4. Professor and Preacher
J H Merle d’Aubigné
From this moment light sprang up in Luther’s heart. The word of grace had been pronounced; he had believed in it. He disclaimed all merit of salvation, and resigned himself confidingly to the grace of God in Jesus Christ. He did not at first perceive the consequences of the principle he had accepted; he was still sincere in his attachment to the Church; yet he had no further need of her, for he had received salvation directly from God Himself. Henceforth Roman Catholicism in him was virtually destroyed. He sought in the Scriptures for all that could strengthen the hope which filled his heart. Each day he invoked support from on high, and each day also the light increased in his soul. Luther’s mental health restored that of his body, and he soon rose from his sickbed. He had received new life in a twofold sense.
Luther had been two years in the cloister and was to be ordained priest. He had received much, and saw with delight the prospect this position afforded to distribute freely what he had freely received. He wished to take advantage of this ceremony to become thoroughly reconciled with his father. He invited him to be present, and even asked him to fix the day. John Luther, although
1This is a further abridged extract from d’Aubigné’s The History of the Reformation in the Sixteenth Century, vol 1. This series marks the five-hundredth anniversary of the European Reformation. We have already seen Luther, in the monastery of Erfurt, studying the Bible, continuing to experience conviction of sin, and being pointed, especially by Staupitz, to the Lord Jesus as the Saviour. Another monk helped Luther to see the reality of the forgiveness of sin.
not yet entirely pacified, accepted the invitation and named 2 May 1507. He gave his son a clear mark of his affection and generosity by presenting him with 20 florins.
Hieronymus, bishop of Brandenburg, officiated at the ceremony. At the moment of conferring on Luther the power of celebrating mass, he placed the chalice in his hands and uttered these solemn words: “Receive the power of sacrificing for the quick and the dead”. Luther at that time listened calmly to these words, which conferred on him the power of doing the work of the Son of God; but he shuddered at them in after years. “If the earth did not then open and swallow us both up,” he said, “it was owing to the great patience and longsuffering of the Lord.”
The father afterwards dined at the monastery with his son, his son’s friends and the monks. The conversation turned to Martin’s entrance into the monastery. The brothers loudly extolled it as a most meritorious work, when the inflexible John, turning to his son, asked him: “Have you not read in Scripture that you should obey your father and mother?” These words struck Luther; they presented in quite a new aspect the action that had brought him into the monastery, and they long re-echoed in his heart.
Shortly after his ordination, by the advice of Staupitz, Luther made little excursions on foot into neighbouring parishes, either to divert his mind and give his body necessary exercise, or to accustom him to preaching.
The festival of Corpus Christi was to be celebrated with great pomp at Eisleben, Luther’s birthplace. Staupitz would be present and Luther went also. The young priest still needed, and sought, every opportunity of meeting the one who had directed his soul into the path of life. There was a large, brilliant procession. Staupitz himself bore the consecrated host, Luther following in his priestly robes. The thought that it was Jesus Christ Himself whom the vicar-general carried, the idea that the Saviour was there in person before him, suddenly struck Luther’s imagination and filled him with such terror that he could scarcely proceed. He thought he should die of fright. At length the procession was over; the host was solemnly deposited in the sanctuary. Luther finding himself alone with Staupitz, confessed his dread, and the older man sought to comfort Luther.
Luther was not destined to remain hidden in an obscure monastery. Staupitz spoke of him to the Elector Frederick of Saxony, and in 1508 this enlightened prince invited Luther to become professor at the University of Wittenberg. This was the field on which he was to fight many hard battles. Luther felt that his true vocation was there. He was requested to take up his new post with all speed and he replied to the call without delay. He had been three years in the cloister at Erfurt.
In 1502, Frederick had founded a new university at Wittenberg. This new institution was admirably fitted to become the cradle of the Reformation, and it powerfully contributed to the development of Luther and of his work. On arriving at Wittenberg, he went to the Augustinian convent, where a cell was allotted to him; though he was a professor, he was still a monk. Luther, who hungered and thirsted after the Word of God, was compelled to devote himself almost exclusively to the study of the Greek philosopher, Aristotle. He needed the bread of life which God gives to the world, and yet he had to occupy himself with human subtleties. What a restraint and what sighs it called forth! “By God’s grace, I am well,” he wrote to a friend, “except that I have to study philosophy with all my might. From the first moment of my arrival at Wittenberg, I was earnestly desirous of exchanging it for . . . theology.”
