UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA AT LOS ANGELES LUTHER NIHIL OBSTAT C. SCHUT, S.T.D. Censor Deputatus. IMPRIMATUR EDM. CAN. SUEMONT, Vic. Gen. Westmonasterii, die 12 ^fart^^, 1914- LUTHER BY HARTMANN yGRISAR, S.J. I'ROI'F.SSOR AT THF. I'MVKKMT Y "F INN-BRIO. AUTHORISED TRANSLATION FROM THE GERMAN BY K. M. LAMOND EDITED BY LUIGI CAPPADELTA VOLUME 1 B. HERDER BOOK CO. 17, SOUTH BROADWAY ST. LOUIS, MO. fnnted in Great B> itain STACK ANNEX v.\ NOTE TO THE SECOND EDITION THE text of the present edition remains unaltered save for the incorporation in their places of the " emendations and additions " forwarded by the Author too late for insertion in the body of the work in its first edition, and of a few verbal corrections for which the English Editor owes his thanks to various reviewers. 4799 CONTENTS BIBLIOGRAPHY ....... pages xv-xxv INTRODUCTION ....... pages xxvii-xxxix CHAPTER I. COURSE OF STUDIES AND FIRST YEARS IN THE MONASTERY . . pages 3-GO 1. LUTHER'S NOVITIATE AND EARLY LIFE. The new postulant at the gate of the Erfurt priory. Luther's youth ; his parents ; early education ; stay at Eisenach. Enters the University of Erfurt. Humanist friends. His novitiate. Troubles of conscience quieted by Staupitz, the Vicar of the Saxon Congregation of Augus- tinian Hermits. Luther's religious profession . . pages 3-12 2. FIDELITY TO His NEW CALLING ; His TEMPTATIONS. Luther's theological course. Lectures and lecturers ; Bible-study ; first Mass. His father on his vocation ; his father's character. Luther's inward troubles ; falls into a fit in choir ; Melanchthon on Luther's attacks of fear. St. Bernard on certainty of salvation. Luther's " own way " with his difficulties. He is sent to Wittenberg and back to Erfurt. Learned occupations. Luther's assurance manifest in his earliest notes, the glosses on Peter Lombard ; his glosses on Augustine ; his fame ; his virulent temper ; his acquaintance with Hus. Oldecop, Dungersheim and Emser on his moral character in early days. Humanistic influences. Luther is chosen by the Observantines to represent them in Rome ........ pages 12-29 3. THE JOURNEY TO ROME. Dissensions within the Congregation. Staupitz opposed by seven Observantine priories, on whose behalf Luther proceeds to Rome. The visit's evil effect on the monk. His opinion of the Curia and the moral state of Rome. An episode at the Scala Santa. Luther's belief in the Primacy not shaken by what he saw. On the Holy Mass ; his petition to be secularised ; perils of an Italian journey. Luther returns to Wittenberg and forsakes the cause of the Observantines. pages 29-38 4. THE LITTLE WORLD or WITTENBERG AND THE GREAT WORLD IN CHURCH AND STATE. Luther takes the doctorate ; his first lectures ; his sur- roundings at the University of Wittenberg ; the professors ; Humanism ; schemes for reform ; Mutian, Spalatin, Reuch- lin, the " Letters of Obscure Men," Erasmus. Luther's road not that of his Humanist friends. Currents of thought in the age of discovery and awakened learning ; decay of viii CONTENTS Church life ; attempts at reform ; abasement of clergy ; abuses rampant everywhere ; sad state of the Curia. Signs of the coming storm. Luther's way prepared by the course of events. A curious academic dispute . . . pages 38-60 CHAPTER II. HARBINGERS OF CHANGE . pages 61-103 1. SOURCES OLD AND NEW. Peculiar difficulties of the problem. Process of Luther's inward estrangement from the Church. The sources, par- ticularly those recently brought to light. The marginal notes in Luther's books now at Zwickau. His letters ; earliest scriptural notes, i.e. the glosses and scholia ; lectures on Scripture ; sermons, 1515-1516 ; earliest printed works ; his Disputations. Two stages of his development, the first till 1517, the second till the end of 1518 . . . pages 61-67 2. LUTHER'S COMMENTARY ON THE PSALMS (1513-15). DISPUTE WITH THE OBSERVANTINES AND THE " SELF-RIGHTEOUS." His passionate opposition to the Observantines in his Order, and to " righteousness by works," a presage of the coming change. He vents his ire on the " Little Saints " of the Order in his discourse at Gotha. On righteousness by grace and righteousness by works ; on the force of con- cupiscence and original sin. No essential divergence from the Church's belief and tradition to be found in the Com- mentary on the Psalms ; reminiscences of Augustine ; mystical trend ; defects of Luther's early work . pages 67-78 3. EXCERPTS FROM THE OLDEST SERMONS. His ADVERSARIES. The sermons and their testimony to Luther's scorn for the Observantines. Echoes of the controversy proceeding within the Order. The Leitzkau discourse and its mysticism pages 78-84 4. PRELIMINARY REMARKS ON YOUNG LUTHER'S RELATIONS TO SCHOLASTICISM AND MYSTICISM. His early prejudice against Scholasticism, its psychological reason ; his poor opinion of Aristotle and the Schoolmen. Martin Pollich's misgivings. Luther's leaning to mysticism, its cause. Esteem for Tauler and the " Theologia Deutsch." His letter to G. Leiffer * . . . . pages 84-88 5. EXCERPTS FROM THE EARLIEST LETTERS. Signs of a change in Luther's letter to G. Spenlein ; self- despair and trust in Christ. To Johann Lang on a work wrongly ascribed to St. Augustine and on his difficulties with his colleagues at Wittenberg. To Spalatin on Erasmus ; his dislike of everything savouring of Pelagian ism . pages 88-93 6. THE THEOLOGICAL GOAL. The first shaping of Luther's heretical views, in the Com- mentary on Romans. Imputation of Christ's righteousness ; uncertainty of justification ; original sin remains after baptism, being identical with concupiscence ; impossibility of fulfilling the law without justification ; absence of all human freedom for good ; sinful character of natural virtue ; all " venial " sins really mortal ; no such thing as merit ; predestination ....... pages 93-103 CONTENTS ix CHAPTER III. THE STARTING-POINT . .- pages 104-129 1. FORMER INACCURATE VIEWS. The starting-point not simply the desire to reform the Church ; nor mere antipathy to the Dominicans. Hus's influence merely secondary. Luther's own account of his search for a " merciful God " not to be trusted any more than his later descriptions of his life as a monk . . pages 104-110 2. WHETHER EVIL CONCUPISCENCE is IRRESISTIBLE ? Luther's belief in its irresistibility not to be alleged as a proof of his moral perversity. Traces of the belief early noticeable in him ; he demands that people should neverthe- less strive against concupiscence with the weapons of the spirit ; concupiscence ineradicable, identical with original sin, and actually sinful. Luther not a determinist from the beginning. His pseudo-mysticism scarcely reconcilable with his supposed moral perversity . . . pages 110-117 3. THE REAL STARTING-POINT AND THE CO-OPERATING FACTORS. Luther's new opinions grounded on his antipathy to good works ; hence his belief in the incapacity of man for good. Other factors ; his character, his self-confidence and com- bativeness ; his anger with the formalism prevalent in his day ; his fear of eternal reprobation ; his inadequate knowledge of the real doctrine of the Church ; his hasty promotion pages 1 1 7-129 CHAPTER IV. " I AM OF OCCAM'S PARTY " pages 130-165 1. A CLOSER EXAMINATION OF LUTHER'S THEOLOGICAL TRAINING. Not trained in the best school of Scholasticism. His Occamist education. Positive and negative influence of Occamism on Luther ..... pages 130-133 2. NEGATIVE INFLUENCE OF THE OCCAMIST SCHOOL ON LUTHER. Luther's criticism of Occam ; he abandons certain views of the Occamists and flies to the opposite extreme ; offended by their neglect of Scripture and by the subtlety of their philosophy ; hence he comes to oppose Aristotelianism and the Scholastics generally. Occamistic exaggeration of man's powers leads him ex opposite to underrate the same. Negative influence of Occamism on Luther's teaching regarding original sin. Gabriel Biel on original sin ; the keeping of the commandments ; the love of God ; whether man can merit grace ; Gregory of Rimini ; the principle : " Facienti quod est in se Deus non denegat gratiam " ; the deficiencies of the Occamists laid at the door of Scholasticism. Three answers to the question how Luther failed to perceive that he was for- saking the Church's doctrine. His denial of natural righteous- ness, and his ignorance of the true scholastic teaching on the point ; misunderstands his own masters. His interpretation of the words, " Without me ye can do nothing." His re- jection of actual grace . . . . pages 133-154 3. POSITIVE INFLUENCE OF OCCAMISM. Occamist " acceptation " and Lutheran " imputation." Luther assails the habit of supernatural grace and replaces the doctrine of an essential order of things by the arbitrary pactum Dei. Divorce of faith and reason. Feeling and religious experience. Predestination ; transubstantiation. Luther's anti-Thomism, his combativeness and loquacity. Other alleged influences, viz. Gallicanism, ultra-realism, Wiclifism, and Neo-Platonism .... pages 155165 x CONTENTS CHAPTER V. THE ROCKS OF FALSE MYSTICISM pages 166-183 1. TATTLER AND LTJTHER. Tauler's orthodox doctrine distorted by Luther to serve his purpose. Passivity in the hands of God explained as the absence of all effort. Luther's application of Tauler's teaching to his own states of anxiety. His knowledge of Tauler ; annotations to Tauler's sermons ; the German mystics ; a " return to nothingness " the supreme aim of the Christian . ...... pages 166-174 2. EFFECT OF MYSTICISM ON LUTHER. Advantages of its study outweighed by disadvantage. Why Luther failed to become a true mystic. Specimens of his mystic utterances. His edition of the " Theologia Deutsch " ; attitude to pseudo-Dionysius the Areopagite, St. Bernard and Gerson ; an excerpt from his " Operationea in psalmos " pages 175-183 CHAPTER VI. THE CHANGE OF 1515 IN THE LIGHT OF THE COMMENTARY ON ROMANS (1515-16) pages 184-261 1. THE NEW PUBLICATIONS. Denifle the first to utilise the Commentary on Romans. Ficker's recent edition of the original. General remarks on the Commentary. Aim of St. Paul according to Luther pages 184187 2. GLOOMY VIEWS REGARDING GOD AND PREDESTINATION. Luther's " more profound theology " and unconditional predestination to hell ; God's will that the wicked be damned. God to be approached in fear and despair, not with works and in the hope of reward. The mystic on resignation to hell. Man's will and his salvation entirely in God's hands. Ob- jections : Is it not God's will that all be saved ? Why impose commandments which the will is not free to perform ? Un- perceived inconsistencies .... pages 187197 3. THE FIGHT AGAINST "HOLINESS-BY-WORKS" AND THE OB- SERVANTINES IN THE COMMENTARY ON ROMANS. Luther's aversion to works and observances. His rude description of the " Observants " and " Justiciaries." The very word " righteousness " a cause of vexation pages 197-202 4. ATTACK ON PREDISPOSITION TO GOOD AND ON FREE WILL. Human nature entirely spoiled by original sin. Being unable to fulfil the command "Non concupisces," we are ever sinning mortally. Uncertainty of salvation ; the will not free for good. Interpretation of Rom. viii. 2 f. Against Scholasticism. In penance and confession no removal (ablatio) of sin. . . . . . . pages 202-209 5. LUTHER RUDELY SETS ASIDE THE OLDER DOCTRINE OF VIRTUE AND SlN. The habit of sanctifying grace ; " cursed be the word ' Jormatum charitate ' " ; sin coexistent with grace in the good man ; Augustine on concupiscence. " Nothing is of its own nature good or bad " ; the Occamist acceptation-theory against the " Aristotelian " definition of virtue and the scholastic doctrine that virtues and vices are qualities of the soul pages 209-213 CONTENTS xi 6. PREPARATION FOR JUSTIFICATION. Christ's grace does all, and yet man disposes himself for justification. Man's self-culture. Inconsistencies explained by reminiscences of his early Catholic training . pages 213214 7. APPROPRIATION OF THE RIGHTEOUSNESS OF CHRIST BY HUMILITY NEITHER "FAITH ONLY" NOR ASSURANCE OF SALVATION. Imputation applied to justification. Another's righteous- ness is imputed to us and becomes ours ; sin remains, but is no longer accounted ; our inability to know whether Christ's righteousness has been imputed to us. Advantage of fear. " He who renounces his own self and willingly faces death and damnation " is truly humble, and in such humility is safety. Faith not yet substituted for humility. Passivity again emphasised ...... pages 214-222 8. SUBJECTIVISM AND CHURCH AUTHORITY. STORM AND STRESS. The back place already taken in Luther's mind by the Church and her teaching-office ; his preference for a theology of his own invention. Our duty of not judging Luther by the later Tridentine decrees. His Catholic sentiments on the hierarchy ; denounces abuses whilst respecting the rights of the Roman Church ; desiderates a reduction of festivals ; re- proves Bishops for insisting on their rights instead of rejoicing to see them infringed. On listening to the inner voice . pages 223-230 9. THE MYSTIC IN THE COMMENTARY ON ROMANS. Luther's misapprehension of Tauler and other mystics clearly proved in the Commentary. Quietism. The " Spark in the Soul." The " Theology of the Cross." The " Night of the Soul." Readiness for hell the joy of the truly wise ; Christ and Paul the Apostle, two instances of such readiness pages 230-240 10. THE COMMENTARY ON ROMANS AS A WORK OF RELIGION AND LEARNING. Its witness to the unsettled state of the writer's mind. Texts and commentaries utilised ; neglect of Aquinas's Commentary ; the author's style ; obscenity and paradox ; a tilt at the philosophers ; the character of the work rather spoilt by unnecessary polemics. Appeal to Augustine. Misuse of theological terms. " The word of God is every word which proceeds from the mouth of a good man." Con- tradiction a criterion of truth. All the prophets against observances. Unconscious self-contradiction on the subject of freedom. Whether any progress is apparent hi the course of the Commentary, Comparison of Luther's public utter- ances with those in the Commentary. Some excerpts from the Commentary on Hebrews . . . pages 241-261 xii CONTENTS CHAPTER VII. SOME PARTICULARS WITH REGARD TO THE OUTWARD CIRCUMSTANCES AND INWARD LIFE OF LUTHER AT THE TIME OF THE CRISIS . .... pages 262-302 1. LUTHER AS SUPERIOR OF ELEVEN AUGUSTINIAN HOUSES. His election as Rural Vicar, 1516 ; his discourse on the Little Saints delivered at the Chapter ; influence of his administration ; extracts from his correspondence ; his quick despatch of business .... pages 262-268 2. THE MONK OF LIBERAL VIEWS AND INDEPENDENT ACTION. His ideal of humility. On vows. Prejudice against observ- ances. Blames formalism prevalent in the Church generally and in the monasteries. Paltz and Tauler on this subject. Overwork leads Luther to neglect his spiritual duties ; Mass and Divine Office ; his final abandonment of the Breviary. His outward appearance ; his quarrelsomeness . pages 268-280 3. LUTHER'S ULTRA-SPIRITUALISM AND CALLS FOR REFORM. Is SELF-IMPROVEMENT POSSIBLE ? PENANCE. His pessimism ; the whole world sunk in corruption. Opinion of theologians. Justifiable criticism. On the clergy ; proposes placing the administration of all temporali- ties in the hands of the Princes. On Indulgences. His familiarity with the Elector of Saxony. On the dreadful state of Rome. The prevalence of Pelagianism ; three deadly vices ; on his own temptations ; how people fall and rise again ; on diabolical terrors ; on making the best of things and reconciling ourselves to remaining in sin ; his inability to understand the nature of contrition ; denial that perfect contrition exists ; his mysticism averse to the motive of fear or of heavenly recompense ; misrepresentation of the Church's doctrine concerning attrition. Ascribes his view of penance to Staupitz ; the part of Staupitz in the downfall of the Congregation. Mohler and Neander on Luther's resemblance to Marcion the Gnostic. Paradoxical character of the monk . pages 280-302 CHAPTER VIII. THE COMMENTARY ON THE EPISTLE TO THE GALATIANS. FIRST DISPUTATIONS AND FIRST TRIUMPHS . . . . pages 303-326 1. " THE COMMENCEMENT OF THE GOSPEL BUSINESS." EXPOSI- TION OF THE EPISTLE TO THE GALATIANS (1516-17). Melanchthon and Mathesius on the birth of the " Evangel." Luther's first disciples, Carlstadt, Amsdorf, etc. His appeals to St. Augustine. The Commentary on Oalatians begins in 1516. Luther's progress in the light of this and the longer Commentary published later .... pages 303-310 2. DISPUTATIONS ON MAN'S POWERS AND AGAINST SCHOLASTICISM (1516-17). Bernhardi's Disputation in 1516 presided over by Luther ; " Man sins in spite of every effort." Luther to Lang on the scandal of the " Gabrielists." Gimther's Disputation in 151 7 ; specimens of the theses defended; Luther circulates them widely pages 310-314 CONTENTS xiii 3. DISPUTATION AT HEIDELBERG ox FAITH AND GRACE. OTHER PUBLIC UTTERANCES. The Heidelberg Chapter. Leonard Beyer defends Luther's theses in the presence of Bucer and other future adherents of the cause. The theses and their demonstration ; Grace not to be obtained by works ; the motive of fear ; free will a mere name. A Wittenberg Disputation in 1518, " For the Quieting of Anxious Consciences." The three great Disputations described by Luther as " Initium negocii evangelici." Luther to Trutfetter on his amis .... pages 315-321 4. ATTITUDE TO THE CHURCH. Luther continues to acknowledge the doctrinal office of the Church. The principle of private interpretation of Scripture not yet enunciated. Explanation of Luther's inconsistency in conduct ; on obedience to the Church ; traces all heresies back to pride ; his correct description of Indulgences in 1516, his regret at their abuse .... pages 321-326 CHAPTER IX. THE INDULGENCE-THESES OF 1517 AND THEIR AFTER-EFFECTS . . pages 327-373 1. TETZEL'S PREACHING OF THE INDULGENCE ; THE 95 THESES. The St. Peter's Indulgence and its preaching ; Luther's information regarding it ; his sermon before the Elector. The 95 theses nailed to the door of the Castle Church ; their contents ; the excitement caused ; Augustinians refrain from any measure against the author ; the Heidelberg Chapter ; the " Resolutions " ; Dominicans take up the challenge. Fables regarding Luther and Tetzel ; Tetzel's private life ; charges brought against him by Luther and Miltitz ; the real Tetzel ; Luther's statement that he did not know " what an Indulgence was." Luther's letter to Tetzel on his death-bed ..... pages 327-347 2. THE COLLECTION FOR ST. PETER'S IN HISTORY AND LEGEND. The Indulgence granted on behalf of the building fund ; new sources of information ; Albert of Brandenburg obtains the See of Mayence ; his payments to Rome ; the Indulgence granted him for his indemnification ; arrangements made for its preaching ; the pecuniary result a failure . pages 347-355 3. THE TRIAL AT AUGSBURG (1518). The summons. Luther before Cardinal Cajetan at Augs- burg ; Letters written from Augsburg ; refuses to recant ; his flight ; his appeal to a General Council. Popular works on the Penitential Psalms, the Our Father, and the Ten Com- mandments ....... pages 355-362 4. THE DISPUTATION AT LEIPZIG, 1519. MILTITZ. QUESTIONABLE REPORTS. Circumstances of the Disputation. Luther's dissatisfaction with the result. Unfortunate attempts of Miltitz to smooth things down. Luther's justification of his polemics. Stories of his doings and sayings at Dresden ; his sermon before the Court ; Eraser's reports of certain utterances . pages 362-373 xiv CONTENTS CHAPTER X. LUTHER'S PROGRESS IN THE NEW TEACHING . . . pages 374-404 1. THE SECOND STAGE OF His DEVELOPMENT : ASSURANCE OF SALVATION. In the first stage assurance of salvation through faith alone was yet unknown to him. The Catholic doctrine on this subject. How Luther reached his doctrine by the path of despair; the several steps of his progress from 1516 onwards ; the Resolutions ; the " pangs of Hell " ; the interview with Cajetan ; first clear trace of the doctrine in his works written in 1519 ..... pages 374-388 2. THE DISCOVERY IN THE MONASTERY TOWER, 1518-19. The information contained in Luther's later Prccfatio to be trusted in the main ; other testimonies ; his state at the time one of great anxiety ; his terror of God's justice. The Gate of Paradise suddenly opened by the text : " The just man liveth by faith " ; where this revelation was vouchsafed : In the " cloaca " on the tower ; the revelation referred by Luther to the Holy Ghost ; its importance and connection with Luther's mysticism .... pages 388-400 3. LEGENDS. STORM-SIGNALS. Luther's faulty recollection in later life responsible for the rise of legends regarding his discovery. His statement that he was the first to interpret Romans i. 17 as speaking of the justice by which God makes us just. His " discovery " confirms him in his attitude towards Rome ; the Pope a more dangerous foe of the German nation than the Turk. The legend that the German knights and Humanists were responsible for Luther's opposition to Rome . pages 400-404 BIBLIOGRAPHY NOTE. The following is an alphabetical list of the books, etc., referred to in an abbreviated form in the course of our work, the title under which they are quoted in each case figuring first. For the Bibliography of Luther generally, we may refer to the following : E. G. Vogel, " Bibliographia Bibliographica Lutheri," Halle, 1851 ; I. A. Fabricius, " Centifolium Lutheranum," 2 parts, Hamburg, 1728-1730 ; Win. Maurenbrecher, " Studien und Skizzen," Leipzig, 1874, p. 205 ff. (a good list of the studies on Luther and his work). The articles on Luther in the " Deutsche Biographic," in the Catholic " Kirchenlexikon " (2nd ed.), and the Protestant " Realenzyklopadie fiir Theologie," etc., also provide more or less detailed bibliographies. So also do W. Moller, " Lehrbuch der Kirchengeschichte," vol. 3, ed. by Kawerau (3rd ed., particularly p. 4 ff.) ; Hergenrother, " Lehr- buch der Kirchengeschichte," vol. 3, 3rd ed., by J. P. Kirsch (particularly p. 4 ff.) ; Janssen-Pastor, " Geschichte des deutschen Volkes," etc. (in the lists at the commencement of each vol., particularly vols. ii. and iii.). The bibliographical data added by various writers in the prefaces to the various works of Luther in the new Weimar complete edition are not only copious but also often quite reliable, for instance, those on the German Bible. " Analecta Lutherana, Brief e und Aktenstiicke zur Geschichte Luthers, Zugleich ein Supplement zu den bisherigen Sammlungen seines Brief wechsels," ed. by Th. Kolde, Gotha, 1883. " Analecta Lutherana et Melanchthoniana," see Mathesiua, " Aufzeichnungen." " Archiv fiir Reformationsgeschichte. Texte und Untersuch- ungen. In Verbindung mit dem Verein fiir Reformations- geschichte," ed. W. Friedensburg. Berlin, later Leipzig. 1903-1904 ff. Balan, P., " Monumenta reformationis Lutherans* ex tabulariis S. Sedis secretis, 1521-1525," Ratisbonae, 1883, 1884.- Barge, H., " Andreas Bodenstein von Karlstadt," 2 vols., Leipzig, 1905. Beatus Rhenanus, see Correspondence. xvi BIBLIOGRAPHY Berger, A., " Martin Luther in kulturgeschichtlicher Darstellung." 2 vols., Berlin, 1895-1898. Bezold, F. von, " Geschichte der deutschen Reformation," Berlin, 1890. " Bibliothek des Kgl. Preussischen Historischen Instituts in Rom," Rome, 1905 ff. Blaurer, see Correspondence. Bohmer, H., " Luther im Lichte der neueren Forschung" (from "Natur und Geisteswelt," No. 113), Leipzig, 1906, 2nd ed., 1910. Brandenburg, E., " Luthers Anschauung von Staat und Gesell- schaft " (Schriften des Vereins fur Reformationsgeschichte), Hft. 70, Halle, 1901. Braun, W., " Die Bedeutung der Concupiscenz in Luthers Leben und Lehre," Berlin, 1908. " Briefe," see Letters. " Brief wechsel," see Correspondence. Brieger, Th., " Aleander und Luther. Die vervollstandigten Aleander-Depeschen nebst Untersuchungen iiber den Worm- ser Reichstag," I, Gotha, 1884. Burkhardt, C. A., " Geschichte der sachsischen Kirchen- und Schulvisitationen von 1524-1545," Leipzig, 1879. Calvini, I., " Opera quse supersunt omnia, ediderunt G. Braun, E. Cunitz, E. Reuss," 59 vol. (29-87 in the " Corpus Reformatorum"), Brunsvigae, 1863-1900. Cardauns, L., " Zur Geschichte der kirchlichen Unions- und Reformbestrebungen von 1538-1542 " (" Bibliothek des Kgl. Preuss. Historischen Instituts in Rom," vol. 5), Rome, 1910. see " Nuntiaturberichte." Cochlaeus, I., " Comnientaria de actis et scriptis M. Lutheri . . . ab a. 1517 usque ad a. 1537 conscripta," Moguntise, 1549. (" Colloquia," ed. Bindseil), Bindseil, H. E., " D. Martini Lutheri Colloquia, Meditationes, Consolationes, ludicia, Sententiae, Narrationes, Responsa, Facetiae e codice ms. Bibliothecaa Orphanotrophei Halensis cum perpetua collatione editionis Rebenstockianse edita et prolegomenis indicibusque in- structa," 3 voll., Lemgoviaa et Detmoldae, 1863-1866. (" Commentarius in Epist. ad Galat."), "M. Lutheri Corn- men tarius in Epistolam ad Galatas " ed. I. A. Irmischer, 3 voll., Erlangae, 1843 sq. BIBLIOGRAPHY xvii (Cordatus, "Tagebuch"), Wrampelmeyer, H., " Tagebuch iiber Dr. Martin Luther, gefiihrt von Dr. Conrad Cordatus, 1537," 1st ed., Halle, 1885. " Corpus Reformatorum," ed. Bretschneider, Halis Sexonise, 1834, sqq. voll. 1-28, " Melanchthonis opera " ; voll. 29-87, " Calvini opera " ; voll. 88-89, " Zwinglii opera." Correspondence : " Dr. Martin Luthers Brief wechsel," edited with annotations by L. Enders, 11 vols., Frankfurt a/M., also Calw and Stuttgart, 1884-1907, 12 vols., ed. G. Kawerau, Leipzig, 1910 ; see also Letters. " Brief wechsel Luthers, mit vielen unbekannten Brief en und unter Beriicksichtigung der De Wetteschen Ausgabe," ed. C. A. Burkhardt, Leipzig, 1866. " Briefwechsel des Beatus Rhenanus," etc., ed. A. Horawitz and K. Hartfelder, Leipzig, 1886. " Briefwechsel der Briider Ambrosius und Thomas Blaurer, 1509-1548," ed. Tr. Schiess, 1 vol., Freiburg i /Breisgau, 1908. " Briefwechsel des Justus Jonas," etc., ed. G. Kawerau, 2 vols., Halle, 1884. " Briefwechsel Landgraf Philipps des Grossmiitigen von Hessen mit Bucer," ed. by M. Lenz (" Publikationen aus dem Kgl. Preuss. Staatsarchiv,"), 3 vols., Leipzig, 1880-1891. Denifle, H., O.P., " Luther und Luthertum in der ersten Ent- wickelung quellenmassig dargestellt," 1 vol., Mayence, 1904 ; 2nded., 1st part,^1904 ; 2nd part, ed. A. M. Weiss, O.P., 1906. Quellenbelege zu I 2 , 1-2, "Die Abendlandische Schriftaus- legung bis Luther viber lustitia Dei (Rom. i. 17) und lusti- ficatio. Beitrag zur Geschichte der Exegese, der Literatur und des Dogmas im Mittelalter," 1905, 2nd vol. of the main work, ed. A. M. Weiss, O.P., 1909. " Luther in rationalistischer und christlieher Beleuchtung, Prinzipielle Auseinandersetzung mit A. Harnack und R. Seeberg," Mayence, 1904. " Deutsch-evangelische Blatter. Zeitschrift fiir den gesamten Bereich des cleutschen Protestantismus," Halle, 1891, sq. (" Disputationen," ed. Drews), Drews, P., " Disputationen Dr. Martin Luthers, in den Jahren, 1535-1545 an der Universitat Wittenberg gehalten," 1st ed., Gottingen, 1895. (" Disputationen," ed. Stange), Stange, C., " Die altesten ethischen Disputationen Dr. Martin Luthers " (" Quel- lenschriften zur Geschichte des Protestantismus," 1), Leipzig, 1904. xviii BIBLIOGRAPHY Dollinger, J. I. von, " Luther,- eine Skizze," Freiburg i/B., 1890 (also in Wetzer and Welte's Kirchenlexikon, 1st and 2nd ed., Art. " Luther "). " Die Reformation, ihre innere Entwickelung und ihre Wirk- ungen im Umfange des lutherischen Bekenntnisses," 3 vols., Ratisbon, 1846-1848 (I 2 , 1851). Ehses St., " Geschichte der Packschen Handel. Ein Beitrag zur Geschichte der deutschen Reformation," Freiburg i/B., 1881. Ellinger, G., " Philipp Melanchthon. Ein Lebensbild," Berlin, 1902. " Erasmi D. Roterodami Opera omnia emendatiora et auctiora," ed. Clericus, 10 torn., Lugd. Batavorum, 1702-1706. " Erlauterungen und Erganzungen zu Janssens Geschichte des deutschen Volkes," ed. L. von Pastor, Freiburg i/B., 1898, sq. Evers, G., " Martin Luther. Lebens- und Charakterbild, von ihm selbst gezeichnet in seinen eigenen Schriften und Korres- pondenzen," Hft. 1-14, Mayence, 1883-1894. Falk, F., "Die Bibel am Ausgang des Mittelalters," Mayence, 1905. " Die Ehe am Ausgang des Mittelalters " (" Erlauterungen und Erganzungen zu Janssens Geschichte des deutschen Volkes," Vol. 6, Hft. 4), Freiburg i/B., 1908. " Flugschriften aus den ersten Jahren der Reformation," ed. O. Clemen, Leipzig and New York, 1907 ff. Forstemann, C. E., " Neues Urkundenbuch zur Gesch. der evangelischen Kirchenreform " (one only vol. published), Hamburg, 1842. Harnack, A., " Lehrbuch der Dogmengeschichte," 3 vols. : "Die Entwickelung des kirchlichen Dogmas " ; ii, iii, 4th ed., Tubingen, 1910. Hausrath, A., " Luthers Leben," 2 vols., Berlin, 1904 (2nd re- impression with amended preface). Hergenrother, Card. J., " Handbuch der allgemeinen Kirchen- geschichte," 4th ed., ed. J. P. Kirsch, 3 vols., Freiburg i/B, 1909. " Historisches Jahrbuch," ed. the Gorres-Gesellschaft, Miinster, later Munich, 1880 ff. " Historisch-politische Blatter fur das katholische Deutschland," Munich, 1838 ff. "Hutteni Ulr. Opera," 5 vol., ed. Booking, Lipsiae, 1859-1862. BIBLIOGRAPHY xix (Janssen-Pastor) Janssen, J., " Geschichte des deutschen Volkes seit dem Ausgang des Mittelalters," 17-18 ed. by L. von Pastor, vol. 1-2, Freiburg i/B., 1897 ; vol. 3, 1899. English Trans., " History of the German People at the Close of the Middle Ages," 1-2 3 , 1905; 3-4 1 , 1900; 5-6 1 , 1903 (see also "Erlauterungen und Erganzungen"). " An meine Kritiker. Nebst Erganzungen und Erlauterungen zu den drei ersten Banden meiner Geschichte des deutschen Volkes," Freiburg i/B., 1882. " Ein zweites Wort an meine Kritiker. Nebst Erganzungen und Erlauterungen zu den drei ersten Banden meiner Geschichte des deutschen Volkes," Freiburg i/B., 1883. Kahnis, C. F. A., " Die deutsche Reformation," vol. 1, Leipzig, 1872 (no others published). Kalkoff, P., " Forschungen zu Luthers romischem Prozess " (" Bibliothek des Kgl. Preuss. Histor. Instituts in Rom," vol. 2), Rome, 1905. " Kirchenordnungen, Die evangelischen des 16 Jahrhunderts," ed. E. Sehling : 1, " Die Ordnungen Luthers fur die ernestinischen und albertinischen Gebiete," Leipzig, 1902 ; 2, " Die vier geistlichen Gebiete," etc., 1904 ; 3, " Die Mark Brandenburg," 1909. Kohler, W., " Katholizismus und Reformation. Kritisches Referat iiber die wissenschaftlichen Leistungen der neueren katholischen Theologie auf dem Gebiete der Reformations- geschichte," Giessen, 1905. " Luther und die Kirchengeschichte," 1, vol. 1, Erlangen, 1900. Kostlin, J., " Luthers Theologie in ihrer geschichtlichen Ent- wickelung und in ihrem Zusammenhang dargestellt," 2nd ed., 2 vols., Stuttgart, 1901. (Kostlin- Kawerau), Kostlin, J., " Martin Luther. Sein Leben und seine Schriften," 5th ed., continued after the death of the author by G. Kawerau, 2 vols., Berlin, 1903. Kolde, Th., see " Analecta Lutherans." " Die deutsche Augustinerkongregation und Johann von Staupitz. Ein Beitrag zur Ordens- und Reformations- geschichte nach meistens ungedruckten Quellen," Gotha, 1879. "Martin Luther, Eine Biographie," 2 vols., Gotha, 1884- 1893. Lsemmer, H., " Monumenta Vaticana historiam ecclesiasticam saeculi XVI, illustrantia," Friburgi Brisgovise, 1861. xx BIBLIOGRAPHY (Lauterbach, " Tagebuch "), Seidemann, J. K., " A. Lauterbachs Tagebuch auf das Jahr 1538. Die Hauptquelle der Tischreden Luthers," Dresden, 1872. Letters, " M. Luthers Brief e, Sendschreiben und Bedenken," ed. M. De Wette, 5 parts, Berlin, 1825-1828 ; 6th part, ed. J. K. Seidemann, Berlin, 1856. Loesche, G., see Mathesius, " Aufzeichriungen " ; Mathesius, " Historien." Loscher, V. E., " Vollstandige Reformationsacta und Doku- menta," 3 vols., Leipzig, 1720-1729. Loofs, F., " Leitfaden zum Studium der Dogmengeschichte," 4th ed., Halle a/S., 1906. Luthardt, C. E., " Die Ethik Luthers in ihren Grundziigen," 2nd ed., Leipzig, 1875. Luther's Works : 1, Complete editions of his works, see " Werke," "Opera Lat. var.," "Opera Lat. exeg.," " Commentarius in Epist. ad Galatas," Romerbriefkommentar ; 2, Corre- spondence, see Letters, Correspondence, and "Analecta"; 3, Table-Talk, see " Tischreden," ed. Aurifaber, ed. Forste- mann, also " Werke," Erl. ed. vol. 57-62, " Werke," Halle, ed., vol. 22, " Colloquia," Cordatus, Lauterbach, Mathesius, " Aufzeichnungen," Mathesius, " Tischreden," Schlagin- haufen ; 4, on other matters see " Analecta," " Disputa- tionen," " Symbolische Bucher." (Mathesius, " Aufzeichnungen "), Loesche, G., " Analecta Lutherana et Melanchthoniana, Tischreden Luthers und Ausspriiche Melanchthons hauptsachlich nach den Auf- zeichnungen des Johannes Mathesius, aus der Niirnberger Handschrift im Germanischen Museum mit Beniitzung von Seidemanns Vorarbeiten," Gotha, 1892. Mathesius, J., " Historien von des ehrwiirdigen in Gott seligen thewren Manns Gottes Doctoris Martini Luther Anfang Lehr, Leben und Sterben," Niirnberg, 1566, ed. G. Loesche, Prague, 1898 and 1906 (" Bibliothek deutscher Schriftsteller aus Bohmen," vol. 9). Our quotations are from the Nurem- berg ed. (Mathesius, "Tischreden"), Kroker, E., "Luthers Tischreden in der Mathesischen Sammlung. Aus einer Handschrift der Leipziger Stadtbibliothek," ed. Leipzig, 1903. Maurenbrecher, W., " Studien und Skizzen zur Geschichte der Reformationszeit," Leipzig, 1874. " Geschichte der katholischen Reformation," 1 vol., Nord- lingen, 1880. Melanchthon, see " Analecta," by Loescho. Melanchthon, see " Vita Lutheri." BIBLIOGRAPHY xxi " Melanchthonis opera omnia," ed. Bretschneider (in " Corpus Reformatorum," vol. 1-28), Halis Saxoniae, 1834-1863. Mohler, J. A., " Lehrbuch der Kirchengeschichte," ed. Pius Gams, 3 vols., Ratisbon, 1868. " Symbolik oder Darstellung der dogmatischen Gegensatze der Katholiken und Protestanten nach ihren offentlichen Bekenntnisschriften," 1st ed., Ratisbon, 1832 ; 10th ed., with additions, by J. M. Raich, Mayence, 1889. Mb'ller, W., " Lehrbuch der Kirchengeschichte," 3 vols., " Re- formation und Gegenreformation," ed. G. Kawerau, 3rd ed., Tubingen, 1907. Muller, K., " Luther und Karlstadt. Stiicke aus ihrem gegen- seitigen Verhaltnis untersucht," Tubingen, 1909. " Kirche Gemeinde und Obrigkeit nach Luther," Tubingen, 1910. Miinzer, Th., " Hochverursachte Schutzrede und Antwort wider das geistlose sanftlebende Fleisch zu Wittenberg," ed. Enders (" Neudrucke deutscher Literaturwerke," No. 118), Halle, 1893. " Neudrucke deutscher Literaturwerke des 16 und 17 Jahr- hunderts," Halle, 1876 ff. " Nuntiaturberichte aus Deutschland nebst erganzenden Aktenstucken : 1, 1533-1559, ed. Kgl. Preuss. Institut in Rom, & Kgl. Preuss. Archivverwaltung ; vols. 5-6, " Nuntiaturen Morones und Poggios," " Legationen Farneses und Cervinis, 1539-1540," ed. L. Cardauns ; " Gesandtschaft Campeggios," " Nuntiaturen Morones und Poggios, 1540- 1541," ed. L. Cardauns, Berlin, 1909. Lat. exeg."), " M. Lutheri Exegetica opera latina," cur. C. Elsperger, 28 voll., Erlangae, 1829 sqq. (also published apart), " D. M. Lutheri Commentarius in Epistolam ad Galatas," ed. I. A. Irmischer, 3 voll., Erlangse, 1843, sq. (" Opp. Lat. var."), " M. Lutheri Opera latina varii argument! ad reformationis historiam imprimis pertinentia," cur. H. Schmidt, voll. 1-7, Francofurti, 1865 sqq. (part of the Erlangen ed. of Luther's works). Oergel, G., " Vom jungen Luther. Beitrage zur Lutherforschung," Erfurt, 1899. Pastor, L. von, " Geschichte der Papste seit dem Ausgang des Mittelalters. Mit Benutzung des papstlichen Geheimarchivs und vieler anderer Archive bearbeitet," vols. 1-3 in 3rd-4th ed., Freiburg i/B., 1901, 1904, 1899 ; vol. 4 first half 1906, second half 1907 ; vol. 5 1909. English Trans., " History of the Popes from the close of the Middle Ages," 1-2 3 , 1906 ; 3-4 2 , 1900 ; 5-6 2 , 1901 ; 7-8 1 , 1908. xxii BIBLIOGRAPHY Paulsen, F., " Geschichte des gelehrten Unterrichts auf den deutschen Schulen und Universitaten vom Ausgang des Mittelalters bis zur Gegenwart. Mit besonderer Riicksicht auf den klassischen Unterricht," Leipzig, 1885, 2nd ed., 2 vols. 1896-1897. Paul us, N., " Die deutschen Dominikaner im Kampfe gegen Luther, 1518-1563 " (" Erlauterungen und Erganzungen zu Janssens Geschichte des deutschen Volkes," vol. 4, 1-2). Freiburg i/B., 1903. " Hexenwahn und Hexenprozess vornehnilich im 16 Jahr- hundert," Freiburg i/B., 1910. " Luther und die Gewissensfreiheit " (" Glaube und Wissen," Hft. 4), Munich, 1905. " Luthers Lebensende. Eine kritische Untersuchung " (" Erl- auterungen und Erganzungen zu Janssens Geschichte des deutschen Volkes," vol. 1, P. 1), Freiburg i/B., 1898. " Kaspar Schatzgeyer, ein Vorkampfer der katholischen Kirche- gegen Luther in Siiddeutschland " (" Strassburger theologische Studien," vol. 3, 1), Freiburg i/B., 1898. " Johann Tetzel, der Ablassprediger," Mayence, 1899. " Bartholomaus Arnoldi von Usingen " (" Strassburger theo- logische Studien," vol. 1, 3), Freiburg i/B., 1893. " Quellen und Forschungen aus dem Gebiete der Geschichte in Verbindung mit ihrem historischen Institut zu Rom," ed. the Gorres-GeseUschaft, Paderborn, 1892 ff. " aus den italienischen Archiven und Bibliotheken," ed. Kgl. Preuss. Histor. Institut in Rom, Rome, 1897 ff. " Quellenschriften zur Geschichte des Protestantismus zum Gebrauch in akademischen Ubungen," in Verbindung mit anderen Fachgenossen ed. J. Kunze and C. Stange, Leipzig, 1904, ff. JOldecop), " Joh. Oldecops Chronik," ed. K. Euling ("Bibl. des literarischen Vereins von Stuttgart," vol. 190), Tiibingen, 1891. (Ratzeberger), " Ratzeberger M., Handschriftliche Geschichte iiber Luther und seine Zeit," ed. Ch. G. Neudecker, Jena, 1850. " Raynaldi Annales ecclesiastici. Accedunt notae chronologicae," etc., auct. J. D. Mansi, Tom. 12-14, Lucse, 1755. " Reformationsgeschichtliche Studien und Texte," ed. J. Greving, Miinster i/W., 1906 ff. BIBLIOGRAPHY xxiii " Reichstagsakten, Deutsche," N.S., 2 vols. : " Deutsche Reichstagsakten unter Karl V," ed. Adolf Wrede. At the command of H.M. the King of Bavaria, ed. by the Historical Commission of the Kgl. Akademie der Wissenschaften, Gotha, 1896. Riff el, K., " Christliche Kirchengeschichte der neuesten Zeit, von dem Anfange der grossen Glaubens- und Kirchenspaltung des 16 Jahrhunderts," 3 vols. (vol. 1, 2nded.), Mayence, 1842- 1846. Ritschl, A., " Rechtfertigung und Versohnung," 3 vols., 2nd ed., Bonn, 1882 f. O., " Dogmengeschichte des Protestantismus," vol. 1, Leipzig, 1908. Romans, Commentary on, Ficker, J., " Luthers Vorlesung tiber den Romerbrief 1515-1516," Glossen, 2, Scholien ("Anfange, reformatorischer Bibelauslegung," ed. J. Ficker, vol. 1), Leipzig, 1908. " Sammlung gemeinverstandlicher Vortriige und Schriften aus dem Gebiete der Theologie und Religionsgeschichte." Tu- bingen and Leipzig, 1896 ff. Scheel, O., " Luthers Stellung zur Heiligen Schrift " (" Sammlung gemeinverstandlicher Vortrage und Schriften aus dem Gebiete der Theologie," No. 29), Tubingen, 1902. (Schlaginhaufen, " Aufzeichnungen "), " Tischreden Luthers aus den Jahren 1531 und 1532 nach den Aufzeichnungen von Johann Schlaginhaufen aus einer Miinchener Handschrift," ed. W. Preger, Leipzig, 1888. " Scholia Rom," see Romans, Commentary on. " Schriften des Vereins fur Reformationsgeschichte," Halle, 1883 ff. Seckendorf, V. L. a, " Commentarius historicus et apologeticus de Lutheranismo sive de reformatione religionis ductu D. Martini Lutheri . . . recepta et stabilita," Lipsise, 1694. Spahn, M., " Johann Cochlaus. Ein Lebensbild aus der Zeit der Kirchenspaltung," Berlin, 1898. " Studien und Darstellungen aus dem Gebiete der Geschichte. Im Auftrage der Gorres-Gesellschaft und in Verbindung mit der Redaktion des Historischen Jahrbuches," ed. H. Grauert, Freiburg i/B., 1900 ff. " Studien und Kritiken, Theologische. Zeitschrift fiir das gesamte Gebiet der Theologie," Hamburg, later, Gotjja, 1835 ff. (" Symbolische Biicher "), Miiller H. T., "Die symbolischen Bticher der evangelisch-lutherischen Kirche deutsch und lateinisch. Mit einer neuen historischen Einleitung VOD Tb. Kolde," 10th ed., Giitersloh, 1907. xxiv BIBLIOGRAPHY " Table-Talk," see " Tischreden." " Tischreden oder Colloquia M. Luthers," ed. Aurifaber, 2 vols., Eisleben, 1564-1565. (Tischreden ed. Forstemann), Forstemann, K. E., " Dr. Martin Luthers Tischreden oder Colloquia. Nach Aurifabers erster Ausgabe mit sorgfaltiger Vergleichung sowohl der Stangwald- ischen als der Selneccerschen Redaktion," 4 vols. (4th vol. ed. with assistance of H. E. Bindseil), Leipzig, 1844-1848. Ulenberg, C., " Historia de Vita . . . Lutheri, Melanchthonis, Matth. Flacii Illyrici, G. Maioris et Andr. Osiandri," 2 voll., Colonize, 1622. (" Vita Lutheri "), " Melanchthonis Philippi Vita Lutheri," in " Vitse, quatuor reformatorum," Berolini, 1841. Also in " Corp. Ref." 6, p. 155 sq. and previously as Preface to the 2nd vol. of the Wittenberg Latin edition of Luther's works. Walther, W., " Fur Luther, Wider Rom. Handbuch der Apolo- getik Luthers und der Reformation den romischen Anklagen gegeniiber," Halle a/S., 1906. Weiss, A. M., O.P., " Lutherpsychologie als Schlussel zur Luther- legende. Denifles Untersuchungen kritisch nachgeprvift," Mayence, 1906 ; 2nd ed., 1906. " Luther und Luthertum," 2, see Denifle. (" Werke," Erl. ed.), " M. Luthers samtliche Werke," 67 vols., ed. J. G. Plochmann and J. A. Irmischer, Erlangen, 1826-1868, vols. 1-20 and 24-26, 2nd ed., ed. L. Enders, Frankfurt a/M., 1862 ff. To the Erl. ed. belong also the Latin " Opp. Lat. exeg.," the " Commentar. in Epist. ad. Galat.," the " Opp. Lat. var.," and the Correspondence (Brief wechsel) ed. by Enders (see under these four titles). Weim. ed., " Dr. Martin Luthers Werke. Kritische Gesamt- ausgabe," Weimar, 1883 ff., ed. J. Knaake, G. Kawerau, P. Pietsch, N. Miiller, K. Drescher and W. Walther. So far (Jan., 1911) there have appeared vols. 1-9 : 10, 1, 2, 3 ; 11-16 ; 17, 1 ; 18-20 ; 23-29 ; 30, 2 ; 3 ; 32 ; 33 ; 34, 1, 2 ; 36; 37. "Deutsche Bibel (1522-1541)," 2 vols. with introductions. *Altenburg ed., 1661-1664, 10 vols. (German) ; reprinted Leipzig, 1729-1740, 22 vols. Eisleben ed. (" Supplement zur Wittenberger und Jenaer Ausg."), ed. J. Aurifaber, 2 vols., 1564-1565. BIBLIOGRAPHY xxv " Werke," Halle ed., ed. J. G.Walch,24vols., 1740-1753 (German), "Neue Ausgabe im Auftrage des Ministeriums der deutschen evangelisch-lutherischen Synode von Missouri, Ohio und andern Staaten," St. Louis, Mo., Zwickau, Schriftenverein, 22 vols., 1880-1904, 23 (index), 1910. Jena ed., 8 vols. of German and 4 vols. of Latin writings, 1555- 1558 ; re-edited later. Wittenberg ed., 12 vols. of German (1539-1559) and 7 vols. of Latin writings (1545-1558). " Auswahl," ed. Buchwald, Kawerau, Kostlin, etc., 8 vols., 3rd ed., Brunswick and Berlin, 1905 ff. ; also 2 supple- mentary vols. Wiedemann, Th., " Johann Eck, Professor der Theologie an der Universitat Ingolstadt," Ratisbon, 1865. Works (Luther's), see " Werke." " Zeitschrift fur katholische Theologie," Innsbruck, 1877 ff. " fiir Kirchengeschichte," ed. Th. Brieger, Gotha, 1877 ff. " fiir Theologie und Kirche," Tubingen, 1890 ff. " Zwinglii H. Opera. Completa editio prima cur. M. Schulero et H. Schulthessio," 8 voll. (voll. 7 et 8 " epistolao "), Turici, 1828-1842. In "Corpus Reformatorum " (2 vols.), voll. 88-89, Berlin and Leipzig, 1905-1908. INTRODUCTION (PREFACE TO THE FIRST AND SECOND GERMAN EDITIONS) THE author's purpose in the present work x has been to give an exact historical and psychological picture of Luther's personality, which still remains an enigma from so many points of view. He would fain present an accurate delinea- tion of Luther's character as seen both from within and from outside throughout the history of his life and work from his earliest years till his death. He has, however, placed his hero's interior life, his spiritual development and his psychic history well in the foreground of his sketch. The external history of the originator of the great German schism has indeed been dealt with fully enough before this. Special historical studies on the various points of his career and times exist in great number and are being daily added to. Whenever necessary, the author has made use of such existing material, although these works are only rarely quoted, in order not to overload the book. Everyone knows with what animation Luther's life has recently been discussed, how his doctrines have been probed, and how they have been compared and contrasted with the theology of the Middle Ages. The Commentary on the Epistle to the Romans, a work of Luther's youth, which was first made use of by Denifle and which now exists in a printed form, has supplied very important new material for the study of the rise of his opinions. With the assistance of this work it has become possible to give an entirely new explanation of how the breach with Rome came about. With regard to the actual questions of dogma, it has been my endeavour to bestow upon them the attention necessary for a right comprehension of history ; at the same time the theological element can only be considered as secondary, our intention being to supply an exact portrait of Luther as a w r hole, which should emphasise various aspects of his 1 Luther, von HARTMANN GRISAR, S. J. (Herdersche Verlagshandlung, Freiburg im Breisgau, 1911-12). xxviii INTRODUCTION mind and character, and not to write a history of dogma, much less a controversial or theological tract. The investiga- tion of his mind, of his intellectual and moral springs of action, and of the spiritual reaction which he himself experienced from his life's work, is indispensably neces- sary if we wish to do justice to the man who so powerfully influenced the development of Europe, and to form a correct idea of the human sides, good as well as bad, of his character. We have preferred, when sketching the psychological picture, to do so in Luther's own words. This method was, however, the most suitable one, in spite of its apparent clumsiness ; indeed it is the only one which does not merely put the truth before the eyes of the reader, but likewise the proofs that it is the truth, while at the same time giving an absolutely life-like picture. It has frequently been necessary to allow Luther to speak in his own words in order that in matters which have been diversely interpreted, or on which he was somewhat uncertain, he may be free to bring forward the pros and cons himself ; we have thus given him the fullest opportunity to defend or accuse himself. If, for this reason, he is quoted more often than some readers may like, yet the originality of his mode of expression, which is always vivid, often drastic, and not infrequently eloquent, should suffice to prevent any impression of tiresomeness. Luther's personality with all its well-known outspokenness has, as a matter of course, been introduced, unvarnished and unexpurgated, just as it betrays itself in the printed pamphlets, which as a rule give so vivid a picture of the writer, in the confidential letters, and in the chatty talk with his friends and table-companions. In a book which, needless to say, is not destined for the edification of the young, but to describe, as an historical work should, the conditions of things as they really were, the author has not thought it permissible to suppress certain offensive passages, or to tone down expressions which, from the standpoint of modern taste, are often too outspoken. With regard to the Table-Talk it may at once be stated that, by preference, we have gone to the actual sources from whence it was taken, so far as these sources are known, i.e. to the first Notes made by Luther's own pupils and recently edited from the actual MSS. by Protestant scholars such as Preger, Wrampelmeyer, Loesche, Kroker, and others. INTRODUCTION xxix In order to preserve the character of the old-time language, the original words and phrases employed by Luther, and also by his friends, have been, as far as possible, adhered to, though not the actual mode of spelling. A certain un- equalness was, however, unavoidable owing to the fact that some of Luther's Latin expressions which have been trans- lated into modern German appear side by side with texts in old German, and that in the first written notes of the Table- Talk frequently only half the sentence is in German, the other half, owing to the use of Latin stenography, or because the speakers intermingled Latin and German haphazard, being given in Latin. Some difficulties presented by the German of that day have been made plain to the reader by words introduced in brackets. In selecting and sifting the material, a watchful eye has been kept not only on Luther's mental history, but also on the Luther-Legends, whether emanating from advocates of the Wittenberg Doctor or from his Catholic opponents. It is a remarkable phenomenon only to be explained by the ardent interest taken in the struggle which Luther called forth, how quickly and to what an extent legendary matter accumulated, and with what tenacity it was adhered to. The inventions which we already find flourishing luxuriantly in the earliest panegyrics on the Reformer and in the oldest controversial works written to confute him (we express no opinion on the good faith of either side), are many of them not yet exploded, but continue a sort of tradition, even to the present day. Much that was false in the tales dating from the outset, whether in Luther's favour or to his dis- advantage, is still quoted to-day, in favour of or against him. In the light of a dispassionate examination the cloud-banks of panegyrics and embellishments tend, however, to vanish into thin air, though, on the other hand, a number of dark spots which still clung to the memory of the man owing to hasty acceptance of the statements of older anti-Lutheran writers, have also disappeared. The Protestant historian, Wilhelm Maurenbrecher, de- clared in 1874 in his " Studien und Skizzen zur Geschichte der Reformationszeit " (p. 239), that a good life of Luther could not soon be written owing to the old misrepresenta- tions having given birth to a fable convenue ; " the rubbish and filth with which the current theological view of the xxx INTRODUCTION Reformation period has been choked up, intentionally or unintentionally, is too great, and the utter nonsense which it has been the custom to present and to accept with readiness as Luther's history, is still too strong." Mauren- brecher, speaking of the Protestant tradition, felt himself justified in alluding to " a touching affection for stories which have become dear." During the forty years or so which have elapsed since then, things have, however, im- proved considerably. Protestant scholars have taken on themselves the honourable task of clearing away the rubbish. Nevertheless, looking at the accounts in vogue of Luther's development, one of the most recent historians of dogma, writing from Luther's own camp, at the very commencement of a work dealing with the Reformer's development, declares : " We still possess no reliable biography of Luther." So says Wilhelm Braun in his work, " Die Bedeutung der Con- cupiscenz in Luthers Leben und Lehre " (Berlin, 1908). The excrescences on the Catholic side have also been blamed by conscientious Catholic historians. I am not here speaking of the insulting treatment of Luther customary with some of the older polemical writers, with regard to which Erasmus said : " Si scribit adversus Luiherum, qui subinde vocat ilium asinum, stipitem, bestiam, cacodcemonem, anti- christum, nihil eratfacilius quam in ilium scribere" (" Opp.," ed. Lugd., 3, col. 658) ; I am speaking rather of the great number of fables and false interpretations which have been accepted, mostly without verification. Concerning these Joseph Schmidlin says in his article, " Der Weg zum historischen Verstandnis des Luthertums " (III., " Vereins- schrift der Gorresgesellschaft fur 1909," p. 32 f.) : " The Luther-problem has not yet found a solution. . . . To what an extent the apologetico-dogmatic method, as employed by Catholics, can deviate from historical truth is proved down to the present day by the numerous contro- versial pamphlets merely intended to serve the purposes of the moment. . . . The historical point of view, on the contrary, is splendidly adapted to bring into evidence the common ground on which Catholic and Protestant scholars can, to a certain extent, join hands." While confronting the fables which have grown up on either side with the simple facts as they are known, I was, naturally, unwilling to be constantly denouncing the INTRODUCTION xxxi authors who were responsible for their invention or who have since made them their own, and accordingly, on principle, I have avoided mentioning the names of those whose accounts I have rectified, and confined myself to the facts alone ; in this wise I hope to have avoided giving offence or any reason for superfluous personal discussions. I trust that it is clear from the very form of the book, which deals with Luther and with him alone, that the history of the Wittenberg Doctor is my only concern and that I have no wish to quarrel with any writer of olden or more recent times. I have been able to profit by the liberty thus attained, to attack the various fables without the slightest scruple. With regard to the other details of the work ; my inten- tion being to write a psychology of Luther based on his history, it necessarily followed that some parts which were of special importance for this purpose had to be treated at greater length, whereas others, more particularly historical events which had already been repeatedly described, could be passed over very lightly. Owing to the psychological point of view adopted in this work the author has also been obliged to follow certain rules in the division and grouping. Some sections had to be devoted to the consideration of special points in Luther's character and in the direction of his mind, manifestations of which frequently belong to entirely different periods of his life. Certain pervading tendencies of his life could be treated of only in the third volume, and then only by going back to elements already portrayed, but absolutely essential for a right comprehension of the subject. Without some such arrangement it seemed impossible to explain satis- factorily his development, and to produce a convincing picture of the man as a whole. Although a complete and lengthy description has been devoted to Luther's idea of his higher mission (vol. iii., ch. xvi.) a subject rightly considered of the greatest interest yet the growth of this idea, its justification, and its various phases, is really being dealt with throughout the work. The thoughtful reader will probably be able to arrive at a decision as to whether the idea was well founded or not, from the historical materials furnished by Luther himself. He will see that the result which shines out from xxxii INTRODUCTION the pages of this book is one gained purely by means of history, and that the mere scientific process is sufficient to smooth the way for a solution of the question ; to discuss it from a sectarian standpoint never entered into my mind. The writer's unalterable principle on this point has been, that in historical studies the religious convictions of the author must never induce him to set aside the stubborn facts of the past, to refuse their full importance to the sources, or pusillanimously to deny the rightful deductions from history. This, however, does not mean that he has imposed on himself any denial of his religious convictions. Just as the convinced Protestant, when judging of historical facts, cannot avoid showing his personal standpoint, and just as the freethinking historian applies his own standard everywhere in criticising events both profane and religious, so the Catholic too must be free to express his opinion from the point of view of his own principles as soon as the facts have been established. The unreasonableness and im- possibility of writing a history from which personal con- victions are entirely absent has been recognised by all competent authorities, and, in a subject like that here treated, this is as plain as day. Such an artificial and unreal history of Luther would surely be dreary and dull enough to frighten anyone, apart from the fact that Luther himself, whose fiery nature certainly admitted nothing of indifference, would be the first to protest against it, if he could. Is it really impossible for a Catholic historian to depict Luther as he really was without offending Protestant feelings in any way ? Without any exaggerated optimism, I believe it to be quite possible, because honesty and historical justice must always be able to find a place some- where under the sun and wherever light can be thrown, even in the most delicate historical questions. In the extracts from my studies on Luther (cp. for instance the article "Der 'gute Trunk' in den Lutheranklagen, eine Revision" in the " Historisches Jahrbuch," 1905, pp. 479-507), Protestants themselves admitted that the matter was treated " with entire objectivity " and acknowledged the " moderate tone " which prevailed throughout. Such admissions were to me a source of real pleasure. Other critics, highly pre- judiced in favour of Luther, actually went so far as to declare, that this impartiality and moderation was " all on INTRODUCTION xxxiii the surface " and a mere " ingenious make-believe," employed only in order the better to deceive the reader. They took it upon themselves to declare it impossible that certain charges made against Luther should have been minimised by me in real earnest, and various good aspects of his character admitted frankly and with conviction. Such discoveries, as far-fetched as they are wanting in courtesy, may be left to take care of themselves, though I shall not be surprised to be again made the object of similar personal insults on the appearance of this book. I may, however, assure Protestant readers in general, whose esteem for Luther is great and who may be dis- agreeably affected by certain passages in this book which are new to them, that the idea of offending them by a single word was very far from my intention. I am well aware, and the many years I have passed at home in a country of which the population is partly Catholic and partly Protestant have made it still clearer to me, how Protestants carry out in all good faith and according to their lights the practice of their religion. Merely in view of these, and quite apart from the gravity of the subject itself, everything that could be looked on as a challenge or an insult should surely be avoided as a stupid blunder. I would therefore ask that the book be judged impartially, and without allowing feelings, in them- selves quite natural, to interfere unduly ; let the reader ask himself simply whether each assertion is, or is not, proved by the facts and witnesses. As regards the author, however, he would ask Ms readers to remember that we Catholics (to quote the words of a Swiss writer) " are not prevented by the view we hold of the Church, from rejoicing over all that our separated brethren throughout the world have preserved of the inheritance of Christ, and display in their lives, that, on the contrary, our best and sincerest esteem is for the bona fides of those who think otherwise than we " (" Schwei- zerische Kirchenzeitung," 1910, No. 52, December 29). With regard to " inconvenient facts," Friedrich Paulsen wrote in his " Geschichte des gelehrten Unterrichts " (I 2 , 1896, p. 196) : " If Protestant historians had not yielded so much to the inclination to slur over inconvenient facts, Janssen's ' History of the German People ' [English trans., 1901-1909] would not have made the impression it did surely an ' inconvenient fact ' for many Protestants." The xxxiv INTRODUCTION same respected Protestant scholar also has a word to say to those who were scandalised at some disagreeable historical home-truths which he had published, " as though it were my fault that facts occurred in the history of the Reformation which a friendly biographer of Luther must regret." Even in the Protestant world of the present day there is a very general demand for a plain, unvarnished picture of Luther. " Atnicus Lutherus magis arnica reritas," as Chr. Rogge said when voicing this demand ; the same writer also admitted that there was " much to be learnt from the Catho- lics, even though they emphasised Luther's less favourable qualities " ; that, " we could not indeed expect them to look at Luther with our eyes, but nevertheless we have not lost all hope of again finding among them men who will fight the Monk of Wittenberg with weapons worthy of him." And further, " the scholar given up to historical research can and ought to strive to bring the really essential clement of these struggles to the knowledge and appreciation of his oppo- nents, for, if anywhere, then surely in the two principal camps of Christendom, large-minded polemics should be possible" ("Zum Kampfe um Luther" in the " Tiirmer," January, 1906, p. 490). I have not only avoided theological polemics with Protestants, but have carefully refrained from considering Protestantism at all, whether that of to-day or of the two previous centuries. To show the effects of Luther's work upon the history of the world w r as not my business. The object of my studies has not been Lutheranism, but Luther himself considered apart from later Protestantism, so far as this was possible ; of course, we cannot separate Luther from the effects he produced, he foresaw the results of his work, and the acceptance of this responsibility was quite characteristic of him. I will only say, that the task I set myself in this work closes with the first struggles over his grave. I may remark further, that the Luther of theology, even in Protestant circles, is being considered more and more as an isolated fact. Are there not even many Protes- tant theologians who at the present day allow him no place whatever in the theological and philosophical doctrines which they hold ? Indeed, is it not an understood thing with many of our Protestant contemporaries, to reject entirely or in part the doctrines most peculiar and most dear INTRODUCTION xxxv to Luther. Two years ago the cry was raised for " a further development of religion," for " a return from Trinitarian to Unitarian Christianity, from the dogmatic to the historic Christ," and at the same time the Allgemeine Evangelisch- Lutherische Konferenz at Hanover received a broad hint that, instead of wasting time in working for the Lutheran tenets, they would be better employed in devising a Chris- tianity which should suit the needs of the day and unite all Protestants in one body. In these and similar symptoms we cannot fail to see a real renunciation of Luther as the founder of Protestant belief, for there are many who refuse to hold fast even to that rudimentary Christianity which he, in agreement with all preceding ages, continued to advocate. Only on account of his revolt against external authority in religious questions and his bitter opposition to the Papacy, is he still looked up to as a leader. There is therefore all the less reason for the historian, who subjects Luther to his scrutiny, to fear any reproach of having unwarrantably assailed the Protestantism of to-day. As in these pages my only object has been to examine Luther's person, his interior experiences and his opinions from the point of view of pure history, I think I have the right to refuse beforehand to be drawn into any religious controversy. On the other hand, historical criticism of facts will always be welcomed by me, whether it comes from the Catholic or from the Protestant camp, and will be par- ticularly appreciated wherever it assists in elucidating those questions which still remain unsolved and to which I shall refer when occasion arises. Finally, an historical reminiscence, which carries us back to the religious contradictions as they existed in Germany a hundred years ago, may not be out of place. At that time Gottlieb Jakob Planck of Wurttemberg, Professor of Theology at Gottingen, after the lengthy and unprofitable polemics of earlier ages, made a first attempt to pave the way for a more just treatment by the Protestant party of Luther's history and theology. In his principal work, i.e. in the six volumes of his " Geschichte der Entstehung, der Veranderung und der Bildung unseres protestantischen Lehrbegriffs " (finished in 1800), he ventured, with all the honesty of a scholar and the frankness natural to a Swabian, to break through the time-honoured custom according to xxxvi INTRODUCTION which, as he says, all " those who dared even to touch on the mistakes of our reformers were stigmatised as blasphemers." " While engaged on this work," he declares, " I never made any attempt to forget I was a Protestant, but I hope that my personal convictions have never led me to misrepresent other people's doctrines, or to commit any injustice or even to pass an unkind judgment. Calm impartiality is all that can be demanded." I should like, mutatis mutandis, to make his words my own, and to declare that, while I, too, have never forgotten that I am a Catholic, I stand in no fear of my impartiality being impugned. I would likewise wish to appropriate the following words taken from Planck, substituting the word " Protestants " for " Catholics " : " The justice which I have thought it neces- sary to do to Catholics may perhaps excite some surprise, because some people can never understand one's treating opponents with fairness." But " I am convinced that, if my readers are scandalised, this will merely be on account of the novelty of the method. I really could not bring myself to sacrifice truth and justice to any fear of giving offence." Planck admits, elsewhere, speaking of Lutheran history, that compliance with the demands of impartiality in respect of certain persons and events which he had to describe, was sometimes " incredibly hard," and he proceeds : " There are circumstances where every investigator is apt to get annoyed unless indeed disinterestedness is to him a natural virtue. ... It is exasperating [the present writer can vouch for this] to have to waste time and patience on certain things." So speaks a theologian renowned among Protestants for his earnestness and kindliness. With the best of intentions Planck spent part of his time and strength in the chimerical task of bringing about a " reunion of the principal Christian bodies." He wrote a work, " Ueber die Trennung und Wiedervereinigung," etc. (on Schism and Reunion, 1803), and another entitled " Worte des Friedens an die katholische Kirche " (Words of Peace to the Catholic Church, 1809). It was his desire " to seek out the good which surely exists everywhere." The ideas he put forward were, it is true, unsuited for the realisation of his great plan. He was too unfamiliar with the organisation of the Catholic Church, and the limitations of his earlier education disqualified him for the undertaking INTRODUCTION xxxvii he had in view. What really shattered the hopes of reunion held by many during that period of triumphant Rationalism was, not merely the shallowness of the views prevailing, but above all the spirit of animosity let loose among all fervent Lutherans by the celebration, in 1817, of the third centenary of the Reformation. Catholics soon perceived that reunion was unfortunately still very far distant, and that, in the interests of the public peace, all that could be expected was the retention of mutual esteem and Christian charity between the two great denominations. It is also my most ardent desire that esteem and charity should increase, and this growth of appreciation between Catholics and Protestants will certainly not be hindered by the free and untrammelled discussion of matters of history. On the contrary, as a Protestant critic of Walter Kohler's " Katholizismus und Reformation " says, " it is to be hoped that historical investigation may lessen the contradictions, and if in this way it is possible to come closer together, not indeed perhaps to understand each other completely, yet at least to make some attempt to do so, then something deeper and more lasting will have been gained than at the time when Rationalism prevailed. The attempt then made to bring the parties together was the result of a levelling down of religious beliefs, now the same object is sought by penetrating more profoundly into the essentials of the different creeds " (" Theologische Literaturzeitung," 1907, p. 250). The quotations from Luther's writings have been taken from the most recent Weimar edition so far as it at present reaches. What is not contained in the Weimar edition has been taken from the previous Erlangen edition (method of quotation : Weim. ed., Erl. ed.) ; the latter is, however, often quoted as well as the Weimar edition because it is more widely known and more readily available for reference. Luther's letters have been taken from the new edition of the " Brief wechsel " by Enders, which is also not yet quite complete. The epistles of Luther's later years, which are still wanting in Enders' work, and also some of earlier date, are given as in volumes lii.-liv. of the Erlangen edition, where a great number of German letters are collected, or else as in the old edition of " Brief e, Sendschreiben und Bedenken " by De Wette-Seidemann. (See above, p. xvii. ff., " Correspondence," " Letters," " Works.") With regard to the other sources of information we need only state, that until the whole of the " Tischreden " (Table-Talk) have been edited by Ernst Kroker in the Weimar series, we are com- xxxviii INTRODUCTION pelled to have recourse to the older German and Latin collections of the same, together with the original notes mentioned above (p. xx.). Of the German collection, in addition to the work of Aurifaber, the "Tischreden " of Forstemann-Bindseil and of the Erlangen edition (vols. Ivii.-lxii.) have been used, and, for the Latin collection, Bindseil's careful edition (see p. xvi. f.). From among the large number of lives of Luther which have been consulted I shall mention only the two latest, one by a Catholic, Denifle, and the other by two Protestants, Kostlin and Kawerau. It is hardly necessary to say, that I brought to the study of the two last-mentioned works an absolutely independent judgment. The information universally acknowledged as extremely valuable- supplied by Denifle's ponderous volumes on the relation between Luther's theology and that of the Middle Ages, was of considerable service to me. To Kostlin's biography of Luther, continued by Kawerau, I am indebted for some useful data with regard to the history and chronology of Luther's writings. This most detailed of the Protestant biographies, and the most frequently quoted by me, offers this further advantage that in its judgment of Luther, his life's work, and his personal qualities, it occupies a middle line between two Protestant extremes. Kostlin having belonged to the so- called intermediary school of theology, the author, in his delineation of Luther, avoids alike certain excesses of the conservatives and the caustic, subtilising criticism of the rationalists. There is no such thing as a simple " Protestant opinion" on Luther; and Kostlin's intermediary treatment is the one least likely to lead a Catholic to commit an in^ justice against either of the extreme parties in Protestantism. Does a Catholic opinion exist with regard to Luther's personal qualities and his fate ? Does the much-discussed work of Denifle represent the " Catholic feeling " ? That it does has frequently been asserted by those most strongly opposed to Denifle. Yet Denifle's manner of regarding Luther was, on the whole, by no means simply " Catholic," but largely biassed by his individual opinion, as indeed has ever been the appreciation by Catholic authors of the different points of Luther's character. Only on those points could Denifle's opinion strictly be styled " Catholic " where he makes the direct acknowledgment of dogmas and the essential organisation of the Church the standard for INTRODUCTION xxxix Luther's views and reforms ; and in this he certainly had on his side the repudiation of Luther by all Catholics. A " Catholic opinion," in any other sense than the above, is the sheerest nonsense, and the learned Dominican would certainly have been the last to make such a claim on his own behalf. The present writer protests beforehand against any such interpretation being placed on his work. The following statements, whether they differ from or agree w T ith those of Denifle, must be looked on as a mere attempt to express what appears to the author to be clearly contained in the sources whence his information comes. In all purely historical questions, in questions of fact and their inferences, the Catholic investigator is entirely free, and decides purely and simply to the best of his knowledge and conscience. A list of Luther's writings with the volumes in which they occur in the last two editions, as well as a detailed index of subjects and names at the end of the sixth volume, will facilitate the use of this work. The author would like to take this opportunity of ex- pressing his most cordial thanks to the Royal Bavarian Library of Munich, and also to the University Library in that city, for the friendly assistance rendered him. These rich sources of information have afforded him, during his frequent and lengthy visits to the Bavarian capital, what the libraries of Rome, which he had been in the habit of consulting for his History of Rome and the Popes of the Middle Ages (Eng. trans., 3 vols., 1911-12), could not supply on the subject here treated. The author will now return to the exploitation of the treasures of Rome and to the task he originally undertook and hopes to bring out, in the near future, a further volume of the History of Rome. THE AUTHOR. MUNICH, January 1, 1911. VOL. I LUTHER THE MONK I. B LUTHEK CHAPTER I COURSE OF STUDIES AND FIRST YEARS IN THE MONASTERY 1. Luther's Novitiate and Early Life ON July 16, 1505, Martin Luther, then a student at the University of Erfurt, invited his friends and acquaintances to a farewell supper. He wished to see them about him for the last time before his approaching retirement to the cloister. " The bright, cheerful young fellow," as his later pupil, Mathesius, 1 calls him, was a favourite in his own circle. Those assembled to bid him farewell, amongst whom were also " honest, virtuous maidens and women," 2 were doubt- less somewhat taken aback at their friend's sudden deter- mination to 'leave the world; but Luther was outwardly " beyond measure cheerful " and showed himself so light of heart that he played the lute while the wine-cup circled round. 3 On the following morning it was the feast of St. Alexius, as Luther remembered when an old man 4 some of his fellow-students accompanied him to the gate of the Augus- tinian monastery and then, with tears in their eyes, saw the doors close upon him. The Prior, who was already apprised of the matter, greeted the timid new-comer, em- braced him, and then, in accordance with the Rule, con- fided him to the Master of Novices to be initiated into the customs of the community. In the quiet monastic cell and amid the strange new surroundings the student was probably able little by little 1 " Historian," Bl. 3'. 2 Account from the mouth of Luther's friend, Justus Jonas (anno 1538), made public by P. Tschackert in " Theolog. Studien und Kritiken," Jahrg., 1897, p. 578. 3 Ibid. * " Colloquia," ed. Bindseil, 3, p. 187. 4 LUTHER THE MONK to master the excitement which, though hidden from out- siders, raged within his breast ; for the determination to become a monk had been arrived at under strange, soul- stirring circumstances. He was on his way back to Erfurt, after a visit to his parents' house, when, near Stotternheim, he was overtaken by a thunderstorm, and as a flash of lightning close beside him threatened him " like a heavenly vision," he made the sudden vow : " Save me, dear St. Anne, and I will become a monk." 1 He appears also at that very time to have been reduced to a state of great grief and alarm by the sudden death of a dear comrade, also a student, who had been stabbed, either in a quarrel or in a duel. Thus the thoughts which had perhaps for long been attract- ing his serious temperament towards the cloister ripened with overwhelming rapidity. Could we but take a much later assertion of his as correct, the reason of his resolve was to be found in a certain vexation with himself : because he " despaired " of himself, he once says, therefore did he retire into the monastery. 2 It was his earnest resolution to renounce the freedom of his academic years and to seek peace of soul and reconciliation with God in the bosom of the pious community. He per- sisted in keeping the vow made in haste and terror in spite of dissuading voices which made themselves heard both within himself and around him, and the determined opposi- tion of his father to his embracing the religious state. Some were full of admiration for the energetic transformation of the new postulant. Thus the respected Augustinian of Erfurt, Johann Nathin, compared the suddenness and decision of his step to the one-time conversion of Saul into the Apostle Paul. 3 Crotus Rubeanus, the Humanist, then 1 " Colloquia," ed. Bindseil, 3, p. 187. 2 Bei K. Jiirgens, " Luther von seiner Geburt bis zum Ablassstreite," 1 Bd. Leipzig, 1846, p. 522, from the unpublished Cod. chart, bibl. due. Goth, 168, p. 26. According to Loesche (" Analecta Lutherana," p. 24, n. 8) this MS. (B. 168) was written in 1553, and may be described as a collection of Luther's opinions on various persons and things. On page 26 it contains a list entitled " Studia Lutheri." We shall have occasion to deal with Luther's entrance into religion in volume vi., chapter xxxvii., 2. 3 Hier. Dungersheim von Ochsenfurt, Professor of Theology in Leipzig, in a tract published in 1531 in " Aliqua opuscula magistri Hieronymi Dungersheym . . . contra M. Lutherum edita," written in 1530, " Dadelung des . . . Bekentnus oder untuchtigen Luther- ischen Testaments," Bl. 14a. (Miinchener Universitatsbibliothek, Theol., 3099, n. 552.) EARLY LIFE 5 stopping at Erfurt, in a later letter to Luther, expressed himself no less forcibly with regard to the heavenly flash which had made him a monk. 1 The brothers of the " Ger- man Congregation of the Order of Hermits of St. Augustine " such was the full title of the Order on their part re- joiced at the acquisition of the highly gifted and promising youth, who had already taken his degree as Master of Philosophy at the University of Erfurt. If the novice, after gradually regaining peace of mind within the silent walls, permitted his thoughts to recur to his former way of life, this must have presented itself to him as full of trouble and care and very deficient in the homely joys of family life. Luther's early career differed hardly at all from that of the poorest students of that time. He was bom on November 10, 1483, in Eisleben in Saxony ; his parents were Hans Luther, a miner of peasant extraction (he signed himself Luder) and Margaret Luther. They had originally settled in the town of Mansfeld, but had gone first to Mohra and then to Eisleben. Their gifted son spent his childhood in Mansfeld and first attended school there. His father was a stern, harsh man. His mother, too, though she meant well by him, once beat him till the blood came, all on account of a nut. 2 The boy was also intimi- dated by the stupid brutality of his teachers, and it does not appear that the customary religious teaching he received, raised his spirits or led to a freer, more hopeful develop- ment of his spiritual life. He was one day, as he relates later, " beaten fifteen times in succession during one morn- ing " at school, to the best of his knowledge without any fault of his own, though, probably, not without having brought the punishment upon himself by insubordination and obstinacy. After that, in his fourteenth year, he received instruction in Magdeburg from the " Pious Brethren of the Common Life," and begged his bread by singing from door to door. A year later he went to Eisenach, where his mother had some poor relatives, to continue his Latin studies. In this town he still pursued the same hard mode of earning his living, until a charitable woman, Ursula, the wife of Kunz (Konrad) Cotta, received him into her well-to-do and 1 " Hutteni Opp.," ed. Booking, 1, p. 309. 2 " Tischreden." ed. Forstemann, 4, p. 129 ; Mathesius, " Auf zeichnungen," p. 235. 6 LUTHER THE MONK comfortable household, furnishing him with food and lodging. Luther, in his old age, recalled with great gratitude the memory of his noble benefactress. 1 As a boy he had experienced but little of life's pleasures and received small kindness from the world ; but now life's horizon brightened somewhat for the growing youth. Full of enthusiasm for the career mapped out for him by his father, that, namely, of the Law, he went in the summer of 1501 to the University of Erfurt. His parents' financial circumstances had meanwhile somewhat improved as the result of his father's industry in the mines at Mansfeld. The assiduous student was therefore no longer dependent on the help of strangers. According to some writers he took up his abode in St. George's Hostel. 2 He was entered in the Matriculation Register of the Erfurt High School as " Mar- tinus Ludher ex Mansfelt," and for some considerable time after he continued to spell his family name as Luder, a form which is also to be found up to the beginning of the seven- teenth century in the case of others (Liider, Luider, Leuder). From 1512 he began, however, to sign himself " Lutherus " or " Luther." 3 The lectures on philosophy, understood in the widest sense of the term, which he first attended were delivered at the University of Erfurt by comparatively capable teachers, some of whom belonged to the Augustinian Order. The Catholic spirit of the Middle Ages still per- meated the teaching and the whole life of the little republic of learning. As yet, learning was still cast in the mould of the traditional scholastic method, and the men, equally devoted to the Church and to their profession, who were Luther's principal teachers, Jodocus Trutfetter of Eisenach and Bartholomew Arnoldi of Usingen, 4 later an Augustinian, were well versed in the scholastic spirit of the day. Alongside the traditional teaching of the schools there already existed in Erfurt and the neighbourhood another, viz. that of the Humanists, or so-called poets, which, though largely at variance with Scholasticism, was cultivated by many of the best minds of the day. Luther, with his vivacity of thought and feeling, could not long remain a stranger to 1 Mathesius, " Historian," Bl. 3. 2 Kostlin-Kawerau, 1, p. 744, n. 1, p. 31. 3 Ibid., 1, p. 754, n. 2, p. 166. 4 N. Paulus, " Bartholomaus Arnoldi von Usingen," Freiburg im Breisgau, 1893. HUMANIST FRIENDS 7 them. With their spiritual head Mutianus at Gotha, close by, they formed one of the more prominent groups of Ger- man Humanists, although, so far, they had not produced any work of great consequence. The contrast between Humanism and Scholasticism, which was to come out so strongly at a later period, was as yet hardly noticeable in the Erfurt schools. Crotus Rubeanus, at that time a University friend of Luther's, became at a later date, however, the principal author of the " Epistolae Obscurorum Virorum," a clever and biting libel on monks and Scholastics, written from a Humanist standpoint. Crotus boasted subsequently of his intimate intercourse (" summa familiaritas ") with Luther. 1 Another Humanist friend whose spiritual relationship with him dates from that time, was Johann Lang, afterwards an Augustinian monk, with whom Luther stood in active inter- change of thought during the most critical time of his development, as may be seen from the letters quoted below, and who, caught up by the Lutheran movement, left his Order 2 to become the first preacher of the new faith in Erfurt. The third name which we find in connection with Luther is that of Kaspar Schalbe, a cousin, or possibly a brother of the lady already mentioned, Mistress Ursula Cotta of Eisenach. Schalbe did not turn out any better than the others. A few years later, on being charged before the Elector of Saxony with a crime against morality, he was glad to avail himself of Luther's mediation with the Ruler of the land. 3 Finally, we also know that a later patron and supporter of Luther, the Humanist Spalatinus, was then carrying on his studies in Erfurt. George Burckhardt of Spalt whence his name Spalatinus was a student there from 1498 to 1502, and, from 1505 to 1508, was engaged as 1 " Hutteni Opp.," ed. Booking, 1, p. 309. Cp. 1, p. 307, ep. 1, " Martino Luthero, amico suo antiquissimo." 2 Th. Kolde, " Die deutsche Augustinerkongregation und Johann von Staupitz," Gotha, 1879, p. 380. 3 Luther to Spalatinus, July 3, 1526 (see " Brief wechsel," 5, p. 366). To the Elector Johann of Saxony, November 15, 1526 : Luther's "Werke," Erl. ed. 54, p. 50 (" Brief wechsel," 5, p. 403). Johann of Saxony to Luther, November 26, 1526; " Brief wechsel," 5, p. 409. Luther to the same, March 1, 1527 : " Werke," Erl. ed. 53, p. 398 ("Brief wechsel," 6, p. 27). On the three friends mentioned in the text, see A. Hausrath, "Luthers Bekehrung" (" Neue Heidelberger Jahrbiicher," 6, 1896, pp. 163 66 ff. and idem. "Luthers Leben," 1, 1904, p. 14 ff.). 8 LUTHER THE MONK a clerical preceptor in the immediate vicinity of the town. Luther and Spalatinus always looked on themselves later as early friends whom fate had brought together. As a student, Luther devoted himself with great zest to the various branches of philosophy, and, carried away by the spirit of the Humanists, in his private time he studied the Latin classics, more particularly Cicero, Virgil, Livy, Ovid, also Terence, Juvenal, Horace and Plautus. At a later date he was able to make skilful use of quotations from these authors when occasion demanded. Amongst others, he attended the lectures of Hieronymus Eraser, a subsequent opponent well worth his metal. Of his life during those years, which, owing to the laxity of morals prevailing in the town, must have been full of danger for him, we learn little, owing to the silence of our sources. Luther himself in his later years coarsely described the town as a " beer house " and a " nest of immorality." Unlike his frivolous comrades, he was often beset with heavy thoughts, no doubt largely due to the after effects of his gloomy youth. Among his chums he was known as " Musicus," on account of his learning to play the lute, and as the " Philosopher," owing to his frequent fits of moodiness. In the monastery, where the reader icft him, he no doubt remained subject to such fits of depression, especially at the beginning when dwelling on his change of life. It is difficult to say how far the feeling of self-despair, which he mentions, had mastered him before his entry into conventual life. In later years, apart from the vow and the mysterious " heavenly terror," he also says that in leaving the world he was seeking to escape the severity of his parents. His statements, however, do not always agree. As for the pre- cipitate vow to enter a monastery, he must have been well aware that, even if valid when originally made, it was no longer binding on him from the day when, after conscientious self-examination, he became aware that, owing to his natural disposition, he had no vocation for a religious life. Not every character is fitted for carrying out the evangelical counsels, and to force oneself into a mould, however good, for which one is manifestly unsuited is certainly not in accordance with the will of a wise and beneficent Providence. Luther, agreeably with the statutes of the Order, during THE NOVITIATE 9 the whole period of his novitiate and until the hour of his profession had arrived, was perfectly free to return to his fellow-students, the religious tie never having been intended to bring him misery in place of the happiness which it promises. Immediately after coming to the monastery, i.e. before his clothing, he was, according to the Rule, given considerable time in which to weigh earnestly, under the direction of an experienced brother of the Order, whether, as stated in the statutes of the Augustinians, " the spirit which was leading him was of God." Only after this did he receive the habit of the Order, apparently, however, in the same year, 1505. The habit consisted of a white woollen tunic and scapular, and a black mantle with a hood and wide sleeves to be worn over all. 1 After the clothing began the novitiate, which lasted a whole year. During this period the candidate had not only to undertake a series of exercises consisting in prayer, manual labour and penitential works, but had also to dis- charge certain humiliating offices, which might help him to acquire the virtue of humility as practised in the Order. Out of consideration for the University and his academic dignity Luther was, however, speedily exempted from some of the latter duties. It appears that during his noviceship he was attentive to the rules, and that the superiors treated him with fatherly kindness. Although some members of the community may have observed the Rule from routine, while others, as is often the case in large communities, may not have been conspicuous for their charity- Luther refers to something of this kind in his Table- Talk- yet the spirit of the Erfurt monastery was, like that of most of the other houses of the Congregation, on the whole quite blameless. The novice himself, as yet full of goodwill, was not only satisfied with his calling, but even looked on the state he had chosen as a " heavenly life." 2 From the very first, however, as he himself complains later, he was constantly " worried and depressed " 3 by thoughts connected with religion. He was sorely troubled by the fear of God's judgment, by gloomy thoughts on pre- destination, and by the recollection of his own sins. Al- 1 See Paulus, " Joh. Hoffmeister," 1891, p. 4. 2 Cp. below, p. 16. Kostlin-Kawerau, 1, p. 73. 3 To Hier. Weller (July ?), 1530, " Brief wechsel," 8, p. 159. 10 LUTHER THE MONK though he made a general confession in the monastery and renewed it again later, his confessions never gave him any satisfaction, so that his director laid on him the obligation not to hark back to things which caused him sadness of spirit nor to dwell on the details of his sins. " You arc a fool," he once said to him ; " God is not angry with you, but it is you who are angry with Him." Those versed in the ways of the spiritual life are well aware that many a one aiming at perfection is exposed to the purifying fire of trials such as these. Traditional Catholic teaching and the experience of those skilled in the direction of conventual inmates had laid down the remedies most effectual for such a condition. What Luther himself relates later with regard to the encouragement he received from his superiors and brothers in the monastery, shows clearly that suitable direction, enlightenment and encourage- ment were not wanting to him either then or in the following years. He himself praises his " Pracceptor " and " monastic pedagogue," i.e. the Novice-Master, as " a dear old man," 1 who " under the damned frock was without doubt a true Christian." 2 It was probably he who said to him in an hour of trial that he should always recall the article of the Creed " I believe in the forgiveness of sins." 3 " What are you doing, my son ? " he said to him on another occasion ; "do you not know that the Lord has Himself commanded us to hope? " 4 words which made a great and unforgettable im- pression on him. Later, in the year 1516, he pointed out another brother, Master Bartholomew (Usingen), as the " best paraclete and comforter " 5 in the Erfurt monastery, as he could testify from his own experience. The monks knew well and impressed it upon his troubled mind that, 1 Letter to the Elector (April or June ?, 1540), ed. Seidemann, " Lauterbachs Tagebuch," p. 197. 2 In the Preface to Bugenhagen's (Pomeranus) edition of "Athan- asius contra idolatriam," etc., Wittenbergse, 1532. He there recalls having read the Dialogue of Athanasius and Arius " with zeal and a glow of faith," " primo anno monachatus mei, cum Erfordice pcedagogus meus mona-ilicus vir sane optimus et absque dubio sub damnato cucullo verus christianus mihi eum sua manu descriptum dedisset legendum " (Cp. "Opp. Lat. exeg.," 19, p. 100). 3 Ph. Melanchthonis Vita Lutheri (" Vitae qiiattuor reformatorum," Berolini, 1841), p. 5. 4 " Opp. Lat. exeg.," 19, p. 100. 