Born at Eisleben, Saxony, Martin Luther (1483-Feb. 18, 1546) was educated first at the University of Magdeburg, then at Erfurt.[10] Luther's parents bestowed great care upon the education and training of their children. They endeavored to instruct them in the knowledge of God and the practice of Christian virtues. The father's prayer often ascended in the hearing of his son that the child might remember the name of the Lord and one day aid in the advancement of His truth. Every advantage for moral or intellectual culture which their life of toil permitted them to enjoy was eagerly improved by these parents. Their efforts were earnest and persevering to prepare their children for a life of piety and usefulness. With their firmness and strength of character they sometimes exercised too great severity; but the Reformer himself, though conscious that in some respects they had erred, found in their discipline more to approve than to condemn.

While one day examining the books in the library of the university, Luther discovered a Latin Bible. Such a book he had never before seen. People then had no Bibles. He was ignorant even of its existence. He had heard portions of the Gospels and Epistles, which were read to the people at public worship, and he supposed that these were the entire Bible. Now, for the first time, he looked upon the whole of God's word. With mingled awe and wonder he turned the sacred pages; with quickened pulse and throbbing heart he read for himself the words of life, pausing now and then to exclaim: "O that God would give me such a book for myself!" [15] Angels of heaven were by his side, and rays of light from the throne of God revealed the treasures of truth to his understanding. He had ever feared to offend God, but now the deep conviction of his condition as a sinner took hold upon him as never before.

Without allowing people to receive instruction by reading the Bible, live becomes vulgar, hectic, tedious, trivial and frivolous. So they try psychology, psychiatry to make up for it, but these are mere vanities compared to the immediate effect to the better reading the Bible can bring into the life of those who it still can impress.

When Staupitius opened the University at Wittenberg, Luther was ordained a priest and was called from the cloister to a professorship in the University of Wittenberg. Here he applied himself to the study of the Scriptures in the original tongues. Luther was hired to teach and preach there by the Elector Frederic, Duke of Saxony. Having set out to study the gospels and Psalms, Luther showed the difference between the Law and the Gospel confounding the teaching that men could earn salvation by his own works with mere outward discipline. He began to lecture upon the Bible; and the book of Psalm, the Gospels, and the Epistles were opened to the understanding of crowds of delighted listeners. Staupitz, his friend and superior, urged him to ascend the pulpit and preach the word of God. Luther hesitated, feeling himself unworthy to speak to the people in Christ's stead. It was only after a long struggle that he yielded to the solicitations of his friends. Already he was mighty in the Scriptures, and the grace of God rested upon him. His eloquence captivated his hearers, the clearness and power with which he presented the truth convinced their understanding, and his fervor touched their hearts. Luther used the words, "how readest thou" (Luke 10:26) mightily.

Luther was still a true son of the papal church and had no thought that he would ever be anything else. In the providence of God he was led to visit Rome. He pursued his journey on foot, lodging at the monasteries on the way. At a convent in Italy he was filled with wonder at the wealth, magnificence, and luxury that he witnessed. Endowed with a princely revenue, the monks dwelt in splendid apartments, attired themselves in the richest and most costly robes, and feasted at a sumptuous table. With painful misgivings Luther contrasted this scene with the self-denial and hardship of his own life. His mind was becoming perplexed.

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 sprang to 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 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 those which rest on the authority of the Sacred Scriptures, Luke 10:26. These words struck at the very foundation of papal supremacy. They contained the vital principle of the Reformation.

Luther saw the danger of exalting human theories above the word of God. He fearlessly attacked the speculative infidelity of the schoolmen and opposed the philosophy and theology which had so long held a controlling influence upon the people. He denounced such studies as not only worthless but pernicious, and sought to turn the minds of his hearers from the sophistries of philosophers and theologians to the eternal truths set forth by prophets and apostles.

But light and darkness cannot harmonize. Between truth and error there is an irrepressible conflict. To uphold and defend the one is to attack and overthrow the other. Our Saviour Himself declared: "I came not to send peace, but a sword." Matthew 10:34. Said Luther, a few years after the opening of the Reformation: "God does not guide me, He pushes me forward. He carries me away. I am not master of myself. I desire to live in repose; but I am thrown into the midst of tumults and revolutions." [50]

Luther's Appearance at the Diet of Worms

In 1516, Pope Leo X. succeeded Julius II and under pretense of war against the Turks began to sell indulgences. Archbishop Albert of Mainz then made a deal with Pope Leo that would divide the proceeds of the sale of these indulgences in German provinces, half for the pope and half for Albert. Indulgences could offer forgiveness for sins, changing of vows, and less time in purgatory.[55] Luther was horrified at this misuse of blessings and resolved to publicize these issues. He wanted to defend the position that the pope had no power to forgive sins and remarked that the logical conclusion of the doctrine of papal control over purgatory was that the pope would do for money what he refused to do for Christian love. The Dominican Friar Tetzel (1469-1519) made the sale of these indulgences into a public nuisancy and blasphemy causing even the poor to give their last quarters for worthless pieces of paper.

In January 1519 the Emperor Maximilian died. With the vote of the Duke of Saxony Charles, King of Spain, rather then Francis I. (1515-1547), the French King, was elected Emperor.[70]

Rome through its `Celebration Movement' offers even now a modern version of indulgence - making people feel that they will all be saved together in a big group as they sin and swing and sin and celebrate. This was determined in Vatican II (1962-1965) to be brought into the churches by their sligh way of infiltration. Such false indoctrination will make those many in these churches willing to go along with anything Rome suggests even if it is the breaking of the Law of God and the spurning of His Holy Scriptures. When on the day of the coming of the Lord people realize they are lost, they will turn against their teachers and preachers, with bitterness and reproach them.

After the week long disputation with Eck at Augsburg, the cardinals burned the books of Luther, which caused the monk to do the same to the decrees of the pope on December 10, 1520. But the Emperor Charles had set a Diet for January 6th, 1521 at Worms. By March 6th the emperor sent letters to Luther to appear at Worms twenty one days after receiving them accompanied by Casper Sturm, the emperor's herald. Luther, accompanied by few friends, arrived in Worms Tuesday, April 16, 1521 after two weeks of traveling.

The Assembly of Participants

Having been elected at Frankfurt am Main, a new emperor, Charles V, ascended the throne of Germany, and the emissaries of Rome hastened to present their congratulations and induce the monarch to employ his power against the Reformation. On the other hand, the elector of Saxony, to whom Charles was in great degree indebted for his crown, entreated him to take no step against Luther until he should have granted him a hearing. The emperor was thus placed in a position of great perplexity and embarrassment. The papists would be satisfied with nothing short of an imperial edict sentencing Luther to death. The elector had declared firmly that "neither his imperial majesty nor any other person had shown that Luther's writings had been refuted;" therefore he requested "that Dr. Luther should be furnished with a safe-conduct, so that he might appear before a tribunal of learned, pious, and impartial judges." [150]

The attention of all parties was now directed to the assembly of the German states which convened at Worms soon after the accession of Charles to the empire. There were important political questions and interests to be considered by this national council; for the first time the princes of Germany were to meet their youthful monarch in deliberative assembly. From all parts of the fatherland had come the dignitaries of church and state. Secular lords, highborn, powerful, and jealous of their hereditary rights; princely ecclesiastics, flushed with their conscious superiority in rank and power; courtly knights and their armed retainers; and ambassadors from foreign and distant lands,--all gathered at Worms. Yet in that vast assembly the subject that excited the deepest interest was the cause of the Saxon Reformer.

Charles had previously directed the elector to bring Luther with him to the Diet, assuring him of protection, and promising a free discussion, with competent persons, of the questions in dispute. Luther was anxious to appear before the emperor. His health was at this time much impaired; yet he wrote to the elector: "If I cannot go to Worms in good health, I will be carried there, sick as I am. For if the emperor calls me, I cannot doubt that it is the call of God Himself. If they desire to use violence against me, and that is very probable (for it is not for their instruction that they order me to appear), I place the matter in the Lord's hands. He still lives and reigns who preserved the three young men in the burning fiery furnace. If He will not save me, my life is of little consequence. Let us only prevent the gospel from being exposed to the scorn of the wicked, and let us shed our blood for it, for fear they should triumph. It is not for me to decide whether my life or my death will contribute most to the salvation of all. . . . You may expect everything from me. . . except flight and recantation. Fly I cannot, and still less retract." [160]

As the news was circulated at Worms that Luther was to appear before the Diet, a general excitement was created. Aleander, the papal legate to whom the case had been specially entrusted, was alarmed and enraged. He saw that the result would be disastrous to the papal cause. To institute inquiry into a case in which the pope had already pronounced sentence of condemnation would be to cast contempt upon the authority of the sovereign pontiff. Furthermore, he was apprehensive that the eloquent and powerful arguments of this man might turn away many of the princes from the cause of the pope. He therefore, in the most urgent manner, remonstrated with Charles against Luther's appearance at Worms. About this time the bull declaring Luther's excommunication was published; and this, coupled with the representations of the legate, induced the emperor to yield. He wrote to the elector that if Luther would not retract, he must remain at Wittenberg.

Not content with this victory, Aleander labored with all the power and cunning at his command to secure Luther's condemnation. With a persistence worthy of a better cause, he urged the matter upon the attention of princes, prelates, and other members of the assembly, accusing the Reformer of "sedition, rebellion, impiety, and blasphemy."[180] But the vehemence and passion manifested by the legate revealed too plainly the spirit by which he was actuated. "He is moved by hatred and vengeance," was the general remark, "much more than by zeal and piety." [182] The majority of the Diet were more than ever inclined to regard Luther's cause with favor.

With redoubled zeal Aleander urged upon the emperor the duty of executing the papal edicts. But under the laws of Germany this could not be done without the concurrence of the princes; and, overcome at last by the legate's importunity, Charles bade him present his case to the Diet. "It was a proud day for the nuncio. The assembly was a great one: the cause was even greater. Aleander was to plead for Rome, . . . the mother and mistress of all churches." He was to vindicate the princedom of Peter before the assembled principalities of Christendom. "He had the gift of eloquence, and he rose to the greatness of the occasion. Providence ordered it that Rome should appear and plead by the ablest of her orators in the presence of the most august of tribunals, before she was condemned." [186] With some misgivings those who favored the Reformer looked forward to the effect of Aleander's speech. The elector of Saxony was not present, but by his direction some of his councilors attended to take notes of the nuncio's address.

With all the power of learning and eloquence, Aleander set himself to overthrow the truth. Charge after charge he hurled against Luther as an enemy of the church and the state, the living and the dead, clergy and laity, councils and private Christians. "In Luther's errors there is enough," he declared, to warrant the burning of "a hundred thousand heretics."

As Positions Solidify

In conclusion he endeavored to cast contempt upon the adherents of the reformed faith: "What are all these Lutherans? A crew of insolent pedagogues, corrupt priests, dissolute monks, ignorant lawyers, and degraded nobles, with the common people whom they have misled and perverted. How far superior to them is the Catholic party in number, ability, and power! A unanimous decree from this illustrious assembly will enlighten the simple, warn the imprudent, decide the waverers, and give strength to the weak." [195]

With such weapons the advocates of truth in every age have been attacked. The same arguments are still urged against all who dare to present, in opposition to established errors, the plain and direct teachings of God's word. "Who are these preachers of new doctrines?" exclaim those who desire a popular religion. "They are unlearned, few in numbers, and of the poorer class. Yet they claim to have the truth, and to be the chosen people of God. They are ignorant and deceived. How greatly superior in numbers and influence is our church! How many great and learned men are among us! How much more power is on our side!" These are the arguments that have a telling influence upon the world; but they are no more conclusive now than in the days of the Reformer.

The Reformation did not, as many suppose, end with Luther. [68] It is to be continued to the close of this world's history. Luther had a great work to do in reflecting to others the light which God had permitted to shine upon him; yet he did not receive all the light which was to be given to the world. From that time to this, new light has been continually shining upon the Scriptures, and new truths have been constantly unfolding.

The legate's address made a deep impression upon the Diet. There was no Luther present, with the clear and convincing truths of God's word, to vanquish the papal champion. No attempt was made to defend the Reformer. There was manifest a general disposition not only to condemn him and the doctrines which he taught, but if possible to uproot the heresy. Rome had enjoyed the most favorable opportunity to defend her cause. All that she could say in her own vindication had been said. But the apparent victory was the signal of defeat. Henceforth the contrast between truth and error would be more clearly seen, as they should take the field in open warfare. Never from that day would Rome stand as secure as she had stood.

While most of the members of the Diet would not have hesitated to yield up Luther to the vengeance of Rome, many of them saw and deplored the existing depravity in the church, and desired a suppression of the abuses suffered by the German people in consequence of the corruption and greed of the hierarchy. The legate had presented the papal rule in the most favorable light. Now the Lord moved upon a member of the Diet to give a true delineation of the effects of papal tyranny. With noble firmness, Duke George of Saxony (1500-1539) stood up in that princely assembly and specified with terrible exactness the deceptions and abominations of popery, and their dire results. In closing he said:

"These are some of the abuses that cry out against Rome. All shame has been put aside, and their only object is . . . money, money, money, . . . so that the preachers who should teach the truth, utter nothing but falsehoods, and are not only tolerated, but rewarded, because the greater their lies, the greater their gain. It is from this foul spring that such tainted waters flow. Debauchery stretches out the hand to avarice. . . . Alas, it is the scandal caused by the clergy that hurls so many poor souls into eternal condemnation. A general reform must be effected." [230]

A more able and forcible denunciation of the papal abuses could not have been presented by Luther himself; and the fact that the speaker was a determined enemy of the Reformer's gave greater influence to his words.

