intimation that he had yet received of the contrast between the external works regarded with such favor by the Roman Catholic Church and the biblical doctrine of justification. But what impressed him more than all else was the irreverence of the priests. He heard it openly stated that there were priests who in celebrating the mass would say, "Bread thou art and bread thou remainest; wine thou art and wine thou remainest," showing that they secretly disbelieved what they publicly professed as to the nature of the sacrament. He was shocked to see the haste with which the priests mechanically went through the mass. But chiefly was it the unblushing manner in which sins of the flesh. were practiced by priests and cardinals that grieved the sincere German monk, and especially was he amazed to learn how little reverence was paid the popes, whose unmentionable crimes were matters of common talk. Luther returned from Rome a loyal Romanist, but he had caught a glimpse of the hollowness of the system, which was useful to him in years to come. The years between 1512, the date of his promotion to the doctorate, and 1517 were filled with an immense variety of burdensome duties. He was preacher of the convent, and also in one of the churches in the city. He was principal teacher at the convent and professor in the university. He was vicar of his order for eleven convents, the work of which he declared to be equal to eleven priorates, while his correspondence, together with his other duties, absorbed so much of his time that he found it difficult to observe the regular hours prescribed for Augustinian monks. Every one of these offices he filled with diligence and zeal. He preached once a day, and during Lent twice daily. He lectured LUTHER'S BIBLE STUDY. once a day in the university. During this period also LOVE OF he learned Greek and continued his study of Hebrew. His sermons, though somewhat pedantic, aimed to edify their hearers. He had learned by sorrowful experience the futility of our own efforts to obtain rest for the soul, and he proclaimed to others the way of faith and grace. The study of Augustine had by this. time led him to see the errors of the scholastics, and this discovery prompted him to devote his university lectures to the Bible rather than to the "sentences" of Peter Lombard. He delighted to call himself "Doctor of the sacred Scriptures," whereas others thought it more honorable to lecture on the theology of Lombard. His first lectures were on the Psalms, in which he saw a marvelous reflection of human experience under the providence of God. These were followed by an exposition of Romans, and this by lectures on Galatians, Hebrews, and Titus. All of these were influenced by his own experiences in the two ways of seeking salvation. In the study of Galatians, however, he first came to understand the true relation between the law and grace. His views of the scholastic theology were not alone influenced by his experiences, but as well by the discovery that the scholastics had drawn their principles chiefly from Aristotle, whom Luther could not tolerate either as to his philosophy or his ethics. A study of the mystical writings of Tauler, and especially of an anonymous work known to us as "German Theology," which Luther attributed to Tauler, clarified his theological views and supported him in his opposition to scholasticism. The novelty of his views, the earnestness with which he presented them, and the talent he displayed in their production and defense, filled his church and lecture room with auditors whenever he spoke. The number of monks who came to Wittenberg for training became a great burden to him. But it was unavoidable that while he drew to him many of the brightest minds and best men of the period, as Link, Lange, Spalatin, and Scheurl, he should also excite, by his outspoken condemnation of the scholastic theology, the enmity of many of its chief representatives. Even so early as this, however, he made many converts from their ranks, as for example, Carlstadt, Lupin, and Amsdorf. In May, 1517, he wrote to Lange that only those at Wittenberg who lectured on the Bible or St. Augustine, or some other real Church authority, could hope for a hearing. Luther's relation to the Humanists at this time was somewhat ambiguous. He approved and commended their condemnation of scholasticism and of ecclesiastical abuses, but he even then felt that they did not understand nor appreciate the life-giving elements of the Scripture, while they still held to the righteousness of good works. An incident of this period will illustrate. Reuchlin LUTHER had been asked by some zealots whether all Jewish books outside of the Old Testament ought not to be destroyed by imperial command. To this the celebrated Humanist and Hebraist had replied in the negative. The Cologne faculty of theology attacked him bitterly for this opinion. Luther took up the dispute in defense of Reuchlin and displayed his ability to employ epithets of a most uncomplimentary kind in controversy. Of Ortwin, who had published a poem in which he spoke in terms of scorn of the Reuchlin party, Luther said he had always thought him an ass, but he had now proved himself to be a dog, a crocodile, and a wolf, who pretended to the majesty of the lion.' He thought the streets of Jerusalem too much needed cleansing for the theologians to waste their time on the nonbiblical books of the Jews. But when in the next year, 1515, the "Epistolæ obscurorum virorum" appeared, composed in part by Crotus Rubianus, his former friend at Erfurt, and intended to satirize the monastic and scholastic sons of darkness-the opponents of Reuchlin-and to point out their excessive ignorance, narrowness, ridiculousness, and moral corruption in a clear and comical light, Luther objected that the matters with which these letters dealt were too serious to admit of such treatment. While we who look back upon the career of Luther can see how God was preparing him for the function of reform which he was to fulfill, such a thought had not dawned upon him. He saw the necessity of reform, as did thousands of others, but he was true to the Church, and even yet did not see how the views which by this time were so defined must logically lead him out of Roman Catholicism and into a long struggle with the papacy. Though he saw the faults of individual prelates he firmly believed in the inerrancy of the Church as a whole. What the Church had canonized he accepted without question. He differed from the majority only in limiting the appeal to saints to temporalities, and in giving prayer to the Deity the place of emphasis. He had traveled farther than he knew on the road to "heresy," which was to him very baleful. 