Reformation Overview Part 3 Indulgences were sweeping across the land, and John Diesel, or Tetzel, led the banner for the Roman Church. He had entered the Dominican Order, taken the degree of bachelor in 1487, and received numerous honors for his work by the Roman Church. He was one of the chief abusers of the indulgence, and saw them as God's precious gifts on earth. Tetzel had a patter that he followed whenever entering a town in order to sell the most indulgences that he possibly could. He played upon the hearts of the people as well as their superstitions and ignorance. It was visual as well as speech-oriented, somewhat of a movie of the day with little actors and so forth. He promised four graces to those who would buy an indulgence for the building of St. Peter's Basilica. First, full pardon of every sin. Second, the right of choosing a confessor when they were near to death and needed one. Third, a participating in all the blessings in the work of the Catholic Church. And fourth, the redemption of the souls that were in purgatory. Those buying the indulgence dropped the coin into the chest. No one was allowed to take the money lest the hand of the receiver would prove unfaithful. The buyer was handed a letter of absolution, and they went on their way forgiven. Some historians record that those managing the chest of money often spent it in taverns, gambling houses, and places of ill fame. But the security of the money box was divided between three men who had three keys, Tetzel being one of them. The abuses of Tetzel's indulgences were readily apparent. He was a con man in priestly garbs. For instance, he refused to absolve a rich lady unless she would pay 100 florins in advance. He was overbearing, he was rude, authoritative, boastful, and rarely found anyone who could stand up to him. Though Luther would be the stalwart champion against indulgences soon enough, many of the common townspeople were aware of the inconsistencies that could be perceived around indulgences. One case, which happened to be my favorite, is of the shoemaker. His wife had died and he was asked if he had a mask for her. The shoemaker replied he had not, because he bought an indulgence that freed her from such. His witty reply to the court was that if mask was still necessary, then the Pope would be deemed a deceiver based on the indulgence. And if she had not gone straight to heaven upon her death, than it is the priest that had deceived him. Tetzel set in motion that reformation, in that he was the gasoline that set ablaze the torch of Luther. By his unashamed exploitation of the indulgences, he cleared the way for sound doctrine to advance and stomp out the nonsense of merited salvation. One nobleman who heard Tetzel was upset with his preaching Condemned him out of an indulgence for any city committed, then had Tetzel beaten for abusing his office. Pope Leo X succeeded Pope Julian. He though lived in an extravagant lifestyle in the same manner that Julian had previously. In some ways he exceeded him in his desire to build St. Peter's Basilica. He spent money he didn't have on advancing the Renaissance and relied on the capital coming in from the indulgences to continue to fund his lavish reign. During this time a young prince named Albert rose up in the Catholic ranks to become a cardinal. He was also an abuser of money and went into great debt, whereas he decided to utilize the indulgence as a mean of gain as well. Yet, according to Wolfgang Capito, he was responsive to good preaching and used his power to keep the monks off Luther's back as the Reformation advanced. However, his disrespectful attitude would keep him from being very useful in the Reformation to any length. Under Albert, the framing and propagation of indulgences passed between the Franciscans and the Dominicans. They were torn as to who should do the duty since Tetzel had already made a profitable enterprise of it. Everybody wanted to get in on the action. It ultimately wound up in the hands of the Dominicans because of their previous reputation in the trade surrounding the selling of indulgences in Prussia and in Livonia. Luther had heard of Tetzel for the first time when he visited the churches on the request of Frederick. Luther desired even at that time to make a hole in his drum, so to speak, and stop him at the abuses he was entreating upon the people. His position towards Tetzel inflamed when, during the confessions of the townspeople, they came confessing their sins but with their indulgence in hand. The townsfolk reported back to Tetzel that Luther would not forgive them if they were relying on an indulgence to save them. Tetzel then preached against Luther and scared the people into believing their indulgences were genuine and helpful. After the townspeople had reported Luther to Tetzel, Luther preached against the abuses of Tetzel and the indulgences formally. The sermon he gave was printed up and Tetzel even responded to it in writing. Duke Frederick even had a dream that startled him. He was in his palace at Schweiznitz with his brother Duke John. He had dreamed that God sent him a monk that was a true son of the Apostle Paul. He wrote something on paper and asked if he could hang it on the door of Wittenberg. Frederick complied. He saw the monk writing in huge letters and with a long pen that reached Rome. It startled Frederick until he understood that it was only a dream. Or so it was. Though Luther had preached and written against Petzl, there was no stopping the Dominican from making his rounds and selling salvation. Luther could not allow this monk to continue profaning the gospel, the Church, and the Pope. He decided to post a thesis with 95 propositions upon it, demonstrating the need to reform the indulgence. It was on October 31st, 1517 at high noon that he posted the document in order to have people read it the next day on All Saints Day as they attended church. His desire was to set forth the light of the truth and make it as plain as the noonday sun. Though the document was not as bold as the current form of Reformed theology today, it did house a basic essential of truth in what the Reformation