Had Eyes been Open

Had the eyes of the assembly been opened, they would have beheld angels of God in the midst of them, shedding beams of light athwart the darkness of error and opening minds and hearts to the reception of truth. It was the power of the God of truth and wisdom that controlled even the adversaries of the reformation, and thus prepared the way for the great work about to be accomplished. Martin Luther was not present; but the voice of One greater than Luther had been heard in that assembly.

A committee was at once appointed by the Diet to prepare an enumeration of the papal oppressions that weighed so heavily on the German people. This list, containing a hundred and one specifications, was presented to the emperor, with a request that he would take immediate measures for the correction of these abuses. "What a loss of Christian souls," said the petitioners, "what depredations, what extortions, on account of the scandals by which the spiritual head of Christendom is surrounded! It is our duty to prevent the ruin and dishonor of our people. For this reason we most humbly but most urgently entreat you to order a general reformation, and to undertake its accomplishment." [236]

The council now demanded the Reformer's appearance before them. Notwithstanding the entreaties, protests, and threats of Aleander, the emperor at last consented, and Luther was summoned to appear before the Diet. With the summons was issued a safe-conduct, ensuring his return to a place of security. These were borne to Wittenberg by a herald, who was commissioned to conduct him to Worms.

The friends of Luther were terrified and distressed. Knowing the prejudice and enmity against him, they feared that even his safe-conduct would not be respected, and they entreated him not to imperil his life. He replied: "The papists do not desire my coming to Worms, but my condemnation and my death. It matters not. Pray not for me, but for the word of God. . . . Christ will give me His Spirit to overcome these ministers of error. I despise them during my life; I shall triumph over them by my death. They are busy at Worms about compelling me to retract; and this shall be my retraction: I said formerly that the pope was Christ's vicar; now I assert that he is our Lord's adversary, and the devil's apostle." [240]

Luther was not to make his perilous journey alone. Besides the imperial messenger, three of his firmest friends determined to accompany him. Melanchthon earnestly desired to join them. His heart was knit to Luther's, and he yearned to follow him, if need be, to prison or to death. But his entreaties were denied. Should Luther perish, the hopes of the Reformation must center upon his youthful colaborer. Said the Reformer as he parted from Melanchthon: "If I do not return, and my enemies put me to death, continue to teach, and stand fast in the truth. Labor in my stead. . . . If you survive, my death will be of little consequence." [244] Students and citizens who had gathered to witness Luther's departure were deeply moved. A multitude whose hearts had been touched by the gospel, bade him farewell with weeping. Thus the Reformer and his companions set out from Wittenberg.

On the journey they saw that the minds of the people were oppressed by gloomy forebodings. At some towns no honors were proffered them. As they stopped for the night, a friendly priest expressed his fears by holding up before Luther the portrait of an Italian reformer who had suffered martyrdom. The next day they learned that Luther's writings had been condemned at Worms. Imperial messengers were proclaiming the emperor's decree and calling upon the people to bring the proscribed works to the magistrates. The herald, fearing for Luther's safety at the council, and thinking that already his resolution might be shaken, asked if he still wished to go forward. He answered: "Although interdicted in every city, I shall go on." [246]

At Erfurt, Luther was received with honor. Surrounded by admiring crowds, he passed through the streets that he had often traversed with his beggar's wallet. He visited his convent cell, and thought upon the struggles through which the light now flooding Germany had been shed upon his soul. He was urged to preach. This he had been forbidden to do, but the herald granted him permission, and the friar who had once been made the drudge of the convent, now entered the pulpit.

To a crowded assembly he spoke from the words of Christ, "Peace be unto you." "Philosophers, doctors, and writers," he said, "have endeavored to teach men the way to obtain everlasting life, and they have not succeeded. I will now tell it to you: . . . God has raised one Man from the dead, the Lord Jesus Christ, that He might destroy death, extirpate sin, and shut the gates of hell. This is the work of salvation. . . . Christ has vanquished! this is the joyful news; and we are saved by His work, and not by our own. . . . Our Lord Jesus Christ said, 'Peace be unto you; behold My hands;' that is to say, Behold, O man! it is I, I alone, who have taken away thy sin, and ransomed thee; and now thou hast peace, saith the Lord."

Reformation Gospel

He continued, showing that true faith will be manifested by a holy life. "Since God has saved us, let us so order our works that they may be acceptable to Him. Art thou rich? let thy goods administer to the necessities of the poor. Art thou poor? let thy services be acceptable to the rich. If thy labor is useful to thyself alone, the service that thou pretendest to render unto God is a lie." [255]

The people listened as if spellbound. The bread of life was broken to those starving souls. Christ was lifted up before them as above popes, legates, emperors, and kings. Luther made no reference to his own perilous position. He did not seek to make himself the object of thought or sympathy. In the contemplation of Christ he had lost sight of self. He hid behind the Man of Calvary, seeking only to present Jesus as the sinner's Redeemer.

As the Reformer proceeded on his journey, he was everywhere regarded with great interest. An eager multitude thronged about him, and friendly voices warned him of the purpose of the Romanists. "They will burn you," said some, "and reduce your body to ashes, as they did with Johann Huss." Luther answered, "Though they should kindle a fire all the way from Worms to Wittenberg, the flames of which reached to heaven, I would walk through it in the name of the Lord; I would appear before them; I would enter the jaws of this behemoth, and break his teeth, confessing the Lord Jesus Christ." [258]

The news of his approach to Worms created great commotion. His friends trembled for his safety; his enemies feared for the success of their cause. Strenuous efforts were made to dissuade him from entering the city. At the instigation of the papists he was urged to repair to the castle of a friendly knight, where, it was declared, all difficulties could be amicably adjusted. Friends endeavored to excite his fears by describing the dangers that threatened him. All their efforts failed. Luther, still unshaken, declared: "Even should there be as many devils in Worms as tiles on the housetops, still I would enter it." [260]

Upon his arrival at Worms, a vast crowd flocked to the gates to welcome him. So great a concourse had not assembled to greet the emperor himself. The excitement was intense, and from the midst of the throng a shrill and plaintive voice chanted a funeral dirge as a warning to Luther of the fate that awaited him. "God will be my defense," said he, as he alighted from his carriage.

The papists had not believed that Luther would really venture to appear at Worms, and his arrival filled them with consternation. The emperor immediately summoned his councilors to consider what course should be pursued. One of the bishops, a rigid papist, declared: "We have long consulted on this matter. Let your imperial majesty get rid of this man at once. Did not Sigismund (1411-1415, son of Charles IV.) cause John Huss to be burnt? We are not bound either to give or to observe the safe-conduct of a heretic." "No," said the emperor, "we must keep our promise." [263]

All the city were eager to see this remarkable man, and a throng of visitors soon filled his lodgings. Luther had scarcely recovered from his recent illness; he was wearied from the journey, which had occupied two full weeks; he must prepare to meet the momentous events of the morrow, and he needed quiet and repose. But so great was the desire to see him that he had enjoyed only a few hours' rest when noblemen, knights, priests, and citizens gathered eagerly about him. Among these were many of the nobles who had so boldly demanded of the emperor a reform of ecclesiastical abuses and who, says Luther, "had all been freed by my gospel." [265] Enemies, as well as friends, came to look upon the dauntless monk; but he received them with unshaken calmness, replying to all with dignity and wisdom. His bearing was firm and courageous. His pale, thin face, marked with the traces of toil and illness, wore a kindly and even joyous expression. The solemnity and deep earnestness of his words gave him a power that even his enemies could not wholly withstand. Both friends and foes were filled with wonder. Some were convinced that a divine influence attended him; others declared, as had the Pharisees concerning Christ: "He hath a devil."

Before the Diet

On the following day Luther was summoned to attend the Diet. An imperial officer was appointed to conduct him to the hall of audience; yet it was with difficulty that he reached the place. Every avenue was crowded with spectators eager to look upon the monk who had dared resist the authority of the pope.

As he was about to enter the presence of his judges, an old general, the hero of many battles, said to him kindly: "Poor monk, poor monk, thou art now going to make a nobler stand than I or any other captains have ever made in the bloodiest of our battles. But if thy cause is just, and thou art sure of it, go forward in God's name, and fear nothing. God will not forsake thee." [266]

At length Luther stood before the council. The emperor occupied the throne. He was surrounded by the most illustrious personages in the empire. Never had any man appeared in the presence of a more imposing assembly than that before which Martin Luther was to answer for his faith. "This appearance was of itself a signal victory over the papacy. The pope had condemned the man, and he was now standing before a tribunal which, by this very act, set itself above the pope. The pope had laid him under an interdict, and cut him off from all human society; and yet he was summoned in respectful language, and received before the most august assembly in the world. The pope had condemned him to perpetual silence, and he was now about to speak before thousands of attentive hearers drawn together from the farthest parts of Christendom. An immense revolution had thus been effected by Luther's instrumentality. Rome was already descending from her throne, and it was the voice of a monk that caused this humiliation." [268]

The Lieutenant-General of the `men-at-arms' of the Empire, Ulrich von Pappenheim, was chosen by the emperor to tell Luther to appear before the Imperial Majesty in the afternoon at 4 o'clock the next day, Wednesday, to understand the reasons for him having been commanded to Worms. Luther was led through the garden of the `Knights-of-the-Rhodes' place to the `Earl Palatine's Palace' and then led by secret stairs to the place where the audience was supposed to take place. Yet many, who realized the maneuvering, violently rushed in despite being resisted in order to see Martin Luther. There he stood before the emperor, the electors, dukes, earls, and estates of the empire being advised by Ulrich von Pappenheim to remain silent until asked to speak. Then Dr. Eck began to condemn Luther's writings and asked Luther directly to revoke them. Luther said, "I humbly beseech the Imperial Majesty to grant me liberty and leisure to deliberate; so that I may satisfy the interrogation made unto me, without prejudice of the Word of God, and peril of my own soul." Upon this Dr. Eck commanded him to reappear next day at the same time.

The next day, Thursday, the herald brought Luther back to the court where he waited until 6 o'clock while the assembly consulted with themselves on grave matters. After the princes were set and Luther entered, Dr. Eck demanded again from Luther to recant his books.

Dr. Martin Luther answered again modestly and with a low voice, and yet with a stoutness and Christian constancy:

"Most serene emperor, illustrious princes, gracious lords.

I obediently appeared at the time appointed yesterday evening, in conformity with the order given me yesterday, and by God's mercies I conjure your majesty and your August highnesses to listen graciously to the defense of a cause which I am assured is just and true. If, through ignorance, I should transgress the usages and proprieties of courts and should fail to give anyone the titles due to him or should act in some gestures or manner against courtly etiquette, I entreat you to pardon me; for I was not brought up in the palaces of kings, but in the seclusion of a cloister. I can say nothing of myself than that I have hitherto sought on earth through the simple-mindedness of my writings and teachings nothing but God's honour and the edification of believers.

Most serene Emperor, gracious electors, nobles and lords. Yesterday I was asked two questions: whether I would confess those pamphlets which were published under my name to be mine and whether I would persist in them or revoke them. To this I answered readily and clearly that I would now and for all eternity admit that these books were mine and were published under my name unless my opponents had changed them with deception or meddlesome wisdom or given false quotations. For I confess nothing but what I myself have written and certainly not the painstaking interpretations and comments of others.

Now I am called upon to answer the second question. I humbly pray your Imperial Majesty and lords, to consider carefully that my books are not all of the same kind. There are some in which I dealt with faith and life in such an evangelical and simple manner that even my opponents must admit that they are useful, innocent and worthy to be read by Christian people. Even the bull, which is otherwise quite fierce and cruel, considers some of my books quite harmless, though it condemns them on the basis of an unnatural judgment. Would I now revoke these books, I would do nothing but condemn the truth which is confessed by all, friend and foe alike. I of all men would be against a common and general confession.

The second group of books is written against the papacy and papal scheming and action, that is against those who through evil teaching and example have ruined Christendom laying it waste with the evils of the spirit and the soul. No one can deny or obscure this fact, since experience and complaint of all men testify that the conscience of Christian believers is sneered at, harassed and tormented by the laws of the Pope and the doctrines of men. Likewise the goods and wealth of this most famous German nation were and are devoured through unbelievable tyranny in unreasonable manner, through decretals and laws, regulations and orders. Yet Canon Law states that the law and teaching of the Pope, whenever contrary to the Gospel and opinions of the holy Fathers, are to be considered in error and rejected. Were I, therefore, to revoke these books I would only strengthen this tyranny and open not only windows, but also doors for such unchristian ways, which would then flourish and rage more freely than ever before. The testimony of my opposition will make the rule of their bold and ignominious malice most intolerable for the poor suffering people...

The third group of my books consists of those I have written against certain private individuals who attempted to defend such Roman tyranny and denounce my pious doctrine. I confess that I have been more bitter and vehement against them than is in keeping with my Christian estate and calling. I do not claim to be a saint, nor do I proclaim my life, but rather the doctrine of Christ. Thus I cannot revoke these books, since my revocation would mean the continuance of their tyrannical, violent and raging rule due to my compliance and hesitancy. The people of God would be treated more violently and unmercifully than ever.

What more shall I say? Since I am a man and not God, I cannot support my pamphlets through any other means then that which the Lord Jesus employed when he was questioned before Ananias and asked concerning his teaching and smitten on his cheek by a servant. He said then: "If I have spoken evil bear witness of the evil." (Jh. 18:23) If the Lord, who knew that he could not err, did not refuse to hear testimony against his doctrine even from the most miserable servant, how much more should I, the scum of the earth and prone to error, hope and expect that someone should testify against my doctrine. Therefore I pray by the grace of God that your Imperial Majesty and Lordships, and everyone, high or low, should give such testimony, convict me of error and convince me with evangelical and prophetic writings. Should I thus be persuaded, I am most ready and willing to revoke all errors and be the first to throw my books into the fire.

