September 13, 2007
CONTENTS
INTRODUCTION
GENERAL OUTLINE *
PART I
Background
1. Childhood
2. Education
3. Monastic Life
4. Professorship
PART II
A. Reformation
1. Visit to Rome
2. Revelations
3. Romans 1:16-17
B. Key Theological Tenets
C. Offensive
1. The 95 Theses
2. Burning of the “Bull”
D. Defense
1. Diet of Worms
2. Diet of Augsburg
CONCLUSION
*Scripture quotations marked HCSB have been taken from the Holman Christian Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1999, 2000, 2002, 2003 by Holman Bible Publishers. Used by permission. Holman Christian Standard Bible®, Holman CSB®, and HCSB® are federally registered trademarks of Holman Bible Publishers.
TABLES
Timeline
1483 (November 10) Martin Luther is born in Eisleben
1505 Becomes Augustinian Monk in Erfurt
1512 Doctor of Theology at Wittenberg University
1517 (October 31) Luther Nails his 95 Theses to the church doors in Wittenberg
1518 Diet of Augsburg-Interview with Prierias
1520 (December 10) Burns Papal Bull after having been excommunicated
1521 (April 17) Diet of Worms and subsequent “exile” at the Wartburg (fortress)
1521 Luther translates the New Testament into German
1522 Return to Wittenberg
1525 Luther marries Katharina von Bora
1529 Attempt to reconcile the German states at the Diet of Spires
1534 Publishes the complete Bible in German
1546 (February 18) Luther dies while visiting Eisleben
INTRODUCTION
“Here I stand; I can do naught else. God help me. Amen.”1 These were the words spoken by Martin Luther before the Diet of Worms on April 17, 1521, thus sealing his fate of becoming the number one enemy of the church in Rome. Just how exactly did this faithful and pious Augustinian monk go from being a devout Roman-Catholic to opposing the very institution he once belonged to? How did Luther, in only six years, bring about a movement known today as the Reformation? It appears that this great theologian and teacher would receive as much revelation from Romans 1:16-17 as would the students attending his lectures.
PART I
Background
Childhood and Youth (1483-1501)
Martin Luther, originally Martin Luder, was born on November 10, 1483 at a time when great changes were about to take place, changes, which Luther would soon take his part in.
Luther's father, was raised a farmer's son, but moved his family from Eisleben to Mansfeld shortly after Luther's birth in 1484 to try to better the family's financial situation by mining copper. He was successful and by 1491, the Luder's were one of the most respected families in Mansfeld. Luther's mother, Margarete Luder was a harsh disciplinarian who raised her many children with an iron fist.
Education (1501-1505)
Martin attended the Latin school (Lateinschule) in Mansfeld where harsh and antiquated teaching methods of the Middle Ages still dominated. Luther was a quiet, reserved yet talented student who was intimidated by the strict order.
In 1497, Luther went to Magdeburg where he attended the school Brothers for living together (a boarding school; Brueder fuer Gemeinsames Leben) but in 1498 went to Eisenach where he lived with relatives and was educated at the town's parish school.
Luther’s parents were financially able to send their son Martin to the university in Erfurt in 1501. Hans Luther, Martin's father, hoped to help his son by sending him to law school so he could later be a lawyer and have a secure future.
The University of Erfurt, founded in 1392 was one of the best German universities at the time, which is most likely the reason Luther's father chose the university for his son. The requirement in those days dictated that in order to study a specific field such as Law, Medicine or Theology, one had to earn a Baccalaureate in the seven Liberal Arts. Luther received his in 1502 and went on to receive his Master's degree in 1505. His father hoped that, if Luther continued on this path, he would successfully complete his law studies and soon be offered a good position in a law practice somewhere.
Monastic Life (1505-1512)
Luther’s career plans changed drastically on July 2, 1505 when he swore to become a monk in exchange for his surviving a severe lightning and thunderstorm. To his friends surprise and his parents anger Luther stood by his oath and would not change his mind when each tried to convince the successful student to continue his law studies. Instead, he entered the Mendicant order of the Augustinian monks in Erfurt and took his vow in 1506.
During Luther's time, monastic life was harsh, consisting of fasting, prayer and work. Each day began at 3 am with the first hourly prayers. This time had a lasting impact on Luther, and above all brought him to a closer relationship with the Bible, which characterized his later life and work.
Luther was ordained as a priest in Erfurt in 1507and began to study Theology at the University of Erfurt. During his studies, he was introduced to ideas of the Humanists and embraced their slogan “Ad Fontes”- back to the Source! To Luther this meant the study of the Bible in its original Hebrew and Greek.
Professorship (1512-1517)
After receiving his doctorate in Theology in 1512, Luther took a position as Professor of Theology at the University of Wittenberg. He lectured on the book of Psalms (1514-15), the Epistle to the Romans (1515-16), Galatians (1516-17), and Hebrews (1517-18), all the while struggling with his own religious understanding.
A circle of theologians began to form around Luther, among them Nikolaus von Amsdorf and Karlstadt. In 1514, Luther became the priest for Wittenberg's City Church.
PART II
Reformation
Visit to Rome
In November 1510, on behalf of seven Augustinian monasteries, Luther set out for a visit to Rome or as Luther referred to her: “the eternal city.” When he, after a long and difficult journey, finally approached the city and viewed her from afar, Luther is said to have fallen on his knees exclaiming, "I greet thee, thou Holy Rome, thrice holy from the blood of the martyrs."
Upon entering the “Holy City,” Luther performed the religious duties customary for a pious visitor. The Pope had promised everyone who, on his knees, would climb up Pilate's Stair, an indulgence and Luther, wishing to gain such an indulgence, humbly crawled up the marble steps.2 It was said that the steps had been miraculously transported to Rome from Jerusalem.
Luther’s reverence for Rome was short lived and would soon be replaced by disillusionment. Luther was shocked by the worldliness of the Roman clergy and their condescending attitude toward believers who had pilgrimaged to Rome. Upon his return to Erfurt Luther remarked that the clergy acted "as if the poor laity stunk in their sacred noses."
Revelations
It is often necessary for truth, in order to produce a lasting effect on the mind, to be repeatedly presented to it. Luther’s religious enlightenment began during his intensive study of the Epistle to the Romans when he realized that salvation came through the grace of God, not through good works: "For I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is God’s power for salvation to everyone who believes, first to the Jew, and also to the Greek. For in it God’s righteousness is revealed from faith to faith, just as it is written: The righteous will live by faith,” (Romans 1:16-17).3
The faith, which saved Luther from the terrors of death, became the soul of his theology and would mark the turning point in the Reformer’s life, as well for the Reformation. Luther later stated that he came to this decisive realization while sitting in his study room at the Wittenberg monastery. The actual time of Luther’s revelation is debatable, however, his experience is generally known as the Tower experience (Turm erlebnis).
“I meditated night and day on those words until at last, by the mercy of God, I paid attention to their context: "The justice of God is revealed in it, as it is written: 'The just person lives by faith.'“ I began to understand that in this verse the justice of God is that by which the just person lives by a gift of God, that is by faith. I began to understand that this verse means that the justice of God is revealed through the Gospel, but it is a passive justice, i.e. that by which the merciful God justifies us by faith, as it is written: "The just person lives by faith.” All at once, I felt that I had been born again and entered into paradise itself through open gates. Immediately I saw the whole of Scripture in a different light. I ran through the Scriptures from memory and found that other terms had analogous meanings, e.g., the work of God, that is, what God works in us; the power of God, by which he makes us powerful; the wisdom of God, by which he makes us wise; the strength of God, the salvation of God, the glory of God.”4
Romans 1:16-17
"But this great doctrine of a salvation which emanates from God and not from man, was not only the power of God to save the soul of Luther, it also became the power of God to reform the Church; a powerful weapon which the apostles wielded, a weapon too long neglected, but at length brought forth in its primitive luster from the arsenal of the mighty God.”
