The Great Controversy The Great Controversy | Page 137

the truth, his readiness to answer all objections to what he had taught,
and to submit his doctrines to the decision of certain leading universities.
But at the same time he protested against the cardinal’s course in
requiring him to retract without having proved him in error.
The only response was: “Retract, retract!” The Reformer showed
that his position was sustained by the Scriptures and firmly declared that
he could not renounce the truth. The legate, unable to reply to Luther’s
arguments, overwhelmed him with a storm of reproaches, gibes, and
flattery, interspersed with quotations from tradition and the sayings of
the Fathers, granting the Reformer no opportunity to speak. Seeing that
the conference, thus continued, would be utterly futile, Luther finally
obtained a reluctant permission to present his answer in writing.
“In so doing,” said he, writing to a friend, “the oppressed find double
gain; first, what is written may be submitted to the judgment of others;
and second, one has a better chance of working on the fears, if not on the
conscience, of an arrogant and babbling despot, who would otherwise
overpower by his imperious language.”—Martyn, The Life and Times of
Luther, pages 271, 272.
At the next interview, Luther presented a clear, concise, and forcible
exposition of his views, fully supported by many quotations from
Scripture. This paper, after reading aloud, he handed to the cardinal,
who, however, cast it contemptuously aside, declaring it to be a mass of
idle words and irrelevant quotations. Luther, fully aroused, now met the
haughty prelate on his own ground—the traditions and teachings of the
church—and utterly overthrew his assumptions.
When the prelate saw that Luther’s reasoning was unanswerable,
he lost all self-control, and in a rage cried out: “Retract! or I will
send you to Rome, there to appear before the judges commissioned to
take cognizance of your cause. I will excommunicate you and all your
partisans, and all

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