Several of the Theses.
1. Our Lord and Master Jesus Christ in saying: "Repent ye," etc., intended that the whole life of His believers should be repentance.
32. Those who believe that through letters of pardon they may be sure of their salvation will go to hell, together with their teachers.
36. Every Christian who truly repents of his sin has complete remission of all pain and guilt, and it is his without any letters of pardon.
37. Every true Christian, living or dead, partakes of all the benefits of Christ and of the Church. God gives him this without letters of pardon.
62. The true treasure of the Church is the holy Gospel of the glory and grace of God.
4. The Effects of the Theses. The action of the Augustinian monk created everywhere the greatest excitement among the people. Luther's theses spread with a rapidity truly marvelous for that time. In fourteen days they had passed through all Germany, and in four weeks through all Christendom. Verily, it seemed as if the angels themselves had been the messengers. The theses were translated into other languages, and after four years a pilgrim bought them in Jerusalem. Like distant rolling thunder the mighty sentences echoed out into the lands and announced to Rome the storm that was brewing in Germany against popery. Luther had no idea that God had destined them to accomplish such great things. For innumerable souls they were as the sun rising after a long and anxious night. They rejoiced as we rejoice at the light of day; for they saw that in the light of this doctrine they could attain to that peace with God and with their conscience which they had sought in vain with painful toiling in the commandments of the Roman church. In the name of these souls old Doctor Fleck exclaimed, "Aha! He'll do it! He is come for whom we have waited so long!" Another confessed, "The time has come when the darkness in churches and schools will be dispelled." And another exulted, "Praise God, now they have found a man who will give them so much toil and trouble that they will let this poor man depart in peace." But, of course, there were also timid souls who were filled with anxious concern for Luther. The renowned Dr. Kranz, for instance, in Hamburg, cried out, "Go to your cell, dear brother, and pray, 'Lord, have mercy upon me!'" and an old Low-German clergyman said, "My dear Brother Martin, if you can storm and annihilate purgatory and popish huckstering, then you are indeed a great man!" But Luther, full of joyous courage and faith, replied to all such timid souls, "Dear fathers, if the work is not begun in God's name, it will soon come to naught; but if it is begun in His name let Him take care of it."
CHAPTER XI.
Luther the Mighty Warrior.
Luther Before Cajetan.
1. Luther Before Cajetan in Augsburg. Pope Leo X at first treated the affair with contempt, thinking that the quarrel would soon die out. He once said, "Brother Martin has a fine head, and the whole dispute is nothing else than an envious quarrel of the monks." At another time he said, "A drunken German has written these theses; when he sobers up he will think differently of the matter." But when he noticed that his authority was endangered, because many pious souls became attached to the true doctrine, he summoned Luther to appear within sixty days in Rome, and give an account of his heresy. If Luther had obeyed, he would hardly have escaped death or the dungeon, for everyone knew that Rome was like the lion's cave into which many prints of feet entered, but from which none returned. But under the merciful guidance of God Elector Frederick the Wise so arranged matters that Luther's case was tried in Germany. For this purpose the Pope sent Cardinal Cajetan to Augsburg, and in spite of all warnings Luther also boldly repaired to that city. In Weimar a monk said to him. "O my dear Doctor, I fear that you will not be able to maintain your case before them, and they will burn you at the stake." Luther answered, "They may do it with nettles; but fire is too hot!" When Luther finally arrived in Augsburg, weary and worn, he would have called upon the cardinal immediately, but to this his friends were opposed; they endeavored to obtain for him, first of all, safe-conduct from the emperor. But three days passed before he received it. In the meantime the servants of the cardinal came and said, "The cardinal offers you every favor. What do you fear? He is a very kind father." But another whispered in his ear, "Don't believe it, he never keeps his promise." The third day an emissary, by the name of Urban, came to Luther and asked him why he did not come to the cardinal who was waiting for him so graciously. Luther told him that he was following the advice of upright men who were all of the opinion that he should not go there without the imperial safe-conduct. Evidently vexed at this reply, Urban asked, "Do you think that the elector will go to war on your account?" Luther answered, "I do not ask that at all." Urban: "Where do you intend to stay then?" Luther: "Beneath the heavens!" Urban: "What would you do if you had the Pope and the cardinals in your power?" Luther: "I would show them every mark of respect!" When the safe-conduct finally arrived Luther at once repaired to the cardinal, who abruptly demanded that he recant his errors. But Luther declared, "I cannot recant, I cannot depart from the Scriptures." After lengthy negotiations Cajetan sprang up in anger and said, "Go, and let me not see you again, unless you recant!" To Luther's friends the cardinal said, "I do not wish to dispute with that beast any more, for he has deep eyes and strange ideas in his head." Luther, however, wrote to Wittenberg: "The cardinal is a poor theologian or Christian, and as apt at divinity as an ass is at music." On the 31st of October Luther returned safely to Wittenberg.
2. Luther Before Miltitz. Rome would now have preferred to excommunicate Luther, but for good reasons it did not wish to offend the elector, who was determined not to allow his professor to be condemned without proper trial and refutation. The Pope therefore sent his chamberlain Karl von Miltitz to the elector to present to him a consecrated golden rose. By this means the elector was to be made willing to assist Miltitz in his undertaking. But when the latter arrived in Germany he noticed at once that he would have to deal kindly with Luther if he wished to retain the good will of the people. At the meeting which occurred 1519 in Altenburg, Miltitz, therefore, treated Luther with the greatest consideration: "Dear Martin, I thought you were an old doctor who sat behind the stove full of crotchety notions. But I see that you are a young and vigorous man. Besides, you have a large following, for on my journey I made inquiries to discover what the people thought of you, and I noticed so much that where there is one on the Pope's side there are three on yours against the Pope. If I had an army of 25,000 men I would not undertake to carry you out of Germany!" With tears he begged Luther to help in restoring peace. Luther consented to drop the controversy if his opponents would do the same. After supping together they parted on the best of terms, Miltitz even embracing and kissing Luther. Later on Luther saw through the deceit of the Roman and called his kiss a Judas kiss and his tears crocodile tears; for it was only his fear of Luther's following that prevented him from executing his original plan of carrying Luther to Rome in chains.
3. Luther and Dr. Eck in Leipzig. Dr. Eck, a violent opponent of Luther, became involved in a dispute with Dr. Carlstadt on several questions of Christian doctrine into which Luther was also drawn. In 1519 these three men gathered at Leipzig for a public disputation. At first Eck disputed with Carlstadt on "Free Will," and then with Luther on the supremacy of the Pope. Luther proved that the church indeed needed a supreme head, but that Christ is this head, and not the Pope, and that the power which the Pope arrogates to himself conflicts with the Scriptures and the history of the first three centuries. As Eck could not maintain his position he accused Luther of Hussite heresy. When Luther replied, "My dear Doctor, not all of Huss' teachings are heretical," Eck flew into a passion, and Duke George cried out, "The plague take it!" Then they debated the question of purgatory, of indulgences, of penances, and the allied doctrines. On the 16th of June they closed the debate, and Luther returned joyfully to Wittenberg. Eck, who had flattered himself that he would triumph over Luther, had to leave in disgrace.