would turn into the days to come. Luther was bolder than Wycliffe and Huss, attacking not only the immoral lifestyles of Rome, but the doctrines they represented and conveyed as well. He used the acts of justification by faith alone at his foundation, which is the gospel, and he believed every word he wrote. Later in his life, looking back upon the moment of pounding those nails into the door and displaying the 95 thephes, Luther cannot imagine how he did it in light of everything that came from it. Certainly he was somewhat aware that his propositions would reach Rome, and ultimately point to the neglect of the Pope in leading the church purely. But the gospel cannot stay hidden once it is unleashed in the heart of the Christian. Luther, as bold as he was, acted upon the need to reform the church by the power of Christ. He was compelled to see the church return to the truths it had lost and twisted, and desired to see the people of the church cling to Jesus Christ. When the thesis was posted in red, it was taken down and printed into German and Latin. The common people, as well as the scholars, would read Luther's rebel cause. Rushlin was happy to receive them, seeing that God raised up a thinker. Erasmus, in his usual sarcasm, said Luther had committed two unpardonable crimes. He had attacked the Pope's crown and the monk's belly. The Episcopal sea of Wurzburg was filled by Leonardo de Vibra who also exclaimed with joy that God had raised up someone at last to show the monks a trick or two. The emperor Maximilian read and admired the theses and foresaw that Luther would become one day a powerful adversary against Rome. Now when the theses reached the Vatican the outcome upon first glance by Pope Leo was not as bad as one expected. It's not like Hollywood, where he grabbed the theses and said, oh, we must do something about this monk. Actually, Pope Leo did not seem to care about the doctrines that the theses purported. Instead, he saw the genius of Luther shining through, even in response to Sylvester Pierio, who counseled the Pope that Luther was a heretic. Though Luther would have liked to see the unity come from his work, the result was ultimately the opposite. Luther hoped that the leaders of the church and the scholars of the day would unite with him in endeavoring to overthrow the impurity of doctrine. Instead though, assaults came to him from every corner. The ideals he hoped for were soon crushed. Even his own Augustinian order came against him with condemnation. Luther wrote against the replies to Tetzel in order to vigorously contend for the truth that Tetzel was abusing. Luther certainly has a great deal for Christians to perform good works, but not good works that would overthrow the justification given to them by God through faith. Though Luther desired to silence Tetzel, at the same time he was a bit discouraged at the response of his own friends to the truth, except that of Spallatin. Spallatin demonstrated his friendship to Luther by his support. He used his influence in the royal courts to Luther's advantage. Often he inquired of Luther's expertise in theological and doctrinal matters. Luther also conferred in the friendship of two others, Christopher Schurl, a layman in the city of Nuremberg, and Albert Durer, the painter. Schurl was secretary for Nuremberg and wondered why Luther did not send him a personal copy of the Theses when they were published. Luther responded to him explaining that it was not his intention to publicly distribute them, but to keep them in close proximity in order to reform the church through debate and theological precision with those in authority. Tetzel and the Dominican monks wrote a thesis against the attacks of Luther upon their abuses. They believed that to attack the indulgence they were distributing was as bad as attacking the Pope himself. However, Tetzel felt overwhelmed by Luther's intellectual terrorism and left the Wittenberg area. He obtained the help of Konrad Wempina, a renowned theologian in Frankfurt on the order. Wempina wrote two lists of antithesis, or antithesis, against Luther. However, with Tetzel's help, not only did they attack Luther, but the Elector Friedrich as well. bringing reproach on anyone even aiding the Reformer. Tetzel held a public disputation without inviting anyone from the Protestant side to attend, simply to blackface the Reformed movement under Luther's pen. However, a student by the name of John Nitztro silenced Tetzel in debate and took up arguments against Wempina as well. Though Wempina overpowered the young man, still this should be the cause of every Christian to stand up for the truth no matter what. Tetzel then wrote a second thesis which moved the arena into the halls of the Vatican instead of simply against Luther in selling indulgences. His thesis was meant to herald the loyal Catholics together for battle against Luther. Where Luther heard of the thesis, he called a student meeting outside of the university to burn them. The news of this act spread through all Germany. In all this, Tetzel and Wimpina simply widened the breach already present and aggravated the circumstances that surrounded the unity of the Church. As a result, those of higher rank in the Catholic Church disdained Luther all the more. When Sylvester Mazzolini of Praerio, or Praerius for short, read the 95 Theses of Luther, He was commissioned by Pope Leo X to write against it. This was an official commission and censure against Luther. The issue now at stake was, what is the authority of the Church? The Bible or the Pope? Praerius contended that the Scriptures could only be understood as they are interpreted by the Pope, and Luther contended that the Scriptures are the rule by which the Pope himself should be ruled. The papacy has no right to stand over the word of God but to be in subjection to it. This is the heart and crux of every debate within apologetically dealing with Rome. It is really looking at the heart of the different kinds of tradition from tradition 0 to tradition 1, 2, and 3 depending upon your stance and how high or how low that extra-biblical sources or church tradition should equate