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From Here to Forever
Augsburg had been fixed as the place of trial, and the Reformer
set out on foot. Threats had been made that he would be murdered on
the way, and his friends begged him not to venture. But his language
was, “I am like Jeremiah, a man of strife, and contention; but the
more their threats increase, the more my joy is multiplied. ... They
have already destroyed my honor and my reputation. ... As for my
soul, they cannot take that. He who desires to proclaim the word of
Christ to the world, must expect death at every moment.
The tidings of Luther’s arrival at Augsburg gave great satisfaction
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to the papal legate. The troublesome heretic exciting the attention
of the world seemed now in the power of Rome; he should not
escape. The legate intended to force Luther to retract, or failing
in this, to cause him to be conveyed to Rome to share the fate of
Huss and Jerome. Therefore through his agents he endeavored to
induce Luther to appear without a safe-conduct, trusting himself
to his mercy. This the Reformer declined to do. Not until he had
received the document pledging the emperor’s protection did he
appear in the presence of the papal ambassador.
As a matter of policy, the Romanists decided to win Luther by
an appearance of gentleness. The legate professed great friendliness,
but demanded that Luther submit implicitly to the church and yield
every point without argument or question. Luther, in reply, expressed
his regard for the church, his desire for truth, his readiness to answer
all objections to what he had taught, and to submit his doctrines to
the decision of leading universities. But he protested against the
cardinal’s course in requiring him to retract without having proved
him in error.
The only response was, “Retract, retract!” The Reformer showed
that his position was sustained by Scripture. He could not renounce
truth. The legate, unable to reply to Luther’s arguments, over-
whelmed him with a storm of reproaches, gibes, flattery, quotations
from tradition, and the sayings of the Fathers, granting the Reformer
no opportunity to speak. Luther finally obtained a reluctant permis-
sion to present his answer in writing.
Said he, writing to a friend, “What is written may be submitted
to the judgment of others; and second, one has a better chance of
17
Ibid., bk. 4, ch. 4.