Luther’s Separation From Rome
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The doctrine of indulgences had been opposed by men of learning
and piety in the Roman Church, and there were many who had no faith
in pretensions so contrary to both reason and revelation. No prelate
dared lift his voice against this iniquitous traffic; but the minds of men
were becoming disturbed and uneasy, and many eagerly inquired if
God would not work through some instrumentality for the purification
of His church.
Luther, though still a papist of the straitest sort, was filled with
horror at the blasphemous assumptions of the indulgence mongers.
Many of his own congregation had purchased certificates of pardon,
and they soon began to come to their pastor, confessing their various
sins, and expecting absolution, not because they were penitent and
wished to reform, but on the ground of the indulgence. Luther refused
them absolution, and warned them that unless they should repent and
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reform their lives, they must perish in their sins. In great perplexity
they repaired to Tetzel with the complaint that their confessor had
refused his certificates; and some boldly demanded that their money
be returned to them. The friar was filled with rage. He uttered the
most terrible curses, caused fires to be lighted in the public squares,
and declared that he “had received an order from the pope to burn
all heretics who presumed to oppose his most holy indulgences.”—
D’Aubigne, b. 3, ch. 4.
Luther now entered boldly upon his work as a champion of the
truth. His voice was heard from the pulpit in earnest, solemn warning.
He set before the people the offensive character of sin, and taught them
that it is impossible for man, by his own works, to lessen its guilt or
evade its punishment. Nothing but repentance toward God and faith in
Christ can save the sinner. The grace of Christ cannot be purchased;
it is a free gift. He counseled the people not to buy indulgences, but
to look in faith to a crucified Redeemer. He related his own painful
experience in vainly seeking by humiliation and penance to secure
salvation, and assured his hearers that it was by looking away from
himself and believing in Christ that he found peace and joy.
As Tetzel continued his traffic and his impious pretensions, Luther
determined upon a more effectual protest against these crying abuses.
An occasion soon offered. The castle church of Wittenberg possessed
many relics, which on certain holy days were exhibited to the people,
and full remission of sins was granted to all who then visited the church