History of the Reformation in the Sixteenth Century Volume I Part 16

Luther had been two years in the cloister, and must now be consecrated priest. He had received much, and he looked forward with delight to the prospect which the priesthood presented of enabling him freely to give what he had freely received. Wishing to avail himself of the occasion to be fully reconciled to his father, he invited him to be present, and even asked him to fix the day. John Luther, though not yet entirely appeased, nevertheless accepted the invitation, and named Sabbath the 2nd May, 1507.

In the list of Luther's friends was the vicar of Isenach, John Braun, who had been his faithful adviser when he resided in that town. Luther wrote him on the 22nd April. It is the Reformer's earliest letter, and bears the following address:--"To John Braun, Holy and Venerable Priest of Christ and Mary." It is only in the two first letters of Luther that the name of Mary occurs.

"G.o.d, who is glorious and holy in all his works," says the candidate for the priesthood, "having designed to exalt me exceedingly,--me, a miserable and every way unworthy sinner, and to call me solely out of his abundant mercy, to his sublime ministry, it is my duty in order to testify my grat.i.tude for a goodness so divine and so magnificent, (as far at least as dust can do it,) to fulfil with my whole heart the office which is entrusted to me."

At length the day arrived. The miner of Mansfield failed not to be present at the consecration of his son.... He even gave him an unequivocal mark of his affection and generosity, by making him a present of twenty florins on the occasion.

The ceremony took place, Jerome, Bishop of Brandebourg, officiating.

At the moment of conferring on Luther the right to celebrate ma.s.s, he put the chalice into his hand, uttering these solemn words, "_Accipe potestatem sacrificandi pro vivis et mortuis_"--"Receive power to sacrifice for the living and the dead." Luther then listened complacently to these words, which gave him the power of doing the very work appropriated to the Son of G.o.d; but they afterwards made him shudder. "That the earth did not swallow us both," said he, "was more than we deserved, and was owing to the great patience and long-suffering of the Lord."[186]

[186] Luth. Op. xvi, (Walch.) 1144.

The father afterwards dined at the convent with his son, the friends of the young priest and the monks. The conversation turned on Martin's entrance into the cloister, the friars loudly extolling it as one of the most meritorious of works. Then the inflexible John, turning towards his son, said to him, "Hast thou not read in Scripture to obey thy father and thy mother?"[187] These words struck Luther; they gave him quite a different view of the action which had brought him into the convent, and for a long time continued to echo in his heart.

[187] "Ei, hast du nicht auch gehort das man Eltern soll gehorsam seyn." (Luth. Ep. ii, 101.)

By the advice of Staupitz, Luther, shortly after his ordination, made short excursions on foot into the neighbouring parishes and convents, both for relaxation, to give his body the necessary exercise, and to accustom himself to preaching.

The Fete Dieu was to be celebrated with splendour at Eisleben, where the vicar-general was to be present. Luther repaired thither. He had still need of Staupitz, and missed no opportunity of meeting with this enlightened conductor who was guiding him into the way of life. The procession was numerous and brilliant. Staupitz himself carried the holy sacrament, and Luther followed in his sacerdotal dress. The thought that it was truly Jesus Christ that the vicar-general was carrying--the idea that Christ was there in person actually before him--suddenly struck Luther's imagination, and filled him with such amazement that he could scarcely move forward. The perspiration fell from him in drops; he shook, and thought he would have died with agony and terror. At length the procession ceased. This host which had so awakened the fears of the monk was solemnly deposited in the sanctuary, and Luther, as soon as he was alone with Staupitz, threw himself into his arms, and told him of his consternation. Then the worthy vicar-general, who had long known that Saviour who breaketh not the bruised reed, said to him mildly, "It was not Jesus Christ, my brother. Jesus Christ does not alarm--he consoles merely."[188]

[188] "Es ist nicht Christus denn Christus schreckt nicht, sondern trostet nur." (Luth. Op. (W.) xxii, pp. 513, 724.)

