was no longer the mere monk or professor , but the authorized herald of the Bible . He had been called as a shepherd to feed the flock of God , that were hungering and thirsting for the truth . He firmly declared that Christians should receive no other doctrines than those which rest on the authority of the Sacred Scriptures . These words struck at the very foundation of papal supremacy . They contained the vital principle of the Reformation .
Luther saw the danger of exalting human theories above the word of God . He fearlessly attacked the speculative infidelity of the schoolmen and opposed the philosophy and theology which had so long held a controlling influence upon the people . He denounced such studies as not only worthless but pernicious , and sought to turn the minds of his hearers from the sophistries of philosophers and theologians to the eternal truths set forth by prophets and apostles . Precious was the message which he bore to the eager crowds that hung upon his words . Never before had such teachings fallen upon their ears . The glad tidings of a Saviour ' s love , the assurance of pardon and peace through His atoning blood , rejoiced their hearts and inspired within them an immortal hope . At Wittenberg a light was kindled whose rays should extend to the uttermost parts of the earth , and which was to increase in brightness to the close of time .
But light and darkness cannot harmonize . Between truth and error there is an irrepressible conflict . To uphold and defend the one is to attack and overthrow the other . Our Saviour Himself declared : " I came not to send peace , but a sword ." Matthew 10:34 . Said Luther , a few years after the opening of the Reformation : " God does not guide me , He pushes me forward . He carries me away . I am not master of myself . I desire to live in repose ; but I am thrown into the midst of tumults and revolutions ." --D' Aubigne , b . 5 , ch . 2 . He was now about to be urged into the contest .
The Roman Church had made merchandise of the grace of God . The tables of the money-changers ( Matthew 21:12 ) were set up beside her altars , and the air resounded with the shouts of buyers and sellers . Under the plea of raising funds for the erection of St . Peter ' s Church at Rome , indulgences for sin were publicly offered for sale by the authority of the pope . By the price of crime a temple was to be built up for God ' s worship--the cornerstone laid with the wages of iniquity ! But the very means adopted for Rome ' s aggrandizement provoked the deadliest blow to her power and greatness . It was this that aroused the most determined and successful of the enemies of popery , and led to the battle which shook the papal throne and jostled the triple crown upon the pontiff ' s head .
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