Luther wrote about faith that it was not what some people thought it was and that human dreams were but a delusion. Since people observed that faith was not followed by good works or a better life, they fell into error, even though they heard and spoke much about faith. Subsequently man decided that faith was not enough, but that one had to do good works and be pious in order to be saved. Luther further wrote that the common belief held that by hearing the gospel, man started working, creating by his own strength and a thankful heart, which proclaimed, “I believe!'' This however was a human idea, a dream from which the heart never learned anything. It did nothing and neither did reform result from this faith.
Instead, Luther contented, faith was God working in the believer, resulting in changes within, thus giving new birth to a person (John 1:13). The Old Adam died and made man a new creation by changing the heart, spirit, thoughts and all of man’s power. It also brought the Holy Spirit with it. Therefore, faith was a living, creative, active and powerful thing.
Luther went on to say that faith could help but to do good works and did not stop to ask if good works ought to be done. Instead, faith had already done them and continued to do them without ceasing. Therefore, anyone who did not do good works in this manner was an unbeliever, stumbling about looking for faith and good works, even though he did not know what faith or good works were. Yet, never the less the unbeliever gossiped and rambled about faith and good works with many words.
Luther considered faith to be a living, bold trust in God's grace, carrying with it enough certainty of God's favor that the believer would risk death a thousand times trusting in it. Furthermore, such confidence and knowledge of God's grace brought man happiness, joy and boldness. Luther felt that the Holy Spirit made this happen through faith and because of it; the believer freely, willingly and joyfully did good to everyone, served everyone, suffered anything, and loved and praised the Lord for showing such grace. Luther further contended that it would be just as impossible to separate faith and works as it would be to separate heat and light from fire!
Luther concluded his commentary on faith with a warning: “Therefore, watch out for your own false ideas and guard against good-for-nothing gossips, who think they're smart enough to define faith and works, but really are the greatest of fools. Ask God to work faith in you, or you will remain forever without faith, no matter what you wish, say or can do.”5
Key Theological Tenets
Luther firmly, almost stubbornly, stood his ground when defending his believes. Starting with his 95 Theses, Luther developed a theology that was rooted in the Scriptures, as he understood them at the time. Luther was condemned by the “Church” not for spreading a false Gospel, but rather for exposing the anti-biblical views and practices of the Papacy and the Roman Catholic Church as an institution.
Luther considered the following to be key theological tenets:
1. Ultimate authority is neither the Pope nor Councils nor the tradition of the Church as expressed in the Canon Law, but the Word of God alone, as expressed in the life of Christ and the Scriptures.
2. Justification is achieved by faith alone, and that works are completely ineffective in contributing to salvation, although genuine faith will always produce good works.
3. The priesthood of all believers, which abolishes the idea of a special clergy set apart from the laity.
4. Sacraments are to be understood as (a) outward signs of invisible grace (b) instituted by Christ and (c) exclusively Christian.
5. The sacraments, strictly considered, are limited to two: Baptism and the Lord's Supper. Luther’s interpretation of the sacraments differed greatly from the views held by medieval Catholicism.
a. The Lord's Supper:6 Luther adamantly insisted that there was no sacrifice with regard to the Mass and that the priest did not offer up God upon the altar nor was Calvary being re-enacted. In Luther’s view, a sacrifice was something presented by man to God; yet, man is simply incapable of offering anything. God gives, man receives and is thankful. Luther denied the doctrine of transubstantiation but he did not deny a real and even a physical presence of God at the Supper.
b. Baptism: Luther insisted that the sacraments were worthless apart from faith, yet he retained infant baptism. Luther explained that there existed two levels of faith, faith awake and faith asleep and since faith was a gift from God, there was no reason to assume that God should withhold such a gift from a child. Luther later modified his position and held that a child was sustained by the faith of the parents (sponsor) since children at birth became participants in the life of the Christian community.
c. Marriage: It is valid among Jews and Muslims as well as Christians, instituted by God and approved by Christ. Therefore, it is a rite that should be blessed by the Church, but which is nevertheless not a monopoly of the Church.
d. Ordination: Not instituted by Christ. Although a rite of the Church, it confers no indelible status. What distinguishes a pastor from the rest of the congregation is simply that the congregation has delegated to him the performance of a particular office, in virtue of his administrative abilities and/or qualities as a scholar and preacher.
e. Extreme unction (anointing a dying person with oil) is nothing but superstition.
f. Confirmation is not a sacrament, as it has not been instituted by Christ. However, it is worth retaining as a rite of the Church.
g. Penance: Close to being a sacrament, inasmuch as Christ enjoins everyone to "Be penitent."
h. Confession: An element of the traditional sacrament, which had its uses for the sinner. Nevertheless, it does not qualify as a sacrament because Christ never instituted visible signs for the invisible bestowal of grace enabling the sinner to be penitent.
6. Monasticism is abolished.
a. Theological issues: Luther was slow in coming to this conclusion, and it was not until after he had been excommunicated that he abandoned the cowl7. Luther’s reason was two-fold. First, it was partly biblical, as scripture did not demand lifelong vows of poverty, chastity, and obedience. Second and more importantly was Luther's principle that man could do nothing to save himself. Since monasticism was regarded as a life where man could perform works of supererogation, Luther wanted to abolish the overriding motive for taking the cowl.
b. Political issues: Luther’s move toward the abolition of monasticism was welcomed by the nobility as it meant unforeseen revenue by confiscating and selling abbeys and convents. During the middle ages, the Church had accumulated vast land holdings and other real property and the proceeds from the sale of these properties provided a welcome one-time infusion of cash into the prince’s purse. More importantly, it solidified support for the prince and the newly established religion from a new land-owning class committed to maintaining their state's sovereignty.8
Offensive
The 95 Theses9
Philip Melancthon, one of Luther’s closest friends, wrote about his mentor’s life and times including the events surrounding the posting of the 95 Theses. Melancthon explains that, when Luther was in his course of study, Tetzel,10 a Dominican monk, was circulating venal indulgences in these regions. Melancthon referred to Tetzel as “a most shameless Deceiver” and went on to describe how Luther was angered by Tetzel's “impious and execrable debates and, burning with the eagerness of piety.” Luther, having gained a new understanding of the Scriptures, after having studied the Epistle to the Romans, was greatly distressed by Tetzel’s sale of indulgences. He saw it as misinforming lay people about crucial aspects of God's plan for redeeming fallen humanity. Luther felt that to be misinformed in essentials about the nature of God meant that what one ended up obeying is a false image of God, which constituted a "mortal sin" and, if not corrected, would lead to damnation. Specifically, Albert's indulgence (as represented by Tetzel) encroached on the sacrament of penance.
In response Luther published propositions concerning indulgences and publicly attached them to the “Temple,” adjacent to Wittenberg Castle, “on the day before the feast of all Saints, 1517.” Luther’s “propositions,” which became known as the famous 95 Theses, were originally written and published in Latin. However, with the invention of Gutenberg’s printing press Luther’s theses were translated, copied and quickly distributed throughout Germany and later Europe.
Tetzel, true to his character, and hoping to obtain favor with the Roman Pontiff, called together his supporters and ordered them to gather evidence against Luther. Meanwhile Tetzel himself engaged in public debates, demanding “…this Heretic must be condemned to fire…” and he publicly burned Luther's propositions concerning indulgences This opposition and the verbal attacks forced Luther to respond to Tetzel and his supporters in kind.
