Luther’s Separation from Rome
103
At last he beheld in the distance the seven-hilled city. With deep
emotion he prostrated himself upon the earth, exclaiming, “Holy
Rome, I salute thee!” He entered the city, visited the churches, listened
[125]
to the marvelous tales repeated by priests and monks, and performed
all the ceremonies required. Everywhere he looked upon scenes that
filled him with astonishment and horror. He saw that iniquity existed
among all classes of the clergy. He heard indecent jokes from prelates,
and was filled with horror at their awful profanity, even during mass.
As he mingled with the monks and citizens, he met dissipation, de-
bauchery. Turn where he would, in the place of sanctity he found
profanation. “It is incredible,” he wrote, “what sins and atrocities are
committed in Rome; they must be seen and heard to be believed. So
that it is usual to say, ‘If there be a hell, Rome is built above it. It is an
abyss whence all sins proceed.”
By a recent decretal, an indulgence had been promised by the pope
to all who should ascend upon their knees “Pilate’s staircase,” said to
have been descended by our Saviour on leaving the Roman judgment-
hall, and to have been miraculously conveyed from Jerusalem to Rome.
Luther was one day devoutly climbing these steps, when suddenly a
voice like thunder seemed to say to him, “The just shall live by faith.”
[
Romans 1:17
.] He sprung upon his feet, and hastened from the place,
in shame and horror. That text never lost its power upon his soul. From
that time he saw more clearly than ever before the fallacy of trusting
to human works for salvation, and the necessity of constant faith in
the merits of Christ. His eyes had been opened, and were never again
to be closed, to the delusions of the papacy. When he turned his face
from Rome, he had turned away also in heart, and from that time the
separation grew wider, until he severed all connection with the papal
church.
After his return from Rome, Luther received at the University of
Wittenberg the degree of doctor of divinity. Now he was at liberty to
devote himself, as never before, to the Scriptures that he loved. He
had taken a solemn vow to study carefully and to preach with fidelity
the Word of God, not the sayings and doctrines of the popes, all the
[126]
days of his life. He was no longer the mere monk or professor, but the
authorized herald of the Bible. He had been called as a shepherd to feed
the flock of God, that were hungering and thirsting for the truth. He
firmly declared that Christians should receive no other doctrines than