6 To George Leiffer, April 15, 1516, " Briefwechsel," 1, p. 31. " Opp. Lat. exeg.," ibid. INWARD UNREST 11 through the merits of the Redeemer, and after earnest preparation of the soul, true forgiveness may be obtained, and that through the cross of Christ, and through it alone, \ve can do all things necessary, even in the midst of the bitterest assaults. Luther, however, too often responded to such admonitions only by cherishing his own views the more. He continued morbidly to torment himself. This self-torture, at any rate during the first enthusiastic days of his religious life, may have assumed the form of pious scruples, but later it gradu- ally took on another character under the influence of bodily affections. He did not, like other scrupulous persons, regain his peace of mind, because, led away by his distorted and excited fancy, he liked, as he himself admits, to dwell on the doubts as to whether the counsels he received were not illusion and deception. Sad experience taught him into what devious paths and to " what a state of inward unrest, self-will and self-sufficiency are capable of leading a man." 1 The Superior or Vicar-General of the Saxon or German Augustinian Congregation to which Luther belonged was at that time Johann Staupitz, a man highly esteemed in the world of learning and culture. He frequently visited Erfurt and had thus the opportunity of talking to the new brother whom the University had given him, and who may well have attracted his attention by his careworn look, his restless manner and his peculiar, bright, deep-set eyes. Staupitz soon began to have a great esteem for him. He had great influence over Luther, though unable to free him from the strange spirit, already too deeply rooted. To the sad doubts concerning his own salva- tion which Brother Martin laid before him, Staupitz replied by exhorting him as follows in the spirit of the Catholic Church : " Why torment yourself with such thoughts and breedings ? Look at the wounds of Christ and His Blood shed for you. There you will see your predestination to heaven shining forth to your comfort." 2 Quite rightly he impressed upon him, in the matter of confession and penance, that the principal thing was to arouse in himself the will to love God and righteousness, and that he must not pause before unhealthy imaginations of sin. The lines of thought, 1 To Leiffer, ibid. 2 "Lutheri Opp. Let. exeg.," 6, p. 296. 12 LUTHER THE MONK however, which the imaginative and emotional young man laid bare to him, were probably at times somewhat strange, and it is Luther himself who relates that Staupitz once said to him : " Master Martin, I fail to understand that." In spite of his inward fears Luther persevered, which goes to prove the strength of will which was always one of his characteristics. As the Order was satisfied with him, he was admitted at the end of the year of novitiate to pro- fession by the taking of the three Vows of the Order. He received on this occasion the name of Augustine, but always preferred to it his baptismal name of Martin. The text of the Vows which he read aloud solemnly before the altar, according to custom, in the presence of the Prior Winand of Diedenhofen and all the brothers, was as follows : " I, Brother Augustine Luder, make profession and vow obedi- ence to Almighty God, Blessed Mary ever Virgin and to thee Father Prior, in the name of, and as representing the Superior- General of the Hermits of St. Augustine, and his successors, likewise to live without property and in chastity until death, according to the Rule of our Holy Father Augustine." The young monk, voluntarily and after due consideration, had thus taken upon himself the threefold yoke of Christ by the three Vows, i.e. by the most solemn and sacred promise which it is possible to make on earth. He had bound himself by a sacred oath to God to prepare himself for heaven by treading a path of life in which per- fection is sought in the carrying out of the evangelical counsels of our Saviour, and throughout his life to combat the temptations of the world with the weapons of poverty, chastity and obedience. Such was the solemn Vow, which, later on, he declared to have been absolutely worthless. 2. Fidelity to his new calling ; his temptations After making his profession the young religious was set by his Erfurt superiors to study theology, which was taught privately in the monastery. The theological fare served up by the teachers of the Order was not very inviting, consisting as it largely did of the mere verbalism of a Scholasticism in decay. With the exception of the Sentences of Peter Lombard, the students at the Erfurt monastery did not study the theological works of the LUTHER'S PROFESSORS 13 great masters of the thirteenth century ; neither Thomas of Aquin, the prince of scholastic theology and philosophy, nor his true successors, not even JSgidius Romanus, himself a Hermit of St. Augustine, were well known to them. The whole of their time at Erfurt, as elsewhere also, was de- voted to the study of the last of the schoolmen who, indeed, stood nearer in point of time, but who were far from teaching the true doctrine with the fulness and richness of the earlier doctors. They were too much given to speculation and logical word-play. The older schoolmen were no longer appreciated and nominalistic errors, such as were fostered in the school of William of Occam, held the field. One of the better schoolmen of the day was Gabriel Biel. His works, which have a certain value, together with some of the writings of the Fathers of the Church, formed the principal arsenal from which Luther drew his theological knowledge, and upon which he exercised his dialectics. In addition to this, he also studied the theological tractates of John Gerson and Cardinal Peter d'Ailly, works which, apart from other theological defects, contain various errors concerning the authority of the Church and her Head ; that these particular errors had any deeper influence on the direction of Luther's mind cannot, however, be proved. What we do find is that the one-sidedness of this school, with its tendency to hair- splitting, had a negative effect upon him. At an early date he was repelled by the scholastic subtleties, for which, according to him, Aristotle alone was responsible, and pre- ferred to turn to the reading and study of the Bible. He nevertheless made the prevalent school methods so much his own as to apply them often, in a quite surprising fashion, in his earliest sermons and writings. The man who exercised the greatest influence on the theological study in the Erfurt monastery was the learned Augustinian, Johann Paltz, who was teaching there when Luther entered. He was a good Churchman and a fair scholar, and was also much esteemed as a preacher. By his side worked Johann Nathin, who has already been mentioned, likewise one of the respected theologians of the Order. 1 Luther's teachers, full of veneration for the Holy 1 On Luther's teachers and studies, see Oergel, " Vom jungen Luther," p. 105 f. ; for Paltz, see N. Paulus in the Innsbruck "Zeitschrift f. kath. Theologie," 23, 1899, p. 48. 14 LUTHER THE MONK Scriptures as the revealed Word of God, were not at all displeased to see their pupil having frequent recourse to the Bible, in order to seek in the well of the Divine Word instruction and enlightenment, by which to supplement the teachings of the schoolmen and the Fathers. Luther had, moreover, already become acquainted with the Bible in the library of the Erfurt University, whilst still engaged in studying philosophy. He had, however, not prosecuted his reading of the Bible, though the same library would doubtless have supplied him with numerous well- thumbed commentaries on Holy Writ. In the monastery a copy of the Bible was given him at the beginning of his theological course. It was, as we learn from him incidentally, a Latin translation bound in red leather, and remained in his hands until he left Erfurt. The statutes of the Order enjoined on all its members " assiduous reading, devout hearing and industrious study of the Holy Scriptures." The young monk immersed himself more and more in the study of his beloved Bible when Staupitz, the Vicar, advised him to select the same as his special subject in order to render himself a capable " localis and textualis " in the Holy Scriptures. The Superior seems to have had even then the intention of making use later of Luther as a public professor of biblical lore. So ardently was the Vicar's advice followed by Luther that, in his preference for reading the Bible and studying its interpretation, he neglected the rest of his theological education, and his teacher Usingen was obliged to protest against his one-sided study of the sacred text. So full was Luther of the most sacred of books, that he was able (at least this is what he says later) to show the wondering brothers the exact spot in his ponderous red volume where every subject, nay even every quotation, was to be found. It was with great regret that, on leaving this community, he found himself prohibited by the Rule from taking the copy away with him. Later, as an opponent of the religious life, he states that no one but himself read the Bible in the monastery at Erfurt, whilst of his foe Carlstadt, a former University colleague, he bluntly says that he had never seen a Bible until he was promoted to the dignity of Doctor. Of course, neither assertion can be taken literally. When the day drew nigh for him to celebrate his first Mass HIS FIRST MASS 15 as newly ordained priest, he invited not only his father but several other guests to be present at a ceremony which meant so much both to him and to his friends. Thus, in a letter of invitation to Johann Braun, Vicar in Eisenach, who had shown him much kindness and help during his early years in that town, he says that : " God had chosen him, an unworthy sinner, for the unspeakable dignity of His service at the altar," and begged his fatherly friend to come, and by his prayers to assist him " so that his sacrifice might be pleasing in the sight of God." He also expressed to him his great indebtedness to Schalbe's College at Eisenach, which he would also have gladly seen represented at the ceremony. This is the first letter of Luther's which has been preserved and with which the critical edition of his " Correspondence," now being published, commences. 1 The first Mass took place on Cantate Sunday, May 2, 1507. Luther relates later, with regard to his state of mind during the sacred ceremony, that he could hardly contain himself for excitement and fear. The words " Te igitur clementis- sime Pater," at the commencement of the Canon of the Mass, and " Offero tibi Deo meo vivo et vero," at the oblation, brought so vividly to his mind the Awful, Eternal Majesty, that he was hardly able to go on (" totus stupebam et co- horrescebam ") ; he would have rushed down from the altar had he not been held back ; the fear of making some mis- take in the ceremonies and so committing a mortal sin, so he says, quite bewildered him. 2 Yet he must have known, with regard to the ceremonies, that any unintentional in- fringement of them was no sin, and least of all a mortal sin, although he attributes the contrary opinion to the " Papists " after his apostasy. His father Hans assisted at the celebration. His presence in the church and in the refectory was the first sign of his acquiescence in his son's vocation. But when the latter, during dinner, praised the religious calling and the monastic life as something high and great, 3 and went on to recall the vow he had made at the time of the thunderstorm, 1 April 22, 1507, " Briefwechsel," 1, p. 1. 2 "Opp. Lat. exeg.," 6, p 158. (Cp. " Colloq." ed. Bindseil, 3, p. 169 : " ita horrui, ut fugissem de altari" etc.) Also Mathesius, " Tischreden," p. 405. 3 " Lutheri Opp. Lat. var.," 6, p. 239 ; " Werke," Weim. ed. 8 p. 574. 16 LUTHER THE MONK asserting that he had been called by " terrors from Heaven " (" de ccelo terrores "), this was too much for his level-headed father, who, to the astonishment of the guests, sharply inter- posed with the words : " Oh, that it may not have been a delusion and a diabolical vision." He could not overcome his dislike for his son's resolve. "I sit here and eat and drink," he cried, "and would much rather be far away." Luther retorted he had better be content, and that " to be a monk was a peaceful and heavenly life." 1 The statement with regard to the elder Luther agrees with the character of the man and with the severity which he had displayed long before to Martin. Here an assertion must be mentioned made by George Wicel, a well-informed contemporary ; once a Lutheran, he was, from 1533-8, Catholic priest at Eisleben. Two or three times he repeats in print, that Hans Luther had once slain a man in a fit of anger at his home at Mohra. Luther and his friends never denied this public statement. In recent years attempts have been made to support the same by local tradition, and the fact of the father changing his abode from Mohra to Mansfeld has thus been accounted for. 2 According to Karl Seidemann, an expert on Luther (1859), the testimony of Wicel may be taken as settling definitively the constantly recurring dispute on the subject. 3 The following facts which have been handed down throw some light on the inward state of the young man at this time and shortly after. At a procession of the Blessed Sacrament he had to accompany Staupitz, the Vicar, as his deacon. Such was the terror which suddenly seized him that he almost fled. On speaking afterwards of this to his superior, who was also his friend, he received the following instructive reply : " This fear is not from Christ ; Christ does not affright, He com- forts." 4 One day that Luther was present at High Mass in the monks' choir, he had a fit during the Gospel, which, as it 1 From Bavarus's Collection of Table-Talk ; the information is received from a sermon of Luther's preached in 1544. Oertel, " Vom jungen Luther," p. 93. 2 F. Falk, " Alte Zeugnisse iiber Luthers Vater und Mutter und die MOhraer," in " Histor-polit. Blatter," 120, 1897, pp. 415-25. 3 " Lutherbriefe," Dresden, 1859, p. 11, n. 4 "Colloq.," ed. Bindseil, 2, p. 292. " Tischreden," ed. Forstemann, 2, p. 164. MORBID FEARS 17 happened, told the story of the man possessed. He fell to the ground and in his paroxysms behaved like one mad. At the same time he cried out, as his brother monks affirmed : " It is not I, it is not I," meaning that he was not the man possessed. 1 It might seem to have been an epileptic fit, but there is no other instance of Luther having such attacks, though he did suffer from ordinary fits of fainting. Strange to say, some of his companions in the monastery had an idea that he had dealings with the devil, while others, mainly on account of the above-mentioned attack, actually declared him an epileptic. We learn both these facts from his opponent and contemporary, Johann Cochlaeus, who was on good terms with Luther's former associates. He asserts positively that a " certain singularity of manner " had been remarked upon by his fellows in the monastery. 2 Later on his brother monk, Johann Nathin, went so far as to assert that " an apostate spirit had mastered him," i.e. that he stood under the influence of the devil. 3 Melanchthon was afterwards to hear from Luther's own lips something of the dark states of terror from which he had suffered since his youth. When he speaks of them at the commencement of his biographical eulogy on his late friend 4 he connects Luther's strange excitement in the days before his entrance into religion with a certain event in his later history at a time when he was engaged in public con- troversy. "As he himself related, and as many are aware," says Melanchthon, " when considering attentively examples of God's anger, or any notable accounts of His punishments, such terror possessed him ('tanti terrores concutiebant') as almost to cause him to give up the ghost." He describes how, as a full-grown man, when such fears overcame him, he would actually writhe on his bed. He suffered from these terrors (terrores) either for the first time, or most severely, in the year in which he lost his friend by death in an accident, i.e. before his admission to the monastery. " It was not poverty," Melanchthon continues, " but his love of piety 1 Dungersheim, " Erzeigung der Falschheit des unchristlichen lutherischen Comments usw.," in "Aliqua opuscule," p. 15, cited above on p. 4. 2 Job. Cochlaeus, " Commentaria de actis et scriptis M. Lutheri," Mogunt., 1549, p. 1. 3 Dungersheim, ut supra. 4 " Vita Lutheri," p. 5 (see above, p. 10, n. 3.). 18 LUTHER THE MONK which led him to choose the religious life, and, while pur- suing his theological and scholastic studies, he drank with glowing fervour from the springs of heavenly doctrine, namely, the writings of the prophets and apostles (i.e. the Old and New Testament) in order to instruct his spirit in the Divine Will and to nourish fear and love with strong testi- mony. Overwhelmed with these pains and terrors (' dolor es et pavores'), he plunged only the more zealously into the study of the Bible." According to Melanchthon's account, the same old Augustinian who once had directed Luther's attention in an attack of faint-heartedness to the Christian's duty of recalling the article of the forgiveness of sins, also quoted him a saying of St. Bernard : " Only believe that thy sins are forgiven thee through Christ. That is the testimony which the Holy Ghost gives in thy heart : ' Thy sins are forgiven.' Such is the teaching of the apostle, that man is justified by faith." 1 Such words of Catholic faith and joyful trust in God might well have sufficed to reassure an obedient and humble spirit. Luther began to read more and more the mystic writings of the saint of Clairvaux, but as to how far they served to bring him peace of conscience no one can now say ; certain it is that, at a later date, he placed a foreign inter- pretation upon the above-mentioned text and upon many other similar sayings of St. Bernard, which, taken in a Catholic sense, might have been of comfort to him, in order to render them favourable to the methods by which he proposed to make his new teaching a source of consolation. He accustomed himself more and more to follow " his own way," as he calls it, in mind and sentiment. Though in later times he speaks often and at length of his spiritual trials in the monastery, we never hear of his humbling him- self before God with childlike, trustful prayer in order to find a way out of his difficulties. If we consider the temptations of which he speaks, we might be tempted to think that he, with his promising disposition and proneness to extremes, had been singled out in a quite special manner by the tempter. During the term of novitiate, writes Luther when more advanced in years, the evil spirit of darkness, so he has learned, does not 1 Kostlin-Kawerau, 1, p. 71. HIS TEMPTATIONS 19 usually assail so bitterly the monk who is striving after per- fection. Satan generally tempts him but slightly, and, more especially as regards temptations of the flesh, the novice is left in comparative peace, " indeed, nothing appears to him more agreeable than chastity." 1 But, after that time, so he tells us, he himself had to bewail not only fears and doubts, but also numberless temptations which " his age brought along with it." 2 He felt himself at the same time troubled with doubts as to his vocation and by " violent movements of hatred, envy, quarrelsomeness and pride." 3 " I was unable to rid myself of the weight ; horrible and terrifying thoughts (' horrendce et terrificce cogitationes '), stormed in upon me." 4 Temptations to despair of his salva- tion and to blaspheme God tormented him more especially. He had often wondered, he says on one occasion to his father Hans, whether he was the only man whom the devil thus attacked and persecuted, 5 and later he comforted one who was in great anxiety with the words : " When beset with the greatest temptations I could scarcely retain my bodily powers, hardly keep my breath, and no one was able to comfort me. All those to whom I complained answered ' I know nothing about it,' so that I used to sigh ' Is it I alone who am plagued with the spirit of sorrow ! ' " 6 He thinks that he learned the nature of these temptations from the Psalms, and that he had by experience made close acquaintance with the verse of the Bible : " Every night I will wash my bed : I will water my couch with my tears " (Ps. vi. 7). Satan with his temptations was the murderer of mankind ; but, notwithstanding, one must not despair. Luther here speaks of visions granted him, and of angels who after ten years brought him consolation in his solitude ; these statements we shall examine later. Elsewhere he again recounts how Staupitz encouraged him and the manner in which he interpreted his advice reveals a singular self-esteem. Staupitz had pointed out to him the interior trials endured by holy men, who had been purified by temptation, and, after having been humbled, 1 " Opp. Lat, var.," 6, p. 364 ; " Werke," Weim. ed., 8, p. 660. 2 "Opp. Lat. exeg.," p. 19, 100. 3 Ibid. 4 To Hier. Weller (July ?), 1530, " Briefwechsel," 8, p. 160. " Opp. Lat. var.," 6, pp. 240 ; " Werke," Weim. ed., 8, p. 574. 6 " Coll.," ed. Bindseil, 2, p. 295, on Hieronymus Weller. 20 LUTHER THE MONK had risen to be powerful instruments in God's hand. Perhaps, said Staupitz, God has great designs also for you, for the greater good of His Church. This well-meant encouragement remained vividly impressed upon Luther's memory, not least because it seemed to predict a great future for him. " And so it has actually come to pass," he himself says later, " I have become a great doctor though in the time of my temptations I could never have believed it." 1 Speaking later of a reference made by Staupitz to the temptations which humbled St. Paul, he says : " I accepted the words which St. Paul uses : ' A sting of my flesh was given me lest the greatness of the revelation should exalt me ' (2 Cor. xii. 7), wherefore I receive it as the word and voice of the Holy Spirit." Such reflections as these, to which Luther gave himself up, certainly did not tend to help him to rid himself completely of the temptations, and to vanquish his melancholy thoughts of predestination. As a result of following " his own way " and cultivating his morbid fears, he never succeeded in shaking himself free from the thought of predestination. This will appear quite clearly in his recently published Commentary on the Epistle to the Romans, written in 1515-16. In fact, the whole of the theology which he set up against that of the Catholic Church was in some sense dominated by his ideas on predestination. We must, however, pay him this tribute, that during the whole of his stay in the Erfurt monastery he strove to live as a true monk and to keep the Rule. Such was the testimony borne by an old brother monk, as Flacius Illyricus relates, who had lived with him at Erfurt and who always remained true to the Church. Though such may well have been the case, we cannot all the same accept as reliable the accounts, exaggerated and distorted as they clearly are, which, long after his falling away, he gives of his extraordinary holiness when in the monastery. He there attributes to himself, from controversial motives, a piety far above the ordinary, and speaks of the tremendous labours and penances which he imposed upon himself in his blindness. Led away by his imagination and by party animus, he exalts his one-time " holiness by works," as he terms it, to be the better able to assure his hearers ostensibly from his own experience and from the bitter 1 To Hier. Weller, see p. 19, n. 4. HIS FIRST LECTURES 21 disappointment he says he underwent that all works of the Papists, even those of the most pious, holy and mortified, were absolutely worthless for procuring true peace for the soul thirsting after salvation, and that the Catholic Church was quite unable by her teaching to reconcile a soul with God. History merely tells us that he was an observant monk who kept the Rule, and, for that reason, enjoyed the confidence of his superiors. 1 Relying upon his ability and his achievements, Staupitz, the Vicar, summoned him in the autumn of 1508, to Witten- berg, in order that he might there continue his studies and at the same time commence his work as a teacher on a humble scale. As Master of Philosophy Luther gave lectures on the Ethics of Aristotle and probably also on Dialectics, though, as he himself says, he would have preferred to mount the chair of Theology, for which he already esteemed himself fitted, and which, with its higher tasks, attracted him much more than philosophy. In March, 1509, he was already the recipient of a theological degree and entered the Faculty as a " Baccalaureus Biblicus." This authorised him to deliver lectures on the Holy Scriptures at the University. In the same year, however, probably in the late autumn, Luther's career at Wittenberg was interrupted for a time by his being sent back to Erfurt. \Vith regard to the reasons for this nothing is known with certainty, but a movement which was going forward in the Congregation may have been the cause. In the question of the stricter observance which had recently been raised among the Augustinians, and which will be treated of below, Luther had not sided with the Wittenberg monastery but with his older friends at Erfurt. He was opposed to certain administrative regulations pro- moted by Staupitz, which, in the opinion of many, threat- ened the future discipline of the Order. At any rate, he had to return to Erfurt just as he was about to become " Sen- tentiarius," i.e. to be promoted to the office of lecturing on the "Magistcr Sententiarium." For these lectures, too, he had already qualified himself. His second stay at Erfurt and the part so important for the understanding of his later life which he played in the disputes of the Order, 1 See below, volume vi., cap. xxxvii., where these questions are treated more fully. 22 LUTHER THE MONK are new data in his history which have as yet received little attention. He was made very welcome by his brothers at .Erfurt, at once took up his work as " Sententiarius " and, for about a year and a half, held forth on that celebrated textbook of theology, the Book of Sentences. He was also employed in important business for the monas- tery and accompanied Dr. Nathin on a mission in connec- tion with the question of the statutes of the Congregation and the above-mentioned dispute. Both went to Halle to Adolf of Anhalt, Provost of Magdeburg Cathedral, for the purpose of defending the " observance in the vicariate." The monk made an excellent impression on the Provost of the Cathedral. 1 The esteem which Luther enjoyed while he was at Erfurt exposes the futility of those old fables, once widely circulated and generally believed, that whilst there he had entered into a liaison with a girl and had declared that he intended to go as far as he could until the times permitted of his marrying in due form. 2 Of Luther's lectures at that time some traces are to be found in a book in the Ratsschul-Library at Zwickau, these being the oldest specimens of his handwriting which we possess. They were made public in 1893 in volume ix. of the " Kritische Gesamtausgabe " of Luther's works now appearing, and consist of detailed marginal notes to the Sentences of the Lombard of which the book in question is a printed copy. 3 The notes consist chiefly of subtle dialectic explanations or corrections of Peter Lom- bard and are quite in the theological style of the day. The vanity and audacity of the language used is frequently sur- prising; for instance, when the young master takes upon himself to speak of the " buffoonery " of contemporary theologians and philosophers, or of an ostensibly " almost heretical opinion " which he discovers in Venerable Duns Scotus ; still more is this the case when he expresses his dislike of the traditional scholastic speculation and logic, alluding to the " rancid rules of the logicians," to " those grubs, the philosophers," to the " dregs of philosophy " and to that " putrid philosopher Aristotle." 1 The reference in Dungersheim, "Dadelung," p. 14 (see above, p. 4, n. 3) has been discussed by N.Paulus in the "Histor. Jahrbuch," 1903, p. 73. 2 See volume iii., chapter xvii., 6. 3 " Werke," Weim. ed., 9, pp. 28-94 23 It is worthy of note in connection with his mental growth that, on the very cover of the book, he, most independently, declares war on the "Sophists," though we do not mean to imply that such a war was not justifiable from many points of view. As a torch, however, for the illuminating of theo- logical truth he is not unwilling to use philosophy. Very strong, nay emphatic, is his appeal to the Word of God on a trivial and purely speculative question relating to the inner life of the Trinity. He says : " Though many highly esteemed teachers assert this, yet the fact remains that on their side they have not Holy Scripture, but merely human reasons : but I say that on my side I have the Written Word that the soul is the image of God, and therefore I say with the Apostle ' Though an angel from Heaven, i.e. a Doctor of the Church, preach to you otherwise, let him be anathema.' " In these glosses we may, however, seek in vain for any trace, even the faintest, of Luther's future teaching. The young theologian still maintains the Church's standpoint, particularly with regard to the doctrines which he was afterwards to call into question. He still speaks correctly of " faith which works through charity and by which we are justified." Equally blameless are his statements regarding concupiscence in fallen man and the exercise of free will in the choice of good under the influence of Divine Grace. Once, it is true, he casually speaks of Christ as " our righteousness and sanctification," but, in spite of the weight which has been laid on this ex- pression, it is in no wise remarkable, and merely voices the Catholic view of St. Augustine, or better still, of St. Paul. To Romans i. 16 f., to which he was later to attach so much importance in his new system, he refers once, inter- preting it correctly and agreeably with the Glossa ordinaria ; clearly enough it had not yet begun to interest him and his harmless words afford no proof of the statement which has been made, that already at the time he wrote " the birth-hour of the reformation had rung." That Luther also studied at that time some of the writings of St. Augustine we see from three old volumes of the works of this Father in the Zwickau Library, which contain notes made in Luther's handwriting on the De Trinitate, on the De Civitate Dei, and other similar writings. These notes, made about the same time, are correct in their doctrine. 24 LUTHER THE MONK According to Melanchthon, already at Erfurt he had begun a " very thorough study " of the African Father of the Church. In the latter notes, which were also published in the Weimar edition of Luther's works, 1 he once flies into a violent fit of indignation with the celebrated Wimpfeling, who was mixed up in a literary dispute with the Augustinian Order. He calls the worthy man " a garrulous barker and an envious critic of the fame of the Augustinians, who had lost his reason through obstinacy and hate, and who re- quires a cut of the knife to open his mole's eyes " ; he, "with his brazen front, should be ashamed of himself." 2 Glibness of tcngue, combined with intelligence and fancy, and, in addition to unusual talents, great perseverance in study, these were the qualities which many admired in the new teacher. Whoever had to dispute with so sharp and fiery an opponent, was sure to get the worst of the encounter. The fame of the new teacher soon spread throughout the Augustinian province, but his originality and want of restraint naturally raised him up some enemies. Alongside of his readiness in controversy which some admired, many remarked in him quarrelsomeness and dis- putatiousness. He never learnt how to live " at peace " with his brothers, 3 as some of the old monks afterwards told the Humanist Cochlacus. His Catholic pupil Johann Oldecop, says of his leaving Erfurt for Wittenberg, that the separation was not altogether displeasing to the Augustinians of Erfurt, because Luther was always desirous of coming off victor in differences of opinion, and liked to stir up strife. 4 Hieronymus Dungersheim, a subsequent Catholic opponent who watched him very narrowly, writes that he " had always been a quarrelsome man in his ways and habits," and that he had acquired that reputation even before ever he came to the monastery. 5 Dungersheim questioned those who had known him as a secular student at Erfurt. The above statements come, it is true, from the 1 Ibid., pp. 2-14. 2 Ibid., p. 12. 3 " Audivi crebrius, nunquam satis pacifice vixisse eum." So Cochlseus (see above, p. 17, n. 2) in 1524. 4 J. Oldecop, " Chronik," ed. K. Euling, 1891, p. 17. 5 Dungersheim, " Wore Widerlegung des falschen Buchleins M. Lutheri von beyder Gestald des hochwurdigsten Sacraments " (see above, p. 4, n. 3), p. 31'. CONTACT WITH HITS 25 camp of his adversaries, but they are not only uncontra- dicted by any further testimony, but entirely agree with other data regarding his character. Luther, in his own account of himself which he gave later, tells -us that he was then and during the first part of his career as a monk, so full of zeal for the truth handed down by the Church that he would have given over to death any denier of the same, and have been ready to carry the wood for burning him at the stake. He also says in his queer, exaggerated fashion, that in those days he wor- shipped the Pope. At the same time he announces that his study of the Bible at Erfurt had already shown him many errors in the Papist Church, but that he had sought to soothe his conscience with the question : " Art thou the only wise man ? " though by so doing he had retarded his understanding of the Holy Scriptures. 1 He also asserts later that his father's words spoken at the banquet which followed his first Mass, viz. that his religious vocation was probably a delusion, had pierced ever deeper into his mind and appeared to him more and more true. Yet he likewise tells us elsewhere of his persevering zeal in his profession, and of his excessive fastings and disciplines. It is hard to find the real clue in this tangle of later state- ments, all of them influenced by polemical considerations. He says quite seriously, and this may very well be true, that what he was wont to hear at times outside the monastery from unbelieving " grammarians," i.e. humanists, regarding the great difference between the teaching of Holy Scripture and that of the existing Church, made a deep impression on him. 2 He had, however, calmed himself, so he says, with the thought that this was other people's business. In the monastic library he once came across some sermons of John Hus. Their contents appeared to him excellent, nevertheless, so he writes, from aversion for the author's name, he laid aside the book without reading any further, though not without surprise that such a man should have written in many ways so well and so correctly. Johann Grefenstein, his master at Erfurt, had once let fall the 1 Kostlin-Kawerau, 1, p. 77. 2 Ericeus, " Sylvula sententiarum," p. 142. Cp. J. K. Seidemann, " Luthers alteste Vorlesungen iiber die Psalmen," 1, Dresden, 1876, p. xvii. " Ego adolescens audivi doctos viros et bonos grammaticoe," etc. 26 LUTHER THE MONK remark in his presence that Hus had been put to death without any previous attempt being made to instruct or convert him. At that time, Hus failed to make any impression on him. Doubts, however, assaulted him in the shape of temptations. Those he repulsed, well aware of the danger. In June, 1521, writing at the Wartburg, he says that more than ten years before, much that was taught by Popes, Councils and Universities had appeared to him absurd and in contradiction with Christ, but that he had put a bridle on his thoughts in accordance with the Proverb of Solomon : " Lean not upon thy own prudence." 1 Certain it is that his clear mind must early have perceived that the Church of that day fell far short of the ideal, and it is possible that even in those early years, such a perception may have awakened in him doubts and discontent and have led him to take a too gloomy view of the state of the Church. In any case, Luther's own testimony as given above leads us to suspect the presence in his mind at an early date of a deep-seated dissatisfaction which foreboded ill to the monk's future fidelity to the Church. 2 A strong moral foundation would have been necessary to save a mind so singularly constituted from wavering, and if we may believe the statement of his contemporary, Hierony- mus Dungersheim of Leipzig, this was just what Luther had always lacked. Dungersheim, in a pamphlet against Luther the heretic, harks back to the years he spent at Erfurt as a secular student and accuses him of evil habits, probably contracted then, but the after effects of which made them- selves felt when he had entered into religion and caused him to rebel against his profession. If Luther, so he says, was now persuaded that no religious could keep the vow of chastity, in his case the inability could only be due to a certain " former bad habit," of which stories were told, and to his neglect of prayer. 3 In another writing the same 1 In the tract " Rationis Latomianse confutatio," " Opp. Lat. var.," 5, p. 400 ; Weim. ed., 8, p. 45. 2 The above description of Luther's life in the monastery, starting from the strange circumstances of his entrance, has intentionally been left incomplete. Below, in volume vi., chapter xxxvii., the whole development of his character and disposition as it appears more clearly in the course of his history, and at the same time his own later views and his manner of depicting his life in religion, are reverted to in detail. 3 " Erzeigung der Falschheit," p. 6. "THE SINS OF MY YOUTH" 27 opponent accuses him openly of having indulged in the grossest vice during his academic years, and mentions as his informant one of the comrades who had, later on, accompanied Luther to the gates of the monastery. 1 He says nothing, perhaps, indeed, he knew nothing more definite, and with regard to Luther's life in religion, he is unable to adduce anything to his discredit. But yet another of Luther's later adversaries has strong words for our hero's early life. His testimony, which has not so far been dealt with, must be treated of here because such charges, if well founded, doubtless contribute much to the psychological explanation of the processes going for- ward in Luther. This testimony is given by Hieronymus Emser of Dresden, who, it is true, was himself by no means spotless, and who, on that account, was roundly reprimanded by the man he had attacked. In his rejoinder to Luther, a pamphlet published in 1520, and the only one preserved, he says : " Was it necessary on account of my letter that you should hold up to public execration my former deviations which are indeed, for the most part, mere inventions ? What do you think has come to my ears concerning your own criminal deeds (' flagitia ') ? " He will be silent about them, he says, because he does not wish to return evil for evil, but he continues : " That you also fell, I must attribute to the same cause which brought about my own fall, namely, the want of public discipline in our days, so that young men live as they please without fear of punishment and do just what they like." 2 We must remember that at Erfurt Emser and Luther had stood in the relation of teacher and disciple. His words, like those of Dungersheim written from Leipzig, voice the opinion on Luther later on current in the hostile University circles of Erfurt. When Luther in his later years speaks of the " sins of his youth," this, in his grotesquely anti-catholic vocabulary, means the good works of his monastic life, even the celebra- tion of Holy Mass. Elsewhere, however, at the end of his tract on the Last Supper (1528), 3 and once in the Table-Talk, 4 1 " Dadelung des Bekenntnus," p. 15', 16. 2 " A venatione Luteriana ^Egocerotis assertio," s.l.e.a., E 5'. 3 " Werke," Erl. ed., 30, p. 372 : " Although I have been a great, grievous, shameful sinner and have wasted and spent my youth damnably," yet his greatest sins were that he had been a monk and had said Mass. 4 " Tischreden " (Veit Dietrich), Weim. ed., 1, p. 61. 28 LUTHER THE MONK speaking of the sins of his youth, he distinguishes between the Catholic works above referred to and other faults of which he accuses himself in the same general terms. In the young Augustinian's Erfurt days he was pre- vented by the Rule from cultivating any intimate and dis- tracting friendship with persons in the world. We only know that he, and likewise his brother monk Johann Lang, had some friendly intercourse with the Humanist Pctreius (Peter Eberbach), who not long after, in a letter dated May 8, 1512, greets Lang then already with Luther at Wittenberg- in these words : " S ancle Lange ct Sancte Marline orate pro me." Mutianus, the Gotha canon and chief of the Humanists, who was very unorthodox in his views, in a letter to Lang of the beginning of May, 1515, seems to remember Luther, for he sends greetings to the " pious Dr. Martin." His intercourse with the Humanists led Luther to make use of philology in the interpretation of the Holy Scriptures. He thus entered upon a useful, we may even say indispens- able, course, in which he might have done great service. At Erfurt he continued constantly to study his copy of the Bible, which had become an inseparable companion. " As no one in the monastery read the Bible " (at any rate not with his zeal) he was able to flatter himself with being first in the house in the matter of biblical knowledge ; indeed in this field he was probably the greatest expert in the whole Congregation. In addition to this, he began to turn his busy mind to the study of Hebrew, and contrived to provide himself with a dictionary, which at that time was considered a treasure. Lang, with his humanistic culture, was able to assist him with the Greek. Meanwhile the dispute in the Order with regard to the observance had reached a point when it seemed right to the party to which Luther belonged to seek the intervention of Rome in their favour, or to anticipate an appeal on the part of their opponents. The choice of seven houses " of the observance " resulted in Luther being chosen as the delegate to represent them in Rome. So little opposed to the Church was Luther's theology and Bible interpretation in his Erfurt days, and so considerable was the number of brethren, even in other Observantine houses who held him THE AUGUSTINIANS 29 to be a faithful monk, that they deemed him best suited for so difficult a mission. What Cochlseus, according to in- formation drawn from Augustinian sources, relates later sounds, however, quite reasonable, viz. that he was selected on account of his " cleverness and his forceful spirit of con- tradiction," which promised a complete victory over the other faction. 1 Luther's journey to Rome, according to Oldecop, was undertaken from Erfurt. 3. The Journey to Rome The Saxon, or more correctly German, Congregation of Augustinians, at the time of Luther's journey to Rome, had reached a crisis in its history. Founded on the old Order of Hermits of St. Augustine, f by the pious and zealous Andreas Proles (1503), and pro- vided by him with excellent statutes intended to promote a refornvof discipline, the Congregation had, since its founda- tion, been withdrawn from the control of the Provincial of the unreformed Augustinian Province of Saxony in order the better to preserve its stricter observance. 2 It stood directly under the General of the Order at Rome, whose German representative was a Vicar-General- in Luther's time, Staupitz. He was simply styled Vicar, or sometimes Provincial. The monasteries under him numbered about thirty, and were distributed throughout several so-called districts, each headed by a Rural Vicar. Staupitz's aim was to bring about a reunion of the German Congregation with the numerous non-observant monasteries in Germany, an amalgamation which would probably have led indirectly to his becoming the head of all these com- munities. He had already (Sept. 30, 1510) published a document of Carvajal the Papal Legate approving such a union, and, by virtue of the same, begun to style himself Provincial of Thuringia and Saxony. His efforts were, however, met by decided opposition within the Congregation. Certain houses which were in favour of the old state of things and feared that union would lead to a relaxation of discipline, vehemently opposed Staupitz and his plans. To 1 " Commentaria," etc., p. 1. "Acer ingenio et ad contradicendum audax et vehemens." 1 Kolde, " Die deutsche Augustinerkongregation," p. 96 f. 30 LUTHER THE MONK this party belonged also the Erfurt monastery, and Luther himself took an active part in the position assumed by his house. The object of his visit to Halle with Dr. Nathin to see Prince Adolf of Anhalt, the Cathedral Provost, had been to obtain a " petition " in favour of the *' observance." The opposition became acute when the Bull above referred to was published by Staupitz, and we may consider the protest of the seven Observantine monasteries against the Bull as the direct cause of Luther's despatch to Rome. The monk, then seven-and-twenty years of age, with his written authority to act as procurator in the case (" litis procurator " is what Cochlseus, who knew something of these matters, styles him), set out forthwith on his journey. It was in the autumn 1510, 1 and Luther was then lecturing on the third book of the Sentences. His absence lasted four or five months, i.e. until the spring 1511, when we again find him at Erfurt. Luther, and those who felt with him, found no difficulty in reconciling their efforts for the preservation of the observance against the will of Staupitz, with due submission to him as their Superior. Another monk of the Order accompanied Luther to the capital of Christendom as the Rule enjoined in the case of journeys. The joy at such an opportunity of seeing the Eternal City, of quenching his ardent thirst for knowledge by the acquisition of new experiences and of gaining the graces attached to so holy a pilgrimage, may well have hurried his steps during the wearisome journey, which in those days had to be undertaken on foot. He had even, according to a later statement, made the resolution to cleanse his conscience- so frequently tortured by fears by a general confession, indeed he once says that this was his main object, passing over the real reason. With regard to the effect of the journey on the question concerning the Order, it is clear it was a failure ; the dispute was finally settled only in May, 1512, at the Cologne Chapter ; Staupitz was unable to carry out his plan and eventually gave it up. The dispute between 1 For the date and cause, see N. Paulus in the " Histor. Jahrbuch," 1891, 68 f., 314 f. ; 1901, 110 ff. ; 1903, 72 ff. Also " Histor.-polit. Blatter," 142, 1908, 738-52. The year 1510-11, as against that given by Kostlin-Kawerau, viz. 1511-12, is now accepted by Kroker in his edition of the " Tischreden der Mathesischen Sammlung," p. 417, and by Kawerau in the " Lutherkalender," 1910, p. 97. OBSERVANTINES AND CONVENTUALS 31 " Observants " and " non-Observants " thus started, as we may gather from statements made by Luther to which we refer later, far from being at an end became more and more acute. It appears to have done untold harm to the Con- gregation and to have largely contributed to its fall. What effect had the visit to Italy and Rome upon the development of the young monk ? Thousands have been cheered in spirit by the visit to the tombs of the Apostles ; prayer at the holy places of Rome, the immediate proximity of the Vicar of Christ and of the world-embracing government of the Church made them feel what they had never felt before, the pulse-beat of the heart of Christendom, and they returned full of enthusiasm, strengthened and inspirited, and with the desire of working for souls in accordance with the mind of the Church. With Luther this was not the case. He was much less impressed by the Rome of the Saints than by the corruption then rampant in ecclesiastical circles. On first perceiving Rome from the heights of Monte Mario, he devoutly greeted the city, as all pilgrims were wont to do, overjoyed at having reached the goal of their long pilgrimage. 1 After that, he untiringly occupied him- self, so far as his chief business permitted, in seeing all that Rome had to show. He assures us that he believed everything that was told him of the real or legendary reminiscences of the holy places both above and under ground. He does not, however, appear to have been very careful in his choice of guides and acquaintances, for the anecdotes concerning the condition of things at Rome which he brought back with him to his own country were, if not untrue, at least exceedingly spiteful. The Augustinians whom he there met had not the spirit of the reform inaugurated by Proles. Their southern freedom and lack of restraint found all too strong an echo in Luther's character. The general confession he had projected was probably never made, 2 for, a she asserts later, he had not found among the clergy a single suitable, worthy man. During his distracting stay in the Eternal City he said Mass, so he tells us, perhaps once, perhaps ten times, i.e. occasionally, not regularly. 3 He was greatly 1 "Werke," Erl. ed. 62, p. 438. "Coll.," ed. Bindseil, 1, 165; " Tischreden," ed. Forstemann, 4, 687. 2 "Coll.," ed. Bindseil, 3, p. 169, and n. 33. 3 "Werke," Erl. ed. 40, p. 284. 32 LUTHER THE MONK scandalised at much he heard and saw, partly owing to his looking at things with the critical eye of a northerner, partly owing to the really existing moral disorders. The Rome of that day was the Rome of Julius II, the then Pope, and of his predecessor Alexander VI ; it was the Rome of the Popes of the height of the Renaissance, glorified by art, but inwardly deeply debased. The capital of Christendom, under the influence of the frivolity which had seized the occupants of the Papal throne and invaded the ranks of the higher clergy, had proved false to her dignity and forgetful of the fact that the eyes of the Faithful who visited Rome from every quarter of the globe were jealously fixed upon her in their anxiety lest the godless spirit of the world should poison the very heart of the Church. Instead of being edified by the good which he undoubtedly encountered and by the great ideal of the Church which no shadow can ever darken, Luther, with his critically disposed mind, proved all too receptive to the contrary impressions and allowed himself to be unduly influenced by the dark side of things, i.e. the corruption of morals. Subsequently, in his public controversies and private Table- Talk, he tells quite a number of disreputable tales, 1 which, whether based on fact or not, were all too favourable to his anti-Roman tendencies. He was in the habit of saying, in his usual tone, that whoever looked about him a little in Rome, would find abominations compared to which those of Sodom were mere child's play. He declares that he heard from the mouth of Papal courtiers the statement : "It cannot go on much longer, it must break up." In the com- pany in which he mixed he heard these words let fall : " If there be a Hell, then Rome is built over it." He says that he had heard it said of one, who expressed his grief at such a state of things, that he was a " buon cristiano," which meant much the same as a good-natured simpleton. In his prone- ness to accept evil tales he believed, at least so he asserts later, the statement made in his presence, that many priests were in the habit of repeating jokes at Mass in place of the words of consecration. He relates that he even questioned whether the bishops and priests at Rome, the prelates of the Curia, aye, the Pope himself, had any Christian belief 1 Kostlin-Kawerau, 1, p. 99 f. THE ROME JOURNEY 33 left. It is not worth while to go into the details of the scandals he records, because, as Hausrath justly remarks, "it is questionable how much weight is due to statements which, in part, date from the later years of his life, when he had so completely altered." 1 In his accounts the share which he himself actually took in the pious pilgrim-exercises of the time is kept very much in the background. He came to the so-called Scala Santa at the Lateran, and saw the Faithful, from motives of penance, ascending the holy steps on their knees. He turned away from this touch- ing popular veneration of the sufferings of the Redeemer, and preferred not to follow the example of the other pilgrims. 2 An account given by his son Paul in 1582 says that he then quoted the Bible verse : " The just man liveth by faith." If it be a fact that he made use of these words which were to assume so great importance and to be so sadly misinterpreted in his subsequent theology, it was certainly not in their later sense. In reality we have here in all probability an instance of a later opinion being gratuitously anticipated, for Luther himself declares that he discovered his gospel only after he had taken his Doctor's degree, and this we shall show abundantly further on. Older Protestant writers have frequently represented the scene at the steps of the Lateran in unhistorical colours owing to their desire to furnish a graphic historical beginning of the change in Luther's mind. Mylius of Jena was one of the first to do this. 2 Mylius, in 1595, quite falsely asserts that Luther had already commented on the Epistle to the Romans previous to his journey to Rome, and adds that he had already then noted the later interpretation of the Bible text in question. It is true that his son Paul, where he speaks of Luther's exclamation as having been com- municated to him by his father, expressly states that " he had then, through the spirit of Jesus, come to the knowledge of the truth of the holy gospel." But Kostlin's Biography of Luther rightly denies this, and describes it as an "ex- aggeration " 3 - " error " would have been better- for the 1 " Luthers Romfahrt," p. 79. 2 See, however, vol. vi., xlii, 2. 3 Georgius Mylius, " In Epistolam divi Pauli ad Romanes," etc., lenae, 1595. " Prsefatio," fol. 2'. Cp. Theod. Elze, " Luthers Reise nach Rom," Berlin, 1899, pp. 3, 45, 80. 4 Kostlin-Kawerau, 1, p. 749 f. I. D 34 LUTHER THE MONK assumption to which Luther's friends still cling with such affection, namely, that from the very commencement of his journey to Rome he had been " haunted by the Bible text concerning justification by faith," at a time " when he still was striving to serve God by his own works," must be struck out of history as a mere fiction. 1 At Rome Luther's conviction of the authority of the Holy See was in no wise shaken, in spite of what some people have thought. All the scandals had not been able to achieve this. As late as 1516 he was still preaching in entire accord- ance with the traditional doctrine of the Church on the power of the Papacy, and it is worth while to quote his words in order to show the Catholic thoughts which engaged him while wandering through the streets of Rome. " If Christ had not entrusted all power to one man, the Church would not have been perfect because there would have been no order and each one would have been able to say he was led by the Holy Spirit. This is what the heretics did, each one setting up his own principle. In this way as many Churches arose as there were heads. Christ therefore wills, in order that all may be assembled in one unity, that His Power be exercised by one man to whom also He commits it. He has, however, made this Power so strong that He looses all the powers of Hell (without injury) against it. He says : ' The gates of Hell shall not prevail against it,' as though He said : ' They will fight against it but never overcome it,' so that in this way it is made manifest that this power is in reality from God and not from man. Where- fore whoever breaks away from this unity and order of the Power, let him not boast of great enlightenment and won- derful works, as our Picards and other heretics do, ' for much better is obedience than the victims of fools who know not 1 On his own account Paul was only a boy of eleven when he heard this statement from his father ; it is therefore very doubtful whether he understood and remembered it correctly. Luther would surely have returned to the subject more frequently had it really played so great a part in his development, especially as he speaks so often of his journey to Rome. O. Scheel in his recent thesis on the development of Luther down to the time of the conclusion of the lectures on the Epistle to the Romans (" Schriften des Vereins fiir Reformationsgesch, Nr. 100, Jubilaumsschrift," 1910, pp. 61-230), quite correctly says: "It is possible that his son, knowing of what importance Romans i. 17 had become for Luther, may at a later date have combined these words with the Roman incident." In any case, the objections with regard to this incident are so great that little can be made out of it. THE ROME JOURNEY 35 what evil they do ' (Eccles. iv. 17). "* That, when in Rome, he was still full of reverence for the Pope, Luther shows in his Table-Talk, though his language on this occasion can only be described as filthy. 2 His ideas with regard to the Church's means of Grace, the Mass, Indulgences and Prayer had not, at the time of his return to Germany, undergone any theoretical change, though it is highly probable that his practical observance of the Church's law suffered considerably. The fact is, his character was not yet sufficiently formed when he started on his journey ; he was, as Oldecop says, " a wild young fellow." 3 Luther later on relates it as a joke, that, when at Rome, he had been so zealous in gaining Indulgences that he had wished his parents were already dead so that he might apply to their souls the great Indulgences obtainable there. 4 Of the Masses which he celebrated in the Holy City he assures us- again more by way of a joke than as an exact statement of fact' that he said them so piously and slowly that three, or even six, Italian priests or monks had finished all their Masses in succession before he had come to the end of one. He even declares that in Rome Mass is said so rapidly that ten, one after another, occupied only one hour, and that he himself had been urged on with the cry : " Hurry up, Brother, hurry up." Whoever is familiar with the older Luther's manner of speech, will be on his guard against taking such jests seriously or as proof of scrupulosity ; he is, in reality, merely laying stress on the blatant contrast between his own habit and the precipitation of the Italians. In 1519, i.e. not yet ten years after Luther's visit, his pupil Oldecop came to Rome and set to work to make diligent enquiries concerning the stay there of his already famous master, with whose teaching, however, he did not agree. As he says in his " Chronik," published not long since, he learned that Luther had taken lessons in Hebrew from a Jew called Jakob, who gave himself out to be a physician. He sought out the Jew, probably a German, and heard from him that " Martinus had begged the Pope 1 Sermo in Vincula S. Petri, hence on August 1. " Werke," Weim. ed., 1 (1883), p. 69. 2 "Tischreden," ed. Forstemann, 4, p. 087. 3 " Chronik," p. 30. * " Werke," Erl. ed., 40, p. 284. 36 LUTHER THE MONK to be allowed to study in Italy for ten years in secular dress," but that, owing to the absence of any authorisation from his Superiors, his request had been refused, and Martinus, instead of being privileged to dress as a secular priest, had been obliged to retain his " cowl," i.e. the habit of his Order. Oldecop then betook himself to the official who, as he learnt, had drafted the monk's petition, and who fully confirmed the Jew's statement. There is no reason for doubting these new tales, 1 notwithstanding the fact that in some of the other statements made by Oldecop, especially those in which he had no personal concern, some unintentional errors occur. According to the character given him by his editor Carl Euling, he was " an educated and honourable man, with good judgment." 2 Notice deserves to be taken of a minor detail of the incident which confirms the truth of this account, namely, that the official, affrighted at the mention of Luther's name, was at first unwilling to speak, and then begged that the fact of his having had dealings with him should not be betrayed. The man, who is here portrayed to the life, after he became more loquacious, also expressed the opinion that had Luther been allowed to take off the cowl he would never have put it on again ; a view, of course, merely based on the later course of events. Luther's desire for learning was so great, and his impulsive character so marked, that it is quite possible that he cherished such a project. Nor was there anything so very singular in the plan, for about that time other monks had been secularised at their own request. In a Brief dated January 26, 1517, Erasmus, who was an Augustinian canon, received permission to wear the dress of a secular priest, a fact to which Luther, on occasion, makes allusion. As such a privilege, even though restricted as to duration, would without doubt have appealed to the freedom of thought which at that time Luther was beginning to culti- vate, the fact that it was refused owing to the lack of authorisation by his German Superiors assuredly cannot have sweetened his recollection of the Roman Curia ; its only effect was probably to wound his vanity. He himself never speaks of this petition ; he had no cause to do so, and 1 This remark only applies to the statement in the text. When Oldecop says he was told in Rome that Luther had come to Rome without the authorisation of his Superiors, this was untrue. 2 Preface to Oldecop's " Chronik." OPINION OF ROMANS 37 indeed it ill agreed with the legend which, with advancing years, he began to weave about his life in the monastery. On the other hand, we have probably a distorted version of the incident in an assertion, circulated later by his opponents, viz. that during his stay at Rome he had sought secularisa- tion in order to be able to marry. 1 Regarding the morals of the Italians and not the Romans only, he makes many unfavourable and even unfair state- ments in his later reminiscences of his wanderings through their country. The only things which found favour in his eyes were, in fact, their charity and benevolence as displayed in some of the hospitals, particularly in Florence, the sobriety of the people and, at Rome, the careful carrying out of ecclesiastical business. An evil breath of moral laxity was passing over the whole country, more especially, however, over the rich and opulent towns and the higher classes, in- fected as they were with the indiff erentism of the Humanists. Those travelling alone found themselves exposed in the inns to the worst moral dangers. We must also call to mind that, in those very years the Neapolitan, or French disease, as syphilis was then called, infested a wide area of this other- wise delightful country, having been introduced by the troops Vfho came to southern Italy. The places where strangers from other lands were obliged to spend the night on their travels were hotbeds of infection for both body and soul. Luther returned to Germany towards the month of February, 1511, though he was no longer the same man as when he set out. He said, after his apostasy : " I, like a fool, carried onions to Italy and brought garlic (i.e. worse stuff) back with me." As a controversialist he declared that he would not take 100,000 gulden to have missed seeing Rome, as otherwise he would feel that he was doing the Papacy an injustice ; he only wished that everyone who was about to become a priest w r ould visit Rome. 1 Cp. George, Duke of Saxony, in the pamphlet published under Arnoldi's name : " Auf das Schmahbuchlein Luthers wider den Meuchler von Dresden," 1531 (" Werke," Erl. ed., 25, p. 147), where he thus addresses Luther : " You are hostile to the Pope because, among other reasons, he would not free you from the frock and give you a whore for your wife." The mention of the frock points to a reminiscence of what actually had taken place. Possibly the Jew is the same Jakob who, in 1520, accepted Luther's doctrine in Germany and waa baptised. Cp. Luther's " Brief wechsel," 4, pp. 97, 147. 274799 38 LUTHER THE MONK A notable result of his stay in Italy was, that Luther, after his return to the monastery, immediately changed his standpoint regarding the " observance." Sent to Rome for the defence of the " observance," he now unexpectedly veered round and became its opponent. " He deserted to Staupitz " as Cochlacus puts it, evidently using the very words of the Observantines, and soon Luther was seen passionately assailing the Observantines, whose spokesman he had been shortly before. In all likelihood his changed view stood in some connection with a change in his domicile. No sooner had he returned to the Observantine monastery of Erfurt, than he left it for Wittenberg, where he was to take his degree of Doctor of Divinity and then ascend the professorial chair. Doubtless under Staupitz's influence the fulfilment of those great hopes which he had formerly cherished now arose on the horizon of his mind. To continue to withstand Staupitz in the matter of the observance could but prove a hindrance to his advance, especially as the Wittenberg community was for the most part opposed to the observance. Nothing further is, however, known with regard to this strange change of front. It was of the greatest importance for his future development, as will appear in the sequel ; the history of his warfare against the Observantines, to which as yet little attention has been paid, may also be considered as a new and determining factor in his mental career. 4. The Little World of Wittenberg and the Great World in Church and State Since the spring 1511, Luther had been qualifying, by diligent study in his cell in the great Augustinian monastery at Wittenberg, to take his degree of Doctor in Divinity in the University of that city. In his later statements he says that he had small hopes of success in his new career on account of his weak health ; that he had in vain opposed Staupitz's invitation to take his doctorate, and that he had been compelled by obedience to comply with his Superior's orders. After passing bril- liantly the requisite tests, the University bestowed upon him the theological degree on October 18, 1512. Luther at once commenced his lectures on Holy Scripture, the subject WITTENBERG 39 of this, his first course, being the Psalms (1513-16). His audience consisted mainly of young Augustinians, to whom a correct understanding of the Psalms was a practical need for their services in choir. He displayed already in these early lectures, no less than in those of the later period, the whole force of his fancy and eloquence, his great ability in the choice of quotations from the Bible, his extraordinary subjectivity, and, however out of place in such a quarter, the vehemence of his passion ; in our own day the sustained rhetorical tone of his lectures would scarcely appeal to the hearer. The fiery and stimulating teacher was in his true element at Wittenberg. The animation that pervaded students and teachers, the distinction which he enjoyed amongst his friends, his unlimited influence over the numerous young men gathered there, more especially over the students of his own Order, no less than the favour of the Elector of Saxony for the University, the Order, and, subsequently, for his own person, all this, in spite of his alleged unwilling- ness to embrace the profession, made his stay at Wittenberg, and his work there, very agreeable to him, though he does once speak of his removal thither as a " come down " (p. 127). Wittenberg became in the sequel the citadel of his teaching. There he remained until the evening of his days as Professor of Holy Scripture, and quitted the town only when forced by urgent reasons to do so. As with all men of great gifts, who make a deep impression on their day, but are, all the same, children of their time, so was it with Luther. In his case, however, the influence from without was all the deeper because his lively and receptive temperament lent itself to a stronger external stimulus, and also because the position of so young a man in a professorial chair in the very heart of Germany did much to foster such influences. Martin Pollich of Mcllerstadt, formerly Professor at Leipzig, a physician, a jurist and a man of humanistic tendencies who had helped Staupitz to organise the new University, enjoyed a great reputation in the Wittenberg schools. Alongside him were the theologians Amsdorf, Carlstadt, Link, Lang and Staupitz. Nicholas von Amsdorf, who was subsequently said to be " more Luther than Luther himself," had been since 1511 licentiate of theology, and 40 LUTHER THE MONK had at the same time filled, as a secular priest, the office of Canon at the Castle Church. Andreas Bodenstein von Carlstadt, usually known as Carlstadt, occupied a position amongst the Augustinians engaged in teaching. He had taken his degree at Wittenberg in 1510, and was at the outset a zealous representative of Scholasticism, though he speedily attached himself to Luther's new teaching. He was the first to proclaim the solubility of religious vows. Wenceslaus Link w r orked at the University from 1509 to about 1516, eventually succeeding Staupitz as Augustinian Vicar-General, and, later, by his marriage in 1523, gave the last Augustinians of the unfortunate Congregation the signal for forsaking the Order. Another Augustinian, Johann Lang, who had been Luther's friend since the days of his first studies at Erfurt, had come to Wittenberg about 1512 as teacher at the " Studium " of the Order, though he soon left it to return to Erfurt. Johann Staupitz, the Superior of the Congregation, resigned in 1512 his Pro- fessorship of Holy Scripture at Wittenberg, being unable to attend to it sufficiently owing to his frequent absence, and made over the post to Luther, whom, as he says in his eulogistic speech to the Elector of Saxony, he had been at pains to form into a " very special Doctor of Holy Scripture." The teaching in the University at that time was, of course, from the religious standpoint, Catholic. Its scholarship was, however, infected with the humanistic views of the Italian naturalism, and this new school had already stamped some of the professors with its freethinking spirit. 1 The influence of Humanism on Luther's development must be admitted, though it is frequently overrated, the subsequent open alliance of the German Humanists with the new gospel being set back, without due cause, to Luther's early days. As a student he had plunged into the study of 1 A proof of this may, e.g. , be found in certain statements on marriage made by the jurist Christoph Scheurl, borrowed from his professor Codro Urceo of Bologna, and brought forward in a speech held at Wittenberg, November 16, 1508. A Latin dialogue which the Witten- berg professor Andreas Meinhardi published in 1508 also betrays the influence of those humanistic groups. J. Haussleitner (" Die Uni- versitat Wittenberg vor dem Eintritt Luthers," 1903, pp. 46 f., 84 ff.) attributes the manner of expression and the views of both to the ecclesiasticism of the Middle Ages. Cp. on the other side N. Paulus in the " Wissenschaftl. Beilage " to " Germania," 1904, No. 10. HUMANIST FRIENDS 41 the ancient classics which he loved, but there was a great difference between this and the being in complete intellectual communion with the later Humanists, whose aims w r ere in many respects opposed to the Church's. Thanks to the practical turn of his mind, the study of the classics, which he occasionally continued later, never engaged his attention or fascinated him to the extent it did certain Humanists of the Renaissance, who saw in the revival of classic Paganism the salvation of mankind. As a young professor at the University he was not, however, able to escape entirely the influence of the liberalism of the age, with its one-sided and ill-considered opposition to so many of the older elements of culture, an opposition which might easily prove as detrimental as a blind and biassed defence of the older order. It is not necessary to demonstrate here how dangerous a spirit of change and libertinism was being imported in the books of the Italian Humanists, or by the German students who had attended their lectures. With regard to Luther personally, we know that he not only had some connection with Mutian, the leader of a movement which at that time was still chiefly literary, but also that Johann Lang at once forwarded to Mutian a lecture against the morals of the " little Saints " of his Order delivered by Luther at Gotha in 1515. 1 Luther also excused himself in a very respectful letter to this leader of the Humanists for not having called on him when passing through Gotha in 1516. 2 Luther's most intimate friend, Lang, through whom he seems to have entered into a cer- tain exchange of ideas with Humanism, was an enthusiastic Humanist and possessed of great literary connections. Lang, for his part, speaks highly to Mutian of the assistance rendered him in his studies by Luther. 3 There can therefore be no doubt that Luther was no stranger to the efforts of the Humanists, to their bold and incisive criticism of the traditional methods, to their new idealism and their spirit of independence. Many of the ideas which filled the air in those days had doubtless an attraction for and exerted 1 Kolde, " Die deutsche Augustinerkongregation," p. 263 ; " Brief- wechsel," 1, p. 36, n. 5. 2 Letter of May 29, 1516, " Briefwechsel," 1, p. 35. 3 Lang to Mutian, May 2, 1515, " Briefwechsel." 1, p. 36, n. 5. 42 LUTHER THE MONK an influence on the open-hearted, receptive disposition of the talented monk. Luther's friendship with Spalatin, which dated from his Erfurt days, must also be taken into account in this regard. For Spalatin, who came as tutor and preacher in 1508 to the Court of the Elector of Saxony, was very closely allied in spirit with the Humanists of Erfurt and Gotha. It was he who asked Luther for his opinion respecting the famous dispute of the Cologne Faculty with the Humanist Reuchlin, a quarrel which engaged the sympathy of scholars and men of education throughout the length and breadth of Germany. Luther, in his reply, which dates from January or February, 1514, had at that time no hesitation in emphatically taking the side of Reuchlin, who, he declared, possessed his love and esteem. God, he says, would carry on His work in spite of the determined opposition of one thousand times one thousand Cologne burghers, and he adds meaningly that there were much more important matters with the Church which needed reform ; they were " straining at gnats and swallowing camels." 1 The conservative attitude of the authorities at Cologne was at that time not at all to his taste. Not long after Luther writes very strongly to Spalatin, again in favour of Reuchlin, against Ortwin de Graes of Cologne, and says among other things that he had hitherto thought the latter an ass, but that he must now call him a dog, a wolf and a crocodile, in spite of his wanting to play the lion, 2 expressions which are quite characteristic of Luther's style. On the appearance of the " Letters of Obscure Men," and a similar satirical writing which followed them, and which also found its way into Luther's hands, the young Wittenberg professor, instead of taking the field against the evil tendency of these attacks of the Humanist party on the " bigots of Scholasticism and the cloister " as such diatribes deserved, and as he in his character of monk and theologian should have done, sought to take a middle course : he approved of the purpose of the attacks, but not of the satire itself, which mended nothing and contained too much invective. Both productions, he says, must have come out of the same pot ; they had as their author, if not 1 " Briefwechsel," 1, p. 14. 1 Letter of August 5, 1514, " Briefwechsel." 1, p. 20. ERASMUS 43 the same, at least a very similar comedian. It is now known that the real author of the letters which caused such an uproar was his former University friend, Crotus Rubeanus. l On what terms did Luther stand with respect to Erasmus, the leader of the Humanists, before their great and final estrangement ? As he speaks of Erasmus in a letter of 1517 to Lang as " our Erasmus," we may infer that until then he was, to a certain extent, favourably disposed towards him. He rejoiced on reading his humanistic writings to find that " he belaboured the monks and clergy so manfully and so learnedly and had torn the veil off their out-of-date rubbish." 2 Yet, on the same occasion, he confesses that his liking for Erasmus is becoming weaker. It was not the attitude of Erasmus to the Church in general which even then separated Luther from him, but his new teaching on Grace, the origin of which will be treated of later. It is true Luther conveyed to him through Spalatin his good wishes for his renown and progress, but in the same message he admonished him not to follow the example of nearly every commentator in interpreting certain passages where Paul condemns " righteousness by works " as referring only to the Mosaic ceremonial law, and not rather to all the works of the Decalogue. If such are performed " outside the Faith in Christ," then though they should make of a man a Fabricius, a Regulus, or a paragon of perfection, yet they have as little in common with righteousness as black- berries have with figs " ; it is not the works which justify a man, but rather our righteousness which sanctifies the works. Abel was more pleasing to God than his works. 3 The exclusive sense in which Luther interprets these words, according to which he does not even admit that works of righteousness are of any value for the increase of righteous- ness, is a consequence of his new standpoint, to which he is anxious to convert Erasmus and all the Humanists. He had the Humanists in his mind when he wrote as follows to Johann Lang : " The times are perilous, and a man may be a great Greek, or Hebrew [scholar] without being a wise Christian. . . . He who makes concessions to human 1 To Johann Lang, October 5, 1516, and to Spalatin about the same time, " Briefwechsel," 1, pp. 59, 62. 2 Letter of March 1, 1517, " Briefwechsel," 1, p. 88. 3 To Spalatin, October 19, 1516, " Briefwechsel," 1, p. 64. 44 LUTHER THE MONK free-will judges differently from him who knows nothing save Grace alone." 1 But this is to forestall a development of his error, which will be described later. At the time that his new doctrine originated he was far more in sympathy with the theories of certain groups of late mediaeval mystics than with the views of the Humanists, because, as will appear later, he found in them the expression of that annihilation of the human by means of Grace, of which the idea was floating before his mind, and because he also discovered in them an "inwardness" which agreed with his own feelings at that time. From Erasmus and his compeers he undoubtedly borrowed, in addition to a spirit of justifiable criticism, an exaggerated sentiment of independence towards ecclesiastical antiquity. The contact with their humanistic views assuredly strength- ened in him the modern tendency to individualism. Not long after a change in the nature of his friendship necessarily took place. His antagonism to Erasmus in the matter of his doctrine of Grace led to a bitter dispute between the two, to which Luther's contribution was his work on " The Servitude of the Will " (De servo arbilrio) ; at the same time his alliance with the Humanists remained of value to him in the subversive movement which he had inaugurated. Mighty indeed were the forces, heralds of a spiritual upheaval, which, since the fifteenth century, had streamed through the Western world in closer or more distant con- nection with the great revival of the study of classical antiquity. They proclaimed the advent of a new cycle in the history of mankind. This excited world could not fail to impart its impulse to the youthful Luther. The recently discovered art of printing had, as it were at one blow, created a world- wide community of intellectual productions and literary ideas such as the Middle Ages had never dreamed of. The nations were drawn closer together at that period by the interchange of the most varied and far-reaching discoveries. The spirit of worldly enter- prise awoke as from a long slumber as a result of the astonish- ing discovery of great and wealthy countries overseas. With the greater facilities for intellectual intercourse and the increase of means of study, criticism set to work on all branches of learning with greater results than ever before. 1 Letter of March 1, 1517, " Brief wechcsel," 1, p. 88. ECCLESIASTICAL ABUSES 45 The greater States now did what they had been willing but unable to do before ; they freed themselves more and more from the former tutelage of the Church ; they aimed at securing freedom and shaking off that priestly influence to which, in part at least, they owed their stability and their growth ; nor was this movement confined to the greater States, for, in Germany, at any rate, the wealthy cities, the great landed proprietors and princes were all alike intent on ridding themselves of the oppression under which they had hitherto laboured and on securing for themselves an increase of power. In brief, everywhere the old restraints were breaking down, everywhere a forward movement of individualism was in progress at the expense of the common- weal and the traditional order of the Middle Ages ; but, above all, at the expense of the Church's religious authority, which, alone till then, had kept individualism in check to the profit of humanity. It would indeed have been well had at least the Catholic Church at that critical period been free from weakness and abuse. Her Divine power of blessing the nations, it is true, still survived, her preaching of the truth, her treasure of the Sacraments, in short, her soul, was unchanged ; but, because she was suffering from many lamentable imper- fections, the disruptive forces were able to come into play with fatal results. The complaints of eloquent men full of zeal for souls, both at that time and during the preceding decades, particularly in Germany, over the decline of religious life among the Faithful and the corruption in the clergy, were only too well founded, and deserved to have met with a much more effectual reception than they did. What the monk of Wittenberg, with unbridled passion and glaring exaggeration, was about to thunder forth over the world in his mighty call for reform, had already for the most part been urged by others, yea, by great Saints of the Church who attacked the abuses with the high-minded zeal of ripe experience. Strict, earnest and experienced men had set to work on a Catholic reform in many parts of the Church, not excepting Germany, in the only profitable way, viz. not by doctrinal innovation, but by raising the. standard of morality among both people and clergy. But progress was slow, very slow, for reasons which cannot be dealt with here. The life-work of the pious founder of his own Con- 46 LUTHER THE MONK gregation might well have served Luther as an admirable example of moral regeneration and efficiency ; for the aim of Andreas Proles was, as a Protestant writer remarks : " A strong and mighty Reformation " ; he lived in hopes that God would shortly raise up a hero capable of bringing it about with strength and determination, though the Reformation he had in his mind, as our historian allows, could only have been a Reformation in the Catholic sense. 1 Another attractive example of reforming zeal was also given under Luther's very eyes by the Windesheim Congregation of the Brethren of the Common Life, with whom he had been in friendly intercourse from his boyish days. The disorders in Germany had an all too powerful strong- hold in the higher ranks of ecclesiastical authority. Not until after the Council of Trent did it become apparent how much the breaking down of this bulwark of corruption would cost. The bishops were for the most part incapable or worldly. Abbots, provosts, wealthy canons and digni- taries vied with and even excelled the episcopate in their neglect of the duties of their clerical state. ^ In the filling of Church offices worldly influence was paramount, and in its wake followed forced nominations, selfishness, incom- petence and a general retrograde movement ; the moral disorders among the clergy and the people accumulated under lazy and incompetent superiors. The system of indulgences, pilgrimages, sodalities and numerous practices connected with the veneration of the Saints, as well as many other details of worship, showed lamentable excesses. Of the above-mentioned evils within the German Church, two will be examined more closely : the interference of the Government and the worldly-minded nobility in Church matters, and the evil ways of the higher and lower grades of the clergy. Not merely were the clerical dues frequently seized by the princes and lesser authorities, but positions in the Cathedral chapters and episcopal sees were, in many cases, handed over arbitrarily to members of the nobility or ruling houses, so that in many places the most important posts were held by men without a vocation and utterly unworthy of the office. " When the ecclesiastical storm broke out at 1 Kolde, "Die deutsche Augustinerkongregation," p. 163; cp. p. 96 ft and Kolde, " Martin Luther," 1, pp. 47, 50, 59 f. EPISCOPAL PLURALISTS 47 the end of the second decade of the sixteenth century the following archbishoprics and bishoprics were filled by the sons of princes : Bremen, Freising, Halbcrstadt, Hildesheim, Magdeburg, Maycnce, Merscburg, Metz, Minden, Miinster, Naumburg, Osnabriick, Paderborn, Passau, Ratisbon, Spires, Verden and Verdun." 1 The bishops drawn from the princely houses were, as a rule, involved in worldly business or in Court intrigues, even where, as was the case, for instance, with the powerful Archbishop of Mayence, Albrecht of Brandenburg, their early education had not been entirely anti-ecclesiastical. Another evil was the uniting of several important bishop- rics in the hands of one individual. " The Archbishop of Bremen was at the same time Bishop of Verden, the Bishop of Osnabriick also Bishop of Paderborn, the Archbishop of Mayence also Archbishop of Magdeburg and Bishop of Halberstadt. George, Palsgrave of the Rhine and Duke of Bavaria, had already in his thirteenth year been made Cathedral Provost of Maycnce and afterwards became a Canon of Cologne and Treves, Provost of St. Donatian's at Bruges, patron of the livings of Hochheim and Lorch on the Rhine and finally, in 1513, Bishop of Spires. By special privilege of Pope Leo X, granted June 22, 1513, he, an other- wise earnest and pious man, was permitted to hold all these benefices in addition to his bishopric of Spires." 2 A con- temporary, reviewing the condition of the worldly-minded bishops, complains " that the higher clergy are chiefly to blame for the careless way in which the cure of souls is exercised. They place unsuitable shepherds over the people, while they themselves draw the tithes. Many seek to unite in their grasp the greatest possible number of livings without fulfilling the duties they entail and waste the revenues of the Church in luxury, on servants, pages, dogs and horses. One seeks to outvie the other in ostentation and luxury." 3 One of the most important explanations of the fact, that, at the very outset of the religious innovation, the falling away from the Church took place with such astonishing celerity, is to be found in the corruption and apathy of the episcopate. 4 1 Janssen-Pastor, " Gesch. des deutschen Volkes," I 18 , p. 703 ; English translation, " Hist, of the German People," ii., p. 297. See also Pastor, " Hist, of the Popes " (Engl. trans.), vol. vii., p. 290 ff. 2 Ibid. 3 Ibid., p. 700. * Ibid., p. 703. 48 LUTHER THE MONK Bertold Pirstinger, Bishop of Chiemsee and author of the lament " Onus ecclesice," wrote sadly in 1519 : " Where does the choice fall upon a good, capable and learned bishop, where on one who is not inexperienced, sensual and ignorant of spiritual things ? . . . I know of some bishops who prefer to wear a sword and armour rather than their clerical garb. It has come to this, that the episcopate is now given up to worldly possessions, sordid cares, stormy wars, worldly sovereignty. . . . The prescribed provincial and diocesan synods are not held. Hence many Church matters which ought to be reformed are neglected. Besides this, the bishops do not visit their parishes at fixed times, and yet they exact from them heavy taxes. Thus the lives of the clergy and laity have sunk to a low level and the churches are unadorned and falling to pieces." The zealous bishop closes his gloomy description, in which perhaps he is too inclined to generalise, with a touching prayer to God for a true reformation from within : " Therefore grant that the Church may be reformed, which has been redeemed by Thy Blood and is now, through our fault, near to destruc- tion." 1 He considers, however, that a reform of the Church undertaken from within and preserving her faith and in- stitutions is what is needed. The deterioration was in his eyes, and in those of the best men of the day, undoubtedly very great, but not irreparable. A glance at the work of many excellent men, such as Trithemius, Wimpfeling, Geiler of Kaysersberg and others, may serve as a warning against an excessive generalisation with regard to the deterioration in the ranks of the higher and lower clergy. Weaknesses, disorders and morbid growths are far more apparent to the eyes of contemporaries than goodness, which usually fails to attract attention. Even Johann Nider, the Dominican, who, as a rule, is un- sparing in lashing the weaknesses of the clergy of his day, is compelled to speak a word of warning : " Take heed never to pass a universal judgment when speaking only of many, otherwise you will never, or hardly ever, escape passing an unjust one." 2 That there was, however, the most pressing need of a reform in the lives of both higher and lower clergy is proved by a glance at the state of the priesthood. The position 1 Janssen-Pastor, ibid., p. 701. 2 Ibid., p. 721. THE LOWER CLERGY 49 of the lower clergy, in comparison with that of their betters " who rolled in riches and luxury," was one not in keeping with the dignity of their state. " Apart from the often very precarious tithes and stole-fees they had no stipend, so that their poverty, and sometimes also their avarice, obliged them to turn to other means of livelihood, which . . . necessarily exposed them to the contempt of the people. There can be no doubt that ' a very large portion of the lower clergy had fallen so far from the ideal of their calling, that one may speak of the priestly proletariat of that day, using the word in both its ordinary and its literal sense.' This clerical proletariat was ready to join any movement which promised to promote its own low aims." 1 The number of clergy, largely owing to the excessive multiplication of small foundations without any cure of souls, had increased to such an extent that among so many there must necessarily have been a very large number who had no real vocation, while their lack of employment must have spelt a real danger to their morals. Attached to two churches at Breslau at the end of the fifteenth century were 236 clerics, all of them mere Mass-priests, i.e. ordained simply to say Mass in the chantry chapels founded with very small endowments. Besides the daily celebration, these Mass-priests had as their only obligation the recital of the Breviary. In the Cathedral at Meissen there were, in 1480, besides 14 canons, 14 Mass-priests and 60 curates. In Strasburg the Cathedral foundation comprised 36 canon- ries, that of St. Thomas 20, Old St. Peter's 17, New St. Peter's 15 and All Saints' 12. In addition to these were also numerous deputies who were prepared to officiate at High Mass in place of the actual beneficiaries. Of such deputies there were no fewer than 63 attached to the Cathe- dral, where there were also 38 chaplaincies. In Cologne Johann Agricola gives the number of " priests and monks " (though he adds " so it is said ") as 5000 ; on another occasion he estimates the number of monks and nuns only, at 5000. What is certain is that the " German Rome " on the Rhine numbered at that time 11 collegiate foun- 1 Janssen-Pastor, ibid., pp. 703, 704. The words in single inverted commas are from J. E. Jorg, " Deutschland in der Revolutions- periode 1522-26," Freiburg, 1851, p. 191. 50 LUTHER THE MONK dations, 19 parish churches, over 100 chapels, 22 monasteries, 12 hospitals and 76 religious houses. 