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The Story of Redemption
the lord of the world! But Christ, whose vicar he boasts of being,
has said, ‘My kingdom is not of this world.’ Can the dominions of a
vicar extend beyond those of his superior?”
He 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. I advise no one to place his child
where the Scriptures do not reign paramount. Every institution in
which men are not unceasingly occupied with the Word of God must
become corrupt.”
This appeal was rapidly circulated throughout Germany, and
exerted a powerful influence upon the people. The whole nation was
roused to rally around the standard of reform. Luther’s opponents,
burning with a desire for revenge, urged the pope to take decisive
measures against him. It was decreed that his doctrines should be
condemned immediately. Sixty days were granted the Reformer and
his adherents, after which, if they did not recant, they were all to be
excommunicated.
When the papal bull reached Luther, he said: “I despise and
attack it, as impious, false.... It is
Christ
Himself who is condemned
therein.... I rejoice in having to bear such ills for the best of causes.
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 word of the pontiff of Rome still had power. Prison,
torture, and sword were weapons potent to enforce submission.
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Everything seemed to indicate that the Reformer’s work was about
to close. The weak and superstitious trembled before the decree of
the pope, and while there was general sympathy for Luther, many
felt that life was too dear to be risked in the cause of reform.
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