HERE I STAND - A LIFE OF MARTIN LUTHER

On an April evening over 400 years ago a simple monk faced the emperor of the Holy Roman Empire. His words, heard by only a roomful of people, have echoed through the centuries:

My conscience is captive to the Word of God. I cannot and I will not recant any thing, for to go against conscience is neither right nor safe. Here I stand.

Because he took his stand, Martin Luther shattered the structure of medieval Catholicism and initiated Protestantism.

This authoritative, dramatic biography of Martin Luther interprets his experience, his work, writings, and lasting contributions. With sound historical scholarship and with keen insight into Luther’s religious problems and values it recreates the spiritual setting of the sixteenth century, shows Luther’s place within it and his influence upon it, and brings the spirit and message of Martin Luther to life today.

Here I Stand is richly illustrated with woodcuts and engravings from Luther’s own time satirical cartoons-, ornamented title pages of tracts and books, including Luther’s Bible; and portraits of the leaders in the political and religious struggle. It is rich also in information and quotation from first-hand sources selected from the whole range of extant sixteenth-century German writings, including some hitherto unused in any studies in English. This is a significant contribution to Protestant faith a vivid, discerning portrayal of the man who, because of unshakable faith in his God, could face his accusers and say: "Here I stand. I cannot do otherwise. God help me."

        ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

PORTIONS of this book have been delivered as the Nathaniel Taylor lectures at the Yale Divinity School, the Carew Lectures at the Hartford Seminary Foundation, and the Hein Lectures at the Wartburg Seminary and Capital University, as well as at the Bonebrake Theological Seminary, the Gettysburg Theological Seminary, and the Divinity School of Howard University. For many courtesies on the part of these institutions I am indebted.

I also thank the firm of J. C. B. Mohr at Tübingen for permission to reprint as Chapter XXI the article which appeared in the Gerhard Ritter Festschrift, and the Westminster Press for permission to use in condensed form certain portions from my Martin Luther Christmas Book.

Extensive travel and borrowing for this work have not been necessary because the Yale library is so richly supplied and so generous in acquiring new material. Especially to Mr. Babb, Mr. Wing, and Mr. Tinker hearty thanks are tendered by Martin Luther.

                  CONTENTS

I. THE VOW
    AT HOME AND SCHOOL
    RELIGIOUS DISQUIET
    THE HAVEN OF THE COWL

II. THE CLOISTER
    THE TERROR OF THE HOLY
    THE WAY OF SELF-HELP
    THE MERITS OF THE SAINTS
    THE TRIP TO ROME

III. THE GOSPEL
    THE FAILURE OF CONFESSION
    THE MYSTIC LADDER
    THE EVANGELICAL EXPERIENCE

IV. THE ONSLAUGHT
    THE INDULGENCE FOR ST. PETER'S
    THE NINETY-FIVE THESES

V. THE SON OF INIQUITY
    THE DOMINICAN ASSAULT
    THE CASE TRANSFERRED TO GERMANY
    THE INTERVIEWS WITH CAJETAN
    THREATENING EXILE

VI. THE SAXON HUS
    THE GAUNTLET OF ECK
    THE LEIPZIG DEBATE
    THE ENDORSEMENT OF HUS

VII. THE GERMAN HERCULES
    THE HUMANISTS: ERASMUS
    MELANCHTHON AND DÜRER
    THE NATIONALISTS: HUTTEN AND SICKINGEN

VIII. THE WILD BOAR IN THE VINEYARD
    THE SACRAMENTS AND THE THEORY OF THE CHURCH
    PROSECUTION RESUMED
    THE BULL "EXSURGE"
    THE BULL SEEKS LUTHER

IX. THE APPEAL TO CAESAR
    PUBLICATION OF THE BULL
    AGAINST THE EXECRABLE BULL OF ANTICHRIST
    THE FREEDOM OF THE CHRISTIAN MAN

X. HERE I STAND
    A HEARING PROMISED AND RECALLED
    THE EMPEROR ASSUMES RESPONSIBILITY
    INVITATION TO LUTHER RENEWED
    LUTHER BEFORE THE DIET
    THE EDICT OF WORMS

XI. MY PATMOS
    AT THE WARTBURG
    THE REFORMATION AT WITTENBERG: MONASTICISM
    THE MASS
    THE OUTBREAK OF VIOLENCE