1 The above-mentioned Bishop of Chiemsee attributes the corruption of the pries.thood principally to the misuse by clergy and laity of their right of patronage b^th in nomina- tions and by arbitrary interference. Gciler of Kaysersberg is of the same opinion ; he attributes to the laity, more particularly to the patrons among the nobility, the sad condition of the parishes. Uneducated, bad, immoral men were now presented, he says, not the good and virtuous. 2 Cardinal Nicholas of Cusa, who did so much service to Germany, had declared quite openly the cause of the deformation of the clerical system to be the admission to Holy Orders of unworthy candidates, the concubinage of the clergy, plurality of benefices, and simony. Towards the end of the fifteenth century the complaints increased, more especially with regard to the immorality of the clergy. " The numerous regulations of bishops and synods leave no doubt about the fact that a large portion of the German clergy transgressed the law of celibacy in the most flagrant manner." 3 A statement which was presented to the Dukes of Bavaria in 1477 declared that in the opinion of many friends and advocates of a healthy reform, an improvement in the morals of the clergy, where the real cause of all the Church's evils lay, must be taken in hand. It is true there were districts where a blameless and praiseworthy clergy worked, as, for example, the Rhine-Lands, Schleswig- Holstein and the Algau. On the other hand, in Saxony, Luther's home, and in Franconia and Bavaria great dis- orders were reported in this respect. The " De ruina ecclesice" an earlier work, attributed to Nicholas of Clemangcs, tells us of bishops in the commencement of the fifteenth century who, in consideration of a money pay- ment, permitted concubinage to their clergy, and Hefele's " History of the Councils " gives numerous synodical decrees of that date forbidding the bishops to accept 1 Janssen-Pastor, ibid., p. 705 f. See below (vol. ii., ch. xiv. 5) what we say regarding the clergy and monasteries at Erfurt. 2 Ibid., p. 712. 3 Ibid., p. 709. On the Synods, see Hefele-Hergenrother, " Kon- ziliengesch.," vol. viii. Cp. Janssen-Pastor, as above, p. 680 f., and H. Grisar, " Ein Bild aus dem deutschen Synodalleben im Jahrhun- dert vor der Glaubensspaltung " (" Hist. Jahrb.," 1, 1880, pp. 603-40). CLERGY VERSUS LAITY 51 money or presents in return for permitting or conniving at concubinage. 1 Along with concubinage many of the higher clergy dis- played a luxury and a spirit of haughty pride which repelled the people, especially the more independent burghers. Members of the less fortunate clergy gave themselves up to striving after gain by pressing for their tithes and fees and rents, a tendency which was encouraged both in high and low by the excessive demands made by Rome. Worth- less so-called courtisans, i.e. clerks furnished with briefs from the Papal Court (corte), seized upon the best benefices and gave an infectious example of greed, while at the same time their action helped to add fuel to the prejudice and hatred already existing for the Curia. 2 Innumerable were the causes of friction in the domain of worldly interests which gave rise to strife and enmity between laity and clergy. Laymen saw with displeasure how the most influential and laborious posts were filled, not by the beneficiaries themselves, but by incapable representatives, while the actual incumbents resided else- where in comfortable ease and leisure at the expense of the old foundations endowed by the laity. On the other hand, the churches and monasteries complained of the rights appropriated or misused by the princes and nobility, an abuse which often led to the monasteries serving as homes for worn-out officials, or to the vexatious seizure and retention of the estates of deceased priests or abbots. It is clear that such a self-seeking policy on the part of the powerful naturally resulted in the most serious evils and abuses in Church matters, quite apart from the bad feeling thus atoused between the clerical and lay elements of the State. The richer monasteries in particular had to submit to becoming the preserves of the nobles, who made it their practice to provide in this way for the younger scions of 1 Nicolaus de Clemangiis, " De ruina ecclesice," c. 22, in Herm. von der Hardt, " Magnum cecumenicum Conslantiense Concilium," Helmestad., 1700, 1, 3 col., 23 sq. ; Hefele, as above, 7, pp. 385, 416, 422, 594 ; 8, p. 97. loh. de Segovia, " Hist. syn. Basil.", Vindob., 1873 S 2, p. 774 : " Quia in quibusdam regionibus nonnulli iurisdic- tionem ecclesiasticam habentes pecuniarios questus a concubinariis percipere non erubescunt, patiendo eos in tali fceditate sordescere." 2 Cp. on the " courtisans," Janssen-Pastor, ibid., pp. 715-18. 52 LUTHER THE MONK their family, and for that reason sought to prevent members of the middle classes being admitted to profession. The efforts to reform lax monasteries, which are often met with about the close of the Middle Ages, were frequently stifled by these and similar worldly influences. In the disintegration of ecclesiastical order, the power and influence of the rulers of the land with regard to Church matters was, as might be expected, constantly on the increase. Many German princes, influenced by the ideas with re- gard to the dignity of the State which came into such vogue in the fifteenth century, and dissatisfied with the concessions already made to them by the Church, arrogated still further privileges, for example, the taxation of Church lands, the restriction of ecclesiastical jurisdiction, the so-called Govern- ment Placet and an oppressive right of visiting and super- vising the parishes within their territories. There had thus grown up in many districts a system of secular inter- ference in Church matters long before the religious apostasy of the sixteenth century resulted in the total submission of the Church to the Protestant princes of the land. The Catholic ruler recognised in principle the doctrines and rights of the Church. What, however, was to happen if rulers, equipped with such twofold authority, altered their attitude to the Church on the outbreak of the schism ? Their fidelity was in many cases already put to a severe test by the disorders of the clergy, which were doing harm to their country and which Rome made no attempt to suppress. The ecclesiastico-political complaints of the princes (the famous Gravamina) against Rome are proofs of their annoyance ; for these charges, as Dr. Eck pointed out, were for the most part well founded ; Eck's opinion was shared by other authorities, such as Bertold von Henne- berg, Wimpfeling, Duke George of Saxony, and Aleander the Papal Nuncio, who all express themselves in the same manner regarding the financial grievances against Rome, which were felt in Germany throughout all ranks and classes down to the meanest individual. 1 " On account of these and other causes the irritation and opposition to the Holy See had, on the eve of the great German schism, reached boiling point ; this vexation is 1 Cp. Janssen-Pastor, ibid., p. 743. REAL ABUSES 53 explained, as the ' Gravamina nationis Germanicce ' clearly prove, by the disorders of the Curia, and still more by its unceasing demands." " That the smouldering dis- content broke into open flame was the doing of those scoffers without faith or conscience, such as the Humanists, who persisted in pouring on the fire the oil of their sophis- tries." 1 The Catholic historian from whom these words are borrowed rightly draws attention to the " mistaken policy " entered on by Luther's followers when they attacked the hierarchical order on account of the disorders rampant in the life and administration of the Church. The success of their " mistaken policy " was a " speaking proof of the coarseness, blindness and passion of the German people at that time," but in its practical results their policy helped to bring about an ever-to-be-regretted alteration and to open a yawning chasm which still exists to-day. " That the vexation was not altogether without cause no honest historian can deny, whatever his enthusiasm for the Catholic Church," for " the action of Churchmen, whether belonging to the hierarchy or to the regular or secular clergy, cannot be misunderstood. Throughout the whole of Christendom, and particularly in Germany, the general state of things was deplorable. . . . Even though the evils of the waning Middle Ages may have been, and still continue to be, grossly exaggerated by Protestants, and though in the fifteenth century we see many cheering examples and some partially successful attempts at reform, yet there still remains enough foulness to account psychologically for the falling away." 2 And yet the disorders in matters ecclesiastical in Germany would not have entailed the sad consequences they did had they not been accompanied by a great number of social 1 Jos. Schmidlin, "Das Luthertum als historische Erscheinung" ("Wissenschaftl. Beilage" to " Germania," 1909, Nos. 13-15), p. 99 f. Cp. Albert Weiss, " Luther urid Luthertum " (in Denifle's 2nd vol.), p. 34 ff. 2 Schmidlin, as above. Also Albert Weiss, as above, p. 108, allows : " The conditions of things at the commencement of the sixteenth century were such that their continuance was clearly impossible, and it was easy to predict a catastrophe. . . . The abuses were great and had become in some cases intolerable, so that we can understand how many lost courage, patience and confidence. ... It is true that everything was not corrupt, but the good there was was too feeble to struggle with success against the evil." Nevertheless, in the genesis of the movement which led to the falling away from the Church, in 54 LUTHER THE MONK evils, especially the intense discontent of the lower classes with their position and a hostile jealousy of the laity against the privileges and possessions of the clergy. Savage out- breaks of rebellion against the old traditional order of things were of frequent occurrence. In many localities the peasants were in arms against their princes and masters for the improvement of their conditions ; the knights and the nobility, to say nothing of the cities, gave themselves up to the spirit of aggrandisement referred to above. It was just this spirit of unrest and discontent of which the coming mighty movement of intellectual and religious reform was to avail itself. If we look more closely at Italy and Rome we find that in Italy, which comprised within its limits the seat of the supreme authority in the Church and of which the influence on civilisation everywhere was so important, complete religious indifference had taken root among many of, the most highly cultured. The Renaissance, the famed classic regeneration, had undergone a change for the worse, and, in the name of education, was promoting the most question- able tendencies. After having been welcomed and en- couraged by the Papacy with over-great confidence it dis- appointed both the Popes and the Church with its poisonous fruits. At the time that the Holy See was lavishing princely gifts on art and learning, the pernicious system of Church taxation so often complained of by the nations was be- coming more and more firmly established. This taxation, which had started at the time of the residence of the Popes at Avignon in consequence of the real state of need in which the central government of the Church then stood, became more and more an oppressive burden, especially in Germany. It was exploited by Luther in one of his earliest contro- versial writings where, voicing the popular discontent in that spiteful language of which he was a master, he joined his protest to that of the German Estates of the realm. spite of the more favourable view of the conditions which Weiss else- where takes, the real abuses in the Church, even in his own account, play a prominent part. That Luther's work was not "necessary in view of the moral corruption" (p. 6), and that it "did not follow as an in- evitable result " of the same (p. 37), but, on the contrary, was merely facilitated by circumstances, will be granted him by all who review the period with an unprejudiced mind PAPAL EXACTIONS 55 Combining truth and fancy, the administration of the Papal finances became in his hands a popular and terribly effective weapon. It has frequently been pointed out how much the authority of the Holy See suffered in the preceding age, not only on account of the Western Schism when three rival claimants simultaneously strove for the tiara, but also through the so-called reforming councils and their opposition to the constitution of the Cburch, through the political mistakes of the Popes since they established their headquarters in France, through the struggle they waged to assert their power in Italy, that apple of discord of rising nations, and also, in the case of the Avignon Popes, through their lack, or, at any rate, suspected lack, of independence. To this we must add the shocking behaviour of the Curial officials and of several of the cardinals in the Eternal City, especially at the turn of the fifteenth and sixteenth cen- turies, also the disgraceful example of Alexander VI and the Borgia family, the bearing of his successor Julius II, more befitting a soldier than an ecclesiastic, and the very worldly spirit of Leo X and his Court. Ostentation and the abuse of worldly possessions and Church revenues which Alvarez Pelayo, the Spanish Franciscan, had already bewailed in his " De planctu ecclesice " had risen to still greater heights at Rome. The work of this severe critic, who, in spite of his fault-finding, was nevertheless well disposed to the Curia, was in general circulation just previous to Luther's appear- ance on the field ; it was several times reprinted, for in- stance, at Ulm in 1474, and again at Lyons in 1517, with a dedication to the later Pope Hadrian VI. It is there we find the indignant assertion, that those who bear the dignity of the primacy are God's worst persecutors. 1 In the work " De squaloribus Romance curice " various well-founded complaints were adduced, together with much that was incorrect and exaggerated. The book " De ruina ecclesice " (see above, p. 50) contained accusations against the Popes and the government of the Church couched in rude and violent language, and these too gained new and stronger significance at the end of the fifteenth and commencement of the sixteenth century. We actually read therein that 1 Lib. ], c. 67, ed. Venet., 1560, fol. 90', col. 1 : " Heu, Domine Deus, quia ipsi sunt in tua perseculione pri/ni, qui videntur in ecclesia tua primatum diligcre et regere principatum" 56 the number of the righteous in the Church is diminutive compared with that of the wicked. 1 There is no doubt that the state of things, so far as it was known from the above-mentioned books, or from observa- tion or rumour, was busily and impatiently discussed in the company frequented by Luther at the University of Witten- berg. What Luther had himself seen at Rome must have still further contributed to increase the bitterness among his friends. When the Monk of Wittenberg openly commenced his attacks on the Papacy, it became apparent how far the disorders just alluded to had prepared the way for his plans. It was clear that all the currents adverse to the Papacy were, so to speak, waiting for the coming of one man, who should unchain them with his powerful hand. Amongst those who hitherto had been faithful adherents of the Church, Luther found combustible material social, moral and political heaped up so high that a stunning result was not surprising. Had there arisen a saint like St. Bernard, on whose words the world of the Middle Ages had hung, with the Divine gift of teaching and writing as the times demanded, who can say what course events would have taken ? But Luther arrived on the scene with his terrible, mighty voice, pressed all the elements of the storm into his service, and, launching a defiance of which the world had never before heard the like, succeeded in winning an immense success for the standard he had raised. 2 1 Cap. 39 sq. in Herm. von der Hardt, " Magnum cecum. Constant. Condi.," 1, 3, col. 41 sq. 8 The author has thought it necessary to keep within limits in treating of the state of those times in order not to be led too far from Luther's own personality. In the course of the work, the circum- stances of the time and the prevailing social conditions, so far as they had a determining influence on Luther, will be considered in their own place. Such a separate treatment may, at the same time, acquaint one better with the facts than if a long and exhaustive review of the public conditions were to be given here. With regard to the history of the preliminaries of the schism there already exist many works dealing either generally with those times or with various subjects and districts ; these works, however, vary much in merit. While mentioning these w r e would merely in passing utter a warning against generalisations and a priori constructions ; especially must we be on our guard against either looking at things in so dark a light as to make Luther's intervention appear absolutely necessary, or judging too favourably of the conditions previous to the religious struggle. In the latter case we come into collision on the one hand with numerous LUTHER ON BISHOPS 57 Luther from the very outset of his career was too liberal in his blame of the customs and conditions in the Church which happened to meet with his disapproval. Scarcely had he finished his course of studies as a learner than he already began to Avax eloquent against various abuses. In his characteristic love of exaggeration of language he did not fear to use the sharpest epithets, nor to magnify the evil, whether in his academic lectures or in the pulpit, or in his letters and writings. He wrote, for instance, to Spalatin in 1516 to dissuade the Elector of Saxony, Frederick the Wise, from promoting Staupitz to a bishopric : he who becomes a bishop in these days falls into the most evil of company, all the wickedness of Greece, Rome and Sodom were to be found in the bishops ; Spalatin should compare the carryings-on of the present bishops with those of the bishops of Christian antiquity ; now a pastor of souls was considered quite exemplary if he merely pursued his worldly business and built up for himself with his riches an insatiable hell. 1 In his first lectures at Wittenberg he complains that " neither monasteries nor colleges, nor Cathedral churches will in any sort accept discipline." 2 The clergy, he says, in another place, generalising after the fashion common among data which reveal with absolute certainty the existence of great cor- ruption in the Church, and, on the other hand, we lose sight of the causes which alone offer a satisfactory historical explanation of the great spread of the schism. Luther himself and it was this which decided us to abbreviate our survey before the public dispute commenced, was far from possessing, in his quiet cloister, so clear a view of the condi- tions of the time as a learned historian is now able to obtain. The great world of Germany and Europe did not, as we know, reveal itself so clearly to the Monk and Professor as the little world of Wittenberg, and his few months of travel did not make him a judge of the world and of men. The dark and bright elements of ecclesiastical and popular life were seen by him only superficially and partially. In laying more stress on some traits than on others, he allowed himself to be influenced less by any weighing of actual facts than by his ardent feelings. Certain features of the times appear to have remained quite strange to him, notwithstanding the fact that in more recent de- scriptions of the influences at work in him, they are made to play a great part : so, for instance, Gallicanism with its anti-monarchical conception of the Church, or the philosophy of the ultra-realists. With respect to Nominalism, more particularly in its Occamistic form, and to mysticism, the case is absolutely different. This will, however, be discussed below (chaps, iv. v.). 1 On June 8, 1516, " Brief wechsel," 1, p. 41. 2 " Werke," Weim. ed., 3, p. 444. 58 LUTHER THE MONK preachers, should be the eyes of the Church, but to-day they do not direct the body, i.e. the Faithful, for they are blinded : they are the soul, but they do not give life, but rather kill by their deadly example ; about nothing do they trouble less than about souls. 1 In similar language he, in these lectures, represents the bishops and priests as simply " full of the most abominable unchastity " ; accord- ing to him, they bring to the pulpit nothing but " their views and fables, nothing but masquerading and buffoonery," so that the Church can do nothing but cry aloud over the misery in which it is sunk. " The strength of her youth has forsaken her." 2 One of the earliest portions of Luther's correspondence which has been preserved and which takes us back to his little world at Wittenberg, throws a clearer light on his character at that time. It deals with an unpleasant dispute with his brother monks at Erfurt, which he became involved in owing to his having taken his doctorate at Wittenberg instead of at Erfurt. The Erfurt monastery reproached him with a serious infringement of the rules and disrespect for the Theological Faculty there ; he had, they said, entered the teaching Corporation of Erfurt in virtue of the oath which he had taken in the customary manner on his appoint- ment as Sententiarius, and was therefore under strict obligation to take his degree of Doctor in this Faculty and not elsewhere. Other unknown charges were also made against him, but were speedily withdrawn. It is highly probable that the tension between Observantines and Conventuals increased the misunderstanding. Nathin, the Erfurt Augustinian, first wrote a rather tactless letter to Luther about it all, as it would appear in the name of the council of the monastery. Luther was extremely angry and allowed his excitement free play. He first expresses his surprise in two letters to the Prior and the council, and was about to despatch a third when he learnt that the accusations against him, with the exception of that regarding his doctorate, had been with- drawn. While Nathin's letter and also the two passionate replies of the young Doctor have been lost, two other letters of the latter regarding the matter exist, and are professedly letters of excuse. The first is in reality nothing of the kind, but rather the opposite. In this letter, dated June 16, 1514, and addressed 1 " Werke," ibid., 3, p. 170. 2 " Werke," ibid., 3, p. 216. LUTHER AND NATHIN 59 to the Prior and the council, Luther to begin with complains vehemently of the evil reports against his person which, accord- ing to his information, some of those he was addressing at Erfurt had circulated previously. Nathin's letter had, however, been the last straw. " This letter," he says, which was written in the name of all, angered him so much with its lies and its provoking, poisonous scorn, that " I had almost poured out the vials of my wrath and indignation on his head and the whole monastery, as Master Paltz did." "They had probably received the two " stupid letters " ; as however the other charges ha4.been withdrawn, he would hold the majority of those he was addressing as excused ; they must now, on their part, forget any hurt they had felt at his previous replies ; " Lay all that I have done," these are his words, " to the account of the furious epistle of Master Nathin, for my anger was only too well justified. Now, however, I hear still worse things of this man, viz. that he accuses me everywhere of being a dishonourable perjurer on account of the oath to the Faculty which I am supposed to have taken and not kept." He goes on to explain that he had been guilty of no such crime, for the Biblical lectures at the commencement of which he was supposed to have taken the oath, and at which, it is true, in accordance with the customs of the University, such an oath was generally taken, had not been begun by him at Erfurt ; at his opening lecture on the Sentences in that town he had, so far as he remembers, taken no oath, nor could he recall having ever taken any oath in the Faculty at Erfurt. He closes with an expression of respect and gratitude to the Erfurt Faculty. Though he was the injured party, he was calm and contented and joyful, for he had deserved much worse of God : they too should lay their bitterness aside, " as God has clearly willed my departure (ex- corporatio) from Erfurt, and we must not withstand God." 1 This letter and Luther's previous steps cannot be regarded as giving proof of a harmoniously attuned disposition. He may have been in the right in the matter of the oath, a question of which it is difficult to judge. It was not, however, very surprising that the Erfurt monks took steps to force Luther to make more satisfactory amends to the Faculty than the strange letter of excuse given above. It is plain that under pressure of some higher authority invoked by them, a second letter, this time of more correct character, was despatched by the Wittenberg Doctor. In judging of this academic dispute, we must bear in mind the store that was set in those days on University traditions. The second letter in question, dated December 21, 1514, is addressed to the " excellent Fathers and Gentlemen, the Dean and other Doctors of the Theological Faculty of Studies at Erfurt " and in the very first words shows itself to be a humble apology and request for pardon. It contains further information regarding the affair. He begs them at least not to deem him guilty of a fault committed knowingly and out of malice ; if he had done anything unseemly, at least it was unintentionally (" extra dolum 1 " Brieiwechsel," 1, p. 17. 60 LUTHER THE MONK et conscientiam ") ; he begs them to dispense and ratify, to supply what is wanting and to remit, if not the penalty, at least the fault. 1 We learn nothing further about the dispute. The negotia- tions did not lead to the renewal of the good relations with Erfurt, which had been interrupted by his brusque departure. The people of Erfurt were amongst the first to object to the new, so-called Augustinism and Paulinism of the Witten- berg Professor. 1 " Brief wechsel," 1, p. 23 ft. HARBINGERS OF CHANGE 1. Sources, Old and New THE history of Luther's inward development during his first years at Wittenberg up to 1517, is, to a certain extent, rather obscure. The study of deep psychological processes must always be reckoned amongst the most complex of problems, and in our case the difficulty is increased by the nature of Luther's own statements with regard to himself. These belong without exception to his later years, are uncertain and contradictory in character, and in nearly every instance represent views influenced by his contro- versies and such as he was wont to advocate in his old age. Thanks to more recent discoveries, however, we are now possessed of works written by Luther in his youth which supply us with better information. By a proper use of these, we are able to obtain a much clearer picture of his develop- ment than was formerly possible. Many false ideas which were once current have now been dispelled ; more especially there can no longer be any question of the customary Protestant view, namely, that the Monk of Wittenberg was first led to his new doctrine through some unusual inward religious experience by which he attained the joyful assurance of salvation by faith alone, and not by means of the good works of Popery and monas- ticism. This so-called inner experience, which used to be placed in the forefront of his change of opinions, as a " Divine Experience," as shown below, must disappear altogether from history. 1 Objection must equally be taken 1 Wilhelm Braun (" Die Bedeutung der Concupiscenz in Luthers Leben und Lehre," Berlin, 1908) commences chapter ii. (" Luther's Experience in the Monastery," p. 19) as follows : " It is impossible to speak in the strict sense of any religious experience which Luther had in the monastery. It was no catastrophe which, with elemental force, brought about the Reformer's change. Any dramatic element 61 62 LUTHER THE MONK to some of the views with which Catholics have been wont to explain Luther's apostasy. The path Luther followed, though subject to numerous and varied influences, is now seen to be much less complicated than was hitherto supposed. Two results already brought to light by other authors are now confirmed. First, the process of his falling away from the Church's teaching was already accomplished in Luther's mind before he began the dispute about Indulgences with Tetzel ; secondly, a certain moral change, the outlines of which are clearly marked, w r ent hand in hand with his theological views, indeed, if anything, preceded them ; the signs of such an ethical change are apparent in his growing indifference to good works, and to the aims and rules of conventual life, and in the quite extraordinary self- confidence he displayed, more especially when disputes arose. Characteristic of the ethical side of his nature are the remarks and marginal annotations we have of his, which were published by Buchwald in 1893 ; these notes were written by Luther in many of the books he made use of in his early days as theological lecturer at Erfurt (1509-10). These books are the oldest available sources for a correct estimation of his intellectual activity. They were found in the Ratsschul-Library at Zwickau. Of special interest is a volume containing various writings of St. Augustine, and a copy of the Sentences of Peter Lombard, which is of great importance on account of the notes. The running is entirely wanting. There was in his case no Damascus. It is a useless task to attempt, as has been done again and again, to deter- mine the year and the day on which the actual reforming flame burnt up in Luther's soul." The author puts on one side Kostlin-Kawerau's long descriptions of the gradual ripening of the Reformer, his early comprehension of the Pauline writings, due to his inward struggles, etc. He declares Luther's life " cannot be written so long as the beginnings of the Reformer and the growth of his tenets have not yet been made clear. That we are here still in the dark is proved, with regard to Luther's psychology, by his latest Biographies." This Protestant theologian, who works more independently than others, is quite resigned, "in view of the multitude of open questions raised by Luther's early development, to see the fruits and tangible results of Luther research ripen slowly. Our most pressing duty is," he says rightly, " to supply the material while deprecating rash con- clusions " ; without an acquaintance with the theology of the Middle Ages there is no possibility of understanding Luther : "in this respect Denifle's ' Luther und Luthertum ' furnished a wholesome though painful lesson to Protestant theologians " (p. v. f.). LECTURES ON THE PSALMS 63 commentary in Luther's early handwriting shows his great industry, enables us to see what especially impressed him, and betrays also his marvellous belief in himself as well as his stormy, unbridled temper. Of Luther's letters written previous to 1514 only five remain, and are of comparatively little historical interest. Of the year 1515 there is only one, of 1516 there are nineteen, of 1517 already twenty-one, and they increase in importance as well as in number. In 1513 he began, at Wittenberg University, his Com- mentary on the Psalms, which has been known since 1876, and continued those lectures up to 1515 or 1516. Following his lively and practical bent, he refers therein to the most varied questions of theology and the religious life, and occasionally even introduces contemporary matters, so that these lectures afford many opportunities by which to judge of his development and mode of thought. First the scholia, which till then had been known only in part, were edited in a somewhat cumbersome form by Seidemann, then a better edition by Kawerau, containing both the scholia and the glosses, followed in 1885. 1 In dividing this exegetical work into scholia and glosses, Luther was following the traditional method of the Middle Ages. The glosses are very short, as was customary ; they were written by Luther between the lines of the text itself or in the margin and explained the words and grammatical construction ; on the sense they touch only in the most meagre fashion. On the other hand, the detailed scholia seek to unfold the meaning of the verses and often expand into free digressions. In addition to the glosses and the scholia on the Psalms, Kawerau's edition also includes the preparatory notes, written by Luther in a copy of the first edition of the " Psalterium quincuplex " of Faber Stapulensis (Paris, 1509), which, like the glosses and scholia, attest both the learning of their author and the peculiar tendency of his mind. Luther used for his text the Latin Vulgate, making a very sparing use of his rudimentary Hebrew. The glosses and the scholia were, 1 J. K. Seidemann, " Luthers erste und alteste Vortesungen iiber die Psalmen, 1513 bis 1516," 2 volumes, Dresden, 1876. Cp. Hering in " Theol. Studien und Kritiken," 1877, p. 633 ff. ; G. Kawerau's edition of Luther's works, Weim. ed., volumes iii. and iv., also volume ix., pp. 116-21. He gives the title better, viz. " Dictata super Psalterium." 64 LUTHER THE MONK however, intended chiefly for the professor himself ; to the students who attended his biblical lectures Luther was in the habit of giving a short dictation comprising a summary of what he had prepared, and then, with the assistance of his glosses and scholia, dilating more fully on the subject. Scholars' notebooks containing such dictations given by Luther in early days together with his fuller explanation are in existence, but have never been printed. After the Psalms, the lectures of our Wittenberg " Doctor of the Bible " dealt with St. Paul's Epistle to the Romans. This work- of such supreme importance for the compre- hension of Luther's spiritual development- with its glosses and scholia complete, was published only, in 1908 in Picker's edition. 1 The lectures on the Book of Judges, edited in 1 884 by Buchwald and then again by Kawerau as a work of Luther supposed to have been delivered in 1516, are, according to Denifle, not Luther's at all ; they are largely borrowed from St. Augustine, and, at the very most, are a t redaction by another hand of the notes of one of Luther's pupils. 2 Transcripts of Luther's lectures on the Epistle to Titus, and Epistle to the Hebrews, delivered in 1516 and 1517 respectively, are still lying unedited in the Vatican Library. 3 On the other hand, his lectures on the Epistle to the Galatians (1516-17) were brought out by himself in 1519. Further light may be shed on them by the publication of a hitherto unedited student's notebook, discovered at Cologne in 1877. To the years 1514-20 belongs a rich mine of information in the sermons preached by Luther in the monastery church of the Augustinians, or in the parish church of the town. They consist of more or less detailed notes, written in Latin, 1 " Anfange reformatorischer Bibelauslegung." Eel. by Joh. Ficker, 1 volume. " Luthers Vorlesung iiber den Romerbrief, 1515-16," Leipzig, 1908. See below, chapter vi., 1. 2 Kawerau's edition in the Weim. ed., volume iv. According to the editor Luther commenced the lectures in 1516 ; Kostlin, "Luthers Theologie," 1 prefers the year 1517; in the 2nd ed. the year 1518. Denifle, " Luther und Luthertum," 1, p. 47 ff. ; I 2 , p. x. f. Walther Kohler in "Die Christ!. Welt," 1904, p. 203, says: "Denifles scharfsin- nige Erorterung iiber die angeblichen Vorlesungen zum Richterbuch wird, denke ich, im wesentlichen Beifall finden. Es ist ihm hier die gliickliche Entdeckung gelungen, dass ganze Stiicke angeblich Luther- schen Eigentums wortliche Entlehnungen aus Augustin sind." 3 See Ficker, " Luthers Vorlesung iiber den Romerbrief," p. 29 ff. HIS SERMONS 65 on the Gospels and Epistles of the Sundays and Feast days ; some are the merest sketches, but all, as we may assume, were written down by himself for his own use, or to be handed to others. 1 Chronologically, they are headed by three sermons for Christmas time, probably dating from 1515. The exact dating of these older sermons is sometimes rather difficult, and will have to be undertaken in the future, the Weimar edition of Luther's works having made no attempt at this. The sermons were all of them printed in 1720, with the exception of two printed only in 1886. A complete discourse held at a synodal meeting at Leitzkau, near Zerbst, and printed in 1708, stands apart, and probably belongs to 1515, a year of the greatest consequence in Luther's develop- ment. To the same year belongs, without a doubt, the lecture delivered at a chapter of the Order, which may aptly be entitled : " Against the little Saints." (See below, p. 69.) The first of the works written and published by Luther himself was of a homiletic nature ; this was his Commentary on the Seven Penitential Psalms, published in 1517. To the same year, or the next, belong his expositions of the Lord's Prayer and Ten Commandments, consisting of excerpts from his sermons sent by him to the press. The celebrated ninety-five Theses, which led directly to the dispute on Indulgences, followed next in point of time. Just as the Theses referred to throw light upon his development, 2 so also, and to an even greater extent, do the Disputations which took place at academic festivals about that same period. In these Disputations propositions drawn up either by himself or by his colleagues, were defended by his pupils under his own direction. They dis- play his theological views as he was wont to vent them at home, and are therefore all the more natural and reliable. Of such Disputations we have that of Bartholomew Bern- hardi in 1516 " On the Powers and the Will of Man without Grace " ; that of Francis Gimther in 1517 " Concerning Grace and Nature," also entitled " Against the Theology of the Schoolmen," and the Heidelberg Disputation of 1518, 1 " Werke," Weim. ed., 1, and " Opp. lat. var.," 1. 2 Cp. Th. Brieger, " Die Gliederung der 95 Thesen Luthers " (in the " Festschrift " in honour of Max Lenz), with " Studien und Ver- suchen zur neueren Geschichte," 1 Abh. 66 LUTHER THE MONK with Leonard Beyer as defendant of twenty-eight philo- sophical and twelve theological theses. In the latter theses there are also various notes in Luther's handwriting. Of Luther's writings, dating from the strenuous year 1518, some of which are in Latin and others in German and which throw some light on his previous development, we may mention in their chronological order : the sermon on " Indulgence and Grace," the detailed " Resolutions " on the Indulgence Theses, the discourse on Penance, the " Asterisci " against Eck, the pamphlet " Freedom of the Sermon on Indulgence and Grace," an exposition of Psalm ex., the reply to Prierias, the sermon on the power of excom- munication, then the report of his trial at Augsburg and the sermon on the " Threefold Righteousness." To these we must add his complete edition of " Thcologia Deutsch," an anonymous mystical pamphlet of the fourteenth century a portion of which he had brought out in 1516 with a preface of his own. 1 These are the sources which Luther himself has left behind him and from which the inner history of his apostasy and of his new theology must principally be taken. The further evidence derivable from his later w r orks, his sermons, letters and Table-Talk, will be dealt with in due course. Only at the end of 1518 was his new teaching practically complete. At that time a new and final element had been added, the doctrine of absolute individual certainty of salvation by " Fiducial Faith." This was regarded by Luther and his followers as the corner-stone of evangelical Christianity now once again recovered. At the commence- ment of 1519, we find it expressed in the new Commentary on the Epistle to the Galatians (a new and enlarged edition of the earlier lectures), and in the new Commentary on the Psalms, which was printed simultaneously. Hence Luther's whole process of development up to that time may be divided into two stages by the doctrine of the assurance of salvation ; in the first, up to 1517, this essential element was still wanting : the doctrine of the necessity of belief in personal justification and future salvation does not 1 The writings and theses referred to appear in the two first volumes of the Weim. ed. and of the " Opp. lat." The " Theologia Deutsch " has recently been reprinted by Mandel (1908) from Luther's text. THE OBSERVANTINES 67 appear, and for this reason Luther himself, later on, speaks of this time as a period of unstable, and in part despairing, search. 1 The second stage covers the years 1517-18, and commences with the Resolutions and the Augsburg trial, where we find the Professor gradually acquiring that absolute certainty of salvation to which he finally attained through an illumination which he was wont to regard as God's own work. 2 In the next section we deal merely with the first stage, which we shall seek to elucidate from the psychological, theological and ethical standpoint. 2. Luther's Commentary on the Psalms (1513-15). Dispute with the Observantines and the "Self-righteous" Presages of the storm which Luther was about to raise were visible in his first course of lectures on the Psalms given at Wittenberg. With regard to several particularly important parts of his work on the Psalms, it would be desirable to determine to what precise time during the period 1513-15 they belong ; but this is a matter of considerable difficulty. The polemics they contain against the so-called " Saints by works," the " Self-righteous " and the Obser- vantines, the last of which must here be considered first, seem to belong to the earlier part of the period. In particular his animus against the Observantines, traces of which are plentiful, seems to have been of early growth. It also deserves more attention than has hitherto been bestowed on it, on account of its psychological and theological influence on Luther. 3 Under the Observantines Luther in his Commentary on the Psalms refers, openly or covertly, to the members of the German Augustinian Congregation, i.e. to those who adhered to that party to which, since his return from Rome, he had been opposed. 1 See below, chapter vi., 2 ff. 2 See below, chapter x., 12. 3 W. Braun, " Die Bedeutung der Concupiscenz in Luthers Leben und Lehre," p. 22 : " We learn nothing of the dispute then going on between the Conventuals and the Observantines, the laxer and stricter exponents of the monastic Rule ; and yet Luther may have experi- enced their differences in his own person ; his second removal from Erfurt to Wittenberg in 1511 was perhaps a disciplinary act, because he and Lang stood on the side of Staupitz and against the Erfurt Council. Probably Luther went to Rome about this very matter." 68 LUTHER THE MONK No sooner had Luther, as Cochlacus remarked (p. 38), " deserted to Staupitz " and begun to defend his opinions, the aim of which was to surrender the privileged position of the Congregation and the stringency of the Rule, than his fiery temper led him to constitute himself the champion of the monasteries with whose cause he had allied himself, particularly that of Wittenberg ; indeed, he was, if not actually the first, one of the earliest to take up the cudgels on their behalf. The mission to Rome with which he had previously been entrusted lent him special authority, and his expert knowledge of the case seemed to entitle him to a voice on the subject. To this was added the importance of his position at the University, his reputation as a talented and eloquent lecturer, and his power as a preacher. His sociability drew many to him, especially among the young, and his readiness of tongue marked him out as a real party man. In his lectures on the Psalms his fiery nature led him to attack sharply the Observantines, whom he frequently mentions by name ; even in the lecture-room his aim was to prejudice the young Augustihians who were his audience against the defenders of the traditional constitution ; instead of encouraging the rising generation of monks to strive after perfection on the tried and proved lines of their Congregation, he broke out into declamatory attacks against those monks who took their vocation seriously as they received it from their predecessors, and abused them as Pharisees and hypocrites ; according to him, they were puffed up by their carnal mind because they esteemed " fasting and lengthy prayers." There are Pharisees, he cries, even now who extol fasting and long-drawn prayer ; " they make rules," but " their zeal is directed against the Lord." There are many in the Church who " dispute about ceremonies and are enthusiastic for the hollow- ness of exterior observances." " I am acquainted with still more obstinate hypocrites." 1 " It is to be feared that all Observantines, all exempted, and privileged religious, must be reckoned among those puffed up in their carnal mind. How harmful they are to Concerning his removal and journey to Rome, see above, pp. 29, 38. We learn, it is true, no details about the dispute between the monasteries, and this is perhaps what Braun means ; but its continuance is, to my mind, apparent from Luther's statements, as well as from the leading part he took against the Observantines. Ficker (" Luthers Vorlesung iiber den Romerbrief," 1908, p. xcvii.) only mentions the Observantines cursorily, saying that Luther did not seem much attached to them. Hering (" Theolog. Studien und Kritiken," 1877, p. 627) offers little of interest. 1 " Werke," Weim. ed., 3, p. 61. ON SLANDER 69 the Church has not yet become clear, but the fact remains and will make itself apparent in time. If we ask why they insist upon isolation, they reply : On account of the protection of the cloistral discipline. But that is the light of an angel of Satan." 1 The following attack on the Observantines in the lectures on the Psalms is on the same lines : There are plenty of " men proud of their holiness and observance, hypocrites and false brothers." 2 " But the fate of a Divine condemnation " will fall upon " all the proud and stiff-necked, all the superstitious, re- bellious, disobedient, also, as I fear, on our Observantines, who under a show of strict discipline are only loading themselves with insubordination and rebellion." 3 The Observantines were plainly in his opinion demonstrating their unruliness by seeking to stand by the old foundation principles of the Congregation. He is angered by their exemption from the General and their isolation from the other German Augustinians, and still less does he like their severities ; they ought to fall into line with the Conventuals and join them. We know nothing further of the matter nor anything of the rights of the case ; it may be noted, however, that the after history of the party with which Luther sided and the eventual dissolution of the Congregation, appear rather to justify the Observantines. On the occasion of a convention of the Order at Gotha in 1515 at which the Conventuals must have had a decided majority, seeing that Luther was chosen as Rural Vicar he delivered, on May 1, the strange address on slander, which has been preserved. He represents this fault as prevalent amongst the opposite party and lashes in unmeasured terms those in the Order " who wish to appear holy," " who see no fault in themselves," but who unearth the hidden sins and faults of others, and hinder them in doing good and " in teaching." Thus the estrangement had proceeded very far. Perhaps, even allowing for Luther's ex- aggeration, the other side may have had its weaknesses, and been guilty of precipitancy and sins of the tongue, though it is unlikely that the faults were all on one side. It is noticeable, however, that Luther's discourse is not directed against calumniators who invent and disseminate untruths against their opponents, but only against those who bring to light the real faults of their brethren. Scattered through the Latin text of the sermon are highly opprobrious epithets in German. The preacher, for their want of charity, calls his opponents " poisonous serpents, traitors, vagabonds, murderers, tyrants, devils, and all that is evil, desperate, incredulous, envious, and haters." He speaks in detail of their devil's filth and of the human excrement which they busy them- selves in sorting, anxious to discover the faults of their adver- 1 " Werke," Weim. ed., 3, p. 155. 2 Ibid., 4, p. 312. Note " bonitas fidei "( = Christian righteousness), " veritas fidei "( = Christian truth), " iuslitice fidei substantia "(= essence of Christian righteousness). 3 Ibid., 4, p. 122 70 LUTHER THE MONK saries. * The wealth of biblical passages quoted in this strange address cannot make up for the lack of clear ideas and of any discrimination and judgment as to the limits to be observed by a preacher in commenting on the faults of his time. Luther's fond- ness for the use of filthy and repulsive figures of speech also makes a very disagreeable impression. It is true that there we must take into account the manners of the time, and his Saxon surroundings, but even Julius Kostlin, Luther's biographer, was shocked at the indecency of the expressions which Luther uses. 8 The real reason of this discourse was probably that Luther wished to enter on his office as Rural Vicar by striking a deadly blow at the Observant faction and at their habit of crying down his own party. It was this address which his friend Lang, fully alive to its range, sent at once to Mutian, the frivolous leader of the Humanists at Gotha, describing it as a sermon "Against the little Saints." Returning to the Commentary on the Psalms, we find that therein Luther sometimes makes characteristic state- ments about himself. On one occasion, doubtless in a fit of depression, he pours out the following effusion : " If Ezechiel says the eyes wax feeble, this prophecy is largely fulfilled at the present time, as I perceive in myself and in many others. They know very well all that must be believed, but their faith and assent is so dull that they are oppressed as by sleep, are heavy of heart, and unable to raise them- selves up to God." Such states of lukewarmness were to be banished by means of fear, but woe to him who permits the feeling of self-righteousness to take the place of the weari- ness, for " there is no greater unrighteousness than excessive righteousness." 3 In the latter words he seems to be again alluding to the " little Saints " and the ostensibly self- righteous members of his Order. His ill-humour is partly a result of his dissatisfaction with the disorders which he knew or believed to exist in his immediate surroundings, in the Order, and in ecclesiastical life generally. He frequently speaks of them with indigna- tion, though from the new standpoint which he was gradually taking. " We live in a false peace," he cries, and fancy we can draw on the " Treasure of the merits of Christ and the Saints." " Popes and bishops are flinging about graces and 1 " Werke," Weim. ed., 4, p. 675 ; 1, p. 44. 2 Kostlin, "Martin Luther," I 2 , p. 125. In the 5th edition by Kostlin and Kawerau (vol. i., p. 122) the disapproving comment of Kostlin's was suppressed. 3 " Werke," Weim. ed., 3, p. 423. ON RELIGIOUS MENDICANTS 71 indulgences." l Unmindful of the consequences, he dimin- ished the respect of his youthful hearers for the authority of the Church. As to the religious life, he was wont to speak as follows : " Here come men of religion and vaunt their confraternities and indulgences at every street corner only to get money for food and clothing. Oh ! those begging friars ! those begging friars ! those begging friars ! Perhaps you are to be excused because you receive alms in God's name, and preach the word and perform the other services gratis. That may be, but see you look to it." 2 These words in the mouth of one who was himself a member of a mendi- cant Order, for this the Augustinian Hermits, undoubtedly were, amounted to an attack on the constitution of his own Congregation. In his Commentary on the Psalms he frequently at one and the same time rails at the " self-righteous " and " holy by works " and at the opposition party in his Order, so that it is not easy to distinguish against whom his attacks are directed. Already at this period he shows a certain tendency to under-estimate the value of Christian good works and to insist one-sidedly on the power and efficacy of faith and on the application of the merits of Christ. Most emphatically, as opposed to trust in good works and merits, does he insist on the grace of Christ, the " nuda et sola misericordia Dei et benignitas gratuita " which must be our support and stay. 3 His exhortations against works and human efforts sound as though intended to dissuade from any such, whether inward or outward, as though the merits of Christ and the righteousness which God gives us might thereby suffer. * Man's interior efforts towards repentance by means of the contempla- tion of the misery and the consequences of sin, do not appeal to 1 "Werke," Weim. ed., 3, p. 424. 2 Ibid., p. 425. 3 " Werke," Weim. ed., 3, p. 42, where he explains Psalm iv. 1 (Cum invocarem exaudivit me Deus iustitice mece) as follows and under- lines same (his grandson Johann Ernst Luther has added in the margin : " Locus illustris de iustificatione ") : " Vide quam vera et pia est ieta confessio, quce NIHIL SIBI DE MERITIS ARROGAT. Non enim ait ' cum multa fecissem, vel opere, ore out aliquo meo membro mertmsem,' ut intelligaa, eum NULLAM IUSTITIAM ALLEGARE, nullum meritum ioctare, nullam dignitatem ostentare, sed NUDAM ET SOLAM MISERICORDIAM DEI et benignitatem gratuitam extollere, quce nihil in eo invenit." * Cp. ibid., 3, pp. 172, 288, 355, 439, 514 ; and 4, p. 19, etc. Hunzinger, who quotes these and other passages, says : " He warns much against our own works and desire to gain merit" (" Luther und die deutsche Mystik," in "Neue kirchl. Zeitschrift," 19, 1908, Hft. 11, pp. 972-88, p. 978). 72 LUTHER THE MONK him. He is well aware that repentance consists in sorrow for and hatred of sin, 1 but he says that he himself has no personal experi- ence of this kind of compunction. 2 He complains that so many turn to exterior works, they " follow their own inventions and make rules of their own at their choice ; their ceremonies and the works they have devised are everything to them " : but to act thus is to set up " a new standard of righteousness instead of cultivating the spiritual things which God prescribes, namely, the Word of God, Grace and Salvation. These persons are in so much the greater error because it is a fine spiritual by-path, they are obstinate and stiff-necked, full of hidden pride in spite of the wonderful humility of which they make a show." At last, carried away by his anger with what is mostly a phantom of his own creation, he exclaims : " Yes, they are given up to spiritual idolatry, a sin against the Holy Ghost for which there is no forgiveness." 3 With such-like harsh accusations of presumptuous zeal for good works he frequently attacks the " captiosi et contentiosi monachi et sacerdotes," Let us go for them, he cries, since they are proud of despising others. 4 Obedience and humility they have none, for they are seduced by the angel of darkness, who assumes the garb of an angel of light. They wish to do great works and they set themselves above the small and insignificant things demanded by obedience. These devotees in religious dress (" religiosi devotarii ") should beware of putting their trust in the pious exercises peculiar to them, while they remain lazy, languid, careless, and disobedient in the common life of the Order. 5 The last words " si in Us quce sunt conventualia et communia " are, in the MS., pointed to by a hand drawn in the margin. The term " conventualia " seems reminiscent of the Conventuals, but not much further on, in the Commentary on the same Psalm (cxviii.), we find the word " observance." The Psalmist, he says, implicitly condemns " those who are proud of their holiness, and observ- ance, who destroy humility and obedience." 6 He goes on to advocate something akin to Quietism, saying we should do, not our own works, but God's works, i.e. " those which God works in us " : everything we do of ourselves belongs only to outward or carnal righteousness. 7 It is quite possible that he did not wish to deny the correct sense these words might convey, for, elsewhere 1 Weim. ed., 3, p. 537 ff. on Psalm Ixxvi. 8 Ibid., p. 549 : " Inde et mihi [psalmus Ixxvi.] difficilis, quia extra compunctionem sum et loquor de compunctione " ; in such matters one must be able " intus sentire " ; " igitur quia mece compunctionis practica non possum, declarabo eum [psalmum] ad exemplum et ex practica B. Augustini ('Confess.,' 1, 8)." 3 " Werke," Weim. ed., 3, p. 331 f. * Ibid., 4, p. 78. 5 Ibid., 4, p. 306 f. Ibid., p. 312. 7 Ibid., 3, p. 541. " Non in viribus nostris et iuslitiis operemur, sed opera Dei discamus operari . . . Eruditus [psalmi auctor] con- cludit, opera Dei non ease, nisi quce Deus in nobis operetur. Quare iustitice et opera nostra coram eo nihil sunt, ideoque opera exterioris iustitice non sunt opera Dei," p. 542 : " Omnia ista (Ps. Ivi. 13) dicuntur GRATUITOUS JUSTIFICATION 73 in his controversies, he appears unaware of the exaggeration of his language. But the skirmish with the so-called self-righteous had a deeper explanation. Luther was so fascinated with the righteousness which God gives through faith, that man's share in securing the same is already relegated too much to the back- ground. Thus he explains the verse of Psalm cxlii. where the words occur " Give ear to my supplication in Thy truth and hear me in Thy righteousness " as follows : " Hear me by Thy mercy and truth, i.e. through the truth of Thy promises of mercy to the penitent and those who beseech Thee, not for my merits' sake ; hear me in Thy righteousness, not in my righteousness, but in that which Thou givest and wilt give me through faith." 1 With words of remarkable forcefulness he declares that, to be in sin, only makes more evident the value of the " institia " which comes through Christ. "It is therefore fitting that we become unrighteous and sinners " ; what he really means to say is, that we should feel ourselves to be such. 2 Elsewhere he dwells, not incorrectly, but with startling emphasis, on the fact that justification comes only from God and without any effort on our part (gratis), 3 and that it is not due to works ;* sanctification must proceed not from our own righteousness and according to the letter, but from the heart, and with grace, spirit and truth. 5 The desire for justification is to him the same as the desire for " a lively and strong faith in which I live and am justified." " Enliven me," he says, " i.e. penetrate me with faith, because the just man lives by faith ; faith is our life." 6 Even at that time he was not averse to dwelling on the strength of concupiscence and, in his usual hyperbolical style, he lays stress on the weakness and wickedness of human nature. " We are all contra superbos et iustos apud se, qui meditantur, quomodo sua opera statuant et suas adinventiones exerceant." He therefore blames them : " Foris ambulant in carne et carnali itistitia," etc. Cp. ibid., 4, p. 281 against " proprietarii iustitice " who, in exchange for good works, have taken out righteousness on lease. 1 Weim. ed., 4, p. 443. Cp. ibid., 3, pp. 174, 178, where Romans i. 17, " lustitia Dei revclatur in eo [evangelic]," is quoted with the correct traditional meaning. 2 Ibid., 4, p. 383. The passage reminds one of the " esto peccator et pecca fortiter," which will be referred to later. It reads : " JBquum est infirmari secundum carnem, ut inhabitet in nobis virtus Christi (2 Cor. xii. 9) in homine interiori. ^EQTJUM EST INITJSTOS ET PECCA- TORES FIERI, ut iustiftcetur Deus in sermonibus suis (Ps. 1. 6) : quia non venit iustos vocare sed peccatores (Matt. ix. 13), id est ut iuslitia nostra agnoscatur nihil esse nisi peccatum et pannus menstruates (Is. Jxiv. 6), ac sic potius iustitia Christi regnet in nobis, dum per ipsum et in ipso confidimus salvari, non ex nobis, ne auferamus ei nomen, quod est Jhesus, id est Salvator." 3 Cp. Weim. ed., 3, pp. 290, 284. * Ibid., p. 172. 5 Ibid., 3, p. 320 ft ; 4, p. 300 fif., 312. Ibid., 4, p. 325. 74 LUTHER THE MONK a lost lump " 5 1 " whoever is without God sins necessarily, i.e. he is in sin " ; 2 " unconquerable " or " necessary " are terms he is fond of applying to concupiscence in his discourses. 3 From other passages it would almost appear as if, even then, he admitted the persistence of original sin, even after baptism ; for instance, he says that the whole world is " in peccatis original- ibus," though unaware of it, and must therefore cry " mea culpa" ;* our righteousness is nothing but sin ; 5 understanding, will, and memory, even in the baptised, are all fallen, and, like the wounded Jew, await the coming of the Samaritan. 6 He also speaks of the imputation of righteousness by God who, instead of attributing to us our sins, " imputes [the merits of Christ] unto our righteousness." 7 Still, taken in their context, none of these passages furnish any decisive proof of a deviation from the Church's faith. They forebode, indeed, Luther's later errors, but contain as yet no explicit denial of Catholic doctrine. In this we must subscribe to Denifle's view, and admit that no teaching actually heretical is found in the Commentary on the Psalms. 8 With reference to man's natural powers, that cardinal point of Luther's later teaching, neither the ability to be good and pleasing to God, nor the freedom of choosing what is right and good in spite of concupiscence, is denied. 9 Concupiscence, as he fre- 1 Weim. ed., p. 343 : " omnes sumus massa perditionis et debitor es mortis ceternce." * Ibid., p. 354. 3 Cp. ibid., 4, p. 207. 4 Ibid., p. 497. 5 Ibid., p. 383. 6 Ibid., p. 211. 7 Ibid., 3, p. 171 : " Quod ex nullis operibus pcccata remittuntur, sed sola misericordia Dei non imputantis." Cp. p. 175. 8 Cp. on Concupiscence, in the Commentary on the Psalms, Denifle, 1 2 , p. 441 f. and pp. 453, 476. A. Hunzinger, " Lutherstudien," 1 ; " Luthers Neuplatonismus in den Psalmvorlesungen," Leipzig, 1906, Preface : " Denifle's ' Luther ' is correct ; Luther during the first years of his literary activity stood on Catholic ground ; nor is it by any means the case that from the beginning the reforming element was contained in germ in Luther's theology." On the other hand, the elements which were to lead him to take the step from the obscure theology of the Commentary on the Psalms to the heretical theology of 1515-16 viz. his false mysticism and misapprehension of the Epistle to the Romans were already present. The most suspicious passage in the Commentary on the Psalms is 4, p. 227, which points to the con- tinuance of his doubts regarding predestination ; he says that Christ had drunk of the chalice of suffering for the elect, but not for all. See the next note, especially the first quotation. 9 Weim. ed., 4, p. 295 : " Anima mea est in potestate mea et in libertate arbitrii possum earn perdere vel salvare eligendo vel reprobando legem tuam." Concupiscence has not yet become original sin itself, but is still a mere relic of the same (3, pp. 215, 453). Kostlin, in " Luthers Theologie," I 2 , p. 66, quotes other passages from the Com- SALVATION IN OUR HANDS 75 quently admonishes us, must be driven back, " it must not be allowed the mastery," though it will always make itself felt ; it is like a Red Sea through the midst of which we must pass, refusing our consent to the temptations which press upon us like an advancing tide. 1 Luther lays great weight on the so-called Syntheresis, the inner voice which, according to the explanation of the schoolmen, he believes cries longingly to God, by whom also it is heard ; it is the ineradicable precious remnant of good left in us, 2 and upon which grace acts. Man's salvation is in his own hands inasmuch as he is able either to accept or to reject the law of God. 3 Luther also speaks of a preparation for grace (" dispositio et prceparatio ") which God's preventing, super- natural grace assists. 4 He expressly invokes the traditional theological axiom that " God's grace is vouchsafed to everyone who does his part." 5 He even teaches, following Occam's school, that such self-preparation constitutes a merit " de congruo." 6 He speaks as a Catholic of the doctrine of merit, admits the so-called thesaurus meritorum from which indulgences derive their efficacy, and, without taking offence, alludes to satisfaction (satisfactio opens), 1 to works of supererogation, 8 as also to the place of purification in the next world (purgatorium). 9 Regarding God's imputing of righteousness he follows, it is true, the Occamist doctrine, and on this subject the following words are the most interesting : faith and grace by which we to- day (i.e. in the present order of things) are justified, would not justify without the intervention of the pactum Dei ; i.e. of God's mercy, who has so ordained it, but who might have ordained otherwise. 10 Friedrich Loofs rightly says regarding imputation in the Commentary on the Psalms : "It must be noted that the mentary on the Psalms, thus, 3, p. 584 : God is more ready to have mercy on us than we are to beseech Him ; but He is unable to have mercy on us if our pride proves a hindrance (" quando nos nolumus . . . prohibente noslra superbia "). In his marginal notes on Peter Lombard (written 1509) Luther had rightly said : " Liberum arbitrium damnatur quia . . . gratiam . . . oblatam et exhibitam non acceptat vel acccptam non custodit." " Werke," Weim. ed., 9, p. 71. 1 Weim. ed., 3, p. 546 : " Desideriis ait apostolus, carnis ncn esse obediendum, nee regnare peccatum debere licet esse desideria et peccata in carne prohiberi non possit. ... In mediis tentationibus eundum est, as the Israelites passed through the Red Sea. Sentiri et videre et experiri oportet bonitatea et malitias carnis, sed non consentire." 2 Ibid., 3, p. 603 : " Residuum prceteritorum bonorum [of the original state] quod in affectu remansit syntheresico." On the syntheresis and Luther's early views on this subject see Kostlin, "Luthers Theologie," I 2 , p. 51 f., 125. 3 Weim. ed., 4, p. 295, cp. above, p. 74, n. 9. 4 Ibid., 3, pp. 89, 101, 200 ; 4, p. 204 f., 309. 5 Ibid., 4, pp. 262, 309. 6 Ibid., pp. 262, 312 7 Ibid., 3, pp. 52, 189, 239 f., 424, 462, 466, 603. 8 Ibid., 4, p. 250. 9 Ibid., 3, pp. 426, 239. 10 Weim. ed., 3, p. 289. Cp. Ibid., 4, pp. 329, 312 : " ex pacto et promission? Dei." 76 LUTHER THE MONK reputari iustum, i.e. the being-declared-justified, is not considered by Luther as the reverse of making righteous ; on the contrary, the sine merito iustificari in the sense of dbsolvi is at the same time the beginning of a new life." 1 "The faith," so A. Hunzinger opines of the passages in question in the same work, " is as yet no imputative faith," i.e. not in the later Lutheran sense. 2 The Protestant scholar last mentioned has dissected the Commentary on the Psalms in detail ; particularly did he examine its connection with the philosophical and mystical system sometimes designated as Augustinian Neo- Platonism. 3 It may be left an open question whether his complicated researches have succeeded in proving that in the Commentary- interpreted in the light of some of the older sermons and the marginal glosses in the Zwickau books Luther's teaching resolves itself into a " somewhat loose and contradictory mixture of four elements," namely, Augustinian Neo-Platonism, an Augustinian doctrine on sin and grace, a trace of scholastic theology, and some of the mysticism of St. Bernard. 4 His researches and his com- parison of many passages in the Commentary on the Psalms with the works of Augustine, especially with the " Solilo- quia " and the book " De vera religione," have certainly shown that Luther was indebted for his expressions and to a certain extent for his line of thought, to those works of Augustine with which he was then acquainted. He had probably been attracted by the mystical tendency of these writings, by that reflection of Platonism, which, however, neither in St. Augustine's nor in Luther's case, as Hun- zinger himself admits,, involved any real acceptance of the erroneous ideas of the heathen Neo-Platonism. Luther was weary of the dry Scholasticism he had learned at the schools and greedily absorbed the theology of the Bishop of Hippo, which appealed far more to him, though his previous studies had been insufficient to equip him for its proper understanding. His own words in 1532 express his case fairly accurately. He says : "In the beginning I 1 " Dogmengesch.," 4 (1906), p. 697 with ref. to " Werke," Weirn. ed., 4, p. 443 : " sine merito redimi de peccatis," and similar passages. 2 " Luther und die deutsche Mystik," p. 976, above, p. 71, n. 4. 3 " Lutherstudien," 1. See above, p. 74, n. 8. 4 Hunzinger thus sums up his results in " Luther und die deutsche Mystik," p. 975. DEFECTS OF HIS EARLY WORK 77 devoured rather than read Augustine." * In a marginal note on the Sentences of Peter Lombard he speaks, in 1509, of this Doctor as " numquam satis laudatus," like him, he, too, would fain send the " moderni " and that " fabulator Aristoteles " about their business. 2 The obscure and tangled mysticism which the young author cf the Commentary on the Psalms built up on Augustine' whose spirit was far more profound than Luther's- the smattering of Augustinian theology, altered to suit his controversial purposes, with which he supple- mented his own scholastic, or rather Occamistic, theology, and the needless length of the work, make his Commentary into an unattractive congeries of moral, philosophical and theological thoughts, undigested, disconnected and some- times unintelligible. Various causes contributed to this tangle, not the least being the nature of the subject itself. Most of the Psalms present all sorts of ideas and figures, and give the theological and practical commentator opportunity to introduce whatever he pleases from the stores of his knowledge. With some truth Luther himself said of his work in a letter to Spalatin, dated December 26, 1515, that it was not worth printing, that it contained too much superficial matter, and deserved rather to be effaced with a sponge than to be perpetuated by the press. 3 There is something unfinished about the work, because the author himself was still feeling his way towards that great alteration which he had at heart ; as yet he has no wish to seek for a reform from without the Church, he not only values the authority of the Church and the belief she expounds, but also, on the whole, the learned tradition of previous ages with which his rather scanty knowledge of Scholasticism made him conversant. This, however, did not prevent him attacking the real or imaginary abuses of the Schoolmen, nor was his esteem for the Church and his Order great enough to hinder him from criticising, rightly or wrongly, the con- dition and institutions of the Church and of monasticism. The statement made by him in 1537, that he discovered 1 Veit Dietrich MS. Collecta, fol. 137' in Seidemann, " Luthers erste Psalmenvorlesung," 1, p. vii. 8 " Werke," Weim. ed., 9, p. 29. Ibid., " In Augustinum," pp. 7, 23, 24, 27. 3 " Briefwechsel," 1, p. 26 f,, probably not meant seriously by Luther. 78 LUTHER THE MONK his new doctrine at the time he took his degree as Doctor, i.e. in 1512, cannot therefore be taken as chronologically accurate. His words, in a sermon preached on May 21, were : " Now we have again reached the light, but I reached it when I became a Doctor . . . you should know that Christ is not sent as a judge." 1 3. Excerpts from the Oldest Sermons. His Adversaries In the sermons which Luther, during his professorship, preached at Wittenberg in 1515-16, we notice the cutting, and at times ironical, censure with which he speaks to the people of the abuses and excesses which pervaded the exercise of the priestly office, particularly preaching. He is displeased with certain excesses in the veneration of the Saints, and reproves what he considers wrong in the popular celebration of the festivals of the Church and in other matters. These religious discourses contain many beautiful thoughts and give proof, as do the lectures also, of a rich imagination and great knowledge of the Bible. But even apart from the harsh denunciation of the con- ditions in the Church, the prevailing tone is one of too great hastiness and self-sufficiency, nor are the Faithful treated justly. It was not surprising that remarks were made, and that he was jeered at as a " greenhorn " by the listeners, who told him that he could not " convert old rogues " with that sort of thing. 2 He complains bitterly, and with some show of reason, that at that time preaching had fallen to a very low ebb in Germany. The preachers too often treated of trivial and useless subjects, enlarged, with distinctions and sub- distinctions, on subjects belonging to the province of- philosophy and theology, and lost themselves in artificial allegorical interpretations of the Bible. In their recom- mendation of popular devotions they sometimes went to extremes and sometimes lapsed into platitude. There was too little of the wealth of thought, power and inward unction of Brother Bertold of Regensburg and his school to be found in the pulpits of that day. Even in Luther's own sermons during these years we meet with numerous defects 1 " Luthers ungedruckte Predigten," ed. G. Buchwald, 3, 1885, p. 50. 2 KOstlin-Kawerau, 1, p. 121. HIS QUARRELSOME TEMPER 79 of the time, barren speculations in the style of the nominal- istic school through which he had passed, too much forcing and allegorising of the Bible text, and too much coarse and exaggerated declamation. To be pert and provoking was then more usual than now, and owing to his natural tendency lie was very prone to assume that tone. The shyness which more recent biographers and admirers frequently ascribe to the young professor is not recognisable in his sermons. That he ever was shy can only be established by remarks dropped by Luther in later life, and, as is well known, such remarks cannot be taken as reliable sources of information concerning his early years. Were Luther's later account correct, then we should be forced to ascribe to the young preacher and professor a burning desire to live in the solitude of his cell and to spend his days quite apart from the world and the debates and struggles going forward in the Church outside. Yet, in reality, there was nothing to which he was more inclined in his sermons than to allow his personal opinions to carry him to violent polemics against people and things displeasing to him ; he was also in the habit of crediting opponents more friendly to the Church than he, or even the Church itself, with views which they certainly did not hold. Johann Mensing, one of his then pupils at the University of Wittenberg, speaks of this in words to which little attention has hitherto been paid : " I may say," he writes, " and have often heard it myself, that when Luther had something especially good or new to say in a sermon he was wont to attribute to other theologians the opposite opinion, and in spite of their having written and taught just the same, and of his very likely taking it from them himself, to represent it as a precious thing he had just discovered and of which others were ignorant ; all this in order to make a name for himself, like Herostratus, who set fire to the temple of Diana." x We may also mention here a remark of Hieronymus Emser. After saying that Luther's sermons were not those of a cleric, he adds : " I may say with truth that I have never in all my life heard such an audacious preacher." 2 These, it is true, are testimonies 1 Johann Mensing O.P., " Antapologie," Frankfurt, 1533, fol. 18'. Cp. N. Paulus, " Die deutschen Dominikaner im Kampfe mit Luther," 1903, p. 40. 2 Cp. Evers, " Luther," 1, p. 377. 80 LUTHER THE MONK from the camp of Luther's opponents, but some passages from his early sermons will show the tone which frequently prevails in them. Already in the Christmas sermons of 1515 Luther does not scruple to place himself, as it were, on the same footing with the prophets, wise men and those learned in the Scriptures, whose persecution Christ foretold, more particularly among the last of the three groups. Even then his view was unorthodox. " There are some," he says, " who by the study of Holy Scripture form themselves into teachers and who are taught neither by men nor directly by God alone." These are the learned in the Scriptures. " They exercise themselves in the knowledge of the truth by meditation and research. Thus they become able to interpret the Bible and to write for the instruction of others." But such men are persecuted, he continues, and, as the Lord prophesied of the prophets and wise men and scribes that they would not be received, but attacked, so is it also with me. They murmur against my teaching, as I am aware, and oppose it. They reproach me with being in error because " I preach always of Christ as the hen under whose wings all who wish to be righteous must gather." Thus his ideas with regard to righteousness must have been looked upon as importunate or exaggerated, and, by some, in all probability, as erroneous. He immediately launches out into an apology : " What I have said is this : We are not saved by all our righteousness, but it is the wings of the hen which protect us against the birds of prey, i.e. against the devil . . . but, as it was with the Jews, who persecuted righteousness, so it is to-day. My adversaries do not know what righteousness is, they call their own fancies grace. They become birds of prey and pounce upon the chicks who hope for salvation through the mercy of our hen." 1 Such rude treatment meted out to those who found fault with him (and one naturally thinks of clergy and religious, perhaps even of his very brethren, as the culprits), the denouncing them from the pulpit as " birds of prey," and his claim to lay down the law, this, and similar passages in the sermons, throw a strong light on his disputatious temper. 1 " Werke," Weim. ed., 1, p. 30 f.: " Semper prcedico de Christo, gallina nostra . . . et efficitur mihi errans et falsum." He preached, namely, against those " qui ab alis [Domini] recedunt in sua propria bona opera . . . et nolunt audire, quod iustitice eorum peccata sint. Gratiam maxime impugnant, qui earn iactant." The expression " gallina nostra " appears also in the Commentary on the Psalms (" Werke," Weim. ed., 3, p. 71). DENUNCIATION OF OBSERVANTINES 81 In a well-ordered condition of things the Superiors of the Augustinians or the diocesan authorities would have inter- vened to put a stop to sermons so scandalously offensive ; at Wittenberg, however, the evil was left unchecked and allowed to take deeper root. The students, the younger monks and some of the burghers, became loud and en- thusiastic followers of the bold preacher. Staupitz was altogether on his side, and, owing to him, also the Elector of Saxony. The Prince was, however, so little of an authority on matters theological that Luther once writes of him that he was " in things concerning God and the salvation of the soul almost seven times blind." 1 Luther's notes on his Sunday sermons during the summer of 1516' a time when he had already expressed his errors quite plainly in his lectures on the Epistle to the Romans' afford us a glimpse of an acute controversy. At this time his sermons dealt with the first Commandment. The Gospel for the 7th Sunday after Pentecost with the words : " Beware of false prophets " gives him an all too tempting oppor- tunity for a brush with his adversaries, and, on July 6, he attacks them from the standpoint of his new ideas on righteousness. " Much fasting, and long prayers," he cries, " study, preaching, watching, and poor clothing, these are the pious lambskins under which ravening wolves hide themselves." In their case these are only " works done for show." These Observantines, for all their great outward display of holiness, are " heretics and schismatics." Thus does he storm, evidently applying his words to his brother monks of the Observantine party, who probably had been among the first to criticise him. The following remarks on rebellion and defamation make this application all the clearer. 2 "The true works by which we may recognise the prophets are done in the inner and hidden man. But these proud men are wanting above all in patience and the charity which is forgetful of self, but concerned for others." " When they have to do works which are not to their liking they are slow, rebellious, obstinate, but they well know how to take away the name of others and to pass judgment on them. . . . There is no greater plague in the Church to-day than these men with the words : ' Good works are necessary ' in their mouths ; men who refuse to distinguish between what is good and evil because they are enemies of the Cross, i.e. of the good things of God." 3 Such a daring challenge on Luther's part did not fail in its 1 To Spalatin, June 8, 1516, " Brief wechsel," 1, p. 40. 2 Cp. his reproaches against members of his own Order with regard to disobedience and want of charity, which will be given shortly. 3 " Werke," Weim. ed., 1, p. 61. 82 LUTHER THE MONK effect. Within as well as outside the Order united preparations were being made for a strong resistance, his foes working both openly and in secret. Luther's adversaries were again made the object of his public vituperation in two sermons preached on the same day a little later. This was on July 27, the 10th Sunday after Pentecost. In one sermon the passionate orator attempted to show the danger of the times ; he describes how powerful the devil had become and how under the appearance of good works he was making certain persons " fine breakers " of the first Command- ment. " And these venture," he says, " to shoot arrows secretly against those who are right of heart." 1 In the other sermon his opponents had to submit to being called in allusion to the Sunday's Gospel of the Pharisee and the Publican real " Pharisees, who by reason of their assumed holiness and merits seek the praise of men," whereas in reality, with their self- righteousness, they have merely erected an idol in their hearts. z Even this was not enough however. The continuous com- plaints of those who thought differently from himself called Luther into the field again the very next Sunday (August 3). 3 They heard what they might have anticipated, as soon as the fiery preacher, whose appearance was doubtless greeted by his pupils and adherents with looks of joy, got to work on his thesis : To place our hope in anything but God, even in the merit of our good works, is to have false idols before God. Then the stream of words flowed apace against the " proud saints," against the presumptuous assurance of salvation on the part of the servitors of works, against the fools who make the narrow way to heaven still narrower, against the ABC pupils, who know nothing out- side their own works. " These are old stagers," he cries, because, like certain horses who only go along one track, they know only the one path of their own works. As though he recollected his own short-lived zeal for the work of the Order, he adds : " At the commencement, when a man first enters on the path of the religious life he has to exercise himself in many good works, fasts, vigils, prayers, works of mercy, submission, obedience and other such-like." But to remain permanently stuck fast in these, that is what makes a man a Pharisee. " The truly pious who are led by the Spirit," he continues, in a vein of peculiar mysticism, " once initiated into these things, do not trouble much more about them. Rather they offer themselves to God, ready for any work to which He may call them, and are led through many sufferings and humiliations without knowing whither they are going."* 1 J " Just as though they must be of God because they seem to themselves to be of God. No, we have an authority which has been implanted in the Church, and the Roman Church has this authority in her hands. Therefore the preachers of the Church, unless they fall into error, preach with assurance [on account of their commission]. But false teachers are pleased with their own words, because they are according to their own ideas. They appear to demand the greatest piety, but are themselves governed by their own opinion, and their self- will." 4 "Whoever declares that he is sent by God must either give proof of his mission by wonders and heavenly testimony, as the Apostles did, or he must be recognised and commissioned by an authority confirmed by Heaven. In the latter case, he must stand and teach in humble subjection to such authority, ever ready to submit to its judgment ; he must speak what he is commissioned to speak and not what his own taste leads him to invent. . . . Anathema is the weapon," he exclaims un- conscious of his own future " which lays low the heretics." 6 1 " Schol. Rom.," p 111. 2 Ibid., p. 290. Cp. p. 317. 3 Ibid., p. 294 f. * Ibid., p. 248 f. 6 Ibid. Of the true preacher he says : " Sub humili subiectione eiusdem auctoritatia procdicet, semper stare iudicio illius paratus ac, qua mandata ei aunt, loqui, non quce plocita aunt sibi ac inventa." The punishment threatened by Zach. xiii. 3 against false prophets (" configent eum "), was to be applied to those who teach subversive doctrines on their own authority, being the anathema of their ecclesias- tical superiors. "Hoc eat telum fortissimum, quo percutiuntur hceretici, quia sine testimonio Dei vel authoritas a Deo confirmatce, sed proprio motu, specie pietatis erecti, prcedicant, ut ler. xxiii. (v. 21) : Ipsi currebant et ego non mittebam eoa. Et tamen audent dicere : Nos salvabimur . . . nos credimus . . . prcedicamus. Sed hoc dicere non possunt : Nos prcedicamus, quia misai aumua. Hie, hie iocent ! Et hie eat tola via et solus, sine quo cetera falsa sunt, licet an falsa sint non cogitent." The Church preaches an authentic gospel, which, according to Romans i. 2, was introduced into the world with solemn sanction and according to prophecy. But the gospel of the heretic ? " Monstret, ubi sit ante promissum et a quo." Where is its attestation ? " Sed horum illi nihil solliciti stulte dicunt : Nos veritatem habemus. . . . Quasi hoc satis sit ex Deo ease, quia ipsis ita ex Deo videatur ease. . . . Sic ergo authoritas ecclesicB instituta, ut nunc adhuc "Romano, tenet ecclesia." The heretics, it is true, assert that they are in possession of the really wholesome I. Q 226 LUTHER THE MONK Whenever he gets the chance he magnifies the corruption of the Church so much that his expressions might lead one to suppose that the saving institution founded by Christ was either completely decayed and fallen away or was at least on the road to forsaking its vocation as teacher and as the guardian of morals. His complaints may, it is true, be in part accounted for by the impetuosity which carries him away and by his rhetorical turn. He probably did not at that time really think that a healthy reformation from within was absolutely impossible. Still, had anyone attempted to carry out his immature and excessive demands for reform, they would hardly have achieved much in the way of a real regeneration. His ideas of a radical change were deeply ingrained in his mind ; this we naturally gather from his bringing them forward so frequently and under such varied forms. In his mystical moods he sees the errors and abuses opposed to the " Word " swollen into a veritable " deluge " ; his professorial chair is only just above the waves. Hence he will cry out as loudly as he can. In his voice we can, however, detect a false note, and his ex- aggerations and all his stormings do not avail to inspire us with confidence. He is too full of his own subjectivity, too impetuous and passionate to be a reformer, though his other gifts might have fitted him for the office. His very sensitiveness to neglect of duty in others, had it been puri- fied and disciplined, aided by his eloquence, might have been able to inaugurate a movement of reform. In many of his sayings he comes nigh the position of a Catholic reformer, and even, at times, makes exaggerated demands on obedience and the need of feeling with the Church. 1 We may add the following to the complaints above mentioned, as occurring in the Commentary on Romans with regard to the state of the Church. teaching. " Volunt autem summam pietatem, ut sibi videtur" But the decision does not rest here with man's own feelings ; on the contrary, the Word of God frequently overthrows man's own opinion : " non sinit stare sensum nostrum, etiam in Us quce sunt [i.e. videntur] sanc- tissima, sed destruit ac eradicat ac dissipat omnia." How powerfully and thoughtfully is he able to handle an argument when he has right on his side ! Could anyone condemn more strongly his own later attitude ? 1 How, for instance, he exaggerates in his mystical enthusiasm the principle of authority, see below, p. 252. RAMPANT FORMALISM 227 " The Pope and the chief pastors of the Church," so runs Luther's general and bitter charge, " have become corrupt and their works are deserving of malediction ; they stand forth at the present day as seducers of the Christian people " (" seducii et seducentes populum Christi a vera cultura Dei"). 1 He waxes eloquent not only against their too frequent granting of in- dulgences from which in their avarice they derived worldly profit for the Church but also against their luxurious lives which fill the whole world with the vices of Sodom, and others too ; under their wicked stewardship the faithful throughout the Church have altogether forgotten what good works, faith and humility are, and make their eternal salvation depend upon external observances and foolish legends. Even those who have more insight and are better men, are all self-righteous and more like idolaters than Christians. The Apostle Paul, he says, expounds in the Epistle to the Romans, the command of loving our neighbour (xii. 6 seq.), but is this followed by the Church ? Instead of fulfilling it " we busy ourselves with trivialities, build churches, increase the possessions of the Church, heap money together, multiply the ornaments and vessels of silver and gold in the churches, erect organs and other pomps which please the eye. We make piety to consist in this. But where is the man who sets himself to carry out the Apostle's exhortations, not to speak of the great prevailing vices of pride, arrogance, avarice, immorality and ambition." 2 Not long after this outburst, speaking in a milder strain, he says : " We exalt ourselves so as to instruct the whole world, and hardly under- stand ourselves what we are teaching." " People without train- ing or knowledge of the world, sent by their bishops and religious superiors, undertake to instruct men, but really only add to the number of chatterers and windbags." 3 On another occasion he declares, people think bustle in the church, loud organ playing and pompous solemnities at Mass are all that is needed ; for such things collections are made, whereas alms-giving for the relief of our neighbour is not ac- counted anything. Nothing is thought of swearing, lying or backbiting, even on Feast Days, but if anyone eats flesh-meat or eggs on a Friday, he gives great scandal, so unreasonable are all people nowadays (" adeo nunc omnes desipiunt"). What is needed to-day is to do away with the Fast Days and to abrogate many of the Festivals . . . the whole Christian Code ought to be purified and changed, and the solemnities, ceremonies, devotions and the adorning of the churches reduced. But all this is on the increase daily, so that faith and charity are stifled, and avarice, arrogance and worldliness grow apace. What is worse, the faith- ful hope to find in this their eternal salvation and do not trouble about the inner man. 4 The lawyers, he says, speaking in a mystical vein, act quite wrongly when, as soon as they see that anyone has the law on his 1 " Schol. Rom.," p. 243. 2 Ibid., p. 275 f. 8 Ibid., p. 278 * Ibid., p. 317. 