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The Great Controversy
Thomas Munzer, the most active of the fanatics, was a man of
considerable ability, which, rightly directed, would have enabled him
to do good; but he had not learned the first principles of true religion.
“He was possessed with a desire of reforming the world, and forgot, as
all enthusiasts do, that the reformation should begin with himself.”—
Ibid., b. 9, ch. 8. He was ambitious to obtain position and influence,
and was unwilling to be second, even to Luther. He declared that the
Reformers, in substituting the authority of Scripture for that of the
pope, were only establishing a different form of popery. He himself, he
claimed, had been divinely commissioned to introduce the true reform.
“He who possesses this spirit,” said Munzer, “possesses the true faith,
although he should never see the Scriptures in his life.”—Ibid., b. 10,
ch. 10.
The fanatical teachers gave themselves up to be governed by im-
pressions, regarding every thought and impulse as the voice of God;
consequently they went to great extremes. Some even burned their
Bibles, exclaiming: “The letter killeth, but the Spirit giveth life.” Mun-
zer’s teaching appealed to men’s desire for the marvelous, while it
gratified their pride by virtually placing human ideas and opinions
above the word of God. His doctrines were received by thousands. He
soon denounced all order in public worship, and declared that to obey
princes was to attempt to serve both God and Belial.
The minds of the people, already beginning to throw off the yoke
of the papacy, were also becoming impatient under the restraints of
civil authority. Munzer’s revolutionary teachings, claiming divine
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sanction, led them to break away from all control and give the rein to
their prejudices and passions. The most terrible scenes of sedition and
strife followed, and the fields of Germany were drenched with blood.
The agony of soul which Luther had so long before experienced
at Erfurt now pressed upon him with redoubled power as he saw
the results of fanaticism charged upon the Reformation. The papist
princes declared—and many were ready to credit the statement—that
the rebellion was the legitimate fruit of Luther’s doctrines. Although
this charge was without the slightest foundation, it could not but cause
the Reformer great distress. That the cause of truth should be thus
disgraced by being ranked with the basest fanaticism, seemed more
than he could endure. On the other hand, the leaders in the revolt hated
Luther because he had not only opposed their doctrines and denied