From this it should be evident that I have carefully considered and weighed such discord, peril, uproar and rebellion which is rampant in the world today on account of my teaching, as I was gravely and urgently made aware yesterday. It is quite revealing as far as I am concerned that the divine word causes factions, misunderstanding, and discord to arise. Such, of course, must be the fate and the consequence of the divine Word, even as the Lord himself said: "I am come not to send peace but a sword [290], to set a son against his father, and a daughter against her mother, and the daughter in law against her mother in law. And a man's foes shall be they of his own household." (Mt. 10:34-37) Therefore we must ponder how wonderful and terrible God is in his counsels, plans and intentions. Perhaps we condemn the Word of God if we do away with our factions and dissensions. It could be a deluge of inestimable evils, indeed a cause of concern lest the imperial rule of our most pious and youthful Emperor should have an unfortunate beginning...

Finally I commend myself to your Majesty and to your Lordships, humbly praying that you will not suffer me, against your will, to be subjected to disgrace and defamation by my enemies.

After this statement the spokesman for the Empire claimed angrily that I had not given a clear answer. Furthermore there was no need to discuss what has already been condemned and decided by councils (Mt. 10:17,18). Therefore I was asked to answer in a simple and unsophisticated manner whether I would revoke (Rom. 1:13-16). Thereupon I said: "Since your Imperial Majesty and Lordships demand a simple answer I will do so without horns or teeth as follows [300]: Unless I am convicted by the testimony of Scripture (Jh. 8:9) or by evident reason - for I trust neither in popes nor in councils alone, since it is obvious that they have often erred (Num.15:22; Ps. 119:110; Isa.28:7; 1Tim.6: 20,21) and contradicted themselves - I am convicted by the Scripture which I have mentioned and my conscience is captive by the Word of God (2.Cor. 4:2). Therefore I cannot and will not recant, since it is difficult, unprofitable and dangerous indeed to do anything against one's conscience, (Mt. 25:30). God help me. Amen." (Isa. 50:9)

Recounting Highlights

In the presence of that powerful and titled assembly the lowly born Reformer seemed awed and embarrassed. Several of the princes, observing his emotion, approached him, and one of them whispered: "Fear not them which kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul." (Mt. 10:28) Another said: "When ye shall be brought before governors and kings for My sake, it shall be given you, by the Spirit of your Father, what ye shall say." Mt. 10:18,19) Thus the words of Christ were brought by the world's great men to strengthen His servant in the hour of trial.

Luther was conducted to a position directly in front of the emperor's throne. A deep silence fell upon the crowded assembly. Then an imperial officer arose and, pointing to a collection of Luther's writings, demanded that the Reformer answer two questions--whether he acknowledged them as his, and whether he proposed to retract the opinions which he had therein advanced. The titles of the books [320] having been read, Luther replied that as to the first question, he acknowledged the books to be his. "As to the second," he said, "seeing that it is a question which concerns faith and the salvation of souls, and in which the word of God, the greatest and most precious treasure either in heaven or earth (Dt. 28:12), is involved, I should act imprudently were I to reply without reflection. I might affirm less than the circumstance demands, or more than truth requires, and so sin against this saying of Christ: "Whosoever shall deny Me before men, him will I also deny before My Father which is in heaven." (Matthew 10:33). For this reason I entreat your imperial majesty, with all humility, to allow me time, that I may answer without offending against the word of God." [325]

In making this request, Luther moved wisely. His course convinced the assembly that he did not act from passion or impulse. Such calmness and self-command, unexpected in one who had shown himself bold and uncompromising, added to his power, and enabled him afterward to answer with a prudence, decision, wisdom, and dignity that surprised and disappointed his adversaries, and rebuked their insolence and pride.

The next day he was to appear to render his final answer. For a time his heart sank within him as he contemplated the forces that were combined against the truth. His faith faltered; fearfulness and trembling came upon him, and horror overwhelmed him. Dangers multiplied before him; his enemies seemed about to triumph, and the powers of darkness to prevail. Clouds gathered about him and seemed to separate him from God. He longed for the assurance that the Lord of hosts would be with him. In anguish of spirit he threw himself with his face upon the earth and poured out those broken, heart-rending cries, which none but God can fully understand.

"O almighty and everlasting God," he pleaded, "how terrible is this world! Behold, it openeth its mouth to swallow me up (Ps. 69:15), and I have so little trust in Thee. . . . If it is only in the strength of this world that I must put my trust (Ps. 7:1), all is over. . . . My last hour is come, my condemnation has been pronounced. . . . O God, do Thou help me against all the wisdom of the world (1Cor. 1:20,21). Do this, . . . Thou alone; . . . for this is not my work, but Thine (Lk. 22:42). I have nothing to do here, nothing to contend for with these great ones of the world. . . . But the cause is Thine, . . . and it is a righteous and eternal cause. O Lord, help me! Faithful and unchangeable God (Hebr. 7:24), in no man do I place my trust (Ps. 146:3). . . . All that is of man is uncertain (1Cor. 14:8); all that cometh of man fails. . . . Thou hast chosen me for this work (Ps. 33:12). . . . Stand at my side, for the sake of Thy well-beloved Jesus Christ, who is my defense, my shield, and my strong tower." (Ps. 144:2) [333]

An all-wise Providence had permitted Luther to realize his peril, that he might not trust to his own strength and rush presumptuously into danger. Yet it was not the fear of personal suffering, a dread of torture or death, which seemed immediately impending, that overwhelmed him with its terror. He had come to the crisis, and he felt his insufficiency to meet it. Through his weakness the cause of truth might suffer loss. Not for his own safety, but for the triumph of the gospel did he wrestle with God. Like Israel's, in that night struggle beside the lonely stream, was the anguish and conflict of his soul. Like Israel, he prevailed with God. In his utter helplessness his faith fastened upon Christ, the mighty Deliverer. He was strengthened with the assurance that he would not appear alone before the council. Peace returned to his soul, and he rejoiced that he was permitted to uplift the word of God before the rulers of the nations.

With his mind stayed upon God, Luther prepared for the struggle before him. He thought upon the plan of his answer, examined passages in his own writings, and drew from the Holy Scriptures suitable proofs to sustain his positions. Then, laying his left hand on the Sacred Volume, which was open before him, he lifted his right hand to heaven and vowed "to remain faithful to the gospel, and freely to confess his faith, even should he seal his testimony with his blood." (2Cor. 11:7). [336]

When he was again ushered into the presence of the Diet, his countenance bore no trace of fear or embarrassment. Calm and peaceful, yet grandly brave and noble, he stood as God's witness among the great ones of the earth. The imperial officer now demanded his decision as to whether he desired to retract his doctrines. Luther made his answer in a subdued and humble tone, without violence or passion. His demeanor was diffident and respectful; yet he manifested a confidence and joy that surprised the assembly.

"Most serene emperor, illustrious princes, gracious lords," said Luther, "I appear before you this day, in conformity with the order given me yesterday, and by God's mercies I conjure your majesty and your august highnesses to listen graciously to the defense of a cause which I am assured is just and true. If, through ignorance, I should transgress the usages and proprieties of courts, I entreat you to pardon me; for I was not brought up in the palaces of kings, but in the seclusion of a convent." [340]

Then, proceeding to the question, he stated that his published works were not all of the same character. In some he had treated of faith and good works, and even his enemies declared them not only harmless but profitable. To retract these would be to condemn truths which all parties confessed. The second class consisted of writings exposing the corruptions and abuses of the papacy. To revoke these works would strengthen the tyranny of Rome and open a wider door to many and great impieties. In the third class of his books he had attacked individuals who had defended existing evils. Concerning these he freely confessed that he had been more violent than was becoming. He did not claim to be free from fault; but even these books he could not revoke, for such a course would embolden the enemies of truth, and they would then take occasion to crush God's people with still greater cruelty.

"Yet I am but a mere man, and not God," he continued; "I shall therefore defend myself as Christ did: 'If I have spoken evil, bear witness of the evil.' (Jh. 18:23) . . . By the mercy of God, I conjure you, most serene emperor, and you, most illustrious princes, and all men of every degree, to prove from the writings of the prophets and apostles that I have erred. As soon as I am convinced of this, I will retract every error, and be the first to lay hold of my books and throw them into the fire.

"What I have just said plainly shows, I hope, that I have carefully weighed and considered the dangers to which I expose myself; but far from being dismayed, I rejoice to see that the gospel is now, as in former times, a cause of trouble and dissension. This is the character, this is the destiny, of the word of God. 'I came not to send peace on earth, but a sword,' (Mt. 10:34) said Jesus Christ. God is wonderful and terrible in His counsels; beware lest, by presuming to quench dissensions, you should persecute the holy word of God, and draw down upon yourselves a frightful deluge of insurmountable dangers, of present disasters, and eternal desolation. . . . I might quote many examples from the oracles of God. I might speak of the Pharaohs, the kings of Babylon, and those of Israel, whose labors never more effectually contributed to their own destruction than when they sought by counsels, to all appearance most wise, to strengthen their dominion. 'God removeth mountains, and they know it not.'" [350]

Luther had spoken in German; he was now requested to repeat the same words in Latin. Though exhausted by the previous effort, he complied, and again delivered his speech, with the same clearness and energy as at the first. God's providence directed in this matter. The minds of many of the princes were so blinded by error and superstition that at the first delivery they did not see the force of Luther's reasoning; but the repetition enabled them to perceive clearly the points presented.

Those who stubbornly closed their eyes to the light, and determined not to be convinced of the truth, were enraged at the power of Luther's words. As he ceased speaking, the spokesman of the Diet said angrily: "You have not answered the question put to you. . . . You are required to give a clear and precise answer. . . . Will you, or will you not, retract?"

The Reformer answered: "Since your most serene majesty and your high mightinesses require from me a clear, simple, and precise answer, I will give you one, and it is this: I cannot submit my faith either to the pope or to the councils, because it is clear as the day that they have frequently erred and contradicted each other. Unless therefore I am convinced by the testimony of Scripture or by the clearest reasoning, unless I am persuaded by means of the passages I have quoted, and unless they thus render my conscience bound by the word of God, I cannot and I will not retract, for it is unsafe for a Christian to speak against his conscience. Here I stand, I can do no other; may God help me. Amen." [358]

Thus stood this righteous man upon the sure foundation of the word of God. The light of heaven illuminated his countenance. His greatness and purity of character, his peace and joy of heart, were manifest to all as he testified against the power of error and witnessed to the superiority of that faith that overcomes the world.

The whole assembly were for a time speechless with amazement. At his first answer Luther had spoken in a low tone, with a respectful, almost submissive bearing. The Romanists had interpreted this as evidence that his courage was beginning to fail. They regarded the request for delay as merely the prelude to his recantation. Charles himself, noting, half contemptuously, the monk's worn frame, his plain attire, and the simplicity of his address, had declared: "This monk will never make a heretic of me." The courage and firmness which he now displayed, as well as the power and clearness of his reasoning, filled all parties with surprise. The emperor, moved to admiration, exclaimed: "This monk speaks with an intrepid heart and unshaken courage." Many of the German princes looked with pride and joy upon this representative of their nation.

The partisans of Rome had been worsted; their cause appeared in a most unfavorable light. They sought to maintain their power, not by appealing to the Scriptures, but by a resort to threats, Rome's unfailing argument. Said the spokesman of the Diet: "If you do not retract, the emperor and the states of the empire will consult what course to adopt against an incorrigible heretic."

Luther's friend, who had with great joy listened to his noble defense, trembled at these words; but the doctor himself said calmly: "May God be my helper, for I can retract nothing." [366]

He was directed to withdraw from the Diet while the princes consulted together. It was felt that a great crisis had come. Luther's persistent refusal to submit might affect the history of the church for ages. It was decided to give him one more opportunity to retract. For the last time he was brought into the assembly. Again the question was put, whether he would renounce his doctrines. "I have no other reply to make," he said, "than that which I have already made." It was evident that he could not be induced, either by promises or threats, to yield to the mandate of Rome.

The papal leaders were chagrined that their power, which had caused kings and nobles to tremble, should be thus despised by a humble monk; they longed to make him feel their wrath by torturing his life away. But Luther, understanding his danger, had spoken to all with Christian dignity and calmness. His words had been free from pride, passion, and misrepresentation. He had lost sight of himself, and the great men surrounding him, and felt only that he was in the presence of One infinitely superior to popes, prelates, kings, and emperors. Christ had spoken through Luther's testimony with a power and grandeur that for the time inspired both friends and foes with awe and wonder. The Spirit of God had been present in that council, impressing the hearts of the chiefs of the empire. Several of the princes boldly acknowledged the justice of Luther's cause. Many were convinced of the truth; but with some the impressions received were not lasting. There was another class who did not at the time express their convictions, but who, having searched the Scriptures for themselves, at a future time became fearless supporters of the Reformation.

The elector Frederick thr Wise (1486-1525) had looked forward anxiously to Luther's appearance before the Diet, and with deep emotion he listened to his speech. With joy and pride he witnessed the doctor's courage, firmness, and self-possession, and determined to stand more firmly in his defense. He contrasted the parties in contest, and saw that the wisdom of popes, kings, and prelates had been brought to nought by the power of truth. The papacy had sustained a defeat which would be felt among all nations and in all ages.

As the legate perceived the effect produced by Luther's speech, he feared, as never before, for the security of the Romish power, and resolved to employ every means at his command to effect the Reformer's overthrow. With all the eloquence and diplomatic skill for which he was so eminently distinguished, he represented to the youthful emperor the folly and danger of sacrificing, in the cause of an insignificant monk, the friendship and support of the powerful see of Rome.