228 LUTHER THE MONK side, they encourage him to assert his rights (" qui statim quod secundum iura iustum sciunt, prosequendum suadent "). " On the contrary, every Christian should rejoice in suffering injustice, even in matters of the greatest moment (' quoad maximas iustitias nostras '). . . . But almost the whole world runs after the contrary error [i.e. sternly asserts its rights]. Cardinals, bishops, princes act like the Jews did to the King of Babylon (2 Kings xxiv. 20 ; xxv. 1 ff.) ; they cling to their petty privileges, lose sight of morality and so perish." Someone should have told Duke George (of Saxony) when he fought against the Duke of Frisia : " Your own and your people's deserts are not so great that you should not rather have patiently allowed yourself to be chastised by that rebel, who, though unrighteous, was the executor of God's righteous judgment. Calm yourself therefore and acknowledge the Will of God." 1 He says something similar to his own bishop, Hieronymus Schulz (Scultetus) of Brandenburg, 2 and to another bishop, probably Wilhelm von Honstein, Bishop of Strasburg. The latter had put in force the ecclesiastical statutes against the inf ringers of the sanctity of the church. Luther says : " Why trouble a town with this wretched matter ? It is merely a question of human regulations ; but if the bishop desired to enforce God's laws, he would not need to leave his own house ; he is not indeed acting wrongly, but he is swallowing a camel and straining at gnats (Matt, xxiii. 24). . . . But the bishops thirst for vengeance, they brand the criminals and themselves deserve to be worse branded. Would to God that the time may come when rights and privileges and all who worship them are consigned to perdition ! Ambition and unbelief should not be allowed to triumph over those condemned for transgressing the statutes." 3 " I say this with pain, but I am obliged to because I have an Apostolic commission to teach. My duty is to point out to all the wrong they are committing, even to those in high places." 1 In accordance with this, the young Professor loudly blames Pope Julius II. In his quarrel with the Republic of Venice " this advice should have been given him : ' Holy Father, Venice is doing you a wrong, but the Roman Church deserves it on account of her faults, yea, she deserves even worse. Therefore do nothing, such is the Will of God.' But the Pope replied : ' No, no, let us vindicate our rights by force.' " 5 " He chastised them [the Venetians] with great bloodshed because they had sinned grievously arid seized upon the possessions of the Church ; he brought them back to the Church and so gained great merit. But the horrible corruption of the Papal Curia and the mountain of the most terrible immorality, pomp, avarice, ambition and sacrilege is accounted no sin." 8 On another occasion, after a no less forcible outburst against Rome, he demands the abolition of " false piety " : This so-called 1 " Schol. Rom.," p. 271 f. 2 Ibid., p. 272. 3 Ibid., p. 300 f. * Ibid., p. 301. 6 Ibid., p. 272. 6 Ibid., p. 301 f. THE FREEDOM OF THE SPIRIT 229 piety must no longer be permitted, as though it were merely a weakness ; but in Rome they do not trouble about doing away with it, there is there nothing but the freedom of the flesh ; " almost all are wanting in charity." " I fear that in these days we are all on the road to utter destruction." 1 We must listen, he says alluding to the formalism which he thinks is apparent everywhere- to the " inward word," which often speaks to us quite differently from the injunc- tions to which we are accustomed. " The wisdom of fools always looks more to the work than to the word ; it thinks itself able to gauge the meaning and value of the word from the value or worthlessness of the deeds " ; what we should do is the contrary ; the precious, inestimable word must always resound in our hearts and direct all our outward actions. 2 The " spirit of the believer is subject to no one," " the spirit is free as regards all things " ; "all exterior things are free to those who are in the spirit." " The bondage [of charity] is the highest liberty." 3 Such words form a quite obvious preliminary to the " Evangelical freedom " which he was afterwards to vindi- cate. He thus gives a much wider application to the ideas he had met with in Tauler than was in the mind of that pious mystic. Tauler writes : "I tell you that you must not submit your inner man to anyone, but to God only. But your exterior man you must submit in a true and real humility to God and to all creatures." 4 Luther says what on the surface seems quite similar : the Christian is free and master of all things and is subject to no one (by faith), and yet at the same time a willing servant of all and 1 " Schol. Rom.," p. 320. It cannot be proved that such gloomy fore- bodings were due to the influence of the apocalyptic literature then so widely disseminated in print. (See Ficker, p. xcix.) The verdict which he passes on the Church of that day is, however, as severe and compre- hensive as " the sharpest criticisms of the Reformed theology, or of the apocalyptic literature " (ibid., p. xcvii.) ; the verdict is really a consequence of his " new conception of a personal religion " (p. xci.). On the strength of this Ficker thinks he may go so far as to say : " Just as, hitherto, he had confronted the teaching authorities with the Scripture rightly understood and opened up the religion of the gospel to the individual, bringing it home to each one as a moral force, so now under the pressure of the Scripture and of outward events, he sets up the new standard of Christian life . . . thus realising in practice the religion he had discovered " (pp. xci., xcvi.). 2 Ibid., p. 242. 3 Ibid., pp. 298, 302, 303. * Cp. Braun, " Concupiscenz," p. 285. 230 LUTHER THE MONK subject to all (by charity). 1 Yet, both in the Commentary on Romans and in the works which were soon to follow, " the willing servant " is more and more ousted by false ideas of independence, so that a danger arises of only the " free master of all things " remaining. In the Commentary on Romans all exterior submission to the Church is, in principle, menaced by a liberty which, appealing to the inward experience of the Word and a deeper conception of religion, seeks to overstep all barriers. The confused ideas for which he was beholden to his pseudo-mysticism were in great part the cause of this and of other errors. 9. The Mystic in the Commentary on Romans Since the appearance in print of Luther's Commentary on Romans it has been possible to perceive more clearly the ominous power which false mysticism had gained over the young author. His misapprehension of some of the principal elements of Tauler's sermons and of the " Theologia Deutsch " stands out in sharp relief in these lectures on the Pauline Epistle, and we see more plainly how the obscure ideas he finds in the mystics at once amalgamate with his own. The con- nection between the pseudo-mysticism which he has built up on the basis of true mysticism, and the method of theology which he is already pursuing, appears here so great, and he follows so closely the rather elastic figures and thoughts provided by the mystical science of the soul, that we are almost tempted, after reading his exposition of the Epistle to the Romans, to ask whether all his intellectual mistakes were not an outcome of his mysticism. The fact is, however, that he began his study of mysticism only after having commenced formulating the principles of his new world of thought. It was only after the ferment had gone on working for a considerable time that he chanced upon certain mystic works. Yet, strange to say, the mysticism with which he then became acquainted was not that German variety which had already been infected with the errors of Master Eckhart, but the sounder mysticism which had avoided the pitfalls. It is a tragic coincidence that mysti- 1 " Werke," Weim. ed , 7, p. 49. De libertate Christiana. QUIETISM 231 cism, the most delicate blossom of the theology of the Middle Ages and of true Catholicism, should have served to confirm him in so many errors. True mysticism has in all ages been a protest against all moral cowardice and inertia, against tepidity and self-complacent mediocrity ; false mysticism, on the other hand, debases itself to Quietism and even to Antinomianism ; the world has lived to see pseudo-mysti- cism deny evil the better to permit it. l Even true mysticism is constantly open to the danger not only of conscious and intentional exaggeration of its theses, but of unintentional misapprehension. Misapprehension is a misfortune to which mysticism was ever exposed, owing mainly to the inadequacy of human language to express the mystic's thoughts, 2 whereas Schol- asticism, thanks to its clear-cut terminology, has been spared such a fate, and for the same reason has never been in favour with confused and cloudy minds. Tauler had originally been trained in the Scholasticism of St. Thomas of Aquin, and in the teaching of the Frankfort author of the " Theologia Deutsch " the true principles of the old school still shine out. This, however, did not save these writers from having formerly been considered, by Protestants, precursors of Luther's doctrines. Denifle, by his studies on these and the later mystics, threw such valuable light on the subject that the Protestant theologian Wilhelm Braun, in the work he recently devoted to tracing the development of Luther, says : " it is wrong for Protestants to claim mysticism as a pre-Reformation reforming move- ment ; this Denifle has proved in his epoch-making re- searches." 3 False Passivity As regards the important new data furnished by the Commentary on Romans on Luther's mysticism, the editor himself admits in the preface that " the ideal of resignation [preached by the Catholic mystics] was raised by Luther to an unconditional passivity and to a real system of Quietism, which he completely identified with the theme of the Epistle to the Romans and with the piety of St. Augustine. In this he found the bond of union combining all his ex- 1 Cp. J. Zahn, " Einfuhrung in die christl. Mystik," p. 102. 2 Ibid., p. 271 ff. 3 Braun, " Concupiscenz," p. 301, n. 2 232 LUTHER THE MONK periences. Mysticism it is which lends its deep and fiery hue to his thoughts ; where Luther is describing the most intimate processes and gives their highest expression to the thoughts which inspire him, it is mysticism which is speaking through him . . . the complete and unconditional surrender of man to God." 1 Luther gives in a peculiar fashion his reasons for taking such a standpoint : " The Nature of God demands that He should first destroy and annihilate everything there is in us before He imparts His gifts. For it is written : ' The Lord maketh poor and maketh rich, He bringeth down to hell and bringeth back again.' By this most gracious plan He renders us fit for the reception of His gifts and His works. We are then receptive to His works and plans when our own plans and our own works have ceased, and we become quite passive towards God (' quando nostra consilia cessant et opera quiescunt et efficimur pure passivi respectu Dei ') both as regards exterior and interior activity. . . . Then the ' utterable sighs ' commence, then ' the Spirit comes and helps our infirmity.' " 2 It is in the description of this " suffering and bearing of God " that he expressly quotes Tauler as the teacher of the higher form of prayer, adding : " Yes, yes, ' we know not how we should pray,' therefore the Spirit is necessary to assist us in our weakness." " As a woman remains passive in conception, so we must remain passive to the first grace and eternal salvation. For our soul is Christ's bride. Before grace, it is true, we pray and implore, but when grace conies and the soul is to be impregnated by the Spirit, then it must neither pray nor act, but only endure. To the soul this seems hard and it is downcast, for that the soul should be without act of the understanding and the will, that is much like sinking into darkness, destruction and annihilation ( ' in perditionem et annihilationem ') ; from this prospect she shrinks back in horror, but in so doing she often deprives herself of the most precious gifts of grace." 3 It was just on this point that Luther most completely mis- apprehended Tauler. It is true that this mediaeval mystic speaks strongly against any too great esteem of human activity, and that he also recommends the spiritual man, in certain circum- stances, to " refuse all exterior works the better to devote himself with the necessary submission and in entire peace " to interior communication with his Maker and Highest Good, and, as he says, " to suffer God." 4 But he does not thereby recommend man to long after a state without thought or will, or after mere nothingness in order to magnify God and His powers alone ; according to Tauler, grace does not work in the soul " without the co-operation of the understanding and the will." 1 P Ixxxii. 2 " Schol. Rom.," p. 203. 3 Ibid., pp. 205, 206. 4 Cp. Braun, " Concupiscenz," p. 281, 286. MANKIND UTTERLY CORRUPT [?] 233 The Quenching of the " Good Spark in the Soul " Luther in the above recommendation to passivity falsely assumes that the soul is entirely corrupted by original sin and only offends God with its acts. This also appears clearly in the Commentary on Romans. Protestants themselves now admit that Luther deviated from the standpoint of the orthodox mystics, particularly from that of Tauler, and that " in the view of the mystics of the Middle Ages there is no doubt that the natural good in man outweighs the natural evil. The central point in which all the lines of mystic theology converge is this indestructible goodness." So speaks a Protestant theologian. 1 In Gerson, the mystic whom Luther had studied in his early days at Erfurt, he must have met with the beautiful teaching, that the soul had received from God a natural tendency towards what is good, that this is " the virginal portion of the soul," which is the " source and seat of mystical theology." 2 Tauler is fond of treating of this " noble spark of fire in the soul," of '-this interior nobility which lies hidden in the depths." 3 The Scholastics, too, unanimously teach this disposition to good which remains after original sin. Luther, when opposing the good tendency, attacks only the Scholastics, not the mystics ; he declares that all the errors on grace and nature which he has to withstand entered through the hole which the Scholastics made with their " syntheresis."* One thing is certain, viz. that he was wrong in foisting his view of the absolute corruption of the human race on the mystics ; " he could not," the Protestant theologian above referred to admits, " quite truthfully invoke the support of the mystics for his assertions." 5 The doctrines which Tauler advances in the very context in which his blame of the self-righteous occurs, viz. that there is no righteousness without personal acts, that even the sinner can do what is good, that he, more especially, must prepare himself for the grace of justification, pass unheeded in Luther's exposition of the Epistle to the Romans. " Luther overlooked this series [of testimonies given by Tauler] ; only the statements regarding the righteous by works made any im- pression on him ; his polemics are directed against those who serve two masters, who wish to please God and the world and to do great things for God's sake ; these are the people who are at heart satisfied with themselves." 6 1 Braun, p. 296. 2 Ibid., p. 297. 3 Ibid. 4 On the syntheresis, see above, p. 75. When Luther, on the strength of Romans ii., nevertheless, recognises " that natural religion exerts the. force of conscience in the hearts of the heathen," he is contradicting himself without being aware of it. (Braun, p. 300.) 5 Braun, p. 296. Ibid., p. 284. 234 LUTHER THE MONK Tauler repeatedly uses the word " spirit " for man's native good tendency and activity. This expression Luther simply takes to mean the Divine Spirit, which must be infused into man on account of his natural helplessness. The theologian mentioned above here also admits : " Much that Tauler intended to refer to the human syntheresis, or the created spirit, Luther has ascribed to the uncreated Divine Spirit, who imparts grace and faith " j 1 on the other hand we may allow with the same author that Luther was probably misled by the " hermaphrodism of Tauler's teaching, according to which the spirit longs for a metamorphosis " ; Tauler's lively description of the super- natural being and life of the soul sometimes throws into the background the independence of its action in the natural sphere, though the outcome is not really an " hermaphrodite " in the strict sense of the word. It is also true that " Luther overlooked the other side, namely, the Divine immanence which all those mystics teach with equal distinctness, 2 or at least he did not make sufficient account of it. Selfishness and the " Theology of the Cross " Another important point on which Luther deviated from true mysticism has now been brought to light by the Com- mentary on Romans. According to the Strasburg mystic, and according to all good mystics generally, selfishness must be looked on as the greatest interior enemy of man. It is a leaven which readily infects the actions, even of the best, and therefore must be expelled by struggling against it and by prayer. Selfishness, says the " Theologia Deutsch," " makes the crea- ture turn away from the unchangeable good to that which is changeable." Even in the case of the devil, it tells us, the reason of his fall was " his I and my, his mine and me " ; he fancied he was something, that something belonged to him and that he had a right to something. 3 In the Commentary on Romans Luther also speaks in im- pressive words against selfishness and its malice.* He makes 1 Braun, p. 301. 2 Ibid. 3 Cp. ibid., pp. 287, 288. 4 For instance, " Schol. Rom.," p. 136 ff. : " Natura nostra vitio primi peccati tarn profunda est in seipsam incurva, ut non solum optima dona Dei sibi inflectat . . . verum etiam hoc ipsum ignoret. . . . Hoc vitium propriissimo nomine Scriptura Aon, id est iniquitatem, pravita- tem, curvitatem appellat. . . . Talis curvitas est necessario inimica crucis, cum crux morti fleet omnia nostra, ilia autem se et sua vivi fleet." Therefore it is necessary (and here he conies to his personal ideas against the self-righteous) to reach a point where, " iustitia et sapientia omnis devoratur et absorbetur. . . . Charitas Dei exlinguit fruitionem proprice iustitice, quia non nisi solum et purum Deum diligit, non dona ipsa Dei, sicut hipocritce iustitiarii." " What Luther says of pure love," THE CROSS AND ITS FOES 235 use of every note at his command in order to warn us against this serpent. In these passages we might fancy we hear the voices of the mystic leaders of the faithful in the Middle Ages, even of a Bernard of Clairvaux. Nor is practical advice wanting ; we are exhorted to earnest, humble prayer, to a watchful re- sistance to be strengthened by practice against the desires of self-love, even in small things, to mortify and to tame our flesh. We must go out of ourselves even in spiritual matters ; everything, he says, depends in the spiritual life on self-abnega- tion : " God's righteousness fills those only who seek to empty themselves of their own righteousness, He fills the hungry and the thirsty ... let us then tell God, so he says with all the enthusiasm his idea of grace gives him : " how glad are we to be empty, that Thou mayest be our fulness ; how glad to be weak, that Thy strength may dwell within us ; how glad to be sinners, that Thou mayest be justified in us ; how glad to be fools, that Thou mayest be our wisdom ; how glad to be unrighteous, that Thou mayest be our righteousness." 1 Suffering sent by God, so the author frequently repeats almost in Tauler's words, is to be accepted as a remedy against the disease of self-love not only with patience, but with joy. Pain, particularly inward pain, should be honoured like the cross of Christ (" tribulatio velut crux Christi adoranda ") ; 2 we must bear it bravely like true children of God and not take to flight like the servant, or the hireling. 3 In connection with selfishness Luther exposes his so- called " theologia crucis" which, with the adjuncts he gives it, is quite in keeping with his ideas. He was also to advocate the theology of the cross in his disputations, endeavouring to show that it alone teaches us how to make a right use of earthly things. " He is not a Christian, but a Turk, and an enemy of Christ, who does not desire afflictions." " Our theologians and popes are in fact enemies of the cross of Christ . . . for no one hates pain and trouble more than the popes and the lawyers [i.e. those who insist upon laws and observances]. No one is more greedy than they for riches, comfort, idleness, honour and pomp." " They honour the relics of the Holy Cross and yet abhor and fly from what they dislike." " We consider Christ our helper Denifle remarks (Denifle, I 1 , p. 484), " rests merely on his misconcep- tion of Tauler." He points out that, in his Commentary on Romans, owing to his false idea of self-love he went so far as to " explain the command ' love thy neighbour as thyself ' in quite a different sense from that hitherto taught by the Church, for ourselves we may only hate. . . . According to him, this command means : hate thyself that thou mayest love thy neighbour alone." (" Oblitus tui, solum proximum diligas.") 1 " Schol. Rom.," p. 59. Ibid., p. 133. 3 Ibid., p. 139. 236 LUTHER THE MONK and our support in time of trouble, but whoever does not suffer gladly, cheats Him of these titles ; to such a one God even is no longer the Creator because he will not return to the nothingness from which God created all. Whoever will not suffer God in weakness, foolishness and punishment, for him God is not power- ful, not wise, not merciful." 1 "The cross puts to death every- thing that is in us. Nature, it is true, desires to make itself and everything alive, but God in His love takes care, by the infliction of crosses and suffering, that even spiritual gifts shall not taste too sweet to the righteous ; he must not throw himself upon them in a natural, godless impetuosity in order to enjoy them, even though they be attractive and tempt him to savour them ... he may not even love God on account of His grace and His gifts, but only for His own sake, otherwise this would be a forbidden [!] indulgence in the grace received, and he would insult the Father even more than he did before [i.e. when as yet unrighteous !]. In the Commentary on Romans Luther refuses to recognise any love save that which springs from the most perfect motive. He stigmatises the love which arises from the joy in the benefits bestowed by a gracious God, and which the orthodox mystics allowed, as presumption, and as an enjoyment of the creature rather than of the Creator, and goes so far as to say that if a man were to remain in this love " he would be lost eternally." 2 To these assertions we may add the following theses, defended under Luther's auspices in 1518, which explain the new " theologia crucis." " Whoever is not destroyed (' destructus ') and brought back by the cross and suffering to the state of nothingness, attributes to himself works and wisdom, but not to his God, and so he abuses and dishonours the gifts of God. But whoever is annihilated by suffering (' exinanitus ') ceases to do anything, knowing that God is working in him and doing all. Therefore, whether he himself does anything or not, he remains the same, and neither vaunts himself for doing something nor is ashamed of doing nothing, because God works in him. For himself, this he knows, it is enough that he should suffer and be destroyed by the cross, so that he may advance more and more towards annihilation. This is what Christ teaches in John iii. 3 : ' Ye must be born again.' If we are to be born again, we must first die and be raised with the Son of God [on the cross] ; I say die, i.e. taste death as though it were present." 3 " We may not fly from human wisdom and the law, but whoever is without the theology of the cross is making the worst use of the best things. The true theologian is not he who understands the ' invisible things of God by the things that are made,' but he who by suffering and the cross recognises in God the visible and the obscure." 4 1 "Schol.Rom.,"p. 133 f. * Ibid., p. 137. Cp. above, p. 234, n. 4 end. 3 Heidelberg Disputation, on thesis 24. " Werke," Weim. ed., 1, p. 363. " Opp. Lat. var.," 1, p. 401. 4 Ibid., theses 19, 20. THE NIGHT OF THE SOUL 237 The Night of the Soul and Resignation to Hell The better to fight against selfishness Tauler had proposed that everyone should look upon himself and his own works as evil, imitating a certain holy brother who used to say : " Know that I am the basest of sinners." 1 In this innocent recommendation nothing is implied of the complete corrup- tion of nature, of a desire for hell, or of resignation to eternal separation from God. It was only as an exercise in humility and penitent love that Tauler and the other mystics wished the devout man to cultivate the habit of looking on himself as absolutely unworthy of heaven and as better fitted for a place in hell. He is urged to descend in spirit to the place of torment and acknowledge, against his egotism and arrogance, that, on account of his sins, he has deserved a place there among the damned, and not in the happy vicinity of God. They also depict in gloomy, mystical colours the condition of the unhappy soul who, by the consent of God and in order to try it, sees itself deprived of all comfort, and, as it were, torn away from its highest good and relegated to hell. Such pains, they teach, are intended as a way of purgation for the soul, which, after such a night, can raise itself again with all the more confidence and love to God, who has, so far, preserved it from so great a misfortune. The doctrine of the dark, mystical night appealed very strongly to Luther's mind. In his theology he is fond of picturing the soul as utterly sinful and deserving of hell, meaning by this something very different from what orthodox mystics taught. He also suffered greatly at times from inward commotion and darkening of the soul, due to fears regarding predestination, to a troubled conscience or to morbid depression, of which the cause was perhaps bodily rather than mental. These, however, bore no re- semblance to the pains- " mystical exercises " as they have been called by Protestants of which the mystics speak. In his " temptations in the monastery " he did not ex- perience what Tauler and the " Theologia Deutsch " narrate of the consuming inner fire of Purgatory. Luther, however, erroneously applied their descriptions to his own 1 Cp. Braun, " Concupiscenz," p. 285. 238 LUTHER THE MONK condition. 1 Thus his idea of the night of the soul is quite different from that of the mystics, though he describes it in almost the same words, and, thanks to his imagination and eloquence, possibly in even more striking colours. Several times in his Commentary on Romans he repre- sents resignation to, indeed even an actual desire for, damnation' should that be the will of God' as something grand and sublime. Thereby he thinks he is teaching the highest degree of resignation to God's inscrutable will ; thereby the highest step on the ladder of self-abnegation has been attained. In reality it is an ideal of a frightful char- acter, far worse even than a return to nothingness. He lets us see here, as he does so often in other matters, how greatly his turbulent spirit inclined to extremes. 2 " If men willed what God wills," he writes, " even though He should will to damn and reject them, they would see no evil in that [in the predestination to hell which he teaches] ; for, as they will what God wills, they have, owing to their resignation, the will of God in them." Does he mean by this that they should resign themselves to hating God for all eternity ? Luther does not seem to notice that hatred of God is an essential part of the condition of those who are damned (" damnari et reprobari ad infernum "). Has he perhaps come to conceive of a hatred of God proceeding from love ? He seems almost to credit those who think of hell, with a resolve to bear everything, even hatred of God, with loving submission to the will of Him Who by His predestination has willed it. He even dares to say to those who are affrighted by pre- destination to hell, that resignation to eternal punishment is, for the truly wise, a source of " ineffable joy " (" ineffabili iucunditate in ista materia delectantur"); 3 for the perfect this is " the best purgation from their own will," i.e. the way of the greatest bitterness, " because under charity the cross and suffering is always understood." But all, he says, even the half-imperfect, 1 Cp. Luther's appeal to Tauler : " De ista palientia Dei et sufferentia vide Taulerum," etc. (see above, p. 232). Denifle, I 1 , p. 484, remarks: " The above statements are in part founded on Tauler, whom Luther misunderstood throughout. The two stood on different ground and had a different starting-point and a different goal." 2 In allusion to such doctrines, Denifle speaks (Denifle, I 1 , p. 486) of " Luther's worse than morbid, yea, terrible theology." The passages in Tauler which have been alleged to show that his teaching was similar to that of Luther on this point, have quite a different sense. Tauler did not recognise the undeserved reprobation which Luther presupposes ; he makes the horrible misfortune of eternal reprobation, which culminates in hatred of God, a result of voluntary separation from Him in this life. 8 " Schol. Rom.," pp. 213, 223. READINESS FOR HELL 239 see that here we have a splendid remedy for destroying " the presumptuous building upon merit ; let everyone rejoice in his fear and thank God," 1 the more so that those who are so much afraid will certainly not go to hell ; "as they make them- selves entirely conformable to the will of God it is impossible that they should be delivered over to eternal punishment, as he who resigns himself entirely to God's holy Will cannot remain separated from Him." 2 This doctrine of a wholesome fear of hell, of a saving, heroic abandonment to God, and of an exalted and pure love to be exercised by all as a " remedy " against damnation, invalidates Luther's doctrine of absolute and undeserved predestination to hell ; salvation is again made to depend upon both God and man, whose co-operation becomes necessary ; it is only because " man will not will what God wills " that he is damned. Yet, according to Luther, the saving fear and resignation is only possible to the elect, and these must in the end be in doubt as to whether they are pleasing to God, just as they must be uncertain regarding all their actions. In confirmation of his theory of readiness for hell Luther even refers to St. Paul, who says in his Epistle to the Romans, that he had offered himself to the everlasting pains of hell for the salva- tion of the Jews ; that, in order to save them, he had been ready to be " an anathema from Christ." 3 But the example does not apply. According to a more correct explanation, the Apostle, who was always in spiritual communion with Christ, speaks only of an outward separation. 4 Luther himself says in this connec- tion : Paul did not desire to hate Christ, but was ready to be separated from Him ; in this he displayed the " most sublime degree of charity, a truly apostolic love " ; " this seems, of course, incomprehensible and foolish to those who think them- selves holy and love God with the ' amor concupiscentice,' i.e. on account of their salvation and for the sake of eternal rest, or in order to escape from hell, in other words, not for God's sake but their own. . . . What they really desire is salvation according to their own fancy, instead of desiring their own nothingness both here and hereafter (' suum nihil optare '), and only the will and glory of God," whereas " all perfect saints, out of their overflowing affection, are ready to accept everything, even hell itself. By reason of this readiness, it is true, they at once escape all punishment." According to Luther, even Christ offered Himself for hell whole and entire. Luther does not make the slightest distinction in the agony in the Garden between mere exterior and real interior separation from God. Christ was ever united hypo- statically with God, and His human nature never ceased to enjoy the vision of God. Luther, however, merely says : " He found Himself in a state of condemnation and abandonment which was 1 "Schol. Rom.," p. 214. 2 Ibid., p. 218. 3 Ibid., p. 217 f. 4 On the history of the explanation of this passage see Comely, " Commentar. in Ep. ad Romanes," pp. 471-4. 240 LUTHER THE MONK greater than that of all the saints. His sufferings were not easy to Him, as some have imagined, because He actually and in truth offered Himself to the eternal Father to be consigned to eternal damnation for us (' quod realiter et vere se in ceternam damnationem obtulit Deo patri pro nobis '). His human nature did not behave differently from that of a man who is to be condemned eternally to hell. On account of this love of God, God at once raised Him from death and hell, and so He over- came hell (' eum suscitavit a morte et inferno et sic momordit infernum ' ; cp. Osee xiii. 14). All His saints must follow this example, some more, some less ; and according to the degree of their perfection in love they find this harder or easier. But Christ bore the most severe form of it (' durissime hoc fecit '), and for this reason He laments in many passages (in the Messianic Psalms) the pains of hell." 1 In the light of passages such as these we can understand to some extent the lurid, fanciful, mystic description which he gives early in 1518, clearly on the strength of his own states of mind. He tells how a man fancies himself at certain moments plunged into hell, and feels his breast pierced by all the pangs of everlasting despair, because he apprehends God's " frightful ire " and the impossibility of ever being delivered. This grotesque picture of a soul, with which we shall deal more fully later, although it is partly taken almost word for word from the earlier de- scriptions of the mystics, reveals its morbid character more especially by the fact, that the hope, which, in the case of the devout, remains in the depths of the soul even throughout the most severe interior trials, seems entirely absent. God is seen as He appeared to Luther, i.e. as an inexorable, arbitrary punisher of His creature. 2 Luther's mysticism is veritably a mysticism of despair and the " humilitas," with its love ready even for hell, which he belauds as the anchor of safety, is a forced ex- pedient really excluded by his system, and which he himself discarded as soon as he was able to replace it by the (God- given) fides, in the shape of faith in personal justification and salvation. 1 " Schol. Rom., p. 218 f. 2 The frequently quoted description is to be found in " Werke," Weim. ed., 1, p. 557 f. 10. The Commentary on Romans as a Work of Religion and Learning The Commentary purports to be as much a religious as a learned work. Its religious value can be shortly summed up from the above. The author is as much occupied in putting forth religious ideas which appeal to him as in expounding exegetically St. Paul's Epistle, and these ideas he supports on the text of the Epistle to the Romans or on other passages from Holy Scripture which he incessantly adduces. His intention also was to make the considerations of practical use from the religious point of view to his hearers, who were probably most of them Augustinians. He wished to give them a practical introduction to the doctrines of St. Paul, as he understood them, and at the same time to his own mysticism. We must, if we wish to do justice to the Commentary on Romans, admit without reserve that it does not show us the picture of a man who is morally bankrupt. The author does not make the impression of one bent on sensuality, and seeking the means of gratifying it. The work, on the contrary, breathes a spiritual tendency, even to the point of excess, though not, indeed, without a strong admixture of the earthly element. The author is, however, far from having arrived at any clear religious views ; after wrestling with the secrets of the Pauline Epistle with feeling and eloquence, he is unable even at the end to extricate himself from a condition of spiritual restlessness. The work testifies to an enduring state of religious ferment. The vivacity and fertility of thought which the author displays is noteworthy ; the personal colouring in which he depicts his religious ideas, and, frequently, too, rabidly defends them against scholars and religious who think differently, is unique, and of priceless value to the bio- grapher. Such a strong personal tone is not, it is true, quite in place in a learned work. The religious " experience," so often supposed to stand in the forefront of his development, is not to be found there. If the so-called spiritual " experience " had actually taken place Luther would certainly have alluded to it, for he has much to say of his own state and observations. Why does i. R 242 LUTHER THE MONK he say nothing here of the experiences he afterwards relates in such detail ? Of the excessive, almost suicidal, monastic practices to which, as a Catholic-minded monk, he sur- rendered himself, seeking God's grace, until through Divine intervention he recognised that the path of works and strictness of life, in fact the Catholic road generally, was incapable of leading one to peace with God here below and to union with God in eternity ? There is nothing here of that sudden leap from weary, self-righteous seeking after God ostensibly a delusion cherished by all Catholicsto the joyous consciousness of a gracious God, based on the recognition of justification. Luther, on the other hand, gives a seemingly accurate description of his own spiritual development, though without mentioning himself, at the end of his exposition of Romans iii., a passage to which we shall return later. The author frequently allows his fancied religious interests to spoil his exegesis. Often enough he does not even make an attempt to follow up the thoughts of the Apostle and arrive at their sense. His character is too impatient of restraint and too pre- disposed to rhetoric. Thus he descends to the religious and political questions then being debated at Wittenberg and says by way of excuse : "I will explain the meaning of the Apostle to you in its practical sense, in order that you may understand the matter better by the help of some compari- sons." 1 These words occur in the passage in which he admonishes Duke George of Saxony regarding his quarrels with Edgard, Count of East Frisia (1514-15), telling him he ought to have recognised the Will of God in the Count's " malicious revolt " and have patiently suffered himself to be vanquished by his foe- as though it were the duty of princes to become mystics like himself. 2 If we now examine the actual value of the Commentary, we find much that is excellent and calculated to elucidate the Pauline text. It is especially praiseworthy in Luther that he should have made the Greek text edited by Erasmus the basis of his work as soon as it was published during the course of his lectures. He also makes frequent, diligent and intelligent 1 " Schol. Rom.," p. 272. Cp. ibid., p. 301. * Cp. above, p. 228. OUTSIDE INFLUENCES 243 use of the " exegetical ability " of Nicholas of Lyra, 1 following him for the text as well as for the interpretation and division of the subject ; this was the author whose assistance he had formerly declined with far too much contempt. Other authorities whom he also consults are Paul of Burgos, Peter Lombard, for his explanations of the Epistle to the Romans, and, for the division of the matter, particularly the Schemata of Faber Stapulensis. His own linguistic training and his knowledge of ancient literature were of great service to him, as also was his natural quickness of judgment combined with sagacity. He frequently quotes passages from St. Augustine, and through him, i.e. at second- hand, from Cyprian and Chrysostom ; in his interpretations the mediaeval authorities of whom he makes most use are the Master of the Sentences and St. Bernard. 2 The way in which Aristotle and the Scholastics are handled is already plain from what we have said. Reminiscences of the works of his own professors, Paltz, Trutfetter and Usingen, are merely general, and he freely differs from them. As an Occamist he feels himself in contradiction to the Thomists and to some extent also to the Scotists ; in addition to Occam, d'Ailly, Gerson and Biel have a great influence on him, even in his interpretation of the Bible. Tauler, who has so frequently been mentioned, also left deep traces of his influence not only in the matter of the Commentary, but also in the language, which is often obscure, rich in imagery and full of feeling, while here and there we seem to find reminiscences of the " Theologia Deutsch " which Luther was to publish at the close of his lectures. The latter was, " to his thinking, the most exact expression of the great thoughts of the Epistle to the Romans." 3 From a learned point of view his exegesis would probably have been different and far more reliable had he consulted the famous Commentary of St. Thomas Aquinas on the Epistle to the Romans, not merely for the division of his subject, but also for the matter. This Commentary held the first place, as regards clearness and depth of thought, among previous expositions, yet not once does Luther quote it, and, probably, he had never opened the work for the 1 J. Ficker in the Preface of his edition of the Commentary, p. liv. 2 For the sources used by Luther, see Ficker, pp. liii.-lxii. 3 Thus Ficker, p. Ixii. 244 LUTHER THE MONK purpose of study. " It is most remarkable," Wilhelm Braun says, speaking of Luther's Commentary and of his whole development, " that Luther never came to understand Thomas of Aquin. We meet with some disparaging remarks [elsewhere than in the Commentary on Romans] ; he is doubtful as to whether St. Thomas was really saved, because he wrote some heretical stuff and brought Aristotle, the corrupter of pious doctrine, into prominence in the Church ; but he never understood him from the theological point of view." 1 We might well go further and say, that he did not even do what must certainly precede any "under- standing"- study his writings with the intention of care- fully examining them. 2 How greatly does Luther in his method, his manner of delivery and his spirit differ from St. Thomas, from the latter's quiet precision and trustworthiness in following the great traditions of learning and theology. Luther so often speaks without due thought, so often in his impetuosity sees but one side of things, he contradicts himself without remarking it, falls into grotesque exaggeration, and, in many passages, is not merely impulsive in his manner of speech, but even destructive. The rashness with which he lays hands on the generally accepted teaching of the best tried minds, his assumption of supremacy in the intellectual domain, the boundless self-confidence which peeps out of so many of his assertions, gave cause for fearing the worst from this professor, to whose words the University was even then attentive. He knew well how to hold his listeners by the versatility of his spirit and his ability to handle words. His language comprises, now weighty sentences, now popular and taking comparisons. He speaks, when he is so inclined, in the popular and forcible style he employs at a later date ; he borrows from the lips of the populace sayings of unexampled coarseness with which he spices his harangues, more especially 1 " Die Bedeutung der Concupiscenz in Luthers Leben und Lehre," p. 176. 2 See above, p. 129. W. Friedensburg, " Fortschritte in Kenntnis der Reformationsgesch " (" Schriften des Vereins fur Reformations- gesch.," No. 100, 1910, pp. 1-59), p. 17: "It appears [from Denifle's work] that Luther was little acquainted with the Scholastics of the Middle Ages, especially with Thomas of Aquin which was equally the case with nearly all his contemporaries [?] and that he drew his information from secondary sources," etc. COARSENESS AND PARADOX 245 with a view to emphasising his attitude to his opponents. We may be permitted to quote one such passage in which he is speaking against those who hold themselves to be pure : "I look on them as the biggest fools, who want to forget how deeply they stick in the mire. . . . Did you never ... in your mother's lap, and was not the smell evil ? Is your perfume always so sweet ? Is there nothing about your whole person which has an unpleasant odour ? If you are so clean, I am surprised that the apothecaries have not long ago got hold of you to use you in making their balsams, for surely you must reek of balm. Yet had your mother left you as you are and were, you would have perished in your own filth." 1 Immediately after this he proceeds with a more pleasing thought : " Truly to please oneself, one must be utterly displeased with self. No one can please himself and others at the same time." He is fond of startling antitheses and frequently loses himself in paradoxes. " God has concealed righteousness under sin, goodness under severity, mercy under anger." 2 " He who does not think he is righteous, is for that very reason righteous before God." " To be sinners does not harm us, if we only strive earnestly for justification." 3 It may serve to give a better idea of the exegetical value of the whole work, and thereby increase our knowledge of its author, if we consider some of the other peculiarities which permeate it. Luther frequently engages with great zest in philosophical argument and has skirmishes in dialectics with his adver- 1 " Schol. Rom.," p. 335. The reproach brought against these opponents of backbiting forms an exact parallel to Luther's address, " Contra sanctulos," mentioned above. Compare the allusions, p. 334, " Tcediosi sunt et nolunt esse in communione aliorum ; sic hceretici, sic multi superbi." And before : " Hi insulsi homines contra totum ordinem [he is referring to their state or position in life] insurgunt ac velut ipsi sint mundi, ut nullibi sordeant, cum tamen ante et retro et intua non nisi suum et porcorum sint forum et officina." The anecdote which he relates (p. 243 f.) of the man who resolved " amore Dei vette nunquam mingere," with which Luther laughs to scorn the desire of some to perform extraordinary works for God's sake, is quite in keeping with this language". 2 Ibid., p. 208. 3 Ibid., p. 101. This kind of language which he indulges in at a later date agrees with his character. " His personality presents hundreds of enigmas" ; says A. Hausrath in his biography of Luther, 1, p. vii., " of all great men Luther was the most paradoxical. 246 LUTHER THE MONK saries, after the custom of the school of Occam. In such cases he often becomes scarcely intelligible owing to his utter neglect of the rules of logic. The answer he gives to the proofs alleged by " modern philosophers " for the possi- bility of a natural love of God is very characteristic. They had urged : The Avill is able to grasp all that reason proposes to it as right and necessary ; but reason proposes that we must love God, the cause of all things, and the Highest Good above all. Against this Luther philosophises as folloAvs : " That is decidedly a bad conclusion. The conclusion should be : If the will is able to will everything that reason prescribes shall be willed and performed, then the will may will that God is to be loved above all, as reason says. But it does not follow that the will can love God above all, but merely that it can feebly will that this be done, i.e. the will has just that tiny little bit of will (' voluntatulam voluntalis habere')\\hich reason orders it to have." To this Luther adds : " Were that proof correct, then the common teaching would be erroneous that the law [of God in Revelation] has been given in order to humble the proud who presumptuously build on their own powers." And immediately, with supposedly scriptural proofs, he proceeds to show that no power for doing what is good can be ascribed to the will. 1 In what he says of the position of philosophy to saving grace- a point we mentioned above- we have another example of his faulty method. It is well known that the old Scholastics, far from drawing their profound teaching concerning sanctifying grace from the " mouldy " stores of Aristotle, advocated, with regard to justification, regeneration and bestowal of sanctifying grace (" gratia sanctificans ") by the infusion of the Holy Spirit, simply the views contained in Holy Scripture and in the Fathers ; but, in order to make her teaching more comprehensible and to insure it against aberrations, the Church clothed it as far as necessary in the language of the generally accepted philosophy. .The element which Scholas- ticism therewith borrowed from Aristotle or to be accurate not from him only, but, through the Fathers, from ancient philosophy generally- was of service for the comprehension of revealed truth. Luther, however, was opposed to any- thing which tended to greater definition because he was 1 " Schol. Rom.," p. 187. Cp. p. 321. CATHOLIC DOCTRINE OF GRACE 247 more successful in expressing his diverging opinions in vague and misapprehended biblical language than in the stricter and more exact language of the philosophical schools. The Church, on the other hand, has given Scholasticism its due. In the definitions of the Council of Trent on the points of faith which had been called into question, the Church to a certain degree made her own the old traditional expressions of the schools on the doctrine of grace, teaching, for instance, that the " only formal cause of our righteous- ness lies in the righteousness of God, not in that by which He Himself is just, but that by which He makes us just." She declared that, with justifying grace, the "love of God becomes inherent in us," and that with this grace man " receives the infusion (' infusa accipit ') of faith, hope and charity " ; she also speaks of the various causes of justifica- tion, of the final, efficient, meritorious, instrumental and formal cause. 1 All these learned terms were admirably fitted to express the ancient views vouched for by the Bible or tradition, and the same may be said, for in- stance, of the formula sanctioned by the Council of Trent, that " by the sacraments grace is bestowed ' ex opere operato,' " and that the sacraments of Baptism, Confirma- tion and Order impart " a ' character,' i.e. a spiritual and ineradicable mark on account of which they cannot be repeated." 2 When the Church expresses herself in such terms with regard to sanctifying grace, she implies thereby no more than what is stated in the various biblical excerpts quoted in detail by the Council of Trent to which Luther had paid too little heed. Her teaching is that man is signed and anointed with the spirit of promise which is the pledge of our inheritance ; that he is renewed through the Spirit, and that by the Spirit the love of God is poured forth in his heart ; that he becomes a living member of Christ ; that because he is made the heir and child of God he has a right to heaven ; that he is born again by the Holy Ghost to a new life, and thus is translated into the Kingdom of the Love of His Son where he has redemption and forgiveness of sins ; as such he is a friend and companion of God ; yet 1 Sess. 6, c. 7. Cp. c. 16 : " Quce enim," etc. In can. 11 of this session " inherent " charity is again mentioned, and in can. 10 the righteousness by which we are "formaliter iusti." Cp. Luther's bitter attack on the expression " fides formata caritate " (see above, p. 209) * Sess. 7, can. 8, 9. 248 LUTHER THE MONK he must go on from virtue to virtue and, as the Apostle says, be renewed from day to day by constantly mortifying the members of his flesh and offering them as the weapons of righteousness for sanctification. In his Commentary on Romans Luther already breaks away from tradition, i.e. from the whole growth of the past, even on matters of the utmost moment, and this not at all to the advantage of theology ; not merely the method and mode of expression does he oppose, but even the very substance of doctrine. Protestant theology, following in his footsteps, went further. Many of its representatives, as we shall see, honestly expressed their serious doubts as to whether the Bible teaching of sanctification by grace that process which, according to the scriptural descriptions just quoted, takes place in the very innermost being of man- is really expressed correctly by the Lutheran doctrine of the imputa- tion of a purely extraneous righteousness. But even to-day there are others who still support Luther's views in a slightly modified form, and who will have it that the scholastic and later teaching of the Church is a doctrine of mere " magic," as though she made of saving grace a magical power, of which the agency is baptism or absolution. It is true that the process of sanctification as apprehended by faith is to a large extent involved in impenetrable mystery, but in Christianity there is much else which is mysterious. It is perhaps this mysterious element which gives offence and accounts for Catholic doctrine being described by so opprobrious a word as " magic." Some Protestants of the same school are also given to praising Luther in terms which are also,' though in another sense, mysterious and obscure for having from the very outset arrived at the great idea of grace peculiar to the Reformed theology, viz. at the " exaltation of religion above morality." He was the first to ask : " How do I stand with regard to my God ? " and who made the discovery, of which his Commentary on Romans is a forcible proof, that it is " man's relation to God through faith which creates the purer atmosphere in which alone it is possible for morality to thrive." He arrived, so we are told, at an apprehension of grace as " a merciful consideration of the abiding sinner," and a true " consolation of conscience " ; he at the same time recog- INDWELLING SIN 249 nised grace as an " educative and moulding energy," which, as such, imparts " strength for sanctification." 1 To return to the exegetical side of the Commentary on Romans, the confusion in which the ideas are presented lends to much of it a stamp of great imperfection. There is a general lack of cautious, intelligent comprehension of the material, which sometimes is concerned with the tenderest questions of faith, sometimes with vital points of morals. The impartial observer sees so many traces of passion, irritation, storm and stress that he begins to ask himself whether the work has any real theological value. The passage, Romans vii. 17, regarding the indwelling of sin in man (" habitat in me peccatum ") Luther, in the interests of his system, makes use of for an attack upon the Scholastics (" nostri theologi "). He attributes to them an interpretation of the passage which was certainly not theirs, and, from his own interpretation, draws strange and quite unfounded inferences. According to the interpretation commonly admitted by almost all exegetists, whether Catholic or Protestant, St. Paul is here speaking of the unregenerate man in whom sin dwells, preventing him from fulfilling the law. Luther, on the contrary, asserts that the Apostle is alluding to himself and to the regenerate generally, and he quotes from the context no less than twelve proofs that this is the correct interpretation. 2 Scholastics either referred the passage, like St. Augustine, to the righteous in whom on account of the survival of the " fomes peccati " sin in some sense dwells, even the righteous being easily led away by the same to sin or they left the question open and allowed the verse to refer to those who are not justified. Luther, delighted by his discovery of the survival of original sin in man after baptism, could not allow the opportunity to slip of dealing a blow at the older theologians : " Is it not a fact that the fallacious metaphysics of Aristotle the philosophy which is built up on human tradition has blinded our theo- logians ? They fancy that sin is destroyed in Baptism and in 1 " Educative " grace which imparts " strength " is probably what we call actual grace, not sanctifying grace. Luther makes no distinction either as regards the term or the matter. His determinism, with its " servum arbitrium," left no room for actual grace to perform any real work ; this he admits more plainly of the time preceding justification than of that which follows it. Cp. " Schol. Rom.," p. 206 : " Ad primam gratiam sicut et ad gloriam semper nos habermis passive sicut mulier ad conceptum," etc. It is here he introduces his " mystical " recom- mendation, viz. to suffer God's strong grace, and without any act of reason or will " in tenebras ac velut in perditionem et annihilationem ire," however hard that may be. Here we find nothing about any " educative and moulding energy." 2 " Schol. Rom.," pp. 170-6. 250 LUTHER THE MONK the sacrament of Penance, and they declare it absurd that the Apostle should speak of sin dwelling within him [as a matter of fact the Schoolmen did nothing of the sort]. The words ' habitat in me peccatum ' were a fearful scandal to them. They fled to the false and pernicious assertion that Paul is speaking merely in the person of the carnal man [unregenerate], whereas he is, in truth, speaking of his own person [and of the righteous]. They say foolishly that in the righteous there is no sin, and yet the Apostle obviously teaches the contrary in the plainest and most open fashion." 1 Of this passionate reversal of the old exegesis, Denifle, after having pointed out the real state of the question by quoting the commentators, says : " Luther merely exhibits his ignorance, prejudice and prepossession ... he was not acting in the interests of learning at all." 2 Of Luther's twelve arguments in favour of his interpretation he remarks : "in order to convince oneself that the [opposite] view, now almost universally held, is the correct one, it is only necessary to glance at Luther's twelve proofs. They are utterly fallacious, beg the question and take for grarted what is not conceded." 3 This judgment is amply justified. Yet Luther, at the end of his long demonstra- tion, exclaims : " It is really surprising that anyone could have imagined that the Apostle was speaking in the person of the old and carnal man." " No, the Apostle teaches regarding the justified that they are at the same time righteous and sinners, righteous because Christ's righteousness covers them and is imputed to them, sinners because they do not fulfil the law and are not without concupiscence."* We can only say of Luther's remarks on the Scholastics that, without really being acquainted with them, he here again blindly abuses them because they were opposed to his new theological views. It was merely his prejudice against the Scholastics which led him to continue : " Their stupid doctrine has deceived the world and caused untold mischief, for the consequence was, that who- ever was baptised and absolved at once looked upon himself as free from sin, became sure of his righteousness, folded his arms, and, because he was unconscious of any sin, considered it super- fluous to trouble to struggle or to purify himself by &'ghs and tears, by sorrow for sin and efforts to conquer it. No, sin remains even in the spiritual man," etc. He appeals to St. Augustine, indeed to the very passage to which the Scholastics were in- debted for their interpretation of St. Paul's words concerning the righteous. As remarked before (p. 98), Augustine is, how- ever, very far from teaching that there is in the righteous real guilt and sin, when, following St. Paul, he speaks of the sinful concupiscence which dwells in the regenerate. Luther would have avoided a great number of mistakes in his 1 " Schol. Rom.," p. 178. 8 " Luther und Luthertum," I 1 , P 515 f. 1 Ibid., p. 517, n. 3. 4 " Schol. Rom.," p. 175 f. FREEDOM FROM THE LAW 251 interpretation of the Epistle to the Romans had he conscientiously studied the older expositors instead of blindly opposing them. The passage in Hebrews xi. 1, which was of the greatest importance for his views (" Est fides sperandarum substantia rerum, argumentum non apparentium "), he interprets in a false sense, whereas St. Thomas takes it correctly. He takes " sub- stantia," etc. (fXiri^o/j.^vuv vir&ffTOffis irpay/juiTwv) as " possessio et fac,ultas futurarum rerum," and the word "argumentum" (ZXeyxos) as " signum." 1 It was only in 1519 that he learnt from Melanchthon that this interpretation could not be made to agree with the Greek text. Even when making known his mistake he gives a side hit at the Sententiarii, i.e. the Scholastics. And yet he would have found the correct interpretation in St. Thomas's " Summa Theologica," and also in his Commentary on Romans, viz. that " substantia " here means foundation, or first beginning (" fides est prima pars iustitice "), while "argumentum" has the sense of firm assent, i.e. to the truth that " is not seen." 2 To sum up briefly here some of the fundamental theo- logical confusions of which the author of the Commentary on Romans is guilty, either from carelessness or in the excitement of controversy, we may mention that he confuses freedom with willingness or joyousness, the works of the Mosaic law with the works of natural or Christian morality, true humility with self-annihilation and despair, confidence with presumption ; to him true contrition is grief sensibly manifested, all charity other than perfect is mere perverse self-seeking, and holy fear of the Divine judgment and penalties is a slavish, selfish service. The freedom of the Christian spirit, bestowed by the gospel in contradistinction to Judaism, Luther, owing to persistent misapprehension, makes out to be freedom regarding outward things of the law. Appealing to St. Paul's teaching concerning the liberty of the gospel, he says : "we must not be subject to the burden of any law to such an extent as to consider the outward works of the law necessary for salvation." 3 Those who do so are, accord- ing to him, attached to " a spiritual, but exceedingly reprehensible " view, which we must oppose with all our might. Away with those whose aim it is to " fulfil the law by means of many observances." " The law is to be ob- served not because we must keep it, but because we choose to do so, not because it is necessary, but because it is per- 1 " Schol. Rom.," p. 234 f., 277. 2 Cp. Denifle, 1, p. 518 f. 3 " Schol. Rom.," p. 303. 252 LUTHER THE MONK mitted." Instead of this, he continues, we bow to-day under the yoke of servitude, fancy it is necessary and yet wish secretly that it did not exist (" Hcec servitus hodie late grassatur," etc.). The effect of such distorted principles on his views regarding the commandments of the Church is very obvious. " Concerning the outw T ard service of God," as Denifle has already pointed out, " Luther went to great lengths in his defence of ' llbertasS . . . The believer is free as regards all things ; ' sufficit charitas de corde puro ' he frequently repeated at the very time when he was vindi- cating himself against the errors of the Picards." 1 Though as yet still far from the revulsion which was to come later he was already cherishing the principles which were to lead up to it. What he says on obedience and personality in dealing with Romans x. and the word of faith which calls for sub- mission, exhibits a strange medley of excessive mystical severity combined with a free handling of his own views, and also some good examples of his stormy dialectics. It is worth our while to dwell a little on these passages because the train of thought furnishes a curious picture of the direction of the young Monk's mind. " The faith [which justifies] allows itself to be led in any direction," 2 he says, "and is ready to hear and to yield; for God does not require great works, but the putting to death of the old man, but to this we cannot attain without submitting our own ideas and judgment to the authority of another. . . ." He then continues, vaguely confusing faith and humility : " The old man is to be put to death by faith in the Word of God. But God's Word is not only that which sounds from heaven, but everything that comes from the mouth of a good man, more particularly from our ecclesiastical superiors. That is why the quarrelsome will hear nothing of this faith and take offence at the word of faith. Instead of believing they demand proofs and always think their own ideas right, and those of others false. But whoever does not know how to submit himself and always fancies he is not in the wrong, exhibits the plainest signs that the old Adam still lives in him and that Christ has not yet risen in him." 3 Then follows a long and tedious description of how " man must surrender his mind to the bondage of the word of the Cross and renounce himself and all that is his until he dies to self."* It is surprising to find in the mouth of Luther such an 1 " Luther und Luthertum," 1, p. 673. 8 " Schol. Rom.," p. 241. 3 Ibid., p. 242. * Ibid., p. 245. CONTRADICTION A CRITERION 253 utterance as that we must receive with submission every word of a godly man in order to possess " faith " in its true meaning, but it reappears on another occasion in the Commentary under quite peculiar circumstances. The passage is a still more glaring instance of confusion and is worth quoting in its entirety on accour.t of its mistaken train of thought and of its self-contra- diction and jumping from one point to another, so characteristic of Lutl er. The explanation of Romans hi. 1 begins with a general assault on the " proud ' spirituals ' in the Church, with their great and many works," the heading chosen being that " Justification does not require works of the law, but true faith which performs works of faith." The works of these " spirituals " are not works of faith, but works of the law, for as they are proud and stiff- necked they " do not believe in the precepts and counsels of those who speak to them of salvation." Christ Himself speaks in the latter, and to refuse to believe them in any one particular is to c'eny faith in Him altogether ("fides consistit in indivi- sibili ") ; for the same reason the heretics, if they deny only one article of the faith, really deny the faith as a whole. In a word, these proud folk " lose the whole faith, thanks merely to their stiffness " (" periit tola fides propter unius sensus pertinaciam ") ; so important is it to give way to truth whenever it approaches us in humility ! Justification must therefore necessarily take place without the works which those people have in their mind. If a man cannot readily bear contradiction " he certainly cannot be saved ; for there is no surer sign that our ideas, words and works are of God than contradiction [!] ; everything that is of God must be rejected by man, as we see from the example of our Saviour, and, even if it be not of God, contradiction brings us still greater profit and preserves us from shipwreck." In support of this perplexing doctrine there follow examples and quotations from the Bible, and finally this conclusion : " it is a safe path when we are reproved, cursed and blamed." He does not seem to notice that this assertion provides a ground of excuse and defence for the so-called " proud ' spirituals,' " for they, too, might argue that his contradiction gave a sanction to their conduct. Luther seems to have had only himself and his own interests in view when he brought forward these ideas, beginning with the extreme assertion that we must believe every word that a good man speaks ; he apparently wished to insist on himself and his followers being given credence, and on their views which were the views of faithful counsellors being approved by the defenders of works, whether in his Order or outside of it. As he encountered contradiction, he immediately applied to his own case the very elastic principle, that opposition in religious matters is a guarantee of truth. This was a principle, we may mention, which he had made his own ever since his mystical days, and which at a later 1 "Schol. Rom.," p. 86 . 254 LUTHER THE MONK date and indeed till the end of his life, he repeatedly employed in the service of his cause during his struggle with the Church. Continuing his harangue against the "spirituals" and the heretics with whom he classes them he goes on to say : " they buoy themselves up in their idle self-complacency on account of their faith in Christ, but in vain, as they will not believe in that which is Christ's. The faith of Christ by which we are justified is not merely faith in Christ, or in the person of Christ, but in all that is Christ's." " Christ is not divided " (1 Cor. i. 13). Faith is something indivisible, Christ and whatever is Christ's is one and the same. 1 Therefore we must believe both in Christ and in the Church, and in " every word that comes from the mouth of an ecclesiastical superior, or of a good, pious man." " But those who withdraw themselves from their superiors will not listen to their words, but follow their own ideas," he again repeats : " how do these, I ask, believe in Christ ? They believe in His birth and His sufferings, but not in His whole word, consequently they deny Him altogether. See how necessary is the very greatest humility, as we who believe in Christ can never be sure whether we believe in all that is His, and therefore must remain uncertain as to whether we believe in Him Himself ! Justification can only proceed from such a fear and humility. But the proud " do not understand the exalted subtilties of this faith ; they think they are in 'possession of the whole of faith, yet cannot hear the Lord's voice, but rather resist it as though it were false; why ? because it is opposed to their own ideas." 2 After a dialectical digression of doubtful character the hot- blooded exegetist continues : All the Prophets rise up against such men, for they always commence their holy message with the words : " Thus saith the Lord " and, " whosoever it be whom the Lord chooses as His mouthpiece, the demand is for faith, resignation, humble subjection of our own ideas ; for it is only thus that we are justified, and not otherwise." With incredible tenacity he is ever harping on the assertion that the " self-righteous " only deck themselves out with works of the law, but find no grace with God. And finally, as though he had not yet said a word against those rebels against faith and the Word of God, he cries : " Let those open their ears who believe indeed in Christ, but not in the word of Christ, who do not listen to their superiors and who wish to be justified without this obedience, i.e. without this faith in God and merely by their works." In another out- burst he shows them this time adopting a more mystical tone that Christ speaks " almost always when, where and as we do not expect." 3 " Who can discover all the wily attacks of Satan by which he deceives us ? " Some wish to be justified by a " slavish fear," in spite of their disinclination and ' by their own strength alone " ; * those whom he deceives more artfully feel a desire for what is good, " but in their self-complacency they affect superstitious singularity (' singularitatis et superstitionis 1 " Schol. Rom.," p. 87 f. 2 Ibid., p. 89. 8 Ibid., p. 92. * Ibid., p. 93. INCONSISTENCIES UNEXPLAINED 255 affectatores '), they become rebels [like the Observantines, see p. 69], and under a show of obedience and love of God they throw off their submission to the men of God, i.e. to the Vicars and messengers of Christ." 1 " It is presumption and pride which changes works of grace into works of the law, and the righteous- ness of God into human righteousness ; for," etc. 2 " How then can you be proud as though you were more righteous than another, how can you despise him who sins, when you yourself [at least, by your evil inclinations] are sunk in the same mire ? " 3 etc. " But they receive honour of men on account of their righteous- ness," 4 a subject on which Luther proceeds to enlarge. We have said enough. The torrent of words flows on aimlessly in this way, ever labouring the same subject ; all this is given us in lieu of real exegesis as corollaries to two verses of the Epistle to the Romans. In order to gauge the real value of the Commentary on Romans we must now consider the treatment, abounding in inconsistencies, accorded by Luther to man's efforts for obtaining salvation. In Luther's mind the idea that God does all, stands side by side with the traditional view of the Church, that man must prepare himself ; he has, indeed, a curious knack of remaining quite unconscious of his inconsistencies. On the one hand, according to what he says, we must seek for justification by the exertion of the fullest human effort, and this labour must be so strenuous as to render God propitious to us (" Deum sibi pro- pitium faciunt "). 5 That is, at least, what we are told at the end of the Commentary, but at the beginning we read : " The faith which is to justify must manifest its works, works of the law are not sufficient, it must be ' a living faith which performs its own works.' " 6 " When James and Paul say that man is justified by works, they are opposing the false opinion that faith without its works is sufficient, whereas such a faith is not faith at all." 7 According to this, it is plain, that, at that time, the idea of man's co-operation in the work of salvation by the use of his liberty still hovered in Luther's mind. But any idea of this kind is elsewhere confronted and peremptorily dismissed by another chain of ideas. How are we to make efforts by our own free will when we do not possess free will for doing what is good ? " As though," he says, " we had free will at our disposal whenever we want ! Such an idea of free will can only serve to lull us into a 1 "Schol. Rom.," p. 94. 2 Ibid., p. 95. 3 Ibid., p. 96. 4 Ibid., p. 97. 5 Ibid., p. 323 f. Cp. above, p. 218 f. 6 Ibid., p. 86 : " Igitur iustificatio requirit non opera legis, sed vivam fidem, quce sua operetur opera." Cp. above, p. 214, n. 6, where he speaks of the " prceparatio " for justification by the fulfilling of the law. 7 Ibid., p. 85. It is possible that, without making any distinction, he here passes on to the activity of the righteous. Cp. Denifle- Weiss, 1 2 , pp. 466, 467, on Luther's want of clearness regarding justifying faith. 256 LUTHER THE MONK false security." (" Securi stertimus, freti libero arbitrio quod ad inanum habentes, quando volumus, possumus pie intendere.") 1 Here he will only admit that man has freedom to pray for the right use of his freedom. But, as a matter of fact, even this liberty which might incite us to prayer, is non-existent. For in respect of anything that is good [whether natural or super- natural, he makes no distinction] we are only like raw metal or a wooden stick. Because God's grace is the hand which works in us for good and which performs our vital acts within us, while we ourselves are quiescent and absolutely powerless, "Luther says in Romans iii. : "I have frequently insisted before upon the fact, that it is impossible for us to have of ourselves the will or the heart to fulfil the law." Why ? " Because the law is spiritual." Meditation on man's enslaved condition as the result of concupiscence, he declares in another passage, proves my contention, no less than the terrible truth of predestination. " Luther felt in himself that belief in the eternal predestination by God [Absolute election to grace] was the most powerful support of his experience of the complete inadequacy of human works and the efficacy of grace alone." The Protestant theologian 2 who says this, to instance Luther's faith in the action of grace, here quotes from the passages from the Commentary on Romans, according to which God on the one hand bestows His grace only on those He chooses, but on the other hand infallibly saves those He elects to save. " The Spirit," Luther has it, " supports the latter by His presence in all their weaknesses, so that they prevail in circumstances where they would otherwise despair a thousand times." 3 It is, however, remarkable that just after this explanation the cry bursts from Luther's lips : " Where are now the good works, where the freedom of the will ? " Here the irresistible " action of grace alone " appears as a direct con- sequence of Luther's then views, though he refrains from ex- pressing himself more clearly as to the nature of actual grace. Thus in his mind are combined two widely divergent ideas, viz. that God does everything in man who is devoid of freedom and that man must draw nigh to God by prayer and works of faith. It is a strange psychological phenomenon to see how, instead of endeavouring to solve the contradiction and examine the question in the light of calm reason, he gives free play to feeling and imagination, now passionately proving to the infamous Observants that man is absolutely unable to do anything, now insisting on the need of preparation for grace, i.e. unconsciously be- coming the defender of the Church's doctrine of free will and human co-operation. The fact is, he still, to some extent, 1 "Schol, Rom.," p. 321. 2 Braun, " Concupiscenz/' p. 34. 3 See above, p. 249, n. 1, and p. 204. PROGRESS IN IDEAS. 257 thinks with the Church. It was no easy task for him to break away from a view, which is so natural to man and so much in accordance with faith, viz. that there must be some preparation on man's part for justification, in which however, actual grace, which comes to the assistance of his will and becomes part of it, also has its share. Luther's peculiar mysticism with its preponderance of feeling was, in part, the cause of his overlooking his task, which was to propound from his professorial chair the teach- ing of the Church in definite and exact terms- so far as this was possible to him w r ith his insufficient theological training. To this may be added the fact that the wealth of biblical quotations, whether to the point or not, which he is wont to adduce, tends to distract and confuse him as soon as he attempts to draw any clear inferences. According to Denifle a certain progress is apparent in the Commentary on Romans inasmuch as the first three chapters show Luther's new doctrines still in an inchoate form. Luther, there, is seeking for something he has not yet fully grasped, and the confusion of his language is a proof that he has not as yet made up his mind. There is, however, one point, according to Denifle, on which he is quite definite, viz. concupiscence, though he does not yet know how to combine it with his other ideas ; but, by the end of chapter iii., this doubt has been set aside, he has identified con- cupiscence with original sin and reached other conclusions besides. Still he avoids the principal question as to how far human co-operation is necessary in the act of justifica- tion. 1 It is difficult to determine exactly this progress owing to Luther's want of clearness and precision of expression, and to his contradictory treatment of certain capital points. The Commentary on Romans as it proceeds hardly shows any improvement in this respect. With extraordinary elasticity of mind, if we may so speak, the author without the slightest compunction advocates concerning the most profound theological questions, especially grace, ideas which differ from and contradict each other. As at the very commencement we meet some of th*e most incisive new theses of Lutheranism the imputation of the righteousness 1 " Luther und Luthertum," I 2 , p. 447 f., 466 f. I. s 258 LUTHER THE MONK of Christ, the sinfulness of the natural man and his inability to do what is good, and likewise predestination to hell in its most outrageous form it is natural to infer that Luther had already forsaken the Catholic doctrine on these points at the time he was preparing his lectures on the Epistle to the Romans, i.e. about the summer of 1515. His mis- apprehension of this Epistle must have had its influence on his whole trend, and the elements already at work in his mind helped to decide him to commit to writing in his Commentary his supposed new and important doctrinal discoveries. We might expect to find in the Commentary the most noticeable progress where he deals with preparation for grace, for this was surely the point on which he was bound to come into conflict with other doctrines. It is, however, hard to tell whether he realised the difficulty. It is true that much less stress is laid upon preparation for justification as the work proceeds, whereas at the commencement the author speaks unhesitatingly of the cultivation of the will which must be undertaken in order to bring down grace. (See above, p. 214.) This, however, might merely be accidental and due to the fact that, in the last chapters, St. Paul is dealing mainly with the virtues of the justified. Towards the end of the Epistle, in connection with what the Apostle says on charity and faith in the righteous, the nature of that " humilitas " which Luther so eulogises as a preliminary and accompaniment of the appropriation of the righteousness of Christ undergoes a change and appears more as faith with charity, or charity with faith. Luther's manner of speaking thus varies according to the subject with which Paul is dealing. If we take the middle of the year 1515 as the starting- point of Luther's new theology, then many of the statements in his Commentary on the Psalms, especially in its latter part, become more significant as precursors of Luther's errors. The favourable view we expressed above of his work on the Psalms, as regards its agreement with the theology of the Church, was only meant to convey that a Catholic interpretation of the questionable passages was possible ; this, however, cannot be said of the theses in the Commentary on Romans which we have just been con- sidering. We now understand why unwillingness to allow "THE PITH OF SCRIPTURE" 259 any ability in man to do what is good is the point in which Luther's work on the Psalms goes furthest. There the doctrine of his " profundior theologia " is : " We must account ourselves as nothing, as sinful, liars, as dead in God's sight ; we must not trust in any merits of our own." There, too, we find paradoxes such as the following : " God is wonderful in His saints, the most beautiful is to Him the most hideous, the most infamous the most excellent ; whoever thinks himself upright, with him God is not pleased. ... In the recognition of this lie the pith of the Scripture and the kernel of the heavenly grain." 1 Such expressions are, it is true, not unlike what we sometimes hear from the Church's theologians and saints, but in the light of the Commentary on Romans they become more important as signs of transition. We must not forget, in view of the numerous enigmas which the boldness of the Commentary on Romans presents, that it bears merely a semi-public character and was not intended for publication. In this work, destined only for the lecture-room, Luther did not stop to weigh or fine down his words, but gave the reins to his impulse, thus offering us a so much the more interesting picture of his inmost thoughts. Some important particulars, in which this work differs from other public utterances made by Luther about the same time, are to be explained by the familiarity with which he is speaking to his pupils. In the sermons on the Ten Commandments, published in 1518 but preached in the two preceding years and consequently intended for general consumption, he speaks differently of concupiscence than in the Commentary. In the sermons he declares that desires so long as they are involuntary are certainly not sinful. He even says to a man who is troubled on account of his involuntary temptations against purity : " No, no, you have not lost your chastity by such thoughts ; on the contrary, you have never been more chaste if you are only sure they came to you against your will. . . . It is a true sign of a lively sense of chastity when a man feels displeasure, and it need not even be absolute displeasure, otherwise there would be no attraction ; he is in an uncertain state, now willing, now unwilling. ... In 1 Cp. Braun, " Concupiscenz," p. 74 f., who sees in such passages the trace of " Augustinian-Bernardine piety," which formed " the inner link between Luther and (the mystic) Staupitz." 260 LUTHER THE MONK the struggle for chastity the little bark is tossed hither and thither on the waters, while [according to the gospel] Christ is asleep within. Rouse Christ so that He may command the sea, i.e. the flesh, and the wind, i.e. the devil." 1 In the public Indulgence theses of 1517, he is also careful not to express his erroneous views on grace and the nature of man. It is character- istic of him how he changes even the form of expression when repeating an assertion which is also made in the Commentary on Romans. In the Commentary he had written, that too great esteem of outward works led to a too frequent granting of Indulgences, and that the Pope and the Bishops were more cruel than cruelty itself if they did not freely grant the same, or even greater Indulgences, for God's sake and the good of souls, seeing that they themselves had received all they had for nothing. 2 This violent utterance here appears as the expression of his own opinion. In the theses, however, he presents the same view to the public with much greater caution ; he says, these and similar objections brought forward by scrupulous laymen, were caused, contrary to the wishes of the Pope, by dissolute Indulg- ence preachers ; one might hear " such-like calumnious charges and subtle questions from seculars," and they must " be taken into account and answered." 3 The ideas contained in the Commentary on Romans are also to be met with in the other lectures which followed. Of this the present writer convinced himself by glancing through the Vatican copies. The approaching publication of the copies in the " Anfange reformatorischcr Bibelaus- legung," of Johann Ficker, a work which commenced with the Commentary on Romans, will supply further details. The character of the Wittenberg Professor is, however, such that we may expect some surprising revela- tions. Generally speaking, a movement in the direction of the doctrine of " faith alone " is noticeable throughout his work. In view of Picker's forthcoming edition it will suffice to quote a few excerpts from the Commentary on the Epistle to the Hebrews of 1517, according to the Vatican MS. (Pal. lat. 1825). 4 They show that the author in his exegesis of this Epistle is imbued with the same idea as in the Com- mentary on Romans, namely, that Paul exalts (in Luther's 1 " Werke," Weim. ed., 1, p. 486. * " Schol. Rom.," p. 243. 8 Thes., 81 seq., 90. " Opp. Lat. var.," 1, p. 291 seg. Weim. ed., 1, pp. 625, 627. 4 Regarding this MS. see Ficker's Introduction to the Com- mentary on Romans, p. xxix. f. FROM COMMENTARY ON HEBREWS 261 sense) the redemption in Christ, and Grace, in opposition to righteousness by works. They also betray how he becomes gradually familiar with the doctrine that faith alone justifies, without any longer placing humility in the foreground as the intermediary of justification as he once had done. On folio 46 of the MS. he says : " We should notice how Paul in this Epistle extols grace as against the pride of the law and of human righteousness (' extollit adversus superbiam' etc.)- He proves that without Christ neither the law, nor the priesthood, nor prophecy, nor the service of angels sufficed, but that all these were established with a view to the coming Christ. It is therefore his intention to teach Christ only." On folio 117 Luther sets forth the difference between " purity in the New and in the Old Testament." In the New Law the Blood of Christ brings inward purification. " As conscience cannot alter sin that has been committed and is utterly unable to escape the future wrath, it is necessarily terrified and oppressed wherever it turns. From this state of distress it can be released only by the Blood of Christ. If it looks in faith upon this Blood, it believes and knows that by the same its sins are washed away and removed. Thus it is purified by faith and at the same time quieted, so that, in joy over the remission of its sins, it no longer fears punishment. No law can assist in this purification, no works, in fact nothing but the Blood of Christ alone (' ad hanc munditiam . . . nihil nisi unicus hie sanguis Christi facere potest '), and even this cannot accomplish it unless man believes in his heart that it has been shed for the remission of sin. For it is necessary to believe the testator when He says : ' This Blood which shall be shed for you and for many unto the remission of sins." " From Paul's words he goes on to infer that " good works done outside of grace are sins, in the sense that they may be called dead works. For if, without the Blood of Christ, conscience is morally impure, it can only perform what corresponds with its nature, namely, what is impure. ..." Folio 117': "It follows that a good, pure, quiet, happy conscience can only be the result of faith in the forgiveness of sins. But this is founded only on the Word of God, which assures us that Christ's Blood was shed unto the remission of sins." Folio 118 : "It follows that those who contemplate the suffer- ings of Christ only from compassion, or from some other reason than in order to attain to faith, contemplate them to little purpose, and in a heathenish manner. . . . The more frequently we look upon the Blood of Christ the more firmly must we believe that it was shed for our own sins ; for this is ' to drink and eat spiritually,' to grow strong through this faith in Christ and to become incorporated in Him." CHAPTER VII SOME PARTICULARS WITH REGARD TO THE OUTWARD CIRCUMSTANCES AND INWARD LIFE OF LUTHER AT THE TIME OF THE CRISIS 1. Luther as Superior of eleven Angus tinian Houses His election as Rural Vicar, which took place at the con- vocation of the Order at Gotha (on April 29, 1515), had raised Luther to a position of great importance in his Congregation. He had, within a short time, risen from being Sub-Prior and Regent of the Wittenberg House of Studies to be the chief dignitary in the Congregation after Staupitz, the Vicar- General. The office was conferred on him, as was customary, for a period of three years, i.e. till May, 1518. Of the eleven monasteries which formed the District the two most important and influential were Erfurt and Wittenberg. The others were Dresden, Herzberg, Gotha, Langensalza, Nordhausen, Sangershausen, Magdeburg and Neustadt on the Orla, to which Eisleben was added, when, in July, 1515, Staupitz and Luther presided at the opening of a new monastery there. As Staupitz was frequently absent from the District, the demands made on the activity of the new Superior were all the greater. At this time too his professorial Bible studies and his efforts to clear up the confusion and difficulties existing in his mind must have kept him fully occupied. In addition to this there was the dissension within the Order itself on the question of observance and of the constitution, a dis- pute which required for its settlement a man filled with zeal for the spiritual welfare of the monasteries, and one thoroughly devoted to the exalted traditional aims of the Congregation. The mordant discourse on the " Little Saints " which the fiery Monk delivered on May 1 at the Gotha meeting 262 LUTHER'S ASSOCIATES. 