Every avenue was crowded with spectators eager to look upon the monk who had dared resist the authority of the pope . As he was about to enter the presence of his judges , an old general , the hero of many battles , said to him kindly : " Poor monk , poor monk , thou art now going to make a nobler stand than I or any other captains have ever made in the bloodiest of our battles . But if thy cause is just , and thou art sure of it , go forward in God ' s name , and fear nothing . God will not forsake thee ." - -D ' Aubigne , b . 7 , ch . 8 .
At length Luther stood before the council . The emperor occupied the throne . He was surrounded by the most illustrious personages in the empire . Never had any man appeared in the presence of a more imposing assembly than that before which Martin Luther was to answer for his faith . " This appearance was of itself a signal victory over the papacy . The pope had condemned the man , and he was now standing before a tribunal which , by this very act , set itself above the pope . The pope had laid him under an interdict , and cut him off from all human society ; and yet he was summoned in respectful language , and received before the most august assembly in the world . The pope had condemned him to perpetual silence , and he was now about to speak before thousands of attentive hearers drawn together from the farthest parts of Christendom . An immense revolution had thus been effected by Luther ' s instrumentality . Rome was already descending from her throne , and it was the voice of a monk that caused this humiliation ." -- Ibid ., b . 7 , ch . 8 .
In the presence of that powerful and titled assembly the lowly born Reformer seemed awed and embarrassed . Several of the princes , observing his emotion , approached him , and one of them whispered : " Fear not them which kill the body , but are not able to kill the soul ." Another said : " When ye shall be brought before governors and kings for My sake , it shall be given you , by the Spirit of your Father , what ye shall say ." Thus the words of Christ were brought by the world ' s great men to strengthen His servant in the hour of trial . Luther was conducted to a position directly in front of the emperor ' s throne . A deep silence fell upon the crowded assembly . Then an imperial officer arose and , pointing to a collection of Luther ' s writings , demanded that the Reformer answer two questions--whether he acknowledged them as his , and whether he proposed to retract the opinions which he had therein advanced . The titles of the books having been read , Luther replied that as to the first question , he acknowledged the books to be his . " As to the second ," he said , " seeing that it is a question which concerns faith and the salvation of souls , and in which the word of God , the greatest and most precious treasure either in heaven or earth , is involved , I should act imprudently were I to reply without reflection . I might affirm less than the circumstance demands , or more than truth requires , and so sin against this saying of Christ : ' Whosoever shall deny Me before men , him will I also deny before My Father which is in heaven .' [ Matthew 10:33 .] For this reason I entreat your imperial majesty , with all humility , to allow me time , that I may answer without offending against the word of God ." -- D ' Aubigne , b . 7 , ch . 8 .
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