LUTHER. 



fiad the Jsgree of" doflor of divinity conferred upon Iiim, at 

 the expence of Frederick, eleflor of Saxony, who frequently 

 attended his pulpit difcoii>-fes, and was as deliglited with 

 his eloquence as fatisfied with his extraordinary merits. 

 Luther was, at firft, defirous of declining the honour offered 

 him, conlidering himfelf too young for fuch a diftinftion, 

 but his objeftions were over-ruled, and he was told " that 

 he muft fubmit to be thus dignified, inafmuch as the Al- 

 mighty had importr>nt fer\'ices to be performed in the 

 church, and through his inftrumetitality." Little did they, 

 who made ufe of this expreffion, whether in a tone of fcriouf- 

 rcfs or levity, imagine how truly its prophetic language 

 fhould be verified, and how extenfively ufeful his future 

 labours (hould be, in clearing away the corruptions that had 

 almoil overwhelmed the Chriftian world, as it was then 

 called ; for real Chriftianhy, as diftated by its meek and holy 

 founder, was as difficult to be difcerned in the age pre- 

 ceding the great reformer, as it was among the moil bar- 

 barian nations devoted to the fuperftitions and idolatry of 

 Greece and Rome. 



Under the article Reform.\tios, we ftwU endeavour to 

 exhibit, in its true colours, the itate of the papal dominion 

 and church, both with refpecl to the pecjpie and clergv, as 

 it exilled when Luther began his labour ; to develope the 

 caufes which produced fo important a change in the world ; 

 and trace its confequenccs with regard to ma'ikind. lii the 

 prefent article we {hall more particularly confine ourfelves 

 to the hfe and labours of Luther himfe'f. 



This great man, almoft as foon as he was created doctor 

 of divinity, felt it incumbent on him to (hew that the title 

 and honour had not been conferred without reafon. He ap- 

 plied himfelf with all diligence to the duties of the theolo- 

 gical chair. He read lectures on the feveral books of the 

 fcriptures. He co:nmented on the epiitle to the Romans 

 and on the book of Pfalms, and his illudrations were fo 

 ftrikin?, that, by the thoughtful and the ferious, he was 

 regarded as the harbinger of a new day ready to break out 

 atter a long night of darkneis and ignorance ; and he led 

 multitudes to think and to reafon on matters of high im- 

 portance who had HL'ver reflected or thought before beyond 

 the concerns of the prefent world. He oppofed, with a ve- 

 hemence that could fcarcely be withilood, the errors which 

 had been long current in the church and the fchools, as 

 truth, fhewing that the fcriptures were the only ted of 

 found doctrine and pra&ical morality. He applied himfelf 

 diligently to the ftudy of the fcriptures, in their original 

 languages, and encouraged the cultivation of thefe languages 

 in the univerfitv, as the only fure foundation on which a 

 proper knowledge of religion could be built. Luther was 

 a ftrict difciplinarian in the college, but he exafted no more 

 from the young men under his infpeftion than he ftiewed 

 himfelf an example of in his own moral conduct ; and thus, by 

 uniting a practical regard to religious duties, with an earneft 

 zeal in enforcing them upon the minds of others, he contri- 

 buted, in an eminent degree, to rarfe the univerfity of Wittera- 

 burg to a high degree of reputation, which amply gratified 

 the eleiSlor for his munificence in founding it. He had him- 

 felf been early initiated in the Peripatetic phiiofophy, then 

 univerfally taught in the fchools ; but his eyes were foon 

 opened to its numerous defetts and filly fubtleties, and while 

 a profeffor at Wittemburg, in 1 ,16, he wrote to Jodocus, 

 a zealous Ariitotelian, who had been his preceptor at Erfurt, 

 ftating at firft only his doubts refpedling the doftnnes in 

 which he had been inftrufted, and which, in his turn, it 

 was expefted he (hould teach others. Jodocus, wholly un- 

 prepared for fuch remarks, made with firmnefs, mmgled 

 wih modefty, was higlJy incenfed againft the author of 



them, and in his next vifit to Urfurt refufed to fee hiiB. 