263 showed in what direction the influence of the new Rural Vicar would be exerted. Johann Lang, his friend who was present at the time, had a good reason for sending this discourse to Mutian, the head of the Humanists at Gotha ; the bitter critic of the " uncharitable self-righteous " gave promise of the establishing of a freer ideal of life in the Order, and so original and powerful a speaker was certain to be strong enough to draw others with him. What has been preserved of Luther's correspondence with the priories and the monks of his District is unfortunately very meagre ; the remarkable rapidity with which the Lutheran innovations spread among the Augustinians speaks, however, at a later date very plainly of the powerful influence which he had exerted on his brother monks during the years that he held the office of Rural Vicar. The first result of his influence was to bring into the ascendant a conception of the aims of the Order differing from that of the Observantines. Hand in hand with this went the recruiting of followers for his new theological ideas and for the so-called Augustinian or Pauline movement, of which the Wittenberg Faculty was the headquarters. Johann Lang prepared the ground for Luther at the Erfurt monastery, whither he went in 1515 and where he became Prior in 1516. The Augustinian, George Spenlein, Luther's Wittenberg friend, to whom he addressed the curious, mystical letter on Christ's righteousness (above, p. 88 f.), became, later on, a Lutheran preacher and parson at Arnstadt. Luther, during his Vicariate, had as Prior at Wittenberg his friend Wenceslaus Link, who was also Doctor and Professor in the Theological Faculty. He w r as, however, relieved of his office of Prior in 1516, left Wittenberg and went to Munich as preacher, whence he removed to Nuremberg at the beginning of 1517 ; in that town he became later a zealous promoter of the Reformation. The friendship which Luther had formed at Wittenberg with George Spalatin, the astute courtier in priest's dress, was, however, of still greater importance to him in his work both within the Order and outside. Spalatin, who had received a humanist training under Marschalk and Mutian at Erfurt, came in 1511 to Wittenberg, where he entered the family of the Elector as tutor to his two nephews, and, in 1513, was promoted to the office of Court Chaplain and private secre- 264 LUTHER THE MONK tary to the Elector. He readily undertook the management at Court of the business in connection with the priories under Luther's supervision, and, later on, contrived by his influence in high quarters to promote the spread of the religious innovations. The letters which Luther wrote as Vicar he signed, as a rule, "Frater Martinus Luther," though sometimes "Luder, Augustinensis," usually with the addition " Vicarius," and on one occasion " Vicarius Districtus," which, needless to say, does not mean " the strict vicar " as it has been mis- translated, but refers to his office as Rural Vicar of the District. In these letters, chiefly in Latin, which Luther addressed to his monasteries, we meet with some pages containing beautiful and inspiring thoughts. There can be no question that he knew how to intervene with energy where abuses called for it, just as he also could speak words of consolation, encouragement and kindly admonition to those in fault. The letters also contain some exhortations, well-worded and full of piety, tending to the moral advancement of zealous members of the Order. The allusions to faith in Christ, our only help, and the absolute inadequacy of human effort, are, however, very frequent, though he does not here express his new theological opinions so definitely as he does in expounding St. Paul. To Johann Lang, who, as Prior of the Erfurt house, met with many difficulties from his subordinates, he writes comforting and consoling him : " Be strong and the Lord will be with you ; call to mind that you are set up for a sign which shall be contradicted (Luke ii. 34), to the one, indeed, a good odour unto life, to another an odour of death (2 Cor. ii. 16)." 1 At Erfurt, as the same letter shows, he had to intervene in the interests of discipline. In order that no complaints might be brought against the Prior by the brethren on account of the expenses for food and drink in entertaining guests and for the keep of those who collected the alms (terminarii) he orders an exact account to be kept of such expenses ; the hostel for guests might, he says, become a real danger to the monastery if not properly regulated ; the monastery must not be turned into a beer-house or tavern, but must remain a religious house. To uphold " the honour of the Reverend Father Vicar," Staupitz, he directed that three contumacious monks should be removed, by way of punishment, from Erfurt to a less important convent. On the occasion of some un- pleasantness which Lang experienced from his brother monks, 1 May 29, 1516, " Briefwechsel," 1, p. 37 f. HIS ADMINISTRATION 265 Luther impressed on him that, after receiving this blow on the one cheek, he should bravely present the other also ; " and this is not the last and worst slap you will have to endure, for God's wisdom is as yet playing with you and preparing you for greater struggles." 1 " Be mild and friendly to the Prior of Nuremberg," he says to him at a later date ; " it is necessary to be so, just because he is harsh and unfriendly. One who is severe cannot get the better of a hard man, but he who is mild can, just as one devil cannot overcome another, but the finger of God must do this." 2 And again, " As regards the brother who has fallen away, take pity on him in the Lord. He has forsaken you, led astray by impiety, but you must not on that account be wanting in charity and turn your back upon him. Do not take the scandal too much to heart. We have been called, baptised and ordained in order to bear the burdens of others, for this reason the office clothes our own wretchedness with honour. We must, according to the proverb, ourselves cover our neighbour's shame, as Christ was, still is, and for all eternity will be our covering, as it is written : ' Thou art a priest for ever ' (Heb. v. 6). Therefore beware of desiring to be so clean that you will not allow yourself to be touched by what is unclean, or of refusing to put up with un- cleanness, to cover it over and to wipe it away. You have been raised to a post of honour, but the task it involves is to bear dishonour. It is on the cross and on affronts that we must pride ourselves." 3 At the commencement of the autumn term in 1516, he com- plained that Lang was sending him too many brothers to study at Wittenberg, more in fact than he was able to provide for, 4 and later, as the reason for his concern, he mentions that the Witten- berg house already numbered 41 inmates, of whom 22 were priests and 12 students, " who all have to live on our more than scanty means ; but the Lord will provide." 5 At that time it was feared that Wittenberg might suffer from an attack of the plague which was raging in the vicinity, and which actually did break out there in October. Luther reassures the troubled Prior of Erfurt, who had besought him to depart : " It is possible that the plague may interfere with the lectures on the Epistle to the Galatians which I have just commenced. But, so far, it only snatches away two or three victims daily at most, and sometimes even fewer. . . . And whither should I flee ? I trust the heavens will not fall even should brother Martin be 1 August 30, 1516, " Briefwechsel," 1, p. 49. 8 In September (?), 1516, ibid., p. 57. 3 October 5, 1516, ibid., p. 60. The expression covering of our shame occurs frequently in his writings, thus it appears in " Schol. Rom.," p. 334, where Gal. vi. 1 (" Alter alterius onera portate ") is rendered : " Alter alterius ignominiam portate " ; Christ too willingly bore our shame. 4 September (?), 1516, " Briefwechsel," 1, p. 54. 5 October 26, 1516, ibid., p. 67. 266 LUTHER THE MONK stricken. I shall send the brothers away and distribute them should the mischief increase ; I have been appointed here and obedience does not allow of my taking flight, unless a new order be imposed on me to obey. Not as though I do not fear death, I am not a Paul but merely an expounder of Paul ; but I trust that the Lord will deliver me from my fear." 1 When a member of the Teutonic Order sought for admission into the Augustinian house at Neustadt, Luther instructed the Prior there, Michael Dressel (Tornator) to observe very carefully the ecclesiastical and conventual regulations provided for such a case. " We must, it is true, work with God in the execution of this pious project," he writes, " but we shall do this not by allowing the ideas of the individual, however pious his intentions may be, to decide the matter, but by carrying out the prescribed law, the regulations of our predecessors, and the decrees of the Fathers : whoever sets these aside need not hope to advance or find salvation, however good his will may be." 2 This Prior also had complained of the numerous contrarieties which he experienced from his subordinates, and that he was unable to enjoy any peace of soul. Luther says to him among other things : 3 " The man whom no one troubles is not at peace, that is rather the peace of this world, but the man to whom people bring all their troubles and who nevertheless remains calm and bears everything that happens with joy. You say with Israel : ' Peace, peace, and there is no peace ! ' Say rather with Christ : the cross, the cross, there is no cross. 4 The cross will at once cease to be a cross when a man accepts it joyfully and says : Blessed cross, sacred wood, so holy and venerable ! . . . He who with readiness embraces the cross in everything that he feels, thinks and understands will in time find the fruit of his suffering to be sweet peace. That is God's peace, under which our thoughts and desires must be hidden in order that they may be nailed to the cross, i.e. to the cross of contradiction and oppression. Thus is peace truly established above all our thinking and desiring, and becomes the most precious jewel. Therefore take up all these disturbances of your peace with joy and clasp them to you as holy relics, instead of endeavouring to seek peace according to your own ideas." When Luther afterwards visited the monastery of this same Prior, on the occasion of an official visitation, he found the community estranged from its head. He did not at that time take any steps, but after a few weeks he suddenly removed Michael Dressel from his office. In confidence he informed Johann Lang, rather cryptically, that : "I did this because I hoped to rule there myself for the half-year." 5 Do the words 1 " Briefwechsel," 1, p. 68. * June 22, 1516, ibid., p. 42. 3 Ibid., p. 43. 4 Cp. Luther's Indulgence theses, 92 and 93, where " pax, pax,' and "crux, crux" are repeated in the same way. "Opp. Lat. var.," 1, p. 291. " Werke," Weim. ed., 1, p. 628. 5 October 26, 1516, " Briefwechsel," 1, p. 68 : " Fed ideo, quod sperdbam, me ipsum illic ad medium annum regnaturum" QUICK DESPATCH OF BUSINESS 267 perhaps mean that he was anxious to secure a victory for that party in the Order which was devoted to himself and opposed to Dressel, who on this hypothesis was an Observantine ? His action was peculiar from the fact that his letter addressed to the community at Neustadt and to Dressel himself gave no reason for the measure against the Prior other than that the brothers were unable to live with him in peace and agreement ; the Prior, he says, had always had the best intentions, but it is not enough for a Superior to be good and pious, " it is also necessary that the others should be at peace and in agreement with him " ; when a Superior's measures fail to establish concord, then he should revoke them. 1 Still more unusual than such advice was the circumstance that Luther would not allow the Prior to make any defence, and cut short any excuses by his sudden action. In another letter to the monks he justified his measure simply by stating that there was no peace. In short, the rebellious monks speedily got the better of the Superior whom they disliked. The ex- Prior, Luther tells him, must on no account murmur because he has been judged without a hearing (" quia te non atiditum iudicaverim ") ; he himself (Luther) was convinced of his good will and also hoped that all the inmates of the convent were grateful to him for the good intentions which he had displayed. In the new election ordered by the Rural Vicar, Heinrich Zwetze was chosen as Prior. Of the latter or how the matter ended nothing more is known. The office of Rural Vicar required above all, that, when making his regular visitation of the religious houses, the Vicar should have a personal interview with each brother, hear what he had to say, and give him any spiritual direction of which he might stand in need. We learn the following of a visitation of this kind which Luther made in 1516 : At the Gotha monastery the whole of the visitation occupied only one hour ; at Langensalza two hours. He informs Lang : "In these places the Lord will work without us and direct the spiritual and temporal affairs in spite of the devil." 2 He at once proceeded on the same journey to the house at Nordhausen and then on to those at Eisleben and Magde- burg. In two days the Rural Vicar was back in his beloved Wittenberg. There is no doubt that such summary treat- ment of his most important duties was not favourable to discipline. At Leitzkau the Augustinians possessed rights over the large fisheries and Luther was intimate with the local Cistercian Provost. When the Provost, George Maskov, 1 September 25, 1516, " Brief wechsel," 1, p. 51. 2 May 29, 1516, ibid., p. 38. 268 LUTHER THE MONK asked him how he should behave towards a brother monk who had sinned grievously, seeing that he himself was a still greater offender, Luther replied, saying, among other things, that he ought certainly to punish him, for, as a rule, it was necessary to exercise discipline towards those who are better than ourselves. " We are all children of Adam, therefore we do the works of Adam." But " our authority is not ours, but God's." Perhaps God desired to help that brother on the road of sin, namely, through shame. " It is God Who does all this." 1 And in another letter he says to the Provost : 2 "If many of your subjects are on the way to moral ruin, yet you must not for that reason disquiet them all. It is better quietly to save a few. . . . Let the cockel grow together with the wheat ... for it is better to bear with the many for the sake of the few than to ruin the few on account of the many." In a mystical vein he says : " Pray for me, for my life is daily drawing nearer to hell (i.e. the lower world, ' inferno appropinquavit,' Ps. Ixxxvii. 4), as I also become worse and more wretched day by day." 3 Bodily infirmities were then pressing hard upon him in consequence of his many labours and spiritual trials, while much of his time was swallowed up by his lectures which were still in progress. 2. The Monk of Liberal Views and Independent Action With regard to his own life as a religious and his con- ception of his calling Luther was, at the time of the crisis, still far removed from the position which he took up later, though we find already in the Commentary on Romans views which eventually could not fail to place him in oppo- sition to the religious state. What still bound him to the religious life was, above all, the ideal of humility, which his mystical ideas had developed. He also recognised fully the binding nature of his vows. According to him man cannot steep himself sufficiently in 1 May 17, 1517, " Briefwechsel," 1, p. 99. 2 Undated (1516 ?), ibid., p. 77. 3 From the latter months of 1516, ibid., p. 76 : " Confiteor tibi, quod vita mea in dies appropinquat inferno, quia quotidie peior fio et miserior" ON THE RELIGIOUS LIFE 269 his essential nothingness before the Eternal God, and vows are an expression of such submission to the Supreme Being. " To love is to hate and condemn oneself, yea even to wish evil to oneself." " Our good is hidden so deeply that it is con- cealed under its opposite ; thus life is hidden under death, real egotism under hatred of self, honour under shame, salvation under destruction, a kingdom under exile, heaven under hell, wisdom under foolishness, righteousness under sin, strength under weakness ; indeed all our affirmation of any good is concealed under its negation in order that faith in God, Who is the negation of all, may remain supreme . . . thus ' our life is hidden with Christ in God ' (Col. iii. 3), i.e. in the negation of all that can be felt, possessed and apprehended. . . . That is the good which we must desire for ourselves," he says to his brother monks, " then only are we good when we recognise the good God and our evil self." 1 He says elsewhere regarding vows : " All things are, it is true, free to us, but by means of vows we can offer them all up out of love ; when this has once taken place, then they are necessary, not by their nature but on account of the vow which has been taken voluntarily. Then we must be careful to keep the vows with the same love with which we took them upon us, otherwise they are not kept at all." 8 In many points he goes further than the Rule itself in the mystical demands he makes upon the members of the Order. In other respects Luther's requirements not only fall far short of what is necessary, but even the ordinary monastic duties fare badly at his hands. If it is the interior word which is to guide the various actions, and if without the " spirit " they are nothing, indeed would be better left undone, then what place is left to the common observance of the monastic Rule and the numerous pious practices, prayers and acts of virtue to which a regular time and place are assigned ? From the standpoint of his pseudo-mystical perfection he criticises with acerbity the recitation of the Office in Choir ; also the " unreasonableness and superstition of pious founders of benefices," who, as it were, " desired to purchase prayers " at certain fixed times. Founders of a monastery ought not to have prescribed the recitation of the Office in Choir on their behalf ; by so doing they wished to secure their own salvation and well-being before God, instead of making their offerings purely for God's sake. 3 Such remarks plainly show that he was already far 1 " Schol. Rom.," p. 219 f. * Ibid., p. 317. 3 Ibid., p. 291. 270 LUTHER THE MONK removed in spirit from a right appreciation of his Order. He had also expressed himself against the mendicancy practised by the Augustinians, and yet the Order was a Mendicant Order and the collecting of alms one of its essential statutes. 1 Nevertheless, again and again he speaks in lofty language of the value of the lowliness of the religious life. Now especially, he writes in the Commentary on Romans under the influence of his mystical " theologia crucis," it is a good thing to be a religious, better than during the last two centuries. Why ? Because now monks are no longer so highly esteemed as formerly, they are hated by the world and looked upon as fools, and are " persecuted by the bishops and clergy " ; therefore the religious ought to rejoice in their cross and in their state of humiliation. 2 Whoever takes vows imposes upon himself " a new law " out of love for God ; he voluntarily renounces his own freedom in order to obey his superiors, who stand in God's place. The vows are for him indissoluble bonds, but bonds of love. 3 " Who- ever wishes to enter the cloister," he says, 4 " because he thinks he cannot otherwise be saved, ought not to enter. We must beware of exemplifying the proverb : ' despair makes a monk ' ; despair never made a monk, but only a devil. 5 We must enter from the motive of love, namely, because we perceive the weight of our sins and are desirous of offering our Lord something great out of love ; for this reason we sacrifice to Him our freedom, assume the dress of a fool, and submit to the performance of lowly offices." His complaints are very serious and certainly somewhat prejudiced, owing partly to his new theology, partly to his wrong perception of the facts. " Whoever keeps his vows with repugnance is behaving sacri- legiously." 6 Even he who is animated by the best of motives scarcely acts from perfect love, but when this is entirely absent, he says, " we sin even in our good works." 7 Many who fulfil their religious duties merely from routine and with indolence " are apostates though they do not appear to be such," and in his excessive zeal he continues : " the religious in the Church to-day are held captive under a Mosaic bondage, and together with them the clergy and the laity because they cling to the doctrines of men (' doctrines hominum'); we all believe that without these 1 See above, p. 71. 2 " Schol. Rom.," p. 318. 8 Ibid. * Ibid. 6 Of himself he says at a later date : I went into the convent " because I despaired of myself." (See above, p. 4.) " Schol. Rom.," p. 317. 7 Ibid., p. 123. ON HIS FELLOW-MONKS 271 there is no salvation, but that with these salvation is assured without any further effort on our part." 1 On the same occasion he allows himself to be carried away from the subject of monasticism to the complaints regarding the too frequent Feasts and Fasts and the formalism pervading the whole life of the Church, to which we referred on page 227. Re- turning to the monks, he declares that he finds the interior man so greatly lacking in them that (without considering the many exceptions) they were the cause of the hostile attitude which the world assumed towards them. " Instead of rejoicing in shame, they are only monks in appearance ; but I know that if they possessed love they would be the happiest of men, happier than the old hermits, because they are daily exposed to the cross and contempt. But to-day there is no class of men more presumptuous than they." 2 At the same time, however, he blames the religious who are too zealous for his liking, saying : " they are desirous of imitating the works of the Saints and are proud of their Founders and Fathers ; but this is merely trumpery, because they wish to do the same great works themselves and yet neglect the spirit ; they are like the Thomists and Scotists and the other sects, who defend the writings and words of their pet authors without cultivating the spirit, yea rather stifling it ... but they are hypocrites, as Saints they are not holy, as righteous they are anything but righteous, and, while ostensibly performing good works, they, in fact, do nothing." 3 And what sort of works do the religious perform ? "In the same way that nowadays all workmen are as lazy as though they were asleep all day, so religious and priests sleep at their prayer from laziness, both spiritually and corporally ; they do every- thing with the utmost indolence . . . this fault is so wide- spread that there is hardly one who is free from it."* " Now," he exclaims passionately, speaking of the monks and clergy, " almost all follow their vocation against their will and with- out any love for it." " How many there are who would gladly let everything go, ceremonies, prayers, rules and all, if the Pope would only dispense from them, as indeed he could." " We ought to perform these things willingly and gladly, not from fear of remorse of conscience, or of punishment, or from the hope of reward and honour. But supposing it were left free to each one to fast, pray, obey, go to church, etc., I believe that in one year everything would be at an end, all the churches empty and the altars forsaken." 5 He does not remember that shortly before he had been complaining that outward observances were taken too seriously so that they were looked upon as necessary means of salvation (" sine his non esse salutem "), that " the whole of re- ligion was made to consist in their fulfilment to the neglect of the actual commandments of God, of faith and love," and that the 1 "Schol. Rom.," p. 317. * Ibid., p. 318. 3 Ibid., p. 165 f. * Ibid., p. 286. 5 Ibid., p. 320. 272 LUTHER THE MONK " lower classes observe them under the impression that their eternal salvation depends upon them." 1 These complaints, too, he had redoubled when speaking of the religious. According to the testimony of the religious and theological literature of that day, the monastic Orders were better in- structed in the meaning and importance of outward observances than Luther here assumes. Expounders of the Rules and ascetical writers speak an altogether different language. In the monasteries the distinction between the observances which were enjoined under pain of grievous sin and were, therefore, under no circumstances to be omitted, and such as were binding under the Rule but not under pain of sin, was well understood, and a third category was allowed, viz. such as were undertaken voluntarily, for instance, the construction of churches, or their adornment. It was also known, and that not only in religious houses for the popular manuals of that day set it forth clearly that for an action to be good the motive of perfect love, which Luther represented as indispensable, 2 was not requisite, but that other religious motives, such as the fear of punishment of sin, were sufficient though it was, indeed, desirable to rise to a higher level. Above all, it was well known that the disinclination towards what is good, which springs from man's sensual nature like the temptation to indolence which still held sway even in religious, are not sin but may be made the subject of a meritorious struggle. The formalism which it is true was widely prevalent in the religious life at that time was due not so much to a faulty con- ception of the religious state as to the inadequate fulfilment of its obligations and its ideals. This deterioration was not likely to be remedied by the application of the mistaken idea which Luther advocated, namely, that not the slightest trace of human weakness must be allowed to enter into the performance of good works, otherwise they became utterly worthless. His stipulation that everything must be done from the highest " spiritus internus," could only be the result of his extravagant mysticism. The Rules of no Order, not even that of the Augustinians, went so far as this. Yet the Rule of Luther's Augustinian Congregation did not seek a merely outward, Pharisaical carrying out of its regulations, but a life where the duties of the religious state were performed in accordance with the inward spirit of the Order. Luther's master, the Augustinian Johann Paltz, emphasises this spirit very strongly in the instructions which he issued for the preservation of the true ideals of the Order. " Love," he there says, " pays more heed to the inward than to the outward, but the spirit of the world mocks at what is inward and sets great value on what is outward." He opposed the principles tending to formalism and the deterioration of 1 "Schol. Rom.," p. 316 f. 2 Ibid., p. 317 : " Curandum, ut \vota] eadem charitate solvantur, qua aunt promissa, sine qua solvi non possunt. . . . Ideo apostates sunt rnulti, et non videntur." the religious life and shows himself to be imbued with a true and deep appreciation of his profession. He entitles that portion of his treatise directed against deviations from the Rule : " Concerning the wild beasts who lay waste the religious life." He writes with so much feeling and in so vivid a manner that the reader of to-day almost fancies that he must have foreseen the approaching storm and the destruction of his Congregation. He scourges those who allow themselves to be led away by the appearance of what is good ("sub specie boni "), who introduce new roads to perfection according to their own ideas and require men to do what lies beyond them ; they thus endanger the carrying out of the ordinary good works and practices of the religious life which all were able to perform. This, he says, was a temptation of the enemy from the beginning, who seduced such innovators to rely upon their own ideas and to consider them- selves alone as good, wise and enlightened. " If the Babylonians [this is the name he gives to the instigators of such disturb- ances] force their way into the Order and if they obtain the upper hand, that will be the end of discipline, or at least it will be under- mined ; but if the spirits of Jerusalem [the city of Peace] retain the mastery, then the religious life will nourish and its develop- ment will not be hindered by certain defects which are, as a matter of fact, unavoidable in this life." These words are found in a book written by the clear-sighted and zealous Augustinian and published at Erfurt the year before Luther begged for admittance at the gate of the Augustinian monastery of that town. 1 The monk of liberal views was already on the point of becoming to his Order one of the " Babylonians " above referred to. Luther wished to introduce into the religious life the confused ideas begotten of his mysticism, at the expense of the observances which all were bound to fulfil. In this connection it should not be forgotten that Tauler, the teacher whom Luther so much admired, had shown that religious obedience if exercised in the right spirit was capable, by the observance of the Rule in small matters, of leading to greater perfection than could be arrived at by the performance of great works or by contemplation when these were self-chosen. Luther must have been acquainted with the instructive story which Tauler relates and which was often told in conventual houses, of the Child Jesus and the nun. The Divine Child appears to her during her meditation, but, on being suddenly called away to perform some allotted task and obeying the summons, as a reward she finds on her return the Divine Child wearing a still more benign and friendly countenance, and her visitor is also at pains to point out to her that the humble task for which she had left Him, pleases Him better than the meditation in which she had been engaged when He first appeared to her. 2 1 " Celifodina," Supplementum, Erfordise, 1504, fol. L 3 seq., M. 1' aeq. 2 Cp. Braun, " Concupiscenz," p. 283. i. T 274 LUTHER THE MONK Teachers of Tauler's stamp inculcated on monks and laymen alike the highest esteem for small and insignificant tasks when performed in compliance with obedience to the duties of one's state, whatever it might be. It was unfair to the religious life and at the same time to true Christian mysticism when Luther at a later date, after his estrangement from the Order, in emphasising the works which please God in the secular life, saw fit to speak as though this view had hitherto been unknown. Tauler had summed up the doctrine already well known in earlier ages in the beautiful words : " When the most trivial work is performed in real and simple obedience, such a work of an obedient man is nobler and better and more pleasing to God and is more profitable and meritorious than all the great works which he may do here below of his own choice." 1 Every artisan and peasant is able, according to Tauler, to serve God in perfect love in his humble calling ; he need not neglect his work to tread the paths of sublime charity and lofty prayer. The mystic illustrates this also by a little anecdote : "I know one who is a very great friend of God and who has been all his days a farm- labourer, for more than two score years. He once asked our Lord whether he should leave his calling and go and sit in the churches. But the Lord said No, and that he was to earn his bread with the sweat of his brow and thus honour His true and noble Blood. Every man must choose some suitable time by day or by night during which he may go to the root of things, each one as best he can." 2 Luther, during the time of his crisis, was not only a monk of dangerously wide views, but he was also inclined to take liberties in practice. There is a great dearth of information with regard to the way in which Luther practised at that time the virtues of the religious life, and from his own statements we do not learn much. He complains, in 1516, to his friend Leiffer, the Erfurt Augustinian : "I am sure and know from my own experience, from yours too, and, in fact, from the general experience of all whom I have seen troubled, that it is merely the false wisdom of our own ideas which is the origin and root of our disquietude. For our eye is evil, and, to speak only of myself, into what painful misery has it brought me and still continues to bring me." 3 Luther, whose capacity for work was enormous, flung himself into the employments which pressed upon him. He reserved little time for self-examination and for culti- vating his spiritual life. In addition to his lectures, his 1 Braun, " Concupiscenz," p. 283. 2 Ibid. 3 April 15, 1516, " Briefwechsel," 1, p. 31. CEASELESS ROUND OF WORK 275 studies, the direction of the younger monks, his sermons, whether at the monastery or in the parish church, and the heavy correspondence which devolved on him as Vicar, he also undertook various other voluntary labours. Frequently he had several sermons to preach on the same day, and with his correspondence he was scarcely able to cope. This was merely a prelude to what was to come. During the first years after his public apostasy he himself kept four printing presses at work, and besides this had a vast amount of other business to attend to. His powers of work were indeed amazing. In 1516 in a letter he tells his friend Lang of his engage- ments. " I really ought to have two secretaries or chan- cellors. I do hardly anything all day but write letters. ... I am at the same time preacher to the monastery, have to preach in the refectory and am even expected to preach daily in the parish church. I am Regent of the Studium [i.e. of the younger monks] and Vicar, that is to say Prior eleven times over [i.e. of the eleven houses under his supervision] ; I have to provide for the delivery of fish from the Leitzkau pond and to manage the litigation of the Herzberg fellows [the monks] at Torgau ; I am lecturing on Paul, compiling an exposition of the Psalter and, as I said before, writing letters most of the time." " It is seldom," he adds, " that I have time for the recitation of the Divine Office or to celebrate [Mass], and then, too, I have my peculiar temptations from the flesh, the world and the devil." 1 Thus at the time he was constantly omitting Office in Choir, the Breviary and the celebration of Mass, or per- forming these sacred duties in the greatest haste in order to get back to his business. We must dwell a little on this confession, as it represents the only definite information we have with regard to his spiritual life. If, as he says, he had strong temptations to bewail, it should have been his first care to strengthen his soul by spiritual exercises and to implore God's assistance in the Holy Mass and by diligence in Choir. Daily celebration of Mass had been earnestly recommended by teachers of the spiritual life to all priests, more particularly to those belonging to religious Orders. The punctual recitation of the canonical Hours, i.e. of the 1 October 26, 1516, " Brief wechsel," 1, p. 66 f. 276 LUTHER THE MONK Breviary, was enjoined as a most serious duty not merely by the laws of the Church, but also by the constitutions of the Augustine Congregation. The latter declared that no excuse could be alleged for the omission, and that whoever neglected the canonical Hours was to be considered as a schismatic. It is incomprehensible how Luther could dispense himself from both these obligations by alleging his want of time as, according to his Rule, spiritual exercises, especially in the case of a Superior, took precedence of all other duties, and it was for him to give an example to others in the punctual performance of the same. There was probably another reason for his omitting to celebrate Mass. He felt a repugnance for the Holy Sacrifice, perhaps on account of his frequent fits of anxiety. He says, at a later date, that he never took pleasure in saying Mass when a monk ; this statement, however, cannot be taken to in- clude the very earliest period of his priestly life, when the good effects of his novitiate were still apparent, for one reason because this would not agree with the enthusiasm of his letter of invitation to his first Mass. Religious services generally, he says in 1515-16 to the young monks, with a boldness which he takes little pains to conceal, " are in fact to-day more a hindrance than a help " to true piety. Speaking of the manner of their performance he says with mani- fest exaggeration, that it is such as to be no longer prayer. " We only insult God more when we recite them. . . . We acquire a false security of conscience as though we had really prayed, and that is a terrible danger I" 1 Then he goes on to explain " Almost all follow their calling at the present day with distaste and without love, and those who are zealous place their trust in it and merely crucify their conscience." He speaks of the " superstitious exercises of piety " which are performed from gross ignorance, and sets up as the ideal, that each one should be at liberty to decide what he will undertake in the way of priestly or monastic observances, among which he enumerates expressly " celibacy, the tonsure, the habit and the recitation of the Breviary." 2 We see from this that he was not much attached even to the actual obligations of his profession, and we may fairly surmise that such a disposition had not come upon him suddenly; these were rather the moral accompaniments of the change in his theological views and really date from an earlier period. We can also recognise in them the practical results of his strong opposition to the Observantines of the Order, which 1 " Schol. Rom.," p. 288. 2 Ibid., pp. 319, 320. ON THE DIVINE OFFICE 277 grew into an antagonism to all zeal in the religious life and in the service of God, and even to the observance of the duties, great or small, of one's state of life. With his mystical idealism he demands, on the other hand, what is contrary to reason and impossible of attainment. Prayer, according to him, if rightly performed, is the "most strenuous work and calls for the greatest energy " ; " the spirit must be raised to God by the employment of constant violence " ; this must be done "with fear and trembling," because the biblical precept says : " work out your salvation with fear and trem- bling " ; in short, it is, he declares, " the most difficult and most tedious affair" (" difficillima et tcediosissima"). 1 Only then is it not so " when the Spirit of God takes us beneath His wings and carries us, or when misfortune forces us to pray from our hearts." He can describe graphically the lukewarmness and distractions which accompany the recitation of the Divine Office, and can do so from experience if we may trust what he says in 1535 of himself : "I have in my day spent much time in the recitation of the canonical Hours, and often the Psalm or Hour was ended before I knew whether I was at the beginning or in the middle of it." 2 The ironical description which he gives in 1516 of those who pray with a good intention runs as follows : 3 " They form their good intention and make a virtue of necessity. But the devil laughs at them behind their backs and says : ' put on your best clothes, Kitty, we are going to have company.'* They get up and go into the choir and say to themselves [under the impression that they are doing something praiseworthy] : ' See, little owl, how fine you are, surely you are growing peacock's feathers ! '* But I know you are like the ass in the fable, otherwise I should have taken you for lions, you roar so ; but though you have got into a lion's skin, I know you by your ears ! Soon, whilst they are praying, weariness comes over them, they count up the pages still to be gone through, and look at the number of verses to see if they are nearly at the end. Then they console themselves [for their tepidity] with their Scotus, who teaches that a virtual intention suffices and an actual intention is unnecessary. But the devil says to them : ' excellent, quite right, be at peace and secure ! ' Thus we, become," so the amusing description con- cludes, " a laughing-stock to our enemy." He thinks he has found a way out of the dualism which formerly tormented him, and has become more independent. But what has he found to replace it ? Merely fallacies, the inadequacy and inconsistency of which are hidden from him by his egotism and self-deception. " This good intention," he says of the teaching of Scotus which was perfectly correct, though liable to be misunderstood, as it certainly was by Luther " is not so easy 1 "Schol. Rom.," p. 290. 2 Erl. ed., 23, p. 222. 8 " Schol. Rom.," p. 321. 4 These words are given in German in the Latin text. 5 Also in German. 278 LUTHER THE MONK and under our own control, as Scotus would have it to our un- doing ; as though we possessed free will to make good intentions whenever we wish ! That is a very dangerous and widespread fallacy, which leads us to carelessness and to snore in false security." We must, on the contrary, he continues, prostrate in our cell, implore this intention of God's mercy with all our might and wait for it, instead of presumptuously producing it from within ourselves ; and in the same way after doing any good works we must not examine whether we have acted wickedly by deed or omission (" neque quid mail fecimus aut omisimus "), but with what interior fervour and gladness of heart we have performed the action. 1 As the recitation of the Hours in the monastery was one of the duties of the day in the same way as the recitation of the Breviary and Office in Choir is to-day, i.e. an obligation which expired when the day was over, it is rather surprising to hear it said of Luther that, at a later period, " after the rise of the Evangel [i.e. actually during his conflict with the Church], he frequently shut himself up in his cell at the end of the week and recited, fasting, all the prayers he had omitted, until his head swam and he became for weeks incapable of working or hearing." This strange tale about Luther reads rather differently in Melanch- thon's version which he reports having had from Luther himself : " At the commencement it was Luther's custom on the days on which he was not obliged to preach to spend a whole day in repeating the Hours seven times over [i.e. for the whole week], getting up at 2 a.m. for that purpose. But then Amsdorf said to him : ' If it is a sin to omit the Breviary, then you sinned when you omitted it. But if it is not a sin, then why torment yourself now ? ' Then when his work increased still more he threw away the Breviary." 2 The latter statement may indeed be true, as Luther himself says in his Table-Talk : " Our Lord God tore me away by force ' ab horis canonicis an. 1520 ' [?] when I was already writing much." In this same passage he again mentions how he recited the whole of the Office for the seven days of the week on the Saturday and adds the historic comment, that, owing to his fatigue from the Saturday fast and consequent sleeplessness, they had been obliged to dose him with "Dr. Esch's haustum soporiferum." 3 It is therefore quite possible that his statements as to the circumstances under which 1 "Schol. Rom.," p. 321 f. 2 " Zeitschr. fur Kirchengesch.," ed. Brieger, 4, 1886, p. 330 in the Dicta Melanchthoniana, given by O. Waltz. Cp. Mathesius, " Tisch- reden " (Kroker), p. 155, where Luther says, in June, 1540: "At the time when I was a monk I was so much occupied in lecturing, writing, singing, etc., that owing to my work I was unable to recite the canonical Hours. Therefore on Saturday I made up for what I had missed during the six days of the week, taking no meals and praying the whole day, but, nevertheless, I did not trouble about the sense of the words. Thus were we poor people tormented by the decrees of the Popes." 3 Schlaginhaufen, " Aufzeichnungen," p. 6. Cp. " Coll.," ed. Bindseil, 1, p. 67, and " Tischreden/' ed. Forstemann, 3, p. 236. HIS OUTWARD APPEARANCE 279 he dispensed himself from the Breviary may contain some truth ; all the facts point to the violent though confused struggle going on in the young Monk's mind. Yet Luther speaks ably enough in 1517 of the urgent necessity of spiritual exercises, more particularly meditation on the Scriptures, to which the recitation of the Office in Choir was an introduction : " As we are attacked by countless distractions from without, impeded by cares and engrossed by business, and as all this leads us away from purity of heart, only one remedy remains for us, viz. with great zeal to ' exhort each other ' (Heb. iii. 13), rouse our slumbering spirit by the Word of God, reading the same continually, and hearing it as the Apostle exhorts." Not long after he is, however, compelled to write : " I know right well that I do not live in accordance with my teaching." 1 The exertions which his feverish activity entailed avenged themselves on his health. He became so thin that one could count his ribs, as the saying is. His incessant inward anxieties also did their part in undermining his con- stitution. The outward appearance of the Monk was specially remarkable on account of the brilliancy of his deep-set eyes, to which Pollich, his professor at the University of Wittenberg, had already drawn attention (p. 86). The impression which this remarkable look, which always remained with him, made on others, was very varied. His subsequent friends and followers found in his eyes something grand and noble, something of the eagle, while, on the other hand, some remarks made by his opponents on the uncanny effect of his magic glance -will be mentioned later. Anger intensified this look, and the strange power which Luther exerted over those who opposed him, drew many under the spell of his influence and worked upon them like a kind of suggestion. 2 Many remarked with concern on the youthful Luther's too great self-sufficiency. His then pupil Johann Oldecop describes him as " a man of sense," but " proud by nature." " He began to be still more haughty," Oldecop observes, when speaking of the 1 " Scio quod non vivo quce doceo." To Bishop Adolf of Merseburg, February 4, 1520, " Briefwechsel," 2, p. 312. 2 Melanchthon said on one occasion, according to Waltz (see above, p. 278, n. 2), p. 326 : " Leo habet oculos xa-poirous (bright-eyed), Lutheri oculi sunt x a po7i-ot, et hdbebant leonem in ascendente (probably " habe- bat," viz. Luther in his Horoscope). Et tales plerumque sunt ingeniosi . . . They were brown eyes, " circuit circulus gilvus" 280 LUTHER THE MONK incipient schism. 1 He will have it that at the University Luther had always shown himself quarrelsome and dis- putatious. Oldecop could never forget that Luther, his professor, never held a disputation which did not end in strife and quarrels. 2 Luther's close connection with Johann Lang, the Augustinian and rather free-thinking Humanist, was also remarked upon, he says. We know from other sources that Lang encouraged Luther in his peculiar ideas, especially in his mysticism and in his contempt for the theology of the schools. 3. Luther's Ultra-Spiritualism and calls for Reform. Is Self- improvement possible ? Penance It is clear from the above, that the passionate zeal for reform which inspired the Augustinian proceeded chiefly from his pseudo-mysticism. It would, however, be incorrect to attribute all this zeal simply to mysticism, but neither would it be in accordance with the facts of history were we to deny the connection between his repeated complaints and calls for reform and his spiritualistic ideas. It may be worth while to listen here to what the youthful Luther had to say of the reforming notions which already inspired him, for it opens up a wide horizon against which his psychology stands out in clear relief. Plans so far- reaching can only have been the result of the exaggerated and one-sided spiritualistic point of view, from which he regarded the perversity of the world at large. The following passages show what were the motives which urged him on. He declared it to be the duty of ecclesiastical superiors to show r more indulgence to those who scorn their position and " the rights and privileges of the Church," and this from the motive of mystical resignation ; theologians ought to teach, in place of their traditional science, how we are " humbly to sigh after grace " ; philosophy must for the future be silent because it is nothing but " the wisdom of 1 Job. Oldecop's " Chronik " (ed. K. Euling, Tubingen, 1891), pp. 36, 49. He says of Luther's friend Lang, whose lecture on the Epistle to Titus he had heard : " dat he ein hoifferdich monnik was und let sik vele bedunken," i.e. that he was a proud monk thinking not a little of himself. 2 Ibid., p. 40. P. 17, of the Erfurt days : He spoke against everyone with a strange audacity and would give way to no one. P. 28 : Martin was always wanting to be in the right and liked to pick a quarrel. AVERSION TO PHILOSOPHY 281 the flesh " ; lay authorities, moreover, who now begin to see through our wickedness, ought to seize upon the tem- poralities of the Church in order that she may be set free to devote herself entirely to the interior Christian life. Luther's view of the position and actual character of the worldly powers at that time was absolutely untrue to life, and one that could have been cherished only by a mystic looking out on the world from the narrow walls of his cell. A strange self-sufficiency, of which he himself appears to have been utterly unaware, and which is therefore all the more curious, was at the root of these ideas. Such a tone unmistakably pervades the projects of reform expressed not only in the Commentary on Romans, but also in his exposition of the Psalms ; but a comparison of these two works shows the increased stress which Luther lays upon his own opinion in the later work, and the still greater inconsideration with which he rejects everything which clashes with his views, a fact which proves that Luther was progressing. In his Commentary on Romans he appeals formally to the " apostolic authority " of his Doctor's degree, when giving vent to the most unheard-of vitupera- tion of the highest powers, ecclesiastical and lay. He declares it to be his duty to reprove what he finds amiss in all, and almost at the same moment denounces the bishops who defend the rights of the Church as " Pharaonici, Sathan- ici, Behemotici " ; so convinced is he that their supposed abuse of power entitles him to reprove them. 1 The language in which the mystic unhesitatingly passes the severest possible judgments could scarcely be stronger. " We have fallen under a Jewish bondage . . . our preachers have concealed from the people the truth regarding the right way of worshipping God, and the Apostles must needs come again to preach to us."* " When shall we at last listen to reason," he cries, 3 " and understand that we must spend our valuable time more profitably [than in the study of philosophy] ? ' We are ignorant of what is necessary,' thus we should complain with Seneca, ' because we merely learn what is superfluous.' We remain ignorant of what might be of use to us while we busy ourselves with what is worse 1 " Schol. Rom.," p. 301. 2 Ibid., p. 317 : " Nunc omnes fere desipiunt (this is about the Church's fasts) . . . ut rursum (populus) apostolis indigeat ipsis, ut veram diaceret pietotem" 3 Ibid., p. 199. 282 LUTHER THE MONK than worthless." 1 He speaks thus because others were not alive to the state of things, or had not the courage to open their mouths : " Perhaps they would not be believed, but I have spent years in these studies, have seen and heard much and know that they are vain and perverse" (" studium vanitatis et perditionis "). Therefore let us rise and destroy them ! " We must learn to know Jesus Christ, and Him Crucified. ... Is it not a strange madness to praise and belaud philosophy, a doctrine which is merely the perverse wisdom of the flesh advocated by so-called wise men and theologians ! " " Those fools " who do not even know what grace is. ... " Who can bear with their blasphemous ideas ? " " They do not know what sin or remission of sin is." " Our theologians see sins only in works, and do not teach us how to change our minds and how to implore grace with humble sighing. . . . They make proud men, men who after due performance of their works look on themselves as righteous, and seek not to fight against their passions. That is the reason why Confession is of so little use in the Church and why backsliding occurs so frequently." 2 His hatred for theology leads him to make the following false and bitter charges : " The Scholastics teach that it is only necessary to fulfil the law outwardly, in deed, not with the heart ; they do not even show how this is to be done, and thus the faithful are left in the impossibility of doing good, because they will never be able to fulfil the commandments unless they do so with the heart. These teachers do not even stretch out a finger towards the fulfilment of the law, I mean, they do not make its fulfilment depend even in the slightest on the heart, but merely on outward acts. Hence they become vain and proud." 3 An esteemed Protestant historian of dogma, in a recent work, speaks of Luther's knowledge of Scholasticism as follows : " Luther does not appear to have been acquainted with the Schoolmen of the Middle Ages, more especially Thomas of Aquin. About this statement, which Denifle constantly repeats, there seems to me to be no doubt." 4 The Wittenberg Professor makes use of scathing reproofs such as had never before been heard. A good deal of his criticism was justifiable, and he was certainly not wrong in applying it judici- ously in his own special domain to much that had hitherto been accepted as true. It is refreshing to those engaged in historical research to note how he cuts himself adrift from the legends of mediaeval hagiography, and how he writes on one occasion request- ing Spalatin to copy out some particulars for him from Jerome's book which he might use for a sermon on St. Bartholomew, " for the fables and lies of the ' Catalogus ' and ' Legenda aurea ' make 1 Seneca, Ep. 45, 4. 2 " Schol. Rom.," p. 111. Here the term " Sawtheologen " occurs. 8 Cp. Braun, " Concupiscenz," p. 89. * Fr. Loofs, " Leitfaden zum Studium der Dogmengesch.," 4 1906, p. 690. Cp. above, pp. 127 ff., 130 ff., etc., on Luther's ignorance of Scholasticism. FAULT-FINDING WITH THE CLERGY 283 my gorge rise." 1 Criticism of ecclesiastical conditions was also quite permissible when made in the right way and in the proper quarters ; examples of such criticism were not wanting among the saintly medieval reformers, and they might have been accept- able to the authorities of the Church, or, at any rate, could not have been repudiated by them. But when Luther is dealing with the faults of the clergy, secular or regular, he looks at everything with a jaundiced eye as being saturated with arrogance, avarice and every vice, and seems to fancy all have become traitors to God's cause. His love of exaggeration and his want of charity override everything, nor do these faults disappear with advancing years, but become still more marked. Never was there an eye more keen to detect the faults of others, never a tongue more ready to amplify them. And yet he, who does not scruple to support his fierce and passionate denunciations by the coarsest and most unfair generali- sations, is himself the first to admit in his Commentary on Romans that : " There are fools who put the fault they have to find with a priest or religious to the account of all and then abuse them all with bitterness, forgetting that they themselves are full of imperfections." 2 He announces to his hearers in 1516 that, " to-day the clergy are enveloped in thick darkness " ; "it troubles no one that all the vices prevail among the faithful, pride, impurity, avarice, quarrelling, anger, ingratitude " and every other vice ; " these things you may do as much as you like so long as you respect the rights and liberties of the Church ! but if you but touch these, then you are no longer a true son and friend of the Church." The clergy, he continues, have received many possessions and liberties from the secular princes, but now they are quarrelling with their patrons and insisting on their exemptions : " Bad, godless men strut about with the gifts of their benefactors and think they are doing enough when they mutter a few prayers on their behalf," " and yet Paul when describing the priest and his duties never even mentioned prayer [!]. But what he did mention, that no one complies with to-day. . . . They are priests only in appearance. . . . Where do you find one who carries out the intention of the Founders ? Therefore they deserve that what they have received [from the princes] should be taken away from them again." 8 " As a matter of fact," the mystic continues, quite manifestly conveying a hint to the secular authorities, " it were better, and assuredly safer, if the temporalities of the clergy were placed under the control of the worldly authorities . . . then they would at least be obliged to stand in awe of others and would be more cautious in all matters." " Up to now the laity have been too unlettered, and from ignorance have allowed themselves to be led, though full of complaints and bitterness against the clergy. But now they 1 August 24, 1516, " Briefwechsel," 1, p. 47. 2 " Schol. Rom.," p. 335. 3 Ibid., p. 300. 284 LUTHER THE MONK are beginning to be aware of the secret of our iniquity (' nosse mysteria iniquitatis nostrce ') and to examine into our duties. ... In addition to this, it seems to me that the secular authorities fulfil their obligations better than our ecclesiastical rulers. They rigorously punish theft and murder, at least when the lawyers do not intervene with their artfulness. The Church authorities, on the other hand, only proceed against those who infringe their liberties, possessions and rights, and are filled with nothing but pomp, avarice, immorality and disputatiousness." In the course of this strong outburst, which gives us an insight into the working of his mind, he goes on to brand the higher clergy as " whited sepulchres " and as the " most godless breakers of the law," who purposely promote only stupid fellows to the priesthood, or even to the most exalted offices. Here the intemperance of his language is already that of his later days, though a year was yet to elapse before he published his Indulgence theses. Strictures on the use of Indulgences occur, however, among his criticisms dating from this time. He attacks the " unlearned preachers " whose promises of Indulgences in return for dona- tions for the building of churches, or similar pious objects, attract the people, though the latter are " altogether careless about fulfilling the duties of their calling." He lays to the charge of the Pope and the Bishops not merely the real abuses in the preaching of Indulgences as though they had been aware of them all but also the making of Indulgences to depend on offerings ; all the Bishops are, however, on the path to hell, and intent on seducing the people from the true service of God. 1 He had, as we have seen, praised the worldly authorities at the expense of the ecclesiastical dignitaries, and now we find him introducing into his theological lectures a strange eulogy of Frederick, his Elector : " You, Prince Frederick, are yet to be guided by a good angel, therefore be on the watch. How greatly have you already been tried by injustice, and how rightly might you have taken up arms ! You have suffered, you remained peaceable. I wonder, were you calling to mind your sins, and wishing thereby to confess them and do penance ? " To this the mystic himself prudently replies : " I know not," and adds : " Perhaps it was merely the fear of possibly getting the worse." 2 The exhortations he sees fit to address to his sovereign are directed not so much against selfishness or other faults, but rather against his supposed excessive piety ; he is blamed for frequently postponing audiences on the plea that he must be present at prayers or Divine Service, and yet, Luther thinks, " we ought to be resigned and indifferent to go wherever the Lord calls us and not attach ourselves obstinately to anything " ; 3 another complaint was that the Elector was too much given to imitating the Bishop in the collecting of relics. The Elector's love for rare relics was indeed notorious, and, as a matter of fact, Luther himself was of service to the Elector in this very matter at the time when Staupitz was negotiating for him at St. Ursula's 1 "Schol. Rom.," p. 243. 2 Ibid., p. 272. 3 Ibid., p. 287. PRAISES THE ELECTOR 285 in Cologne. We hear of this in a letter, in which Luther also sends his thanks to the Elector for his present of a new cowl (cucullus) "of really princely cloth." 1 When, after his second course of lectures on the Psalms, Luther commenced the publishing of an amended edition he dedicated this, his first effort in biblical exegesis, to the Elector, with a preface in the form of a panegyric couched in the most fulsome language. 2 The Elector, Luther tells him, possessed all the qualities of a good ruler in no common degree ; his love of learning not only rendered him immortal himself, but conferred this quality on all those who were permitted to belaud him. Under his rule " pure theology triumphed " ; secular rulers had, by promoting learning, taken precedence of spiritual dignitaries, " for the Church's exuberant riches and her powerful influence did not avail her much." 3 Would that there were other such temporal princes as Frederick, who, as Staupitz had said, was able to discourse on Holy Scripture as learnedly and acutely as the Pope himself (" vel sanetissimum et summum pontificem deceret ") ; whose utterance bore witness to the " sagacity of his judgment," filled Luther with love for such a sovereign and made him strong in the defence of Holy Scripture against all Scotists, Thomists, Albertists and Moderns (Nominalists). It was only on account of his opponents, who scoffed at the Bible and wished to replace God's Word by their own, that he had been induced to quit his beloved solitude and retirement ; indeed, he felt quite unworthy to wear the Doctor's cap which the Prince had so kindly bought for him, 4 and merely did so from obedience ; the Prince had been more careful for him than he was for himself, had upheld him in his professorship and not allowed him to suffer expulsion, however much he (Luther) had desired to suffer this at the hands of his enemies. The clever eulogist appears soon to have gained for himself great favour at Court. Barely two months after the letter spoken of, he requests of the sovereign, in the name of his priory, permission " for the monks to build a chamber outside the walls in the moat." The intention was to erect a privy in the town moat for the use of the monastery, which was situated close to the walls. At the same time he begs that a black cappa (habit) which had been promised him in 1516 or 1517 might now be bestowed upon him, and refers to his dedication of the Psalter as perhaps deserving some such reward ; he also asks the Prince to include in his gift a white cloak, which he might perchance have merited by the " Apostle," i.e. by his Commentary on the 1 To Spalatin, December 14, 1516, " Brief wechsel," 1, p. 73. 2 The Operationes in Paalmos with the letter of May 27, 1519, " Briefwechsel," 1, p. 480 ff. 8 " Adeo infeliciter cessit opulentia et poteniatus ecclesice." Ibid., p. 482. * In "Briefwechsel," 1, p. 9, Luther's receipt. See ibid., p. 10, n. 2, for the discreditable and incorrect tales concerning Luther, which grew up around this gift. 286 LUTHER THE MONK Epistle of St. Paul to the Galatians, upon which he was at that time engaged. 1 Such little touches often reveal the spiritual atmosphere in which a man moves, and by which he is influenced, quite as well as more important matters. The frightful accusations which Luther brings forward in his Commentary on Romans against the state of morals in Rome belong to a somewhat earlier period ; their tone is such as to lead one to fear the worst for the author's submission to the highest authorities in the Church. The language St. Bernard employed, though he too reproved the immorality of the Papal residence, is quite different in tone from the arrogant words of the Wittenberg Doctor ; in the former the most grievous reproofs are mitigated by the warm esteem the saint displays for authority as such, and by filial affection for the Church ; in the latter there is nothing but bitterness. Such outbursts of spite confirm our previous observations concerning the results of Luther's journey to Rome. His indignation with what he had seen or heard during his visit to Rome of the moral conditions under Alexander VI and Julius II became gradually more apparent. " At Rome," he exclaims, " they no longer recognise any restrictions on their liberty, everything is set aside by means of dispensations. They have arrogated to themselves freedom of the flesh in every particular." 2 " Rome to-day has sunk back to its old heathen state," where, as Paul says, licentiousness prevailed. 3 " To-day Rome drags the whole world with her into the puddle ; she far exceeds in unbridled luxury even ancient Rome, and stands in even greater need of apostolic messengers from God than she did at the beginning. My only hope is that these may come to her in friendly guise and not to execute stern justice." 4 " We may well be amazed at the thick darkness of these times." " It matters nothing to the Church authorities though you be steeped in all the vices on the list drawn up by Paul (2 Tim. iii. 2 ff.) ; the sins may cry to Heaven for vengeance, but that does not matter, you are still looked 1 Letter of middle of May, 1519, " Werke," Erl. ed., 53, p. 9. (" Briefwechsel," 2, p. 35.) 2 " Schol. Rom.," p. 319. 3 Ibid., p. 310. * Ibid. PRIDE, ANGER AND SENSUALITY 287 upon as the most devout of Christians so long as you respect the rights and liberties of the Church." 1 " We have mere phantom priests, who are well supported by phantom revenues. The priests are such only in name." 2 " Those who ought to keep order are themselves the most godless transgressors, " 3 etc. Pride, everywhere, is, he thinks, the main cause of the corruption of the times. The humility of Christ is forgotten, and each one wants to exalt himself and amend others instead of himself. The worst kind of pride, he constantly declares, is that which exalts its own good works in the sight of God. This spiritual overbearing is the reason why the world is filled with the heresy of the Pelagians ; the sovereign efficacy of grace is not recognised. 4 Almost the whole Church is over- turned because men have put their trust in the deceptive doctrines of the Schoolmen, which are opposed to grace, " for owing to this, all commit sin with impunity . . . and have lost all sense of fear." 5 In 1514 we hear Luther asserting, that of the three vices, sensuality, anger and pride, pride was the most difficult to overcome, a warning which his own experience had con- firmed all too surely. " This vice," he complains, " arises even from victory over the other vices." 8 One wonders whether he is speaking here from personal experience. We may ask a similar question with regard to the two other faults mentioned by him, anger and sensuality. Putting aside anger, the effects of which upon himself he frequently admits, we find that he also gives an answer concerning the third temptation. He writes in 1519 of the experiences of his earlier years with regard to sensuality : " It is a shameful temptation, I have had experience of it. You yourselves are, I fancy, not ignorant of it. Oh, I know it well, when the devil comes and tempts us and excites the flesh. Therefore let a man consider well and prove himself whether he is able to live in chastity, for when one is on heat, I know well what it is, and when temptation then comes upon a man he is already blind," etc. 7 1 "Schol. Rom.," p. 298. 2 Ibid., p. 299. 3 Ibid., p. 309. . Ibid., p. 322 f. 5 Ibid., p. 323. ' " Werke," Weim. ed., 3, p. 486. Cp. p. 207. Commentary on Psalms. 7 From the sermon on married life, 1519, 1 ed., " Werke " Weim. ed., 9, p. 213. 288 LUTHER THE MONK In his later years he also refers to the " very numerous temptations" which he underwent at the monastery, and of which he complained to his confessor ; the more he fought against them, the stronger they became. 1 What he says of falling into sin is very instructive from the psychological point of view. It serves as a stepping- stone to his views on penance. " Even to-day," he writes in his Commentary on Romans where he deals with hardened sinners, " God allows men to be tempted by the devil, the world and the flesh until they are in despair, choosing thus to humble His elect and lead them to put their trust in Him alone without presuming upon their own will and works. Yet He often, especially in our day, incites the devil to plunge His elect into dreadful sins beneath which they languish, or at least allows the devil ever to hinder their good resolutions, making them do the contrary of what they wish to do, so that it becomes plain to them that it is not they who will or perform what is good. And yet by means of all this God leads them against their expectations [to His grace] and sets them free while they are sighing because they desire and do so much that is evil, and are unable to desire and do the good they would. Yea, it is thus that God manifests His strength and that His name is magnified over the whole earth." 2 This passage is scored in the margin of the original MS. Was it his intention to include himself among those who are always hindered by the devil from doing what is good, or even among those whom he plunges into dreadful sins, who despair and are then at last led by God to His grace and become promoters of the glory of His name ? A certain resemblance which this description bears to other passages in which he recounts his temptations, despair and supposed de- liverance and election makes this seem possible, though it is by no means certain. We are more inclined to apply to him a remarkable description, which he gives in another passage of the Commentary on Romans, of the devil's action on a man whom he wishes to lead astray. Man's fall under the bondage of sin and his resuscitation by grace engage his attention often and with a singular intensity, but generally speaking he makes no mention of contrition or satisfaction, but only of a covering over with the righteousness of Christ. The description in question, given in eloquent language, is based on the well-known passage in Romans iii. 28 : " We account a man to be justified by faith without the works of the law." This is the verse in which Luther later, in his translation, interpolated the word "alone" ("by faith alone"), but on which he does not as yet bestow any particular attention. On the contrary, he commences his exposition of this text with the 1 " Opp. Lat. exeg.," 19, p. 100. 2 P. 228 Where he here speaks of " sin," it is more probable that he means concupiscence. ON DOWN-HEARTEDNESS 289 statement : " Righteousness must, indeed, be sought by works, but these are not the works of the law because they are performed by grace and in faith." 1 He goes on to mention four classes of men who are led away by the devil in their esteem and practice of works. 2 The first he draws away from all good works and entangles in manifest sin. The second, who think themselves righteous, he makes tepid and careless. The third, also righteous in their own eyes, he renders over-zealous and superstitious, so that they set them- selves up as a class apart and despise others ; they have been mentioned over and over again in the above pages, in recounting his warfare with the Observants, the " Spirituals," the proud self-righteous, etc. The fourth and last class might possibly include himself. " The fourth class consists of those who, at the instigation of the devil, desire to be free from any sin, pure and holy. But as they, nevertheless, feel that they commit sin and that all they do is tainted with evil, the devil terrifies them to such an extent with fear of the judgments of God and scruples of conscience that they almost despair. He is acquainted with each one's disposition and tempts him accordingly. As they are zealous in the pursuit of righteousness the devil is unable to turn them aside from it so readily. Therefore he sets himself to fill them with enthusiasm, so that they wish to free themselves too speedily from all trace of concupiscence. This they are unable to do, and consequently he succeeds in making them sad, downcast and faint-hearted, yea, even in causing them unendurable anxiety of conscience and despair." When prescribing the remedy, he begins to use the first person plural. " Therefore there is nothing for us to do but to make the best of things and to remain in sin. We must sigh to be set free, hoping in God's mercy. When a man desires to be cured he may, if in too great a hurry, have a worse relapse. His cure can only take place slowly and many weaknesses must be borne with during convalescence. It is enough that sin be displeasing, though it cannot be altogether expelled. For Christ bears every- thing, if only it is displeasing to us ; His are the sins not ours, and, here below, His righteousness is our property." We may take that portion of the description where the first person is used as an account of his own state. Here he is describing his own practice. This passage, which in itself admits of a good interpretation and might be made use of by a Catholic ascetic, must be read in connection with Luther's doctrine that concupiscence is sin. Looking at it in this light, the sense in which he understands displeasure with sin becomes clear, also why, in view of the ineradicable nature of concupiscence, he is willing to console himself 1 " Schol. Rom.," p 100. * Ibid., p. 102. I. TJ 290 LUTHER THE MONK with the idea that " Christ bears it all." His dislike of concupiscence is entirely different from contrition for sin. The young Monk frequently felt himself oppressed by an aversion for concupiscence, but of contrition for sin he scarcely ever speaks, or only in such a way as to raise serious doubts with regard to his idea of it and the manner in which he personally manifested it, as the passages about to be quoted will show. The practice of making Christ's righteous- ness our own, saying, " His are the sins," etc., he does not recommend merely in the case of concupiscence, but also in that of actual sins ; it should, however, be noted that the latter may quite well be displeasing to us without there being any contrition in the theological sense, particularly without there being perfect contrition. Luther is here describing the remedy which he himself applies in place of real penance, wholesome contrition and compunction. It is to replace all the good resolutions which strengthen and fortify the will, and all penitential works done in satisfaction for the guilt of sin, and this remedy he begins to recommend to others. His contempt for good works, for zeal in the religious life and for any efforts at overcoming self encourage him in these views. His new ideas as to man's inability to do any- thing that is good, as to his want of free will to fight against concupiscence and the sovereign efficacy of grace and absolute predestination, all incline him to the easy road of imputation ; finally, he caps his system by persuading himself that only by his new discoveries, which, moreover, are borne out by St. Paul's Epistle to the Romans, can Christ receive the honour which is His due and His Gospel come into its rights. Such was Luther's train of thought. The characteristic position which Luther assumed in his early days with regard to penance and the motive of fear, must be more closely examined in order to complete the above account. The Monk frankly admits, not once but often, that inward contrition for sin was something foreign, almost unknown, to him. The statements he makes concerning his confessions weigh heavily in the scale when we come to consider the question of his spiritual life. In a passage of his Commentary on the Psalms where he would in the ordinary course have been obliged to speak of contrition ON CONFESSION 291 he refrains from doing so on the plea that he has had no experience of it, and refers his hearers to the Confessions of St. Augustine. 1 He admits in his Commentary on Romans that he had struggled with himself (" ita mecum pugnavi ") because he could not believe that contrition and confession really cleansed him from sin, as he had always been conscious of sin, viz. concupiscence, still continuing within him. 2 In 1518 he writes : because the evil inclination to sin always remains in man " there are none, or at least very few, in the whole world who have perfect contrition, and I certainly admit this in my own case." 3 According to the statements he made in later years concerning his fruitless attempts to awaken contrition within himself, and concerning his relations with his confessor, he must have taken the wrong road at an early period in his religious life ; the more earnestly he sought to conceive contrition, he says, the greater was his trouble of mind and remorse of conscience. " I was unable to accept ( ' non poteram admittere ' ) the absolutions and consolations of my confessors, for I thought to myself, who knows whether I. can put faith in these words of comfort?" 4 This sentence occurs in the passage mentioned above, where he states how he had been tranquilised by the repeated exhortations of his preceptor to recall God's command and cultivate the virtue of hope. 5 It is true he here ascribes the original cause of his trouble of mind to the teaching he had received " in the schools, which had such a bad effect on him that he could not endure to hear the word joy mentioned." It is clear that he is here speaking with an ulterior purpose, namely, with a view to supporting his polemic against the Catholic Church (" meo exemplo et periculo moniti discite .' "). But it is highly probable that his idea of concupiscence as sin tended to confuse his conception of con- trition, and made confession and contrition painful to him. At a later date he opposed the Catholic doctrine of con- trition on account of his aversion to the motive of fear of the judgments of God. 1 See above, p. 72, n. 2. 2 " Schol. Rom.," p. 109. Cp. above, p. 92, n. 1. 3 "Sermo de poanitentia," " Werke," Weim. ed., 1, p. 321. 4 " Opp. Lat. exeg.," 19, p. 100. Cp. his statement in his first answer to Prierias that zeal for sacramental penance could only endure by a miracle, " Werke," Weim. ed., 1, p. 649 f. On the other hand, he speaks of experiences he had had on the reception of grace, seemingly referring to his confessions : " Probavi saepius infusionem gratice fieri cum magna animi concussione." This appears in the Assertio omnium articulorum (1520). " Werke," Weim. ed., 7, p. 91 ff. " Opp. Lat. var.,'' 5, p. 154. According to the teaching of all ascetics the reception of grace imparts peace and joy in God. Luther, however, infers from his abnormal feelings : " Sis ergo certus : simul dum homo conteritur, simul gratia infunditur, et in media terrore diligit iustitiam, si vere poenitet." Weim. ed., 7, p. 117 ; " Opp. Lat. var.," 5, p. 189. 5 See above, p. 10. 292 LUTHER THE MONK The Church had always taught that perfect contrition was that which proceeded from a real love of God, but that contrition from a holy fear of God was salutary because it involved a turning away from sin and a beginning of love. Luther, however, at the very commencement of his new teaching, was at pains to exclude fear as an inspiring motive. He was determined to weed it out of the religious life as unworthy of the service of God, quite unmindful of the fact that it was expressly recommended by reason, by the Fathers of the Church and by the very words of the Bible. He says, for instance, in 1518 in his sermon on the Ten Com- mandments, that in contrition for sin no place is to be assigned to fear. The contrition which must be aroused is, he says, to proceed from love alone, because that which is based on fear is always outward, hypocritical and not lasting. 1 In an earlier sermon he mentions the two kinds of contrition, namely, that which, according to him, is the only true one, " out of love of justice and of punishment," or which, in other words, hates sin from the love of God, and that which springs from fear, which he says is artificial and not real, and to which he gives the nickname " gallows grief." The latter, he says, does not make us abhor sin, but merely the punishment of sin, and were there no punishment for sin it would at once cease. 2 Hence he misapprehends the nature of imperfect contrition, for this in reality does not desire a return to sin. He begins his tract on Penance in 1518 with the assertion, that contrition from the motive of fear makes a man a still greater sinner, because it does not detach the will from sin, and because the will would return to sin so soon as there was no punishment to be feared. 3 This contrition, he says, his oppo- nents among the theologians defend ; they could not understand that penance is sweet and that this sweetness leads to an abhor- rence and hatred of sin. 4 As he had banished contrition from a motive of fear, he should have laid all the more stress upon that which springs from love. But here he was met by a difficulty, namely, that concupiscence still exists in man and draws him towards sin, or rather, according to Luther's ideas, of itself makes him a real sinner, so that no actual turning away from sin can take place in the heart. What then was to be done ? " You must," he says, " cast yourself by prayer into God's hands so that He may account your con- trition as real and true." " Christ will supply from His own 1 " Werke," Weim. ed., 1, p. 466 : " Contritio de timore inferni et peccati turpitudine eat literalis, ficta et brevi durana, quid non radicata amore, sed incussa timore tantum." - Sermon of October 31, 1516, " Werke," Weim. ed., 1, p 99. 3 Ibid., p. 319. * Ibid., p. 320. TRUE PENANCE 293 what is wanting in yours." 1 Thus we again arrive at imputation, at a mere outward covering over of the defect of inward change. If he looked upon penance and confession in this light, then, indeed, they were not of a nature to satisfy and tranquilise him. 2 We may, however, remark that in the time of his great crisis an earnest and devout fear of God the Judge would have availed him more than all his ex- travagant mysticism with its tendency to cast off the bonds of fear and abolish the keeping of the law. We shall not be wrong if we assume that the frequent states of terror of which the cause lay in his temperament rather than in his will- had their part in his aversion to fear and to the idea of God's judgment. He felt himself impelled to escape at any cost from their dominion. Other passages which Luther wrote at a later date on fear and contrition read rather differently and seem to advocate fear as a motive. We see thereby how hard he found it to cut himself adrift from the natural and correct view taught by theology. He declares, for instance, later, with great emphasis, that " true penance begins with the fear and the judgment of God." 3 He betrays in this, as in other points, his confusion and inconsequence. 4 1 " Werke," Weim. ed., 1, p. 321 : "'Oratio et agnitio atque confessio impcenitentice tuce, si ficta nonfuerit, eo ipsofaciet, ut Deus te pcenitentem verum reputet." This quite agrees with what he had already said in a sermon in 1515 (?) : " Etsi Deus imposuit nobis impossibilia et super virtutem nostram, non tamen hie ullus excusalur " ; for we cover ourselves with Christ : " Christus impletionem suam nobis impertit, dum seipsum gattinam nobis exhibet." See above, p. 80. 2 The passage already referred to in his Commentary on Romans also comes in here, namely, where he writes that he could not under- stand why after contrition and confession he should not consider himself better than others who had not confessed. By this he means to convey that the common teaching that by real contrition and con- fession "esse omnia ablata et etacuata" led to pride, whereas accord- ing to his idea sin still remained. Cp. Denifle- Weiss, I 2 , p. 455, n. 4. 3 Commentar. in Galat., ed. Irmischer, Erlangae, 1, p. 193 seq. : " Vera pcenitentia incipit a timore et iudicio Dei." 4 Cp. Galley, " Die Busslehre Luthers," 1900; Lipsius, "Luthers Lehre von der Busse," 1902, and Kostlin's strange attempts at explana- tion, "Luthers Theologie," I 2 , p. 131 ff. W. Hermann, "Die Busse der evangelischen Christen," in "Zeitschr. fur Theol. und Kirche," 1, 1891, p. 30, says : "It is true that Luther never entirely forsook the true idea on this point (Penance), which he had arrived at with so much effort. But the difficulties of Church government led him to relegate this idea to the background and to return to the narrow Roman 294 LUTHER THE MONK He is utterly unfair to the Church and to her theology when he falsely asserts that she had admitted contrition from fear alone, i.e. to the utter exclusion of love ; every kind of fear, he says maliciously, was recognised as suffi- cient for receiving absolution, even that " gallows grief " which abhorred sin solely from fear of punishment and with the intention of returning to it if no punishment existed (timor serviliter servilis, as it was subsequently termed by theologians). This reproach did not strike home to the theologians or to the Church. Theological and moral treatises there were in plenty, which, like the Fathers of the Church and the mediaeval Doctors, taught in express terms the advantage of perfect contrition and exhorted the faithful to it. Indeed, most of the popular manuals merely taught that sin must be repented of for God's sake, from love of God, without even mentioning simple attrition. It w r as not only generally recognised and taken for granted that the lower, imperfect contrition, i.e. that which arises from fear, in order to be a means of forgiveness in the Sacrament of Penance, must include a firm resolution of not returning to sin, but it was set down as requisite that this so-called " servile " fear (timor servilis) must be coupled with a commencement of love of God, or else be of such a nature as to lead up to it. It is sufficient to open the works in circulation in the theological schools at the turn of the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries to see at what length and with what care these questions were discussed. It cannot, however, be denied that some few of the later scholastic theologians- among them, significantly enough, Johann Paltz, preceptor in the Augustinian monastery at Erfurt at the time Luther entered did not express themselves clearly, and that some other theologians defended views which were not correct. 1 Catholic view of the Sacrament of Penance." And also ibid., p. 70 : " With regard to the questions affecting contrition, the Reformers practically returned to the standpoint of the Roman Church." 1 For the manner in which contrition was taught before Luther's time in popular works such as are here being considered, see the articles of N. Paulus in the Innsbruck " Zeitschrift fur kathol. Theol.," 28, 1904 ; p. 1 ff., on the German confession-books ; p. 449 ff. on the German books of edification ; p. 682 ff. on the German books on preparation for death. Contrition arising from fear alone is not represented as sufficient in any of the numerous confession-books at that time. Ibid., pp. 34, 449. Among the authors of works of piety there is only one, viz. the Augustinian Johann Paltz, in his " Celifodina" (Heavenly TRUE PENANCE 295 But whether such theologians exerted a positive or negative influence on Luther we do not know. One thing is certain, however, namely, that he was influenced chiefly by his own desire to free himself from what he looked upon as an oppressive yoke and that his self-sufficiency and ignor- ance speedily led him to fancy it his duty to confront the theology of previous ages with his epoch-making discovery regarding the doctrine of fear and penance. This process is confirmed by a letter of his addressed to Staupitz, his esteemed Superior, at a time when the commo- Mine), to admit that contrition from the motive of fear together with the priest's absolution sufficed for the remission of sin ; " but even he requires, in addition to an earnest turning away from sin, a certain striving after perfect contrition, or love ; he looks upon imperfect contrition rather as a means of arriving at perfect contrition ; he is even very anxious to lead the faithful to the higher level of perfect contrition." Paulus, p. 485. Cp. on Paltz, p. 4759. Of the theologians cp. more particularly Gabriel Biel, whose writings Luther had studied, in his " Collectorium circa 4 libros sententiarum," Tubingae, 1501, 1. 4, dist. 35, q. unica, art. 1. Here he makes a distinction between " timor servilis," which is ready to sin if there were no punish- ment, and " timor, qui non includit hanc deformitatem." He admits with regard to the latter : " est tamen bonus et utilis, per quern fit paulatim consuetudo ad actus bonos de genere exercendos et malos vitandos, quo prceparatur locus charitatis." In Art. 3 he declares the latter fear to be a gift of the Holy Ghost. But in complete contradiction to the accusation which Luther makes he teaches that contrition merely from fear is not sufficient, and requires a contrition from love. In the same way Nicholas von Dinkelsbuhl in his Tractatus (Argentina, 1516. fol. 71) rejects the fear which is not in any way allied with love, but considers it, together with the latter, wholesome as forming a com- mencement of contrition. The Dominican, Johann Herolt, whose sermons were widely disseminated, teaches in the Serrnones de tempore (1418) and the Sermones super epiatclaa (1439 and 1444) that to avoid sin merely from the fear of punishment is sinful, but he is thinking of the so-called timor serviliter servilis, in which the voluntary attachment to sin still remains. He, as well as some others, omits to point out that, in addition to the bad servile fear, there was also a wholesome fear (N. Paulus, in his art. on Herolt, " Zeitschrift f. kathol. Theol.," 26, 1902, p. 428 f.). The Franciscan, Stephen Brulefer, in his " Opuscula" (Parisiis, 1500, fol. 24 seq.) opposes certain theologians who had rejected servile fear as absolutely sinful ; fear (which really excludes sin), he says, is a gift of the Holy Ghost, and theologians who teach otherwise are " prcedicatorea prossumptuosi, indiscreti et insipientes," and they deserved to be punished as heretics. It was only Luther's erroneous teaching which led theologians to formulate this doctrine with greater exactitude. Cp. A. W. Hunzinger, " Lutherstudien," 2 Heft. Abt. 1 : " Das Furchtproblem in der katholischen Lehre von Augustin bis Luther," Leipzig, 1907. In this article the author wishes to furnish an introduction to Luther's doctrine of fear, but starts with the assumption that the will to sin is an essential of the fear of punish- ment. On Hunzinger, see the " Hist. Jalirb.," 28, 1907, p. 413 f 296 LUTHER THE MONK tion caused by his Indulgence theses was in full swing, which gives us a picture of his mental state. 1 In it he says : " The word which I hated most in all the Scriptures was the word penance. Nevertheless [when performing penance and going to confession], I played the hypocrite bravely before God, attempting to wring out of myself an imaginary and artificial love." He also grumbles here about the " works of penance and the insipid satisfactions and the wearisome confession " ; such a prominent position ought not to be assigned to them ; the ordinary instructions and the modus confitendi contained nothing but the most oppressive tyranny of conscience. He had always felt this, and in his trouble it had been to him like a ray from heaven when Staupitz once told him : " True penance is that only which begins with the love of God and of justice, and what the instructions represent as the last and crown of all is rather the commencement and the starting-point of penance, namely, love." This precious truth he had, on examination, found to be absolutely confirmed by Holy Scripture ("s. scrip- turce verba undique mihi colludebant ") Luther had a curious knack of finding in Scripture everything he wanted even the Greek term for penance, metanoia, led up to the same conclusion, whereas the Latin " pcenitentiam agere" implied effort and was therefore misleading. Thus Staupitz's words had turned the bitter taste of the word penance into sweetness for him. " God's commandments always become sweet to us when we do not merely content ourselves with reading them in books ; we must learn to understand them in the wounds of our Sweetest Saviour." The Monk was well aware that such mystical utterances were sure of finding a welcome echo with the influential Vicar of the whole Augustinian Congregation, himself a mystic. He sends him with the same letter his long Latin defence of his Indulgence theses (Resolutiones), which Staupitz was to forward to the Pope. He at the same time expresses some of his thoughts concerning the connection between his doctrine of penance and the controversy on Indulgences which had just com- menced, probably hoping that Staupitz would also acquaint Rome with them. These we cannot pass over without remark in concluding our consideration of Luther's doctrine on penance. The Indulgence-preachers, he says, must be withstood because they are overturning the whole system of penance ; not only do they set up penitential works and satisfaction as the principal thing, but they extol them, solely with a view to inducing the faithful to secure the remission 1 May 30, 1618, " Brief wechsel," 1, p. 195. STAUPITZ AS LUTHER'S ABETTOR 297 of satisfaction by their rich offerings in return for Indul- gences. Therefore he has been obliged, though unwillingly, to emerge from his retirement in order to defend the doctrine that it is better to make real satisfaction than merely to have it remitted by securing an Indulgence. Staupitz, a short-sighted man, was not to be convinced that, by Luther's teaching and the commotion which it was arousing, the very existence of the Augustinian Congregation w r as endangered and the Catholic Church herself menaced in her dogma and discipline. Instead of watching over the communities committed to his care he spent his days in travelling from place to place, a welcome and witty guest at the tables of great men, devoting his spare time to writing pious and learned books. The sad instances of disobedience, dissension and want of discipline which became more and more prevalent in his monasteries did not induce him to lay a restraining hand upon them. Too many exemptions from regular observance and the common life had already been permitted in the Congregation in the past, and of this the effect was highly pernicious. 