9. By denying the existence of human liberty, and maintaining that all things happen necessarily, the reformers, with Luther at their head, laid themselves open to the charges made by the partisans of the church of Rome, viz.: Their doctrine threw open a door to the most unbounded licentiousness since it furnished men with this defense for the crimes they committed—"We could do no other, our fate did not permit us to do otherwise." By saying that good works were not necessary to salvation, and assisted in no way to procure it, the Reformers took away the chief incentive to good works, and removed the principal restraint to the doing of evil.

10. Moreover, their doctrine rendered void the ordinances and works required by the gospel; neither repentance nor baptism, nor any other act of obedience to God is essential if salvation is by faith alone. To say that it is a doctrine adverse to the whole tenor of scripture, notwithstanding a few isolated passages depended upon by the Reformers and their successors to support it, is not necessary here. It is sufficient to remark that it is a doctrine which would render the commandments of God incompatible with the powers and capacity of his creatures; a doctrine which destroys at once the consistency of God and the moral responsibility of man; and therefore a doctrine most pernicious and dangerous to entertain. [See note 5, end of section.]

11. Luther on the Danger of his Doctrine.—It proved to be so even during the lifetime of Luther; for it led some of his followers to believe that Christ had abolished the moral law; and that Christians, therefore, were not obliged to observe it.[[30]] Luther himself saw the danger of his doctrine and thus spoke of it:

If faith be preached, as of necessity it must be, the greater part of mankind will interpret the doctrine in a carnal way, and so understand spiritual liberty as to allow indulgences of the flesh. This we may see in all the ranks of life. All profess themselves to be evangelical; all boast of their Christian liberty; and yet give way to their lusts and passions, for example to covetousness, pride, envy, pleasures, and such like. Who discharges his duty faithfully? Who serves his brother in a true spirit of charity? The disgrace which such conduct brings on the profession of the gospel puts me sometimes so out of temper that I could wish these swine, that tread precious pearls under their feet were still under the tyranny of the pope; for it is impossible that a people so much resembling those of Gomorrah, should be kept in due subjection by the mild maxims of the gospel of peace.[[31]]

12. It counts for nothing that Luther denounced this corrupt state of morals among his followers; it was the legitimate outgrowth of his fundamental doctrine—the doctrine of nearly all Protestants—of justification by faith alone, a faith which man had no part in generating, but which came through the grace of God alone. The tree of his planting produced bitter fruit; it was vain for him to proclaim against the fruit so long as he insisted that it was a good tree on which it grew.

13. Teaching of the Church of Rome on Justification.—The Catholic Church at the time, whatever errors in respect to other doctrines it entertained, held that salvation, justification before God, resulted through the exertion of man's free will, aided by the grace of God. It came through a union of faith and works on the part of man, and the rich outpouring of grace on the part of Deity; a doctrine which man is conscious of as operating upon and influencing human conduct, and at once in harmony with the whole tenor of revelation, and consonant with the great facts underlying the free will of man which have been already stated in this section.

14. Unfortunately for the Catholic Church, she did not stop here, but attached too great importance to external marks of repentance, to works of penance—to tears, fastings, mortifications of the flesh, and pilgrimages. Men were required to go barefooted, to wear coarse raiment next their bodies, to become exiles from their homes or to renounce the world and embrace a monastic life. Finally in the eleventh century voluntary whippings were added to these other punishments [see note 6, end of section]; and men learned to look upon these works of penance as purchasing a forgiveness of sins, and paid little attention to the inward regeneration of the heart. "As confession and penance are easier than the extirpation of sin and the abandonment of vice, many ceased contending against the lusts of the flesh, and preferred gratifying them at the expense of a few mortifications."[[32]] Especially did this become the case when the doctrine was promulgated that substitutes could be hired to receive the punishment originally inflicted upon the offender, and monks and priests could be found willing to undergo it for a consideration.

15. The church trusted too much in the works of penance, and did not insist stoutly enough upon repentance—a godly sorrow which worketh a reformation of life. If the reformers went to one extreme in attributing man's justification wholly to the act of faith and the grace of God, the Catholic church went to the other in assigning too much value to works of penance and performances of human invention for the forgiveness of sins.

NOTES.

1. Indulgences to be Accompanied by Amendment of Life.—The doctrine and the sale of indulgences were powerful incentives to evil among an ignorant people. True, according to the church, indulgences could benefit those only who promised to amend their lives, and who kept their word. But what could be expected from a tenet invented solely with a view to the profit that might be derived from it? The vendors of indulgences were naturally tempted for the better sale of their merchandise to present their wares to the people in the most attractive and seducing aspect. The learned themselves did not fully understand the doctrine. All the multitude saw in them was that they permitted men to sin; and the merchants were not over eager to dissipate an error so favorable to their sale.—D'Aubigne.