Luther was not to remain hid in an obscure convent. The time had arrived for his being transported to a larger theatre. Staupitz, with whom he was in constant correspondence, was well aware that the soul of the young monk was too active to be confined within so narrow a circle. He mentioned him to Frederick of Saxony, and this enlightened prince, in 1508, probably towards the close of the year, invited him to a chair in the university of Wittemberg. Wittemberg was a field on which he was to fight hard battles; and Luther felt that his vocation was there. Being required to repair promptly to his new post, he answered the appeal without delay; and, in the hurry of his removal, had not even time to write him whom he called his master and beloved father--John Braun, curate of Isenach. Some months after, he wrote--"My departure was so sudden, that those I was living with scarcely knew of it. I am far away, I confess: but the better part of me is still with you."[189] Luther had been three years in the cloister of Erfurt.

[189] Luth. Ep. i, p. 5, March 17, 1509.

CHAP. V

The University of Wittemberg--First Employment--Biblical Lectures--Sensation--Preaching at Wittemberg--The Old Chapel--Impression.

In the year 1502, the Elector Frederick had founded a new university at Wittemberg, declaring, in the act by which he confirmed it, that he and his people would turn to it as towards an oracle. He thought not at the time that these words would be so magnificently realised. Two men belonging to the opposition which had been formed against the scholastic system, viz., Pollich of Mellerstadt, doctor of medicine, law, and philosophy, and Staupitz, had great influence in founding this school. The university declared St. Augustine its patron; and even this choice was a presage of good. In possession of great freedom, and regarded as a tribunal to which, in cases of difficulty, the supreme decision belonged, this new inst.i.tution, which was in every way fitted to become the cradle of the Reformation, powerfully contributed to the development of Luther and his work.

On his arrival at Wittemberg, Luther repaired to the convent of Augustins, where a cell was alloted him; for though professor, he ceased not to be monk. He was appointed to teach philosophy and dialectics. In a.s.signing him these departments, regard had, no doubt, been had to the studies which he had prosecuted at Erfurt, and to his degree of Master of Arts. Thus Luther, who was hungering and thirsting for the word of life, saw himself obliged to give his almost exclusive attention to the scholastic philosophy of Aristotle. He had need of the bread of life which G.o.d gives to the world, and he must occupy himself with human subtleties. How galling! How much he sighed! "I am well, by the grace of G.o.d," wrote he to Braun, "were it not that I must study philosophy with all my might. Ever since I arrived at Wittemberg, I have eagerly desired to exchange this study for that of theology: but," added he, lest it should be thought he meant the theology of the time, "the theology I mean is that which seeks out the kernel of the nut, the heart of the wheat, and the marrow of the bone.[190] Howbeit G.o.d is G.o.d," continues he, with that confidence which was the soul of his life, "man is almost always deceived in his judgment; but he is our G.o.d, and will conduct us by his goodness for ever and ever." The studies in which Luther was at this time obliged to engage were afterwards of great service to him in combating the errors of the schoolmen.

[190] ... "Theologia quae nucleum nucis et medullam tritici et medullam ossium serutatur." (Luth. Ep. i, 6.)

Here, however, he could not stop. The desire of his heart must be accomplished. The same power which formerly pushed him from the bar into the monastic life now pushed him from philosophy towards the Bible. He zealously commenced the study of ancient languages, especially Greek and Hebrew, that he might be able to draw science and learning at the fountain-head. He was all his life an indefatigable student.[191] Some months after his arrival at the university he applied for the degree of Bachelor in Divinity, and obtained it in the end of March 1509, with a special injunction to devote himself to biblical theology, _ad Biblia_.

[191] "In studiis literarum, corpore ac mente indefessus."

(Pallavicini, Hist. Conc. Trid. i, 16.) In literary pursuits, he was indefatigable in mind and body.

Every day at one, Luther had to lecture on the Bible,--a precious employment both for the professor and his pupils--giving them a better insight into the divine meaning of those oracles which had so long been lost both to the people and the school.