1 Luther himself had scarcely ever had the opportunity of acquiring any practical experience of the monastic life at its best during his conventual days ; it offered no splendid picture which might have roused his admiration and enthusiasm. This circumstance must be taken into account in considering his growing coldness in his profession and his gradually increasing animosity towards the religious life. He and Staupitz helped to destroy the fine foundation of Andreas Proles at a time when it already showed signs of deterioration. On one occasion, when referring to his administration, Staupitz told Luther, that at first he had sought to carry out his plans for the good of the Order, later he had followed 1 Apart from Luther, we have another example of the same kind in Gabriel Zwilling, who also left the Church, and of whom Luther says in a letter to Johann Lang at Erfurt (March 1, 1517, " Briefwechsel," 1, p. 87 f.), that he was sending him to the Erfurt monastery in accord- ance with Staupitz's directions, and that care was to be taken " ut conventualiter per omnia se gerat : scis enim quod necdum ritus et mores ordinis viderit out didicerit." Thus he had been allowed to live at Wittenberg without conforming to community rule, unless, indeed, we read the passage as implying that at the Wittenberg monastery no attention was paid to the rule by anybody. 298 LUTHER THE MONK the advice of the Fathers of the Order, and, then, entrusted the matter to God, but, now, he was letting things take their course. Luther himself adds when recounting this : " Then I came on the scene and started something new." 1 It is a proof of the weakness which was coming upon the institution, that a man holding principles such as Luther was advocating in his lectures and sermons should have been allowed to retain for three years the position of Vicar with jurisdiction over eleven monasteries. When he laid down his office in the Chapter at Heidelberg in 1518 we do not even learn that the Chapter carried out the measures which had meanwhile been decreed against Luther by the General of the Augustinians at Rome. The election of the Prior of Erfurt, Johann Lang, Luther's friend and sym- pathiser, as his successor, and the Heidelberg disputation in the Augustinian monastery of that town, of which the result was a victory for the new teaching, show sufficiently the feelings of the Chapter. This election was the final triumph of the non-Observantine party. A later hand has added against Lang's name in the Register of the University of Erfurt the words " Hussita apostata," 2 intended to stigmatise his falling away to the Lutheran heresy comparable only with that of Hus. On leaving the Order he wrote an insulting vindication of his conduct, in which among other things he says all the Priors are donkeys. While he was Prior at Erfurt, a Prior was appointed at Wittenberg whom Luther, as Rural Vicar, raised to this dignity almost before he had finished his year of noviceship. Only Luther's strange power over men can account for the fact that so many of the monks were convinced that he was animated by the true Spirit of God in his new ideas with regard to conventual life and religion generally, and even in his overhauling of theology. Later, when the Catholic Church had spoken, they did not see their way to retract and submit, but preferred to marry. Staupitz himself, the inexperienced theologian, deceived by his protege's talents, often said to him : " Christ speaks through you." It is true, that, at a later date, he sternly represented to Luther that he was going too far. After most of the monks had ranged themselves under the new standard, their apathetic 1 Kostlin-Kawerau, 1, p. 69. 2 Kolde, " Die deutsche Augustinerkongregation," p. 262. LUTHER AN EXTREMIST 299 and disappointed Superior withdrew to a Catholic monastery at Salzburg, where he expired in peace in 1524 as a Bene- dictine Abbot. At that period Church discipline in Germany was already ruined. The man who was responsible for the downfall reveals a mental state capable of going to any extreme when in 1518 he writes to his fatherly friend Staupitz in almost fanatical language : " Let Christ see to it whether the words I have hitherto spoken are mine or His. Without His permission no Pope or Prince can give a decision (Cp. Prov. xxi. !)....! have no temporal possessions to lose, I have only my weak body, tried by many labours. Should they desire to take my life by treachery or violence they will but shorten my existence by a few hours. I am content with my sweetest Saviour and Redeemer, our Lord Jesus Christ. Him I will praise as long as life lasts (Ps. ciii. 33). Should others refuse to sing with me, what matters it ? Let them howl alone if it pleases them. May our Lord Jesus Christ ever preserve you, my sweetest father." 1 The ultra-spiritualism which had cast its spell over Luther was compounded, as we may see from what has gone before, of pseudo-mysticism, bad theology, a distaste for practical works of piety, a tendency to polemics and a misguided zeal for reform, not to speak of other elements. This it was which animated him during the years which preceded his public apostasy. On the other hand, in the subsequent struggle against the Church it is rather less apparent, being, to a certain extent, kept within bounds by the conflict he was obliged to wage in his own camp against dangerous fanatics such as Miinzer and Carlstadt. Nevertheless, his spirit had not been entirely tamed, and, when occasion arose, as we shall see later, was still capable of all its former violence. The Monk, at the time he was at work on the Epistle to the Romans, by dint of studying the Bible and Tauler, had, as he thought, attained to the mystical light of a higher knowledge, and begins accordingly to speak of hearing the inward voice. He tries to persuade himself that he hears this voice speaking in his soul ; he looks upon it as so im- perative that he is obliged, so he says, to do what it com- 1 Letter of May 30, 1518, " Brief wechsel," 1, p. 199. 300 LUTHER THE MONK mands, " whether it be foolish or evil or great or small." 1 Thus the way is already paved for his mysterious compre- hension of the Scriptures through the inner word, as his letter to Spalatin shows ; 2 we have also here the beginning of what he supposed was the ratification of his Divine mission as proclaimer of the new teaching. Even before much was known of the data furnished by the Commentary on Romans regarding Luther's develop- ment, Fr. Loofs, on the strength of the fragments which Denifle had made public, ventured to predict that, on the publication of the whole work, it would be seen, " that Luther was at that time following a road which might justly be described as a peculiar form of quietistic mysticism." 3 To-day we must go further and say that Luther's whole character was steeped in ultra-spiritualism. Johann Adam Mohler says of Luther's public work as a teacher : " In his theological views he showed himself a one-sided mystic." 4 He adds, " had he lived in the second century Luther would have been a gnostic like Marcion, with some of whose peculiarities he is in singular agreement," a statement which is borne out by what we have seen of Luther's work so far. Neander, the Protestant historian, also compares the growth and development of Luther's mind with that of Marcion. 5 Neander looks upon Marcion as Luther's spiritual comrade, in fact as a Protestant, because he, like the founder of Protestantism, emphasised the evil in man everywhere, set up an antagonism between righteousness and grace, between the law and the gospel, and preached freedom from the works of the law. This Marcion did by appealing to the gnosis, or deeper knowledge. Luther likewise bases his very first utterances on this teaching and appeals to the more profound theology ; he possesses that seductive enthusiasm which Marcion also displayed at the commencement of his career. Soon we shall see that Luther, again like Marcion, brushed aside such books of the Bible as stood in his way ; the canon of Holy Scripture must be brought into agreement with his special conception of doctrine, and he and his pupils amplified and altered this doctrine, even in its fundamentals, to such 1 See above, p. 95. 2 See below, p. 323. 8 " Deutsch-evangelische Blatter," 32, 1907, p. 537. 4 " Kirchengesch.," ed. by P. Gams, 3, 1868, p. 106. 6 " Kirchengesch.," 1, p. 782. AN INCARNATION OF PARADOX 301 a degree, that the words which Tertullian applied to Marcion might quite fit Luther too : " nam et quotidie reformant illud" i.e. their gospel. 1 Luther at the very outset obscured the conception of God by his doctrine of absolute predestina- tion to hell. Marcion, it is true, went much further than Luther in obfuscating the Christian teaching with regard to God by setting up an eternal twofold principle, of good and evil. The Wittenberg Professor never dreamt of so radical a change in the doctrine respecting God, and in comparison with that of Marcion this part of his system is quite conservative. We find in Luther, from the beginning of his career, together with his rather gloomy ultra-spiritualism, another characteristic embracing a number of heterogeneous quali- ties, and which we can only describe as grotesque. Side by side with his love of extremes, we find an ultra-conservative regard for the text of Holy Scripture as he understood it, no matter how allegorical his pet interpretation might be. Again, the pious mysticism of his language scarcely agrees with the practical disregard he manifested for his profession. To this must be added, on the one hand, his tendency to spring from one subject to another, and the restlessness which permeates his theological statements, and on the other, liis ponderous Scholasticism. Again we have the digressions in which he declaims on public events, and, besides, his incorrect and uncharitable criticisms ; here he displays his utter want of consideration, his ignorance of the world and finally a tempestuous passion for freedom in all things, which renders him altogether callous to the vindication of their rights by others and makes him sigh over the countless " fetters of men." 2 All this, taken in con- nection with his unusual talent, shows that Luther, though a real genius and a man of originality, was inclined to be hysterical. How curiously paradoxical his character was is revealed in his exaggerated manner of speech and his incessant recourse to antithesis. With an unbounded confidence in himself and all too well aware of the seduction exercised by his splendid talents, he yet does not scruple to warn others with the utmost 1 " Adversus Marcion.," 4, c. 5. 2 " Werke," Weim. ed., 2, p. 576 : In the " wretched study of right and law " we find everywhere the comfortless fetters of precepts. " O reptilia," he cries, " quorum non eat numerus I " 302 LUTHER THE MONK seriousness against their " inclinations to arrogance, avarice and ambition," and to represent pride as the cardinal sin. 1 He is keen to notice defects in earlier theologians, but an unhappy trait of his own blinds him to the fact that the Church, as the invincible guardian of truth, must soon rise up against him. He has already discovered a new way of salvation which is to tranquilise all, and yet he will be counted, not among those who feel sure of their salvation, but among the pious who are anxious and troubled about their state of grace, " who are still in fear lest they fall into wickedness, and, therefore, through fear, become more and more deeply steeped in humility in doing which they render God gracious to them." 2 The assurance of salvation by faith alone, the sola fides of a later date, he still protests against so vigorously, that, when he fancies he espies it in his oppo- nents in any shape or form, he attacks them as " a pestilential crew," who speak of the signs of grace and thereby, as he imagines, lull men into security. The last words show that the process of development is not yet ended. What we have considered above was merely the first of the two stages which he traversed before finally arriving at the conception of his chief doctrine. 3 1 Cp. Braun, " Concupiscenz," p. 22. a " Schol. Rom.," p. 323. 8 For the second stage, see ch. x. 1-2. CHAPTER VIII THE COMMENTARY ON THE EPISTLE TO THE GALATIANS. FIRST DISPUTATIONS AND FIRST TRIUMPHS 1. "The Commencement of the Gospel Business." Exposition of the Epistle to the Galatians (1516-17) LUTHER'S friends and admirers were at a later date loud in their praise of the lectures on the Epistle to the Romans and on that to the Galatians which he commenced imme- diately after, and looked upon these as marking the dawn of a new epoch in theology. Luther himself, with more accuracy, designated the first disputations, of which we shall come to speak presently, as the "commencement of the gospel business." Melanchthon in his short sketch of Luther's life speaks pomp- ously of these lectures and manifests his entire unacquaintanee with the old Church and the truths for which she stood. " In the opinion of the wise and pious the light of the new teaching first broke forth, after a long and dark night, in the Commentary on these Epistles. There Luther pointed out the true distinction between the law and the gospel ; there he refuted the Pharisaical errors which then ruled in the schools and in the pulpits, namely, that man was able to obtain forgiveness of sin by his own efforts and could be justified before God by the performance of outward works. He brought back souls to the Son of God, he pointed to the Lamb, Who bore the guilt of our sins. He demonstrated that sin was forgiven for the sake of the Son of God and that such a favour ought to be accepted in faith. He also shed a great light on the other articles of faith." 1 Mathesius, Luther's pupil and eulogist, in his sermons on Luther, points out, in the following passionate words, the im- portance of the lectures and disputations held by his master : " Dr. Luther in all his lectures and disputations chiefly treats of this question and article, whether the true faith by which we are to live a Christian life and die a happy death is to be learned from Holy Scripture or from the godless heathen Aristotle, on whom the Doctors of the Schools attempted to base the doctrine of the Romish Church and of the monks." " This is the chief 1 " Vita Lutherl," p. 6. 303 304 LUTHER THE MONK issue between Dr. Luther and the Sophists. . . . Young Dr. Luther has solemnly sworn, in due form, a true, public and godly oath that he will hold fast by the holy and certain Scriptures ; that it was more reasonable that we should rely in matters of faith and conscience on the godly Scriptures rather than stake our souls and consciences on the teaching of darksome Scotus, foolish Albertus, questionable Thomas of Aquin, or of the Moderns or Occamists. . . . He insisted upon this in his writings and disputations before ever he began his controversy on In- dulgences. For this reason he was at the time scolded as a heretic and condemned by many because he scorned all the High Schools and the learned men. . . . Although both his brethren and other monks questioned all this, yet they were unable to bring forward anything effective against him and his weighty reasoning." 1 Luther's sermons and letters of the years 1516 to 1518 bear witness to the commotion caused by his theological opinions. The " new theology " which was being proclaimed at Wittenberg was discussed with dismay, particularly at Erfurt and in the more conservative monasteries. Andreas Carlstadt, Luther's colleague at the University, and Peter Lupinus, a former professor at Wittenberg, were at first among his opponents, but were speedily won over. Carlstadt indeed, as his 152 theses of April, 1517 show, even went further on the new lines than Luther himself. 2 Another of his colleagues at the University, who at a later date proved a more trustworthy ally, was Nicholas Amsdorf. Schurf, the lawyer, was one of his most able patrons among the lay professors. Spalatin, Court Chaplain, vigorously but prudently advocated his cause with the Elector. At Wittenberg Luther's party speedily gained the ascendant. The students were full of enthusiasm for the bold, ready and combative teacher, whose frequent use of German in his lectures at that time an unheard-of thing' also pleased them. 3 The disputations, particularly, could thus be con- ducted with less constraint and far more forcibly. It is hard to say how far Luther realised the danger of the path he was treading. He wrote to Dr. Christopher Scheurl, a Nuremberg lawyer, 1 "Historien"Bl., 8', 9. 2 Cp. Barge, " Andreas Bodenstein von Karlstadt," 1, p. 45. 3 " Chronik," p. 28 : Luther in his lectures " turned the Latin into German." AUGUSTINE VERSUS ARISTOTLE 305 who was also one of his early patrons and protectors, thanking him in the humble words of exaggerated human- istic courtesy for the praise he had bestowed upon him : he (Luther) recognised that the favour and applause of the world were dangerous for us, that self-complacency and pride were man's greatest enemies. He, nevertheless, tells him in the same letter that Staupitz, at one time his Superior and Director, had repeatedly said to him much to his terror : " I praise Christ in you, and I am forced to believe Him in you." 1 In his exultation at the great success which he had achieved at Wittenberg he says joyfully in the spring of 1517 in a letter to a friend : " Our theology and St. Augustine are progressing happily and prevail at our University (' procedunt et regnant," cp. Ps. xliv. 5). Aristotle is at a discount and is hurrying to everlasting destruction. People are quite disgusted with the lectures on the Sentences [of Peter Lombard], and no one can be sure of an audience unless he expounds this theology, i.e. the Bible or St. Augustine, or some other teacher of note in the Church." 2 He continued to rifle St. Augustine's writings for passages which were apparently favourable to his views. He says, later, that he ran through the writings of this Father of the Church with such eagerness that he devoured rather than read them. 3 He certainly did not allow himself sufficient time to appreciate properly the profound teachings of this, the greatest Father of the Church, and best authority on grace and justification. Even Protestant theologians now admit that he quoted Augustine where the latter by no means agrees with him. 4 His own friends and contem- poraries, such as Melanchthon, for instance, admitted the contradiction existing between Luther's ideas and those of St. Augustine on the most vital points ; it was, however, 1 Letter of January 27, 1517, " Brief wechsel," 1, p. 83: " Non sine timore meo me undique iactat et dicit : Christum in te prcedico et credere cogor.' 2 To Johann Lang, May 18, 1517, " Brief wechsel," 1, p. 100. 3 From Veit Dietrich's MS. Collecta, fol. 137', in Seidemann, " Luthers Psalmenvorlesungen," 1, p. vii. : " Augustinum vorabam, non legebam." * " One of the best points in Denifle's book is the proof he gives that Luther misunderstood Augustine's doctrine on sin, to which he looked as his chief support in the Church." W. Kohler, in " Ein Wort zu Denifles Luther," p. 27. I. X 306 LUTHER THE MONK essential that this Father of the Church, so Melanchthon writes to one of his confidants, should be cited as in " entire agreement " on account of the high esteem in which he was generally held. 1 Luther himself was, consciously or un- consciously, in favour of these tactics ; he tampered auda- ciously with the text of the Doctor of the Church in order to extract from his writings proofs favourable to his own doctrine ; or at the very least, trusting to his memory, he made erroneous citations, when it would have been easy for him to verify the quotations at their source ; the only excuse to be alleged on his behalf in so grave a matter of faith and conscience is his excessive precipitation and his superficiality. Luther's lectures on the Epistle to the Galatians com- menced on October 27, 1516. These he published in 1519 in an amended form, 2 whereas those on the Epistle to the Romans never appeared to him fit for publication. Notes of the original lectures on Gala- tians are said to be in the possession of Dr. Krafft of Elber- feld, and will in all probability appear in the Weimar edition of Luther's works. 3 The lectures on the Epistle to the Hebrews and on that to Titus followed in 1517. Notes of the former, as stated above, exist at Rome, and their approaching publication will throw a clearer light on the change in the theological views of their author. In the printed Commentary on Galatians Luther's teaching appears in a more advanced form. His develop- ment had not only progressed during the course of the lectures, but the time which elapsed before their publication brought him fresh material which he introduced into the Commentary. It would be essential to have them in the form in which they were delivered in order to be able to follow up the process which went forward in his mind. It is nevertheless worth while to dwell on the work and at the same time to compare parallel passages from Luther's other Commentary on Galatians- to be referred to imme- diately were it only on account of the delight he takes in 1 Melanchthon to Brenz, end May, 1531, " Brief wechsel "9, p. 18 f. 2 "Werke," Weim. ed., 2, p. 436 ff. Cp. in the Erl. ed., " Com- mentar. in Ep. ad Galat.," ed. Irmischer, 1, p. iii. seq. ; 3, p. 121 seq. 3 Kostlin-Kawerau, 1, p. 751, n. to p. 107, 2. COMMENTARY ON GALATIANS 307 referring to this Epistle, or of the fact that his exposition of it runs counter to the whole of tradition. Luther ever had the highest opinion of the Epistle to the Galatians and of his own Commentaries on it. At a later date he says jokingly : " Epistola ad Galatas is my Epistle to which I have plighted my troth ; my own Katey von Bora." 1 Melanchthon praises Luther's Commentary on Galatians in a more serious fashion and says, it was in truth " the coil of Theseus by the aid of which we are enabled to wander through the labyrinth of biblical learning." 2 Besides the shorter Commentary on Galatians published in 1519 there is also a much longer one compiled from notes of Luther's later lectures, made public in 1535 by his pupil Rorer, together with a Preface by Luther himself. 3 Pro- testants consider it as " the most important literary product of his academic career " and, in fact, as " the most important of his theological works." 4 In what follows we shall rely, as we said before, on the sources which afford the most accurate picture of his views, i.e. on both the shorter and the longer redaction of his Commentary on Galatians, especially where the latter repeats in still more forcible language views already contained in the former. It is well to know that, in his expositions of the Epistle to the Galatians, Luther's antagonism to the Catholic doctrine of Works, Justification and Original Sin is carried further than in any other of his exegetical writings, until, indeed, it verges on the paradoxical. Nowhere else does the author so unhesitatingly read his own ideas into Holy Scripture, or turn his back so completely on the most venerable traditions of the Church. For instance, he shows how God by His grace was obliged to renew, from the root upwards, the tree of human nature, which had fallen and become rotten to the core, in order that it might bear fruit which was not mere poison and sin and such as to render it worthy to be cast into hell fire. Everything is made to depend upon that terrible doctrine of Divine Predestination, which inexorably condemns a portion of mankind to hell. It never occurred to him that this doctrine of a Predestination to hell was in conflict with God's goodness and mercy, at least, he never had the least hesitation in advocating it. The only preparation for 1 " Werke," Weim. ed., 2, p. 437. 2 See Kostlin-Kawerau, 1, p. 275. 3 In Irmischer's Erl. edition, printed in three volumes. 4 Cp. Kostlin-Kawerau, 2, p. 300 f. 308 LUTHER THE MONK salvation is the predestination to heaven of the man upon whom God chooses to have mercy, seeing that man, on his part, is utterly unable to do anything (" unica dispositio ad gratiam est ceterna Dei electio "). Man is justified by the faith, which is wrought by God's gracious Word and Spirit, but this faith is really confidence in God's pardoning grace through Christ (" Sufficit Christus per fidem, ut sis iustus "). In the printed Commentary on Galatians we already have Luther's new doctrine of the absolute assurance of salvation by faith alone. This later discovery he insists upon, with wearisome reitera- tion, in the Commentary on Galatians as the only means of bringing relief to the conscience. We shall have occasion later (ch. x., 1, 2) to speak of the origin of this new element in his theology, which he made his own before the publication of the first Commentary on Galatians. He entirely excludes love from this faith, even the slightest commencement of it, in more forcible terms than ever. " That faith alone justifies," he writes, " which apprehends Christ by means of the Word, and is beautified and adorned by it, not that faith which includes love. . . . How does this take place, and how is the Christian made so righteous ? " he asks. " By means of the noble treasure and pearl, which is called Christ, and which he makes his own by faith." " Therefore it is mere idle, extravagant talk when those fools, the Sophists [the scholastic theologians] chatter about the fides formata, i.e. a faith which is to take its true form and shape from love." 1 The relation which exists between this view of a mechanically operating faith (which moreover God alone produces in us) and the Lutheran doctrine of the exclusive action of God in the " dead tree " of human nature, cannot fail to be perceived. How could, indeed, such a view of God's action admit of any real, organic co-operation on the part of man, even when exalted and strengthened by grace, in the work of his own eternal salvation by virtue of faith working through love ? God's mercy, Luther says, is made known to man by a whisper from above (the " secret voice ") : Thy sins are forgiven thee ; the perception of this is not, however, essential ; probably, Luther recognised that this was altogether too problematical. Hence there is no escape from the fact that justification must always remain uncertain. The author of this doctrine demands, however, that man should induce in himself a kind of certainty, in the same way that he demands certainty in the acceptance of all facts of faith. " You must assume it as certain that your service is pleasing to God. But this you can never do unless you have the Holy Ghost." 8 How are we to know whether we have the Holy Ghost ? Again he answers : " We must accept as certain and acknowledge that we are the temple of God." 3 " We must be assured that not our service only but also our person is pleasing to God." 4 He goes on in this tone without in 1 Cp. Mohler, "Symbolik," p. 156, n. 1. 2 Comment, in Gal., 2, p. 163. 3 Ibid., p. 161. 4 Ibid., p. 164. COMMENTARY ON GALATIANS 309 the least solving the difficulty. 1 He declares that we must risk, try, and exercise assurance. This, however, merely depends upon a self-acquired dexterity, 2 upon human ability, which, moreover, frequently leaves even the strongest in the lurch, as we shall see later from Luther's own example and that of his followers. He goes so far in speaking of faith and grace in the larger Commentary on Galatians, as to brand the most sublime and holy works, namely, prayer and meditation, as " idolatry " unless performed in accordance with the only true principle of faith, viz. with his doctrine regarding justification by faith alone. This can be more readily understood when we consider that according to him, man, in spite of his resistance to concupiscence, is, nevertheless, on account of the same, guilty of the sins of avarice, anger, impurity, a list to which he significantly adds " et cetera," 3 He had expressed himself in a similar way in the shorter Commentary, but did not think his expressions in that book strong enough adequately to represent his ideas.* As he constantly connects his statements with what he looks upon as the main contentions of St. Paul in the Epistles to the Romans and the Galatians, we may briefly remind our readers of the interpretation which the older theology had ever placed upon them. The Apostle Paul teaches, according to the Fathers and the greatest theologians of the Middle Ages, that both Jews and heathen might attain to salvation and life by faith. He proves this by showing that the heathen were not saved by the works of nature, nor the Jews by the works of the Mosaic Law ; but he does not by any means exclude works altogether as unnecessary for justification. In the important passage of the Epistle to the Romans (Rom. i. 17) where Paul quotes the words of Habacuc : " The just man liveth by faith," there was no call to define more clearly the nature of justifying faith, or to explain to what extent it must be a living faith showing itself in works in charity and in hope. To exclude works from faith, as Luther assumes him to do, was very far from his intention in that passage. Nor is this idea involved in the saying which Luther so frequently quotes (Rom. iii. 28) : " We account a man to be justified by faith without the works of the law," for here he merely excludes the works " of the law," i.e. according to the context such works as do not rest on faith but precede faith, whether the purely out- ward works of the Mosaic ceremonial law, or other natural works done apart from, or before, Christ. We shall speak later of Luther's interpolation in this passage of the word " alone " after " faith " in his translation of the Bible (see vol. v., xxxiv. 3). When St. Paul elsewhere describes more narrowly the nature 1 Cp. Denifle- Weiss, 1, p. 733, where a thorough examination is made of the certainty of salvation assumed in this system. 2 Ibid., p. 735. 3 Cp. Mohler, p. 139. Kostlin-Kawerau, 1, p. 275. 310 LUTHER THE MONK of justifying faith (a fact to which both the Fathers and the theologians draw attention), he is quite emphatic in asserting that the sinner is not admitted by God to grace and made partaker of the heavenly promises merely by virtue of a dead faith, but by a real, supernatural faith which works by charity (Gal. v. 6). This in previous ages had been rightly understood to mean not merely an acceptance of the Word of God and the intimate persuasion of the remission of one's sins, but a faith enlivened by grace with charity. In confirmation of this, other well-known passages of the New Testament were always quoted : " Wilt thou know, O vain man, that faith without works is dead ? " " Do you see that by works a man is justified ; and not by faith only ? " " For even as the body without the spirit is dead : so also faith without works is dead." " Labour the more that by good works you may make sure your calling and election." 1 Some important disputations which the youthful Univer- sity Professor held on theses and " paradoxa " formulated by himself prove how his teaching was taking ever deeper root at Wittenberg and elsewhere. The story of these disputations casts light on his peculiar tactics, viz. to meet every kind of opposition by still more forcibly and defiantly advancing his own propositions. 2. Disputations on man's powers and against Scholasticism (1516-17) In September, 1516, Luther arranged for a remarkable Disputation to be held at Wittenberg by Bartholomew Bernhardi of Feldkirchen, in Swabia, on the occasion of the latter's promotion to be Lecturer on the Sentences. From a confidential letter of Luther's to Johann Lang, Prior at Erfurt, we learn some particulars as to the motive which determined the choice of the theses, which latter are still extant. From this we see that the Disputation was held on account of those who " barked " at Luther's lectures. " In order to shut the mouths of yelping curs, and at the same time to let the opinion of others be heard," the theses on man's absolute inability to do what is good were pur- posely worded in a most offensive form. This Disputation brought over Amsdorf, hitherto an opponent, to Luther's 1 James ii. 22, 24, 26. 2 Peter i. 10. On Luther's later denial of the inspiration of the Epistle of St. James, see volume iv., xxviii. 2. In this he made no account of tho critical proof of the traditional ascription of this Epistle, but considered it merely from his own subjective point of side. Amsdorf sent a copy of the theses to Erfurt in order to elicit the opinion of the professors there. But, fearing lest the storm he foresaw might be directed against Luther, he deleted the superscription bearing his name (" Sub eximlo viro Martino Luihero Augustiniano," etc.). At the Disputation Luther presided, a fact which is all the more significant when we remember that he was not at that time Dean. Among the theses to be debated one runs as follows : Man is absolutely unable by his own unaided efforts to keep the commandments of God ; he merely seeks his own, and what is of the flesh ; he himself is " vanity of vanities " and makes creatures, who in themselves are good, also to be vain ; he is necessarily under the dominion of sin, " he sins even when doing the best he can ; for of himself he is unable either to will or to think." 1 It is not surprising that theses such as this again roused the antagonism of the followers of the old theology. Some of Luther's former colleagues among the Erfurt monks con- sidered themselves directly challenged. Trutfetter and Usin- gen, two esteemed professors at Erfurt, having dared to point out the difference between these theses and the Catholic teaching as expressed in the works of Gabriel Biel, Luther wrote to their Superior, Johann Lang : " Let them alone, let your Gabrielists marvel at my ' position ' (i.e. at the theses), for mine too (i.e. Biel's Catholic-minded supporters at Wittenberg) still continue to be astonished." " Master Amsdorf formerly belonged to them, but is now half con- verted." " But I won't have them disputing with me as to whether Gabriel said this, or Raphael or Michael said that. I know what Gabriel teaches ; it is commendable so long as he does not begin speaking of Grace, Charity, Hope, Faith and Virtue, for then he becomes a Pelagian, like Scotus, his master. But it is not necessary for me to speak further on this matter here." 2 In the same letter he deals some vigorous blows at Gratian and the highly esteemed Peter Lombard ; according to him they have made of the doctrine of penance a torment rather than a remedy ; they took their matter from the treatise *' On True and False Penance," attributed to St; Augustine ; 1 " Werke," Weim. ed., 1, p. 145 ff. 2 Letter of 1516, probably September, " Briefwechsel," 1, p. 55. 312 LUTHER THE MONK but he had been compelled to deny that this " stupid and foolish " work was by St. Augustine. It is, however, quite certain that this spurious work did not constitute " the chief authority for the mediaeval doctrine of Penance," x neither were its contents so untheological as we are expected to believe. Bernhardi, Luther's very devoted pupil, who held the Disputation mentioned above, has been considered by some to have been the first priest of the evangelical faith to contract matrimony. 2 This, however, is not quite correct as others preceded him. But Bernhardi, as Provost of Kemberg, was one of the first to draw this practical inference from the freedom of the gospel. A second pupil, Franz Giinther of Nordhausen, who was chosen by Luther to conduct in the following year a Dispu- tation which partook still more of the nature of a challenge, became later a prominent partisan of Luthcranism. His Disputation was held at Wittenberg, September 4, 1517, under his master's presidency, with the object of obtaining the degree of Baccalaureus Biblicus. His 99 theses faith- fully echo Luther's teaching, particularly his antagonism to Aristotle and Scholasticism. The theses were scattered abroad with the object of making converts. At Erfurt and elsewhere the friends of the new opinions to whom Luther despatched the theses were to work for the spread of the theological revolution. As a result of this Disputation his Erfurt opponents again complained that Luther was too audacious, that he was overbearing in his assertions and was flinging broadcast wicked censures of the Catholic doctors and their teaching. With these complaints, how- ever, the matter ended, no one daring to do more. At the end of Giinther's theses the following words occur in print : "In all these propositions our intention was to say nothing, and we believe we have said nothing, which is not in accordance with Catholic doctrine and with ecclesiastical writers." 3 Yet in these prospositions we read : " Man, who has become a rotten tree, can will and do only what is evil. . . . Man's will is 1 As Enders thinks, " Brief wechsel," 1, p. 58. 2 See Feustking, " Das Leben des ersten verehelichten evangelischen Predigers B. Bernhardi." As Enders rightly remarks, he was not really the " first married preacher " ; this honour belonging to Jakob Seydler. 3 " Werke," Weim. ed., 1, p. 228. " Opp. Lat. var.," 1, p. 321. not free but captive " (thesis 5). " The only predisposition to grace is the eternal election by God and predestination " (29). " From beginning to end we are not masters of our actions but servants " (39). " We do not become righteous by doing what is right, but only after we have become righteous do we perform what is right " (40). " The Jewish ceremonial law is not a good law, neither are the Ten Commandments, and whatever is taught and commanded with regard to outward observances " (82, 83). " The only good law is the love of God which is poured forth in our hearts by the Holy Ghost " (84). The following will suffice to give an idea of Giinther's theses on the relation of Aristotle to Christian philosophy and theology ; " Aristotle's Ethics almost in its entirety is the worst enemy of grace " (41). " It is not merely incorrect to say that without Aristotle no man can become a theologian ; on the contrary, we must say : he is no theologian who does not become one without Aristotle " (43, 44). At Wittenberg the Disputation called forth enthusiastic applause among both professors and students, and the defender was unanimously (" uno consensu dominorum ") proclaimed a Bachelor. So deeply was Luther concerned in this manifesto, that he expressed to Lang his readiness to go to Erfurt and there personally to conduct the defence of all the theses. He scoffs at those who had called them not merely paradoxical but kakodoxical and even kakisto- doxical (execrable). 1 " To us," he says, " they can only be orthodox." He was very zealous in distributing them far and wide, and asked Christoph Scheurl, the Humanist of Nurem- berg, to whom he sent some, to forward a copy to " our Eck . . . who is so learned and intellectual " ; such was then his opinion of his future adversary. 2 Scheurl, and no doubt Luther's other friends also, took care to spread the bold theses. This Humanist, who was prejudiced in favour of Luther, ventured to prophesy a great revolution in the domain of Divinity. At the com- mencement of his reply to Luther's letter he greets him with the wish, that " the theology of Christ may be reinstated, and that we may walk in His Law ! " 3 This Disputation at Wittenberg has been described by Protestants as a " decisive blow struck at mediaeval 1 Letter of September 4, 1517, to Johann Lang, " Brief wechsel," 1, p. 106. 2 Letter of September 11, 1517, to Christoph Scheurl. Ibid., p. 109. 3 Letter of November 3, 1517. Ibid., p. 119: " Ad Martinum Luder. Christi theologiam restaurare et in illius lege ambulare." 314 LUTHER THE MONK doctrine. ' ' x That it was an open challenge admits of no doubt. Reticence and humility were not among Luther's qualities. It would be to misrepresent him completely were we to assign to him, as special characteristics, bashfulness, timidity and love of retirement ; however much he himself occasionally claims such virtues as his. On the other hand, he also assures us that no one can say of him that he wished the theses of this Disputation to be merely " whispered in a corner." With this impulse to bring his new doctrines boldly before the world may be connected his taking, about this time, in one of his letters the name Eleutherius, or Free- spirited. This was his way of rendering into Greek his name Luther, agreeably with the customs of the time. Only a few weeks after the second Disputation which we have been considering, he came forward with his Indulgence theses against Tetzel, of which the result was to be another great Disputation. Disputations seemed to him a very desirable method of arousing sympathy for his ideas ; these learned encounters with his opponents gave him a good opportunity for displaying his fiery temper, his quick- wittedness, his talent as an orator, his general knowledge, and particularly his familiarity with the Bible. But this is not yet the place to discuss the Indulgence theses against Tetzel. The better to appreciate the state of Luther's mind at the time when he was becoming settled in his new theological principles, we may be permitted to consider here, by antici- pation, another great Disputation on faith and grace, that, namely, of Heidelberg, which took place after the outbreak of Luther's hostilities with Tetzel. In comparison with these questions, the Indulgence controversy was of less importance, as we shall have occasion to see ; it was in reality an acci- dental occurrence, though one pregnant with consequences, and, as it turned out, the most decisive of all. The common idea that the quarrel with Tetzel was the real starting-point of Luther's whole conflict with the Church is utterly unten- able. 1 Plitt, " Luthers Leben," Leipzig, 1883, p. 69. THE HEIDELBERG DISPUTATION 315 3. Disputation at Heidelberg on Faith and Grace. Other Public Utterances The Disputation at Heidelberg took place on April 26, 1518, about six months after the nailing up of the theses against Tetzel. A Chapter of the Augustinian Congregation held in that town afforded the opportunity for this Disputa- tion. To make use of the Chapters for such learned celebrations was nothing unusual, but the selection of Luther to conduct the theological discussion, at a time when his teaching on Grace and his Indulgence theses had aroused widespread comment and excitement, and when an examination of his conduct was pending in the Order, was very significant. Among the delegates of the priories present at the Chapter, all of them chosen from the older and more respected monks, there was clearly a majority in favour of Luther. Another proof of this fact is, that at the Chapter, Johann Lang, who was entirely of Luther's way of thinking, was chosen to succeed him as Rural Vicar on the expiry of Luther's term of service. Staupitz was confirmed in his dignity, though his own attitude and his persistent blind prejudice in favour of Luther must have been known to all. It appears that Luther's controversy with Tetzel was not even discussed in the Chapter ; x at any rate, we hear nothing whatever of it, nor even of any difficulties being raised as to Luther's position in the much more important question of justifica- tion, although strict injunctions had already been sent to the Order by the Holy See to place a check on him, and dissuade him from the course he was pursuing. 2 If, moreover, we bear in mind the character of the theses at this Disputation, which went far beyond anything that had yet appeared, but were nevertheless advocated before all the members assembled, we cannot but look upon this unhappy Chapter as the shipwreck of the German Augus- tinian Congregation. At the next Chapter, which was held after an interval of two years, i.e. sooner than was customary, Staupitz received a severe reprimand from the General of the 1 Kolde, " Die deutsche Augustinerkongregation," p. 315. 2 Kalkoff, " Forschungen zu Luthers rSmischem Prozess," 1905, p. 44 seq. Pastor, " History of the Popes," English translation, volume vii., p. 361 ff. 316 LUTHER THE MONK Order and at last laid down his office as Superior of the Congregation. 1 His weakness and vacillation had, however, by that time already borne fruit. Leonard Beyer, an Augustinian, another of Luther's youthful pupils, was chosen by him to defend the theses at Heidelberg under his own supervision. The Disputation was held in the Lecture-room of the Augustinian monastery in the town. Among the numerous guests present were the professors of the University of Heidelberg. They were not of Luther's way of thinking, and rather inclined to join issue in the discussion, though in general their demeanour was peaceable ; one of the younger professors, however, in the course of the dispute voiced his disagreement in an interruption : "If the peasants hear that, they will certainly stone you." Among those present, four young theologians, who at a later date went over to the new faith and became its active promoters, followed with lively interest the course of the discussion, in which Luther himself frequently took part ; these were Martin Bucer, an eloquent Dominican, afterwards preacher at Strasburg and a close friend of Luther ; Johann Brenz, a Master of Philosophy, who subsequently worked for the new teaching in Swabia ; Erhard Schnepf, who became eventually a preacher in Wiirttemberg, and Theobald Billicanus, whom the theologians at Heidelberg Avho remained faithful to the Church summoned to be examined before them on account of his lectures, and who then was responsible for the apostasy of the town of Nordlingen. The Disputation at Heidelberg had a great influence on all these, and rendered them favourable to Luther. The first named, Martin Bucer, full of enthusiasm for Luther, informed a friend, that at the end of the Disputation he had completely triumphed over all his opponents and roused in almost all his hearers admiration of his learning, eloquence, and fearlessness. 2 If, however, we consider the theses from the theological 1 Kolde, p. 327. 2 Bucer to Beatus Rhenanus, May 1, 1518, in the Correspondence of Beatus Rhenanus, ed. Horawitz and Hartf elder, Leipzig, 1866, p. 106 f. Also in " Relatio historica de disputatione Heidelbergensi ad Beatum Rhenanum," printed in the "Introductio in hist, evang." by D. Gerdesius, Groningen, 1744, Supp., p. 176. Cp. " Luthers Werke,' Weim. ed., 1, p. 352. " Opp. Lat. var.," 1, p. 385. THE HEIDELBERG DISPUTATION 317 standpoint, we are able to understand better the impression which Bucer in the same letter states they made on others, namely, that this new theology of Wittenberg, which exalted itself above Scholasticism and the learning of previous ages, and even above the teaching of the whole Church from the time of her Divine institution, justified the most serious apprehensions and indictments. Twenty-eight theses had been selected from theology and twelve from philosophy. The very first theological proposition declared in Luther's bold, paradoxical style, that the law of God was unable to assist a man to righteousness, but, on the contrary, was a hindrance to him in this respect. 1 Some of the other propositions were hardly less strong : Man's works, however good they may be, are probably never anything but mortal sins (3) ; after sin free will is will only in name, and when a man has done the best he is capable of, he commits a mortal sin (13). If these assertions recall some which we have heard before, they are followed by others expressing, in the most startling manner, his theory on grace. " He is not righteous who performs many works, but he who, without works, believes firmly in Christ " (25). " The law says, ' do this ' and it is never done ; Grace says ' believe in Him (Christ) ' and everything is already done " (26). " Man must altogether despair of himself in order to be fit to receive the grace of Christ " (18). In the proofs, the text of which is still extant and was probably printed together with the theses, we read other statements which remove all doubt as to the seriousness of the propositions put forth : " Righteousness is infused by faith, for we read : ' the just man liveth by faith ' (Rom. i. 17) . . . not as though the just man did not perform any works, but because his works are not the cause of righteousness, but righteousness is the cause of the works. Grace and faith are infused without any work on our part, and then the works follow." 2 Luther in one passage of these " proofs " addresses to himself the only too- well-founded objection : " Therefore we will be content without virtue as we on our part are able only to sin ! " 3 But instead of solving this objection in a proper form, he answers rhetorically : " No, fall on your knees and implore grace, put your hope in Christ in Whom is salvation, life and resurrection. Fear and wrath are wrought by the law, but hope and mercy by grace." 4 Underlying the whole Disputation, we perceive that antagon- ism to the fear of God as the Judge of transgressions against the 1 " Werke," Weim. ed., 1, p. 353. " Opp. Lat. var.," 1, p. 385. 2 Concl. 25, "Werke," Weim. ed., 1, p. 364. "Opp. Lat. var.," 1, p. 402. 3 Concl. 16, " Quid igitur faciemua ? Vacabimus otio, quia nihil nisi peccatum facimus." * " Werke," Weim. ed., 1, p. 360. " Opp. Lat. var.," 1, p. 398. 318 LUTHER THE MONK law, which the reader has before remarked in Luther ; that fear which Catholic teaching had hitherto represented as the beginning of conversion and justification. Utterances drawn from that mysticism into which he had plunged and the language of which he had at that time made his own, are also noticeable. He speaks at the Disputation of the annihilation through which a man must pass in order to arrive at the certainty of salvation (a road which is assuredly only for the few, whereas all stand in need of certainty) : " Whoever is not destroyed and brought back to nothingness by the cross and suffering, attributes to himself works and wisdom. But whoever has passed through this annihilation does not pursue works, but leaves God to work and to do all in him ; it is the same to him whether he performs works or not ; he is not proud of himself when he does anything, nor despondent when God does not work in him." 1 He then proceeds, describing the absolute passivity of his mysticism as the foundation of the process of salvation : " He [who is to be justified] knows that it is enough for him to suffer and be destroyed by the cross in order to be yet more annihilated. This is what Christ meant when He said (John iii. 7) : ' Ye must be born again.' If Christ speaks of ' being born again,' it necessarily follows that we must first die, i.e. feel death as though it were present." Besides the antagonism to true and well-grounded fear, and the mystical veneer, there is a third psychological element which must be pointed out in the Heidelberg Theses, viz. the uncalled-for emphasis laid on the strength of con- cupiscence and man's inclination to what is evil, and the insufficient appreciation of the means of grace which lead to victory. This view of the domination of evil, which must ultimately be favourable to libertinism, accompanies 'the theoretical expression and the practical realisation of his system. In the Heidelberg Disputation we find in the proof of thesis 13, already referred to : " It is clear as day that free will in man, after Adam's Fall, is merely a name and therefore no free will at all, at least as regards the choice of good ; for it is a captive, and the servant of sin ; not as though it did not exist, but because it is not free except for what is evil." 2 This Luther pretends to find in Holy Scripture (John viii. 34, 36), in two passages of St. Augustine " and in countless other places." He undertakes to prove this in a special note, by the fact that, according to the teaching of the Fathers of the Church, man is unable during life to avoid all faults, that he must fall without the assistance of grace, and that, according to 2 Timothy ii. 26, he is held captive by the " snares of the devil." " The wicked man sins," he says, 1 Concl. 24. 2 Cp. above, p. 202 ft. "THE QUIETING OF CONSCIENCES" 319 " when he does what is good." " The righteous man also sins in his good works," according to the words of the Apostle : " But I see another law in my members fighting against the law of my mind " (Rom. vii. 23). God works everything in us ; but just as the carpenter, however capable he may be, cannot work properly with a jagged axe, so, in spite of God's work, sin still remains, owing to the imperfection of the tool He makes use of, i.e. on account of the sinfulness which permeates us. 1 " The mercy of God consists in this, that He has patience with us in spite of our sins and graciously accepts our works and our life notwithstanding their complete worthlessness. . . . We escape His Judgment through His mercy [to which we cling through faith alone], not by our own righteousness. . . . God excuses our works and makes them pardonable ; He supplies what is wanting in us, and thus He is our righteousness." 2 " How is it possible that a ' servant of sin ' should do anything else but sin ? How can a man perform a work of light when he is in darkness, a work of wisdom when he is a fool, the work of a whole man when he is lying there sick, etc. ? Therefore all that a man does is the work of the devil, of sin, of darkness and foolishness." " Why do we say that concupiscence is irresistible ? Well, just try to do what you can, but without concupiscence ! Of course, this is impossible. Thus your nature does not keep the law. If you do not keep this, then still less can you keep the law of charity." 3 The crown of all this is found in certain propositions from another of Luther's Disputations (the fourth) held at Wittenberg in 1518, of which the eminently characteristic title is : " For the ascertaining of the Truth and for the Quieting of anxious Consciences." Here we find this exhortation : " Cast yourself with a certain despair of your own self, more particularly on account of the sins of which you are ignorant, with confidence into the abyss of the mercy of God, Who is true to His promises. The sum total is this : The Just man shall live by faith, not, however, by works or by the law." 4 Such is the theology which he calls the " Theology of the Cross." 5 The Church, with a past of fifteen centuries behind her, also taught that the just man must live by faith, but by this she meant a real faith 1 In the Explicatio condusionia VI., " Werke," Weim. ed., 1, p. 367, where the editor says in a note : " Martin Bucer testifies in his letter to Beatus Rhenanus on May 1, 1518, that this comparison was made by Luther in the Disputation." See p. 74, n. 9. 2 " Werke," Weim. ed., 1, p. 370. 3 Ibid., pp. 371, 374. Ibid., p. 633. 6 Disput., Heidelberg, an. 1518, thes. 24. Cp. thes. 20. "Werke." Weim. ed., 1, p. 362 f. Cp. above, p. 235. 320 LUTHER THE MONK which leads to the love of the cross, which expresses itself in submission, in salutary fear, in a striving after what is good and which bears in itself the seeds of charity. She thus exhorted the faithful to penance, the practice of good works and a practical embracing of the cross. That was her " Theology of the Cross." The three more important Disputations considered above were designated by Luther himself as the " beginning 6f the evangelical business." He gave the title Initium negocii evangelici to a collection of the theses debated at these Disputations which appeared in print at Wittenberg in 1538. 1 It is significant that the theses against Tetzel and on Indulgences have no place in this collection of the earliest " evangelical " documents. While Luther was on his w r ay back from Heidelberg, in a letter to Trutfetter his former professor, he submitted certain thoughts on his own theological position, which may well be deemed his programme for the future. To this worthy man, who failed to share his views and had given him timely warning of his errors, he says : " To speak plainly, my firm belief is that the reform of the Church is impossible unless the ecclesiastical laws, the Papal regulations, scholastic theology, philosophy and logic as they at present exist, are thoroughly uprooted and replaced by other studies. I am so convinced of this that I daily ask the Lord that the really pure study of the Bible and the Fathers may speedily regain its true position." 2 In this remarkable letter, which is a curious mixture of respect and disputatious audacity, Luther admits that, on account of his teaching on grace, he is already being scolded in public sermons as a " heretic, a madman, a seducer and one possessed by many devils " ; at Wittenberg, however, he says, at the University all, with the exception of one licentiate, declare that " they had hitherto been in ignorance of Christ and His gospel." Too many charges were brought against him. Let them " speak, hear, believe all things of him in all places," he would, nevertheless, go forward and not be afraid. Here he does not pass over his theses against Tetzel in silence ; they had, he says, been spread in a quite 1 Cp. " Werke," Weim. ed., 1, p. 143, n. 2 Letter of May 9, 1518, " Brief wechsel," 1, p. 187. ATTITUDE TO THE CHURCH 321 unexpected manner, whereas with his other theses this had not been the case ; this he regretted as otherwise he would have " expressed them more clearly." When publishing his Indulgence theses he had had the truth concerning " the grace of Christ " which he also defended at Heidelberg much at heart, for the result of the abuse of the system of Indulgences was, that there was scarcely anyone who did not hope to obtain the great gift of the " grace of God " by means of a paltry Indulgence, a disgraceful reversal of the true order of things. 4. Attitude to the Church The foundations of the principal erroneous doctrines of the new theology were already laid at a time when Luther was still unmistakably asserting the authority of the Church and the Papacy and the duty of submission incumbent on all who desired to be true Christians. Neither before his deviation from the Church's doctrine nor whilst the new views were growing and becoming fixed, did he go astray with respect to the binding nature of the Church's teaching office, or seek to undermine the Divine pre-eminence of the Holy See. Such a course would, it is true, have been logical, as not one of the doctrines which the Church proposes for belief can be assailed without the w r hole of her doctrinal edifice being affected, and without calling in question both her infallibility and her rightful authority. Only subsequent to the Leipzig Disputation, at which Luther unreservedly denied the doctrinal authority of General Councils, do we find him prepared to abandon the traditional view with regard to the Church and her teaching office. The formal principle of Lutheranism dates only from this denial. The determining factor is no longer ecclesiastical authority, but the private judgment of the individual, i.e. the understanding of Holy Scripture- now considered as the only source of religious knowledge- acquired under the guidance of Divine enlightenment. Even then Luther was in no hurry to formulate any clear theory of the Church, of the Communion of the Faithful, of the oneness of Faith, and of its mouthpiece. On the contrary, he frequently returns then and even later, as will be seen below, to his 322 LUTHER THE MONK earlier conception of the Church, so natural was it to him and to his time, so indispensable did her claims appear to him, and so logically did they result from the whole connection between Divine Revelation and the scheme of salvation. How are we to explain this contradiction so long present in Luther's mind, viz. his abandonment of the principal dogmas of the Church and, at the same time, his emphatic assertion of the Church's authority ? Chiefly by his lack of theological training, also by his confusion of mind and deficiency in real Church feeling ; then again by his excess of imagination, by his pseudo-mysticism, and above all by his devotion to his own ideas. Moreover, as we know, the two conflicting tendencies did not dwell at peace within him but were responsible for great restlessness and trouble of mind. Had he been more in living touch with the faith and spirit of the Church, he would doubtless have recognised the urgent necessity of choosing between an absolute abandonment of his new theological views and a definite breach with the Church of his fathers. In explanation of the confusion of his attitude to the Church we must call to mind what has already been said, how, owing to the evils rampant in the Church, he had not had the opportunity of seeing that Divine institution at its best, a fact which may have helped to weaken in his mind the conception of her sublime mission and the binding nature of her ancient faith. He remained in the Church, just as he remained in the religious state, though its ideals had become sadly obscured in his eyes. In its place he built up for himself an imaginary world, quite mistaking the true state of affairs with regard to his own position. He fancied that the representatives of the Church would gradually come round to his point of view, seeing that it was so well founded. He thought that the Papacy, when better informed, would never be able to condemn the inferences he had made from the clear Word of God, and his precious discovery for the solacing of every sinner. Perhaps he also sought to shelter himself behind the divergent opinions entertained by the theologians of that day with regard to justification. Several details, as yet undefined, of this dogma, were then diversely explained, though no doubt existed regarding the essentials. The ATTITUDE TO THE CHURCH 323 views propounded by members of the Council of Trent show how many side questions in this department called for definition and learned research before the Council could arrive at the classical formulation of the whole matter. 1 No true theologian, however, owing to want of distinctness in the minor details of the dogma was, like Luther, prepared to cast it overboard, or to demand its entire revision. In the case of this strangely constituted man inward discernment alone counted for anything. With him this outweighed far too easily all the claims of external authority, and how could it be otherwise when, already at an early stage of his career, while perusing the Holy Scriptures he had felt the Spirit of God in his new ideas? We have a picture of his feelings in his letter to Spalatin of January 18, 1518, in which he says, the principal thing when studying the Book of Books is to " despair of our own learning and our own sagacity." " Be confident that the Spirit will instil the sense into your mind. Believe this on my experience. Therefore begin, starting with a humble despair, to read the Bible from the very commencement." 2 There is here no reference to the traditional interpretation handed down from the first centuries through the Fathers and the theologians ; in place of this each one is invited to seek for enlightenment under the guidance of that light which he assumes to be the " Spirit." And yet Luther's teaching with regard to the authority of the Universal Church is, according to a sermon preached in 1516, as follows : " The Church cannot err in proclaiming the faith ; only the individual within her is liable to error. But let him beware of differing from the Church ; for the Church's leaders are the walls of the Church and our fathers ; they are the eye of the body, and in them we must seek the light." 3 As the idea has not yet dawned upon him that the whole body of the bishops had strayed from the path of truth, he does not consider it necessary first to seek where the true Church is ; he simply finds it there where Peter presides in his successors. No private illumination, no works however great, justify a separation from the Papacy. 4 In accordance with this principle, even in 1518, amidst the storm of excitement and not long before the printing of his sermon on excommunication, he assures Staupitz, his Superior, with the utmost confidence : " I shall hold the Church's authority in all 1 Cp. Mohler, " Symbolik," pp. 100, 154 ff. 2 " Briefwechsel," 1, p. 142. " Werke," Weim. ed., 3, p. 170. a " Werke," Weim. ed., 1, p. 69. See above, p. 34 f. 324 LUTHER THE MONK honour " ; it is true, he goes on to say : "I have no scruple, Reverend Father, about going forward with my exploration and interpretation of the Word of God. The summons [to Rome] and the menaces which have been uttered do not move me. I am suffering, as you know, incomparably worse things which allow me to pay but little heed to such as are temporal and transitory." 1 The woes which he repeatedly utters against heretics, and of which we have already given a striking example (above, p. 225), are very startling, coming from his lips. In his exposition of the Psalms he points a warning finger at pride, the source of all heresies : " Out upon our madness, how often and how greatly, do we fall into this fault ! All the heretics fell through inordinate love of their own ideas. Hence it was not possible but that what was false should appear to them true, and, what was true, false. . . . Wisdom, in its original purity, can exist only in the humble and meek." 2 It would be easy to multiply the passages in which Luther, in his early days, asserts with absolute conviction the various doctrines of the Church which at a later date he was to attack. It may suffice to take as an example the doctrine of Indulgences which was soon to become the centre of the controversy started by his theses on this subject. Luther presents the doctrine quite clearly and correctly in a sermon on Indulgences preached in 1516. 3 Here he makes his own the general Catholic teaching, notwith- standing that it clashes with his ideas on grace and justifica- tion, a fact of which he assuredly was aware. " An Indulgence," he says, " is the remission of the temporal punishment which the penitent would have to undergo, whether imposed by the priest or endured in Purgatory ; formerly, for instance, seven years [of penance] were imposed in this way for certain sins." " Therefore we must not imagine that our salva- tion is straightway secured when we have gained an Indulgence," as it merely remits the temporal punishment. " Those alone obtain complete remission of the punishment who, by real con- trition and confession, are reconciled with God." " The souls in Purgatory, as the Bull expressly states, profit by the Indulgence only so far as the power of the Keys of Holy Church extend " ; "per applicationem intercessions, " as he says, i.e. to use the common theological expression, " per modum suffragii."* "Hence the immediate and complete liberation of souls from Purgatory is not to be assumed." " The Indulgences are [i.e. are based on] the merits of Christ and His saints and are therefore to be 1 Letter of September 1, 1518, " Brief wechsel," 1, p. 223. 2 " Werke," Weim. ed., 4, p. 83. 8 Ibid., 1, p. 65 ff. * Ibid., p. 65 ff. ATTITUDE TO THE CHURCH 325 accepted with due veneration." " However the case may stand with regard to the abuses to be apprehended in the use of in- dulgences," so he ends his lengthy and important explanation, " the offer and acceptance of Indulgences is of the greatest utility, and perhaps in our times when God's mercy is so greatly despised, it is His Will to bestow His favours upon us by means of these Indulgences. . . . Indulgences must, however, never lead us, of the Church militant, to a false sense of security and to spiritual indolence." The speaker goes much more fully into detail on many difficult questions than could be done in a sermon to-day. On certain subtle points of theological controversy regarding Indulgences, which had as yet not been definitely settled among the learned, he admits his ignorance and his doubts. One thing, however, is certain, namely, that he had no right to assert, as he did later, that the age was steeped in the deepest ignorance with regard to the nature of Indulgences, merely because some of these more recondite questions had not been fully solved. His own sermon just quoted is a refutation of the charge. In this sermon he also attacks the abuses which in those days were connected with the system of Indulgences, particularly the disorders which prevailed at the sermons and collections made for Indulgences granted in support of various pious works and usually undertaken by certain noted popular preachers. In one of his strong generalisations he thus addressed his hearers at the very commencement : " Indulgences have become the dirty tool of avarice ! Who is there who seeks the salvation of souls by their means and not rather the profit of his purse ? The behaviour of the Indulgence-preachers makes this plain ; for these commissaries and their delegates do nothing in their sermons but praise the Indulgences and urge the people to give donations, without instructing them as to what an Indulgence is." 1 At that time John Tetzel was making a great stir with the preaching of the Indulgence granted by Pope Leo X for the church of St. Peter in Rome. Luther's inward falling away from the teaching of the Church and his whole state of mind had made him ripe for a great public struggle. His action with regard to Tetzel was merely the result of what had gone before, and the consequences of the controversy were vastly more important than the actual point in dispute. Many years later, when the circumstances appeared to him very different from what they really were, Luther related that he had lived in humble retirement in his monastery, studying Holy Scripture and following his calling as Doctor of the Word of God until he was drawn by force into the controversy, and called forth into the arena of 1 " Werke," Weim. ed., 1, p. 65. 326 LUTHER THE MONK public life. " I was completely dead to the world till God deemed the time had come ; then Squire Tetzel excited me with the Indulgence and Doctor Staupitius spurred me on against the Pope." l Then gradually, so he says, his " other preaching followed," i.e. that against " holiness by works," and set free those who had become " quite weary " of Popery with its self -righteous- ness ; this " other preaching " was as follows : " Christ says : Be at rest ; thou art not pious, I have done all for thee, thy sins are forgiven thee." 2 Nevertheless, for some years, so he assures us, he continued to practise " in ignor- ance " the works of idolatry and unbelief in the monastery, those works to which " everyone clung " ; 3 then at last he cut himself adrift and laid aside the monk's habit " to honour God and shame the devil." 4 1 " Colloquia," ed. Bindseil, 3, p. 188. 2 " Werke," Erl. ed., 48, p. 401. 3 Ibid., 49, p. 300. * " Colloquia," ed. Bindseil, 1, p. 183. These words are there placed in the year 1523. CHAPTER IX THE INDULGENCE THESES OF 1517 AND THEIR AFTER-EFFECTS 1. Tetzel's preaching of the Indulgence ; the 95 theses A MEMBER of the Dominican Order who would otherwise have remained but little known in history obtained through Luther a world-wide name. Everyone has heard of the Indulgence-preacher, John Tctzel, the active and able popular speaker, to whom Albert of Brandenburg, Archbishop and Elector of Mayence, entrusted the proclamation of the Indulgence granted by Leo X for the building of the new Church of St. Peter. In 1516 and 1517 he made the Indulgence known throughout the dioceses of Magdeburg and Halberstadt, appealing everywhere for funds to carry out the great enterprise in Rome. What he taught was, in the main, the same as Luther had previously taught regarding Indulgences (see above, p. 324) ; he, like all theologians, was careful to point out that an Indulgence was to be considered merely as a re- mission of the temporal punishment due to sin, but not of the actual guilt of sin. 1 He declared, quite rightly, that the erection of the Church of St. Peter was a matter of common interest to the whole Christian world, and that the donations towards it were to be looked upon as part of the pious undertakings and good works which were always required 1 Many of the erroneous Protestant notions as to the doctrine of Indulgences might be removed by a glance at any Catholic handbook of theology. See, for instance, Hurter, " Theol. dogmat.," ed. 11 (1903), t. 3, p. 499 seq., 509, where, for example, the expression " relaxatio pcence et culpce," which has shocked so many moderns, is explained in the correct historical and theological sense, reference, for instance, being made to the article by N. Paulus (partly against Th. Brieger) in the "Zeitschrift fur kath. Theol.," 23, 1899, p. 48 ff, " Johann von Paltz iiber Ablass und Reue." The German Augustinian Paltz is an authentic witness to the Catholic view at that time. " The guilt is remitted," he says, " by virtue of the Sacrament of Penance which is here introduced, and the punishment by virtue of the Indulgence which is here dispensed." " Celifodina," fol. x., 1, in Paulus, p. 51, n. 4. 327 328 LUTHER THE MONK by the Church as one of the conditions for gaining an Indulgence. At the same time, in accordance with the teaching and practice of the Church, he demanded of all, as an essential preparation for the Indulgence, conversion and change of heart together with a good confession. 1 The proclamation of this Indulgence on behalf of St. Peter's which was preached throughout almost the whole of the Christian world- in the great dioceses of Mayence and Magdeburg, had been entrusted by Leo X, in 1514, to Archbishop Albert of Brandenburg, who held both these sees. This respected but worldly minded Elector had made the customary payment, in this instance a very heavy one, to the Roman Court for his confirmation in the see of Mayence and in return for the pallium. He had also, in compliance with an appeal made by the Papal Dataria, presented to the Holy See ten thousand ducats, which he had raised through J;he Fuggers of Augsburg, in order to secure the above Indulgence for his dioceses ; in return for this the Pope had made over to him, once for all, one-half of the total proceeds of the Indulgence. With this he hoped to repay his creditors, the Fuggers. 2 The details of this affair will be dealt with later, but we may here remark that it was a transaction which certainly was unworthy of so sacred a cause as that of an Indulgence, and which can only be explained by the evil customs of that day, the pressure applied by Albert's agents, and the influence of the avaricious Florentine party at the Papal Court. Though perhaps not actually simoniacal it certainly cannot be approved. We cannot here refrain from drawing attention to a fact which stands for all time as a solemn warning to the pastors of the Church. Just as the sight of the corruption, both ecclesiastical and moral, in Rome under Julius II, and the remembrance of an Alexander VI, had filled Luther with bitter prejudice on his journey to Italy, so the extremely worldly and regrettable action of the Curia, and episcopal toleration of actual abuses in the promulgation of the Indulgence, supplied him with welcome matter for his 1 See below, ix. 2. 2 A. Schulte, " Die Fugger in Rom 1495-1523," 2 vols., Leipzig, 1904. W. Schors, " Die Mainzer Erzbischofswahl und der Ablass vora Jahre 1514," in the Innsbruck " Zeitschrif t f iir kath. Theol.," 31, 1907, pp. 267-302. For details on this matter see the next section. TETZEL'S PREACHING 329 charges and with a deceitful pretext for the seducing of countless souls. Luther learned many discreditable particulars con- cerning the arrangement arrived at between Rome and Mayence for the preaching of the Indulgence and the use to which half of the spoils was to be applied. What provoked Luther and many others was not only the abuses which prevailed in the use of Indulgences, about which there was much grumbling, and the constantly recurring collections which were a burden both to the rulers and their people, but also the tales current regarding the behaviour of the monk acting as Indulgence-preacher. Tetzel did not exactly shine as an example of virtue, although the charges against his earlier life are as baseless as the reproach of gross ignor- ance. He w r as, as impartial historians have established, forward and audacious and given to exaggeration. In his sermons, mainly owing to his popular style of address, he erred by using expressions only to be styled as strained and ill-considered. He even employed phrases of a repulsive nature in his attempts to extol the power of the Indulgence preached by him. In addition to this, in explaining how the Indulgence might be applied to the departed, he made his own the wrong, exaggerated and quite unauthorised opinions of certain isolated theologians, putting them on an equal footing with the real teaching of the Church. Such private opinions, it is true, had also found their way into some of the official instructions on Indulgences. At any rate, Tetzel, with misplaced zeal, mingled what was true with what was false or uncertain. The great concourse of people who gathered to hear the celebrated preacher also led to many disorders, more particularly when, as was the case at Annabcrg, the occasion of the yearly fair was turned to account in order to publish the Indulgence. Shortly after the sermon already spoken of Luther preached again at Wittenberg on the Indulgence and its abuses, but without expressly referring to Tetzel. Another sermon on the same subject was delivered at the Castle in the presence of the Elector on the occasion of the exposition of the rich collection of relics belonging to the Castle Church. He still openly admitted the value of Indulgences, but more and more he was disposed to find fault w T ith the formal- ism into which the system had degenerated. Later he 330 LUTHER THE MONK declared that he had begun, already in 1516, " to dispute about Indulgences and to write against the Pope " ; only the first part of this clause is, however, true, and that only in a certain sense. He had as yet written nothing against the Primacy or against Indulgences as such. There is also no foundation for the statement that, as soon as he heard from Staupitz (at Grimma) of Tetzel's behaviour, he exclaimed : " Please God, I will knock a hole in his drum." It was on the question of Indulgences that the wider controversy around his new doctrines, which were now complete, was to commence. In October, 1517, he decided to make a public attack on Tetzel. This he did when, on the Eve of All Saints, October 31, 1517, he nailed up his 95 theses on Indulgences on the door of the Castle Church at Wittenberg. As All Saints was the Titular Feast of the Church l and as, on that day, numbers would be flocking thither to celebrate the festival, he counted on securing wide publicity for his theses. As a matter of fact, by this means, and thanks to the efforts of Luther and his friends, the printed theses were soon known everywhere. Their very boldness and impudence also contributed to their popularity. They were soon being read throughout Germany, exciting general surprise and even admiration of the Monk's language. The number of those who sincerely applauded the theses, or who, at any rate, approved of the greater part of their contents, was much greater than has been generally believed. The theses, of course, contained things which were incomprehensible to non-theologians, but the very tone in which they were written showed all the stupendous im- portance of the step which had been taken. The more timid were pacified by an introductory explanation of the author embodied in the paper containing the theses, which stated that the propositions did not determine anything definite, but that " out of love and zeal for the ascertaining of the truth " a public Disputation on these questions would be held by Luther at Wittenberg, and that those who were precluded from taking a personal part in the debate might state their objections in writing. 2 1 Not the anniversary of its dedication. Cp. N. Miiller in the " Archiv fur Reformationsgesch.," (6), 1909, p. 184, n. 4. 2 " Luthers Werke," Weim. ed., 1, p. 529. For the theses see also, Erl. ed., " Opp. Lat. var.," 1, p. 285 seq. THE INDULGENCE THESES 331 If we examine the theses more closely and watch the behaviour of their author after they were made public, there appears to be no doubt that they were considered by him as settled beforehand and not merely as tentative propositions. Many of them, from the theological point of view, go far beyond a mere opposition to the abuse of Indulgences. Luther, stimulated by contradiction, had to some extent altered his previous views on the nature of Indulgences, and brought them more into touch with the fundamental prin- ciples of his erroneous theology. A practical renunciation of the doctrine of Indulgences, as it had been held up to that time, is to be found in the theses, where Luther states that Indulgences have no value in God's sight, but are merely to be regarded as the re- mission by the Church of the canonical punishment (theses 5, 20, 21, etc.). This destroys the theological meaning of Indulgences, for they had always been considered as a remission of the temporal punishment of sin, but as a remission which held good before the Divine Judgment- seat. 1 In some of the theses (58, 60) Luther likewise attacks the generally accepted teaching with regard to the Church's treasury of grace, on which Indulgences are based. Erroneous views concerning the state of purgation of the departed occur in some of the propositions (18, 19, 29). Others appear to contain what is theologically incorrect, and connected with his opinion regarding grace and justifica- tion ; this opinion is not, however, clearly set forth in the list of theses. Many of the statements are mere irritating, insulting and cynical observations on Indulgences in general, no distinction being made between what was good and what was perverted. Thus, for instance, thesis 66 declares the " treasures of Indulgences " to be simply nets " in which the wealth of mankind is caught." Others again scoff and mock at the authority of the Church, as, for example, thesis 86. " Why does not the Pope build the Basilica of St. Peter with his own money and not with that of the poverty-stricken faithful, seeing that he possesses to-day greater riches than the most wealthy Crcesus ? " In order that a certain echo of the author's mystical 1 Cp. Nos. 19, 20 and 21 of the 41 propositions of Luther condemned in 1520. 332 LUTHER THE MONK Theologia Crucis may not be wanting even in this public document, the last two theses contain a protest against the formalism of the system of Indulgences : " Let Christians be exhorted to follow Christ, their Head, through suffering and through the pains of death and hell," " in order the better to reach heaven they should put their trust in much tribulation rather than in the certainty of peace." The 95 theses spread rapidly through Germany, adding dangerously to the already widespread dissatisfaction with the Church and the Pope. To Scultetus, Bishop of Brandenburg, within whose jurisdic- tion Wittenberg lay, and to others, too, Luther continued to explain the matter as though the theses were merely intended to serve as the basis for a useful Disputation, 1 which, however, as a matter of fact, never took place. He assured the chief pastor of Brandenburg of his absolute submission and his readiness to follow the Catholic Church in everything. At the same time, however, he stated quite clearly that, in his opinion, nothing could be advanced against his theses either from Holy Scripture, Catholic doctrine or canon law, with the exception of the utterances " of some few canonists, who spoke without proofs, and of some of the scholastic Doctors who cherished similar views, but who also were unable to demonstrate anything " ; it was not, of course, for him to give any decision, but he might surely be permitted to open a discussion by means of the Disputation. Relying on his skill at debate, he looked forward to a victory over Tetzel and to an opening for commencing the struggle against the abuses connected with the preaching of the Indulgence. Here we may recall the words of his pupil Oldecop, already quoted before : " He spoke in unmeasured terms against it [i.e. Indulgence-preaching], with great impetuosity and audacity." He started the controversy, being, says Oldecop, " by nature proud and audacious." 2 Carried away by the astounding and ever-growing applause of those who were otherwise loyal to the Church, and deaf to the warnings and admonitions given him, Luther launched among the people a German work entitled 1 Letter to Bishop Hieronymus Scultetus of May 22, 1518 (?), " Briefwechsel," 1, p. 150 : " Inter quce sunt de quibus dubiio, nonnulla iynoro, aliqua et nego." P. 151 : " Dispute non assero," etc. 2 " Chronik," ed. K. Euling, p. 48 f. Cp. above, p. 280. THE INDULGENCE THESES 333 " A Sermon on Indulgences and Grace," which contains statements yet more vehement and seditious. Almost at the same time, and in the greatest haste, he put on paper the weighty " Resolutions " on his theses, written in Latin for the benefit of the more learned. The latter appeared in print in the spring of 1518. Meanwhile, at the beginning of 1518, the Archbishop of Mayence had forwarded to Rome an account of the move- ment which had been started and of the Monk's theses. As a result of this step the Pope, Leo X, on February 3, instructed P. Gabriele della Volta, Vicar to the General of the Augustinians, to seek to turn Luther aside from his erroneous views by letter and by the admonitions of honest and learned men ; delay might fan the spark into a flame which it might be impossible to extinguish. 1 There is no doubt that instructions to this effect were despatched by Volta to Staupitz, and probably other measures were contemplated at the approaching Chapter of the German Augustinian Congregation at Heidelberg ; the calming of the storm was a duty incumbent primarily on the Order itself, and the Holy See accordingly decided to act through Luther's immediate superiors. Unfortunately, nothing whatever is known of any steps taken by the Order at this early stage. At the Heidelberg Chapter, which was held towards the end of April (above, p. 315) the election of a new Vicar-General of the Congregation to which Luther belonged had to take place ; a new Rural Vicar had also to be elected in place of Luther, as the latter had now com- pleted his term of office. It seems plain that Staupitz and the large party who favoured Luther wished to act as gently as possible and not to interfere in the movement beyond making the necessary change in the person of the Rural Vicar. After Luther had received the summons to Heidelberg, the Elector wrote to Staupitz a letter dated Friday in 1 Cp. Pastor, "History of the Popes," volume vii., English trans- lation, p. 3d. Kalkoff, "ForschungenzuLuthersromischemProzess/ 1 Rom., 1905, p. 44 f., and " Zu Luthers romischem Prozess : Das Verfahren des Erzbischofs v. Mainz gegen Luther," in " Zeitschrift fur Kirchengesch.," 31, 1910, pp. 48-65. Cp. ibid., p. 368 ff., on the Dominicans. Both authors should be consulted for the subsequent history of Rome's intervention. The Papal letter in Bembi, Epislolce Leonis X, 1. 16, n. 18. 334 LUTHER THE MONK Easter week, with a request to see that Luther, on account of his lectures, " shall return here at the very earliest and not be delayed or detained." 1 We cannot infer from this or from the Elector's letter of safe conduct for Luther himself, that measures against him were anticipated at the Chapter. These documents merely prove the exceptional favour which Luther enjoyed with the reigning Prince. Luther started from Wittenberg on April 11. Being a monk he had to make the journey on foot as far as Wurzburg ; after having been hospitably entertained by the Bishop, Lorenz von Bibra, who was very well disposed towards him, he proceeded to Heidelberg by coach, together with Johann Lang and some other monks. The Chapter re-elected Staupitz and made Johann Lang Rural Vicar in Luther's stead, a choice which, as already hinted, expressed approval rather than disapproval of what Luther had done. It was also very significant of the position adopted by the Augus- tinian Congregation, that Luther should have been per- mitted to preside at the Heidelberg Disputation. He advanced the theses, which have already been discussed (above, p. 317), containing the denial of free will, i.e. the most important element of his new teaching, and entrusted their defence to Master Leonard Beyer, an Augustinian of Wittenberg, who conducted the debate in the presence of the assembled Chapter and professors of Heidelberg University, who had also been invited. It is remarkable that the question of Indulgences, which was so greatly agitating the minds of all, was not touched upon in the Disputation. Perhaps it was thought better, from motives of prudence, to avoid this subject altogether at Heidelberg. At the beginning of May Luther returned to Wittenberg by way of Wurzburg and Erfurt. He took advantage of his stay at Dresden to preach a sermon before Duke George and his Court on July 25, 1518. In this sermon he spoke in such a way of " the true understanding of the Word of God," of the " Grace of Christ and eternal Predestination," and of the overcoming of the " Fear of God," that the Duke, who was a staunch adherent of the Church, was much displeased, and often declared afterwards that such teaching only made men presumptuous. The account of the sermon and of Duke George's opinion is first found in the" Origines 1 Kolde, " Die deutsche Augustinerkongregation," p. 313. THE "RESOLUTIONS" 335 Saxonicce" 1 of George Fabricius, who died in 1571. But Luther himself refers to the opposition excited in several quarters by a controversial sermon he preached there, and remarks, cynically : such fault-finders only speak from an idle desire for praise ; these gossips want everything and are able to do nothing, they are a " serpent's brood," " masked faces " whom I despise. 2 On his return to Wittenberg he devoted himself to finishing the Resolutions on the Indulgence theses. On August 21 he sent the first printed copy to Spalatin. These Latin Resolutiones disputationis de virtute indul- gentiarum, which dealt exclusively with the defence of the 95 theses, were more hostile in tone towards the whole system of Indulgences than any of his previous utterances. They show Luther's fiery temper and his state of irritation even more plainly than the theses themselves. In them his new teaching on faith and grace was for the first time launched on the public in unmistakable outline. Even abroad the learned were drawn into the movement by the Latin publication which brought the matter within their range. Together with his Resolutions, Luther published two letters, very submissive in tone, addressed, one to the Bishop of Brandenburg, as Ordinary of Wittenberg, and the other to Pope Leo X. To the Pope he said that he had ventured to address himself to him because he had learned that some persons at Rome were attempting to blacken his reputation, as though he were infringing the power of the Keys of the successor of St. Peter. He explained the reason of the controversy from his own point of view and declared : "I cannot recant." In the same letter, however, he asserts his readiness to listen to Leo's voice " as to the Voice of Christ, who presides in him and speaks through him " ; one thing only he asks, viz. that the Pope will deal with him just 1 " Origines illustr. stirpis Saxonicce 1. 7," lenae, 1597, p. 859. Seckendorf, in his " Comment, de Lutheranismo," relates the same from Fabricius. Both, however, make the mistake of placing the event a year too early. N. Paulus, in the " Histor.-polit. Blatter," 137, 1906, p. 51 f., doubts the credibility of the story, because Fabricius is devoid of the critical spirit. It is not clear whether Luther refers to some other sermon. 