Melancthon wrote that Luther at the time “as yet suspecting or dreaming nothing about the future change of rites, was not at all completely throwing out indulgences themselves, but only urging moderation.” Melancthon further noted that even Duke Friedrich, looking far ahead, realized that events had been set in motion, which, although for a praiseworthy cause, nevertheless little by little kindled the flame that would wander wider, as is said in Homer about the Quarrel, from small fear at first, soon it lifted itself into the upper air.”11
Luther wrote his 95 Theses systematically to achieve the desired effect by addressing the issues in like groups:
Thesis 1-6 dealt with the issue of penance and Luther outlined the issue of sin and the need for repentance, while at the same time stating that the pope had neither the power nor the will to forgive sin.
Theses 7-8 focused on Tetzel's claim that the indulgences he was selling were issued by the pope and had the power to remit guilt for sins. Thesis 7 stated that remission of guilt, though only done by God, is something God has chosen to do only for those who submit themselves to the Church, and, as such, participate in the sacraments. In other words, there is no salvation outside the Church. Luther did not speak out against the priesthood. Rather, he declared the doctrine of "the priesthood of all believers.12
Theses 8-29 focused on the claim that the indulgences issued by the pope had the power to remit the penalties owed by souls in purgatory13. Purgatory was believed to be the "place" (or state) in which souls who died in God's grace may expiate venial sins or satisfy divine justice for the temporal punishment still due for remitted mortal sin.
In Thesis 20 Luther conceded the power of the Pope to remit all penalties of only the restricted class of temporal penalties imposed in the sacrament of penance or due under the canons of governing the assignment of satisfactions in penance, i.e. Sins committed but not yet dealt with by receiving the sacrament of penance. Luther would later declare that penance actually did not qualify as a sacrament
Thesis 22 stated that neither other penalties, for example, those actually due for souls in purgatory, nor guilt attaching to sins are within the power of the Pope to remit. Hence, Luther declared that the claims Tetzel was making for the indulgence he sold in the Pope's name were fraudulent (Thesis 24). Furthermore, Luther warned that people were being lead to believe these claims at the peril of their soul (Thesis 32).
Luther's tactics in the Ninety-five Theses implied that Luther himself assumed that the Pope was unaware of the doctrinal errors being preached in his name by Tetzel. Thus, Luther afforded the pope the opportunity to repudiate Tetzel's behavior.
In Thesis 23 Luther conceded that it was possible for some rare individuals to pass directly to heaven. Yet, he did not go so far as to support the Church’s claim that the saints died in a state of excess of merit earned from Supererogation14, The performance of works beyond what was regarded as necessary for salvation was said to produce a surplus of merit, which then passed into the Treasury of Merit. This supposed “merit storage” could be drawn from to substitute for the temporal penalties that would otherwise be due for sin.
Thesis 27 quoted one of the jingles attributed to Tetzel, which went like this. (The rhymes, incidentally, are the same in German and English.)
"As soon as the coin in the coffer rings,
The soul from Purgatory springs."
Theses 30-52 focused on the risks Tetzel's claims posed to the people who were deceived into believing in the value of indulgences, i.e., the misunderstandings about justification that were perpetrated among the living.
In Theses 30-40, the chief emphasis were on the necessity for sinners, to properly understand the requirement for genuine contrition, and to point out that indiscriminate peddling of indulgences implicitly preached the contrary.
Thesis 32, dealt with Letters of pardon, the documents certifying the granting of an indulgence. Here Luther accused Tetzel and his customers of committing venial, or mortal, sins.
Thesis 33 addressed the inestimable gift of God by which man is reconciled to God is the divine grace conveyed in the blood of Christ shed in the Crucifixion.
In Thesis 35, Luther refuted the confessional license, which was said to exempt the holder from the necessity for confession. Luther insisted that confession was an essential element in the process by which one achieved "justification."
Thesis 36. Compunction is a synonym for "contrition," "regret," "repentance." Luther again insisted that repentance is an essential element in the process of justification.
Theses 41-46 discussed the risks associated with equating the purchase of pardons to instances of good works...
Thesis 50 renounced the flow of capital from the German North to Italy for the building of St. Peters Cathedral.
Theses 52-56 summed up Luther’s line of attack and examined the theory of what constitutes the Treasury of the Church. Subsequent theses did not seem to be organized in a definite pattern, although there were clearly issues where Luther focused on a particular theme. Such was the case with Theses 56-68, which reviewed the true Treasures of the Church or with Theses 81-91, which took a rhetorical turn in restating that Tetzel brought the Pope into disrepute with the laity by “stimulating them to sarcastic impieties.”
Thesis 62 would later play a crucial role in Lutheran Theology and eventually lead to the breach between Luther and the Roman Catholic Church.
Burning of the “Bull”15
On June 15, 1520, Pope Leo X issued his Bull, officially excommunicating Luther. Since the posting of the 95 Theses and the completion of the final draft of the Bull three years had gone by. The event was significant for several reasons. It was the last Bull to be issued to Latin Christendom and the first to be disobeyed by a large number of people. Another interesting fact was that Luther burned the Bull instead of being burned himself.
A copy of the Bull was delivered to every major city in Germany to be posted. Luther’s old enemy, Eck, personally delivered the copies, accompanied by a small contingent of supporters. In southern Germany, his presence did not meet any opposition and Luther’s works were burned in public. In the north however, Eck was greeted by supporters of Luther and he was forced to seek refuge from the crowds in most cities. The copies posted by Eck were burned, ripped apart thrown in the river or disposed of in other ways. The copy delivered to Wittenburg was publically burned. Thus, the reformation was secured in Northern Germany.16
Defense
Diet of Worms17
In 1520, Pope Leo X issued a bull of excommunication against Luther and ordered the emperor of the Holy Roman Empire of the German Nation to execute it. However, Charles V, only 21 years old at the time, was reluctant to enact the pope’s decree. He had managed to get himself elected Emperor in 1519 and did not want to alienate the German princes, many of whom were already suspicious enough of the consolidation of Habsburg power.
Furthermore, Luther had gathered a following among the German nobility, most importantly, Luther's own powerful sovereign, the Elector Frederick the Wise of Saxony who insisted that German subjects be tried only before a German body. Since the Imperial Diet was in session at Worms at the time, Luther was summoned to appear before its delegation for questioning. Frederick secured a safe-conduct pass from the emperor guaranteeing Luther’s save passage to and from Worms.
The papal representatives at the Diet were given strict instructions from Pope Leo X to prevent the questioning from turning into a debate. Instead, Luther was to be put on the defensive. On day one of the proceedings, Luther was asked to acknowledge or deny authorship of a list of his works, which had been declared to be in error. He acknowledged authorship. Next Luther was asked if he was willing to recant his “erroneous” ideas. In response, Luther asked for a 24 hours continuance in order to prepare his response and the request was granted.
The next day the council reconvened, in the presence of the Emperor and the assembled princes and nobles of the Empire. Luther faced Dr. Ecken, an official in the administration of the Archbishop of Trier and the interrogator for these proceedings. Luther had not prepared a written statement but instead delivered his remarks impromptu, culminating his response with the now famous words: “Here I stand; I can do naught else. God help me. Amen.”
Diet of Augsburg
The Diet of Augsburg commenced on Monday, June 20, 1530 after some delay. The purpose was to secure help from the German nobility against the invading Turks under Suleiman “the Magnificent.” However, there was little hope for cooperation from either side. The Catholic Church considered Protestants to be a greater evil than the Muslims while Lutherans considered the pope to be as much a threat as the Turks.
While Emperor Charles wanted to concentrate on the pressing issue of the Turkish invaders, the German nobility insisted on discussing church matters. Finally, the emperor conceded to reading the proposed confession, but again the German representatives made their demands. The confession was to be read publically before the entire assembly. Charles again gave in to the demands under the condition that the confession would be read in Latin.
Finally, the Elector of Saxony secured permission to have the entire confession read in German and on June 25, 1530 Dr. Baier, vice-chancellor of Electoral Saxony, addressed the assembly.
