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Protestantism and Martin Luther (Part 3)
Summons From Rome
This widespread interest aroused still further the fears of the
papal authorities. Luther received a summons to appear at Rome to answer to the
charge of heresy. The command filled his friends with terror. They knew full
well the danger that threatened him in that corrupt city, already drunk with
the blood of the martyrs of Jesus. They protested against his going to Rome and
requested that he receive his examination in Germany.
The Great Controversy, p. 133
Rome finally agreed to send an official emissary to
Augsburg. However, before this trial convened, the pope had already pronounced
Luther a heretic—demonstrating the true spirit of popery.
Luther’s efforts on this occasion were not without good results.
The large assembly present had opportunity to compare the two men, and to judge
for themselves of the spirit manifested by them, as well as of the strength and
truthfulness of their positions. How marked the contrast! The Reformer, simple,
humble, firm, stood up in the strength of God, having truth on his side; the
pope’s representative, self-important, overbearing, haughty, and unreasonable,
was without a single argument from the Scriptures, yet vehemently crying:
“Retract, or be sent to Rome for punishment.”
The Great Controversy, p. 137
Thus Martin Luther stood on the Protestant principle that
the Scriptures have the highest authority. He maintained this position at the
Diet (general assembly) of Worms as well.
After Luther responded at length to the question whether or
not he would retract his writings,
. . . 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.” —J. H. Merle D'Aubigne, History of
the Reformation of the Sixteenth Century, b. 7, ch. 8.
The Great Controversy, p. 160
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. 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.
The Great Controversy, pp. 166
God had his hand over Martin Luther, and as he made his way
back to his home, some of his friends seized him and secretly whisked him off
the castle of Wartburg. From there, he continued to provide much needed
encouragement and light in the form of tracts and, eventually, German
translations of large portions of the Bible.
The next major advance in the Protestant Reformation was
made by a number of German princes at the Diet of
Spires.
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