2 To Spalatin, January 14, 1519, " Briefwechsel," 1, p. 349. For further particulars with regard to the Dresden visit, which has been so much misrepresented, see below, ix. 4. 336 LUTHER THE MONK as he pleases. " Enliven me, kill me, call me back, confirm me, reject me, just as it pleases you ! " 1 In the Resolutions, on the other hand, we read : "It makes no impression on me what pleases or does not please the Pope. He is a man like other men. There have been many Popes to whom not only errors and vices, but even enormities (monstra) were pleasing. I attend to the Pope as Pope, i.e. as he speaks in the laws of the Church, or when he decides in accordance with them, or with a Council, but not when he speaks out of his own head." 2 At a later date he did not make any secret of the weakness of so ambiguous a position. On one occasion in later years when looking back upon the commencement of the struggle, he said he had begun the controversy "as an unreflecting and stupid Papist," that he had been drawn into the business by " his own foolishness," that his " weakness and inconsequence " had been deplorably exhibited, seeing that he then still worshipped the Pope ; before this Lord of Heaven and Earth, he writes, everything still trembled, and he, the little, monk, more like a corpse than a man, had only dared to advance with lamentable uncertainty and fear. 3 In the same passage, he says : " I was certainly not glad and confident at the outset." " What my heart suffered in the first and second years, how I lay on the ground, yea, almost despaired, of that they [my rivals, the fanatics] know nothing, though they were happy to fall upon the Pope after he had been severely wounded [by me]. They have sought to take this honour to themselves, and, for all I care, they are welcome to it." " They are ignorant of the Cross and of Satan " ; but I only attained " to strength and wisdom through death agonies and combats." . While Luther was superintending the printing of the Resolutions at Wittenberg he was at the same time engaged on other works. Johann Eck had replied to his Indulgence theses by the so-called " Obelisci," which Luther met with the " Aster- isci," and as Tetzel, for his part, had issued a refutation of the sermon on Indulgence and Grace, Luther brought out a 1 May 30, 1518 (?), " Brief wechsel," 1, p. 200 f. Weim. ed., 1, p. 527 ff. " Opp. Lat. var.," 2, p. 220. Weim. ed., p. 582, Concl. 26. 9 "Opp. Lat. var.," 4, p. 328 seq., in a Preface to his Disputations. ON EXCOMMUNICATION 337 work in reply, entitled " Freedom of the Sermon on Indulgence and Grace." Fearing that the Pope would excommunicate him, Luther preached a sermon to the inhabitants of Wittenberg in the early summer of 1518, possibly on May 16, on the power of excommunication ; what he there put forth excited wide- spread comment and irritation. This sermon he issued in print in August, but in an amended form. In it he says excommunication is invalid in the case of one who honestly asserts the truth ; nevertheless, it must be obeyed. He blames the all too frequent use of excommunication, as many good Churchmen had done before him. It had been recognised and taught from Patristic times that unjust excommunication did not deprive the excommunicate of a part in the inward life of the Church (anima ecclesice). This Luther emphasises for his own party purposes, but without as yet setting up " a new view of the nature of the Church." He says, in a letter to his elderly friend Staupitz, that, owing to the action of his adversaries, " a new flame " would surely be kindled by this sermon, though he had extolled the power of the Pope in it, as was fitting ; he declares that he is the persecuted party ; " but Christ still lives and reigns yesterday, to-day and for ever. My conscience tells me I have taught the truth ; but it is just this which is hated whenever its name is mentioned. Pray for me that I may not rejoice overmuch nor be over-confident in myself in this trouble." He trusts to triumph, by printing the sermon referred to, overall those who had listened to it with jealousy, and maliciously misrepresented it. Yet his mood is by no means one of unmixed joy ; he hints in the same letter to Staupitz at mysterious interior sufferings which weigh upon him " incomparably more heavily," so he says, than the fear of any measures Rome may take. At the same time he is quite carried away by the idea that he must, at any cost, fight against the contempt which the Romanists are heaping upon the Kingdom of Christ. 1 Meanwhile, in March, 1518, complaints had again been carried to Rome by some Dominicans. Towards the middle of June fresh official steps were taken by Rome against Luther's person, this time without the intervention of the 1 Sept. 1, 1518, " Briefwechsel," 1, p. 223. I. z 338 LUTHER THE MONK Order. The course of these proceedings has been made plain by recent research. The Papal Procurator Fiscal, Mario de Perusco, raised a formal charge against the monk on the suspicion of spreading heresy. By order of the Pope, the preliminary examination was conducted by the Bishop of Ascoli, Girolamo Ghinucci, as Auditor-General for suits in the Apostolic Camera, while Silvester Mazzolini of Prierio (Prierias), the Magister S. Palatii, who, like all Mayors of the Apostolic Palace, belonged to the Dominican Order, was entrusted with the task of perming a learned opinion on the questions involved. As Prierias had already made a study of the Indulgence theses, he, as he himself says, took only three days to draw up the opinion, which, moreover, he did not intend to stand as an actual theological refutation. It was at once printed, being entitled " In prcesumptuosas M. Lutheri conclusiones de potestate papce dialogus." The work was not free from exaggerations and gratuitous insults. At the beginning of July, 1518, Luther was summoned to appear within sixty days at Rome to stand his trial. Ghinucci and Prierias sent the summons to Cardinal Cajetan, who was then stopping at Augsburg, in order that he might forward it to the Wittenberg Professor. Prierias's pamphlet accompanied it, and Luther received both together on August 7. He said at a later date in his Table-Talk, alluding to the work of the Mayor of the Apostolic Palace, that the despatch from Rome had stirred his blood to the utmost, as he had then realised that the matter was deadly earnest, since Rome was inexorable. The very next day, with many contemptuous and dis- affected remarks on the citation, he set about inducing the Elector to use his influence with the Holy See in order that judges might be appointed to try the case in Germany ; he hoped to be thereby spared the dreaded journey to Rome. It was at that time that he published the sermon on excom- munication referred to above. On the day following the receipt of the summons he set to work on a pamphlet in reply to the Dialogus of Prierias, which appeared at the end of August. 1 This Latin Responsio he finished in two days, thus beating Prierias, as he triumphantly informs him. It is arrogant and insulting in tone, vindicates all the 1 " Werke," Weim. ed., 1, p. 647 ff. AGAINST PRIERIAS 339 theses one by one, and asserts some of the errors contained in them in still stronger terms than before. He does not as yet deny the infallibility of the Councils, on the contrary, he explicitly admits it ; l neither does he in set words state that the Pope may emit false opinions when teaching on faith and morals, although in recent times both these errors have been said to be embodied in his reply. The obscure passage regarding the possibility of the Councils and Popes erring refers to their action in ecclesiastico-political matters, as the cases instanced by Luther show more clearly, e.g. the wars of Pope Julius II and the "tyrannical acts" which he attributes to Boniface VIII. It is true that the want of any clear admission in his reply of the doctrinal authority of the Church, his violent insistence on the Bible as interpreted by himself, and his arbitrary handling of the older theology and practice, gave cause for apprehending the worst. Against Prierias he defends the opinion, that our Saviour commanded what was impossible because we are always subject to concupiscence ; that the sons of God are forced to do what is good rather than left to perform it of their own accord, and, for this reason, the higher theology teaches that those actions are the best which Christ works in us without our co-operation, and those the worst "which according to the absolutely 'false teaching of Aristotle we perform by our own so-called free will." From the latter circumstance the pseudo-mystic infers that fasting, for instance, is excellent when the person who fasts is absolutely unconscious of what he is doing and thinking of something higher ; at such a moment he is furthest removed from any craving for food. Sacramental Penance, he says, is merely the commencement of penance, and zeal in its use could only be maintained by a miracle. 2 All these ideas, which, as we know from what has gone before, give a true picture of the direction of his mind, are to be found at the beginning of the work, of which the confusion is matched only by its pretensions. Because Prierias was a Dominican and Thomist, Luther here displays the bitterest animosity against the Thomistic school, an animosity which was henceforth never to cease, and likewise summons his national feeling as a German to help him against the Italian. In one of his letters Luther declared that he would let him see there were men in Germany well versed in the arts 1 Cp. V. Prop., n. 3 : " Non sum hcereticus si negativam teneo, donee determinetur a concilia." N. 6 : " Ego ecclesiam . . . representative non [scio] nisi in concilia " ; but it was incorrect " si quidquid facit ecclesia virtualis, id est papa (as Prierias stated), factum ecclesice dicitur " : The Pope and the Councils might err in their regulations on practical matters (" factum ecclesice). 2 See above, p. 291. 340 LUTHER THE MONK and wily tricks of the Romans ; if he continued to incense him, he would make free use of his wit and pen against him. 1 In his reply to Prierias, Luther had referred his opponent to the Resolutions to his Indulgence theses, which were then already in print. Staupitz forwarded to Rome the copy destined for the Pope. The letters to Staupitz and Leo X, which were incorporated in the work, were dated May 30, 1518, though the printing was not finished before August 21. As the Resolutions, Luther's most important work on the question of Indulgences, obstinately confirmed the errors already expressed, more severe measures were anticipated on the part of the Curia. In his efforts to procure the appointment of judges to try his cause in Germany, Luther sought, through the Elector, to make use of the mediation of the Emperor Maximilian. But the Emperor, who was earnestly solicitous for the welfare of religion, and at the same time was anxious to secure the Pope's favour on behalf of the election of his grandson Charles as King of Rome, wrote to Leo X, August 5, 1518, from Augsburg, that out of love for the unity of the faith he would support any measures the Pope might take against Luther. More severe proceedings against Luther were accordingly set on foot in Rome, even before the sixty days were over. These measures are outlined in the Brief of August 23, 1518, sent to Cardinal Cajetan, the Papal Legate at the Diet of Augsburg. In view of the notoriety of Luther's acts and teaching, with the assistance of the spiritual and secular power, Cajetan was to have him brought to Augsburg ; should force have to be used, or should Luther not recant, then Cajetan was to hand him over to Rome for trial and punish- ment ; he himself therefore was not to be the actual judge, but only to receive Luther's recantation. In the event of his presenting himself voluntarily at Augsburg and recanting, so ran the instructions, Luther was to find pardon and mercy. Should it be impossible to procure his appearance at Augsburg, then the measures provided by law and custom for such cases were to be enforced ; he and his followers were to be publicly excommunicated, and the authorities in Church and State were to be forced, if neces- 1 KSstlin-Kawerau, 1, p. 196. THE TETZEL LEGEND 341 sary under pain of interdict, to seize and deliver up the excommunicate. The Elector, Frederick the Wise, however, demanded a trial before Cardinal Cajetan at Augsburg; this was to be carried out with " paternal gentleness." He would not consent to sanction any other measures. Cajetan met his wishes without being untrue either to the Pope or to himself. " A man entirely devoted to study, without much practical knowledge of the world, he was no match for such an expert politician as Frederick of Saxony." 1 On September 11 he obtained from Leo X a Brief placing in his own hands the trial and decision on Luther's case. Thus the way was paved for Luther's historic trial at Augsburg. Fables regarding Luther and Tetzel Before passing on to the trial at Augsburg, we must first deal with the legends which cluster round the name of Tetzel and which were mostly started by Luther and the Papal Chamberlain, Carl von Miltitz. We have a detailed critical monograph on Tetzel by Dr. N. Paulus : " Johann Tetzel, der Ablassprediger," Mayence, 1899, which the same author 2 has since supplemented by other publica- tions. Paulus by his impartial research has sealed the fate of the principal legends connected with Tetzel's name. A statement made by Luther in 1541, i.e. at the time of his most bitter polemics, has been repeated countless times since, viz. that, in 1512, at Innsbruck, Tetzel the monk was condemned by the Emperor Maximilian to be drowned in the River Inn for the crime of adultery, and that only the intervention of the Elector, Frederick the Wise, had saved him from this fate. This is an untruth which Luther first made use of in his violent pamphlet " Wider Hans Worst." 3 Before that time he had never mentioned anything of the kind. A. Berger says of the supposed condemnation at Innsbruck : " Paulus has finally disposed of the infamous tale of adultery and no one will ever venture to bring it forward again."* Before this Th. Brieger had declared : " It is high time that this story which has been questioned even 1 See Pastor, " History of the Popes," English translation, volume vii., p. 372. 2 N. Paulus, " Die deutschen Dominikaner im Kampfe gegen Luther," 1903, pp. 1-9, " Johann Tetzel " j also in the " Katholik," 1899, 1, pp. 484-510; 1901, 1, pp. 453-68, 554-70. 3 " Werke," Erl. ed., 26, p. 50. 4 " Hist. Vierteljahrsschr. fur Gesch.," 5, 1902, p. 256. 342 LUTHER THE MONK by Protestants should disappear." 1 No authority whatever can be quoted for representing in an unfavourable light the private life of this man, who stood so prominently before the public. Concerning the supposed Innsbruck incident, Fr. Dibelius, Superintendent at Dresden, says : " among the imperfections and crimes alleged against Tetzel by his enemies the charge of immorality cannot be sustained." 2 The shortsighted Papal Chamberlain Miltitz, in his eagerness to secure peace on any terms, in the first years of the Indulgence controversy made common cause with those opponents of Tetzel who brought forward baseless charges of immorality against him after he had withdrawn, at the end of 1518, to the pious seclusion of his Dominican priory at Leipzig. In mid- January, 1519, Tetzel had to endure the most bitter reproaches from the ill-informed Papal agent. But, as Oscar Michael re- marks, " all attempts to set up Miltitz as a reliable witness will be in vain." 3 "What Miltitz relates of Tetzel is altogether unworthy of credence." Another Protestant writer had already before that expressed himself likewise. 4 With regard to the matter of Tetzel's sermons above referred to, it is chiefly to Luther that we owe the charge of flagrant errors and gross abuses in his proclamation of the Indulgence. " He wrote," so Luther explained to his friends, " that an Indulgence is a reconciliation between God and man and takes effect even though a man performs no penance, and manifests neither contrition nor sorrow." 5 " Tetzel put it so crudely that no one could fail to under- stand his meaning." 6 In his pamphlet of 1541 Luther says : " He sold grace for money at the highest price he could." He then instances six " horrible, dreadful articles " which the avaricious monk had preached. One of these which extols his Indulgence contains an offensive statement respecting Our Lady ; another declares that, according to Tetzel, " it was not necessary to feel sorrow or pain or contrition for sin, but whoever bought the Indulgence, or the Indulgence- letters," had also bought an Indulgence for " future sins " ; three of the articles say he had magnified the effects of the Indul- gence by the use of unseemly comparisons, and finally, one states 1 " Theol. Literaturztg.," 1900, p. 84. 2 In a lecture on Tetzel's Life and Teaching, " Dresdener Journal," 1903, March 20. 3 " Munchener Allgemeine Zeitung," 1901, April 18, Bell., No. 88. 4 Ibid,, 1900, May 14, Beil., No. 110. Cp. a like statement by anon- Catholic critic in the " Frankfurter Zeitung," 1899, October 8, No. 279. 5 " Werke," Erl. ed., 60, p. 239 ; cp. p. 271 f. 8 Ibid., p. 271. THE TETZEL LEGEND 343 that his teaching was that embodied in the ribald rhyme : " As soon as money in the coffer rings, the soul from purgatory's fire springs." As a matter of fact, the accusations brought against Tetzel, of having sold forgiveness of sins for money without requiring contrition, and of having even been ready to absolve from future sins in return for a money payment, are, as N. Paulus, and others before him, pointed out, utterly unjust. 1 Even Carlstadt, after he had gone over to the hostile camp of the new teaching, ad- mitted that the Indulgence sermons, including those of Tetzel, were in agreement with the generally accepted teaching of the Church ; of the enormities just referred to he knows nothing. Above all, Tetzel's own writings, likewise his instructions and also the testimony of strangers, all speak in his favour. " The Indulgence," Tetzel says in his " Vorlegung," " remits only the pain [i.e. the penalty] of sins which have been repented of and confessed." " No one merits an Indulgence unless he is in a truly contrite state." 2 Those who procured a Confession-letter received, according to an ancient usage, with the same letter permission to select a suitable confessor ; for this an alms was given. The confessor was able to absolve, after a good confession, from all sins, even in reserved cases, and to impart a Plenary Indulgence by virtue of the Papal authorisation. Tetzel was able with the help of official witnesses to refute the calumny with regard to Mary in his eulogy of the Indulgence. There can, however, be no doubt that he brought the pecuniary side of the Indulgence too much into the foreground. Another Dominican, a contemporary of his, Johann Lindner, criticises his behaviour as follows : Dr. Johann Tetzel of Pirna, of the Order of Preachers, from the Leipzig priory, a world-renowned preacher, proclaimed the Jubilee Year [Jubilee Indulgence] at Naumburg Leipzig, Magdeburg, Zwickau, Bautzen, Gorlitz, Cologne, Halle and many other places. . . . His teaching found favour with many ; but he devised unheard-of ways of raising money, was far too liberal in conferring offices, put up far too many public crosses [as a sign of the Indulgence-preaching] in towns and villages, which caused scandal and bred complaints among the people and brought the spiritual treasury into disrepute." 3 Finally the last of the " horrible articles " mentioned above does to some extent approach the truth. The saying about the money in the coffer cannot, indeed, be traced to Tetzel's own lips, yet in his sermons he advocated a certain opinion held by some Schoolmen (though in no sense a doctrine of the Church), viz. that an indulgence gained for the departed was at once and infallibly applied to this or that soul for whom it was destined. 1 Cp. also N. Paulus's article on the remitting of future sins in " Koln. Volkszeitung," 1905, Liter. Beilage, No. 43. * "Vorlegung wyder einen vormessen Sermon vom Ablass," etc. Without place or year (Frankfurt, 1518, 4 to , 15 Bl.). 3 Menckenius, " Scriptores rer. germ.," t. 2, Lips., 1728, p. 1486 Cp. N. Paulus, " Die deutschen Dominikaner," p. 7 f. 344 LUTHER THE MONK This view was not supported by the Papal Bulls of Indulgence, and Luther was not justified in asserting at a later date that the Pope had actually taught this. 1 Great theologians, such as Cardinal Cajetan, for instance, even then expressed themselves against such a view, which now is universally recognised as untenable. It was the wish of Cajetan that no faith should be given those preachers who taught such extravagances. " Preachers speak in the name of the Church," 2 he wrote, " only so long as they proclaim the teaching of Christ and the Church ; but if for purposes of their own, they teach that about which they know nothing and which is only their own imagination, they cannot be regarded as mouthpieces of the Church ; no one must be surprised if such as these fall into error." It is true, however, that even the more highly placed Indulgence Commissaries did not scruple, in their official proclamations, to set forth as certain this doubtful scholastic opinion. It is no wonder that Tetzel in his popular appeals seized upon it with avidity, for, in spite of certain gifts, he was no great theologian. He not only taught the certain and immediate liberation of the soul in the above sense but also the erroneous proposition that a Plenary Indulgence for the departed could be obtained without contrition and penance on the part of the living, simply by means of a money payment. Some of Tetzel's more recent champions have insinuated that the unfavourable opinion concerning his teaching rests merely on witnesses who reported on his sermons from hearsay without having themselves been present. As a matter of fact, however, the accusations do not rest merely on such testimony, but more especially on Tetzel's own theses, or " Anti-theses," as he called them, on his " Vorlegung " against Luther and on his second set of theses. This is reinforced by the official instructions on the Indulgence to which he was bound to conform. That a money payment alone is necessary for obtaining an Indulgence for the departed is indeed stated though wrongly in the instructions of Bomhauer and also in those of Arcimboldi and Albert of Brandenburg. The Anti-theses above mentioned were publicly defended by Tetzel on January 20, 1518, at the Uni- versity of Frankfort on the Oder ; they thus belong to Tetzel, though in reality they were drawn up by Conrad Wimpina, a Professor of Theology in that town. Paulus published a new edition of the Anti-theses, which were already known, from the original broadsheet which he discovered in the Court Library at Munich. 3 Four witnesses to the inaccuracy of Tetzel's sermons must be mentioned : firstly, the Town Clerk of Gorlitz, Johann Hass ; then Bertold Pirstinger, Bishop of Chiemsee and author of the 1 " Werke," Erl ed., 65, p. 78 : " The Pope had sternly commanded the angels to carry forthwith the souls of the departed to heaven." Just as Tetzel taught : "As soon as the penny rattles in the box, the soul flies straight from Purgatory to Heaven." 2 November 20, 1519. "Opuscula," Lugd., 1558, p. 121. N. Paulus, " Tet2iel," p. 165. a Ibid., p. 171 f, THE TETZEL LEGEND 345 " Tewtsche Theologey " ; thirdly,' the Saxon Franciscan Franz Folygranus ; and lastly, Duke George of Saxony. They confirm the statements taken from the above sources, and though their assertions do not rest on what they themselves heard, yet they may be considered as the echo of actual hearers. In connection with the above " horrible, terrible articles " taken from Tetzel's teaching, Luther makes a statement with regard to his own position and knowledge at that time, which, notwithstanding the sacred affirmation with which he introduces it, is of very doubtful veracity. " So truly as I have been saved by my Lord Christ," he says of the beginning of the Indulgence controversy in 1517, " I knew nothing of what an Indulgence was, and no more did anyone else." 1 It is possible that in 1541, when, as an elderly man, he wrote these words, they may have appeared to him to be true, but the sources from which history is taken demand that he himself as well as his Catholic contemporaries should be protected against such a charge of ignorance. His assertion has been defended by some Protestants on the assumption that his ignorance was only concerning the recipients of the revenues proceeding from the Indulgence. But why force his words ? They refer, as the whole context shows, to the theological doctrine of Indulgences. We need hardly remind our readers that the conviction that Luther was thoroughly well acquainted with the Catholic doctrine on Indulgences can be demonstrated by his own sermon on Indulgences of the year 151 6. 2 He there shows himself perfectly capable of distinguishing between the essentials of the Church's doctrine and the obscure and difficult questions which the theo- logians were wont to propound in their discussions. With regard to these latter, and these only, he admitted his uncertainty, as did other theologians too. This was as little a disgrace to him as the obscurity surrounding certain points was to the theology of the Church. But it is quite another matter when he says he did not even know what an Indulgence was. That no one else knew either, is a statement disposed of by his own sermon of 1516 and the various theological tracts on this subject. We need only recall the explanations of Cardinal Cajetan, of the Augustinian theologian and preacher Johann Paltz and of the continuator of the work of Gabriel Biel so much studied among the Augus- tinians Wendelin Steinbach, who succeeded Biel as professor at Tubingen. Biel himself had written on the question of Indulgences for the departed, and, in his appendices on this subject, had expressed himself quite correctly. Of the older theologians who preceded those we have men- 1 " Werke," Erl. ed., 26, p. 53. 2 " Werke," Weim. ed., 1, p. 65 seq. For the contents, see above p. 324 f. 346 LUTHER THE MONK tioned in a right appreciation of this subject, we may enumerate the Franciscans Richard of Middletown, Petrus de Palude and Franciscus Mayron ; the Dominicans Heinrich Kalteisen of Coblentz, whose writings on Indulgences have been re-edited by Dr. N. Paulus. All these treated the subject in accordance with the doctrine of St. Thomas of Aquin and St. Bonaventure. Kalteisen in his work, written in 1448 while he was Magister S. Palatii, refers expressly to St. Thomas, whose opinion on questions not yet definitively settled was ever considered the best. To mention only one point, all agree in interpreting the old expression (remissio peccatorum) usual in Indulgence-formula?, as meaning a remission of the temporal punishment. Suarez, at a later date, could well refer not only to " all theologians," but also to " all ' Summists,' " Le. to all those who had compiled moral Sums from the thirteenth to the sixteenth century. 1 Thus, in 1517, the theological side of the question of Indulgences was quite clear, and the statements made by Luther at a later date are not deserving of credit. It was Luther's false ideas on other points of theology and his determination to put an immediate end to the abuses connected with Indulgences, which led him in 1517 to make a general attack, even though partly veiled, on the whole ecclesiastical system of Indulgences. If we keep this in view, a statement of Luther's to which a false interpretation has been frequently given, becomes clear. According to an account given by Hieronymus Emser, he wrote to Tetzel at a time when the latter was suffering keenly under the reproaches heaped upon him : Not to worry, for it was not he who had begun the business, but that the child had quite another father. 2 This sentence has repeatedly been taken as a testimony against himself on Luther's part, as though by it he had intended to say : My new opinions and the desire to change the ecclesiastical order of things were the cause of my coming forward, the Indulgence was only an idle pretext. Luther's defenders, on the other hand, took it to mean : " The child has, it is true, another father, viz. God Himself Who took pity on His Church, and forced Luther to come forward." Both interpretations are wrong, and the 1 Cp. the article by Dr. N. Paulus : " Johann v. Paltz iiber Ablass und Reue " in the " Zeitschrift fur kath. theol.," 23, 1899, p. 48 ff. He treats in the same review of Wendelin Steinbach, 24, 1900, p. 262 : of Richard of Middletown, ibid., p. 12. See Kalteisen's writing, ibid., 27, 1903, p. 368 ff. We also possess a treatise on Indulgences by the secular priest Nic. of Dinkelsbiihl, professor at the University. 2 Emser, " Auff des Stieres tzu Wiettenberg wiettende Replica," Bl. A. 3'. Cp. "Luthers Briefe," ed. de Wette, volume vi., K. Seidemann, p. 18, where it is stated : " Luther's letter was in Eraser's hands." PREACHING OF THE INDULGENCE 347 following is the meaning as determined by the context : The attack which Luther made upon Tetzel was really directed against the authorities of the Church, against the Pope and Archbishop Albert of Brandenburg ; these, not Tetzel, were the " father of the child," and responsible for what afterwards happened. 1 Tetzel died August 11, 1519, broken down by the weight of the accusations brought against him and by the sight of the mischief which had been wrought, and was buried before the High Altar of the Dominican Church at Leipzig. To describe the unfortunate monk as the " cause " of the whole movement which began 1517 is, in view of what has been stated in the preceding chapters, the merest legend. Notwithstanding the efforts which Luther made to represent the matter in this or a similar light, it has been clearly 2 proved that his own spiritual development was the " cause," or at least the principal cause, though other factors may have co-operated more or less. If we turn our attention to the external circumstances and the reasons which led to Tetzel's Indulgence-preaching, we shall find that recent research has brought to light numerous facts to supplement those already known, and also various elements which dispose of the legends hitherto current. 2. The Collections for St. Peter's in History and Legend The scholarly, well-documented work of Aloysius Schulte has thrown a clearer light upon the question of the St. Peter's Indulgence and the part which the Archbishop of Mayence and Magdeburg played in the same (cp. above, p. 327). 3 In his later days Luther spread the following version of the origin of Tetzel's Indulgence-preaching : Albert of Mayence selected the " great clamourer " Tetzel as preacher 1 N. Paulus, "Tetzel," p. 169. 2 As he declares in "Werke," Erl. ed., 26, p. 50 ff. ; "The first, real and actual beginning of the Lutheran uproar" was Tetzel's preaching, and " the fame of it did not please me at all, for I did not know what an Indulgence was, and the song was getting too high for my voice," it was the Bishop of Mayence who really commenced the affair through " the cut-purse, Tetzel " ; he says in his Table-Talk : "If the Pope had only dismissed the Indulgence-mongers, I would willingly have been silent," " Colloquia," ed. Bindseil, 3, p. 195. 3 " Die Fugger in Rom 1495-1523," Bd. 1, Darstellung ; Bd. 2, Urkunden, Leipzig, 1904. 348 LUTHER THE MONK of the Indulgence in order, with one half of the proceeds of the business, which was the part of the spoils to be allotted to the Archbishop, to pay for the pallium which Rome had sent him ; the cost of the pallium was said to have amounted to 26,000 or even 30,000 gulden ; the Fuggers advanced this money to Archbishop Albert and then he, with Tetzel, " sent forth the Fugger cut-purses throughout the land." " The Pope, too, had his finger in the pic, and had seen that the [other] half went towards the building of St. Peter's in Rome." 1 At a later date some of the Protestants even averred that Tetzel " collected in the first and only year [of his preaching] one hundred thousand gulden." In the above statements there is a mixture of truth and false- hood. Various particulars, discreditable to both Rome and Mayence, had reached Luther by a sure hand ; for others he drew on his own imagination. 2 As early as 1519 he says in his memoranda for the negotiations with Miltitz : " The Pope, as his office required, should either have forbidden and hindered the Bishop of Magdeburg [Albert] from seeking so many bishoprics for himself, or have bestowed them upon him freely as he had himself received them from the Lord. But as the Pope encouraged the Bishop's ambition and gratified his own greed for gold by taking so many thousand gulden for the palliums, i.e. for the Bishops' mantles, and for the dispensation, he had, I said [this is Luther], forced and instigated the Bishop of Magdeburg to coin money out of the Indulgence. . . . Then I became impatient with such a lamentable business, and also, more especially, with the greed of the Florentines, who persuaded the good, simple Pope to do as they wished, and drove him into the greatest danger and misfortune." 3 Luther was well- informed regarding what was going on in Rome, probably owing to his having friends at the Court of Albert. He refers in 1518 to an " epistola satis erudita " from Rome which had come into his hands, and which inveighed in the strongest terms against the Florentines who surrounded the Pope, as the " most avaricious of men " ; " they abuse," so he writes, " the Pope's good nature in order to fill the bottomless pit of their passionate love of money."* With regard to the statement, that Archbishop Albert had petitioned the Pope for the Indulgence in order to pay off the debt he had incurred by receiving the See of Mayence in addition 1 " Werke," Erl. ed., 26, p. 52. 2 We shall come back later to the sources from which he drew his information. 3 " Brief wechsel," 1, p. 342. 4 To Spalatin, September 2, 1518, " Brief wechsel," 1, p. 227. Cp. Com. in Ep. ad. Gal., 3, p. 133. FINANCIAL DIFFICULTIES 349 to that of Magdeburg and also the expenses of the pallium, it has now been ascertained (the fact is certainly no less to Rome's discredit) that, in reality, it was the Roman authorities, who, for financial reasons, offered the Indulgence to the Archbishop ; Albert was to receive from the proceeds a compensation of 10,000 ducats, which sum, in addition to the ordinary fees, had been demanded of him on the occasion of his confirmation as Archbishop of Mayence on account of the dispensation necessary for combining the two Archiepiscopal Sees ; one half of the proceeds of the Indulgence was to be made over to him for the needs of the Arch- diocese of Mayence, the other half was to go towards the re- building of St. Peter's, for which object a collection had already commenced in other countries and was being promoted by the preaching of the Indulgence. Regarding the whole matter we learn the following details. When Bishop Albert of Brandenburg, the brother of the Brandenburg Elector, Joachim I, was chosen Archbishop in 1514 by the Cathedral Chapter of Mayence he was faced by great difficulties, financial as well as ecclesiastical. Was it likely that he would obtain from Rome his confirmation as Archbishop of Mayence, seeing that he was already Archbishop of Magdeburg and at the same time administrator of the diocese of Halber- stadt ? Would it be possible for him to raise the customary large sum to be paid for his confirmation and for the pallium, seeing that the Archdiocese of Mayence, owing to two previous vacancies in rapid succession, had already been obliged to pay this sum twice within ten years, and was thus practically bank- rupt ? The sum necessary, which was the same in the case of Treves and Cologne, amounted on each occasion to about 14,000 ducats. With regard to the confirmation-fees for the See of Mayence and the expenses of the pallium, the Elector Joachim, who, for political reasons, was extremely anxious to see his brother in possession of the electoral dignity of Mayence, promised to defray the same, and thus the Mayence election took place on March 9. The Archbishop-elect borrowed, on May 15 of the same year, 21,000 ducats from the Fuggers, the great Augsburg bankers no doubt with his brother's concurrence in order to be able to meet at Rome the necessary outlay for his confirmation and pallium. Grave doubts, however, were entertained in the Papal Curia as to whether, according to canon law, the above bishoprics might be held by the same person. Two of the offices in question were archbishoprics, and, hitherto, in spite of the prevalence of the abuse of placing several croziers in one hand, two arch- bishoprics had never been held by one man. Besides, the candi- date was only in his twenty-fourth year. An undesirable way out of the difficulty of obtaining the necessary dispensation for holding the three ecclesiastical dig- nities presented itself. An official of the Papal Dataria informed the ambassador from Brandenburg, that if Albert could be induced to pay 10,000 ducats beyond the customary fees " this 350 LUTHER THE MONK should not be looked upon as a composition [tax], as His Holiness, in return for the same, would grant a ten-year Plenary Indul- gence in the shape of a Jubilee in the diocese of Mayence." 1 This proposal emanated from the Papal officials, Leo X himself as yet refusing to hear anything about the money question. After lengthy negotiations the proposed plan was accepted by the principals on both sides in the following amended shape : The Indulgence, one half of the proceeds of which was to be devoted to the building of St. Peter's, and the other to the Arch- bishop of Mayence, was to be proclaimed for eight years, not only in the diocese of Mayence, but throughout the ecclesiastical provinces of Mayence and Magdeburg as well as in the domains of the house of Brandenburg (i.e. throughout almost the half of Germany, owing to the vastness of the province of Mayence) ; the proceeds were to be divided into two parts in the manner mentioned above, as alms for the erection of St. Peter's and as an income for the Archbishop of Mayence. The Pope, in his simple goodness of heart, was gradually induced, by political considera- tions, to agree to the proposal. On July 19 the matter was finally decided in Consistory. Thus no actual indemnity was paid for the dispensation (as Luther asserted) beyond the In- dulgence money and the alms for building. Pope Leo X con- firmed the supplied in question on August 1, 1514. The public Indulgence Bull, however, Sacrosancti Salvatoris, is dated March 31, 1515. The branch house of the Fuggers at Rome at once paid the sum of 10,000 ducats to the Pope. As the other fees for con- firmation and the pallium had already been paid, the induction of Albert as Archbishop of Mayence took place on August 18, 1514, no difficulty being raised as to his retaining the two other Sees. Every Catholic at the present day will agree with H. Schrors that " this manner of acquiring benefices with the assistance of an Indulgence was unworthy and reprehensible." 2 It brings before our eyes an instance of the ecclesiastical abuses prevalent just before the Reformation, and which cannot be sufficiently de- plored. " Although Albert's confirmation may not have been, strictly speaking, simoniacal," says a learned Catholic reviewer of Schulte's works, 3 " yet there is a strong suspicion of simony 1 Schulte, ibid., 2, p. 96. 2 H. Schrors on Schulte's work in the " Wissentschaftl. Beilage zur Germania," 1904, Nos. 14 and 15, p. 299. 3 N. Paulus in the " Koln. Volksztg.," 1904, April 24, No. 339. Schrors, ibid., 292 f., is right in excluding any simoniacal character from the business, whether considered in the nature of a composition (which it was not intended to be) or as the bestowal of an Indulgence with a building alms attached to it. In the case of compositions (for the bestowal of bishoprics) the fees customary from ancient times are not a " compensation for a spiritual object, or for an object connected with spiritual things, but a debt incurred on the occasion of the bestowal of something spiritual." In the granting of Indulgences, however, a condition of the imparting of any spiritual favour was always some gift ABUSE OF INDULGENCES 351 about it ; at any rate, it was an extremely discreditable business, and we may well look upon it as a Divine Judgment that the Mayence Indulgence should have been the immediate occasion of the great religious upheaval for which many other factors had been paving the way." " The greater part of the blame rests with the Hohenzollern brothers, who approached the Curia with such an exorbitant demand for the cumulation of bene- fices." 1 " Looked at in itself, the allocation of Indulgences, like that for St. Peter's, is to some extent justified by the fact, that it was customary in the Middle Ages to make the granting of privileges ,an opportunity for the giving of special alms, and that the posi- tion of the Papacy, as head of the Church, gave it the right to share in the privileges of its members. On this was based the whole system of taxes levied by the Curia on the bestowal of any office, inasmuch as the tax was really a part of the income of the Curial officials ; whereas, however, Rome had hitherto been content with one-third of the proceeds of an Indulgence, this was now increased to one-half." 2 " Nor was it right if, as was probably the case, the Indulgence-preachers did not explain to the people how one part of their alms was to be disposed of, but left them in the belief that it was all to be devoted to the object announced ("i.e. the rebuilding of St. Peter's]." 3 Finally, the too frequent tendering of Indulgences towards the close of the Middle Ages must be noted as a regrettable abuse. The collections made for Indulgences granted for all sorts of ecclesiastical purposes were so numerous, that loud complaints were raised by the Rulers about the heavy burden thus imposed upon their people. The Indulgence for St. Peter's followed many others and was first started under Pope Julius II. In this case the importance to the whole of Christendom of the erection of a new church over the tomb of the Prince of the Apostles may have afforded some justification. Originally intended to last only for twelve months, the Indulgence was extended from year to year. As regards its administration, Papal commissaries had been appointed for the proclamation of the Indulgence and for making the collections. Thus the Franciscan Observantines under the Vicar-General of the Order were entrusted with the so-called Cismontane provinces, comprising Italy and the Slavonian regions to the east of Europe, including Hungary, the German to be devoted to a special pious object. " Monetary self-denial for the sake of the Roman building fund was an integral part of the Indul- gence," " according to the Papal motu proprio it was justified by the unusual length and irrevocable nature of the Indulgence." (Schrors.) " The purchase or sale of spiritual things for money or money's worth, never entered the minds of those who made use of the Indulgence." So writes O. Pfiilf in the " Stimmen aus Maria-Laach," 67, 1904, p. 322. 1 Kalkoff, " Forschungen," p. 379. Cp. Schrdrs, ibid., p. 299. 2 Schrors, ibid. 3 Ibid. With regard to this matter, the silence of the Indulgence Instructions of Constance, dated 1513, is significant. 352 LUTHER THE MONK portions of Moravia, Bohemia, Silesia and Prussia and likewise Switzerland. In Switzerland the preacher was the celebrated Franciscan Bernardin Samson. Other special commissaries were distributed throughout the west of Europe, according to the political divisions ; thus we find them established by Papal appointment in Spain, Brittany, the British Isles, Savoy, Bur- gundy, Scandinavia, and in the Spanish colonies in America. There had been some delay in introducing this arrangement into Germany as the country was already exhausted by large collections made for the Teutonic Order and the armies which it had been compelled to raise for the defence of the Catholic countries and Christian civilisation, and also by other taxes. In 1514 the time seemed, however, to have arrived. In this year, the same in which the bargain was struck with Albert of Brandenburg, a Chief Commissary, in the person of a cleric at the Papal Court, Gianangelo Arcimboldi, was appointed for the provinces of Cologne, Treves, Salzburg, Bremen, Besan?on and other dioceses ; Mayence, on the other hand, with the other portions of Germany before mentioned, was reserved for Albert as Commissary-General. The Chief Commissary appointed sub-commissaries and preachers. Tetzel was chosen by Albert of Mayence as sub- Commissary. He had, before this, acted as sub-Commissary (1505-6) for the preaching of the Indulgence on behalf of the Teutonic Order in the dioceses of Merseburg and Naumburg, and later had worked in many other parts of Germany for the same Indulgence. In 1516 he had been appointed by Arcimboldi as sub-Commissary and preacher in the diocese of Meissen. It was in the beginning of 1517 that Archbishop Albert took him into his service as sub-Commissary and preacher for the dioceses of Halberstadt and Magdeburg. 1 In this capacity he came in the spring, 1517, to Jtiterbog, in the neighbourhood of Witten- berg. While subordinate to Archbishop Albert he was at the same time, like his employer, under the orders of a Roman Commission ; all the Chief Commissaries, Albert as well as Arcimboldi, were subordinate to a Papal Commission, at the head of which was the Pope's Master of the Treasury. The appointment of Albert as Chief Commissary had been made under the impression that the standing of this powerful German Prince of the Church would contribute to the success of the undertaking, and influence even those who were not in favour of the scheme. Yet Albert's own envoys, when the handing over the Indulgence was first mooted, openly declared that they were not inclined to agree to accepting the Indulgence as " discontent, and perhaps something worse, might be the result," 2 a fear which events were sadly to justify. In the end the yield did not reach expectations ; this is plain from the accounts now available. The " hundred thousand 1 Cf. F. Herrmann, " Tetzels Eintritt in den Dienst des Erzbischofa Albrecht," in " Zeitschrift fur Kirchengesch.," 23, 1902, p. 263 ff. 2 Schulte, "Die Fugger in Rom 1495-1523," 2, p. 98. PROCEEDS OF INDULGENCE 353 gulden " which Tetzel was said to have collected in one year are a mere fiction. This tale was spread abroad in 1721 by J. E. Kapp, and before that by J. Wolfius (1600), and would appear to date from a chance word let fall by Paul Lang, the Bene- dictine (1520). 1 We are, however, in possession of more authentic details since an exact account was kept. This account of the collections was made in the following manner : the money-boxes were opened and the contents counted in the presence of witnesses, and the statement of the amount certified by a notary. Representatives of both parties Arch- bishop Albert and the Fugger bank were present, and kept an account, half of the proceeds being paid by the Fuggers to the Curia at Rome for St. Peter's, and the other half to the Arch- bishop of Mayence. It was a good thing and a guarantee against mismanagement, that, at any rate in the case of the Mayence Indulgence and that for St. Peter's, a reliable banking-house of world-wide fame and conducted on business principles (even though Luther styles the Fuggers cut-purses), should have thus undertaken the supervision of the accounts, however distasteful it may seem to have left to bank officials the distribution of the Indulgence-letters from the very commencement of the preaching. How much did the proceeds amount to ? The Mayence Indulgence was preached only from the beginning of 1517 to 1518, the rise of the religious conflict interfering with its con- tinuance. Schulte has, however, put us in possession of two considerable statements of accounts concerning this period, taken from the archives of the Vatican. That of May 5, 1519, deals with the Papal half of the Indulgence money which flowed in from the various dioceses of the ecclesiastical province of Mayence during 1517 and 1518, and was handed over by the house of Fugger. This half amounted to 1643 gulden 45 kreuzer. A like sum was handed over to Albert, as has been proved by Schulte from a document in the State archives at Magdeburg. The other statement of account is dated June 16 of the same year and places the sum total of the money received from the ecclesiastical province of Magdeburg at 5149 gulden, according to which each half amounted to 2574 gulden. If we assume these sums, viz. 8436 gulden, to have been the gross proceeds of the Indulgence enterprise, and if we take into consideration the charges, comparatively high, for those engaged in the work, then the amount cannot be described as large. Nor would the Archbishop of Mayence have received entire the 4218 gulden constituting his share, as, according to an arrangement made with the Emperor, he had been obliged to make him a yearly payment of 1000 gulden from the net profits. Thus only 3218 gulden would have remained to him. This would have com- 1 N. Paulus, in the " Koln. Volksztg.," ibid., who gives the quota- tions from Kapp and Wolfius. Paul Lang says, in Pistorius Struvius, "Rer. germ, script.," 1, p. 1281, Luther, by his interference with the preaching of the Indulgence, had, " ut Jama fuit," caused the Romans in one year a loss of 100,000 gulden. 354 LUTHER THE MONK pensated him but poorly for the enormous payments he had made to Rome. As regards the sums mentioned we must bear in mind the vast difference between the value of money then and now ; the buying value of money, at a moderate estimate, was then three times greater than to-day. Since the researches undertaken by Schulte, other accounts, not included in the above, concerning the revenues produced by the Indulgence have been discovered, " a proof that an exact estimate of the whole proceeds of the Mayence-Magdeburg Indulgence is as yet out of the question." 1 Another fable which owes its origin to the anti-Catholic inventions of the sixteenth century has it that Leo X did not devote the results of the Mayence Indulgence to the building of St. Peter's, but poured them into the already well-filled coffers of his sister Maddalena, who had married a Cibo. There is no proof for this assertion. Felice Cortelori, the well-known keeper of the Vatican archives, declared, even in his day, that he was un- able to find any confirmation of this story, which should therefore be rejected as fabulous, and Schulte, as a result of his own in- vestigations, agrees with him. 2 Owing to the abuses and the change in public opinion, the amalgamation of spiritual and temporal interests, as it appeared in the Indulgence collections, became untenable in the course of the sixteenth century. The Council of Trent did well, though rather late in the day, in relegating, as far as possible, the system of Indulgences to the spiritual domain, its original and special sphere, that of benefiting souls. But one who knows how to view the movement of the times and the development of the Church's life from the standpoint of history, will be able to put its true value upon this apparently strange union cf the temporal and spiritual in the Indulgence system of the Late Middle Ages, and will give due consideration to the fact, that in those days the spiritual and temporal domains were more closely connected than at any other period. They were thrown into mutual dependence, each supporting the other ; that disadvantages as well as benefits resulted, was of course inevitable. The preaching of Indulgences in accordance with the spirit of the Church, when rightly carried out, might be compared with popular missions of the present day. Besides the less desirable preachers many able and zealous men came forward wherever the cross, or the so-called Vesper-Bild, was erected as a sign of the preaching of the Indulgence. The crowds who streamed together, listened to the admonitions of speakers previously unknown to them and usually belonging to some Order, with more attention than at the ordinary religious services ; many were led to a sense of their sins and to amend their life, as they could not receive the Indulgence without an inward change of heart ; they were also glad to take advantage of the presence of strange confessors 1 F. Herrmann, " Mainz-Magdeburgische Ablasskistenvisitations- protokolle," in " Archiv fur Reformationsgesch.," 6, 1909 (pp. 361-84), p. 364 f., where the new accounts in question are quoted. 2 Schulte, ibid., I, p. 173 THE AUGSBURG TRIAL 355 provided with ample faculties, to unburden their consciences by a good confession. The alms seemed little to them in com- parison with the spiritual gain. And as hundreds came and experienced a similar spiritual renewal, their very multitude fired them with a common impulse to persevere in what was good. The researches of historians have hitherto been directed too much towards the abuses and outward disorders which accompanied these popular practices, which were for so long a great help to religion. It would be no loss if in future, so far as the special accounts which have been handed down admit, historians were to dwell more on the ordinary and little-noticed good results effected by Indulgences since they were first started. 1 3. The Trial at Augsburg (1518) In the course of September, 1518, Luther received the citation to appear before Cardinal Cajetan at Augsburg, as had been agreed with the Elector Frederick; already, on August 25, the General of the Augustinians had, in accord- ance with the earlier and more stringent instructions from Rome to Cajetan, forwarded an order to the Saxon Pro- vincial Gerard Hecker, to seize Luther and keep him in custody. At the end of September Luther set out for Augsburg, where he arrived, with a recommendation from the Elector and an Imperial safe conduct, on October 7. He had started on the journey with great inward tremors and was a prey to the same violent agitation at Augsburg. At a later date he attributes the evil thoughts which plagued him to the influence of a demon. 2 He seems from the first to have been determined to carry his cause with a high hand, as ostensibly that of Jesus Christ. He becomes more and more convinced of his mission from above, a persuasion which takes possession of his soul with suggestive force. In the fragment of a lost letter from Nuremberg we find him writing of his journey on October 3-4, 1518, to his Wittenberg friends whom he wishes to encourage to remain steadfast. Faint- hearted people, so he says, had tried to dissuade him from con- tinuing his journey, " but I stand fast ; let the Will of the Lord be done ; even at Augsburg, even in the midst of His enemies, Christ still reigns . . . Christ shall live though Martin and every other sinner perish ; the God of my Salvation shall be exalted. Farewell and be steadfast, stand upright because it is necessary either to be rejected by man or by God, but God is true and every 1 Cp. N. Paulus, " Ablasspredigten des ausgehenden Mittelaltors," in the " Liter. Beilage der Koln. Volksztg.," 1910, No. 11. 2 Kostlin-Kawerau, 1, p. 202. Cp. "Theol. Studien und Kritiken," 1882, p. 692. 356 LUTHER THE MONK man a liar." 1 He certainly did not treat the matter lightly. To attribute hypocrisy to him, as though he merely played a part, would be to do him an injustice. It is true there are recent writers who look upon him as a mere comedian, but it would be nearer the mark to compare him to John Hus on his journey to the Council of Constance. Like him, he looked forward to death without any inclination to recant. The thought passed through him, he once said later : " Now I must die," and he pictured to himself " what a shame that would be for his parents." 2 The two letters he addressed to Spalatin and Melanchthon a few days after his arrival in Augsburg and before his first examina- tion, gave proof of the strange mystical tendency which also appears in the fragment mentioned above ; they show how he overcomes the inward voice which urges him to submit, and also the importunities of his anxious friends ; they also show how, even then, he was prepared to take a certain step, should the demands appear to him too great : "I shall assuredly appeal to a General Council." 3 He admits that he was " wavering between hope and fear " and, in order to stimulate his own courage, he draws a picture in these letters of two of the terrifying qualities of these " Italians " before whose representative (i.e. Cajetan) he is to defend himself. We must try to place ourselves in his position and to appreciate his prejudices. In the first place, he relentlessly accuses his adversaries of avarice and greed in everything ; unfortunately his knowledge of the Indulgence business had furnished sufficient cause for reproaches and complaints against the Church authorities in that respect. 4 Secondly, he finds fault with the " ignorance " of his opponents, and here he undoubtedly excites himself quite wrongly and unnecessarily over their supposed senseless and one-sided Scholasticism. In his letter to Melanchthon he exclaims, as though to reassure himself : " Italy lies in Egyptian darkness, her animosity to learning and culture is unbounded. So greatly do they misapprehend Christ and all that is Christ's. And yet these are our teachers and masters in faith and morals. The anger of God is thus fulfilled in us where He says : ' I will give children to be their princes, and the effeminate shall rule over them.' Good-bye, my Philip, and turn aside God's anger by holy prayers." The supposed want of sympathy with learning and culture of which Luther accuses the Italians in this letter to Philip Melanchthon is surely most untrue, and was no doubt intended to strengthen Melanchthon, the weak and wavering Humanist, in his allegiance to Luther's party, for Luther, notwithstanding his anxieties, had not lost his cunning. The reproach against 1 " Briefwechsel," 1, p. 238. 2 " Colloquia," ed. Bindseil, 2, p. 175. 3 To Spalatin from Augsburg, October 10, 1518, " Briefwechsel," 1, p. 242. 4 Ibid., " Ecdesia Romano auro insatiabiliter eget et vorando assidue sitim auget." THE AUGSBURG TRIAL 357 Italy and Rome, where at that time Humanism was flourishing as nowhere else, can at most only apply to the stiffness of the old debased Scholasticism, and perhaps to a certain backwardness in biblical studies. Such blemishes afforded him a welcome handle. " I will rather perish," he assures Melanchthon, the enthusiastic scholar, " than withdraw my true theses and help to destroy learning." " I go, should it please the Lord, to be sacrificed for you and your young men." He still clings to the idea of being one with the Church in his theological views. " If they can prove to me that I have spoken differently from what the Holy Roman Church teaches, I will at once pronounce sentence against myself and beat a retreat, but," he adds, " there lies the knot." 1 A knot tied by himself. Strange, indeed, is the method he proposes for cutting it : "If that Cardinal [Cajetan] insists on the private opinions of St. Thomas more strongly than is compatible with the doctrine and authority of the Church, I shall not yield to him until the Church withdraws from her earlier standpoint upon which I have taken up my position." How greatly the applause with which he was meeting every- where worked upon him psychologically, confirming him in his resistance, came out clearly at Augsburg. It was only on this journey and at Augsburg itself that he became aware what a celebrity his action had made him. He alludes to this in the above-mentioned letter to Melanchthon, where he also reveals a nattering self-complacency : " The only thing that is new and wonderful here is, that the town rings with my name. All want to see the man who, like a new Herostratus, has kindled such a big blaze." Cardinal Cajetan, after making vain representations to Luther, finally demanded the withdrawal of two pro- positions which he had plainly taught and acknowledged as his. The first was his denial that the treasure of the merits of Christ and the saints was the foundation of Indulgences ; the second was the statement which appeared in the " Resolutions," that the sacraments of the Church owed their efficacy only to faith. These were points in which he had manifestly deviated from the Catholic teaching and, to boot, matters of supreme doctrinal importance ; as a professor of theology Luther, moreover, had bound himself to submit to the teaching authority of the Church. His final answer to the Papal legate was, that he could not recant unless he were convinced that he had said something against Holy Scripture, the Fathers of the Church, the Papal definitions, or sound reason. Then followed his famous secret flight from Augsburg to 1 In the letter quoted to Spalatin, p. 240 f. 358 LUTHER THE MONK Wittenberg. Staupitz, who had stood by him at Augsburg, dispensed him for the journey from any part of the Rule which might have proved to his disadvantage, even from the wearing of the Augustinian habit. This Superior had again shown himself at Augsburg as a man of half-measures who allowed his prejudice for Luther to outweigh the demands of the Church and of his Order. Luther caused his Appeal to the Pope " better instructed " to be presented to the Cardinal at Augsburg. He intended, as almost at the same time he confided to Spalatin, to make an appeal to the future Council only after the Pope, " in the plenitude of his power, or rather of his tyranny," had rejected his first appeal. 1 Meanwhile he does not know, and this makes him waver between hope and fear, whether he will be able to remain at the University of Wittenberg. Will the Elector have power to retain him in his office ? Will it be possible for him to continue to lead a safe existence under his sovereign, and, above all, find protection in the present danger from imprisonment and the violent measures threatened ? At this, the turning-point of his life, these were the most pressing questions. The duty of providing for his safety and furthering his cause devolved principally on the Court Chaplain, Spalatin. Luther, in his letters to Spalatin, which duly reached the Elector either as they were written or in extracts, wisely avoids any unseasonable demands which could only have been prejudicial to his interests ; on the contrary, he declares in well-chosen language, which was certain to please the Elector, that he is ready to take up the pilgrim's staff should it be necessary for the good of the cause ; the verbal commentary on his letters was undertaken at Court by his able clerical friend. " I am filled with joy and peace," he writes to the courtier in the letter above mentioned, " so that I can only wonder how my skirmish [the trial at Augsburg] appears as some- thing great to many esteemed men." If, however, joy and contentment reigned in him at that time, this was principally owing to his natural relief at his escape from the dreaded town of Augsburg. 1 On the day of his return to Wittenberg, October 31, 1518 (the anniversary of the day the Indulgence theses had appeared), " Brief- wechsel," 1, p. 273. POPE WORSE THAN TURK 359 In feverish haste, without awaiting the result of his first appeal, he published, November 28, 1518, a new appeal to a future General Council. An appeal to an (Ecumenical Council was prohibited by old laws of the Church, because, at the commencement of any movement directed against the authority of the Church, it appeared likely to render all efforts for the composing of differences illusory. It was rightly felt that whoever came in conflict with the Church would make every effort to reserve the decision of his cause to some future Council, more especially when he is able meanwhile to devote himself freely to the furtherance of his ideas, and when the speedy summoning of a Council is very doubtful. The claim that an (Ecumenical Council should be called to pronounce upon every new opinion was so extravagant that the prohibition found general approval. At the time of Luther's advent on the scene the prospect of a General Council, owing to the dissensions among the Christian Pow r ers, had retreated into the far distance, and even though it had been possible for the bishops throughout the whole world to assemble, the meeting, according to ancient custom and the regulations of canon law, would have taken place under the Pope's presidency. Even in this event Luther can, accordingly, have cherished but small hope of winning the day. His deep distrust of Rome we find expressed in the letter, written almost simultaneously, to his trusted friend Wence- laus Link, the Nuremberg Augustinian, to whom he was forwarding his account of what had taken place at Augsburg (Acta Augustana) : " My pen is giving birth to much greater things than these Acta. I know not whence these thoughts come to me ; the cause [i.e. the conflict], to my thinking, has not yet commenced in earnest and much less can these gentlemen from Rome look to see the end. I shall send my little works to you so that you may see if I am right in surmising that the real Anti-Christ whom Paul describes (2 Thess. ii. 3 ff.) rules at the Roman Court. I think I can prove that to-day he is worse than the Turks." 1 Whoever could speak in this way had already cut himself adrift or was on the point of so doing. 1 On December 11, 1518, " Brief wechsel," 1, p. 316. 360 LUTHER THE MONK The powerful forces within the fiery and vivacious Monk seethed like the crater of a volcano. The Lecture-hall at Wittenberg again resounded Avith his eloquent and vehement outbursts. The number of students at the University increased to an unexpected extent. " They surround my desk like busy ants," Luther declares in a letter. 1 He does not know whence the ideas he pours forth come to him, but he sees daily more clearly that they are from Christ. " I see," so he wrote to Staupitz, his Superior, " they are determined [at Rome] to condemn me ; but Christ on His part is resolved not to yield in me. May His holy and blessed will be done, yea, may it be done. Pray for me." 2 In the same way, though in stronger terms, he informs his friend Johann Lang soon afterwards : " Our Eck is again preparing to assail me ; it will come to this, that, with the help of Christ, I shall carry out what I have long since planned, namely, to strike a deadly blow at the Roman vipers by means of a powerful book. Hitherto I have merely played and jested with Rome, albeit she has smarted as keenly under it as though it had been meant in deadly earnest." 3 "So God carries me away," we shall soon after hear him say. " God draws me. I cannot control myself." " God must see to it, what He is working through me. . . . Why has He not instructed me otherwise ? " He fancies he feels " the mighty breathing of the Spirit," and little by little he is carried away by the conviction that he is God's messenger and the leader of a cause which " is not of man's invention." 4 During the exciting years of 1517 and 1518 Luther, in addition to his polemical works, published several popular, practical handbooks on religion. They consisted chiefly of collections and enlargements of the sermons which he still continued to preach from time to time. Their publication strengthened in many the impression, that the man whom some denounced as a theological rebel was, on the contrary, simply zealous for the salvation of souls and only seeking the spiritual profit of his neighbour. In the spring of 1517 he published, for instance, the 1 " Briefwechsel," 1, p. 317. 2 On December 13, 1518, ibid., p. 320. 8 On February 2, 1519, ibid., p. 410. 1 The passages will be given more fully later. DEVOTIONAL WORKS 361 German exposition of the Seven Penitential Psalms, already referred to, a book which, as he wrote to Christopher Scheurl, was intended for the rough Saxon " to whom the Christian teaching cannot be presented too fully." 1 If the work pleases no one, he says, then it will please him all the more. 2 In this work he speaks in heartfelt tones, especially when enlarging upon the " Word of Grace " and describing the riches of Christ. 3 Another book, his " Exposition of the Our Father for the simple laity," 4 first appeared in 1517 through Agricola, then again in 1518 after having been amended by the author. In the preface he says amicably : " I should like, if it were possible, to render a service even to my adversaries ; for my desire is to be profitable to all men and harmful to none." The object of such assurances is, however, too evident, and they are, moreover, flatly contradicted by his actual behaviour towards his opponents. To pass over other pious instructions which his amazing power for work created, he also published in 1518 the detailed Latin notes of the sermons on the Ten Com- mandments, which he had delivered in 151 6-17. 5 Many portions of this book are really useful and hardly to be distinguished from what a true spiritual guide of souls would write, but they also contain other matter which necessarily challenged dispute. In most of his explanations he gives a very clever, popular and perfectly correct present- ment of the contents of the commandments and the motives for keeping them ; he goes, however, too far, for instance, in his ruthless, and occasionally even contemptuous opposition to the abuses connected with the veneration of the saints. The tone which he here adopts in his strictures could not have favourable results, and he would have done better had he devoted himself to the criticism of the superstitious practices to which he had alluded shortly before in con- nection with the errors of the Middle Ages. 6 Oldecop, who was not unkindly disposed, complains that " in the matter of the veneration of the saints, Luther was not in agreement with the Catholic Church." 7 On May 6, 1517, " Brief wechsel," 1, p. 97. To Johann Lang, March 1, 1517, ibid., p. 88. See the passage in " Werke," Weim. ed., 1, p. 219 ff. Printed ibid., 1, p. 74 ff. Erl. ed., 21, p. 156 ff. " Werke," Weim. ed., 1, p. 398 ff. Ibid., p. 411 ff. 7 " Chronik," p. 45. 362 LUTHER THE MONK In the book in question, where he treats of the 6th (7th) Commandment, he is very severe and exact, indeed, rather too exact and detailed in his enumeration and denunciation of the various kinds of sins of the flesh. He speaks with rhetorical emphasis and, it must be admitted, with a wealth of earnest thought, against the habit of filthy talking \vhich was gaining ground at that time. 1 Here, for example, after the most solemn warnings against giving scandal to the little ones, he lets fall these golden words with regard to reform : " If the Church is to blossom again, the beginning must be made by a careful training of the young." 2 Among other things, Luther treats of the temptations which the devout man abhors and must abhor, although he can never escape them, and gives vent to the paradox : " True chastity is therefore to be found in sensuality, and the more filthy the sensuality, the more beautiful the chastity," 3 surely a delightful instance of our author's propensity to unusual language. Somewhat obscurely, indeed, he also speaks against the freedom of the will to do what is good ; Paul invokes the mercy of God against the temptation " in the body of this death " (Rom. vii. 24 f.), and he, Luther, would lament over the " poison of death within him." " Where then are those who vaunt their free will ? Why do they not set themselves free from concupiscence as soon as they please ? Why will they not, yea, why are they unable even to will ? . . . Because their will is already elsewhere, dragged away as a captive." 4 4. The Disputation of Leipzig (1519). Miltitz. Questionable Reports The Leipzig Disputation, which commenced on June 27, 1519, and the origin and theological course of which has been often enough depicted, as was to be expected, merely induced Luther to proceed yet further with his revolutionary theology. The Pleissenburg of Leipzig has become since the Disputa- tion between Luther and Carlstadt on the one side and Eck on the other, a memorable monument of German history. The great hall of this castle belonging to Duke George was hung with splendid tapestries ; a guard of the citizens kept 1 " Werke," Weim. ed., 1, p. 490. 2 Ibid., p. 494. * Ibid,, p. 486. * Ibid., p. 485. LEIPZIG DISPUTATION 363 watch before the walls of the castle, for the Court, as well as the city, wished to insure the safety of those conducting the wordy tournament which was to be held in the public name. In addition to the professors of the University of Leipzig and the guests from Wittenberg, students as well as masters, many others were present, brought together partly by curiosity, partly by interest in one or other of the religious parties. The Duke, the guests of distinction, and the sworn stenographers had special places assigned to them. Two professorial chairs stood facing each other. On that belonging to the Wittenberg party Carlstadt, who had arranged the affair, took his seat and disputed with Eck for four whole days on man's free \vill and its efficacy with, and under, grace. Then, on July 4, Luther succeeded him and at once launched into the theological controversy on the question of the Primacy of the Pope. As in the case of Carlstadt, Eck stood his ground without assistance until the Disputa- tion closed on July 14. The Acts of the debate were to have been submitted to the Universities of Erfurt and Paris for decision as to the winner, but this was never done. The final impression made on the minds of the audience was that Eck had borne away the palm. He had repelled the often virulent attacks of two adversaries with untiring mental and physical energy, and had displayed throughout a more extensive and ready acquaintance with the theologians, the decisions of the Church, the Fathers and the Bible than either of the repre- sentatives of the new opinions. Of a powerful and imposing exterior, with a strong sonorous voice, he dominated the course of the Disputation by his clear-headedness, his com- posure and deliberation, whereas Carlstadt was too hurried and confused and unable to produce the necessary positive proofs, and Luther, by his over-confidence, his rhetoric and the habitual violence of his attacks on his enemies gave umbrage to many. The greatest stumbling-block to Luther's success lay in the fact that the principal point, which was to be decisive for his standpoint towards the Church, was still, even to himself, as Protestant writers express it, " in process of inward development," whereas " Eck could take his stand on a sound and solid basis." 1 1 Kostlin-Kawerau, 1, p. 245. 364 LUTHER THE MONK This principal point was the question of the recognition of the Church and her teaching office. Eck succeeded in forcing public statements from his opponent which he would perhaps have still preferred to keep in the background, but which were, as a matter of fact, the outcome of his position. On the second day of the controversy between Luther and Eck, on July 5, the question of the exercise of the Church's power and doctrinal authority in the condemnation of Hus's erroneous teaching came under discussion. Luther was now obliged to express his views on the condemnation of the " Bohemian heretics." Driven into a corner he declared, that among the Husite doctrines condemned by the Council of Constance there were some very Christian and evangelical propositions ; that the Council was wrong in asserting that everyone who wished to be a member of the Church must believe in the Primacy of the Papacy ; that we must learn for ourselves from Holy Scripture what is of Divine Right ; that the opinion of an individual Christian must carry greater weight than that of either Pope or Council if established on better grounds ; that Councils not only might err in matters of faith, but that they actually had erred, as in the case of that of Constance. Such unheard-of admissions caused the greatest sensation. Bluff Duke George, on hearing Luther's assertion that the Christian doctrines of Hus had been unfairly condemned, exclaimed in a voice loud enough to be heard throughout the great hall : "A plague on it ! " shaking his head at the same time and planting his hands on his hips. It was an easy task for Eck to disprove on theological grounds the statements of Luther. The Disputation had at least the effect of clearing up the position, and arousing misgivings in many of those who hitherto had been partisans of the Wittenberg Doctor. Luther himself wrote in a very discontented frame of mind to Spalatin regarding the Disputation, saying that time had been wasted in the useless affair, and that Eck and the theologians of Leipzig only sought worldly honour and on this everything had suffered shipwreck. Only the discussion on the Primacy (i.e. that very one at which the momentous admissions were made) had been fruitful and productive. This is his own impudent way of describing his position as the only right one. " Hardly anything else," he continues, EFFORTS OF MILTITZ 365 " was treated worthily. Eck was applauded, he triumphs and reigns, but an end shall be put to this by my publica- tion ; for as the Disputation was badly conducted I shall have the Resolutions to the Disputation theses reprinted. These people of Leipzig neither greeted us nor visited us, but treated us as deadly enemies [and yet every considera- tion had been shown him that circumstances permitted]. Eck they supplied with an escort, they surrounded him constantly, honoured him with feasts and invitations, presented him with a coat and a costly mantle, rode out with him on pleasant excursions, in fact did everything imaginable- to disgrace us." " There you have the whole tragedy ... it began ill and ended worse. ... As a rule, I control my ill-humour, but here I cannot help pouring out my grudge, because after all I am human and see how the shamelessness of our adversaries and their poisonous hatred of so holy a cause have grown beyond measure." 1 Obstinately adhering to his standpoint and embittered as he was by the Leipzig " tragedy," Luther would lend no ear to the proposals for reconciliation and settlement suggested by the Papal Chamberlain Carl von Miltitz. His attempts in this direction had commenced even before the Disputation. Their continuance revealed on the one hand Luther's obstinacy, and on the other the inability of this lay Papal official- whose motives were merely political- to see the real seriousness of the matter. The latter, in order to secure apparent victories, went beyond his instructions and the intentions of those who had en- trusted him with his mission. Luther on his part did not shrink from diplomatic concessions which could not injure him, but which anyone conversant with the conditions must have seen to be impracticable. The easy triumphs of which Miltitz's shortsighted love of peace was productive were thus of very doubtful value. 2 1 To Spalatin, July 20, 1519, from Wittenberg, " Briefwechsel," 2, p. 85 f. Cp. letter to the same, August 15, 1518, ibid., p. 103 ff. especially p. 117. 2 Cp. H. A. Creutrberg, "Karl von Miltitz," 1907 (" Studien und Darstellungen aus dem Gebiete der Gesch.," ed. Grauert, Bd. 6, Heft. 1). The Chamberlain, whose only recommendation was his aristocratic Saxon birth, had been entrusted with the delivery of the Golden Rose to the Elector of Saxony. That he " undertook the role of intermediary on his own initiative," as has recently been asserted by Protestants, is, according to Creutzberg, incorrect. The most 366 LUTHER THE MONK Luther's edition of the Latin Commentary on the Epistle to the Galatians, which appeared in September, 1519, assumed all the more importance in his eyes. In this work, written in the language of the learned (above, p. 306), he undertook to defend on the widest basis and before cultured men of every clime his doctrines concerning grace and salvation, faith and righteousness. Here we have a public manifestation not merely of the doctrines which lay at the back of the schism he had stirred up by his controversy with Tetzcl, but also of his wrong new view concerning Holy Scripture. In the matter of style, Luther was more successful in his shorter works, particularly in his German controversial pamphlets. Writers who opposed him, such as Eck, Emscr, Dungersheim, Alveld, Hoogstraaten, Prierias he readily withstood in words full of fire and imagination, although his arguments, as a rule, left much to be desired and were not atoned for by his passionate invective. His main contention, voiced in a more or less coarse form, is, however, always the following : the proofs which you adduce from the teaching of the Church and the Fathers do not move me because unfortunate mistake he made was not to insist upon Luther's recanta- tion (cp. S. Merkle, " Reformationsgeschichtliche Streitfragen," Munich, 1904, p. 51), contenting himself with Luther's illusory ex- planation of the end of February, 1519 (" Werke," Erl. ed., 242, p. 10 ff.), published as a pamphlet. In this Luther simply speaks of the Papal power as a thing of which the existence must be taken for granted, and emphasises in general terms the duty of charity which forbids schism without due cause ! This statement has been erroneously regarded by Catholics as an admission of the Primacy by Luther, as a " wonder- ful confession which the evidence of the facts wrung from the heretic." With respect to this explanation, which, as Luther himself says, was destined for the " simple people," Kostlin-Kawerau's " Luther- Biographie," 1, p. 227, says : " In this way did Luther fulfil his promise [to Miltitz] of exhorting to obedience to Rome. He exhorts to sub- mission to this power because, according to him, it merely extends to externals. With regard to anything further, its origin, its character, and its extent, he reserves to himself and to learned men generally, liberty of judgment. Of the important assertions which he had already made on this point in various passages in his works, none are here with- drawn." And yet, in this remarkable document composed at the in- stigation of Miltitz, he calls himself " a submissive and obedient son of the Holy Christian Churches in which, by God's help, I will die," and declares : "I may say with a clear conscience that I have never imagined anything [hostile] with regard to the Papacy or its power." He is, nevertheless, as he even there states, sure of his own " rock," and ready to stand up for it like Paul, Athanasius, and Augustine, even though he should be left quite alone. God is able to speak through one against all, even as He once spoke through the mouth of a she-ass. "PROVE ALL THINGS". 367 Holy Scripture, upon which I take my stand, is above both Church and Fathers. By the Holy Scripture he, moreover, persists in under- standing his own interpretation of the Bible. By a tragic mistake he has come to confound his own personal and altogether subjective interpretation with the objective " Word of God " in the Bible. In the same way he makes not the slightest distinction between the meaning of the " gospel," which he fancies he has discovered, and the actual Gospel itself. Catholics urged against Luther that the Church had been entrusted with the safeguarding of the Holy Books, with the handing down of the canon of Scripture and the correct inter- pretation of the same, and that, from the earliest Christian times, the Faithful had always left to the living Tradition, the General Councils and the Supreme Teacher of the Church the Vicar of Christ and inheritor of the powers of Peter the final decision in doctrinal questions and the correct and binding interpretation of Holy Scripture. What Luther asserted, for instance, in his final letter to Dungersheim, brought the central dogma, namely, that of the teaching office of the Church, into still clearer light : " You have nothing else on your lips," he says to Dungersheim and to all Catholics generally, " but the words Church, Church, heretic, heretic, and you will not admit that the injunction : ' Prove all things, hold fast that which is good' (1 Thess. v. 21), applies to any. But when we ask for the Church, you show us one man, the Pope, to whom you entrust everything [i.e. all decisions on matters of faith], and yet you do not prove by one word that his faith is unchangeable. Yet we have discovered in the Pope's Decretals more heresies than any heretic ever invented. You ought to prove your standpoint and instead of this you always start from the same premiss." 1 Theologians, as a matter of fact, had never claimed for all the contents of the Decretals a rank among the solemn pronouncements on faith. What is, however, more important is that Luther places the individual above the Church and the Primacy appointed by God ; he puts the Scrip- tures in his hand, to interpret as he will. He continues as follows : " You ought to prove that the Church of God is with you and nowhere else in the world. We want the Scriptures for our judge, but you wish to be judges of the Scriptures." 2 In this connection, seeking to justify the bitterness of his polemics, he unwittingly gives an excellent portrait of himself : " You misinterpret the words I speak, just as the ass in your midst [Alveld] is doing at the present moment. This seems to be the way with you people of Leipzig, you read without attention, 1 " Brief wechsel," 2, p. 163. On the date see Kostlin-Kawerau, 1, p. 258. * Ibid. 368 LUTHER THE MONK judge presumptuously, and are too stupid to understand the writings of others. Maybe my patience will come to an end and make room for anger, for I am after all as human as you ; you sit there calmly and nag at me while I am oppressed with work and everyone shows me his teeth, and, forsooth, humility is expected of me while I am being attacked by ravening wolves. The weight of the globe presses upon me (' orbis me premit'), and if I do so much as nod, you cannot endure it ; if at last I turn round upon you, I am accused and found fault with on all sides. I write this to show my zeal for peace and concord ; why, in God's name, am I not allowed to enjoy them ? " He himself shows us later in what way he was desirous of " peace and concord." From the words we have just quoted he seems, strange to say, to think that the Roman party had no right to fight for the great and sacred interests of Mother Church, nor to repel the attacks he was making upon so much which had hitherto been believed. It is exceedingly sad to see how Luther, the once zealous religious, has become alienated more and more from the heart of the Church, from her life, ways of thought and feeling. Passion for his cause, precipitation, overstrain, both mental and bodily, the delusion that the whole world was watching the brave monk's daring move, all this cuts him off, more even than his previous conduct, from practical association with the Church. His growing lukewarmness in religion is paving the way for his complete apostasy. He confesses that he lived in a worldly turmoil of work and distractions, of parties and feastings which led him away " to immoderation, impropriety and negligence." Recollection, penance and humility become more and more strangers to him, though he can still speak words of piety ; everything is overcovered by the great struggle he has called into being ; the less attention he devotes to the duties of the religious life, the more he gravitates to the Electoral Court, where Spalatin is ever busy seeking to provide him with a safe shelter. This is the talented man, so the Catholic sadly reminds himself, whose words might have assisted in calling forth a real reform within the Church, if, agreeably with the spirit and rules of the Church, he had only appealed to the Faithful and their pastors with earnest- ness and deliberation, with persistence and confidence in God. Instead of this, he pushed forward heedlessly in the slippery path to lay sacrilegious hands on the doctrine and the whole structure of the Church as existing up to that time. DRESDEN TALES 369 At the close of this chapter some remarks may perhaps be permitted on certain mistaken or misunderstood tales concerning Luther, which belong to this period. The history of the sermon referred to above (p. 334), delivered by Luther at Dresden in July, 1518, in the presence of Duke George of Saxony has recently been presented to Protestant readers in the traditional legendary form as " portraying the whole history of the following centuries." If it were really so supremely important, then we ought, indeed, in our narrative to have put this sermon in a better light and assigned it a very different position. As a matter of fact, however, its contents are by no means of any great moment and do not even justify its description as " the trial sermon of the pale Augustinian monk." Duke George of Saxony, so we are told in this new and adorned version of the incident, " had applied to the Vicar-General of the Augustinians, Staupitz, requesting that he would procure for him an honest and learned preacher," and Staupitz thereupon sent him Luther " with a letter of recommendation in which he described him as a highly gifted young man of proved excellence, both as regards his studies and his moral character." As a matter of fact, however, it is only known that Luther happened to be in Dresden on July 25, 1518, on his way back from the Heidelberg Chapter. As he usually did, he took advantage of the opportunity afforded him of preaching. Of the letters of Duke George or of Staupitz history knows nothing. The sermon was delivered in the castle ("in castro") in the presence of the Court on the aforesaid day, which was a Sunday, and also the Feast of James the Greater. 1 The text was taken from the Gospel for the Feast in which our Saviour says to James and his brother : " Ye know not what ye ask " (Matt. xx. 22). On this text Luther, doubtless in his customary burning words, described " the foolishness of people in their prayers, and what the true object of prayer should be." This is what he himself tells us. 2 He introduced among other things into the sermon a story about three virgins, which, he says, was " quite theological." According to another account, he did not lose the opportunity of expressing the ideas which dominated him, namely, that those who listen to the Word of God with an attentive mind are true disciples of Christ, chosen, and predestinated for life everlasting, and that we must overcome " the fear of God " ; he no doubt laid particular stress on faith and depreciated good works. It does not seem necessary to assume that there were two different sermons. " The evangelical certainty of Salvation, as against the 1 Luther to Spalatin, January 14, 1519, " Brief wechsel," 1, p. 351 * Ibid. I. 2 B 370 LUTHER THE MONK traditional righteousness by works," so runs the latest legendary account, " shone forth from his words more plainly than was agreeable to the Duke." Duke George was, and remained, a good Catholic. His opinion of Luther's sermon is characteristic : "I would have given much money not to have heard it," so he says, " because such discourses make men presumptuous." This he repeated several times at table with great displeasure. The occasion which gave rise to this remark was that Barbara von Sala, a lady of the Court who was present, praised the sermon as most reassuring, and added that if she could hear such a sermon again she would die with a quiet mind. At the Court much was said in disparagement of the sermon and the preacher, certain conversations of Luther in the town seeming to have contributed to this. The Prior of the Augus- tinian monastery at Dresden wrote afterwards to Luther telling him that many found fault with him as unlearned and arrogant, etc., that the sermon in the castle was made the ground for all sorts of reproaches ; that it was also said that his story of the three virgins had been directed against three particular ladies at the Court, which surely was not the case. Shortly after, when pre- paring for the Disputation at Leipzig, Luther must evidently have feared that the Duke was not favourably disposed, for lie wrote begging that, if he had displeased him, he would " graciously pardon everything." The Duke replied that he was not aware of " any displeasure ever conceived by us against you." Duke George, who was zealous for reform, was much in favour of Luther's Indulgence theses and, after having come to an under- standing with Eck, he sanctioned the Disputation at Leipzig notwithstanding the objections of the Bishop and the theological faculty. 