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The Great Controversy
evidence that his courage was beginning to fail. They regarded the
request for delay as merely the prelude to his recantation. Charles
himself, noting, half contemptuously, the monk’s worn frame, his plain
attire, and the simplicity of his address, had declared: “This monk
will never make a heretic of me.” The courage and firmness which he
now displayed, as well as the power and clearness of his reasoning,
filled all parties with surprise. The emperor, moved to admiration,
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exclaimed: “This monk speaks with an intrepid heart and unshaken
courage.” Many of the German princes looked with pride and joy upon
this representative of their nation.
The partisans of Rome had been worsted; their cause appeared in
a most unfavorable light. They sought to maintain their power, not by
appealing to the Scriptures, but by a resort to threats, Rome’s unfailing
argument. Said the spokesman of the Diet: “If you do not retract, the
emperor and the states of the empire will consult what course to adopt
against an incorrigible heretic.”
Luther’s friend, who had with great joy listened to his noble de-
fense, trembled at these words; but the doctor himself said calmly:
“May God be my helper, for I can retract nothing.”—Ibid., b. 7, ch. 8.
He was directed to withdraw from the Diet while the princes con-
sulted together. It was felt that a great crisis had come. Luther’s
persistent refusal to submit might affect the history of the church for
ages. It was decided to give him one more opportunity to retract. For
the last time he was brought into the assembly. Again the question
was put, whether he would renounce his doctrines. “I have no other
reply to make,” he said, “than that which I have already made.” It was
evident that he could not be induced, either by promises or threats, to
yield to the mandate of Rome.
The papal leaders were chagrined that their power, which had
caused kings and nobles to tremble, should be thus despised by a
humble monk; they longed to make him feel their wrath by torturing his
life away. But Luther, understanding his danger, had spoken to all with
Christian dignity and calmness. His words had been free from pride,
passion, and misrepresentation. He had lost sight of himself, and the
great men surrounding him, and felt only that he was in the presence of
One infinitely superior to popes, prelates, kings, and emperors. Christ
had spoken through Luther’s testimony with a power and grandeur that
for the time inspired both friends and foes with awe and wonder. The
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