The popes tyrannized conscience and assumed the power to release any one from the oath he had sworn. Whosoever would not submit to the command of the pope were placed under the ban, that is, they were in a solemn manner excommunicated from all the blessings of the Church and surrendered to eternal damnation.—The worst of all was, that the people were prohibited from reading the Bible, so they could not see how erroneous the doctrines of the Church were in many respects.
Besides the regular priesthood, the monks were also considered servants of the Church. Some of the monks dwelt alone in secluded places, and were then called hermits. Others dwelt together in large buildings, called convents or monasteries. Their superior is called abbot. The abbot is under the control of the pope, who thus has the monks in his service. Women dwelling in convents, and in general subject to the same rules as the monks, are called nuns. Their female superior is called abbess. The monks were in the beginning pious and God-fearing men; besides this they were industrious, and labored for education. Later on they became worse, they were indolent and riotous, and too many of them broke their promise of chastity. No one else spread so many superstitions and errors among the people as the monks.
[6. The Reformation]
The heresies of the Church were so numerous and so great that many could not help perceiving them. But the popes were for many centuries so powerful that any one who dared to oppose them would fare badly. John Huss in Bohemia had preached against the sale of indulgences, and was therefore burned alive at a great church meeting held in the city of Constance, even though the emperor had given his word that he should be permitted to depart in peace from the meeting. The emperor was informed that he was under no obligation to keep his word to a heretic.
Meanwhile more and more people began to have their eyes opened to the condition of the Church. Education became greater and more extended, for the art of printing had been invented.
About one hundred years after Huss was burned, Martin Luther stood forth and began that great improvement in the condition of the Church which is called The Reformation. Luther was born in 1483, of poor parents, in the city of Eisleben, Saxony, in the center of Germany. According to the intention of his father he was to read law, but on account of his anxiety for his soul’s salvation he, at the age of twenty-two, entered a convent and became a monk. Here he faithfully performed all the requirements of a life in the convent: prayed, fasted and mortified his flesh; but he could not find peace for his soul. An old monk advised him to seek consolation in the old, then almost forgotten words: I believe in the forgiveness of sins. These words Luther took to heart, and as he diligently read the Bible and the writings of the church fathers[[8]], he at last clearly saw that man is justified by faith apart from the works of the law. After Luther had been in a convent for three years, he was called as teacher to the university at Wittenberg. Hither came a hawker of indulgences, a monk named Tetzel, who with the greatest audacity sold forgiveness of sins for money. At this, Luther was filled with indignation, and on the 31st of October, 1517, he nailed on the door of the castle church in Wittenberg ninety-five theses against the sale of indulgences and other errors. These theses were quickly circulated throughout Germany, and many pious and educated men acknowledged that Luther was right. It was not Luther’s intention to attack the pope, for he yet believed that the papacy was instituted of God, and thought that when the pope should be informed of the true condition of the case, he would grant his approval of Luther’s act. But they thought differently in Rome. Luther was placed under the ban of the Church. In the meantime he had diligently read the Bible and history, and it was clear to him the papacy was not instituted of God. He therefore paid no attention to the ban, but took the bull[[9]] of the pope and burned it under an oak outside of the city of Wittenberg. He was now summoned to appear before Charles V., emperor of the Roman empire, at the diet held in the city of Worms, 1521. Many dissuaded him from going; they reminded him of the fate of Huss; but Luther answered: If there were as many devils in Worms as there are tiles on the roofs, yet would I go. When he came to Worms, he was ushered into the diet, an assembly where the emperor, the legate of the pope and many princes and bishops were gathered. It was demanded that he at once should recant everything he had taught; but Luther answered: Unless I am convinced by the Scriptures, or by clear and binding reasons, I neither can nor will recant; for it is not advisable to do anything against conscience. Here I stand; I cannot do otherwise. God help me! Amen.
He was now declared an outlaw, and any one could with impunity kill him. He was, however, permitted to leave Worms in peace. But the elector of Saxony, his prince and protector, caused his own servants to seize him as he was departing, and had him secretly carried to the castle of Wartburg. Here he abode unknown for ten months, and the world believed he was dead. In this place he began his excellent translation of the Bible into German, and finished the New Testament. At the end of that time he returned to Wittenberg and continued to labor by preaching and writing. In 1529 he published his Small Catechism, to be used in the instruction of children and youth, and his Larger Catechism as an aid for the teachers.
Luther’s adherents daily became more numerous. Among them were many princes. At the diet of Augsburg, in 1530, they laid before the emperor a confession of their faith, written by the learned and gentle Philip Melanchthon, and approved by Luther. In the Augsburg Confession the Lutherans had now secured a confession, in which they all united. All who would could now see for themselves that Luther did not teach a new doctrine, but the old, true Christian faith.
When Luther died, in 1546, his doctrine was spread over half of Germany, the whole of Denmark, Norway and Sweden, and had gained adherents in England, France and other countries.
Contemporaneously with Luther, Ulric Zwingli stood forth in Switzerland against the sale of indulgences and other errors. His work was continued by the Frenchman, John Calvin. Calvin’s adherents are called Calvinists, or Reformed; they differ from the Lutherans in the doctrine concerning the Lord’s Supper, predestination and some other doctrines. The Reformed confessions are held in Switzerland, Holland, Scotland, England, and to some extent in France. Lutherans and Calvinists are called, although historically improperly, with one common name, Protestants, in opposition to the adherents of the pope, who are called Roman Catholics.