11. Opposition to Extreme Radicalism
Meanwhile some of the Saxon clergy, notably Bernhardi of Feldkirchen, had renounced the vow of celibacy, while others, including
Melanchthon, had assailed the validity of monastic vows. Luther in his
De votis monasticis, though more cautious, concurred, on the ground that the vows were generally taken "with the intention of
salvation or seeking justification." With the approval of Luther
in his
De abroganda missa privata, but against the firm opposition of the prior, the Wittenberg Augustinians began
changes in worship and did away with the mass. Their violence and
intolerance, however, were displeasing to Luther, and early in December he spent a few days among them. Returning to the
Wartburg, he wrote his
Eine treue Vermahnung . . . vor Aufruhr und
Empörung; but in Wittenberg Carlstadt and the ex-Augustinian Zwilling demanded the abolition of the private mass, communion in both
kinds, the removal of pictures from churches, and the abrogation
of the magistracy [i.e., the non-interference of the civil ruler in ecclesiastical matters. - A.H.N.]. About Christmas Anabaptists from Zwickau added to the anarchy. Thoroughly opposed to such
radical views and fearful of their results, Luther entered Wittenberg Mar. 7, and the Zwickau prophets left the city. The canon of the mass, giving it its sacrificial character, was now omitted, but the cup was at first given only to those of the laity who desired it. Since confession had
been abolished, communicants were now required to declare their intention, and to seek consolation, under acknowledgment of their faith and longing for grace, in Christian confession. This new form of service was set forth by Luther in his
Formula missæ et communionis (1523), and in 1524 the first Wittenberg hymnal appeared with four of his own hymns. Since, however, his writings were forbidden by Duke George of Saxony, Luther declared, in his
Ueber die weltliche Gewalt, wie weit man ihr Gehorsam echuldig sei, that the civil authority could enact no laws for the soul, herein denying to a Roman Catholic government what he permitted an Evangelical.
12. Correspondence with Other Sectaries, and Break with Erasmus.
Luther watchfully followed the effect of his preaching, commending the town of Leisnig when it introduced a new agenda in 1523, honoring the memory of two martyrs in Brussels (1523) and of Henry of Zütphen (1524, see
Moller), and counseling those of like views in Riga, Revel, Dorpat, and elsewhere. At this same period he entered into correspondence with the Bohemian Brethren, and in this connection he wrote the
Vom Anbeten des Sakraments (1523), in which he maintained the natural presence and actual physical participation. In 1522 Luther wrote the Bohemian Estates to continue firm against the pope, and in the following year he sent, through the Bohemian Gallus Cahera, his
De instituendis ministris to Prague, defending the right of a congregation to provide themselves with new ministers of the Word if their clergy withheld the Gospel from them, his argument being based upon the theory of the universal priesthood. Soon, however, the Bohemians, headed by Cahera himself, sought reconciliation with the pope, and Luther is not known to have had further dealings with them. At the same time he answered the criticisms of Henry VIII. of England on his
De captivitate Babylonica in his
Contra Henricum regem, a work of characteristic coarseness, for which he apologized in 1525 humbly, but in vain. The most important event in Luther's war with the Roman Catholic Church at this period was his break with Erasmus, who was followed by a large body of humanists in his return to the Church. Erasmus had long been offended by Luther's harshness and coarseness, while the latter charged his former friend with timidity and lack of recognition of the grace of God, which alone brought salvation. In 1524 Erasmus published his
De libero arbitrio, to which Luther replied in 1525 with his
De servo arbitrio. Here he identified foreknowledge and predestination, and distinguished between God as preached and God himself. Though the lost perish through the unconditioned will of God, this is right because God wills it, the reason, into which man may not inquire, being one of the mysteries of the divine majesty. Free will can, accordingly, be predicated only of God, never of man, whose duty it is simply to trust to the Word, accepting the inconceivable as such until the Son of Man shall reveal it.