His words were not without effect. On the day following Luther's answer, Charles caused a message to be presented to the Diet, announcing his determination to carry out the policy of his predecessors to maintain and protect the Catholic religion. Since Luther had refused to renounce his errors, the most vigorous measures should be employed against him and the heresies he taught. "A single monk, misled by his own folly, has risen against the faith of Christendom. To stay such impiety, I will sacrifice my kingdoms, my treasures, my friends, my body, my blood, my soul, and my life. I am about to dismiss the Augustine Luther, forbidding him to cause the least disorder among the people; I shall then proceed against him and his adherents as contumacious heretics, by excommunication, by interdict, and by every means calculated to destroy them. I call on the members of the states to behave like faithful Christians." [380] Nevertheless the emperor declared that Luther's safe-conduct must be respected, and that before proceedings against him could be instituted, he must be allowed to reach his home in safety.

Two conflicting opinions were now urged by the members of the Diet. The emissaries and representatives of the pope again demanded that the Reformer's safe-conduct should be disregarded. "The Rhine," they said, "should receive his ashes, as it had received those of John Huss a century ago." [383] But princes of Germany, though themselves papists and avowed enemies to Luther, protested against such a breach of public faith, as a stain upon the honor of the nation. They pointed to the calamities which had followed the death of Huss, and declared that they dared not call down upon Germany, and upon the head of their youthful emperor, a repetition of those terrible evils.

Charles himself, in answer to the base proposal, said: "Though honor and faith should be banished from all the world, they ought to find a refuge in the hearts of princes." [385] He was still further urged by the most bitter of Luther's papal enemies to deal with the Reformer as Sigismund had dealt with Huss--abandon him to the mercies of the church; but recalling the scene when Huss in public assembly had pointed to his chains and reminded the monarch of his plighted faith, Charles V declared: "I should not like to blush like Sigismund." [385]

Yet Charles had deliberately rejected the truths presented by Luther. "I am firmly resolved to imitate the example of my ancestors," wrote the monarch. [390] He had decided that he would not step out of the path of custom, even to walk in the ways of truth and righteousness. Because his fathers did, he would uphold the papacy, with all its cruelty and corruption. Thus he took his position, refusing to accept any light in advance of what his fathers had received, or to perform any duty that they had not performed.

There are many at the present day thus clinging to the customs and traditions of their fathers. When the Lord sends them additional light, they refuse to accept it, because, not having been granted to their fathers, it was not received by them. We are not placed where our fathers were; consequently our duties and responsibilities are not the same as theirs. We shall not be approved of God in looking to the example of our fathers to determine our duty instead of searching the word of truth for ourselves. Our responsibility is greater than was that of our ancestors. We are accountable for the light which they received, and which was handed down as an inheritance for us, and we are accountable also for the additional light which is now shining upon us from the word of God.

Said Christ of the unbelieving Jews: "If I had not come and spoken unto them, they had not had sin: but now they have no cloak for their sin." John 15:22. The same divine power had spoken through Luther to the emperor and princes of Germany. And as the light shone forth from God's word, His Spirit pleaded for the last time with many in that assembly. As Pilate, centuries before, permitted pride and popularity to close his heart against the world's Redeemer; as the trembling Felix bade the messenger of truth, "Go thy way for this time; when I have a convenient season, I will call for thee;" as the proud Agrippa confessed, "Almost thou persuadest me to be a Christian" (Acts 24:25; 26:28), yet turned away from the Heaven-sent message--so had Charles V, yielding to the dictates of worldly pride and policy, decided to reject the light of truth.

Rumors of the designs against Luther were widely circulated, causing great excitement throughout the city. The Reformer had made many friends, who, knowing the treacherous cruelty of Rome toward all who dared expose her corruptions, resolved that he should not be sacrificed. Hundreds of nobles pledged themselves to protect him. Not a few openly denounced the royal message of evincing a weak submission to the controlling power of Rome. On the gates of houses and in public places, placards were posted, some condemning and others sustaining Luther. On one of these were written merely the significant words of the wise man: "Woe to thee, O land, when thy king is a child." Ecclesiastes 10:16. The popular enthusiasm in Luther's favor throughout all Germany convinced both the emperor and the Diet that any injustice shown him would endanger the peace of the empire and even the stability of the throne.

`Frederick the Wise' of Saxony (1486-1525) maintained a studied reserve, carefully concealing his real feelings toward the Reformer, while at the same time he guarded him with tireless vigilance, watching all his movements and all those of his enemies. But there were many who made no attempt to conceal their sympathy with Luther. He was visited by princes, counts, barons, and other persons of distinction, both lay and ecclesiastical. "The doctor's little room," wrote Spalatin, "could not contain all the visitors who presented themselves." [400] The people gazed upon him as if he were more than human. Even those who had no faith in his doctrines could not but admire that lofty integrity which led him to brave death rather than violate his conscience.

Earnest efforts were made to obtain Luther's consent to a compromise with Rome. Nobles and princes represented to him that if he persisted in setting up his own judgment against that of the church and the councils he would soon be banished from the empire and would have no defense. To this appeal Luther answered: "The gospel of Christ cannot be preached without offense. . . . Why then should the fear or apprehension of danger separate me from the Lord, and from that divine word which alone is truth? No; I would rather give up my body, my blood, and my life." [403]

Again he was urged to submit to the judgment of the emperor, and then he would have nothing to fear. "I consent," said he in reply, "with all my heart, that the emperor, the princes, and even the meanest Christian, should examine and judge my works; but on one condition, that they take the word of God for their standard. Men have nothing to do but to obey it. Do not offer violence to my conscience, which is bound and chained up with the Holy Scriptures." [404]

To another appeal he said: "I consent to renounce my safe-conduct. I place my person and my life in the emperor's hands, but the word of God--never!" [405] He stated his willingness to submit to the decision of a general council, but only on condition that the council be required to decide according to the Scriptures. "In what concerns the word of God and the faith," he added, "every Christian is as good a judge as the pope, though supported by a million councils, can be for him." [406] Both friends and foes were at last convinced that further effort for reconciliation would be useless.

Had the Reformer yielded a single point, Satan and his hosts would have gained the victory. But his unwavering firmness was the means of emancipating the church, and beginning a new and better era.[407] The influence of this one man, who dared to think and act for himself in religious matters, was to affect the church and the world, not only in his own time, but in all future generations. His firmness and fidelity would strengthen all, to the close of time, who should pass through a similar experience. The power and majesty of God stood forth above the counsel of men, above the mighty power of Satan.

Luther was soon commanded by the authority of the emperor to return home, and he knew that this notice would be speedily followed by his condemnation. Threatening clouds overhung his path; but as he departed from Worms, his heart was filled with joy and praise. "The devil himself," said he, "guarded the pope's citadel; but Christ has made a wide breach in it, and Satan was constrained to confess that the Lord is mightier than he." [410]

Aftermath

After his departure, still desirous that his firmness should not be mistaken for rebellion, Luther wrote to the emperor. "God, who is the searcher of hearts, is my witness," he said, "that I am ready most earnestly to obey your majesty, in honor or in dishonor, in life or in death, and with no exception save the word of God, by which man lives. In all the affairs of this present life, my fidelity shall be unshaken, for here to lose or to gain is of no consequence to salvation. But when eternal interests are concerned, God wills not that man should submit unto man. For such submission in spiritual matters is a real worship, and ought to be rendered solely to the Creator." [433]

On the journey from Worms, Luther's reception was even more flattering than during his progress thither. Princely ecclesiastics welcomed the excommunicated monk, and civil rulers honored the man whom the emperor had denounced. He was urged to preach, and, notwithstanding the imperial prohibition, he again entered the pulpit. "I never pledged myself to chain up the word of God," he said, "nor will I." [435]

He had not been long absent from Worms, when the papists prevailed upon the emperor to issue an edict against him. In this decree Luther was denounced as "Satan himself under the form of a man and dressed in a monk's frock." [438] It was commanded that as soon as his safe-conduct should expire, measures be taken to stop his work. All persons were forbidden to harbor him, to give him food or drink, or by word or act, in public or private, to aid or abet him. He was to be seized wherever he might be, and delivered to the authorities. His adherents also were to be imprisoned and their property confiscated. His writings were to be destroyed, and, finally, all who should dare to act contrary to this decree were included in its condemnation. The elector of Saxony and the princes most friendly to Luther had left Worms soon after his departure, and the emperor's decree received the sanction of the Diet. Now the Romanists were jubilant. They considered the fate of the Reformation sealed.

God had provided a way of escape for His servant in this hour of peril. A vigilant eye had followed Luther's movements, and a true and noble heart had resolved upon his rescue. It was plain that Rome would be satisfied with nothing short of his death; only by concealment could he be preserved from the jaws of the lion. God gave wisdom to Frederick of Saxony to devise a plan for the Reformer's preservation. With the co-operation of true friends the elector's purpose was carried out, and Luther was effectually hidden from friends and foes. Upon his homeward journey he was seized, separated from his attendants, and hurriedly conveyed through the forest to the castle of Wartburg, an isolated mountain fortress. Both his seizure and his concealment were so involved in mystery that even Frederick himself for a long time knew not whither he had been conducted. This ignorance was not without design; so long as the elector knew nothing of Luther's whereabouts, he could reveal nothing. He satisfied himself that the Reformer was safe, and with this knowledge he was content.

Spring, summer, and autumn passed, and winter came, and Luther still remained a prisoner. Aleander and his partisans exulted as the light of the gospel seemed about to be extinguished. But instead of this, the Reformer was filling his lamp from the storehouse of truth; and its light was to shine forth with brighter radiance.

In the friendly security of the Wartburg, Luther for a time rejoiced in his release from the heat and turmoil of battle. But he could not long find satisfaction in quiet and repose. Accustomed to a life of activity and stern conflict, he could ill endure to remain inactive. In those solitary days the condition of the church rose up before him, and he cried in despair. "Alas! there is no one in this latter day of His anger, to stand like a wall before the Lord, and save Israel!" [450] Again, his thoughts returned to himself, and he feared being charged with cowardice in withdrawing from the contest. Then he reproached himself for his indolence and self-indulgence. Yet at the same time he was daily accomplishing more than it seemed possible for one man to do. His pen was never idle. While his enemies flattered themselves that he was silenced, they were astonished and confused by tangible proof that he was still active. A host of tracts, issuing from his pen, circulated throughout Germany. He also performed a most important service for his countrymen by translating the New Testament into the German tongue. From his rocky Patmos he continued for nearly a whole year to proclaim the gospel and rebuke the sins and errors of the times.

But it was not merely to preserve Luther from the wrath of his enemies, nor even to afford him a season of quiet for these important labors, that God had withdrawn His servant from the stage of public life. There were results more precious than these to be secured. In the solitude and obscurity of his mountain retreat, Luther was removed from earthly supports and shut out from human praise. He was thus saved from the pride and self-confidence that are so often caused by success. By suffering and humiliation he was prepared again to walk safely upon the dizzy heights to which he had been so suddenly exalted.

As men rejoice in the freedom which the truth brings them, they are inclined to extol those whom God has employed to break the chains of error and superstition. Satan seeks to divert men's thoughts and affections from God, and to fix them upon human agencies; he leads them to honor the mere instrument and to ignore the Hand that directs all the events of providence. Too often religious leaders who are thus praised and reverenced lose sight of their dependence upon God and are led to trust in themselves. As a result they seek to control the minds and consciences of the people, who are disposed to look to them for guidance instead of looking to the word of God. The work of reform is often retarded because of this spirit indulged by its supporters. From this danger, God would guard the cause of the Reformation. He desired that work to receive, not the impress of man, but that of God. The eyes of men had been turned to Luther as the expounder of the truth; he was removed that all eyes might be directed to the eternal Author of truth.

A Few Details of the History of Reformation

Persecutions by the Papacy of `Andersgläubige' (people espousing a variant belief), were legalized at least ever since the Roman Emperor Justinian incorporated such language in his decrees. But it was Pope Nicholas I. (858-867) who accelerated such terrible scourges when he congratulated the king of Bulgaria, a new convert to Christianity, to massacre and put to death "those wandering sheep who refuse to enter the fold." [460]

The Waldenses could trace their ancestors back to the time of the Apostle Paul.

John Wycliffe, the `Morning Star of the Reformation' lived in the 14th century in England and translated the Bible into English.[462] His followers became known as the Lollards, who were vigorously persecuted and exterminated, but there were survivors.

In Bohemia (Tchechoslovakia) Huss and Jerome of Croatia lifted their voices against papal abuses. Having rejected, nearly extinguished the light of the Bible and made it unavailable for many the spiritual darkness was undescribable. `Aberglaube' and weird religious views abounded.

When Huss found a copy of the Bible chained in a cell of a German monastery a spark was kindled and a fire lit which Rome was unable to put out.

Coinciding just in perfect timing with the reformation was the invention of moveable letters. As the story goes, Johannes Gutenberg was sitting in his father's workshop in Germany in the early 1400s whittling the letters of his name in soft wood, when he accidently dropped the letter "h" into a bucket of purple dye. He was able to get it out, and let it dry on a piece of paper. After it dried, he picked it up, and the impression that was left on the paper and on his mind was never to be erased. His printing press has changed the world more than anything has in the past 1000 years.

In Germany it was Dr. Martin Luther and Phillip Melanchthon who came to oppose the attitude of the papacy. For a long time they were regarded as still being part of the Middle Ages also referred to as the `Dark Ages'. Their time and the centuries before them were called `dark' because spiritual darkness prevailed like a very deep chasm which these reformers could not bridge all the way except for a getting a little light to shine and check the darkness. Before that the wholistic Hebrew concept of God, man and universe had God at its very center. The early Christian church had God at its center. The influence of Paganism entering the church incrementally removed the old foundations of solid faith in the Almighty God. Eyes turned more and more on a poor human substitute in Rome and the local parish. These could not and did not represent God according to the biblical record. The reformers achieved to identify the man of sin. The apostasy from God's Word matured and brought on a narrow salvation by works, doing things, in Catholicism, Islam, and all religions around the world. Against this background of false religion the reformers stepped in. Their efforts merely lifted the darkness just barely. They too were still very much part of the culture of thought and suppositions rampant in their day. One of these was the concept of predestination. According to this view, God predestines some to find salvation and others to destruction. By the moving of the divine will, some are thought to some day be with God while others are fated to be evil and die. Predestination denies man a real choice in his ultimate future. Human free will has little impact in this scenario. Man sort of just dangles from a thread from heaven above safety or perdition. Preaching to others and trying to save them becomes merely a prescribed script which actives the puppet strings which moves mouths, minds and hearts. The principle of predestination is, no one can overwrite divine sovereignty. But what is the truth?