 Luther had not a mind to be intimidated : even the refpcft 

 which he felt for the inftruftor of his early years forbad him 

 to recede a fingle ftep ; he had fet his hands to the plough, 

 and could not look back ; he had embarked in the caufe of 

 reform, and muft neceflarily advance, notwithflanding the 

 difficulties that might be oppofed to him by his dearefl 

 friends. He accordingly wrote a fecond letter to Jodocus, 

 in which he gave it as his decided opinion, grountled upon 

 indifputable evidence, that it would be impuffible to reform 

 the church, without entirely abolifhing the canons and de- 

 cretals, and v;ith them the fcholaftic theology, phiiofophy, 

 and logic, and^inftituting others in their (lead. 



In early life, Luther, whofe comprehenfive mir.d could 

 grafp all fubjcfts, bad ftudied the writings of St. Auguftine, 

 Thomas Aquinas, Duns Scotus, and other celebrated fchool- 

 mcn ; and in the difputc concerning Univerfals, attached 

 himfelf to the party of the Nominalifts, but maturer age 

 and refledion inftrufted him to treat the whole controvcrfy 

 with contempt, l^iiis has been referred chiefly to liis early 

 acquaintance with the ancients, but it was probably owing 

 rather to that peculiar (Irength and ardour of mind which 

 led him eafily to difcover the abfurdity of the prevailing 

 modes of reafoning, and of judging upon theological and 

 philofophical fubjetls, and to obferve with regret and indig- 

 nation the fatal effects of co.Tupt phiiofophy united with 

 ecclefiaftical tyranny. Under the article Leo X. we have 

 alluded to the general fale of indulgences publilhed by that 

 pontiff : this proved the firil link in a chain of caul'cs which 

 produced a revolution in the fentimcnts of mankind, the 

 greatert, as well as the moft beneficial that has happened 

 fince the publication of Chriftianity. When Leo was raifed 

 to the papal throne, he found the revenues of the church 

 exhaulled by the vaft projcfts of his predecclTors : he fUt 

 no defire to purfue a fyftcm of economy ; his heart, as we 

 have feen, (fee Leo X.) was intent on aggrandizing his 

 family : to this may be added his love of fpleiidour, his tafte 

 for pleafure, and his munificence in rewarding men of genius 

 and merit, all which involved him in new expences ; in order 

 to provide a fu.^d for which, he tried every device thst him- 

 felf and friends coidd invent, to drain the credulous multi- 

 tude of their wealth. Hence the fale of indulgences, which 

 pretended to convey to the poflefTor, either the pardon of his 

 own fins, or the releafe of any one, ah-eady dead, in whofe 

 happinefs he was interefted, from the pains of purgatory. Leo 

 had not, however, the credit of the invention of this fyftem ; 

 it may be referred beck to the papacy of Urban II., in the 

 eleventh century, who had contrived the lucrative trade, in 

 order that the pope might have the means of recompenfing 

 thofe who went to join the army of the crufaders in the 

 Holy Land. They were afterwards granted to tliol'e v.ho, 

 being unwilling to ferve themfelves, hired a foldier for that 

 purpofe, and in a (hort time they were beftowed on fuch as 

 gave money for accompUfliing any pious work enjoined by 

 the holy pontiff. 



Julius II. had beftowed indulgences on all who contri- 

 buted towards building the church of St. Peter at Rome, 

 which, as we have feen, was begun while he fat upon the 

 papal throne, and as Leo was carrying on that espenfivc 

 building, his grant was founded en the fame pretence. The 

 right of promulgating thefe indulgences in Germany, toge- 

 ther with a Tnare in the,profits arifing from the fale of thcni, 

 was granted to Albert, eleftor of Mentz, and archbifhop of 

 Magdeburg, who, as his chief agent for retailing them in 

 Saxony, employed Tetzel, a Dominican friar of hcenlious 

 morals, who executed his commifTion with great zeal and 

 fuccefs, but without regard to any principles of prudence 



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