13. Polemics against Carlstadt and Münster.
It now became Luther's task to war on the spirit of false freedom which had arisen within his own followers. Carlstadt denied the presence of the body of Christ in the Eucharist, while, on the basis of the Old Testament, he forbade pictures, but permitted polygamy. Others, likewise claiming the Old Testament as their support, sought to secure the restoration of the Mosaic year of jubilee; while Münster, the leader of the Zwickau fanatics, who had become pastor at Allstedt in 1523, plotted a revolution to establish a kingdom of his "saints." Luther attacked the entire tendency in his
Wider die himmlischen Propheten (1525), in which he declared that the Mosaic law had been abrogated by Christ, who was the end of the law, the only law of the Christian being that written in the heart of every man. Nevertheless, the revolution, really caused by the political, economic, and social conditions of the peasants, was still threatening, especially as they hoped to find in the new religious movement a confirmation of the rights and freedom which they claimed. Luther therefore sought to show them that Christian freedom might coexist with earthly bondage, and that they must not attack their temporal superiors. On the other hand, he sharply criticized the princes and nobles; but when the Peasants' War actually broke out, he urged its merciless suppression, though he advocated clemency after the victory had been won (cf. his
Ermahnung zum Frieden; Wider die mörderischen Rotten; Sendbrief von dem harten Büehlein; etc.). During this time of conflict, Luther, learning of attempts on his life and already feeling himself old and near death, married the ex-nun
Katharina von Bora (q.v.) on June 13, 1525. His motive was not love, but defiance of his opponents, and at the same time to testify his esteem of the married state and to obey his father's desire for posterity.
14. Transformations in Liturgy and Church Government.
Luther marked a further step in his revision of the liturgy by his
Deutsche Messe in 1526, making provision for week-day services and for catechetical instruction. He strongly objected, however, to making a new law of the forms, and urged the retention of other good liturgies. The gradual transformation of the administration of baptism was accomplished in the
Taufbüchlein (1523, 1527); and in May, 1525, the first Evangelical ordination took place at Wittenberg. Luther had long since rejected the Roman Catholic sacrament of ordination, and had replaced it by a simple calling to the service of preaching and the administration of the sacraments. The laying-on of hands with prayer in a solemn congregational service was considered a fitting human rite. Conditions now seemed to Luther to require the introduction of a higher official authority. As early as 1525 he had complained of the state of affairs, and he held that the secular authorities should take part in the administration of the Church, as in making appointments to ecclesiastical office and in directing visitations. Nevertheless, the discharge of these functions did not appertain to the secular authorities as such, and Luther would gladly have vested them in an Evangelical episcopate, had he known of any persons
suited for that office. He even declared in 1542 that the Evangelical princes themselves "must be necessity-bishops," and even went so far as to meditate (letter of Mar. 29, 1527) a “congregation of Christians“ with full ecclesiastical powers, but determined to be guided by the course of events and to wait until parishes and schools were provided with the proper persons. Since, however, the result of the Saxon visitation gave no encouragement to this project, it was deemed far more important first to win non-Christians to the faith through the Gospel, preserving the external form of the Church as it was at the beginning of the Reformation. The visitation accordingly took place in 1527-29, Luther writing the preface to Melanchthon's
Unterricht der Visitatoren an die Pfarrherrn, and himself acting as a visitor in one of the districts after Oct., 1528, while, as a result of his observations, he wrote both his catechisms in 1529. At the same time he took the keenest interest in education, conferring with
Georg Spalatin (q.v.) in 1524 on plans for a school system, and declared that it was the duty of the civil authorities to provide schools and to see that parents sent their children to them. He also advocated the establishment of elementary schools for the instruction of girls.