XII. THE RETURN OF THE EXILE
TURMOIL
    THE INVITATION TO COME BACK
    THE RETURN TO WITTENBERG

XIII. No OTHER FOUNDATION
    NATURE, HISTORY, AND PHILOSOPHY
    CHRIST THE SOLE REVEALER
    THE WORD AND THE SACRAMENTS
    THE MENACE TO MORALS
    THE GROUND OF GOODNESS

XIV. REBUILDING THE WALLS
    THE CALLINGS
    ECONOMICS
    POLITICS
    CHURCH AND STATE

XV. THE MIDDLE WAY
    HOSTILITY OF THE REFORMED PAPACY
    RECOIL OF THE MODERATE CATHOLICS: ERASMUS
    DEFECTION OF THE PURITANS: CARLSTADT
    THE REVOLUTIONARY SAINTS: MÜNTZER
    BANISHMENT OF THE AGITATORS

XVI. BEHEMOTH, LEVIATHAN, AND THE GREAT WATERS
    RIVALS: ZWINGLI AND THE ANABAPTISTS
    RELIGION AND SOCIAL UNREST
    LUTHER AND THE PEASANTS
    MüNTZER FOMENTS REBELLION
    THE DEBACLE AND THE EFFECT ON THE REFORMATION

XVII. THE SCHOOL FOR CHARACTER
    KATHERINE VON BORA
    DOMESTICITY
    CHILDREN AND TABLE TALK
    VIEWS OF MARRIAGE
    CONSOLATIONS OF HOME

XVIII. THE CHURCH TERRITORIAL
    DISSEMINATION OF THE REFORM
    PRACTICAL CHURCH PROBLEMS
    THE GODLY PRINCE THE PROTEST
    PROTESTANT ALLIANCE: THE MARBURG COLLOQUY
    THE AUGSBURG CONFESSION

XIX. THE CHURCH TUTORIAL
    THE BIBLE TRANSLATION
    DOCTRINAL PROBLEMS IN TRANSLATION
    CATECHISMS
    LITURGY
    MUSIC
    HYMNBOOK

XX. THE CHURCH MINISTERIAL
    PREACHING
    SERMON ON THE NATIVITY
    EXPOSITION OF JONAH
    PRAYER

XXI. THE STRUGGLE FOR FAITH
    LUTHER'S PERSISTENT STRUGGLE
    HIS DEPRESSIONS
    THE WAY OF INDIRECTION
    WRESTLING WITH THE ANGEL
    THE ROCK OF SCRIPTURE

XXII. THE MEASURE OF THE MAN
    THE BIGAMY OF THE LANDGRAVE
    ATTITUDE TO THE ANABAPTISTS
    ATTITUDE TO THE JEWS
    THE PAPISTS AND THE EMPEROR
    THE MEASURE OF THE MAN