He began his lectures with an exposition of the Psalms, and shortly after proceeded to the Epistle to the Romans. It was especially when meditating upon it that the light of truth entered his heart. After retiring to his quiet cell he spent hours in the study of the Divine Word--the Epistle of St. Paul lying open before him. One day, coming to the seventeenth verse of the first chapter, he read these words of the prophet Habakkuk, "_The just shall live by faith_." He is struck with the expression. The just, then, has a different life from other men, and this life is given by faith. These words, which he receives into his heart as if G.o.d himself had there deposited them, unveils the mystery of the Christian life to him, and gives him an increase of this life. Long after, in the midst of his numerous labours, he thought he still heard a voice saying to him, "The just shall live by faith."[192]

[192] Seckend., p. 55.

Luther's lectures, thus prepared, had little resemblance to those which had hitherto been delivered. It was not a declamatory rhetorician, or a pedantic schoolman that spoke; it was a Christian who had felt the power of revealed truth--truth which he derived from the Bible, and presented to his astonished hearers, all full of life, as it came from the treasury of his heart. It was not a lesson from man, but a lesson from G.o.d.

This novel exposition of the truth was much talked of. The news spread far and wide, and attracted a great number of foreign students to the recently founded university. Even some of the professors attended the lectures of Luther, among others, Mellerstadt, often surnamed, "_The Light of the World_." He was the first rector of the university, and had previously been at Leipsic, where he had vigorously combated the ridiculous lessons of the schoolmen, and denying that "the light of the first day of creation could be theology," had maintained that this science ought to be based on the study of literature. "This monk,"

said he, "will send all the doctors to the right about. He will introduce a new doctrine, and reform the whole Church, for he founds upon the word of G.o.d; and no man in the world can either combat or overthrow this word, even though he should attack it with all the weapons of philosophy, the sophists, Scotists, Albertists, Thomists, and the whole fraternity."[193]

[193] Melch. Adam. Vita Lutheri, p. 104.

Staupitz, who was the instrument in the hand of Providence to unfold the gifts and treasures hidden in Luther, invited him to preach in this church of the Augustins. The young professor recoiled at this proposal. He wished to confine himself to his academic functions, and trembled at the thought of adding to them that of preacher. In vain did Staupitz urge him. "No, no," replied he, "it is no light matter to speak to men in the place of G.o.d."[194] Touching humility in this great Reformer of the Church! Staupitz insisted; but the ingenious Luther, says one of his biographers, found fifteen arguments, pretexts, and evasions, to excuse himself from this calling. The chief of the Augustins, still continuing his attack, Luther exclaimed, "Ah!

doctor, in doing this, you deprive me of life. I would not be able to hold out three months." "Very well," replied the vicar-general, "so be it in G.o.d's name. For up yonder, also, our Lord has need of able and devoted men." Luther behoved to yield.

[194] Fabricius, Centifol. Lutheri, p. 33. Mathesius, p. 6.

In the middle of the public square of Wittemberg was a wooden chapel, thirty feet long by twenty wide, whose sides, propped up in all directions, were falling to decay. An old pulpit made of fir, three feet in height, received the preacher. In this miserable chapel the preaching of the Reformation commenced. G.o.d was pleased that that which was to establish his glory should have the humblest origin. The foundation of the church of the Augustins had just been laid, and until it should be finished this humble church was employed. "This building," adds the contemporary of Luther who relates these circ.u.mstances, "may well be compared to the stable in which Christ was born. It was in this miserable inclosure that G.o.d was pleased, so to speak, to make his beloved Son be born a second time. Among the thousands of cathedrals and parish churches with which the world abounded, there was then one only which G.o.d selected for the glorious preaching of eternal life."[195]

[195] Myconius.

Luther preaches, and every thing is striking in the new preacher. His expressive countenance, his n.o.ble air, his clear and sonorous voice, captivate the hearers.

