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Chapter 10—Progress in Germany
Luther’s mysterious disappearance excited consternation
throughout Germany. Wild rumors were circulated and many be-
lieved he had been murdered. There was great lamentation, and
many bound themselves by solemn oath to avenge his death.
Though at first exultant at the supposed death of Luther, his
enemies were filled with fear now that he had become a captive.
“The only remaining way of saving ourselves,” said one, “is to light
torches, and hunt for Luther through the whole world, to restore him
to the nation that is calling for him.
The tidings that he was safe,
though a prisoner, calmed the people, while his writings were read
with greater eagerness than ever before. Increasing numbers joined
the cause of the heroic man who had defended the Word of God.
The seed Luther had sown sprang up everywhere. His absence
accomplished a work his presence would have failed to do. Now
that their great leader was removed, other laborers pressed forward
so that the work nobly begun might not be hindered.
Satan now attempted to deceive and destroy the people by palm-
ing off upon them a counterfeit in place of the true work. As there
were false christs in the first century, so there arose false prophets in
the sixteenth.
A few men imagined themselves to receive special revelations
from Heaven and to have been divinely commissioned to carry
forward the Reformation which, they declared, had been but feebly
begun by Luther. In truth, they were undoing the work which he had
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accomplished. They rejected the principle of the Reformation—that
the Word of God is the all-sufficient rule of faith and practice. For
that unerring guide they substituted the uncertain standard of their
own feelings and impressions.
Others naturally inclined to fanaticism united with them. The
proceedings of these enthusiasts created no little excitement. Luther
had aroused the people to feel the necessity of reform, and now
1
D’Aubigne, bk. 9, ch. 1.
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