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Luther, a Man for His Time
83
universities, and in the palaces of kings.
About this time Luther found that the great truth of justification
by faith had been held by the Bohemian Reformer, Huss. “We
have all,” said Luther, “Paul, Augustine, and myself, been Hussites
without knowing it!” “The truth was preached ... a century ago, and
burned!
Luther wrote thus of the universities: “I am much afraid that
the universities will prove to be the great gates of hell, unless they
diligently labor in explaining the Holy Scriptures, and engraving
them in the hearts of youth. ... Every institution in which men
are not unceasingly occupied with the word of God must become
corrupt.
This appeal was circulated throughout Germany. The whole na-
tion was stirred. Luther’s opponents urged the pope to take decisive
measures against him. It was decreed that his doctrines should be
immediately condemned. The Reformer and his adherents, if they
did not recant, were all to be excommunicated.
A Terrible Crisis
That was a terrible crisis for the Reformation. Luther was not
blind to the tempest about to burst, but he trusted in Christ to be his
support and shield. “What is about to happen I know not, nor do I
care to know. ... Not so much as a leaf falls, without the will of our
Father. How much rather will He care for us! It is a light thing to die
for the Word, since the Word which was made flesh hath Himself
died.
When the papal bull reached Luther, he said: “I despise and
attack it, as impious, false. ... It is Christ Himself who is condemned
therein. Already I feel greater liberty in my heart; for at last I
know that the pope is antichrist, and that his throne is that of Satan
himself.
Yet the mandate of Rome was not without effect. The weak and
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23
Ibid., bk. 6, ch. 2.
24
Wylie, bk. 6, ch. 1.
25
D’Aubigne, bk. 6, ch. 3.
26
D’Aubigne, 3rd London ed., Walther. 1840, bk. 6, ch. 9.
27
D’Aubigne, bk. 6, ch. 9.