Another `battle cry' was the concept of "sola scriptura", `faith alone'. This concept derived out of Luther's attempt to challenge the RC practice of expensive indulgences, rigorous penance, numerous sacraments, and the mediation of a human priesthood. Luther's position was that forgiveness for sin was on the basis of God's grace through the believer's faith - alone. Even though "faith alone" was to separate faith from all the human machinery and tradition of his day, Luther never intended for the doctrine of "faith (in Jesus) alone" to be completely autonomous from the rest of the Word of God. - For example, Luther wrote of "antinomianism" (against the law) and applied it to those who took the doctrine of "faith alone" to an unbiblical, radical position of destroying the relationship between the law and the gospel (zwischen dem Gesetz und dem Evangelium). Justification by faith alone was being interpreted as a license to sin by some who were antagonistic towards the 10 Commandments. Melanchthon taught, that "repentance must precede faith, and that knowledge of the moral law is needed to produce repentance." Rom. 7:7. [480]

There is another point that Protestants today are rejecting with regards to "faith alone". It is the inherent relationship between faith and the Word of God that we cannot ignore for the Bible says, "So then faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God." Rom. 10:17

The following examples may clarify the lesson to learn from this.

a) It is God's spoken word that establishes a foundation for faith to be exercised. When Jesus told Peter that he could walk on water, it was Christ's words that authorized Peter to exercise faith. When God has declared a promise in His Word, it is only then that that promise becomes the basis for true faith to exist. This is something that has become a stumbling block within Protestantism.

b) On the other hand, how can we have faith in Sunday keeping when the Bible is silent about worshiping on that day? How can we exercise faith on the foundation of silence which is really an erroneous doctrine? How can we have faith in something that God has not publicly spoken and declared? And if it is not in the Bible, it is not of faith and thereby it becomes dead works and even sin. "For whatever is not of faith is sin." Rom. 14:23.

Conclusion: Protestants today have embraced serious theological errors that are not supported by the Word of God. Errors like, 1) eternal torment in hell, 2) non-immortality of the soul, 3) Sunday sacredness, 4) secret rapture, 5) original sin, 6) predestination, etc. By doing so they are rejecting the pillars of the Protestant Reformation of "sola fida" and "sola scriptura". - Some who claim to be Seventh day Adventists also can be found in this camp today.

In the minds of our people the faith of our Protestant ancestors is being taken away. The true faith and experience of the Reformers has been compromised by all the sweet talk of the ecumenical movement. When the spirit of Protestantism was alive and well, the Reformers had a powerful, united voice against the abuses of distorted Christianity. Because of their zeal for God's truth they were able to turn the whole world upside-down and change the entire course of human history. The Protestant Reformation produced a great uproar and "house-cleaning" which resulted in the greatest fragmentation in the history of the church. The outcome was that the entire world came out of the Dark Ages.

Today, sadly, we are heading straight back into the Dark Ages because the heirs of the Reformers have rejected the principles of the Reformation. Now they can be seen to bow before "Peter" and kiss his ring. In doing so they try to get you to accept fictitious principles that are not Reformation at all. In fact they are ignorant what the Reformers stood for. All the C and D students, the hippie generation, are now in places of leadership. This will worsen significantly in the future because atheism is rewriting history books leaving out anything that has to do with the Bible, Christianity and who knows what all. Encyclopedias produced today are not worth the paper to be purchased, so are many other books. Protestantism has greatly changed since the 16th century while Catholicism has not. Roman Catholicism teaches traditions and practices tradition. Rome lets you know where it stands, even though they are wrong. Unlike Protestants, who preach Biblical truth and practice RC traditions mixed-in with some distortions of the Bible. No denomination is immune from this deceitful and often silent threat. There is a vast disarray, disagreements and confusion within Protestantism today. The above line on `sola scriptura' and `antinomina' are just examples. Today there exists a crisis of authority as it did in Luther's days. We have rejected the Protestant principle on what the final authority is for God's people if we point to articles of faith or some creed. For Luther everything stood under the judgment of the Bible, and he would use the Word of God to judge the church, the church teachings, and even the pope.

Examples of opposers to the living God can be read about in the Bible. We refer to the account of Hophni and Phineas, the sons of Eli, who ministered in the Temple, as the "sons of Belial", 1.Sam. 2:12. That word `Belial' means worthless and wicked. If you read the entire chapter you find that their sins, extortion and fornication inside the temple, were "very great before the Lord."

Likewise, Paul passed judgment upon the false apostles of his day. "For such are false apostles, deceitful workers, transforming themselves into the apostles of Christ." 2.Cor. 11:13. Under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit Paul warned the church against these "false" ministers of Satan that were in the church (verses 14 & 15). Did the Holy Spirit reveal this to him so he could be unchristian and full of hate? Of course not. Paul expressed the strong conviction called "righteous jealousy." "For I am jealous over you with godly jealousy ... I fear, least by any means, as the serpent beguiled Eve through his subtlety, so your minds should be corrupted." 2. Cor. 11:2,3.

What Paul did was done in order to vindicate the glory of Christ's truth and to preserve the honor of God among the faithful.

In fact there is a Divine judgment which rests upon those who corrupt the gospel of Christ. "But though we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel unto you than that which we have preached unto you, let him be accursed." Gal. 1:8.

And so Luther's battle was with the "ex cathedra" or the seat/chair of the papacy which states that papal proclamations "ex cathedra" are preserved by the Holy Spirit from any possibility of error. And to resist any papal proclamation is to resist the Holy Spirit. Luther responded with his own proclamation: "Spiritus Antichristi est Papa" or "this spirit of the papacy is the spirit of Antichrist." The spirit implied by Luther was the spirit of arrogance which he believed was usurping the Spirit of Christ.

Luther's battle was not so much with the rank and file members of the church. Luther was not anti-Catholic. He was anti-papal. He rejected the claims of the Papacy and its authority.

It was Andreas Bodenstein Von Carlstadt, a Sabbath keeper, who said, "Sabbath keeping has a double object in obedience to God, we must rest in peace and pray to God for all holiness and wait and receive it. . . . This is realized in man's recognition that holiness comes from no other source than Christ and that we must be holy for God is holy."

At issue in the controversy between God and Satan is God's character which has been defamed and muddled by the arch deceiver. Divine goals in matters of faith were taught in the Hebrew sanctuary. The maligned character of God was corrected by Jesus.

One of the noblest testimonies ever uttered for the Reformation was the Protest offered by the Christian princes of Germany at the Diet of Spires/Speyer, a small city located 40 km/25 miles south of Worms along the Rhine River, in 1529. The courage, faith, and firmness of those men of God gained for succeeding ages liberty of thought and of conscience. Their Protest gave to the reformed church the name of Protestant; its principles are "the very essence of Protestantism." [D'Aubigne, `History of the Reformation', Book 13, ch. 6.]

A dark and threatening day had come for the Reformation. Notwithstanding the Edict of Worms, declaring Luther to be an outlaw and forbidding the teaching or belief of his doctrines, religious toleration had thus far prevailed in the empire. God's providence had held in check the forces that opposed the truth. Charles V was bent on crushing the Reformation, but often as he raised his hand to strike he had been forced to turn aside the blow. Again and again the immediate destruction of all who dared to oppose themselves to Rome appeared inevitable; but at the critical moment the armies of the Turks appeared on the eastern frontier, or the king of France, or even the pope himself, jealous of the increasing greatness of the emperor, made war upon him; and thus, amid the strife and tumult of nations, the Reformation had been left to strengthen and extend.

At last, however, the papal sovereigns had stifled their feuds, that they might make common cause against the Reformers. The Diet of Spires in 1526 had given each state full liberty in matters of religion until the meeting of a general council; but no sooner had the dangers passed which secured this concession, than the emperor summoned a second Diet to convene at Spires in 1529 for the purpose of crushing heresy. The princes were to be induced, by peaceable means if possible, to side against the Reformation; but if these failed, Charles was prepared to resort to the sword.

The papists were exultant. They appeared at Spires in great numbers, and openly manifested their hostility toward the Reformers and all who favored them. Said Melanchthon: "We are the execration and the sweepings of the world; but Christ will look down on His poor people, and will preserve them." [610] The evangelical princes in attendance at the Diet were forbidden even to have the gospel preached in their dwellings. But the people of Spires thirsted for the word of God, and, notwithstanding the prohibition, thousands flocked to the services held in the chapel of the elector of Saxony.

This hastened the crisis. An imperial message announced to the Diet that as the resolution granting liberty of conscience had given rise to great disorders, the emperor required that it be annulled. This arbitrary act excited the indignation and alarm of the evangelical Christians. Said one: "Christ has again fallen into the hands of Caiaphas and Pilate." The Romanists became more violent. A bigoted papist declared: "The Turks are better than the Lutherans; for the Turks observe fast days, and the Lutherans violate them. If we must choose between the Holy Scriptures of God and the old errors of the church, we should reject the former." Said Melanchthon: "Every day, in full assembly, Faber casts some new stone at us gospelers." [620]

Religious toleration had been legally established, and the evangelical states were resolved to oppose the infringement of their rights. Luther, being still under the ban imposed by the Edict of Worms, was not permitted to be present at Spires; but his place was supplied by his colaborers and the princes whom God had raised up to defend His cause in this emergency. The noble Frederick of Saxony, Luther's former protector, had been removed by death (in 1525); but Duke John, his brother and successor, had joyfully welcomed the Reformation, and while a friend of peace, he displayed great energy and courage in all matters relating to the interests of the faith.

Facing the Crisis at Spires

The priests demanded that the states which had accepted the Reformation submit implicitly to Romish jurisdiction. The Reformers, on the other hand, claimed the liberty which had previously been granted. They could not consent that Rome should again bring under her control those states that had with so great joy received the word of God.

As a compromise it was finally proposed that where the Reformation had not become established, the Edict of Worms should be rigorously enforced; and that "in those where the people had deviated from it, and where they could not conform to it without danger of revolt, they should at least effect no new reform, they should touch upon no controverted point, they should not oppose the celebration of the mass, they should permit no Roman Catholic to embrace Lutheranism." [630] This measure passed the Diet, to the great satisfaction of the popish priests and prelates.

If this edict were enforced, "the Reformation could neither be extended . . . where as yet it was unknown, nor be established on solid foundations . . . where it already existed." [633] Liberty of speech would be prohibited. No conversions would be allowed. And to these restrictions and prohibitions the friends of the Reformation were required at once to submit. The hopes of the world seemed about to be extinguished. "The re-establishment of the Romish hierarchy . . . would infallibly bring back the ancient abuses;" and an occasion would readily be found for "completing the destruction of a work already so violently shaken" by fanaticism and dissension. [636]

Mighty Issues at Stake

As the evangelical party met for consultation, one looked to another in blank dismay. From one to another passed the inquiry: "What is to be done?" Mighty issues for the world were at stake. "Shall the chiefs of the Reformation submit, and accept the edict? How easily might the Reformers at this crisis, which was truly a tremendous one, have argued themselves into a wrong course! How many plausible pretexts and fair reasons might they have found for submission! The Lutheran princes were guaranteed the free exercise of their religion. The same boon was extended to all those of their subjects who, prior to the passing of the measure, had embraced the reformed views. Ought not this to content them? How many perils would submission avoid! On what unknown hazards and conflicts would opposition launch them! Who knows what opportunities the future may bring? Let us embrace peace; let us seize the olive branch Rome holds out, and close the wounds of Germany. With arguments like these might the Reformers have justified their adoption of a course which would have assuredly issued in no long time in the overthrow of their cause.

"Happily they looked at the principle on which this arrangement was based, and they acted in faith. What was that principle? It was the right of Rome to coerce conscience and forbid free inquiry. But were not themselves and their Protestant subjects to enjoy religious freedom? Yes, as a favor specially stipulated for in the arrangement, but not as a right. As to all outside that arrangement, the great principle of authority was to rule; conscience was out of court; Rome was infallible judge, and must be obeyed. The acceptance of the proposed arrangement would have been a virtual admission that religious liberty ought to be confined to reformed Saxony; and as to all the rest of Christendom, free inquiry and the profession of the reformed faith were crimes, and must be visited with the dungeon and the stake. Could they consent to localize religious liberty? to have it proclaimed that the Reformation had made its last convert? had subjugated its last acre? and that wherever Rome bore sway at this hour, there her dominion was to be perpetuated? Could the Reformers have pleaded that they were innocent of the blood of those hundreds and thousands who, in pursuance of this arrangement, would have to yield up their lives in popish lands? This would have been to betray, at that supreme hour, the cause of the gospel and the liberties of Christendom." [670] Rather would they "sacrifice everything, even their states, their crowns, and their lives." [674]

"Let us reject this decree," said the princes. "In matters of conscience the majority has no power." The deputies declared: "It is to the decree of 1526 that we are indebted for the peace that the empire enjoys: its abolition would fill Germany with troubles and divisions. The Diet is incompetent to do more than preserve religious liberty until the council meets." [676] To protect liberty of conscience is the duty of the state, and this is the limit of its authority in matters of religion. Every secular government that attempts to regulate or enforce religious observances by civil authority is sacrificing the very principle for which the evangelical Christian so nobly struggled.