BIBLIOGRAPHY

REFERENCES

SOURCES OF ILLUSTRATIONS

INDEX

              LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS

Woodcuts of School Scenes of Luther's Day
A Student Wearing the Donkey Mask
Hans and Margaretta Luther by Cranach
Fiends Tempting a Dying Man to Abandon Hope
Christ the Judge Sitting upon the Rainbow
View of the City of Erfurt
Sixteenth-Century Monks in a Choir
The Augustinian Cloister Luther Entered as a Monk
Celebrating the Mass in Luther's Time
Illustration from Luther's Bible of 1522
Monks of the Sixteenth Century 46-49
Wittenberg in 1627
Illustrated Title Page of Luther's Bible of 1541
Cranach's "Frederick the Wise Adoring the Virgin and Child"
A Holbein Cartoon Showing True and False Repentance
Portrait of Albert of Brandenburg
Cartoon Showing the Hawking of Indulgences
The Vendor and His Indulgences
The Castle Church at Wittenberg
Cartoon Showing Forgiveness of Christ Outweighing
Indulgences from the Pope
Spalatin and the Crucified Christ
1556 Woodcut of Luther's Interview with Cajetan
The Pope as an Ass Playing Bagpipes
Reversible Cartoon of Cardinal and Fool
Portrait of Philip Melanchthon by Aldegrever
Portrait of John Eck
Fifteenth-Century Cartoon of Antichrist
Woodcut of the Leipzig Debate by a Contemporary
Luther and Hus Administer the Bread and Wine to the House of Saxony
Luther Depicted as the German Hercules by Holbein
Dürer's "Melancolia" facing
Luther and Hutten as Companions in Arms
Cartoon Showing Luther and Hutten Bowling Against the Pope
The Ebernburg
Title Page of the Bull Against Luther
Title Page of Luther's Address to the German Nobility 153
"The Passion of Christ and Antichrist"
Title Page of Hutten's Protest Against the Burning of Luther's
Books at Mainz
Luther Burning the Papal Bull
Title Page of Hutten's Satire on the Bull Against Luther
The Diet of Worms and the Public Peace
Portrait of Aleander
Luther with a Dove Above His Head
Luther's First Hearing at Worms
Luther's Second Hearing at Worms
The Wartburg
Luther as Junker George at the Wartburg
Luther as the Evangelist Matthew Translating the Scriptures
Marriage of Bishops, Monks, and Nuns
A Cartoon Against the Image Breakers
Portrait of Frederick the Wise
Portrait of Luther
Title Page of Luther's Tract On the Freedom of the Christian Man
Rebuilding the Walls of Jerusalem
A Father of a Household at Work
From the Title Page of Luther's Tract On Usury
Frederick the Wise and Luther Kneeling Before the Crucified Christ
Portrait of Duke George
Portrait of Thomas Müntzer
Peasants Swearing Allegiance to the Bund
A Prophecy of Convulsion in 1524
Peasants Plundering a Cloister
Peasants About to Take Over a Cloister
Title Page of Luther's Tract Against the Murderous and Thieving Hordes of Peasants
Surrender of the Upper Swabian Peasants
Luther Instructs the Peasants
Luther in Armor Prepares to Put on the Peasants' Boot
A Peasant Taxes Luther as Double-Tongued
A Wedding Party in Front of the Church
Katherine and Martin in the Year of Their Marriage
The Luther Household at Table
Cartoon of 1529 Showing Luther as a Seven-Headed Monster
Christ Disarms the Pope
Luther and Lucifer in League
The Devil Delivers a Declaration of War to Luther
The Signatures at the Marlburg Colloquy
Cranach's "Jacob Wrestling with the Angel"
Lemberger's "Jacob Wrestling with the Angel"
The Whore of Babylon in Three Editions of Luther's Biblel
Four Cuts Illustrating the Catechism
Sample of Luther's Hymnbook
Songs Praising Luther and Melanchthon
Evangelical and Catholic Services Contrasted
Illustration of the Nativity from Luther's Bible
Martyrdom of Heinrich of Zuetphen
Devil and Death Harass a Soul in an Unfinished Cranach Drawing
Luther from the Copper Plate by Daniel Hopfer (1523)
"A Mighty Fortress" in Luther's Hand
"The Anabaptist Preacher" Adapted from the Title Page of Hosea in Luther's Bible
The Lower Magistrate: John Frederick, Elector of Saxony
Luther in the Year of His Death