The papal delegation was caught off guard by the moderate tone of the confession and the Bishop of Augsburg, Christoph von Stadion later remarked in a private setting, that the reading contained nothing but pure truth. Furthermore, Duke William of Bavaria went as far as to censure Dr. Eck for having misrepresented the Lutheran position after the Diet of Worms.
The Diet of Augsburg would become the most significant event of the reformation, second only to the events of October 31, 1517. Luther praised his friend Melancthon for his successful effort. In all, seven princes signed a copy of the confession at the risk of losing their royal office, thus giving the document legitimacy.18
CONCLUSION
The reformation is first and foremost a testimony to God’s infinite wisdom and His perfectly laid out plan for mankind. Martin Luther was born into period in history where society was desperate for change and it was this very atmosphere that prepared the way for the man and his ideas.
Luther was not the first to try to bring about change in the Church; many had gone before him and failed. Yet it was not a case of Luther being smarter, more gifted or more charismatic than his predecessors. It was all a matter of God’s timing. The political situation in Europe, the revived educational system and, to no small degree, the invention of the printing press all made it possible for Luther’s ideas to be heard and take hold in society.
Luther was by no means perfect, nor was he correct in all of his assumptions; some of his theology was even flawed by today’s standard. Yet, Luther was relentless, even stubborn in defending his ideas and his faith and he opened the doors so that others could follow and continue to build on his reformation of the Christian Church.
APPENDIX I
Disputation of Doctor Martin Luther on the Power and Efficacy of Indulgences
by Dr. Martin Luther (1517)
Out of love for the truth and the desire to bring it to light, the following propositions will be discussed at Wittenberg, under the presidency of the Reverend Father Martin Luther, Master of Arts and of Sacred Theology, and Lecturer in Ordinary on the same at that place. Wherefore he requests that those who are unable to be present and debate orally with us, may do so by letter.
In the Name our Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.
1. Our Lord and Master Jesus Christ, when He said Poenitentiam agite, willed that the whole life of believers should be repentance.
2. This word cannot be understood to mean sacramental penance, i.e., confession and satisfaction, which is administered by the priests.
3. Yet it means not inward repentance only; nay, there is no inward repentance which does not outwardly work divers mortifications of the flesh.
4. The penalty [of sin], therefore, continues so long as hatred of self continues; for this is the true inward repentance, and continues until our entrance into the kingdom of heaven.
5. The pope does not intend to remit, and cannot remit any penalties other than those which he has imposed either by his own authority or by that of the Canons.
6. The pope cannot remit any guilt, except by declaring that it has been remitted by God and by assenting to God's remission; though, to be sure, he may grant remission in cases reserved to his judgment. If his right to grant remission in such cases were despised, the guilt would remain entirely unforgiven.
7. God remits guilt to no one whom He does not, at the same time, humble in all things and bring into subjection to His vicar, the priest.8. The penitential canons are imposed only on the living, and, according to them, nothing should be imposed on the dying.
9. Therefore the Holy Spirit in the pope is kind to us, because in his decrees he always makes exception of the article of death and of necessity.
10. Ignorant and wicked are the doings of those priests who, in the case of the dying, reserve canonical penances for purgatory.
11. This changing of the canonical penalty to the penalty of purgatory is quite evidently one of the tares that were sown while the bishops slept.
12. In former times the canonical penalties were imposed not after, but before absolution, as tests of true contrition.
13. The dying are freed by death from all penalties; they are already dead to canonical rules, and have a right to be released from them.
14. The imperfect health [of soul], that is to say, the imperfect love, of the dying brings with it, of necessity, great fear; and the smaller the love, the greater is the fear.
15. This fear and horror is sufficient of itself alone (to say nothing of other things) to constitute the penalty of purgatory, since it is very near to the horror of despair.
16. Hell, purgatory, and heaven seem to differ as do despair, almost-despair, and the assurance of safety.
17. With souls in purgatory it seems necessary that horror should grow less and love increase.
18. It seems unproved, either by reason or Scripture, that they are outside the state of merit, that is to say, of increasing love.
19. Again, it seems unproved that they, or at least that all of them, are certain or assured of their own blessedness, though we may be quite certain of it.
20. Therefore by "full remission of all penalties" the pope means not actually "of all," but only of those imposed by himself.
21. Therefore those preachers of indulgences are in error, who say that by the pope's indulgences a man is freed from every penalty, and saved;
22. Whereas he remits to souls in purgatory no penalty which, according to the canons, they would have had to pay in this life.
23. If it is at all possible to grant to any one the remission of all penalties whatsoever, it is certain that this remission can be granted only to the most perfect, that is, to the very fewest.
24. It must needs be, therefore, that the greater part of the people are deceived by that indiscriminate and high-sounding promise of release from penalty.
25. The power, which the pope has, in a general way, over purgatory, is just like the power which any bishop or curate has, in a special way, within his own diocese or parish.
26. The pope does well when he grants remission to souls [in purgatory], not by the power of the keys (which he does not possess), but by way of intercession.
27. They preach man who say that so soon as the penny jingles into the money-box, the soul flies out [of purgatory].
28. It is certain that when the penny jingles into the money-box, gain and avarice can be increased, but the result of the intercession of the Church is in the power of God alone.
29. Who knows whether all the souls in purgatory wish to be bought out of it, as in the legend of Sts. Severinus and Paschal.
30. No one is sure that his own contrition is sincere; much less that he has attained full remission.
31. Rare as is the man that is truly penitent, so rare is also the man who truly buys indulgences, i.e., such men are most rare.
32. They will be condemned eternally, together with their teachers, who believe themselves sure of their salvation because they have letters of pardon.
33. Men must be on their guard against those who say that the pope's pardons are that inestimable gift of God by which man is reconciled to Him;
34. For these "graces of pardon" concern only the penalties of sacramental satisfaction, and these are appointed by man.
35. They preach no Christian doctrine who teach that contrition is not necessary in those who intend to buy souls out of purgatory or to buy confessionalia.
36. Every truly repentant Christian has a right to full remission of penalty and guilt, even without letters of pardon.
37. Every true Christian, whether living or dead, has part in all the blessings of Christ and the Church; and this is granted him by God, even without letters of pardon.
38. Nevertheless, the remission and participation [in the blessings of the Church] which are granted by the pope are in no way to be despised, for they are, as I have said, the declaration of divine remission.
39. It is most difficult, even for the very keenest theologians, at one and the same time to commend to the people the abundance of pardons and [the need of] true contrition.
40. True contrition seeks and loves penalties, but liberal pardons only relax penalties and cause them to be hated, or at least, furnish an occasion [for hating them].
41. Apostolic pardons are to be preached with caution, lest the people may falsely think them preferable to other good works of love.
42. Christians are to be taught that the pope does not intend the buying of pardons to be compared in any way to works of mercy.
43. Christians are to be taught that he who gives to the poor or lends to the needy does a better work than buying pardons.
44. Because love grows by works of love, and man becomes better; but by pardons man does not grow better, only more free from penalty.
45. Christians are to be taught that he who sees a man in need, and passes him by, and gives [his money] for pardons, purchases not the indulgences of the pope, but the indignation of God.
46. Christians are to be taught that unless they have more than they need, they are bound to keep back what is necessary for their own families, and by no means to squander it on pardons.
47. Christians are to be taught that the buying of pardons is a matter of free will, and not of commandment.
48. Christians are to be taught that the pope, in granting pardons, needs, and therefore desires, their devout prayer for him more than the money they bring.
49. Christians are to be taught that the pope's pardons are useful, if they do not put their trust in them; but altogether harmful, if through them they lose their fear of God.
50. Christians are to be taught that if the pope knew the exactions of the pardon-preachers, he would rather that St. Peter's church should go to ashes, than that it should be built up with the skin, flesh and bones of his sheep.
51. Christians are to be taught that it would be the pope's wish, as it is his duty, to give of his own money to very many of those from whom certain hawkers of pardons cajole money, even though the church of St. Peter might have to be sold.