The papists determined to put down what they termed "daring obstinacy." They began by endeavoring to cause divisions among the supporters of the Reformation and to intimidate all who had not openly declared in its favor. The representatives of the free cities were at last summoned before the Diet and required to declare whether they would accede to the terms of the proposition. They pleaded for delay, but in vain. When brought to the test, nearly one half their number sided with the Reformers. Those who thus refused to sacrifice liberty of conscience and the right of individual judgment well knew that their position marked them for future criticism, condemnation, and persecution. Said one of the delegates: "We must either deny the word of God, or --be burnt." [678]

The Noble Stand of the Princes

King Ferdinand [669], the emperor's representative at the Diet, saw that the decree would cause serious divisions unless the princes could be induced to accept and sustain it. He therefore tried the art of persuasion, well knowing that to employ force with such men would only render them the more determined. He "begged the princes to accept the decree, assuring them that the emperor would be exceedingly pleased with them." But these faithful men acknowledged an authority above that of earthly rulers, and they answered calmly: "We will obey the emperor in everything that may contribute to maintain peace and the honor of God." [680]

In the presence of the Diet the king at last announced to the elector and his friends that the edict "was about to be drawn up in the form of an imperial decree," and that "their only remaining course was to submit to the majority." Having thus spoken, he withdrew from the assembly, giving the Reformers no opportunity for deliberation or reply. "To no purpose they sent a deputation entreating the king to return." To their remonstrances he answered only: "It is a settled affair; submission is all that remains." [682]

The imperial party were convinced that the Christian princes would adhere to the Holy Scriptures as superior to human doctrines and requirements; and they knew that wherever this principle was accepted, the papacy would eventually be overthrown. But, like thousands since their time, looking only "at the things which are seen," they flattered themselves that the cause of the emperor and the pope (Clement VII, 1523-34) was strong, and that of the Reformers weak.[684] Had the Reformers depended upon human aid alone, they would have been as powerless as the papists supposed. But though weak in numbers, and at variance with Rome, they had their strength. They appealed "from the report of the Diet to the word of God, and from the emperor Charles to Jesus Christ, the King of kings and Lord of lords." [685]

As Ferdinand had refused to regard their conscientious convictions, the princes decided not to heed his absence, but to bring their Protest before the national council without delay. A solemn declaration was therefore drawn up and presented to the Diet:

"We protest by these presents, before God, our only Creator, Preserver, Redeemer, and Saviour, and who will one day be our Judge, as well as before all men and all creatures, that we, for us and for our people, neither consent nor adhere in any manner whatsoever to the proposed decree, in anything that is contrary to God, to His holy word, to our right conscience, to the salvation of our souls."

"What! we ratify this edict! We assert that when Almighty God calls a man to His knowledge, this man nevertheless cannot receive the knowledge of God!" "There is no sure doctrine but such as is conformable to the word of God. . . . The Lord forbids the teaching of any other doctrine. . . . The Holy Scriptures ought to be explained by other and clearer texts; . . . this Holy Book is, in all things necessary for the Christian, easy of understanding, and calculated to scatter the darkness. We are resolved, with the grace of God, to maintain the pure and exclusive preaching of His only word, such as it is contained in the biblical books of the Old and New Testaments, without adding anything thereto that may be contrary to it. This word is the only truth; it is the sure rule of all doctrine and of all life, and can never fail or deceive us. He who builds on this foundation shall stand against all the powers of hell, while all the human vanities that are set up against it shall fall before the face of God."

"For this reason we reject the yoke that is imposed on us." "At the same time we are in expectation that his imperial majesty will behave toward us like a Christian prince who loves God above all things; and we declare ourselves ready to pay unto him, as well as unto you, gracious lords, all the affection and obedience that are our just and legitimate duty." [690]

A deep impression was made upon the Diet. The majority were filled with amazement and alarm at the boldness of the protesters. The future appeared to them stormy and uncertain. Dissension, strife, and bloodshed seemed inevitable. But the Reformers, assured of the justice of their cause, and relying upon the arm of Omnipotence, were "full of courage and firmness."

"The principles contained in this celebrated Protest . . . constitute the very essence of Protestantism. Now this Protest opposes two abuses of man in matters of faith: the first is

1. the intrusion of the civil magistrate, and the second
   
2. the arbitrary authority of the church.

Instead of these abuses, Protestantism sets

1. the power of conscience above the magistrate, and
   
2. the authority of the word of God above the visible church.

In the first place, it rejects the civil power in divine things, and says with the prophets and apostles, 'We must obey God rather than man.' In the presence of the crown of Charles the Fifth, it uplifts the crown of Jesus Christ. But it goes farther: it lays down the principle that all human teaching should be subordinate to the oracles of God." [700] The protesters had moreover affirmed their right to utter freely their convictions of truth. They would not only believe and obey, but teach what the word of God presents, and they denied the right of priest or magistrate to interfere. The Protest of Spires was a solemn witness against religious intolerance, and an assertion of the right of all men to worship God according to the dictates of their own consciences.

Adopting the Protest

The declaration had been made. It was written in the memory of thousands and registered in the books of heaven (Rev. 20:15), where no effort of man could erase it. All evangelical Germany adopted the Protest as the expression of its faith. Everywhere men beheld in this declaration the promise of a new and better era. Said one of the princes to the Protestants of Spires: "May the Almighty, who has given you grace to confess energetically, freely, and fearlessly, preserve you in that Christian firmness until the day of eternity." [710]

Had the Reformation, after attaining a degree of success, consented to temporize to secure favor with the world, it would have been untrue to God and to itself, and would thus have ensured its own destruction. The experience of these noble Reformers contains a lesson for all succeeding ages. Satan's manner of working against God and His word has not changed; he is still as much opposed to the Scriptures being made the guide of life as in the sixteenth century. In our time there is a wide departure from their doctrines and precepts, and there is need of a return to the great Protestant principle--the Bible, and the Bible only, as the rule of faith and duty. Satan is still working through every means which he can control to destroy religious liberty. The antichristian power which the protesters of Spires rejected is now with renewed vigor seeking to re-establish its lost supremacy. The same unswerving adherence to the word of God manifested at that crisis of the Reformation is the only hope of reform today.

A Narrow Escape

There appeared tokens of danger to the Protestants; there were tokens, also, that the divine hand was stretched out to protect the faithful. It was about this time that "Melanchthon hastily conducted through the streets of Spires toward the Rhine his friend Simon Grynaeus, pressing him to cross the river. The latter was astonished at such precipitation. 'An old man of grave and solemn air, but who is unknown to me,' said Melanchthon, 'appeared before me and said, In a minute officers of justice will be sent by Ferdinand to arrest Grynaeus.'"

During the day, Grynaeus had been scandalized at a sermon by John Faber, a leading papal doctor; and at the close, remonstrated with him for defending "certain detestable errors." "Faber dissembled his anger, but immediately after repaired to the king, from whom he had obtained an order against the importunate professor of Heidelberg. Melanchthon doubted not that God had saved his friend by sending one of His holy angels to forewarn him.

"Motionless on the banks of the Rhine, he waited until the waters of that stream had rescued Grynaeus from his persecutors. 'At last,' cried Melanchthon, as he saw him on the opposite side, 'at last he is torn from the cruel jaws of those who thirst for innocent blood.' When he returned to his house, Melanchthon was informed that officers in search of Grynaeus had ransacked it from top to bottom." [730]

The Diet at Augsburg

The Reformation was to be brought into greater prominence before the mighty ones of the earth. The evangelical princes had been denied a hearing by King Ferdinand; but they were to be granted an opportunity to present their cause in the presence of the emperor and the assembled dignitaries of church and state. To quiet the dissensions which disturbed the empire, Charles V, in the year following the Protest of Spires, convoked a diet at Augsburg (1530), over which he announced his intention to preside in person. Thither the Protestant leaders were summoned.

Great dangers threatened the Reformation; but its advocates still trusted their cause with God, and pledged themselves to be firm to the gospel. The elector of Saxony was urged by his councilors not to appear at the Diet. The emperor, they said, required the attendance of the princes in order to draw them into a snare. "Is it not risking everything to go and shut oneself up within the walls of a city with a powerful enemy?" But others nobly declared, "Let the princes only comport themselves with courage, and God's cause is saved." "God is faithful; He will not abandon us," said Luther. [740] The elector set out, with his retinue, for Augsburg located at the confluence of the rivers Lech and Wertach before they flow into the Donau/Danube River, west of Munich. All were acquainted with the dangers that menaced him, and many went forward with gloomy countenance and troubled heart. But Luther, who accompanied them as far as Coburg (lg. 10.95, lt. 50.2), revived their sinking faith by singing the hymn, written on that journey, "A strong tower is our God." Many an anxious foreboding was banished, many a heavy heart lightened, at the sound of the inspiring strains.

The reformed princes had determined upon having a statement of their views in systematic form, with the evidence from the Scriptures, to present before the Diet; and the task of its preparation was committed to Luther, Melanchthon, and their associates. This Augsburg Confession was accepted by the Protestants as an exposition of their faith [746], and they assembled to affix their names to the important document. It was a solemn and trying time. The Reformers were solicitous that their cause should not be confounded with political questions; they felt that the Reformation should exercise no other influence than that which proceeds from the word of God. As the Christian princes advanced to sign the Confession, Melanchthon interposed, saying: "It is for the theologians and ministers to propose these things; let us reserve for other matters the authority of the mighty ones of the earth." "God forbid," replied Duke John of Saxony (1525-1532), "that you should exclude me. I am resolved to do what is right, without troubling myself about my crown. I desire to confess the Lord. My electoral hat and my ermine are not so precious to me as the cross of Jesus Christ." Having thus spoken, he wrote down his name. Said another of the princes as he took the pen: "If the honor of my Lord Jesus Christ requires it, I am ready . . . to leave my goods and life behind." "I would rather renounce my subjects and my states, rather quit the country of my fathers staff in hand," he continued, "than receive any other doctrine than that which is contained in this Confession." [750] Such was the faith and daring of those men of God.

The Greatest Day of the Reformation

The appointed time came to appear before the emperor. Charles V, seated upon his throne, surrounded by the electors and the princes, gave audience to the Protestant Reformers. The confession of their faith was read. In that august assembly the truths of the gospel were clearly set forth, and the errors of the papal church were pointed out. Well has that day been pronounced "the greatest day of the Reformation, and one of the most glorious in the history of Christianity and of mankind." [755]

But a few years had passed since the monk of Wittenberg stood alone at Worms before the national council. Now in his stead were the noblest and most powerful princes of the empire. Luther had been forbidden to appear at Augsburg (in 1530), but he had been present by his words and prayers. "I am overjoyed," he wrote, "that I have lived until this hour, in which Christ has been publicly exalted by such illustrious confessors, and in so glorious an assembly." [760] Thus was fulfilled what the Scripture says: "I will speak of Thy testimonies . . . before kings." Psalm 119:46.

In the days of Paul the gospel for which he was imprisoned was thus brought before the princes and nobles of the imperial city. So on this occasion, that which the emperor had forbidden to be preached from the pulpit was proclaimed from the palace; what many had regarded as unfit even for servants to listen to was heard with wonder by the masters and lords of the empire. Kings and great men were the auditory, crowned princes were the preachers, and the sermon was the royal truth of God. "Since the apostolic age," says a writer, "there has never been a greater work or a more magnificent confession." [765] The words, Understandest thou what thou readest," Acts 8:30, turned now people to learn more of the gospel.

"All that the Lutherans have said is true; we cannot deny it," declared a papist bishop. "Can you refute by sound reasons the Confession made by the elector and his allies?" asked another of Dr. Eck. "With the writings of the apostles and prophets--no!" was the reply; "but with those of the Fathers and of the councils--yes!" "I understand," responded the questioner. "The Lutherans, according to you, are in Scripture, and we are outside." [767]

Some of the princes of Germany were won to the reformed faith. The emperor himself declared that the Protestant articles were but the truth. The Confession was translated into many languages and circulated through all Europe, and it has been accepted by millions in succeeding generations as the expression of their faith.

God's faithful servants were not toiling alone. While principalities and powers and wicked spirits in high places were leagued against them, the Lord did not forsake His people. Could their eyes have been opened, they would have seen as marked evidence of divine presence and aid as was granted to a prophet of old. When Elisha's servant pointed his master to the hostile army surrounding them and cutting off all opportunity for escape, the prophet prayed: "Lord, I pray Thee, open his eyes, that he may see." 2 Kings 6:17. And, lo, the mountain was filled with chariots and horses of fire, the army of heaven stationed to protect the man of God. Thus did angels guard the workers in the cause of the Reformation.