                        CHRONOLOGY

1483 November 10 Birth of Martin Luther at Eisleben
1484 early summer Family moved to Mansfeld
1497 about Easter Luther goes to school at Magdeburg
1498 Luther goes to school at Eisenach
1501 May Matriculation at Erfurt
1502 September 29 Bachelor of Arts
1505 January 7 Master of Arts
July 2 Thunderstorm and vow
July 17 Enters Augustinian cloister at Erfurt
1507 May 2 First mass
1508 winter Teaches one semester at Wittenberg
1509 October Return to Erfurt
1510 November Journey to Rome
1511 early April Return to Erfurt; transfer to Wittenberg
1512 October 19 Doctor of Theology
1513 August 16 Lectures on Psalms begin
1515 April Lectures on Romans begin
1516 September 7 Lectures on Romans end
October 27 Lectures on Galatians begin
1517 October 31 Posting the ninety-five theses
1518 April 26 Disputation at Heidelberg
July Prierias attacks Luther
August 5 Maximilian writes to the pope
August 7 The pope cites Luther to Rome
August 8 Luther appeals to Frederick
August 25 Melanchthon arrives
August 31 Luther's reply to Prierias
September 26 Luther starts for Augsburg
October 12-14 Interview with Cajetan
October 20-21 Flight from Augsburg
October 30 Back in Wittenberg
November 8 The bull Cum Postquam
November 28 Luther appeals to a general council
December 2 Ready to go into exile
December 18 Frederick will not banish Luther
1519 January 4-6 Interview of Luther with Miltitz
January 12 Death of Emperor Maximilian
June 28 Election of Charles V
July 4-14 Leipzig debate between Luther and Eck
1520 January Hutten and Sickingen offer Luther help
May Sermon on Good Works
June 11 Offer of protection from one hundred knights;
The Papacy at Rome
June 15 Exsurge Domne gives Luther sixty days to submit
August Address to the German Nobility
October 6 Babylonian Captivity
1520 October 10 Luther receives the pope's bull
November 4 Charles at Cologne promises a hearing
November 12 Burning of Luther's books at Cologne
November Against the Execrable Bull of Antichrist;
On the Freedom of the Christian Man
November 28 Luther invited to Worms
December 10 Burning by Luther of the pope's bull
December 17 Invitation to Worms rescinded
1521 January 3 The bull Decet Romanum Pontificum against Luther is ready
January 5 Frederick arrives at Worms
January 27 The diet of Worms opens
February 10 The bull against Luther reaches Aleander
February 13 Aleander's three-hour speech; the bull is sent back
February 14 Glapion's attempts at mediation
February 17 Draft of an edict against Luther
February 19 Intense opposition
February 22 Decision to summon Luther
March 2 Second draft of an edict
March 6 Invitation to Luther
March 8 Edict for sequestration of Luther's books ready
March 26 Edict issued
April 10 Glapion reports failure of mission to Hutten and Sickingen
April 16 Luther in Worms
April 17 First hearing
April 18 Second hearing
April 19 The emperor announces his decision
April 20 Diet requests a committee
April 23-24 Hearings before the committee
April 26 Luther leaves Worms
May 4 Luther arrives at the Wartburg
May 8 Edict of Worms ready
May 26 Edict of Worms actually issued
September 22 Melanchthon celebrates an evangelical Lord's Supper
November 12 Thirteen monks leave the Augustinian cloister
December 3-4 Tumult at Wittenberg; Luther's flying trip home and return
December Commencement of the New Testament translation; work on the Sermon Postils
December 25 Carlstadt gives wine in the mass to laity
December 27 Zwickau prophets in Wittenberg
1522 January 6 Disbanding of the Augustinian Congregation at Wittenberg February 26 Justus Jonas, minister of the Castle Church at Wittenberg marries
March 1-6 Luther’s return to Wittenberg
Sept.-May, 1523 Sickingen’s campaign against Trier
September Luther’s German New Testament published
September 14 Hadrian VI elected pope
1523 March 6 Edict of the Diet of Nürnberg deferring action
March On Civil Government
Pentecost On the Order of Worship
July 1 Burning of the first martyrs of the Reformation at Brussels
August 23 Death of Hutten
September Clement VII elected pope
1524 Hymnbook
January- February To the Councilman . . . Christian Schools
April 18 Edict of the second diet of Nürnberg
September Erasmus, On the Freedom of the Will
1525 January Against the Heavenly Prophets
March Twelve articles of the peasants
April 19 Admonition to Peace
May 5 Death of Frederick the Wise
May 5 Against the Robbing and Murdering Horde
May 15 Battle of Frankenhausen; capture of Müntzer
May-June Crushing of the peasants
June 13 Luther's betrothal to Katherine von Bora
July Open Letter Concerning the Hard Book Against the Peasants
before Christmas The German Mass
December On the Enslaved Will
1526 June 25- August 27 Diet of Speyer defers action on the Edict of Worms
Exposition of Jonah
1527 January Whether Soldiers Too May Be Saved
April Whether These Words: This Is My Body
summer Sickness, intense depression
Composition of "A Mighty Fortress"
1528 March 22 Instruction for the Visitors
March 28 Confession of the Lord's Supper
April 19 Protest at the Diet of Speyer
October 1-4 Marburg Colloquy; German catechism
April 16 Luther at the Coburg
June 25 Presentation of the Augsburg Confession
Exposition of the Eighty-Second Psalm
(Death penalty for sedition and blasphemy)
1531 Warning to His Beloved Germans
1534 Publication of the complete German Bible
1536 Wittenberg Concord with the Swiss
Outbreak of Anabaptists at Münster
Melanchthon's memorandum on the death penalty for peaceful Anabaptists
1539 Bigamy of the Landgrave Philip
1543 January 4 Against the Jews
July Publication of the Genesis Commentary (lectures delivered from 1535-1545)
1545 March 25 Against the Papacy at Rome Founded by the Devil
1546 February 18 Luther's death at Eisleben