1 We know some details concerning Luther's behaviour in the town, and the violent attacks on Thomas of Aquin and Aristotle, to which he gave vent, in the presence of some of the Leipzig theologians, at a dinner in Emser's house. Luther, as he himself says, there defended the proposition, that " neither Thomas nor all the Thomists put together had understood a single chapter of Aristotle," undoubtedly an extraordinary statement, yet one which, stripped of its cloak of hyperbole, is quite in Luther's style. Not a single Thomist, he said on the same occasion, knew what was meant by keeping God's Commandments. 8 A young Leipzig Master in the ensuing Disputation attacked him fiercely on this score, and declared later that he had stopped his mouth so completely that he was unable to say a word. A Dominican who was standing at the door listening angrily to the attacks 1 Luther to the Duke, May 16, 1519, " Werke," Erl. ed., 56, p. III., No. 830 (" Brief wechsel," 2, p. 52). The Duke to Luther, May 23, 1519, " Luthers Briefwechsel," 2, p. 59. Cp. " Akten und Briefe zur Kirchen politik Herzog Georgs von Sachsen," ed. F. Gess, Leipzig, Bd. 1, 1905, p. 85. 2 Luther to Spalatin, January, 14, 1519, "Briefwechsel/ 1, p. 350. DRESDEN TALES 871 upon the great Doctor of his Order, afterwards admitted that he had hardly been able to restrain himself from rushing into the room and spitting in Luther's face. This is all that the sources contain regarding Luther's stay at Dresden. There is no justification for the proceeding of certain Protestant narrators who magnify the so-called " trial sermon," and utilise Luther's sojourn to make him utter unique predictions of the future. Other events of those years might with much greater truth be represented as momentous, particularly the Heidelberg Disputation from which Luther was then returning. In private conversations at Dresden Luther showed clearly how far he had already separated himself from the older Church. Emser made representations to him on this score : " I told you of it plainly at Dresden," he writes in the following year, " and again at Leipzig, warning you in a friendly manner and begging you to place some restraint upon your zeal and to avoid giving offence, and not to speak of the superstitious malpractices amongst us Catholics in such a way as at the same time to root out all belief, and to rob the German people of their faith." 1 Elsewhere Emser explains : " A year before the Disputation at Leipzig [i.e. in 1518, and without doubt at Dresden] Luther declared that he cared nothing for the Pope's excommunica- tion and had already determined to die under it. And this, should he deny it, I am ready to prove." 2 We may take it that Emser is here alluding to Luther's rude answers to his adversaries, who, according to his own story, reproached him at Dresden with the sermon he had preached at Witten- berg on the " Power of Indulgences " ; some portions of this sermon had already found their way to Dresden, though as yet it had not been printed. There is no doubt that Emser himself was among these adversaries. His statement about what Luther said is absolutely trustworthy, and shows how untrue the fable was that Luther was animated by the most peaceful of intentions and only against his will was dragged into a struggle which led eventually to his excommunica- tion. Luther's stay at Dresden and Leipzig affords an oppor- 1 In his pamphlet against Luther, " A venations Luteriana JEgo- cerotis Assertio," end November, 1519. Enders, "Luthers Brief- wechsel," 1, p. 225, n 8. Cf. " An den Stier zu Wittenberg." No place or year (1520, or beginning 1521). Fol. Aij, 6. 2 " Auff des Stiers tzu Wittenberg Wiettende Replica," Leipzig, 1521, Aiiij., Enders, ibid. 372 LUTHER THE MONK tunity for discussing two of his famous and oft-quoted utterances, which, in the sense they are generally em- ployed against him, are historically doubtful. Emser, it is usually stated, with his own ears heard Luther declare that he was only waiting for an assurance of protection from the secular power in order to declare war on the Pope, and that Luther himself had admitted that his cause had not been begun for God's sake. The first utterance, so well revealing his low and cowardly standard, Luther is said to have given vent to at Dresden in 1518, telling Emser that if only a Prince would shield him, he would do his worst against the Church. But is Emser here really referring to words spoken by Luther himself ? What he actually says is this : " Many people know that one of his Order had often and in divers places been heard to say that if he [Luther] only knew of a Prince who would have backed him, he would give Pope, Bishop and Parsons a fine time of it." 1 In these words we have accordingly not an utterance of Luther's own, but merely one of a brother monk. Neither is Dresden given as the place where this was said ; on the contrary, the Augustinian referred to was heard to say these words in many different places. What he repeatedly said certainly does not redound to Luther's credit, neither does it agree with the high-spirited defence of the truth which is generally attributed to him by Protestants. Whether the Augustinian spoke from a thorough knowledge of Luther, and whether what he said really renders words which Luther had spoken, cannot be determined. At any rate, the manner in which Luther acted in order to gain and retain the protection of the Elector, through the intermediary of Spalatin, gives some weight to the words. The other statement said to have been made by Luther was as follows : " Let the devil do his utmost, the business was not begun for God's sake and, for His sake, shall not be ended." This Emser says he actually heard from Luther himself ; 2 he tells Luther : " I warned you three times in a fraternal spirit and begged you for God's sake to spare the poor people to whom you were certainly giving great scandal by this matter, and you at last answered me : ' Let the devil, etc.' " It is, however, very doubtful whether Luther would have said so plainly that his cause in the controversy had not been begun, and should not cease, for God's sake (which is what Emser takes him as meaning). In his reply to Emser Luther declares he had meant some- thing quite different by what he said and we have no right to set aside his explanation. He relates that the words were said to Emser in the Chancery of the castle at Leipzig on the occasion of the Dis- putation of 1519, but really of the opposite party who wished to do him " harm " by the proposed Disputation ; Eck, who had 1 Ibid., fol. A, 3'. 2 " An den Stier zu Wittenberg," fol. A, 2. DRESDEN TALES 373 " begun the Disputation," Eniser and the Leipzig theologians had a mind to injure thereby his teaching ; " my words applied to them," " not to myself," those of " ours who were standing by " are my witnesses j 1 besides, he writes, he would have been "possessed" had he said: "I did not begin this in God's name " ; but, because in saying this he regretted " that the opposite party sought honour rather than the truth," he said it " with sorrowful words and a sad mind." Emser nevertheless stood to his version 2 and declared that Luther, far from speaking sadly, had said the words with eyes sparkling with anger ; besides, Luther had had no right to say anything of the kind about Emser and the Leipzig theologians, as they had not then set on foot any measures against him. It is quite likely that Emser gave Luther the threefold warning he speaks of above. But that Luther should have replied to the exhortation " to spare the poor people," etc., by the strange statement that " the matter had not been begun for God's sake " is so utterly unlikely that he was probably right in denying it in his reply to Emser. 3 We may safely assume that Emser was a little confused in his recollection of the interview ; in his con- versation in the castle at Leipzig he may have spoken of Luther's action generally and of the Disputation in particular, whereupon Luther, thinking only of the Disputation, may well have said : " Let the devil," etc. ; which Emser, in the excitement of the dispute, took to refer to Luther's action as a whole. At any rate, Luther's fear of giving scandal, according to his own letters, was not nearly so great as he makes out in his reply to Emser. Here, in the very passage under discussion, he over- whelms Emser with abuse, a fact which does not awaken con- fidence in his statements : " That man would indeed be a monster, even worse than Emser himself, who did not heartily grieve to cause annoyance to the poor people." He calls his opponent a "poisonous, shameless liar," a "murderer," who spoke contrary to his own "heart and conscience." "My great and joyful courage cuts you to ,the quick " ; " Ecks, Erasers, Goats, Wolves and Ser- pents and such-like senseless and ferocious beasts " would have raved even against Christ Himself. In the same breath he declares, that in his behaviour up to that time " he had never once started a quarrel " ; everything unfavourable that had been said of him was based merely on lies, which had been invented about him " these three years " and had become a crying scandal. 1 " Auff des Bocks zu Leypczick Antwort," 1521, " Werke," Erl. ed., 27, 206 ff. 2 " Auff des Stiers tzu Wittenberg Wiettende Replica," fol. A, 3'. 3 " Auff des Bocks," etc., " Werke," Erl. ed., n. 27, p. 208 f. LUTHER'S PROGRESS IN THE NEW TEACHING 1. The Second Stage of his development. Assurance of Salvation Two elements were still wanting to Luther's teaching the very two which, at a later date and till the end of his life, he regarded as the corner-stone of the truth which he had discovered viz. Faith alone as the means of justifica- tion, and the assurance of Divine favour, which was its outcome. Both these elements are most closely connected, and go to make up the Lutheran doctrine of the appropriation of salvation, or personal certainty of faith. In accordance therewith justifying faith includes not only a belief in Christ as the Saviour ; I must not merely believe that He will save and sanctify me if I turn to Him with humility and confidence this the Church had ever taught but I must also have entire faith in my justification, and rest assured, that without any work whatsoever on my part and solely by means of such a faith, all the demands made upon me are fulfilled, the merits of Christ appropriated, and my remaining sins not imputed to me ; such is personal assurance of salvation by faith alone. The teaching of the Catholic Church, we may remind our readers, never recognised in its exhortation to faith and confidence in God, the existence of this " faith alone " which justifies without further ado, nor did it require that of necessity there must be a special faith in one's state of salvation. In place of faith alone the Church taught what the Council of Trent thus sums up : " We are said to be justified by faith because faith is the beginning of human salvation, the foundation and root of all justification, without which it is impossible to please God and reach the blessed company of His children." * And instead of setting up a special faith in our own state 1 Sess. 6, c 8. 374 THE CATHOLIC DOCTRINE 375 of salvation, her teaching, as expressed by the same Council, had ever been that " no devout person may doubt the mercy of God, the merit of Christ and the power and efficacy of the sacraments," though, on the other hand, "no one may boast with certainty of the remission of his sins " ; " nor may it be said that those who are truly justified must convince themselves beyond all doubt that they are justified and that no one is absolved from sin and justified unless he believe with certainty that he has been so absolved and justified, as though absolution and justification were accomplished by this faith alone " ; " but rather everyone, bearing in mind his own weakness and indisposition, may well be anxious and afraid for his salvation, as no one can know, with the certainty of faith which excludes all error, that he has attained to the grace of God." l Such was the doctrine which Luther had learnt in his early days as a monk ; it animated his youthful zeal for the religious life and did not interfere with his contented and happy frame of mind, as expressed in the letter of invitation to his first Mass and his conversations with Usingen. 2 The writings of St. Bernard had taught him, that in the religious life this happiness is the portion of all those who seek God. Luther knew that thousands like himself rejoiced from their hearts in the " anointed cross " of the service of God, as Bernard calls it. On the by-path he chose to follow he lost, however, his happiness and increased his doubts and inward unrest. Luther, after forsaking the Catholic standpoint, had hitherto been tormented by anxiety as to how we can be assured of the. Grace of God. Having left the secure footing of the Church's views on nature, grace and predestination, he was now in search of a certainty even more absolute. His Commentary on Romans had concluded with the anxious question : " Who will give me the assurance that I am pleasing God by my works ? " As yet he can give no other answer than that, "we must 'call upon God's grace with fear and trembling and seek to render Him gracious to us by humility and self-annihilation, because all depends upon His arbitrary Will (above, p. 217 ff.). In these lectures. 1 Ibid., cap. ix., Contra inanem fidwiam. 2 See the letter above, p. 15. On Usingen, see his Life, by N. Paulus, p. 17. 376 LUTHER THE MONK in the course of his gloomy and abstruse treatment of pre- destination, he had instructed his hearers how they must be resigned to this uncertainty concerning eternity (p. 236 ff .). In the act of resignation he perceived various signs of pre- destination. He says in the Commentary on Romans : " There are three degrees in the signs of predestination. Some are content with God's Will, but are confident they are among the elect and do not wish to be damned. Others, who stand on a higher level, are resigned and contented with God's Will, or at least wish to be so, even though God should not choose to save them but to place them amongst the lost. The third, i.e. the last and highest degree, is to be resigned in very deed to hell if such be the Will of God, which is perhaps the case with many at the hour of death. In this way we become altogether purified from self-will and the wisdom of the flesh." 1 " Terrible pride prevails among the hypocrites and men of the law, who, because they believe in Christ, think themselves already saved and sufficiently righteous," these claim to attain to grace and the Divine Sonship " by faith alone" ("ex fide tantum"), " as though we were saved by Christ without the performance of any works or acts of our own " (" sic ut ipsi nihil operentur, nihil exhibeant de fide "). Such men possess too much faith, or rather none at all. 2 While he was thus wavering between reminiscences of the Catholic teaching and his own pseudo-mystical ideas on justifica- tion and imputation, his mind must indeed have been in a state of incessant agitation, so that uneasiness and fear became his natural element. "As we are unable to keep God's command- ments and are therefore always unrighteous, there remains nothing for us but to be in constant fear of the Judgment (' ut indicium semper timeamus '), and to pray for pardon, or rather for the non-imputing of our unrighteousness." " We are to rejoice, according to the Psalmist (ii. 11), before God on account of His Mercy, but with trembling on account of the sin which deserves His Judgment." 3 In 1525 he wrote : To leave man no free will for what is good and to make him altogether dependent on God's pre- destination " seems, it is true, cruel and intolerable ; countless of the greatest minds of previous ages have taken offence at this. And who, indeed, is there whom the idea does not offend ? I myself have more than once been greatly scandalised at it and plunged into an abyss of despair so that I wished I had never been created. But then I learned how wholesome despair is and how close it lies to grace." 4 This he " learned," or thought he learned, through his doctrine of assurance of salvation through faith. 1 " Schol. Rom.," p. 215. 2 Ibid., p. 132. 8 Ibid., p. 124. . * In De servo arbitrio, " Werke," Weim ed., 18, p. 719. FEELING HIS WAY 377 " The forgiveness offered us by God in His Word " (if we may here anticipate his later teaching), became for him a definite object of sanctifying and saving faith, to the extent that faith came to be identical in his eyes with fiducia. Faith is, as he says, " a real heartfelt confidence in Christ." 1 " He strongly emphasises at the same time the relation between what is here proposed for belief and the individual believer ; I believe that God is gracious to me and forgives me. That, says Luther [later], makes the Article of the Forgiveness of Sins particularly difficult, for though the other Articles of Faith may be more difficult if once we begin to speak of them and try to understand them, yet in the Article of the Forgiveness of Sins what presents the greatest difficulty is, that ' each one must accept this for himself in particular.' This was hard to a man because he must stand greatly in awe of the anger of God and His Judgment ; but when the Article of the Forgiveness of Sins comes home to us and we really experience its meaning, then the other Articles concerning God, the Creator, the Son of God, etc., ' also come home to us and enter into our experience.' And, according to Luther, true faith consists in this, that I believe and am assured that God is my God because He speaks to me and forgives my sins." 2 While taking the acceptance of the whole of revelation for granted, he magnifies fiducial faith to such an extent, that many Protestant theologians have come to consider a trusting faith in Christ to be his only essential requirement, in fact to imagine that in this alone faith consists ; claiming to be merely following Luther, they deny that the acceptance of individual points of faith, i.e. Articles of Faith, can be a necessary condition for salvation. Fiducial faith, with its assurance of salvation was the way which Luther discovered out of all his troubles about two years after the termination of his Commentary on Romans, in 1518, or the beginning of 1519. This discovery is a remarkable event, which stands alone, and with which we must concern ourselves after first examining what led up to it. From the place where it was made, viz. the tower belonging to the monastery, it might be styled the Tower Experience. The incident remained imbedded in Luther's mind till his old age ; he frequently alludes to it, and though in some of its details his memory did not serve him aright and his apprehension of it may have been somewhat modified by party prejudice, yet the main elements of the story appear to be historically quite credible. He fixes not merely the 1 Kdstlin, " Luthers Theologie," 2 2 , p. 180. * Ibid., p. 181. 378 LUTHER THE MONK place, but also the time of the incident, namely, the com- mencement of his second course of lectures on the Psalms (1518-19), i.e. two matters which ever serve as the most reliable framework for the picture of an event long past. From what he relates between 1532 and 1545, one thing is directly certain regarding this purely spiritual, and for that reason rather less tangible incident, viz. that it was an experience arrived at only after the acutest mental anguish and which Luther ever after regarded as a special illumina- tion vouchsafed to him by God. It is connected with Romans i. 17 : " For the justice of God is revealed therein [in the Gospel] from faith unto faith as it is written [Hab. ii. 4] : ' The just man liveth by faith.' " What is indirectly no less certain, from the unanimity of the testimonies, and from the course of his development as vouched for by his writings, is that the discovery in question was really that of the assurance of salvation. The various opinions which have been expressed on the account of the event given by Luther (see below, p. 388 ff.) in 1545, and the numerous attempts which have been made to fix a date for the same, render it necessary to trace chrono- logically the development of the doctrine of faith and salvation in Luther's mind till the year 1519. We shall see that his statement as to the time when the event took place (1518-19) not only presents no difficulty, but that such a termination to his experiences was naturally to be expected. Prior to 1518-19 the absolute assurance of salvation which appears afterwards is nowhere distinctly expressed in Luther's doctrine on faith and salvation. Passages to the contrary, which have been quoted from the unprinted lectures on Hebrews delivered previous to the autumn of 1517, need not be interpreted in the sense of fiducial faith and assurance of salvation. They refer rather indistinctly to the effects of faith without the works which Luther had now come to detest, and attack " self -righteousness," as in the Commentary on Romans ("sola fides . . , quce non nititur operihus illis [orationibus et prceparatoriis "]). They only hint vaguely at the road he will follow later. 1 Again, in the Indulgence theses of October 31, 1517, directed against Tetzel, the assurance of salvation is not expressed, and we find a recommendation " to trust rather to enter heaven by 1 F. Loofs, " Leitf aden der Dogmengesch.," 4, p. 711, lays stress on passages quoted by Denifle, but admits (p. 721) that they are " not so clear." The same applies to the passages quoted above, p. 261. FEELING HIS WAY 379 much tribulation than by security and peace." In place of pax, pax ! he, as a mystic, would prefer to exhort the people with the cry : crux, crux ! (thesis 93). Neither do the theses of the Heidelberg Disputation in April, 1518, contain the assurance of salvation, although theses 25-8 touch upon justification and, as against the law, extol the great effects of the faith which Christ works in us. 1 On the other hand, the Resolutions to the Indulgence theses which appeared shortly after (1518) treat to a certain extent of the subject and attempt to give a solution. 2 There we read : " In the confusion [in the mind of the man who is perturbed by thoughts of sin and rejection] God works a strange work in order to accomplish His work " ; grace is infused (" infunditur gratia"), while man still fancies he "is about to be damned." In order to rid himself of his " despair," he goes to Confession " so that the priest may declare him absolved and give peace to his con- science." " The man who is to be absolved must take great care lest he doubt the remission of his sins." Faith in Christ's words to Peter : " Whatsoever thou shalt loose on earth," etc., does all. The whole passage, which describes justification in the fanciful and paradoxical language of the mystic, is worth quoting : " When God begins to justify a man, He first damns him ; He is about to build, but first He pulls down, to heal but first He deals wounds, to vivify but first He condemns to death. He crushes a man, humbles him by the knowledge of himself and his sins and makes him tremble, so that, under a sense of his misery, he cries out [with Holy Scripture] ' there is no peace for my bones because of my sins, there is no health in my flesh because of Thy wrath. For the mountains melt away before the face of God, He sends out His arrows, He troubles us with His anger and with the breath of His wrath. The sinner sinks down into hell and shame covers his face. David frequently experienced this confusion and tribula- tion and describes it with sighs in several of the Psalms. Salva- tion has its origin in this confusion, because ' the fear of God is the beginning of wisdom.' " The ways of God are in a tempest and a whirlwind, according to Nahum (i. 3) ; man's destruction is to Him " the most pleasing sacrifice," the animal sacrificed is torn in pieces, the hide is stripped off, and it is slaughtered. Luther in three passages from the Prophets, describes the " in- fusion of grace," which man is apt to mistake for the outpouring of the Divine wrath upon him. Because the man who is justified is still " without peace and consolation," not trusting his own judgment, he begs the priest for comfort in Confession. " He is led to cling to the judgment of another not because he is a spiritual superior, or because he pos- sesses any power, but on account of the words of Christ Who cannot lie : ' Whatsoever thou shalt loose,' etc. Faith in these 1 Cp. K. Stange, " Die ersten ethischen Disputationen Luthers " (" Quellenschriften zur Qesch. des Protestantismus," No. 1), p. 54. 2 "Werke," Weim. ed., 1, p. 540 f. ; "Opp. Lat. var.," 2, p. 152 eeg. 380 LUTHER THE MONK words has worked peace of conscience while the priest looses by virtue of the same." 1 " Christ is our peace. Without faith in His word, no one will ever be at peace even after more than a thousand absolutions from the Pope. Thanks be to God for this sweet power of the priest." Such words of gratitude do not disguise the fact, that the sacrament of penance is stripped of its meaning by the assur- ance, that " the remission of guilt takes place by the infusion of grace before the priest has given absolution." Above all it is plain we have not yet here that assurance of salvation, as Luther held it at a later date : " Whoever seeks peace in another way [than through the absolution of the priest]," he says in the same passage, " say, by his own inward experience, appears to be tempting God, and not seeking peace by faith." With this denial of the validity of personal inward experience (" experientia intus ") he brushes aside an element which, scarcely a year later, he represents as essential. He says still more definitely : " The remission of guilt is not assured to us, as a general rule, except by the sentence of the priest, and not even by him unless we believe Christ's promise with regard to loosing. But so long as we are not certain of the remission it is no remission." " As the infusion of grace is hidden under the appearance of anger, man is still more un- certain of grace when it is present than when it is absent." 2 That Luther could rest satisfied with so shadowy and in- sufficient a conception can only be attributed to his state of mind at the time. He lays great stress on absolution in the Disputation of the year 1518 " For the calming of troubled consciences " (above, p. 319). 3 Here it is expressly stated, that the strongest assurance regarding the state of grace is to be derived from the priest's absolution and the accompanying faith of the penitent Christian : " Whoever is absolved by the power of the keys must rather die and renounce all creatures than doubt of his absolution " (thesis 16). " Those who declare the remission of sins to be doubtful on account of the uncertainty of contrition, err to the point of deny- ing the faith " (13), for " the forgiveness of sins is based much more upon faith in the word of Christ : ' Whatsoever thou shalt loose,' etc." (9). " The power of the keys operates a sure and infallible work by the word and the command of Christ, when used in earnest." (24). The concluding words of the Disputation already quoted elsewhere accordingly exhort to boundless con- fidence, while at the same time alluding significantly to the text 1 Cp. Weim. ed., 1, p. 542. " Opp. Lat. var.," p. 156 : " Cui (sacerdoti absolventi) qui crediderit cum fiducia, vere obtinuit pacem et remissionem apud Deum ; id est certus fit, se esse absolutum, non rei sed fidei certitudine propter infallibilem misericordiam promittentis sermonem Quodcunque solveris," etc. " Sic Ro. V. lustificati gratis per gratiam ipaius, poccm habemus ad Deum per fidem, non utique per rem." 2 " Werke," Weim. ed., 1,'p. 541. 3 Ibid., p. 629 ff. ; " Opp. Lat. var.," 1, p. 378 seq. FIDUCIAL FAITH 381 which has risen on Luther's horizon, though as yet he understands it only imperfectly : " The just man liveth by faith." His state of uncertainty with regard to the appropriation of salvation caused Luther great disquietude. Other circumstances, particularly his feverish excitement at the outset of his public struggle, also contributed towards his inward unrest. The morbid fear of which he had never rid himself was also powerfully stirred. The supreme degree of this painful torment of soul may be gathered from the description he gives in the Resolutions. In this work, which appeared in August, 1518, in dealing with the 15th Indulgence thesis, he tries to prove that the punishment of Purgatory may be made up merely by fear and terror. Many of those living even now, he says, had ex- perienced how high the flood of such interior sufferings can rise and how close they bring a man to despair. He would not quarrel with any who did not believe this, but those who had been through such trials were in a position to speak of them. Tauler treated of such pains in his German sermons and brought forward some examples ; of course, to the Scholastics Tauler was unknown ; they did not appreciate him, but he had found more real theology in this theologian who wrote in German than " among the whole of the Schol- astics of all the universities." He then proceeds, beginning with the very formula with which Paul introduces the account of his raptures : " I know a man " (Novi homlnem), to describe the mystical interior sufferings which he had " frequently " experienced ; though they had never per- sisted long, they were so " hellish," that whoever had not undergone them himself was quite unable to speak of them. Had this consuming fire lasted only for the tenth part of an hour all a man's bones were reduced to ashes. " God then appears to be horribly angered and with Him all creation. There is no possibility of flight, no comfort whether within or without, only a hollow accusing voice. The soul laments, according to the words of Scripture : ' Lord I am cast away from Thy face,' she dares not even say : ' Chastise me not in Thy wrath.' At this moment- inex- plicable as it is the soul is unable even to believe in its possible liberation, but only feels that the punishment is not at an end. It appears everlasting and unceasing. The soul finds nothing in its whole being but a bare longing for 382 LUTHER THE MONK help, nothing but terrible sighing, though it knows not whence to implore assistance. Thus the soul, like Christ, is completely extenuated, all its bones are numbered, there is not a tissue in it which is not penetrated with the ex- cruciating bitterness, with flight, with mournful anxiety and pain, and all for ever and ever. When a ball passes over a board every point of the line along which it travels bears the whole weight of the ball, though it does not receive the ball into itself. So, too, the eternal flood of pain passes over the soul and causes it to taste the whole endless weight of eternal pain in every part, but the pain is not per- manently received into the soul, it does not last, but passes." 1 The above so strange and fantastic description incor- porated in a Latin work written for the learned, in the interests of Luther's psychology, calls for further con- sideration. Particular stress must here be laid on the false mysticism in which Luther was then entangled, and his free use of the fanciful language of certain of the mystics. Luther's states had, however, nothing in common with those de- scribed in somewhat similar words by the healthier mystics, viz. the sore trial of the Mount of Olives through which the soul passes owing to the complete withdrawal of consolation. He, however, imagines he sees himself portrayed not only in such descriptions of the mystics, but also in mystical passages in the Psalms over which, at this time of change, he was fond of brooding. David's cries ring in his ears ; his experience of the hell in which the soul must dwell, of the life which draws nigh to hell, of the bones which are banished to the gate of hell, of the sinking into a dark sea, into the bowels of the earth under the heaped-up weight of endless misery. 1 " Werke," Weim. ed., 1, p. 557 ; " Opp. Lat. var.," 2, p. 179 seq. No reason can be advanced against the application of this passage to Luther himself except that the formula he employs, Novi hominem (cp. 2 Cor xii. 2: " Scio hominem in Christo . . . raptum"), he also once makes use of in an account given of another person. This circum- stance, howevei, does not invalidate the reference to his own person, which is apparent from the whole context. It is true, however, that Luther does not directly refer to himself. The Protestant historians, J. Kostlin, W. Kohler, W. Braun, G. Kawerau, etc., also refer the passage to Luther himself. The last-named historian says, in the " Deutsch-Evangelische Blatter," 1906, p. 447, that this passage of the Resolutions gives an idea "of the night of the soul which he had experienced." FIDUCIAL FAITH 383 It must also be borne in mind that the Monk, with his pseudo-mystical ideas, cherished a gloomy conception of God, and held the terrible doctrine of the absolute pre- destination of the damned. Having wandered away from the Catholic teaching, with his views on man's lack of free will, and the theory of arbitrary imputation by God, he found no answer in his troubled conscience to the question which weighed him down, namely, how to arrive at the assurance of a Gracious God. Confusion and interior pangs of conscience for a while gained the upper hand. Lastly, his peculiar morbid tendency to fear must also be taken into account, for it afforded an opportunity to the Tempter to add to his confusion by raising difficulties regarding the deficiencies of his new, self-chosen theology. Adolph Hausrath in his Life of Luther even speaks of periodical mental disturbances from which he suffered during the time he was a monk ; the disturbing power inherent in the monastic practices, so he says, took possession of his sensitive nature with its strong feelings ; Luther only escaped the danger of going mad by bravely bursting the fetters of the monastic Rule and the Popish Faith. In the strong inward combats which Luther endured at a later date Hausrath recognises a return of this affliction. In his second edition he has toned down this view of Luther's periodical attacks of mental illness out of regard for the objections which had, not without reason, been urged against his statement. In Luther's case, however, there is no reason for assuming any " monkish mental disease," nor can he be proved to have suffered from any disturbance whatever of his mental functions at any time of his life. 1 But if we take it that the night of the soul which he passed through, whether in the monastery or during his later struggle, had at its basis a peculiar physico-psychic dis- position revealing a want of normal inward stability, then we can perhaps easily explain some other strange and at first blush inexplicable phenomena which his case presents. At any rate, the fundamental new dogma of the assurance of salvation was not the product of a clear, quiet, calm atmosphere of soul. It was born amidst unbearable inward mental confusion, and was a frantic attempt at self-pacifica- 1 See volume vi., chapter xxxvi., "Dark side of the Life of the Soul," 4, 5. 384 LUTHER THE MONK tion on the part of the Wittenberg Doctor whose active but unstable mind had already left the true course. It is of interest and helps us to reach a right understanding of the Tower Experience, to follow the change of view re- garding assurance of salvation which is apparent in Luther's statements and writings in the latter months of 1518 and beginning of 1519. At the time when, in October, 1518, Luther, a prey to other anxieties, stood before Cardinal Cajetan at Augsburg, he was already making great strides towards the new and consoling dogma of faith alone, moved thereto by indigna- tion at the censure which one of his propositions had called forth. He says to Cardinal Cajetan in his explanation of the second of the assertions which he was required to withdraw, that it was incorrect to speak of it as " a new and false theology that no one can be justified except by faith, and that it is necessary to hold it as certain in faith that one is justified, and not in any way to doubt the obtaining of grace, because whoever doubts or is uncertain is no longer justified, but is rejecting grace." l He attempts to prove this first as regards Confession. The principal thing is to believe the words of Christ : " Whatsoever thou shalt loose," etc., i.e. by applying the words to oneself ; " under pain of eternal damnation and to avoid committing a sin of unbelief," it is necessary to believe this ; this faith is the only disposition for the sacrament and no work whatever serves as a preparation. 2 No one could receive grace who doubted of its reception ; but, if we believed, then we received everything in the sacrament. The belief that we receive a personal remission of sin is, according to St. Bernard, the testimony of the Holy Ghost in our heart ; this, according to the same Father, is expressed in Romans iii. 28 : " We hold that a man is justified by Faith with- out the works of the law." Let Cardinal Cajetan, he says finally after quoting a great number of biblical passages having no bearing on the matter in hand show him how he is to under- stand in any other way all these texts from the Divine utter- ances. What is remarkable is, however, that, during his trial at Augsburg, he allows Confession and Absolution to recede further 1 " Werke," Weim. ed., 2, p. 13 f. " Opp. Lat. var.," 2, p. 377 seq. 2 " Per nulla opera aptus (en's) ad sacramenlum, sed per solam fidem, quia sola fides verbi Christi iustificat, virificat, dignificat, prceparat ; sine qua omnia alia vel sunt prcesumptionis rel desperationis studia. lustus enim non ex dispositione sua sed ex fide vivit, Rom. i. 17," which passage (see below, p. 391 ft.) accordingly already plays a great part in his considerations. FIDUCIAL FAITH 385 into the background than in the Resolutions ; he no longer speaks of the above-mentioned magical production of the personal assurance of salvation, by the formula of absolution, as by the testimony of another ; he now holds the absolute certainty of justification to be present by faith even before this, whenever a man is willing to submit himself, according to his instructions, to the Sacrament of Penance. 1 Thus faith alone and the assur- ance of salvation were already present. The principal difficulty, however, as he admits below (p. 389 f.), still troubled his mind. This was the Justice of God, which haunted his conscience, though it did not hinder his going forward. The appeal he made to a General Council in November and his " conjecture " of December, 1518, that the Pope might be Antichrist, 2 were momentous indications that he was cutting himself adrift from the authority of the Church. At the same time he stripped the ideas he had hitherto held on faith of everything that reminded him of the traditional teaching of the Church ; he transformed the faith necessary for justification into a mere act of confidence in the merits of Christ without any reference to the Sacraments, to the other truths of faith, or to the Church, who is the guardian and mouthpiece of faith. To lay hold upon the righteousness of Christ with a sure trust is made to suffice for justification and for the fullest assurance of salvation, without any of the preliminaries and conditions on which he had formerly insisted. This act, too, God alone operates in man, who himself is devoid of all free will. Although he incidentally clothes the act of confidence with love, and even hints at the good works a man may have performed previous to this act, also requiring good resolutions for the future, yet these are only additions which are really inconsistent with his idea. Henceforward fiducial faith appears to him as really an isolated fact, an act of confidence inspired by God merely from His good pleasure and with no regard for any work. 1 In the beginning of 1519 he gives instructions to the Faithful, intended to show them how to make a good use of Confession ("A Short Instruction how to make a Confession," " Werke," Weim. ed., 2, p. 57 ff ; Erl. ed., 21, p. 244 ff.). Even in March, 1520, he re- published this little work in an extended form, "Confitendi Ratio," Weim. ed., 6, p. 154 seq. " Opp. Lat. var.," 4, p. 152 aeq. (cp. Kostlin- Kawerau, 1, p. 278), where he recommends confession, merely warning the penitent, ' ' ut non fiducia confessionis vel faciendce vel factce nitatur sed in solius Dei clementissimam promissionem tola fidei plenitudine con- fidat, certissimus videlicet, quod, qui confessuro peccata sua promisiH veniam, promissionem suam fidelissime prcestabit." 2 To Wenceslaus Link, December 11, 1518, " Briefwechsel," 1, p. 316. I. 2 Q 386 LUTHER THE MONK A vast change of far-reaching consequence had taken place in Luther's conception of the appropriation of the iustitia Dei, he had now reached an interpretation of the words iustus ex fide vivit and of the whole meaning of the gospel, upon which, notwithstanding the independence of his treatment of doctrine, he had never hitherto ventured. We may well ask what event, what development, had led up to this. Salvation by faith alone and the absolute assurance of one's state of grace, were taught by Luther quite openly in )he second course of lectures on the Psalms, which he had commenced in 1518 (perhaps at the end of the year), and the beginning of which he published in 1519 with a preface addressed to the Elector Frederick, dated March 27, 1519 (see above, p. 285). This was the " Operationes in Psalmos," upon the publication of which he was engaged until 1521, and which was finally left unfinished. This work he, even at a later date, described as an entirely true exposition of his actual teaching on justification. 1 Other lectures, delivered at an earlier period, received no such praise from him ; on the contrary, he never took the trouble of having them printed, and does not even mention them. Although the Commentary on Romans, which we have already studied, had advanced a considerable distance along the new lines of thought, nevertheless, at a later date its tone appeared too Catholic to please him ; it did not contain the new creed " Credo me esse salvum" The same is true of the earlier course on the Psalms, of the lectures on Galatians, on Hebrews and on the Epistle to Titus. Luther, as a rule, was very ready to have his writings printed, but these, after he had entered upon the second stage of his development, he plainly looked upon as unripe and incomplete. Simultaneously with the printing of the new Commentary on the Psalms he commenced that of another Commentary, also consisting of lectures. This is the shorter of the two works on Galatians which he has left us in print (above, p. 306 f.). This Commentary on Galatians, together with the " Operationes in Psalmos," is the earliest witness to his new and definitive conception of sola fides as an entire confidence in one's justification. 1 Mathesius, " Aufzeichnungen," p. 75. FIDUCIAL FAITH 387 To these must be added the almost contemporary " Sermo de triplici iustitia" delivered towards the end of 1518, and the " Sermo de duplici iustitia," dating from the commence- ment of 1519. The righteousness of Christ, he says in the sermon on the threefold righteousness 1 without any reference to the Sacra- ments, with the exception of Baptism, or to the Church's means of grace " is our whole being " and " becomes by faith our righteousness, according to Romans i. : ' The just man liveth by faith ' " ; " Whoever has this shall not be damned, even though he commit sin," 2 this being proved by two passages from the Psalms ; "by this man becomes lord of all things." There is no such thing as merit. " Every Christian must beware of ever doubting as to whether his works are pleasing to God ; whoever doubts this, sins, loses all his works and labours in vain. . . . He is not acting from faith or in faith." " As you believe in Christ so too you must believe that your works are well pleasing to God because they are of faith [i.e. done in a state of grace]." In the sermon on the twofold righteousness one of the first quotations from the Bible on which the same idea is based and yet more strongly expressed is again Romans i. 17 : " The justice of God is revealed in the gospel," etc. 3 This passage assumes a more prominent position in his mind. He pauses in his explanation of Psalm xxx. 1 : " In iustitia tua libera me " ; this, he says, signifies " the righteousness of Christ which has become ours by faith, grace and the mercy of God." He finds that this righteousness is frequently referred to in the Psalms as the " work of God, confession, power of God, mercy, truth and justice. These are all names for faith in Christ, or rather names for that righteousness which is in Christ." It is true that " this alien righteousness which is only infused by grace is never com- pletely infused all at once, but begins, increases and is finally completed by death." It is displayed by works of faith, especially those for the good of others, where man, " the lord of all things," makes himself " the servant of all " words which Luther employs in exactly the same sense shortly afterwards as the foundation of his work : " On the freedom of a Christian man." Faith, i.e. confidence in our own salvation by Christ, works all this ; it imparts a certainty so that we are able to say : " Christ's life, work, sufferings and death are mine, just as though I had myself lived, worked, suffered and died ; so great is the confidence with which you are able to glory in Christ." 4 His teaching, even then, was against the law. According to him, says Loofs, " the law, even as ' explained ' in the New Testament, which renders assurance of salvation possible only after the fulfilment of demands impossible to the natural man, 1 " Werke," Weim. ed., 2, p. 44 f. " Opp. Lat. var.," 2, p. 325 seq. 2 " Hanc qui habet, etiamsi peccet, non damnatur." 3 " Werke," Weim. ed., 2, p. 146. " Opp. Lat. var.," 2, p. 330. Ibid., p. 145 [329]. 388 LUTHER THE MONK is, it is true, necessary as a negative preparation for faith, though not to be regarded as the expression of the relationship desired by God between Himself and man. It is the gospel which teaches us the position which God wishes us to occupy with regard to Himself ; according to its teaching we must, before we do any- thing for our salvation, be certain by faith of God's forgiving grace, in order to be born again by such a faith and become capable of fulfilling the Will of God." 1 The Protestant theologian who writes thus in his History of Dogma also points out that according to Luther, the law was merely revealed by God as an educational measure and as the foundation of a scale of rewards, whereas the gospel represents the justice of God in the order of grace (Rom. i. 17). " In this conception of the antagonism between the law and the gospel," says Loofs, " and in the possibility and necessity of an assurance of salvation which it presupposes lies the fundamental difference between the Lutheran and the Catholic view of Christianity." 2 At these fundamental views regarding the appropriation of salvation, or righteousness by faith, Luther had accord- ingly already arrived in 1518-19 when engaged on his second exposition of the Psalms. 2. The Discovery in the Monastery Tower (1518-19) Luther describes, in an important passage of the Preface to the Latin edition of his works in 1545, how he finally arrived at his ideas of faith and the assurance of salvation. 3 It is the only occasion on which he expatiates in so detailed and vivid a manner on his own development. In the light of this passage his other assertions must be considered. The reader is at once struck by what Luther relates of the gloom and confusion of his mind previous to the discovery in the tower. In the preface, he says : " The passage, Romans i., ' The Justice of God is revealed in the Gospel,' had, till then, been an obstacle to me. For I hated the words 1 F. Loofs, " Leitfaden zum Studium der Dogmengesch." 4 , p. 721 f. 2 P. 722. We may mention casually Loofs's well-founded criticism of Luther's doctrine of Justification and Assurance of Salvation (p. 767 f.). Further attention will be given to this point of his teaching and to that on the Law and the Gospel in volume iv., xxviii., 3, and volume vi., xxxix., 2 and 4. " Opp. Lat. var.," 1, p. 22 seq. This passage will be compared with a similar lengthy statement in the Commentary on Genesis (" Opp. Lat. exeg.," 7, p. 74, cp. 10, p. 155), which, however, is not of equal importance with the former because the Commentary consists merely of notes made by others from Luther's lectures, and the portion in question was not published till after Luther's death. Cp. on the latter, O. Scheel, "Die Entwicklung Luthers," etc. (" Schriften des Vereins fur Reformationsgesch.," No. 100, pp. 61-230), p. 107 f. THE JUSTICE OF GOD 389 ' justice of God,' which according to the use and custom of all teachers I had been taught to interpret in the philo- sophical sense, namely, as referring to the formal and active justice by which God is just and punishes the sinners and the unjust. Although I was a blameless monk, I felt myself as a sinner before God, suffered great trouble of conscience and was unable to look with confidence on God as propitiated by my satisfaction, therefore I did not love, but on the contrary, hated, the just God Who punishes sinners ; I was angry with Him with furious murmuring, and said : The unhappy sinners and those who owing to original sin are for all eternity rejected are already sufficiently oppressed by every kind of misfortune owing to the Ten Commandments, and as though this were not enough God wills [according to Rom. i.] by means of the gospel to heap pain on pain, and threatens us with His Justice and His Anger even in the gospel." 1 In his Table-Talk, as reported by Heydenreich, he says in the winter of 1542-43 in a quite similar way : " These words were always in my mind. Wherever the ' Justice of God ' occurs in Scripture I was only able to understand this to mean the justice by which He Himself is just and judges according to justice. ... I stood there and knocked for someone to open to me, but no one came to undo the door ; I did not know what to make of it. ... Before finding the solution I shuddered with horror, I hated the Psalms and the Scripture where the justice of God occurs, which I took to mean that He was just and the Judge of sinners, but not that He was our Justification and our imputed righteousness." " The whole of Scripture stood like a wall in front of me." 2 " As often as I read that the Justice of God was revealed in the Gospel," he says in his Commentary on Genesis, " I wished that God had never revealed the Gospel, for who could love an angry God Who judges and condemns ? " 3 " This word Justice," he says in another Commentary in 1532, "cost me much sweat (' magno sudore mihi constitit'). To interpret this as though it meant the justice according to which God damns the wicked is not merely unfounded but very danger- ous ; it awakens in the heart great hatred of God and His Justice ; for who can love Him Who treats the sinner according to justice ? 1 The rest of the passage is given below, p. 391. The contents will first be made clear by quotations from parallel statements of Luther's. 2 Mathesius, " Table-Talk," p. 309. 8 " Opp. Lat. exeg.," 7, p. 74. 390 LUTHER THE MONK Never forget that God's justice means that justice by which we are justified ; it is the gift of the remission of sins." 1 That in truth it " cost him much sweat " before he was able to overcome the objections suggested by the justice of God itself, is proved by other and stronger allusions of Luther to the interior storms he underwent at this crisis. We refer to other statements in which, as above, he is speaking of Bible passages containing the expression Justice of God. Thus for instance : " The words just and Justice of God were like a lightning-flash in my conscience (' fulmen in conscientia ') ; when I heard them, they at once filled me with terror. I thought God is Just and therefore He punishes." 2 "That word iustitia," he said in September, 1538, " was a thunder-clap to my heart. When as a papist I read : ' Deliver me in Thy Justice ' (Ps. xxx. 2), and ' In Thy Truth,' etc., I immediately represented to myself the avenging Justice and the fury of an angry God. In my heart I hated Paul when I read : ' The Justice of God is revealed in the Gospel ' . . . till at last in my affliction a remedy presented itself." 3 Here we may mention some statements, which, though they belong to his later, fictitious portrayal of his spiritual develop- ment, 1 nevertheless contain an element of truth concerning his inner life at the time when he was still a monk, and probably during those very months when he was excitedly and confusedly brooding over the assurance of salvation. In reality they merely describe in greater detail what the above passages relate of his dread of God's Justice, though they also falsely charge all papists and all monks with being full of servile fear for the Judge, and forming a school of despair. " We fled from Christ," he says in one of these remarkable passages, " as from the devil ; for we were taught that everyone must appear before the Judgment-seat of Christ with his works and orders. . . . The Gospel tells us that Christ does not come as a Judge but as a Saviour ; but the monks taught the contrary, namely, that He was to be our Judge." 5 Now, he says, elsewhere, the word of God which has been re-discovered " depicts Christ as our Justice." But in the monastery he, like all the others, had " fallen away from the faith," and therefore his " heart trembled and palpitated for fear lest God should not be gracious " to him. " I often shuddered at the name of Jesus and when I looked at Him on the cross, He seemed to me like a lightning-flash." 6 He had often, he assures us, been forced to say : " I wish there were no God," 7 " and none of them looked upon my un- belief as a sin." 8 It was " simple idolatry, for I did not believe in Christ but 1 "Opp. Lat. exeg.," 19, p. 130. Exposition of Psalm li. 2 From Khummer's Notes in Seidemann's edition of Lauterbach's "Tagebuch," p. 81. 3 Lauterbach, " Tagebuch," p. 130. 4 See volume vi., xxxvii. 6 " Werke," Erl. ed., 47, p. 39 f. 8 Ibid., 45, p. 156. 7 Ibid., 46, p. 73. 8 " Opp. Lat. exeg.," 7, p. 74. THE STERN JUDGE 391 looked on Him as a stern and terrible Judge." 1 "I did not know how I stood towards God," " was unable to pray aright," 2 indeed " no one knew anything " about prayer, " for we did not pray in faith in Christ." 3 It was a " great martyrdom and bondage from which the gospel set us free " ; 4 I was, as it were, in a privy and in the kingdom of the devil. 5 He felt the terrors of the Divine Judgment, he assures us (possibly on account of the inward wrestling with the iustitia Dei) so that his " hair stood on end " when he thought of it. " At the monastery I shuddered when they spoke of death or the other life." 6 " I was the most wretched man on earth ; day and night there was nothing but howling and despair which no one was able to put an end to for me. Thus I was bathed and baptised and properly sweated in my monkery. Thanks be to God that I did not sweat myself to death, otherwise I should have long ago been in the depths of hell with my monkish baptism. For I knew Christ only as a stern Judge from Whom I wished to escape and was unable to do so. ... Thus have they tortured many a worthy soul throughout life and at last thrown him in despair into the infernal abyss." 7 " In this way I raged (' Itafurebam ')," Luther continues in the Latin Preface where he speaks of his sudden discovery, " and my conscience caused me terror and confusion ; I knocked imploringly at the verse of Paul (Rom. i. 17) with a burning thirst to know what it meant." He now describes the actual inward experience. " At last, while brooding day and night, by the mercy of God I noticed the connection between the words : the Justice of God is revealed therein [in the gospel], as it is written, 'The just man liveth by faith.' Then I began to understand the Justice of God as that by which the just man lives by the gift of God, viz. by faith ; [I saw that] the sense is this : ' By the gospel, justice, i.e. the passive justice of God, is revealed by which the merciful God justifies by faith, as it is written : ' The just man liveth by faith.' Then I felt myself born again and fancied I had passed through the gates of Paradise. The whole of Scripture thereupon appeared to me in quite a different light. I ran rapidly through the passages in question as they lived in my memory and compared them with other expressions, such as : ' Work of God,' i.e. the work which God carries on in us ; ' Power of God,' by which He makes us strong ; ' Wisdom of God,' by which He makes us wise ; likewise the ' Strength of God,' ' Salvation of God,' and ' Honour of God.' Then I extolled that sweetest word, Justice, with as much love as I had previously hated it, and this i " Werke," Erl. ed., 49, p. 27. 2 Ibid., 17, p. 139 f. 3 Ibid., 44, p. 354. * Ibid., 59, p. 10. 6 In Galat., 1, p. 109. - " Werke," Erl. ed., 51, p. 146, 7 Ibid., 31, p. 279. 392 LUTHER THE MONK passage of Paul's became to me in very truth the gate of Paradise." He adds that the reading of Augustine had strength- ened him in his interpretation, and, " provided with better weapons by means of this experience, I set about the exposition of the Psalms for the second time " ; this work was, however, interrupted by the Diet of Worms. Luther, it is true, does not speak here of the monastery tower as the scene of his experience, but this is described quite plainly in his other statements given below. "In these the privy situated above the " Hypocaustum " is mentioned as the place where the discovery took place. They at the same time complete and confirm the account given in the Preface of the antecedents of this new enlightenment, i.e. the immediately preceding terrors of God's avenging justice, the time it happened, viz. when Luther was engaged on the Psalms, and finally, the subject-matter of the experience. The accounts from Luther's own lips must here be con- sidered collectively. Not only do they correspond exactly with Luther's condition of mind, as described above, but also, according to the chronological account already given of the development of his teaching, with the time he recommenced his work on the Psalms, 1518-19, which period Luther expressly mentions in the Preface as the date of the incident. 1 It is not necessary, indeed, when we consider the above description of the course of his development, not possible, to assign an earlier date to the incident, though some have recently pushed it back to a time prior to his first exposition on the Psalms. Others, on account of some minor inexactitudes which occur in the principal account given in 1545 (see below, p. 399), hold it to be a fanciful invention of Luther in his old age in which he was merely summing up the result of a long inward process. If every circumstance be calmly weighed the historian must however, in the main, support Luther's account ; he is not free to sacrifice the valuable source of knowledge, of such vast importance in arriving at an estimate of Luther's personality, presented by these testimonies. In what follows Luther's other testimonies to the same effect as that contained in the Preface, will be duly brought forward and their peculiarities noted. 1 " Ccepi psalterium secundo interpretari. . . . Eo anno (MDX1X) iam redieram ad psalterium denuo interpretandum" THE TOWER INCIDENT 393 The first testimony is to be found in Johann Schlaginhaufen's notes and speaks of the fears which the thought of God's aveng- ing justice habitually caused Luther and from which the discovery delivered him. 1 This pupil of Luther's relates, in an abbreviated Latin form, the following communication which he received from Luther between June and September, 1532, i.e. thirteen years before the Preface : " The words just and Justice were like a flash of lightning in my conscience. When I heard them I was filled with terror [and thought] : Is He just ? Then He will punish ; ' The just man liveth by faith,' ' the Justice of God is made manifest without the law ' (cp. Rom. iii. 21) ; our life therefore comes of faith ; God's Justice must be the salvation of everyone who believes. Then my conscience at once comforted itself : Surely it is the Justice of God which justifies us and saves us ; and this word (iustitia) became more pleasing to me." " This art," Schlaginhaufen proceeds in Luther's own German, "the Spiritus sanctus infused into me in this Cl." (see p: 396). The fear of the Divine Justice also appears in the foreground in the account of the incident in Luther's Table-Talk in Septem- ber, 1540, as preserved by Johann Mathesius. 2 " At the outset when I read and sang in the Psalm [every evening at Compline] the words : . ' In iustitia tua libera me,' I was afraid and hated the words : ' iustitia Dei,' ' indicium Dei,' ' opus Dei.' For I thought nothing less than that ' iustitia Dei ' meant His strict Judgment. And if He was to save me according to His strict Judgment I should be lost for ever. But ' misericordiam Dei,' ' adiutorium Dei,' those words pleased me better." But it was only after the light of a true understanding of God's Justice had risen upon me that " I began to relish the Psalter." The notes on Luther's Table-Talk made by his friend Master Caspar Heydenreich, dating from the winter 1542-43, and edited by Kroker in 1903 from the collection of Mathesius, must also be considered. 8 Mathesius records them under the descriptive title : " Evangelii occasio renascentis per Doctor em." He plainly thought, agreeably with Luther's own opinion and that of his pupils, that the enlightenment he had received on the text " The just man liveth by faith " was the most important, or at least one of the most important causes of " the new birth of the Gospel through the Doctor " Luther. And, as a matter of fact, Luther's con- viction, which was shared by his pupils, that this saving inter- pretation had been infused by the Holy Spirit, sufficiently explains why so much stress should be laid on this incident, and also why the recipient of the said illumination so frequently recurs to it. Under the above title we find Heydenreich's lengthy account, taken from Luther's own lips, which agrees entirely with the statements of the Preface and, in particular, dwells on Luther's 1 Schlaginhaufen, " Tischreden " (1531-1532), p. 108. 2 Mathesius, " Tischreden," p. 211 f. 3 Kroker's edition, p. 309. 394 LUTHER THE MONK ecstasy of joy at the discovery (" Cum hoc invenissem, ita delectabar, in tanta Icstitia, ut nihil supra "). In several of the accounts the Psalms are represented as the primary cause of the struggles that went on in Luther's soul, and the correct comprehension of them as one of the first fruits of his new discernment. Then " I first relished the Psalter," Luther says in Mathesius's account, and in Heydenreich's notes he declares : " Whereas I formerly hated the Psalms and the Scripture where mention was made of the Justice of God, the way was now clear to me when I read in the Psalms : ' Deliver me in Thy Justice ' and ' Deliver me in Thy mercy,' " for God's mercy, by which He justifies us with His grace, had, from that time onward, come to mean the same to him as "the righteous- ness of God." In Anton Lauterbach's Diary of 1538 two passages from the Psalms are likewise quoted as the cause of Luther's trouble of conscience, 1 and in the Hallo MS. of the " Colloquia " which Bindseil edited, and which is based on Lauterbach's collection, a similar uneasiness is said to have been induced by the Psalms in priests generally : " When, in Popery, we read the verses [in question] we immediately thought of the avenging Justice . . . but when I took into consideration what follows ... I became joyful," the right interpretation of the passage concerning the just man who lives by faith " supplied a remedy for all who were afflicted " (" afflictis remedium contiyit "). 2 Another passage in the Psalms which caused him trouble is quoted by Luther when referring to the event in his Commentary on Psalm 1. (li.), which he wrote in 1532 : " Exsultdbit lingua mea iustitiam tuam " (verse 16) ; as the biblical view of Justice had been obscured in his mind and in that of all, he had been unable to understand how it was possible to praise the avenging Justice in the Psalms. 3 Thus, there is no doubt that the Psalms were the actual occa- sion of his discovery and his statement in the Preface of 1545 with regard to the time it occurred is thereby confirmed. 4 1 Lauterbach, " Tagebuch," p. 130. 2 " Colloquia," ed. Bindseil, 2, p. 275. Cp. 1, p. 52. 3 " Opp. Lat. ex'eg.," 19, p. 130. 4 Kawerau also lays great stress on the connection between Luther's development and his work on the Psalms. " Theol. Studien und Kritiken," 77, 1904, p. 617. He even thinks the Psalms rather than the idea of the lustitia Dei formed the starting-point. J. Ficker says in the Preface to his edition of the Commentary on Romans, p. Ixxii, with regard to the testimony Luther gives concerning himself in his Prsefatio : " He speaks of the second course [on the Psalms], but is, without doubt, thinking of the first." And O. Scheel (see above, p. 388, n. 3), p. 112 f., etc., prefers to fix the first course on the Psalms as the time of Luther's experience, and rests his assumption on the fact that Luther had " reforming ideas " present in his mind even before he wrote the Commentary on Romans. I, nevertheless, think I may appeal in opposition to this view to my preceding statements which touch on all the points raised, more particularly on the change which during the THE TOWER INCIDENT 395 Luther's pupil, Conrad Cordatus, in recording the matter in his diary is quite right in emphasising, in Luther's own words, that the knowledge gained by the incident was : " Ergo ex fide est iustitia et ex iustitia vita " -, 1 this is also done in the German Table-Talk, where we find a rather more detailed description of the inference drawn by Luther : " Then I became of another mind and from that moment thought : We are to live as justified by faith, and the Justice of God, which is His attribute, shall save all who believe ; these verses will no longer affright the poor sinners and those who are troubled in conscience, but on the contrary comfort them." 2 In the reference made to the event in the Commentary on Genesis (1540), the fact that the just man lives by faith is also placed in the foreground, and in this case we may safely rely on the Commentary though it was not printed till after Luther's death. 3 Here we read that it was the knowledge he had acquired "under the enlightenment of the Holy Ghost " that " our life comes from faith " that had " opened out the whole of Scripture to him, and heaven itself." This, according to the passage in question, was the result of the " anxious work," which at the outset he had devoted to the comprehension of Romans i. 17. By the use of such an expression as " at the outset," " primum," the opening word of the whole passage which speaks of his development, he would appear to imply that it was then that the foundation was laid of the great evangelical truth concerning faith. This agrees with the title Mathesius bestows on his notes : " Occasion of the re-birth of the gospel by means of the Doctor." In the passage in question in the Commentary on Genesis the consoling faith which he had been commissioned to teach is contrasted with the " unbelief " prevalent in Popery, which has lost all experience of this security. " They did not know that unbelief was a sin . . . and yet conscience cannot find any real comfort in works. Let us therefore enjoy the blessing of God which is now imparted to us." Luther's utterances so far have referred more to the inward occasion, to the time and the subject-matter of the experience from which the dogma of absolute assurance of period from 1515 to 1516 occurred in Luther, who in his first Com- mentary on the Psalms had been much more Catholic-minded. In fixing chronologically the date of the experience described in the Latin Prsefatio I have the further advantage of being supported by Luther's clear and definite statement. As he esteemed his second course on the Psalms so highly (see above, p. 386) and consigned the first to oblivion, it is difficult to imagine that he mistook the one for the other. On the other hand, a mistake as to the sequence of those ideas which had made an impression on him in his youth might easily be explained by advancing years, like his mistakes concerning the time when he first became acquainted with certain authors (for instance, in this case, with Augustine). J P. 423. 2 " Werke," Erl. ed., 58, p. 370. Cp. pp. 336, 404 3 See above, p. 388, n. 3. 396 LUTHER THE MONK salvation took its rise. The statements which follow, on the other hand, refer more to the place where the incident occurred, but they at the same time emphasise more par- ticularly an element which was incidentally connected with it, namely, the inspiration by the Spirit of God. In Lauterbach's " Colloquia " (ed. by Bindseil) the account com- mences with the words : " By the grace of God while thinking on one occasion on this tower [he seems to be pointing with his finger to the very spot] and hypocaustum, over those words : Justus ex fide vivit . . . the Holy Ghost revealed the Scripture to me in this tower." 1 In Cordatus's diary both circumstances are mentioned : " On one occasion on this tower (where the privy of the monks was situated) when I was speculating on the words, etc., the Holy Ghost imparted to me this knowledge on this tower," i.e. to understand that " Justice comes of faith and life proceeds from Justice." 2 The editor, H. Wrampelmeyer, points out the fact that the mention of the " privy " is omitted in the later Table-Talk. In the German Table-Talk the inspiration is mentioned instead : " This knowledge was given to me by the Holy Ghost alone." 3 Rebenstock, in his valuable Latin Table- Talk, gives both together : " in hoc turri vel hypocausto," and later: " Hcec verba per Spiritum sanctum mihi revelata sunt,"* The Lutheran pastor Caspar Khummer, who, in 1554, made a collection of Table-Talk, relates both circumstances (in Lauter- bach's edition) : " Cum semel in hoc turri speculabar," and further on : " With this knowledge the Holy Ghost inspired me in this cloaca on the tower." 8 The mention of the cloaca explains the entry of Johann Schlaginhaufen in his notes of Luther's own words in 1532 : " This art the Spiritus sanctus infused into me in this Cl." 6 Cloaca is abbreviated into Cl., -probably because Schlaginhaufen's copyist, was reluctant to write it out in full alongside of the account of the inspiration which Luther had received from the Holy Ghost ; the editor suggests we should read " Capitel " ; but the chapter-house is not to be thought of. Strange indeed are the interpretations which have been given, even in recent times, by the unlearned to many of the expressions in our texts. The " locus secretus " was supposed to be " a special place allotted to the monks in the tower," whereas it is clear that the " secret chamber " was simply the closet or privy, a word which occurs often enough in Luther's later abuse of the Papists. In olden times it was very usual to establish this adjunct on the city wall and its towers, the sewage having egress outside the town boundaries. The buildings on the city wall, of which we hear in 1 Volume i., p. 52. Texts in detail, vol. vi., xlii, 6. 2 P. 423. 3 " Werke," Erl. ed., 58, p. 370. 4 In the notes to the " Colloquia," ed. Bindseil, 1, p. 52. 6 J. K. Seidemann in his edition of Lauterbach, p. 81. 6 See above, p. 393. THE TOWER INCIDENT 397 connection with Luther's monastery, were simply this and nothing more. 1 It has been said that by the word " tower " was meant a spiritual prison, namely, Popery, in which Luther languished until his enlightenment. In the hypocaustum was seen the spiritual sweat-bath in which the Monk was immersed till the time of his liberation by the new doctrine. As a matter of fact the allusion is to a heating apparatus, or warmed space, either below or in front of the privy, some such arrangement being common in monasteries. In his cell Luther had no stove. We know from Luther's letters that there was a question in 1519 of allotting some other place outside the walls to the previously existing privy, or of rebuilding it. In the name of the community, Luther, in the middle of May, 1519, requested the Elector for permission to erect a " necessary building outside the walls on the moat," because the "gentlemen of the Wittenberg Council " delayed giving their sanction. 2 The result of the request is unknown ; as, however, Cordatus, in the passage referring to the tower, makes use of the words : "in which the monks' privy was," it would seem at the time he wrote to have been no longer in the tower. The tower, however, remained, otherwise Luther would not have said, as he did, that the event took place on (or in) this tower. An historian of Luther's Augus- tinian priory stated in 1883, that, on the eastern side of the monastery, where the localities in question were probably situated, broken drain-pipes were to be seen up to the middle of last (the eighteenth) century. 3 We must, therefore, represent the scene of the discovery as the secret chamber, which Luther expressly mentions, situated in a tower on the walls, probably on the eastern flank of the monastery. Constructed against the outer side of the tower, it probably projected over the moat, and, below, or in front of it, was the so-called hypocaustum. As regards the revelation mentioned in the above passages, it is certain that Luther always traced back the knowledge so acquired to a special revelation, though not indeed to any- thing like a vision. Those verses on faith composed his " evangel," and he always declared with regard to this " evangel " that his discovery, made at the cost of so much labour, had been accompanied by a " revelation of the Holy Ghost." 4 He speaks, for instance, of the time when he began to advocate his favourite doctrine as being the time of the " revelation of the evangel." 5 In answer to the fanatics who disputed his right to 1 Lisch, in Enders, " Brief wechsel Luthers," 2, p. 35, n. 2. 2 " Werke," Erl. ed., 53, p. 9. " Briefwechsel," 2, p. 35. 3 H. Stein, " Gesch. des Lutherhauses," 1883, p. 19. * See volume iii., xvi., 1, and volume vi., xxxvi., 4. 5 " Werke," Erl. ed., 61, p. 338, " Tischreden." 398 LUTHER THE MONK the first place in the new teaching, he defends himself by saying that it was he who " not without the revelation of the Holy Ghost had again brought forward the gospel." The words contained in his letter to the Elector on his return from the Wartburg express a consciousness of a higher illumination, where he declares that he had received the " evangel, not from men, but solely from heaven through our Lord Jesus Christ." 1 " Such self-reliance almost fills us with anxiety," says Adolf Harnack, of the latter and other writings. ". . . We seek in vain in the whole history of the Church for examples of men who could write such letters as that to the Elector, and the writings which Luther composed on the Wartburg. I can quite understand how Catholic critics see in these letters a ' delirious pride.' There is no choice except to judge Luther thus or to recognise that his place was an entirely peculiar one in the history of the Christian religion." 2 Harnack goes on to quote another extremely self-confident passage from Luther : "It pleased God well to reveal His Son through me," and then expresses his own opinion on the subject : " Luther's merit consisted in the circumstance that he was able to express what he had experienced, namely, the equation of the assurance of salvation, and faith " ; 3 his self-reliance, Harnack adds, was the " true expression of a religious freedom such as Clement of Alexandria had painted as the disposition of a true Christian, and such as the mystics of all ages had in their way sought to attain to."* Luther's claim to special illumination must, as hinted be- fore, be restricted to the domain of the aforesaid doctrine of assurance of salvation ; the whole of his doctrine did not come to him from God, or at least only by way of the inspiration of the Spirit, which, according to his own statements to v be after- wards considered, is common to all well-disposed Christians who make use of Holy Scripture. Dollinger, also, says : This doctrine was the " only one which he really believed he had received by a special revelation of the Holy Ghost." 5 Here again we perceive the fundamental importance attach- ing to the assurance of salvation as the corner-stone of his development. Unconsciously he had been driven forward to this extremity. Protestants quite rightly have often pointed out that the decisive question for him was : " How can I, a mere single individual, be assured of the forgiveness of sins and thereby of the mercy of God ? " " He ventured," 1 On March 5, 1522, "Werke," Erl. ed., 53, p. 106 (" Brief wechsel," 3, p. 296). 2 " Dogniengesch.," 3, p. 812. 3 Ibid., p. 846. Harnack (p. 812) urges that Luther's self-confidence was combined with entire humility with respect to God. * Ibid. 6 " Die Reformation," 3, p. 186. Dollinger is there speaking of the " doctrine of Imputation," by which he means the doctrine of faith alone which produces the assurance of salvation. THE TOWER INCIDENT 399 so it has been said, " to throw overboard all doubts as to the doctrine of assurance of salvation and to declare frankly and freely : it is impossible to trust God without being fully assured of redemption and salvation." " One thing only was still wanting (in his Commentary on Romans), namely, the clear perception of the fact, that the believer not only may be certain of his redemption, but that he must be so." The mystics helped him finally to arrive at the " joyous sense of trust in God " after he had been through " the hell of a troubled conscience " ; thus he was set " free from the last scruples and doubts, and reached the con- sciousness that he might, nay, must, rest assured of his God." 1 The fact cannot be concealed, that in the above passages concerning the discovery on the tower, which for the most part date from a later period of Luther's life, there is some obscurity and confusion as to the subject. He says first : the Justice of God, by which God (Christ) is Just, is taught in the New Law and is also indicated in the Psalms, and this Justice of God is reckoned to us as our Justice. Secondly, we lay hold upon it only by faith, and thus our life comes from faith (fiducial faith with assurance of salvation), of which fact we must be joyfully confident. Thirdly : The difficulty caused by the idea of God's avenging Justice, which weighs down the soul, must therefore be fought against with determination. Of the first of these three ele- ments Luther had made personal experience long before this time ; its earliest expression is at the commencement of the Commentary on Romans, also in the well-known letter to Spenlein of April 7, 1516. He had therefore no right to speak of it as forming the subject of his newly acquired knowledge. The second element on the other hand was really new, and gave him the answer to the anxious question : How is the imputed Justice of God to become mine ? Not by self-annihilation, not by humilitas, not by yearning prayer and other works which hitherto he had proposed as the means, but by faith only which had assured him of " regeneration," of heavenly revelations, etc. Concerning the third element no more need be said here, however greedily he may have seized the semblance of comfort which 1 So H. Bohmer, "Luther im Lichte der neueren Forschung" 2 , 1910, pp. 45, 57, 58. 400 LUTHER THE MONK the discovery afforded him, passing from the storms of his crisis into what he took to be a safe haven of peace. The illusory talisman of absolute assurance of salvation was the result of the second stage of his development. 3. Legends. Storm Signals On looking back in later years upon the course of his spiritual progress in the monastery, Luther was unable to distinguish clearly between the various stages of his develop- ment. The incident in the tower, which had left the strongest impression on his memory, drew the first stage more and more into the foreground in his imagination, so that in his accounts he assigns to it an undue prominence to the disadvantage of the two others. Hence the want of clearness noticeable in his statements with regard to the same. We find not merely obscurity, but actual error, particularly in his account of the traditional interpretation and that which he had himself begun to advocate of the lustitia Dei (Rom. i. 17). Luther is, in this matter, the originator of the great legend still current even in our own day, which represents him as a Columbus discovering therein the central truth set forth by Paul ; no one had been able to find the key to the passage before his glance penetrated to the truth. All the learned men of earlier times had said that iustitia there meant the avenging Justice of an angry God. As a matter of fact, in Luther's lectures on Genesis in 1540-41, * it is asserted that all the doctors of the Church, with the exception of Augustine, had misunderstood the verses Romans i. 16 f. ; Luther's Preface to his Latin works to some extent presupposes the same, for he says that he had, " according to the custom and use of all doctors" (" usu et con- suetudine omnium doctorum doctus "), understood the passage as meaning that justice " by which God is Just and punishes sin," and only Augustine, with whom he had made common cause, had found the right interpretation (" iustitiam Dei interprelatur, qua nos Deus induit "), although even the latter did not teach imputation clearly (see above, p. 392). 2 1 See above, p. 388, n. 3. We can hardly assume that such a state- ment was an error of the Notes ; it is more probable that Luther made a mistake in his verbal delivery. 2 In other statements, such as that related by Heydenreich (above, p. 393), he assumes that no doctor was able to supply him with the right explanation : " No one came to open the door," etc. THE LUTHER LEGEND 401 " As a matter of fact, however, the exact opposite is the case : all the mediaeval doctors whom he studied as a monk, Peter Lombard, Lyra and Paul of Burgos, gave, as can be proved, the same interpretation as Augustine. Thus Luther was completely at sea as to the handling of this, to him most important, passage." 1 Luther in his Preface says that contrary to all expectation (" praeter spem ") he had, after his own discovery, found in St. Augustine's " De spiritu et litter a " an interpretation which agreed with his own, and that this caused him fresh joy, although Augustine expresses himself imperfectly with regard to the same. Denifle, on the other hand, proves by the testimony of more than sixty interpreters of antiquity, that all are unani- mous in taking the iustitia Dei in St. Paul in the same sense as St. Augustine, viz. as the Justice by which God renders men just. 2 The demonstration is conducted with "com- mendable accuracy and fulness." 3 Luther himself, strange to say, at an earlier date and previous to the Tower incident, had repeatedly employed the correct interpretation. We can only suppose that it then made no impression on him, at any rate, no such impression as the incident on the Tower. He makes use of it with special reference to its older representatives, in the marginal notes to the Sentences of Peter Lombard, 1 509-10, 4 then in the Commentary on the Psalms, and finally even in the Commentary on Romans, where he twice quotes Augus- tine and even the " De spiritu et littera" It is true that on these occasions he passes over the pas- sage in the Epistle without displaying any particular interest, i.e. without laying on it the stress he does at a later date. Another difference is also noticeable. Luther has introduced since 1518 an entirely new idea, which he had not before, into 1 Thus Bohmer, ibid., p. 35. 2 Denifle, "Luther und Luthertum," I 2 . " Quellenbelege ; die abendlandischen Schriftausleger bis Luther iiber iustitia Dei (Rom. i. 17) und iustificatio," 1905. Among the older interpreters Abailard alone may be an exception. 3 Ficker in the Preface, p. Ixxix. 4 Cp. Bohmer 2 , p. 47 : " It is a matter of interest that he refers for the interpretation to a work much used in that period, the ' Biblia cum glossa ordinaria,' printed at Basle by Froben, 1508. It is plain that he looked up this gloss on the Epistle." On the strength of this B6hmer thought himself entitled to say : " The birth-hour of the Reformation falls in the winter 1508-9. . . . Its birthplace was the Black Monastery at Wittenberg " ; but " it was only quite slowly that Luther lived himself into his new religious views." I. 2 D 402 LUTHER THE MONK his interpretation of the iustitia Dei. In it he finds not only that the justice which comes from God justifies us, but that it is bestowed upon us solely and directly by means of a trusting faith, and that thus a " life " in grace is opened up to man of which he must be infallibly certain in his innermost conscious- ness. In his accounts, says Loofs, " we have documentary proof of impaired memory." "It is plain that Luther's memory, in the course of years, and owing to his ' odium papce,' had, as we can well understand, become inaccurate with regard to pre-Reforma- tion conditions." 1 The " odium papce " would certainly seem to have been concerned in his placing in the forefront his supposed re-discovery of an exegesis which Popery had forgotten. Merely in order to throw light on the sequel of the great legend in our own times, we may here remark that it is difficult to understand the displeasure expressed by a modern Church historian and admirer of Luther, when some Protestants dared to agree with Denifle's lengthy demonstration of the real exegetical history of Romans i. 17. An impartial theologian, amongst others, expressed himself as follows in a periodical : " Denifle has proved beyond a doubt that Luther was wrong when he asserted that the earlier doctors had almost without exception taken the iustitia Dei, Rom. i. 17, in the sense of the Divine anger." 2 These words roused the admirer we have in mind to reply immediately as follows in the " Theologisches Literaturblatt " of Leipzig : " Does then the writer not per- ceive what the result must be for Luther's character ? " Of two things, one, he says, either Luther lied, or he acted most unscrupulously and never consulted the earlier doctors. 3 The new discovery not only filled. Luther with blind courage and defiant presumption in the defence of his previous teaching, but also lent a giant strength to his action as a reformer of ecclesiastical conditions against Rome's abuses. He now begins to act as a spokesman of the nation and to constitute himself the leader of the already existing anti-Roman movement in Germany. He now persuades himself more strongly than ever that he is in possession of a truth which is to be suppressed by Italian trickery and imperiousness, if not by " poison and the dagger," as was being planned in Italy. Rome had ravaged Scripture and the Church, her name should be Babylon : this (Apocalyptic) Beast, this Antichrist, must be exposed before the world, other- 1 Loofs, " Dogmengesch." 4 , p. 688 f. Loofs remarks concerning the statements on Augustine : " Luther was also mistaken with regard to this [the time and the manner of his experience]." My view of the state of the case differs, however, from that of Loofs, Braun, Behmer, Scheel, etc. 2 " Die Reformation," Lit. Beilage, September, 1905. 3 " Theologisches Literaturblatt," 26, 1905, col. 507. THE LUTHER LEGEND 403 wise he might as well surrender his theology and allow it to perish ; " I do not care if even my friends say I have lost my reason ; it must be so ; I have awaited this hour when they should be offended in me, as the disciples and friends of Christ were in Christ (Matt. xxvi. 31 ; Mark xiv. 27) ; truth must stand by its divine strength, not by mine or yours or that of any man." 1 "It is only we Germans on whom the Empire descended, who have strengthened the power of the Popes so far as we could. For our punishment we have had to endure them as masters in cursing and abuse, and now as robbers also by means of pallium- fees and taxes on the bishoprics." 2 In the Preface to the Commentary on Galatians he sent forth a call to the Germans and their Princes, which anticipates his later pamphlet " To the Nobility of the German Nation," in the same way as the ideas contained in his work on the Twofold Justice serve as a prelude to the booklet " On the Freedom of a Christian Man." " Those godless windbags, Prierias, Cajetan and their fellows, abuse us as German clowns, simpletons, beasts, barbarians, and mock at the incredible patience with which we allow ourselves to be deceived and robbed. All praise therefore to the German Princes for recently [1518], at Augsburg, refusing the tenths, twentieths and fiftieths to the Roman Curia, not- withstanding that they knew the cursed Roman Council [5th of the Lateran] had sanctioned these taxes. They recognised that the Pope and the Council had erred . . . that the legates of the Curia are only after gold and more gold. The example of these lay theologians is especially worthy of imitation. ... It is a proof of greater piety when the Princes and other folk of any degree oppose the Curia than if they were to take up arms against the Turk." 3 As we shall see, it was not Ulrich von Hutten who first roused Luther to such language against Rome, and to the stirring up of a false patriotism. Hutten's letters to him, and those of the other Humanists, are of later date, as also the congratulations and exhortations of the Humanist Crotus Rubeanus. It is a legend to attribute the raising of the standard of the Reformation principally to the Humanists and revolutionary knights. The fact that its origin may be traced back to 1521 does not make it one whit more credible historically. The air, in any case, was full of the anti-Roman spirit of revolt breathed by the Humanists and knights. The Wittenberg Monk had become acquainted with this spirit and found it sympathetic. How well it suited his purpose will be shown in the next chapter. 1 To Spalatin, February 24, 1519, " Brief wechsel," 2, p. 2 : " Italicce subtilitates." * Ibid., p. 6. s Cp. Bohmer 2 , p. 63 404 LUTHER THE MONK The subversive doctrines which he had now at length fully developed in the quiet of his monastery held the first place among the factors which drove him onwards ; in so far as these doctrines were in very truth his own production, born of his own heart and brain amid incredible anxieties and struggles, we may, nay must, say that it was a new and independent task which he undertook, and that his was the labour and his the results. What Luther with his subversive theology propounded from that time forward, what he, with his chief doctrine of justification by faith and the appropriation of salvation, began to set in the place of the old teaching, was "in no way the necessary product of the various factors which had assisted in his education, but rather something new, original and never before known, only to be accounted for by Luther's own extraordinary genius." l In this sense the entire lack of originality with which he has frequently been reproached must also be relegated to the domain of legend. In attacking him to-day, the tactics which commended themselves to the older theologians, who knew little of his history, or at any rate of the course of his interior development, should no longer be resorted to. Their plan was to range all his doctrines under some one or other of the older heresies- even though only the germ of his errors was to be found in former ages and then sapiently to declare he had merely gone about collecting his errors from the various olden heretics. It is quite a different matter that like errors are so frequently met with in history even in most unexpected quarters ; it is due to their many-sidedness and to their windings and aberrations. The truth which is vouched for by the Church pursues its own straight, undeviating path, from the earliest disciples of Christ down to our own times, and in its quiet, immutable splendour is infinitely more original than any error, how- ever new and modern it may claim to be. 1 BOhmer 2 , p. 60. END OF VOL. I. University of California SOUTHERN REGIONAL LIBRARY FACILITY 405 Hilgard Avenue, Los Angeles, CA 90024-1388 Return this material to the library from which It was borrowed. > Form J 3 1158 00395 4723