The greater part of preachers before him had sought rather to amuse their auditory than to convert them. The great seriousness which predominates in Luther's preaching, and the joy with which the knowledge of the gospel has filled his heart, give to his eloquence at once an authority, a fervour, and an unction which none of his predecessors had. "Endowed," says one of his opponents,[196] "with a keen and acute intellect, and a retentive memory, and having an admirable facility in the use of his mother tongue, Luther, in point of eloquence, yielded to none of his age. Discoursing from the pulpit as if he had been agitated by some strong pa.s.sion, and suiting his action to his words, he produced a wonderful impression on the minds of his hearers, and like a torrent, carried them along whithersoever he wished. So much force, gracefulness, and eloquence, are seldom seen in the people of the north." "He had," says Bossuet, "a lively and impetuous eloquence, which hurried people away and entranced them."[197]

[196] Florimond Raymond, Hist. Haeres. cap. v.

[197] Hist. des Variat. l. 1.

In a short time the little chapel could not contain the hearers who crowded to it. The council of Wittemberg then made choice of Luther for their preacher, and appointed him to preach in the town church.

The impression which he produced here was still greater. The power of his genius, the eloquence of his diction, and the excellence of the doctrines which he announced, equally astonished his hearers. His reputation spread far and wide, and Frederick the Wise himself once came to Wittemberg to hear him.

Luther had commenced a new life. The uselessness of the cloister had been succeeded by great activity. The liberty, the labour, the constant activity to which he could devote himself at Wittemberg, completely restored his internal harmony and peace. He was now in his place, and the work of G.o.d was soon to exhibit its majestic step.

CHAP. VI.

Journey to Rome--A Convent on the Po--Sickness at Bologna--Remembrances in Rome--Superst.i.tious Devotion--Profaneness of the Clergy--Conversation--Disorders in Rome--Biblical Studies--Pilate's Stair--Influence on his Faith and on the Reformation--The Gate of Paradise--Luther's Confession.

Luther was teaching both in his academic chair and in the church, when his labours were interrupted. In 1510, or, according to some, not till 1511 or 1512, he was sent to Rome. Seven convents of his order having differed on certain points with the vicar-general,[198] the activity of Luther's mind, the power of his eloquence, and his talent for discussion, made him be selected to plead the cause of these seven monasteries before the pope.[199] This Divine dispensation was necessary to Luther, for it was requisite that he should know Rome.

Full of the prejudices and illusions of the cloister, he had always represented it to himself as the seat of holiness.

[198] "Quod septem conventus a vicario in quibusdam dissentirent."

(Cochlus, 7.)

[199] "Quod esset acer ingenio et ad contradicendum audax et vehemens." (Cochlus, ii.) Because he was of a sharp wit, and bold and vehement in reply.

He accordingly set out and crossed the Alps, but scarcely had he descended into the plains of rich and voluptuous Italy, than he found at every step subjects of astonishment and scandal. The poor German monk was received in a rich convent of Benedictines, situated upon the Po in Lombardy. This convent had thirty-six thousand ducats of revenue. Of these, twelve thousand were devoted to the table, twelve thousand to the buildings, and twelve thousand to the other wants of the monks.[200] The gorgeousness of the apartments, the beauty of the dresses, and the rarities of the table, all astonished Luther. Marble and silk, and luxury under all its forms! How new the sight to the humble friar of the poor convent of Wittemberg! He was astonished and said nothing, but when Friday came, how surprised was he to see abundance of meat still covering the table of the Benedictines! Then he resolved to speak out. "The Church and the pope," said he to them, "forbid such things." The Benedictines were indignant at this reprimand from the rude German, but Luther having insisted, and perhaps threatened to make their disorders known, some of them thought that the simplest plan was to get rid of their troublesome guest. The porter of the convent having warned him that he ran a risk in staying longer, he made his escape from this epicurean monastery, and arrived at Bologna, where he fell dangerously sick.[201] Some have seen in this sickness the effects of poison, but it is simpler to suppose that it was the effect which a change of living produced in the frugal monk of Wittemberg, whose princ.i.p.al food was wont to be bread and herrings.

This sickness was not to be unto death, but for the glory of G.o.d.