52. The assurance of salvation by letters of pardon is vain, even though the commissary, nay, even though the pope himself, were to stake his soul upon it.
53. They are enemies of Christ and of the pope, who bid the Word of God be altogether silent in some Churches, in order that pardons may be preached in others.
54. Injury is done the Word of God when, in the same sermon, an equal or a longer time is spent on pardons than on this Word.
55. It must be the intention of the pope that if pardons, which are a very small thing, are celebrated with one bell, with single processions and ceremonies, then the Gospel, which is the very greatest thing, should be preached with a hundred bells, a hundred processions, a hundred ceremonies.
56. The "treasures of the Church," out of which the pope. grants indulgences, are not sufficiently named or known among the people of Christ.
57. That they are not temporal treasures is certainly evident, for many of the vendors do not pour out such treasures so easily, but only gather them.
58. Nor are they the merits of Christ and the Saints, for even without the pope, these always work grace for the inner man, and the cross, death, and hell for the outward man.
59. St. Lawrence said that the treasures of the Church were the Church's poor, but he spoke according to the usage of the word in his own time.
60. Without rashness we say that the keys of the Church, given by Christ's merit, are that treasure;
61. For it is clear that for the remission of penalties and of reserved cases, the power of the pope is of itself sufficient.
62. The true treasure of the Church is the Most Holy Gospel of the glory and the grace of God.
63. But this treasure is naturally most odious, for it makes the first to be last.
64. On the other hand, the treasure of indulgences is naturally most acceptable, for it makes the last to be first.
65. Therefore the treasures of the Gospel are nets with which they formerly were wont to fish for men of riches.
66. The treasures of the indulgences are nets with which they now fish for the riches of men.
67. The indulgences which the preachers cry as the "greatest graces" are known to be truly such, in so far as they promote gain.
68. Yet they are in truth the very smallest graces compared with the grace of God and the piety of the Cross.
69. Bishops and curates are bound to admit the commissaries of apostolic pardons, with all reverence.
70. But still more are they bound to strain all their eyes and attend with all their ears, lest these men preach their own dreams instead of the commission of the pope.
71. He who speaks against the truth of apostolic pardons, let him be anathema and accursed!
72. But he who guards against the lust and license of the pardon-preachers, let him be blessed!
73. The pope justly thunders against those who, by any art, contrive the injury of the traffic in pardons.
74. But much more does he intend to thunder against those who use the pretext of pardons to contrive the injury of holy love and truth.
75. To think the papal pardons so great that they could absolve a man even if he had committed an impossible sin and violated the Mother of God -- this is madness.
76. We say, on the contrary, that the papal pardons are not able to remove the very least of venial sins, so far as its guilt is concerned.
77. It is said that even St. Peter, if he were now Pope, could not bestow greater graces; this is blasphemy against St. Peter and against the pope.
78. We say, on the contrary, that even the present pope, and any pope at all, has greater graces at his disposal; to wit, the Gospel, powers, gifts of healing, etc., as it is written in I. Corinthians xii.
79. To say that the cross, emblazoned with the papal arms, which is set up [by the preachers of indulgences], is of equal worth with the Cross of Christ, is blasphemy.
80. The bishops, curates and theologians who allow such talk to be spread among the people, will have an account to render.
81. This unbridled preaching of pardons makes it no easy matter, even for learned men, to rescue the reverence due to the pope from slander, or even from the shrewd questionings of the laity.
82. To wit: -- "Why does not the pope empty purgatory, for the sake of holy love and of the dire need of the souls that are there, if he redeems an infinite number of souls for the sake of miserable money with which to build a Church? The former reasons would be most just; the latter is most trivial."
83. Again: -- "Why are mortuary and anniversary masses for the dead continued, and why does he not return or permit the withdrawal of the endowments founded on their behalf, since it is wrong to pray for the redeemed?"
84. Again: -- "What is this new piety of God and the pope, that for money they allow a man who is impious and their enemy to buy out of purgatory the pious soul of a friend of God, and do not rather, because of that pious and beloved soul's own need, free it for pure love's sake?"
85. Again: -- "Why are the penitential canons long since in actual fact and through disuse abrogated and dead, now satisfied by the granting of indulgences, as though they were still alive and in force?"
86. Again: -- "Why does not the pope, whose wealth is to-day greater than the riches of the richest, build just this one church of St. Peter with his own money, rather than with the money of poor believers?"
87. Again: -- "What is it that the pope remits, and what participation does he grant to those who, by perfect contrition, have a right to full remission and participation?"
88. Again: -- "What greater blessing could come to the Church than if the pope were to do a hundred times a day what he now does once, and bestow on every believer these remissions and participations?"
89. "Since the pope, by his pardons, seeks the salvation of souls rather than money, why does he suspend the indulgences and pardons granted heretofore, since these have equal efficacy?"
90. To repress these arguments and scruples of the laity by force alone, and not to resolve them by giving reasons, is to expose the Church and the pope to the ridicule of their enemies, and to make Christians unhappy.
91. If, therefore, pardons were preached according to the spirit and mind of the pope, all these doubts would be readily resolved; nay, they would not exist.
92. Away, then, with all those prophets who say to the people of Christ, "Peace, peace," and there is no peace!
93. Blessed be all those prophets who say to the people of Christ, "Cross, cross," and there is no cross!
94. Christians are to be exhorted that they be diligent in following Christ, their Head, through penalties, deaths, and hell;
95. And thus be confident of entering into heaven rather through many tribulations, than through the assurance of peace.19
APPENDIX II
Exsurge Domine ; Bull of Pope Leo X issued June 15, 1520
Arise, O Lord, and judge your own cause. Remember your reproaches to those who are filled with foolishness all through the day. Listen to our prayers, for foxes have arisen seeking to destroy the vineyard whose winepress you alone have trod. When you were about to ascend to your Father, you committed the care, rule, and administration of the vineyard, an image of the triumphant church, to Peter, as the head and your vicar and his successors. The wild boar from the forest seeks to destroy it and every wild beast feeds upon it.
Rise, Peter, and fulfill this pastoral office divinely entrusted to you as mentioned above. Give heed to the cause of the holy Roman Church, mother of all churches and teacher of the faith, whom you by the order of God, have consecrated by your blood. Against the Roman Church, you warned, lying teachers are rising, introducing ruinous sects, and drawing upon themselves speedy doom. Their tongues are fire, a restless evil, full of deadly poison. They have bitter zeal, contention in their hearts, and boast and lie against the truth.
We beseech you also, Paul, to arise. It was you that enlightened and illuminated the Church by your doctrine and by a martyrdom like Peter's. For now a new Porphyry rises who, as the old once wrongfully assailed the holy apostles, now assails the holy pontiffs, our predecessors.
Rebuking them, in violation of your teaching, instead of imploring them, he is not ashamed to assail them, to tear at them, and when he despairs of his cause, to stoop to insults. He is like the heretics "whose last defense," as Jerome says, "is to start spewing out a serpent's venom with their tongue when they see that their causes are about to be condemned, and spring to insults when they see they are vanquished." For although you have said that there must be heresies to test the faithful, still they must be destroyed at their very birth by your intercession and help, so they do not grow or wax strong like your wolves. Finally, let the whole church of the saints and the rest of the universal church arise. Some, putting aside her true interpretation of Sacred Scripture, are blinded in mind by the father of lies. Wise in their own eyes, according to the ancient practice of heretics, they interpret these same Scriptures otherwise than the Holy Spirit demands, inspired only by their own sense of ambition, and for the sake of popular acclaim, as the Apostle declares. In fact, they twist and adulterate the Scriptures. As a result, according to Jerome, "It is no longer the Gospel of Christ, but a man's, or what is worse, the devil's."
