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The Great Controversy
us, we shall be where He is and dwell with Him forever.”—Ibid., 3d
London ed., Walther, 1840, b. 6, ch. 9.
When the papal bull reached Luther, he said: “I despise and attack
it, as impious, false.... It is Christ Himself who is condemned therein....
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I rejoice in having to bear such ills for the best of causes. Already
I feel greater liberty in my heart; for at last I know that the pope is
antichrist, and that his throne is that of Satan himself.”—D’Aubigne,
b. 6, ch. 9.
Yet the mandate of Rome was not without effect. Prison, torture,
and sword were weapons potent to enforce obedience. The weak and
superstitious trembled before the decree of the pope; and while there
was general sympathy for Luther, many felt that life was too dear to
be risked in the cause of reform. Everything seemed to indicate that
the Reformer’s work was about to close.
But Luther was fearless still. Rome had hurled her anathemas
against him, and the world looked on, nothing doubting that he would
perish or be forced to yield. But with terrible power he flung back
upon herself the sentence of condemnation and publicly declared his
determination to abandon her forever. In the presence of a crowd of
students, doctors, and citizens of all ranks Luther burned the pope’s
bull, with the canon laws, the decretals, and certain writings sustaining
the papal power. “My enemies have been able, by burning my books,”
he said, “to injure the cause of truth in the minds of the common
people, and destroy their souls; for this reason I consumed their books
in return. A serious struggle has just begun. Hitherto I have been only
playing with the pope. I began this work in God’s name; it will be
ended without me, and by His might.”—Ibid., b. 6, ch. 10.
To the reproaches of his enemies who taunted him with the weak-
ness of his cause, Luther answered: “Who knows if God has not chosen
and called me, and if they ought not to fear that, by despising me, they
despise God Himself? Moses was alone at the departure from Egypt;
Elijah was alone in the reign of King Ahab; Isaiah alone in Jerusalem;
Ezekiel alone in Babylon.... God never selected as a prophet either the
high priest or any other great personage; but ordinarily He chose low
and despised men, once even the shepherd Amos. In every age, the
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saints have had to reprove the great, kings, princes, priests, and wise
men, at the peril of their lives.... I do not say that I am a prophet; but I
say that they ought to fear precisely because I am alone and that they