15. Eucharistic Views and Controversies.
In the mean time the nature of the Eucharist had become a theme on which Luther found him self obliged to state his doctrines both fully and polemically. Rejecting transubstantiation, he nevertheless maintained the actual presence of the body of Christ, while Zwingli, Leo Jud, and Œcolampadius, on the other hand, rejected this doctrine, interpreting the "is" of the words of institution as "signifies." Luther was sorely disturbed by this doctrine, which he regarded as closely akin to the teachings of Carlstadt and the "fanatics" in general. In the controversy which ensued, Luther replied to Œcolampadius in the preface to the
Syngramma Suevicum, and also set forth his views in his
Sermon von den Sakramenten . . . Wider die Schwärmgeister and
Dass diese Worte . . . noch feststehen (spring, 1527), while he sought to give a final and most thorough statement in his
Vom Abendmahl Christi Bekenntnis (1528). In view of the perils to Protestantism in the measures of the
Diet of Speyer (q.v.) in 1529 and the coalition of the emperor with France and the pope, the Landgrave Philip desired a union of all the adherents of the Reformation, but Luther declared himself opposed to any alliance which might aid heresy. He accepted, however, the landgrave's invitation to a conference at Marburg (Oct. 1-3, 1529; see
Marburg, Conference of) to Settle the matters in controversy, and there opposed Œcolampadius, while Melanchthon was the antagonist of Zwingli. Although he found an unexpected harmony in other respects, no agreement could be reached regarding the Eucharist; and he therefore refused to call them brethren, even while he wished them peace and love. [It was Luther's conviction that God had blinded Zwingli's eyes so that he could not see the true doctrine of the Lord's Supper. He denounced Zwingli and his followers at this time as "fanatics," "patricides," "matricides," "fratricides," "devils," "knaves," "heretics," "rioters," "hypocrites," and the like. [A.H.N.] The princes themselves then made subscription to the Schwabach Articles, upheld by Luther, a condition of alliance with them. Luther's reason for his Eucharistic doctrine was not a mere literal interpretation of the words of institution, but rather thankfulness for such an individual sealing and giving of the forgiveness won by the death of this body in the administering of the very same body, doubts as to the possibility of such a presence being silenced by remembering the absolute unity of the divine with the human in Christ. While Christ's presence is " repletive " (filling all places at once), his omnipresence in the Eucharist is especially "definitive" (unbound by space). On the other hand, Luther taught with equal clearness that participation in itself is of no avail without faith. [He insisted that the impious and even beasts in partaking of the consecrated elements partake of the body and blood of Christ, but the unworthy partake unto damnation. A.H.N.] While, moreover, he combated the view that the Eucharist is a mere memorial, he fully recognized the commemorative element in it. As regards the effect of the Sacrament on the faithful, he laid special stress on the words "given for you," and hence on the atonement and forgiveness through the death of Christ.
16. The Diet of Ausburg and the Question of Civil Resistance.
Under the same perilous conditions which had made desirable an alliance of all adherents of the Reformation, the estates convened with the emperor at Augsburg in 1530, when the relation of the empire to Protestantism was definitely to be determined. Luther, despised by emperor and empire, remained at Coburg, but the confession there presented by Melanchthon was essentially based upon his labors. The latter, while refraining from an authoritative attitude, was little pleased by the smooth and cautious procedure of Melanchthon, and saw no chance of harmony of doctrine except in abolishment of the papacy, although he hoped for official toleration of both religions in the empire. While the recess of the diet gave the Protestants only a short time to make their submission, the emperor, urged on by threatened war with the Turks and by the Schmalkald League of the Protestant princes and cities, made further attempts to secure harmony, which led to the Religious Peace of Nuremberg in 1532 (q.v.), to last until a general council should be called to make a final decision. Since the Diet of Speyer (1529) the question had become vital whether, in case the emperor refused peace, the princes were justified in, or even bound to, armed resistance. Until now Luther had held that even wrongful acts of the emperor in no way released his subjects from obedience, and had been unfavorable to offensive and defensive alliances between Evangelical princes, preserving this attitude even in regard to the Schmalkald League. His position was somewhat modified, however, by the opinions of the jurists that in cases of public and notorious injustice the existing imperial laws ("the emperor himself in his laws") warranted such resistance. Accepting this,
he nevertheless referred judgment on the present
conditions to the jurists, and not to the theologians.
In his
Warnung an die lieben Deutschen (1531),
nevertheless, he openly advocated
resistance in a
righteous cause, while in letters written in 1539 he
went back still further to the general requirements
of natural law.