“Be that as it may, God is God,” Luther continued with that confidence which was the soul of his life; “man is almost always mistaken in his judgments; but this is our God. He will lead us with goodness for ever and ever.” The studies that Luther had then to pursue were of great use to him in later years, enabling him to combat the errors of the mediaeval theologians.
But he could not stop there. The desire of his heart was about to be accomplished. That same power, which some years before had driven Luther from studying law to a monastic life, was now impelling him from philosophy towards the Bible. He zealously applied himself to acquiring ancient languages, particularly Greek and Hebrew, in order to draw learning from the springs whence they gushed forth. He was all his life indefatigable in labour.
A few months after arriving at the university, he applied for the degree of bachelor of divinity. He obtained it at the end of March 1509, with a particular summons to devote himself to biblical theology. Every day, at 1 pm, Luther lectured on the Bible; it was a precious hour for both the professor and his pupils and led them deeper and deeper into the divine meaning of those revelations so long lost to the people and to the schools. He began his course by explaining the Psalms and then passed to the Epistle to the Romans.
It was particularly while meditating on this portion of Scripture that the light of truth penetrated his heart. In his quiet cell, he used to consecrate whole hours to the study of God’s Word, this epistle of Paul lying open before him. On one occasion, having reached verse 17 of the first chapter, he read this passage from the prophet Habakkuk: “The just shall live by faith”. These words struck him. There is then for the just a life different from that of other men, and this life is the gift of faith. This promise, which he received into his heart – as if God Himself had placed it there – unveiled to him the mystery of the Christian life and increased this life in him. Years
after, in the midst of his numerous activities, he imagined he still heard these words: “The just shall live by faith”.
Luther’s lectures had little similarity with what had been heard till then. He spoke as a Christian who had felt the power of revealed truths – who drew them forth from the Bible, poured them out from the treasures of his heart, and presented them full of life to his astonished hearers. This entirely new method of expounding the truth made a great noise; the news of it spread far and wide and attracted to the newly-established university a crowd of young foreign students. Even professors attended Luther’s lectures. “This monk,” said one visitor, “will put all the doctors [theologians] to shame, he will bring in a new doctrine, and reform the whole Church; for he builds upon the Word of Christ, and no one in the world can either resist or overthrow that Word, even should he attack it with all the arms of philosophy.”
Staupitz, who was the instrument of God in developing the gifts and treasures hidden in Luther, requested him to preach in the church of the Augustines. The young professor shrank from this proposal. He desired to confine himself to his academic duties, he trembled at the thought of increasing them by those of the ministry. In vain did Staupitz try to convince him. “No,” he replied, “it is no slight thing to speak before men on behalf of God.” Staupitz persisted, but the ingenious Luther found 15 arguments, pretxts and evasions to defend himself against this invitation. At last, Luther said, “By doing this you deprive me of life. I shall not be able to hold out three months.” Staupitz replied that “our Lord God has also need . . . of devoted and skilful men”. Luther was forced to yield.
In the middle of the square at Wittenberg stood an ancient wooden chapel whose walls were falling into ruin. An old pulpit received the preacher. It was in this wretched place that the preaching of the Reformation began. It was God’s will that what was to restore His glory should have the humblest beginnings. The foundations of the new Augustine Church had just been laid, and meanwhile this miserable place of worship was used. Myconius, one of Luther’s contemporaries, adds, “Among those thousands of cathedrals and parish churches with which the world is filled, there was not one at that time which God chose for the glorious preaching of eternal life”.
Everything was striking in the new minister. His expressive countenance, his clear and impressive voice captivated all his hearers. Before his time, most preachers sought to amuse their congregation rather than say what might convert them. The great seriousness that pervaded all Luther’s sermons, and the joy with which the gospel had filled his heart, imparted to his eloquence an authority, a warmth and an unction that his predecessors had not possessed. “Endowed with a ready and lively genius,” says one of his opponents, “with
a good memory, and employing his mother tongue with wonderful facility, Luther was inferior to none of his contemporaries in eloquence. Speaking from the pulpit . . . he affected his hearers’ minds in a surprising manner, and carried them like a torrent wherever he pleased.”
Soon the little chapel could not hold the hearers who crowded to it. The council of Wittenberg then nominated Luther as their chaplain and invited him to preach in the city church. The impression he produced there was greater still. His energy, his eloquence and the excellence of the doctrines he proclaimed, all astonished his hearers. His reputation extended far and wide, and Frederick the Wise himself came once to Wittenberg to hear him.
This was the beginning of a new life for Luther. Freedom, labour, earnest and constant action, to which he could now devote himself at Wittenberg, succeeded in re-establishing peace within him. Now he was in his place, and the work of God was soon to display its majestic progress.