CHAP. LVI. THE REFORMATION-LUTHER-MELANCTHON- 1516. GERMANY was the land in which the great A.D. Reformation commenced. Martin Luther was born at Eisleben on the 10th of November, 1483; a man retiring and diffident from the severity of his early education. In the year 1501, Luther matriculated and entered at the university of Erfurd, with the intention of studying the law; but, averse to the busy strife and contention of forensic life, in 1505, he entered a convent. There he became exceedingly melancholy, till in the year 1508 A.D., on account of his learning, he was summoned to fill a professor's chair at the university of Wittemberg. In the year 1510 A.D. he made a journey to Rome, and there, tó his greatest astonishment, he became acquainted with the extravagances of the Pope and Cardinals, which tended no little to shake his belief in the papal infallibility, and caused Luther to commence a diligent study of scripture, where he soon discovered numerous doctrines utterly irreconcilable with the tenets of popery. In the year 1516 A.D. a monk of the name of Tetzel made a journey through Saxony, selling indulgences for all kinds of crimes to any sinner who I 1520. A. D. could pay for the purchase. By this means a large sum of money was brought to Rome from divers countries and from divers people, who were, of course, no little encouraged in sin by the shameful delusion that money could procure the pardon of the Most High. Luther regarded these proceedings of Tetzel with great indignation, and in 1517 he drew up, at Wittemberg, ninetyfive sentences, in which he set forth that the sale of indulgences was wholly unjustifiable, and a mere invention of the Pope to draw money to Rome. Leo the Eleventh, who was at that time Pope, summoned Luther before him. Luther was however, protected by the lord of his principality, Frederick the Wise. The Pope then sent an ambassador to Germany, 1518 A.D., who called upon Luther to recant; this Luther refused, and, justifying his religious opinions, wrote a letter to the Pope. A second embassy was sent, in 1519, from Rome, with instructions to treat with Luther in a spirit of conciliation, which had the effect of making him the more disposed to concessions; but when he discovered that preparations were at the same time making to take him as a prisoner to Rome, he not only defended his former opinions, but further asserted that the power assumed by the Pope was utterly without foundation either in the word of God or the writings of the ancient fathers. In 1520 A.D., the Pope placed Luther under the ban of excommunication. But Luther publicly burnt the 1522. Pope's bull, and called upon the whole German A. D. nation to abjure the usurpations of Rome, to suppress monasteries, and no longer to require celibacy of the priests. Several princes joined in this protest. In 1521 A.D., an imperial diet was held at Worms by the Emperor Charles the Fifth, and Luther was obliged to appear to make his defence. He appeared, however, under the safe conduct of the Emperor, and explained before that numerous and august assembly the doctrine which he held, adding, that he would revoke all he had ever advanced against the papacy if his opinions could be refuted from the Bible; otherwise, said he "I cannot recognise the Pope as the infallible and supreme head of the church, for he has already committed many errors." This courageous speech was followed by a declaration of outlawry against him, which was, however, not made known till by the secret contrivances of the Elector of Saxony, Luther had been safely lodged in the Wartburg. From this retreat he propagated his doctrines in numerous publications; but the place of his concealment was not discovered. His most important work was the translation of the Bible. In 1522 A.D., he appeared unexpectedly in Wittemberg, where many innovations had been introduced in his name, of which he did not at all approve. In the mean time the sentence of outlawry had been forgotton, and the doctrine of Luther had spread far and wide, even beyond the territories of Saxony, and most especially in 1532. A. D. Hessen. In 1524 A.D., he laid aside his monastic dress; and in 1525 he married Catherine Bora, who had once been a nun. In 1528 he wrote his larger and his smaller catechism. Meantime tha Roman Catholic princes exclaimed loudly against these heresies; and although, in 1526, they tolerated the Lutheran service, they ordered mass and other usages of Roman Catholicism to be still observed. It was also forbidden to make any more converts to the new doctrines. Against these restrictions the Lutherans strongly 66 protested," and for this reason they obtained the name of Protestant. In 1530 A.D., they made a declaration of their faith at Augsburg. Still the new doctrines in that city were condemned as heretical, and their diffusion forbidden under the severest penalties. On the other hand, the Lutheran princes joined together in a treaty of mutual assistance at Schmalcalden; and it is very probable that war would have followed between the two parties, had not the Emperor Charles the Fifth required all the energies of both against the threatened invasion of the Turks in Hungary. In 1532 A. D. the exercise of the Protestant religion was openly allowed, and several other demands conceded to the Reformers. This victory won many adherents to the Protestant cause, and many Lutheran congregations arose even in the states of the Emperor. All this the Emperor regarded with a very unfavourable eye, while the Pope continually urged him to ac tion. Still Charles was obliged to endure, for the A.D. Turks were then invading his territories. In 1541 1542, he promised for the second time peace to the Protestants, though secretly he was making preparations for war. Luther did not live to see the bloodshed which would result from the work he had begun, but died in his native town Eisleben on the 18th of February, 1541. His body was carried to Wittemberg, and there buried in the castle church. One of his most faithful friends, and one whose counsels he often followed, was Melancthon, though during the later years of his life Luther's opinion of him underwent some change. Melancthon was too gentle and conciliatory to please Luther, who at times was disposed to be impetuous and severe. Indeed his impetuosity proved rather unfavourable to the propagating of his doctrines. Henry the Eighth, King of England, for instance, was so offended at Luther, that the English Church, though separating from the Romish, refused to join the Lutheran. In Switzerland another person arose to dispute the doctrines of popery, namely, Zwingle. By his advice the mass was abjured, the pictures cleared away from the churches, and the celibacy of the clergy brought to an end. Zwingle differed from Luther in the interpretation of one passage only in Holy Scripture. In the year 1529 A.D. an attempt was made to unite them on this point, but in vain ; each held fast by his own opinion, though resolving there should be no interruption to their friendship. |