Let all this holy Church of God, I say, arise, and with the blessed apostles intercede with almighty God to purge the errors of His sheep, to banish all heresies from the lands of the faithful, and be pleased to maintain the peace and unity of His holy Church.
For we can scarcely express, from distress and grief of mind, what has reached our ears for some time by the report of reliable men and general rumor; alas, we have even seen with our eyes and read the many diverse errors. Some of these have already been condemned by councils and the constitutions of our predecessors, and expressly contain even the heresy of the Greeks and Bohemians. Other errors are either heretical, false, scandalous, or offensive to pious ears, as seductive of simple minds, originating with false exponents of the faith who in their proud curiosity yearn for the world's glory, and contrary to the Apostle's teaching, wish to be wiser than they should be. Their talkativeness, unsupported by the authority of the Scriptures, as Jerome says, would not win credence unless they appeared to support their perverse doctrine even with divine testimonies however badly interpreted. From their sight fear of God has now passed.
These errors have, at the suggestion of the human race, been revived and recently propagated among the more frivolous and the illustrious German nation. We grieve the more that this happened there because we and our predecessors have always held this nation in the bosom of our affection. For after the empire had been transferred by the Roman Church from the Greeks to these same Germans, our predecessors and we always took the Church's advocates and defenders from among them. Indeed it is certain that these Germans, truly germane to the Catholic faith, have always been the bitterest opponents of heresies, as witnessed by those commendable constitutions of the German emperors in behalf of the Church's independence, freedom, and the expulsion and extermination of all heretics from Germany. Those constitutions formerly issued, and then confirmed by our predecessors, were issued under the greatest penalties even of loss of lands and dominions against anyone sheltering or not expelling them. If they were observed today both we and they would obviously be free of this disturbance. Witness to this is the condemnation and punishment in the Council of Constance of the infidelity of the Hussites and Wyclifites as well as Jerome of Prague. Witness to this is the blood of Germans shed so often in wars against the Bohemians. A final witness is the refutation, rejection, and condemnation no less learned than true and holy of the above errors, or many of them, by the universities of Cologne and Louvain, most devoted and religious cultivators of the Lord's field. We could allege many other facts too, which we have decided to omit, lest we appear to be composing a history.
In virtue of our pastoral office committed to us by the divine favor we can under no circumstances tolerate or overlook any longer the pernicious poison of the above errors without disgrace to the Christian religion and injury to orthodox faith. Some of these errors we have decided to include in the present document; their substance is as follows:
1. It is a heretical opinion, but a common one, that the sacraments of the New Law give pardoning grace to those who do not set up an obstacle.
2. To deny that in a child after baptism sin remains is to treat with contempt both Paul and Christ.
3. The inflammable sources of sin, even if there be no actual sin, delay a soul departing from the body from entrance into heaven.
4. To one on the point of death imperfect charity necessarily brings with it great fear, which in itself alone is enough to produce the punishment of purgatory, and impedes entrance into the kingdom.
5. That there are three parts to penance: contrition, confession, and satisfaction, has no foundation in Sacred Scripture nor in the ancient sacred Christian doctors.
6. Contrition, which is acquired through discussion, collection, and detestation of sins, by which one reflects upon his years in the bitterness of his soul, by pondering over the gravity of sins, their number, their baseness, the loss of eternal beatitude, and the acquisition of eternal damnation, this contrition makes him a hypocrite, indeed more a sinner.
7. It is a most truthful proverb and the doctrine concerning the contritions given thus far is the more remarkable: "Not to do so in the future is the highest penance; the best penance, a new life."
8. By no means may you presume to confess venial sins, nor even all mortal sins, because it is impossible that you know all mortal sins. Hence in the primitive Church only manifest mortal sins were confessed.
9. As long as we wish to confess all sins without exception, we are doing nothing else than to wish to leave nothing to God's mercy for pardon.
10. Sins are not forgiven to anyone, unless when the priest forgives them he believes they are forgiven; on the contrary the sin would remain unless he believed it was forgiven; for indeed the remission of sin and the granting of grace does not suffice, but it is necessary also to believe that there has been forgiveness.
11. By no means can you have reassurance of being absolved because of your contrition, but because of the word of Christ: "Whatsoever you shall loose, etc." Hence, I say, trust confidently, if you have obtained the absolution of the priest, and firmly believe yourself to have been absolved, and you will truly be absolved, whatever there may be of contrition.
12. If through an impossibility he who confessed was not contrite, or the priest did not absolve seriously, but in a jocose manner, if nevertheless he believes that he has been absolved, he is most truly absolved.
13. In the sacrament of penance and the remission of sin the pope or the bishop does no more than the lowest priest; indeed, where there is no priest, any Christian, even if a woman or child, may equally do as much.
14. No one ought to answer a priest that he is contrite, nor should the priest inquire.
15. Great is the error of those who approach the sacrament of the Eucharist relying on this, that they have confessed, that they are not conscious of any mortal sin, that they have sent their prayers on ahead and made preparations; all these eat and drink judgment to themselves. But if they believe and trust that they will attain grace, then this faith alone makes them pure and worthy.
16. It seems to have been decided that the Church in common Council established that the laity should communicate under both species; the Bohemians who communicate under both species are not heretics, but schismatics.
17. The treasures of the Church, from which the pope grants indulgences, are not the merits of Christ and of the saints.
18. Indulgences are pious frauds of the faithful, and remissions of good works; and they are among the number of those things which are allowed, and not of the number of those which are advantageous.
19. Indulgences are of no avail to those who truly gain them, for the remission of the penalty due to actual sin in the sight of divine justice.
20. They are seduced who believe that indulgences are salutary and useful for the fruit of the spirit.
21. Indulgences are necessary only for public crimes, and are properly conceded only to the harsh and impatient.
22. For six kinds of men indulgences are neither necessary nor useful; namely, for the dead and those about to die, the infirm, those legitimately hindered, and those who have not committed crimes, and those who have committed crimes, but not public ones, and those who devote themselves to better things.
23. Excommunications are only external penalties and they do not deprive man of the common spiritual prayers of the Church.
24. Christians must be taught to cherish excommunications rather than to fear them.
25. The Roman Pontiff, the successor of Peter, is not the vicar of Christ over all the churches of the entire world, instituted by Christ Himself in blessed Peter.
26. The word of Christ to Peter: "Whatsoever you shall loose on earth," etc., is extended merely to those things bound by Peter himself.
27. It is certain that it is not in the power of the Church or the pope to decide upon the articles of faith, and much less concerning the laws for morals or for good works.
28. If the pope with a great part of the Church thought so and so, he would not err; still it is not a sin or heresy to think the contrary, especially in a matter not necessary for salvation, until one alternative is condemned and another approved by a general Council.
29. A way has beeri made for us for weakening the authority of councils, and for freely contradicting their actions, and judging their decrees, and boldly confessing whatever seems true, whether it has been approved or disapproved by any council whatsoever.
30. Some articles of John Hus, condemned in the Council of Constance, are most Christian, wholly true and evangelical; these the universal Church could not condemn.
31. In every good work the just man sins.
32. A good work done very well is a venial sin.
33. That heretics be burned is against the will of the Spirit.
34. To go to war against the Turks is to resist God who punishes our iniquities through them.
35. No one is certain that he is not always sinning mortally, because of the most hidden vice of pride.
36. Free will after sin is a matter of title only; and as long as one does what is in him, one sins mortally.
37. Purgatory cannot be proved from Sacred Scripture which is in the canon.
38. The souls in purgatory are not sure of their salvation, at least not all; nor is it proved by any arguments or by the Scriptures that they are beyond the state of meriting or of increasing in charity.
39. The souls in purgatory sin without intermission, as long as they seek rest and abhor punishment.
40. The souls freed from purgatory by the suffrages of the living are less happy than if they had made satisfactions by themselves.