One of the principles most firmly maintained by Luther was that there should be no resort to secular power in support of the Reformation, and no appeal to arms for its defense. He rejoiced that the gospel was confessed by princes of the empire; but when they proposed to unite in a defensive league, he declared that "the doctrine of the gospel should be defended by God alone. . . . The less man meddled in the work, the more striking would be God's intervention in its behalf. All the politic precautions suggested were, in his view, attributable to unworthy fear and sinful mistrust." [780]

When powerful foes were uniting to overthrow the reformed faith, and thousands of swords seemed about to be unsheathed against it, Luther wrote: "Satan is putting forth his fury; ungodly pontiffs are conspiring; and we are threatened with war. Exhort the people to contend valiantly before the throne of the Lord, by faith and prayer, so that our enemies, vanquished by the Spirit of God, may be constrained to peace. Our chief want, our chief labor, is prayer; let the people know that they are now exposed to the edge of the sword and to the rage of Satan, and let them pray." [790]

Again, at a later date, referring to the league contemplated by the reformed princes, Luther declared that the only weapon employed in this warfare should be "the sword of the Spirit." He wrote to the elector of Saxony: "We cannot on our conscience approve the proposed alliance. We would rather die ten times than see our gospel cause one drop of blood to be shed. Our part is to be like lambs of the slaughter. The cross of Christ must be borne. Let your highness be without fear. We shall do more by our prayers than all our enemies by their boastings. Only let not your hands be stained with the blood of your brethren. If the emperor requires us to be given up to his tribunals, we are ready to appear. You cannot defend our faith: each one should believe at his own risk and peril." [800]

From the secret place of prayer came the power that shook the world in the Great Reformation. There, with holy calmness, the servants of the Lord set their feet upon the rock of His promises. During the struggle at Augsburg, Luther "did not pass a day without devoting three hours at least to prayer, and they were hours selected from those the most favorable to study." In the privacy of his chamber he was heard to pour out his soul before God in words "full of adoration, fear, and hope, as when one speaks to a friend." "I know that Thou art our Father and our God," he said, "and that Thou wilt scatter the persecutors of Thy children; for Thou art Thyself endangered with us. All this matter is Thine, and it is only by Thy constraint that we have put our hands to it. Defend us, then, O Father!" [810]

To Melanchthon, who was crushed under the burden of anxiety and fear, he wrote: "Grace and peace in Christ--in Christ, I say, and not in the world. Amen. I hate with exceeding hatred those extreme cares which consume you. If the cause is unjust, abandon it; if the cause is just, why should we belie the promises of Him who commands us to sleep without fear? . . . Christ will not be wanting to the work of justice and truth. He lives, He reigns; what fear, then, can we have?" [815]

God did listen to the cries of His servants. He gave to princes and ministers grace and courage to maintain the truth against the rulers of the darkness of this world. Saith the Lord: "Behold, I lay in Zion a chief cornerstone, elect, precious: and he that believeth on Him shall not be confounded." 1 Peter 2:6. The Protestant Reformers had built on Christ, and the gates of hell could not prevail against them. [840]

[10] Martin was about 13 years of age when on Sabbath, the April 18, 1506 the cornerstone of the Papal St. Peter's Basilica was laid in Rome, leading to the sale of indulgences to cover the cost in Europe and desecrating God's holy Sabbath day in the process. It may be of interest that Martin was born in what used to be an inn at Eisleben, and he died in an inn at the other end of town, February 18, 1546. Another reformer was Huldreich Zwingli of Zurich, Switzerland. He was born in 1484 and died in 1531. Zwingli, inspired by Desiderius Erasmus (born 1466 or 69 in Rotterdam to 1536 in Basel), led the reform movement in his native land, thus breaking its dependency with Rome for a season.

[15] D'Aubigne, J.H. Merle (1794-1872), `History of the Reformation of the Sixteenth Century', bk. 2, ch. 2.

[50] Ibid., b. 6, ch. 11.; He (Luther) was now about to be urged into the contest.

[55] As much as I could make out a rather hard to read Latin text which, of course, is not free of errors because of letters being used in a way we don't see them anymore today, plus my Latin is not where it should be for a project like this: "Uniuerlis petes Iras inspecturis Reymudes pandi. Sacre pagine pfessor Archidiaconus in eccla ranctoneii Sancte sedis aplice, ptbonunus.ab Almaniauniversas 7 singla puintias ciuitates .tras 7 locs Sermaie 7 Sallias puincijs Bacie Swecie ac Norwegie regnis. 7 alias ubibbz sviect Orator Nuntius 7 Comissarius sphcus Slim. Rorufacim ⁹ . qks scissim⁹ dus ur Innocenus ppa.viii.er modern⁹ cuctis viusqz serus rpifidebz p tunone catholice fitei 5 Turcos tur ordiatoz nraz marr⁹ soivices poingen vlt iubileu 7 alias idulgen.gras.facultates qo supdicti rpifideles obtine pne visitato ecclas p noslaut p omissarios nros oeputadas.sch vilitasset ecclas vib tpe iubilei put i bulk aplicis tesup pfectis pleni⁹ ptiek possine eligepfeltore idoneu sclare utregare q eos vita coite ab oibz erceiliz7 telictis pterop sedi aptice rfuans toties qties op⁹ fuerit absolue possit. Er isop toties qnes ad tale statu oeunerit ut verisitie te eop moz te dubitek ena si tuc eos ab bac luce decedere no otigat.arz in vero mortis articulo plearia oim suox pecox rnnlioz eis vale at iptiri de sue pleitudie ptans faculate pcessit. Volutqz ide scissi⁹ ons nf motu xpo oes 7 singlos bmoi befcores arz eox parctes tesuctos 7 eox befcores q cu caritate tecesserit i oibz pcib⁹ suffrages.inisf. elemosinis.ieiunus. oroibz. disciplis 7 ceteris oibz spualibz bois q fiut7 fieri potert i to vniuersalt sacrolca rpi ecclia militate 7 oibz mebus eiusde imppetuii ptia pes fieri. Lu itaqz deuot ___ In rpo _____________________ adipi⁹ fidei pta sbuetoz 7 sefchoz tur sunn pontificis intetoz er eraz ordinatoz, vut p pntes Iras sibi in bmoi testioriu a nob iditas aqproba⁹ de suis bonis ptulerit eiusz auere ponficis sibi vt indulgens p pdicta tuitoe fidei pcessa quo ad in supioubz pteta vei 7 gaudere valest merito pstat esse petssu. Batu sub sigillo nro ad hoc ordinato. Bie __________ ?? ________ Anno dei Mcccclvvviil
Hozma absoluconis i vita toties quoties.

[70] This was probably because of the persecutions Francis I. conducted against the Protestants in France. We read, "Hardly had Francis I. concluded his penitential procession, when he again turned to the Protestant princes of Germany and attempted to resume his negotiations with them. They not unnaturally asked of him an explanation of his recent proceedings. Why so anxious to court the favor of the Protestants of Germany when he was burning the Protestants of France? Where there two true faiths in the world, to create a realm on the west of the Rhine, and the religion of Wittenberg on the east of the river? But the king was ready with his excuse and his excuse was that of almost all persecutors of every age, `the king had not been burning Lutherans but executing traitors,' if those he had put to death had invited foreign sentiment. It was not for their religion but for their sedition that they had been punished. Such was the excuse which Francis gave to the German princes in his letter of the 15th of February." [Wylie, J.A. (1808-1890), History of Protestantism, Vol. 2, p. 207.] The Bible teaches, "Do violence to no man, neither accuse any falsely; and be content with your wages."Luke 3:14

[150] D'Aubigne, bk. 6, ch. 11.

[160] Ibid., b. 7, ch. 1.

[180] False political charges have been used throughout history to charge against God's people. Even Jesus was falsely accused of such charges, Luke 23:1,2,5. The apostles also had serious political charges brought against them, Acts 17:7; 24:5, but their conscience was clear.

[182] Ibid., b. 7, ch. 1.

[186] Wylie, b. 6, ch. 4.

[195] D'Aubigne, b. 7, ch. 3.

[218] Isn't Reformation Automatic? Don't Christians habitually and automatically engage in reform? No. In point of fact, many Christians make but few reforms and little effort to reform. They are astonishingly content. They pass through life with a few changed beliefs but little change in the life. They have been taught that they have little substantive role in the process of end-time events. They have been taught that they are already "saved." And unless the heart is radically changed, we may be sure that men will follow what Albert Jay Nock called "Epstean's law" which states, "Man tends always to satisfy his needs and desires with the least possible exertion." Please go to the site for the whole, very well presented and timely article."

[230] Ibid., b. 7, ch. 4.

[236] Ibid., b. 7, ch. 4.

[240] Ibid., b. 7, ch. 6.

[244] Ibid., b. 7, ch. 7.

[246] Ibid., b. 7, ch. 7.

[255] Ibid., b. 7, ch. 7.

[258] Play of words on Job 40:15; Ibid., b. 7, ch. 7.

[260] Play of words on Mark 1:34, Luke 4:41; 8:30. Ibid., b. 7, ch. 7.

[263] Ibid., b. 7, ch. 8. It was therefore decided that the Reformer should be heard.

[265] Martyn, Lloyd-Jones (1899-1981), was a Welsh Protestant minister, authored `Revival'; Also preached many sermons; Page 393 may refer to `Revival.'

[266] D'Aubigne, b. 7, ch. 8.

[268] Ibid., b. 7, ch. 8.

[290] In the Bible sword frequently means a spiritual sword, not a military weapon, but rather the Word of God, the Holy Bible. In other words, families may disagree on what they believe about the Bible, yet our phrase intends to say, we should become thoroughly familiar with its messages for that is the duty of every person on earth. The sword is two edged for it represents what we call today the Old and New Testament, the law and the prophets.

[300] Play of words on Daniel 7:7.

[320] Theses titles may have included: (1) His `Table Talks'; (2) `378 thesis against Eck', published July 1518; (3) Various Latin writings and letters; (4) The Epistles of Paul to the Romans, Galatians and Hebrews; on the Psalms (1516-1518).

[325] D'Aubigne, b. 7, ch. 8.

[333] Ibid., b. 7, ch. 8. Luther was immersed in scripture knowledge.

[336] Ibid., b. 7, ch. 8.

[340] Ibid., b. 7, ch. 8.

[350] Ibid., b. 7, ch. 8.

[358] Ibid., b. 7, ch. 8.

[366] Ibid., b. 7, ch. 8.

[380] Ibid., b. 7, ch. 9.

[383] Ibid., b. 7, ch. 9.

[385] Ibid., b. 7, ch. 9.

[385] Pierre Charles L'Enfant (1754-1825), vol. 1, p. 422.

[390] D'Aubigne, b. 7, ch. 9.

[400] Martyn, vol. 1, p. 404.

[403] D'Aubigne, b. 7, ch. 10.

[404] Ibid., b. 7, ch. 10.

[405] Ibid., b. 7, ch. 10.

[406] Martyn, vol. 1, p. 410.

[407] John Calvin, one of the Protestant reformers, believed that disunity and division were the devil's chief devices against the church, and warned that Christians should avoid schism like the plague. But should unity be preserved at the cost of truth? Imagine if Martin Luther, the father of the Protestant Reformation, had in the name of unity chosen to recant his views on salvation by faith along when he was brought to trial at the Diet of Worms. That is addressed in the quote attached to this reference which is found in GC, p. 166. - In Galatians 2:1-14 and 1.Cor. 2:10-13, we find the apostle Paul doing all in his power to maintain the unity of the apostolic circle in the midst of attempts by some believers to destroy it. But as important as unity was to Paul, he refused to allow the truth of the gospel to be compromised in order to achieve it. While there is room for diversity within unity, the gospel must never be compromised in the process.
Today we have seen numerous times the successors of the reformers allowing agents, who did not preach in the spirit of the original reformers, to lead away the flock into the arms of Rome. Numerous segments of the Episcopalians, Anglicans, Methodists, and such are thus led away from the truth of the gospel to accept the mark of the beast instead of the seal of God, because of their prophesied blindness.
In Paul's time circumcision had become a prized sign of national and religious identity when in Abraham's time, because of lack of faith that Abraham and Sarah would have a child, one was fathered off the slave woman - thus circumcision was introduced as a symbol of circumcision of the heart (Dt. 10:16; 30:6; Jer. 4:4; Rom. 2:29 vs. Acts 15:1). The issue in the conflict was not circumcision but salvation. Salvation is either by faith in Christ alone, or it is something earned by human obedience. Let us be aware never to compromise salvation by faith in Christ alone. - A comparable issue today is Rome's demand that only through belonging to them, is salvation, which is false.

[410] D'Aubigne, b. 7, ch. 11.

[430] (This is a long reference) Luther used the `Tepl Bible', named from Tepl, Bohemia. This Tepl manuscript represented a translation of the Waldensian Bible into the German which was spoken before the days of the Reformation. [Comba, The Waldenses of Italy, p. 191.] Of this remarkable manuscript, Comba says: "When the manuscript of Tepl appeared, the attention of the learned was aroused by the fact that the text it presents corresponds word for word with that of the first three editions of the ancient German Bible. Then Louis Keller, an original writer, with the decided opinions of a layman and versed in the history of the sects of the Middle Ages, declared the Tepl manuscript to be Waldensian. Another writer, Hermann Haupt, who belongs to the old Catholic party, supported his opinion vigorously." [Comba, The Waldenses of Italy, p. 190.]

