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no bishop dared lift his voice against the fraud and corruption of this
iniquitous traffic. The minds of men were becoming disturbed and
uneasy, and many eagerly inquired if God would not work through
some instrumentality for the purification of his church.
Luther, though still a papist of the straitest sort, was filled with
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horror at the blasphemous assumptions of the indulgence-mongers.
Many of his own congregation had purchased certificates of pardon,
and they soon began to come to their pastor, confessing their various
sins, and expecting absolution, not because they were penitent and
wished to reform, but on the ground of the indulgence. Luther
refused them absolution, and warned them that unless they should
repent, and reform their lives, they must perish in their sins. In
great perplexity they sought out Tetzel, and informed him that an
Augustine monk had treated his letters with contempt. The friar was
filled with rage. He uttered the most terrible curses, caused fires
to be lighted in the public square, and declared that he had orders
from the pope to burn the heretics who dared oppose his most holy
indulgences.
Luther now entered boldly upon his work as a champion of
the truth. His voice was heard from the pulpit in earnest, solemn
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warning. He set before the people the offensive character of sin, and
taught them that it is impossible for man, by his own works, to lessen
its guilt or evade its punishment. Nothing but repentance toward
God and faith in Christ can save the si
ca
buy the indulgences, but to look in faith to a crucified Redeemer. He
related his own painful experience in vainly seeking by humiliation
and penance to secure salvation, and assured his hearers that it was
by looking away from himself and believing in Christ that he found
peace and joy.
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As Tetzel continued his traffic and his impious pretensions,
Luther determined upon a more effectual protest against these crying
abuses. The festival of All-Saints was an important day for Wit-
temberg. The costly relics of the church were then displayed, and
remission of sin was granted to all who visited the church and made
confession. Accordingly on this day the people in great numbers
resorted thither. On the day preceding the festival, Luther went
boldly to the church, to which crowds of worshipers were already
repairing, and affixed to the door ninety-five propositions against
the doctrine of indulgences. These theses he declared himself ready
to defend against all opposers.
His propositions attracted universal attention. They were read
and re-read and repeated in every direction. Great excitement was
created in the university and in the whole city. By these theses it
was shown that the power to grant the pardon of sin, and to remit
its penalty, had never been committed to the pope or to any other
man. The whole scheme was a farce,—an artifice to extort money
by playing upon the superstitions of the people,—a device of Satan
to destroy the souls of all who should trust to its lying pretensions. It
was also clearly shown that the gospel of Christ is the most valuable
treasure of the church, and that the grace of God, therein revealed,
is freely bestowed upon all who seek it by repentance and faith.
Luther’s theses challenged discussion; but no one dared accept
the challenge. The questions which he proposed had in a few days
spread through all Germany, and in a few weeks they had sounded
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throughout Christendom. Many devoted Romanists, who had seen
and lamented the terrible iniquity prevailing in the church, but had
not known how to arrest its progress, read the propositions with
Luther’s Separation from Rome
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great joy, recognizing in them the voice of God. They felt that the
Lord had graciously set his hand to arrest the rapidly swelling tide
of corruption that was issuing from the see of Rome. Princes and
magistrates secretly rejoiced that a check was to be put upon the
arrogant power from which there was no appeal.
But the sin-loving and superstitious multitudes were terrified as
the sophistries that had soothed their fears were swept away. Crafty
ecclesiastics, interrupted in their work of sanctioning crime, and
seeing their gains endangered, were enraged, and rallied to uphold
their pretensions. The Reformer had bitter accusers to meet. Some
charged him with acting hastily and from impulse. Others accused
him of presumption, declaring that he was not directed of God, but
was acting from pride and forwardness. “Who does not know,” he
responded, “that one can seldom advance a new idea without having
some appearance of pride, and without being accused of exciting
quarrels? Why were Christ and all the martyrs put to death?—
Because they appeared proud despisers of the wisdom of the times
in which they lived, and because they brought forward new truths
without having first consulted the oracles of the old opinions.”
Again he declared: “What I am doing will not be effected by the
prudence of man, but by the counsel of God. If the work be of God,
who shall stop it? If it be not, who shall forward it? Not my will,
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not theirs, not ours, but thy will, holy Father who art in Heaven!”
Though Luther had been moved by the Spirit of God to begin his
work, he was not to carry it forward without severe conflicts. The
reproaches of his enemies, their misrepresentation of his purposes,
and their unjust and malicious reflections upon his character and
motives, came in upon him like an overwhelming flood; and they
were not without effect. He had felt confident that the leaders in
the church and the philosophers of the nation, would gladly unite
with him in efforts for reform. Words of encouragement from those
in high position had inspired him with joy and hope. Already in
anticipation he had seen a brighter day dawning for the church.
But encouragement had changed to reproach and condemnation.
Many dignitaries, both of Church and State, were convicted of the
truthfulness of his theses; but they soon saw that the acceptance of
these truths would involve great changes. To enlighten and reform
the people would be virtually to undermine the papal authority, to
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stop thousands of streams now flowing into her treasury, and thus
greatly to curtail the extravagance and luxury of the Romish leaders.
Furthermore, to teach the people to think and act as responsible
beings, looking to Christ alone for salvation, would overthrow the
pontiff’s throne, and eventually destroy their own authority. For