102
The Great Controversy
While one day examining the books in the library of the university,
Luther discovered a Latin Bible. Such a book he had never before
seen. He was ignorant even of its existence. He had heard portions
of the Gospels and Epistles, which were read to the people at public
worship, and he supposed that these were the entire Bible. Now, for
the first time, he looked upon the whole of God’s word. With mingled
awe and wonder he turned the sacred pages; with quickened pulse and
throbbing heart he read for himself the words of life, pausing now
and then to exclaim: “O that God would give me such a book for
myself!”—Ibid., b. 2, ch. 2. Angels of heaven were by his side, and
rays of light from the throne of God revealed the treasures of truth to
his understanding. He had ever feared to offend God, but now the deep
conviction of his condition as a sinner took hold upon him as never
before.
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An earnest desire to be free from sin and to find peace with God led
him at last to enter a cloister and devote himself to a monastic life. Here
he was required to perform the lowest drudgery and to beg from house
to house. He was at an age when respect and appreciation are most
eagerly craved, and these menial offices were deeply mortifying to his
natural feelings; but he patiently endured this humiliation, believing
that it was necessary because of his sins.
Every moment that could be spared from his daily duties he em-
ployed in study, robbing himself of sleep and grudging even the time
spent at his scanty meals. Above everything else he delighted in the
study of God’s word. He had found a Bible chained to the convent
wall, and to this he often repaired. As his convictions of sin deepened,
he sought by his own works to obtain pardon and peace. He led a most
rigorous life, endeavoring by fasting, vigils, and scourgings to subdue
the evils of his nature, from which the monastic life had brought no
release. He shrank from no sacrifice by which he might attain to that
purity of heart which would enable him to stand approved before God.
“I was indeed a pious monk,” he afterward said, “and followed the
rules of my order more strictly than I can express. If ever monk could
obtain heaven by his monkish works, I should certainly have been
entitled to it.... If it had continued much longer, I should have carried
my mortifications even to death.”—Ibid., b. 2, ch. 3. As the result
of this painful discipline he lost strength and suffered from fainting
spasms, from the effects of which he never fully recovered. But with