From Comba we also learn that the Tepl manuscript has an origin different from the version adopted by the Church of Rome; that it seems to agree rather with the Latin versions anterior to Jerome, the author of the Vulgate; and that Luther followed it in his translation, which probably is the reason why the Catholic Church reproved Luther for following the Waldenses.[Comba, The Waldenses of Italy, p. 192.] Another peculiarity is its small size, which seems to single it out as one of those little books which the Waldensian evangelists carried with them hidden under their rough cloaks.[Comba, The Waldenses of Italy, p. 191, note 679.] We have, therefore, an indication of how much the Reformation under Luther as well as Luthers Bible owed to the Waldenses.
Waldensian influence, both from the Waldensian Bibles and from Waldensian relationships, entered into the King James translation of 1611. Referring to the King James translators, one author speaks thus of a Waldensian Bible they used:
"It is known that among modern versions they consulted was an Italian, and though no name is mentioned, there cannot be room for doubt that it was the elegant translation made with great ability from the original Scriptures by Giovanni Diodati, which had only recently (1607) appeared at Geneva." [Dr. Benjamin Warfield of Princeton University, `Collections of Opinions and Reviews,' Vol. II, p. 99.]
It is therefore evident that the translators of 1611 had before them four Bibles which had come under Waldensian influence: the Diodati in Italian, the Olivetan in French, the Lutheran in German, and the Genevan in English. We have every reason to believe that they had access to at least six Waldensian Bibles written in the old Waldensian vernacular.
Dr. Nolan, who had already acquired fame for his Greek and Latin scholarship, and researches into Egyptian chronology, and was a lecturer of note. He spent 28 years to trace back the Received Text (This is the by Moses Maimonides declared `Aaron ben Moshe ben Asher' text using the latters vowel markings in favor over others) to its apostolic origin. He was powerfully impressed to examine the history of the Waldensian Bible. He felt certain that researches in this direction would demonstrate that the Italic New Testament, or the New Testament of those primitive Christians of northern Italy whose lineal descendants the Waldenses were, would turn out to be the Received Text. He says:"The author perceived, without any labor of inquiry, that it derived its name from that diocese, which has been termed the Italick, as contradistinguished from the Roman. This is a supposition, which receives a sufficient confirmation from the fact, that the principal copies of that version have been preserved in that diocese, the metropolitan church of which was situated in Milan. The circumstance is at present mentioned, as the author thence formed a hope, that some remains of the primitive Italick version might be found in the early translations made by the Waldenses, who were the lineal descendants of the Italick Church; and who have asserted their independence against the usurpation of the Church of Rome, and have ever enjoyed the free use of the Scriptures. In the search to which these considerations have led the author, his fondest expectations have been fully realized. It has furnished him with abundant proof on that point to which his inquiry was chiefly directed; as it has supplied him with the unequivocal testimony of a truly apostolical branch of the primitive church, that the celebrated text of the heavenly witnesses was adopted in the version which prevailed in the Latin Church, previously to the introduction of the modern Vulgate." [Dr. Frederick Nolan (1784–1864), `Integrity of the Greek Vulgate', pp. xvii, xviii.]
In 1617 Dr. William Polk published, `In Defense of the Protestant Bible', a book which compares the Protestant Bible in one column and the Jesuit Bible in the other. Examination reveals that in at least 76 places where the Jesuit Bible correlates suspiciously with the modern versions of today. Conclusion: Modern Bibles are catholic, ecumenical Bibles changing doctrines by misrepresentations of numbers of Bible texts thus destroying Bible principles relating to the divinity of Jesus Christ.
Where did this Vaudois Church amid the rugged peaks of the Alps secure these uncorrupted manuscripts? In the silent watches of the night, along the lonely paths of Asia Minor where robbers and wild beasts lurked, might have been seen the noble missionaries carrying manuscripts, and verifying documents from the churches in Judea to encourage their struggling brethren under the iron heel of, first Rome's Emporers and then the Papacy. The sacrificing labors of the apostle Paul were bearing fruit. His wise plan to anchor the Gentile churches of Europe to the churches of Judea, provided the channel of communication which defeated continually and finally the bewildering pressure of the Papacy. Or, as the learned Scrivener has beautifully put it: "Wide as is the region which separates Syria from Gaul, there must have been in very early times some remote communication by which the stream of Eastern testimony, or tradition, like another Alpheus, rose up again with fresh strength to irrigate the regions of the distant West." [F.H.A. Scrivener, Introduction to the Criticism of the N. T., Vol. II, pp. 299, 300.]
We have it now revealed how Constantines Hexapla Bible was successfully met. A powerful chain of churches, few in number compared with the manifold congregations of an apostate Christianity, but enriched with the eternal conviction of truth and with able scholars, stretched from Palestine to Scotland. If Rome in her own land was unable to beat down the testimony of apostolic Scriptures, how could she hope, in the Greek speaking world of the distant and hostile East, to maintain the supremacy of her Greek Bible? The Scriptures of the apostle John and his associates, the traditional text, the Textus Receptus, if you please, arose from the place of humiliation forced on it by Origens Bible in the hands of Constantine and became the Received Text of Greek Christianity. And when the Greek East for one thousand years was completely shut off from the Latin West, the noble Waldenses in northern Italy still possessed in Latin the Received Text.
To Christians preserving apostolic Christianity, the world owes the Bible. It is not true, as the Roman Church claims, that she gave the Bible to the world. What she gave was an impure text, a text with thousands of verses so changed as to make way for her unscriptural doctrines. While upon those who possessed the veritable Word of God, she poured out through long centuries her stream of cruel persecution. Or, in the words of another writer: "The Waldenses were among the first of the peoples of Europe to obtain a translation of the Holy Scriptures. Hundreds of years before the Reformation, they possessed the Bible in manuscript in their native tongue. They had the truth unadulterated, and this rendered them the special objects of hatred and persecution... Here for a thousand years, witnesses for the truth maintained the ancient faith... In a most wonderful manner it (the Word of Truth) was preserved uncorrupted through all the ages of darkness." [E. G. White, Great Controversy, pp. 65, 66, 69.]
The struggle against the Bible adopted by Constantine was won. But another warfare, another plan to deluge the Latin west with a corrupt Latin Bible was preparing. We hasten to see how the world was saved from Jerome and his Origenism.
NOTE: The two great families of Greek Bibles are well illustrated in the work of that outstanding scholar, Erasmus. Before he gave to the Reformation the New Testament in Greek, he divided all Greek MSS. into two classes: those which over all agreed with the Received Text in key texts and those which agreed with the Vaticanus MSS. The King James from the Received Text has been the Bible of the English speaking world for 300 years. This has given the Received Text, and the Bibles translated from it into other tongues, standing and authority. At the same time, it neutralized the dangers of the Catholic manuscripts and the Bibles in other tongues translated from them. [A page of Genesis 3 in the Complutensian Polyglot Bible can be seen in BA, Sep 1986, p. 177.]
Spain: In the first half of of the 19th century the NT Bible was well received in Lugo but not in León due to friars who spoke well of it and recommended its perusal.

Received Text/ Grundtext (Greek).

Waldensian Bible (Italic).

Erasmus (Received Text Restored).

Luthers Bible, English, Dutch, French, Spanish, Italian, etc.,

Tyndale, (English) 1535 Rheims (English - from the Received Text).

King James, 1611 Oxford Movement. (from Received Text).

Dr. Philip Schaff (B and Aleph). American Revised 1901.

From the Bible we know that the truth of the word of God would be hidden away for 1260 years. That means the trustworthy text cannot be found in the many manuscripts found in the West, but it must be the `Received Text' as transmitted by the persecuted church.
"And I will give power unto my two witnesses, and they shall prophesy a thousand two hundred and threescore days, clothed in sackcloth." Rev. 11:3.

Sinaiticus and Vaticanus Bible (Greek).

Vulgate (Latin). Church of Romes Bible.

Vaticanus (Greek).

Westcott and Hort (B and Aleph). English Revised 1881. [Westcott, Brooke Foss (1825-1901) Bishop of Durham; Hort, Fenton John Anthony (1828-1892), a biblical scholar.][Comment: The production of the RSV version was chaired by Dr. Luther A. Weigle (???? - 9.2.1976)].
Archbishop John Henry Newman (1801-1890) was a convert to Catholicism and the successor to Westcott & Hort's work. He went to Rome to marry the English church back to Catholicism. And what did the pope of the day tell them? `We'll take you back on the same condition that you left.' That meant that under the Council of Trent the KJB must be dispatched with and they must have a Bible based on the Catholic Bible.

Now, 2010, it was announced that a new NIV version will be marketed with 2000 scripture verses missing but we don't need to own it. What does that tell us? The horn power hates the plain word of God.

[435] Martyn, vol. 1, p. 420.

[438] D'Aubigne, b. 7, ch. 11.

[450] Ibid., b. 9, ch. 2.

[460] Thompson, R.W., The Papacy and the Civil Power, p. 244.

[462] (This is a long reference) In the time when Richard II. became king of England in 1377 and Gregory IX. was the fomenting Pope in Rome, John Wickliff believed correctly the following:

1. The holy eucharist, after the resurrection, is not the very body of Christ. [300b]
   
2. The Church of Rome is not the head of all churches more than any other church is; nor that Peter had any more power given of Christ than any other apostle had.
   
3. The Pope of Rome has no more the keys of the Church than has any other within the order of priesthood.
   
4. The Gospel is a rule sufficient to itself to rule the life of every Christian man here, without any other rule.
   
5. All other rules, under whose observances divers religious persons be governed, do add no more perfection to the Gospel, than does the white color to the wall.
   
6. Neither the Pope, nor any other prelate of the church, ought to have prisons wherein to punish transgressors.

[480] Encyclopedia Britannica, 1911 Editions, Article: Antinomians, www.1911encyclopedia.org. [The End of the Reference Part 1]

[610, x12, 20, 30, 33, 36, 74, 76, 78, 80 to 682 - - Multiple same source in this line] D'Aubigne, `History of the Reformation', Book 13, ch. 5 (one quote 6).

[669] King Ferdinand (1531-1556 emperor-1564), was the brother of Philip II of Spain, 1556-1598.

[670] Wylie, b. 9, ch. 15.

[684] What were the peope's arguments against the reformers in a letter to his legate? They included:

1. Pretending to hear the gospel preached, they allowed only Lutherans to preach.
   
2. They induce priests and friars to take as wives nuns or women that before were their concubines and prostitutes.
   
3. In some places they destroy the images of the saints and of our lady.
   
4. they do not care for the sacraments of the church, especially confession.
   
5. they say that prayers for the dead are wrong and of no help because the dead are dead in their grave.

What are answers to these complaints? Each trespasses the law of God. The first (#1) is true just the other way around, the Roman church never preached a Biblical gospel. The second (#2) has also been committed by hard hearted priests and popes, throughout the centuries of their existence, and worse things they committed than that causing great calamities and fears about those affected. Forbidding their clergy to marry they commit what St. Paul warns about in 1.Timothy 4:1-3. Thus with all the Catholic sexual exploits coming out in the open, Paul's words are very appropriate when he writes, "Speaking lies in hypocrisy (their messages on moral purity, anti-samexperversions, abortion, and taking an oath of celibacy, while practicing sexual perversions are certainly `lies in hypocrisy'), having their conscience seared with a hot iron." 1.Tim. 4:2. - #3, These images and saints are retained from Paganism in the church that pretends to be Christian. - #4, The Bible teaches to confess our sins to God alone, not to any human priest. - #5, The Bible prohibits praying for the dead, Jeremiah 22:10; Eze. 24:17. Thus the lives of priests and popes differ very much from that of Jesus Christ and His people.

[685, x90, 700, x10, 30] D'Aubigne, b. 13, ch. 6.

[740] Ibid., b.13, ch.4.

[746] The `Augsburg Confession' was composed and written by Philip Melanchthon. It was conciliatory in tone and more `concerned about showing the agreement of the Lutherans' Protestantism with the early tradition of the Church than about accentuating the differences with Catholicism. In that he followed Christ's example who ever tried to win people for the kingdom as we should and try to do. It was rejected, nevertheless, by the emperor Charles V. who lived in sin, and understandably would not want to bow down to live in obedience to the Lord God of all.

[750] Ibid., b. 14, ch. 6.

[755, 760, 765] Ibid., b. 14, ch. 7.

[767] Ibid., b. 14, ch. 8.

[780, 790] D'Aubigne, London ed., b. 10, ch. 14.

[800] Ibid., b. 14, ch. 1.

[810] Ibid., b. 14, ch. 6.

[815] Ibid., b. 14, ch. 6.

[840] Other historians information includes the `Marburger Religious Conversations or Colloquy' organized by Zwingli and the Duke of Hessen, Germany, which dealt with the interpretative differences between Zwingli and Luther. In Switzerland, the followers of Zwingli, the cities, united in Schmalkalden in 1530. This organization and the approaching Turkish armies, necessitated Charles V. to conclude the `Nurnberg Religious Peace Agreement' in 1532. The participants who signed up included: Joannes Oecolampadius, Huldrychus Zwinglius, Marinus Bucerius, Caspar Hedio, Martinus Luther, Justus Jonas, Philippus Melanchthon, Andreas Osiander, Stephanus Agricola, Joannes Brentius. - See Bainton, Here I Stand, p. 21`.
[End of Quotes of Part 2]

The common people have usually no trouble understanding the King James Version. The King James Bible brought millions to understand Jesus Christ. And as we can say, God and the English speaking world would finish the Reformation with the same Bible that he started it with. In `Counsels to Parents and Teachers', p. 22, God says through His Word as emphasized by His prophet, that He does not intend now to revise His Bible. Here is the quotation:
"God hath from the beginning chosen you to salvation," the apostle Paul writes, "through sanctification of the Spirit and belief of the truth," 2 Thessalonians 2:13. In this text the two agencies in the work of salvation are revealed--the divine influence, and the strong, living faith of those who follow Christ. It is through the sanctification of the Spirit and belief of the truth that we become laborers together with God. Christ waits for the co-operation of His church. He does not design to add a new element of efficiency to His word; He has done His great work in giving His inspiration to the word. The blood of Jesus Christ, the Holy Spirit, the divine word, are ours. The object of all this provision of heaven is before us-- the salvation of the souls for whom Christ died; and it depends upon us to lay hold on the promises God has given, and become laborers together with Him. Divine and human agencies must co-operate in the work." {CT 22.1}
In `Story of Redemption' we read that it was the duty of the Reformers to give us the Bible.
"The Reformation did not, as many suppose, end with Luther. It is to be continued to the close of this world's history. Luther had a great work to do in reflecting to others the light which God had permitted to shine upon him; yet he did not receive all the light which was to be given to the world. From that time to this, new light has been continually shining upon the Scriptures, and new truths have been constantly unfolding." {SR 353.1}

Old English and Hebrew Characteristics

We now come, however, to a very striking situation which is little observed and rarely mentioned by those who discuss the merits of the King James Bible. The English language in 1611 was in the very best condition to receive into its bosom the Old and New Testaments. Each word was broad, simple, and generic. That is to say, words were capable of containing in themselves not only their central thoughts, but also all the different shades of meaning which were attached to that central thought. Since then, words have lost that living, pliable breadth. Vast additions have been made to the English vocabulary during the past 300 years, so that several words are now necessary to convey the same meaning which formerly was conveyed by one. It will be readily seen that while the English vocabulary has increased in quantity, nevertheless, single words have lost their many shades, combinations of words have become fixed, capable of only one meaning, and therefore less adaptable to receiving into English the thoughts of the Hebrew which likewise is a simple, broad, generic language.