1 Hagenbach gives a vivid account of Reuchlin's troubles, and shows that Luther was not the only man of his time who knew how to call names. Reuchlin applies such epithets as venomous beast, monster, hogs, hell furies, and the like—i, 45-55. CHAPTER VII. THE NINETY-FIVE THESES. IN the interest of the new Church of St. Peter in Rome, Pope Julius II had caused indulgences to be sold as early as 1506, and now Pope Leo X' continued that method of gathering funds. The Margrave Albert of Brandenburg, brother of Elector Joachim I, had been raised to the archbishopric of Mayence and Magdeburg, and had been intrusted with the administration of the bishopric of Halberstadt. These honors and emoluments, which raised him at once to the primacy of Germany, had been bestowed upon the youth of twenty-four years, notwithstanding he had been but one INDUL- year in orders, because of the political power of the House of Brandenburg. As a further motive for his election he had agreed that upon himself should rest the burden of paying the twenty thousand gold florins demanded by the pope for his pallium. In order to reimburse the Fuggers who had loaned him this amount he secured from the pope the monopoly of the sale of indulgences within his ecclesiastical domain for a term of eight years. The half was to go to the pope and the remainder to himself, while the Fuggers had their agents accompany the salesman to receive on the spot the archbishop's share until his debt to them was paid. This arrangement was made in April, 1515, but because the pope was not so explicit as the archbishop desired the sale was not pushed until 1517. As special agent for the indulgences John Tetzel, of Leipzig, was chosen. He was a man of bad reputation, 1Leo was a man of but little principle, though better than many of his predecessors. His Christianity was a matter of convenience, rather than of conviction. His interest in the Renaissance secured him the favor of the German Humanists. As a member of the famous House of Medici he brought with him to the papal throne all the financial skill for which they were celebrated. He created cardinals and new offices and places of honor for the sole purpose of securing funds. But his luxurious tastes, while pleasing to lovers of earthly enjoyment, demanded still wider means of support. See a brief history of the origin of indulgences in Berger, Martin Luther, i, 204–206. In 1490 a papal legate carried out of Erfurt 41,000 gulden into Rome, with which the pope provided his daughter's wedding outfit.-Berger, i, 33. ? Kawerau leaves the erroneous impression that the sale did not begin until 1517.-Möller, iii, 10. but his want of conscience worked together with his shrewdness to make him a successful instrument. The doctrine of indulgences was not clearly defined by the Church, and it was for the purpose of the settlement of many questions which arose in Luther's mind concerning them that he posted his famous theses. The theory in general was that as a reward for service the pope had the power to grant release from the temporal punishment for sin inflicted by the Church, whether in this life or in purgatory. Gradually, and as a result of the German custom of commuting punishment by a payment of money,' the indulgences came to be sold outright. The scholastics had taught that even that repentance which was produced by fear of punishment was sufficient to secure the sacramental absolution by which the eternal punishment for sin was averted. Now the indulgence purposed to set aside the temporal pains, so that sin went unpunished by both God and the Church, and the soul could obtain everlasting felicity at death without even a true change of heart." This would appear sufficiently objectionable, but Tetzel made it worse by the manner of his preaching. He taught the deluded people that those who possessed one of these indulgences might be absolved by fathers confessor from sins which otherwise only the bishops and popes could absolve, and that by the payment of money the advantages of the prayers and masses of the Church could be secured. Furthermore, the release of a soul from purgatory could be thus purchased.' Tetzel has been accused of saying, "Sobald das Geld im Kasten klingt, Die Seele aus dem Fegfeuer springt.” JOHN TETZEL. As a matter of fact he never denied it, but went even farther than this, saying in his theses, written probably by Wimpina, late in 1517, not merely that as soon as the money strikes the bottom 1 Kolde, i, 129. * See a very clear statement of the case in Möller, iii, 10. Kolde discusses the subject more at length and with a fuller appreciation of the various opinions then obtaining—i, 128–131. * For a farther elaboration of Tetzel's promises see Kolde, i, 133, 137. Köstlin mentions the scandalous language attributed to Tetzel, that the pope could even forgive one who had had carnal intercourse with the Holy Virgin. Tetzel denied the utterance, and in Halle, in December, 1517, appealed to certain persons who had not heard him use the language but who would have heard it had he used it-i, 160. D'Aubigné gives a copy of one of these letters of indulgence-i, 258. |