But a gleam of new light dawned upon his mind as one of the brothers spoke to him of salvation from sin and its penalty through faith in the atonement of Jesus Christ,—salvation through faith, and not by works.
The high intellectual endowments of Luther could not be concealed. The provincial of the order released him from the menial duties of the cloister that he might devote himself tothe study of theology. In 1507 he was ordained a Catholic priest; and, one year after, was made professor of philosophy in the University of Wittenberg. Here his commanding intellect, and independence of character, collected around him a large number of disciples. A visit to Rome in 1510 revealed to him the corruption of the clergy, and utterly destroyed his reverence for the pope.Upon his return to Wittenberg, at the age of twenty-nine, he was made a doctor in theology, and became a preacher.
At this time the impudent charlatan Tetzel was traversing Germany, peddling out his indulgences. The zeal and indignation of Luther were aroused: he preached against the outrage vehemently, and published ninety-five propositions, which contained an irrefutable attack upon the infamous traffic. The propositions were at once declared to be heretical; but no arts of flattery, or terrors of menace, could induce the fearless Luther to recant. Pamphlet after pamphlet proceeded from his pen, assailing the corruptions of the Church; while thousands gathered to listen to his bold denunciations from the pulpit. In 1520 the pope issued a bull of excommunication against Luther and his friends, and his writings were publicly burned at Rome, Cologne, and Louvain. Luther, unintimidated, publicly burned the bull of Papal excommunication at Wittenberg on the 10th of December, 1520.
Several of the German princes, and many of the most illustrious nobles, had embraced the doctrines of Luther; so that he was not left without powerful support. Still the world was amazed at the boldness of an obscure monk, who thus ventured to bid defiance to the Catholic clergy, to the fanatic emperor of Germany, and to the pope himself. Luther was summoned by the emperor to appear at the Diet of Worms, and was provided with a safe-conduct from his Majesty. Yet his friends trembled in fear of his assassination. It was upon this occasion, when urged not to expose himself to such danger, that he gave his memorable reply:—
“If there were as many devils in Worms as there are tiles on the roofs of the houses, I would still go there.”
As Luther approached Worms, when within three miles of the city, a cavalcade of two thousand citizens came out to honor him with their escort. The Emperor Charles V. presided at the diet. The body was composed of the Archduke Ferdinand, six electors, twenty-four dukes, seven margraves, and many princes, counts, lords, and ambassadors. Luther’s defence was considered by his friends unanswerable; and his foes seemed to think that the only reply to be made was by the dagger of the assassin. To rescue him from this peril, his powerful friends kidnapped him on his return, as we have mentioned, and conveyed him to the Castle of Wartburg, where for ten months he was concealed. These months of retirement he devoted to the translation of the New Testament into German.
But his impetuous spirit chafed to escape from the prison-bars which protected him. Through a thousand perils he at length returned to Wittenberg, and there commenced anew his life of tireless zeal in assailing the corruptions of the Church. He drew up a new liturgy for the service of his followers, expurgated of its empty forms; urged the abolition of monasteries, which had mainly become the resort of ignorance and vice; and trampled under his feet the prejudices of papal ecclesiasticism by marrying a nun, Catherine von Bora. Luther was forty-two years of age when he took this important step.
The virtues as well as the imperfections of this extraordinary man were those of impetuosity, courage, self-reliance, and indomitable zeal. He was often very severe. “The severity which he used in the defence of his faith by no means diminishes the merit of his constancy. An apology may easily be found for the frequent rudeness of his expressions in the prevailing mode of speaking and thinking; in the nature of his undertaking, which required continual contest; in the provocations with which he was continually assailed;in his frequent sickness; and in his excitable imagination.”[210]
Even the enemies of Luther, who so bitterly censure theseverity often found in his writings, are constrained to admit that he was impelled by honest and honorable motives. Luther says of himself,—
“I was born to fight with devils and factions: this is the reason that my books are so boisterous and stormy. It is my business to remove obstructions, to cut down thorns, to fill up quagmires, and to open and make straight the paths. But, if I must necessarily have some failing, let me rather speak the truth with too great severity than once to act the hypocrite, and conceal the truth.”