41. Ecclesiastical prelates and secular princes would not act badly if they destroyed all of the money bags of beggary.
No one of sound mind is ignorant how destructive, pernicious, scandalous, and seductive to pious and simple minds these various errors are, how opposed they are to all charity and reverence for the holy Roman Church who is the mother of all the faithful and teacher of the faith; how destructive they are of the vigor of ecclesiastical discipline, namely obedience. This virtue is the font and origin of all virtues and without it anyone is readily convicted of being unfaithful.
Therefore we, in this above enumeration, important as it is, wish to proceed with great care as is proper, and to cut off the advance of this plague and cancerous disease so it will not spread any further in the Lord's field as harmful thorn bushes. We have therefore held a careful inquiry, scrutiny, discussion, strict examination, and mature deliberation with each of the brothers, the eminent cardinals of the holy Roman Church, as well as the priors and ministers general of the religious orders, besides many other professors and masters skilled in sacred theology and in civil and canon law. We have found that these errors or theses are not Catholic, as mentioned above, and are not to be taught, as such; but rather are against the doctrine and tradition of the Catholic Church, and against the true interpretation of the sacred Scriptures received from the Church. Now Augustine maintained that her authority had to be accepted so completely that he stated he would not have believed the Gospel unless the authority of the Catholic Church had vouched for it. For, according to these errors, or any one or several of them, it clearly follows that the Church which is guided by the Holy Spirit is in error and has always erred. This is against what Christ at his ascension promised to his disciples (as is read in the holy Gospel of Matthew): "I will be with you to the consummation of the world"; it is against the determinations of the holy Fathers, or the express ordinances and canons of the councils and the supreme pontiffs. Failure to comply with these canons, according to the testimony of Cyprian, will be the fuel and cause of all heresy and schism.
With the advice and consent of these our venerable brothers, with mature deliberation on each and every one of the above theses, and by the authority of almighty God, the blessed Apostles Peter and Paul, and our own authority, we condemn, reprobate, and reject completely each of these theses or errors as either heretical, scandalous, false, offensive to pious ears or seductive of simple minds, and against Catholic truth. By listing them, we decree and declare that all the faithful of both sexes must regard them as condemned, reprobated, and rejected . . . We restrain all in the virtue of holy obedience and under the penalty of an automatic major excommunication....
Moreover, because the preceding errors and many others are contained in the books or writings of Martin Luther, we likewise condemn, reprobate, and reject completely the books and all the writings and sermons of the said Martin, whether in Latin or any other language, containing the said errors or any one of them; and we wish them to be regarded as utterly condemned, reprobated, and rejected. We forbid each and every one of the faithful of either sex, in virtue of holy obedience and under the above penalties to be incurred automatically, to read, assert, preach, praise, print, publish, or defend them. They will incur these penalties if they presume to uphold them in any way, personally or through another or others, directly or indirectly, tacitly or explicitly, publicly or occultly, either in their own homes or in other public or private places. Indeed immediately after the publication of this letter these works, wherever they may be, shall be sought out carefully by the ordinaries and others [ecclesiastics and regulars], and under each and every one of the above penalties shall be burned publicly and solemnly in the presence of the clerics and people.
As far as Martin himself is concerned, O good God, what have we overlooked or not done? What fatherly charity have we omitted that we might call him back from such errors? For after we had cited him, wishing to deal more kindly with him, we urged him through various conferences with our legate and through our personal letters to abandon these errors. We have even offered him safe conduct and the money necessary for the journey urging him to come without fear or any misgivings, which perfect charity should cast out, and to talk not secretly but openly and face to face after the example of our Savior and the Apostle Paul. If he had done this, we are certain he would have changed in heart, and he would have recognized his errors. He would not have found all these errors in the Roman Curia which he attacks so viciously, ascribing to it more than he should because of the empty rumors of wicked men. We would have shown him clearer than the light of day that the Roman pontiffs, our predecessors, whom he injuriously attacks beyond all decency, never erred in their canons or constitutions which he tries to assail. For, according to the prophet, neither is healing oil nor the doctor lacking in Galaad.
But he always refused to listen and, despising the previous citation and each and every one of the above overtures, disdained to come. To the present day he has been contumacious. With a hardened spirit he has continued under censure over a year. What is worse, adding evil to evil, and on learning of the citation, he broke forth in a rash appeal to a future council. This to be sure was contrary to the constitution of Pius II and Julius II our predecessors that all appealing in this way are to be punished with the penalties of heretics. In vain does he implore the help of a council, since he openly admits that he does not believe in a council.
Therefore we can, without any further citation or delay, proceed against him to his condemnation and damnation as one whose faith is notoriously suspect and in fact a true heretic with the full severity of each and all of the above penalties and censures. Yet, with the advice of our brothers, imitating the mercy of almighty God who does not wish the death of a sinner but rather that he be converted and live, and forgetting all the injuries inflicted on us and the Apostolic See, we have decided to use all the compassion we are capable of. It is our hope, so far as in us lies, that he will experience a change of heart by taking the road of mildness we have proposed, return, and turn away from his errors. We will receive him kindly as the prodigal son returning to the embrace of the Church.
Therefore let Martin himself and all those adhering to him, and those who shelter and support him, through the merciful heart of our God and the sprinkling of the blood of our Lord Jesus Christ by which and through whom the redemption of the human race and the upbuilding of holy mother Church was accomplished, know that from our heart we exhort and beseech that he cease to disturb the peace, unity, and truth of the Church for which the Savior prayed so earnestly to the Father. Let him abstain from his pernicious errors that he may come back to us. If they really will obey, and certify to us by legal documents that they have obeyed, they will find in us the affection of a father's love, the opening of the font of the effects of paternal charity, and opening of the font of mercy and clemency.
We enjoin, however, on Martin that in the meantime he cease from all preaching or the office of preacher.
{And even though the love of righteousness and virtue did not take him away from sin and the hope of forgiveness did not lead him to penance, perhaps the terror of the pain of punishment may move him. Thus we beseech and remind this Martin, his supporters and accomplices of his holy orders and the described punishment. We ask him earnestly that he and his supporters, adherents and accomplices desist within sixty days (which we wish to have divided into three times twenty days, counting from the publication of this bull at the places mentioned below) from preaching, both expounding their views and denouncing others, from publishing books and pamphlets concerning some or all of their errors. Furthermore, all writings which contain some or all of his errors are to be burned. Furthermore, this Martin is to recant perpetually such errors and views. He is to inform us of such recantation through an open document, sealed by two prelates, which we should receive within another sixty days. Or he should personally, with safe conduct, inform us of his recantation by coming to Rome. We would prefer this latter way in order that no doubt remain of his sincere obedience.
If, however, this Martin, his supporters, adherents and accomplices, much to our regret, should stubbornly not comply with the mentioned stipulations within the mentioned period, we shall, following the teaching of the holy Apostle Paul, who teaches us to avoid a heretic after having admonished him for a first and a second time, condemn this Martin, his supporters, adherents and accomplices as barren vines which are not in Christ, preaching an offensive doctrine contrary to the Christian faith and offend the divine majesty, to the damage and shame of the entire Christian Church, and diminish the keys of the Church as stubborn and public heretics.}20 . . .
APPENDIX III
Martin Luther:
Excerpts from his account of the confrontation at the Diet of Worms
(1521)
“[Dr. Ecken:] . . . Do you wish to defend the books which are recognized as your work? Or to retract anything contained in them? . . .
[Luther:] Most Serene Lord Emperor, Most Illustrious Princes, Most Gracious Lords . . . I beseech you to grant a gracious hearing to my plea, which, I trust, will be a plea of justice and truth; and if through my inexperience I neglect to give to any their proper titles or in any way offend against the etiquette of the court in my manners or behavior, be kind enough to forgive me, I beg, since I am a man who has spent his life not in courts but in the cells of a monastery; a man who can say of himself only this, that to this day I have thought and written in simplicity of heart, solely with a view to the glory of God and the pure instruction of Christ's faithful people. . . .