to the level of the scriptures. Now while Luther debated Praerius, another monk by the name of John Hockstraton, an inquisitor at Cologne, the one who opposed Ruslan, now attempted to oppose Luther. However, Hockstraton would not be as nearly as formidable as Dr. John Eck of Ingolstadt. Eck wrote against the 95 theses, saying that he found it to be strewn with error. His reply to Luther's thesis was called the Obelisks. Eck was an old friend of Luther, and as a result of his malicious attacks in the document, Luther was saddened. However, Eck wrote a letter to Karlstadt apologizing for the document reaching Luther, which was never his intention. Luther replied to Eck's obelisks with his own asterisks. This was not circulated publicly until long afterward, but was given to his friends to peruse. The disagreement between these two great theologians made headline news all through Germany. Schuwerl tried to have these two men reconciled, but Eck would not respond to his gracious letters. It seems as though the time for reconciliation was over. Luther's early struggles were to be expected with such a great rift between his Protestantism and the Roman See. Yet, even in the midst of the struggles, he was constant to write and preach that the Scriptures would edify the people of God, the students, and the laymen of the Church. He did this through his expositions of the Lord's Prayer, and continued to plea for the people to rest in the forgiveness of sins only found in Christ, and not in good works. His sermons were attended with greater intent as he continued to preach, More and more people came to hear the great doctor of the church who was creating a stir not only in the schoolmen of the day but in the hearts of the people. One of his most famous sermons was surrounding repentance of which still surrounds the foundation of what Protestants believe today concerning the doctrine. Repentance and remission of sin is twofold. Remission of the penalty and the remission of sin itself. The first reconciles men in the visible church and the second reconciles men to God as in the invisible church. Nothing else will be able to help a man to heaven unless these two have been experienced first. The power of this remission rests solely on the word of God and on Jesus Christ. These words of forgiveness were those which the people of God were unfamiliar, but were being made more familiar as Luther continued his servants to the church. In 1518 Luther's Augustinian order summoned him to Heidelberg. He took with him a friend named Urban who accompanied with him until they reached Würzburg. Frederick had given him a letter to give to Count Palantine Wolfgang, Duke of Bavaria, when he resided at the castle for a time. Here he had a very friendly reception. Now while Luther was here he wrote down a series of theses that he called his paradoxes. These were public disputations to challenge the university at Heidelberg towards reformation where he traveled to be received by the Augustinian monks. His presence attracted all sorts of people and five doctors of divinity present attacked the theses. One went blow-by-blow with Luther named George Niger but did not have the skill to overcome Luther nor the understanding of the Word of God to overthrow his arguments. Three men that would later prove useful attended the debate. Martin Busser, John Brent and a young man named Snemth. Busser took time to talk with Luther and it seems from Luther's debate and use of the word of God that Busser was won over to Christ and the cause of the Protestant Reformation. These three men though became shining lights of the church later strengthening the Protestant cause in which they were called. Luther returned to Wittenberg with the help of the Augustinians who favored him with a carriage. Upon his reception and return he rested to continue his work in the toils that would become more intense as time went on. In the next lesson we'll look at some more of Luther's writings and then also deal with the coming of Philip Melanchthon. This Reformation audio track is a production of Stillwater's Revival Books. SWRB makes thousands of classic Reformation resources available, free and for sale, in audio, video, and printed formats. Our many free resources, as well as our complete mail-order catalog, containing thousands of classic and contemporary Puritan and Reform books, tapes, and videos at great discounts, is on the web at www.swrb.com. We can also be reached by email at swrb.com, by phone at 780-450-3730, by fax at 780-468-1096, or by mail at 4710-37A Edmonton, that's E-D-M-O-N-T-O-N, Alberta, abbreviated capital A, capital B, Canada, T6L3T5. You may also request a free printed catalog. And remember that John Kelvin, in defending the Reformation's regulative principle of worship, or what is sometimes called the scriptural law of worship, commenting on the words of God, which I commanded them not, neither came into my heart. From his commentary on Jeremiah 731, writes, God here cuts off from men every occasion for making evasions, since He condemns by this one phrase, I have not commanded them, whatever the Jews devised. There is then no other argument needed to condemn superstitions than that they are not commanded by God. For when men allow themselves to worship God according to their own fancies, and attend not to His commands, they pervert true religion. And if this principle was adopted by the Papists, all those fictitious modes of worship in which they absurdly exercise themselves would fall to the ground. It is indeed a horrible thing for the Papists to seek to discharge their duties towards God by performing their own superstitions. There is an immense number of them, as it is well known, and as it manifestly appears. Were they to admit this principle, that we cannot rightly worship God except by obeying His word, they would be delivered from their deep abyss of error. The Prophet's words, then, are very important, when he says that God had commanded no such thing, and that it never came to his mind, as though he had said that men assume too much wisdom when they devise what he never required, nay, what he never knew.