When the papal bull reached Luther , he said : " I despise and attack it , as impious , false … It is Christ Himself who is condemned therein . . . . I rejoice in having to bear such ills for the best of causes . Already I feel greater liberty in my heart ; for at last I know that the pope is antichrist , and that his throne is that of Satan himself ." --D' Aubigne , b . 6 , ch . 9 . Yet the mandate of Rome was not without effect . Prison , torture , and sword were weapons potent to enforce obedience . The weak and superstitious trembled before the decree of the pope ; and while there was general sympathy for Luther , many felt that life was too dear to be risked in the cause of reform . Everything seemed to indicate that the Reformer ' s work was about to close . But Luther was fearless still . Rome had hurled her anathemas against him , and the world looked on , nothing doubting that he would perish or be forced to yield . But with terrible power he flung back upon herself the sentence of condemnation and publicly declared his determination to abandon her forever .
In the presence of a crowd of students , doctors , and citizens of all ranks Luther burned the pope ' s bull , with the canon laws , the decretals , and certain writings sustaining the papal power . " My enemies have been able , by burning my books ," he said , " to injure the cause of truth in the minds of the common people , and destroy their souls ; for this reason , I consumed their books in return . A serious struggle has just begun . Hitherto I have been only playing with the pope . I began this work in God ' s name ; it will be ended without me , and by His might ." -- Ibid ., b . 6 , ch . 10 . To the reproaches of his enemies who taunted him with the weakness of his cause , Luther answered : " Who knows if God has not chosen and called me , and if they ought not to fear that , by despising me , they despise God Himself ? Moses was alone at the departure from Egypt ; Elijah was alone in the reign of King Ahab ; Isaiah alone in Jerusalem ; Ezekiel alone in Babylon . . . . God never selected as a prophet either the high priest or any other great personage ; but ordinarily He chose low and despised men , once even the shepherd Amos . In every age , the saints have had to reprove the great , kings , princes , priests , and wise men , at the peril of their lives . . . . I do not say that I am a prophet ; but I say that they ought to fear precisely because I am alone and that they are many . I am sure of this , that the word of God is with me , and that it is not with them ." -- Ibid ., b . 6 , ch . 10 .
Yet it was not without a terrible struggle with himself that Luther decided upon a final separation from the church . It was about this time that he wrote : " I feel more and more every day how difficult it is to lay aside the scruples which one has imbibed in childhood . Oh , how much pain it has caused me , though I had the Scriptures on my side , to justify it to myself that I should dare to make a stand alone against the pope , and hold him forth as antichrist ! What have the tribulations of my heart not been ! How many times have I not asked myself with bitterness that question which was so frequent on the lips of the papists : ' Art thou alone wise ?
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