. . . Your Imperial Majesty and Your Lordships: I ask you to observe that my books are not all of the same kind.
There are some in which I have dealt with piety in faith and morals with such simplicity and so agreeably with the Gospels that my adversaries themselves are compelled to admit them useful, harmless, and clearly worth reading by a Christian. Even the Bull, harsh and cruel though it is, makes some of my books harmless, although it condemns them also, by a judgment downright monstrous. If I should begin to recant here, what, I beseech you, would I be doing but condemning alone among mortals, that truth which is admitted by friends and foes alike, in an unaided struggle against universal consent?
The second kind consists in those writings leveled against the papacy and the doctrine of the papists, as against those who by their wicked doctrines and precedents have laid waste Christendom by doing harm to the souls and the bodies of men. No one can either deny or conceal this, for universal experience and world-wide grievances are witnesses to the fact that through the Pope's laws and through man-made teachings the consciences of the faithful have been most pitifully ensnared, troubled, and racked in torment, and also that their goods and possessions have been devoured (especially amongst this famous German nation) by unbelievable tyranny, and are to this day being devoured without end in shameful fashion; and that thought they themselves by their own laws take care to provide that the Pope's laws and doctrines which are contrary to the Gospel or the teachings of the Fathers are to be considered as erroneous and reprobate. If then I recant these, the only effect will be to add strength to such tyranny, to open not the windows but the main doors to such blasphemy, which will thereupon stalk farther and more widely than it has hitherto dared. . . .
The third kind consists of those books which I have written against private individuals, so-called; against those, that is, who have exerted themselves in defense of the Roman tyranny and to the overthrow of that piety which I have taught. I confess that I have been more harsh against them than befits my religious vows and my profession. For I do not make myself out to be any kind of saint, nor am I now contending about my conduct but about Christian doctrine. But it is not in my power to recant them, because that recantation would give that tyranny and blasphemy and occasion to lord it over those whom I defend and to rage against God's people more violently than ever.
However, since I am a man and not God, I cannot provide my writings with any other defense than that which my Lord Jesus Christ provided for His teaching. When He had been interrogated concerning His teaching before Annas and had received a buffet from a servant, He said: "If I have spoken evil, bear witness of the evil." If the Lord Himself, who knew that He could not err, did not refuse to listen to witness against His teaching, even from a worthless slave, how much more ought I, scum that I am, capable of naught but error, to seek and to wait for any who may wish to bear witness against my teaching.
And so, through the mercy of God, I ask Your Imperial Majesty, and Your Illustrious Lordships, or anyone of any degree, to defeat them by the writings of the Prophets or by the Gospels; for I shall be most ready, if I be better instructed, to recant any error, and I shall be the first in casting my writings into the fire. . . .
Thereupon the Orator of the Empire, in a tone of upbraiding, said that his [Luther's] answer was not to the point, and that there should be no calling into question of matters on which condemnations and decisions had before been passed by Councils. He was being asked for a plain reply, without subtlety or sophistry, to this question: Was he prepared to recant, or no?
Luther then replied: Your Imperial Majesty and Your Lordships demand a simple answer. Here it is, plain and unvarnished. Unless I am convicted [convinced] of error by the testimony of Scripture or (since I put no trust in the unsupported authority of Pope or councils, since it is plain that they have often erred and often contradicted themselves) by manifest reasoning, I stand convicted [convinced] by the Scriptures to which I have appealed, and my conscience is taken captive by God's word, I cannot and will not recant anything, for to act against our conscience is neither safe for us, nor open to us.
On this I take my stand. I can do no other. God help me.
Amen.”21
ENDNOTES
1 Jesse L. Hurlbut, The Story of the Christian Church, (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1970), 120
2 Known as the Scala Santa.
3 HCSB
4 Otto Clemen, Preface to the Complete Edition of Luther's Latin Works, (Berlin: de Gruyter. 1967), Vol. 4, pp. 421-428
5 An Introduction to St. Paul's Letter to the Romans, Luther's German Bible of 1522 by Martin Luther, 1483-1546. (Erlangen: Heyder and Zimmer, 1854), Vol. 63, pp.124-125.
6 Originally called a Eucharist.
7 The special "habit" or robe worn by monks.
8 Roland H. Bainton, The Reformation of the Sixteenth Century (Boston: Beacon Press, 1952), pp.46-50.
9 See Appendix I for a copy of Luther’s 95 Theses.
10 Latin: Tecelius
11 Philip Melancthon: A History of the Life and Actions of the Very Reverend Dr. Martin Luther, Faithfully Written by Philip Melancthon. (Wittenburg, 1549)
12 John F. H. New, The Renaissance and Reformation: A Short History, 2d ed. (New York: Wiley, 1977).
13 Latin “purgare,” "to purge" (to purify by getting rid of defilement).
14 Clement VI's reasoning in the bull Unigenitus 1343
15 See Appendix II for a copy of the Bull.
16 Philip Schaff, History of the Christian Church, 3d ed. (Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson Publishers, 1996), Vol. 7, pg. 228-232.
17 See Appendix III for a partial transcript
18 Philip Schaff, Vol. 7, pp. 695-700
19 Adolph Spaeth, L.D. Reed, Henry Eyster Jacobs, et Al., Trans. & Eds. Works of Martin Luther: (Philadelphia: A. J. Holman Company, 1915), Vol.1, pp. 29-38
20 Hans J. Hillerbrand, trans. & ed., The Reformation in its own Words (London: SCM Press Ltd., 1964), pp80-84
21 Henry Bettenson, ed., Documents of The Christian Church, 3d ed. (New York: Oxford University Press, 1999), pp221-224
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Bainton, Roland H.: The Reformation of the Sixteenth Century, Boston: Beacon Press, 1952, pp. 46-50
Bettenson, Henry, ed.: Documents of the Christian Church, 3d ed. New York: Oxford University Press, 1999, pp. 221-224
Clemen, Otto, ed., Bro. Thornton, Andrew, OSB, trans.: Preface to the Complete Edition of Luther's Latin Works (1545) by Dr. Martin Luther, 1483-1546, 6th ed. Berlin: de Gruyter, 1967, Vol. 4, pp. 421-428
Hillerbrand, Hans, J., trans. &ed.: The Reformation in its own Words. London: SCM Press Ltd., 1964, pp. 80-84
Hurlbut, Jesse Lyman: The Story of the Christian Church. Grand Rapids: Zondervan Publishing House, 197, pg 120.
Irmischer, Johann K. ed., Rev. Smith, Robert E., trans.: An Introduction to St. Paul's Letter to the Romans, Luther's German Bible of 1522 by Martin Luther, 1483-1546. Erlangen: Heyder and Zimmer, 1854, Vol. 63, pp.124-125.
Luther, Martin: Disputation of Doctor Martin Luther on the Power and Efficacy of Indulgences: October 31, 1517. Electronic ed. Bellingham WA: Logos Research Systems, 1996, S. 95 Theses #1-95
Melancthon, Philip: A History of the Life and Actions of the Very Reverend Dr. Martin Luther, Faithfully Written by Philip Melancthon. Wittenburg, 1549. [sic.] From Hymns of the Reformation by Martin Luther, reprint, by J. Unwin, London, 1845.
New, John F. H. The Renaissance and Reformation: A Short History, 2d ed. New York: Wiley, 1977, pg 130.
Schaff, Philip. History of the Christian Church, 3d ed. Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson Publishers, 1996, Vol. 7, pp. 227-232, 695-700.
Spaeth, Adolph, Reed, L.D., Jacobs, Henry E., et Al., trans. & eds. Works of Martin Luther Philadelphia: A. J. Holman Company, 1915, Vol. 1, pp. 29-38
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