REFORMATION 7 . 



I In- dissemination of these principles ; princes and 

 nobles, and e\ en some bishops, felt the power of 

 truth ; and teal for innovation \vns aroused, in the 

 lower ranks, to such a degree, that in some places 

 they aimed at nothing less than to burst all re- 

 straints. The success ot their firstappeals encouraged 

 the reformers to venture the second step towards 

 the restoration of true religion by removing all ob- 

 structions to it in the forms of the church. Among 

 these was the mockery of a sacramental consecra- 

 tion of priests, which elevated the sacred office above 

 humanity, made a privileged order the legislators 

 of the faith, and sanctioned every abuse of ecclesi- 

 astical power ; the worship of saints, relics, and 

 images, which, as it was then conducted, detracted 

 from the reverence of the invisible God ; transub- 

 sUmtiution, milking the Son of God to be created 

 and sacrificed daily by the hands of men, and thus 

 justifying the worship of the host ; extreme unction, 

 and the masses for the souls of the deceased, which 

 drew immense tributes from the fears of the dying 

 and the grief of mourners ; and a multitude of other 

 customs, which distracted and degraded devotion. 

 From the superstitious fables and cunning inventions 

 of ambition, the religious spirit now turned to a 

 faith which it might embrace without abandoning 

 the use of reason ; for the' eternal truths of the 

 gospel, by means of Luther's excellent German 

 translation of the Bible, and accurate versions into 

 other languages, by the sermons and liturgies 

 founded on it in the vernacular tongues, by cate- 

 chisms and comprehensive manuals, came unadulte- 

 rated before the world at large. Restored once 

 more to its original destination, the Christian minis- 

 try among Protestants devoted itself exclusively to 

 the labour of explaining the Word of God, and ap- 

 plying it to spiritual improvement ; of erecting 

 schools for the, neglected youth, and raising the 

 character of those already existing, while the clergy 

 renounced the privileges by which they had been 

 distinguished from the laity. Every Protestant par- 

 took of the cup in the Lord's supper ; every one 

 could understand the simple celebration of divine 

 worship, and could join in the sacred hymns. Thus, 

 wherever Protestantism found its way, the worship 

 of God recovered that simplicity, and warmth, ami 

 sincerity, which had characterized it among the first 

 Christians. It became a common work, and a bond 

 of union, in proportion as the feeling of obligation 

 to defend the newly acquired purity of religion from 

 dangers and attacks from without, fanned the flame 

 of religious zeal, and strengthened the love of bre- 

 thren in the faith ; hence a clearer knowledge of 

 God, and a higher tone of piety. Religion was no 

 longer a mere subject of the imagination, but ap- 

 pealed to the reason and feelings of men, and in- 

 vited close investigation. Not that this beneficial 

 influence became at once universal and complete, 

 or was interrupted at no period of the advance of 

 I'rotestantism; the best ideas, the wisest institutions, 

 succeed only by degrees, and are never carried into 

 execution without the alloy of human weaknesses. If 

 we carefully examine the period of the reformation, 

 and the spirit which animated its first friends, we 

 shall find it a time of contest and division, when the 

 silent operation of the new light was blended with 

 violent hostility towards false brethren and ever- 

 active enemies. Hence the abusive language from 

 the pulpits and in controversial writings, which, 

 tiiough abundantly provoked by the menaces, vio- 

 lence and intrigues of the opposite party, and ex- 

 cusable on account of the rude tone and contentious 

 spirit of the age, was, nevertheless, always unfav- 

 ourable to the improvement of Protestantism. Hence 

 the extravagances of precipitate innovators, which 



the reformers could not resist without retaining more 

 of the forms of the existing religion, out of regard 

 to the consciences of the weak, than a strict appli- 

 cation of their principles would permit. Hence 

 that war of opinions among divines, which not only 

 prevented the co-operation of the Swiss with the 

 Saxon reformers, but also gave an accidental im- 

 portance, to certain points of comparatively small 

 importance, which, in the future system, especially 

 of the Lutherans, occasioned great incongruities, 

 and left deep traces of the time of their origin. The 

 absurd adiaphora (q. v.), so called, gave rise to 

 violent disputes. Altars, candles, images, mass- 

 dresses, surplices, wafers, auricular confessions, 

 exorcism, and even the position of the words Vater 

 wiser (Our Father, in the Lord's prayer), instead 

 of Unser footer, became the distinguishing signs of 

 the Lutheran party. These contests, however, 

 must be admitted to have had a salutary influence 

 on the settlement of particular points of doctrine, 

 and to have contributed to excite a lively zeal for 

 religion. In the period subsequent to the reforma- 

 tion, deep religious feeling always remained the 

 characteristic of the Protestants. There was, how- 

 ever, a difference between the two principal parties; 

 for the circumstance that the Lutherans still made 

 the Lord's supper a mystery, while the Calvinists 

 submitted every thing to reason, produced an es- 

 sential variance in their religious feelings. But 

 that levity and infidelity which were fostered by the 

 indifference of many eminent Catholics in Italy and 

 France, scarcely ever found admittance into either 

 party. They thought too highly of their faith, they 

 were too deeply convinced of its truth, to regard 

 any thing holy with indifference ; they were ready, 

 if necessary, to sacrifice their property and lives in 

 the cause of religion. And this religious feeling 

 was nourished by the affecting solemnity of the de- 

 votional exercises, which assembled the faithful in 

 their churches, and, in the stillness of the domestic 

 retreat, collected families around their fathers. 

 Rich treasures of passages from the Bible were 

 laid up in retentive memories, with many striking 

 hymns, of which no church ever possessed more 

 than the Protestant church in Germany and France. 

 They passed from mouth to mouth : in business, 

 and in all the vicissitudes of fortune, they were 

 companions and comforters. They did more injury 

 to the pope, as even the Catholics confess, than the 

 most elaborate writings of the reformers. The 

 diligent study of the Bible, and the didactic works 

 of Arndt and other ascetics, at a time when a spirit 

 of contest had usurped the sacred desk, made up to 

 many the want of ingenious and powerful sermons. 

 Through the influence of Spener, the religious char- 

 acter of the Lutheran church gained new life. 



The reformation also had an important influence 

 on morals. While the reformers abolished the 

 principle of blind obedience to the pope and other 

 ecclesiastical dignitaries, denied the merit of what 

 were called good works (penances, fasts, alms), and 

 the opinion that the outward observance of the 

 precepts of the church was virtue, and rejected the 

 possibility of acts of supererogation, by which (as 

 was taught by a decree of 1342) saints had enriched 

 the treasury of the church, they again awakened 

 the smothered moral feelings of men, and intro- 

 duced tha't more elevated morality which requires 

 holiness of heart and purity of conduct. With 

 the prevalent errors in morals were connected 

 usages which, though probably well-meant in their 

 origin, had terminated in the greatest corruptions 

 auricular confession, which was employed as an 

 instrument of tyranny over the consciences and 

 private affairs of laymen; penances, or ecclesiasti- 



