure, the emperor made public an edict against him, placing him outside the pale of the law and commanding all men everywhere, once his safe-conduct had expired, to withhold from him food, water, and shelter, and to do all within their power to apprehend him. This edict was drafted by Aleander and ratified by a meeting in the emperor’s private chamber after Elector Frederick and those favorable to Luther had already departed. The edict was dated May 8, but in reality the imperial signature was not placed on it until May 26. The purpose of the antedating was to give it the appearance of carrying the authority of the full diet.

Luther had entered Worms under the anathema of the pope. When he left, to this was added the ban of the empire.

The End