Luther’s Separation from Rome
101
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, “Oh, if God would give me such a book for my own!”
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.
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.
[123]
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 mortify-
ing 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 attain Heaven by his monkish works, I should certainly
have been entitled to it. If I had continued much longer, I should have
carried my mortifications even to death.” 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 all his efforts,