The Lutheran Pioneer St. Louis — 1896, Page 38

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38

The Lutheran Pioneer.

Luther at the Diet of Worms.

In our picture we see Dr. Luther at the
Diet, or convention, in the city of Worms,
* standing firm as a rock and declaring that he
could not depart from the doctrine of the
Holy Scriptures.

This Diet was held by the Emperor
Charles Y., in the year 1521. ‘The religious
controversy was to be attended to at this con-
vention, and therefore Luther was ordered to
appear. Trusting in God, and not fearing
man, he obeyed the order. When he entered
the hall in which the Diet was held, he saw
before him the mighty men of the earth.
There sat the mighty Emperor, and the princes,
and the dukes, and the pope’s messenger, and
many others of high
rank. There stood Lu-
ther, the peasant’s son,
the poor monk, calm
and full of peace,
mighty in the Lord.
He, the messenger of
God’s cternal truth,
did not fearman. When
asked whetherhe would
recant what he had
written in the books
lying on a bench near
by, he gave his answer
in yery respectful Jan-
guage and manner, but
with great firmness. In
a speech which lasted
two hours, he showed
what was contained in
his books, and said that
if any one would prove
from the Bible that he
had erred, he would
retract eyery error and
would be the first one
to throw the books into
the fire. At the close
of his long speech,
Luther was quite exhausted and overcome
by the heat of the crowded room. But the
Emperor did not fully understand the Ger-
man, and therefore wished Luther to repeat
his speech in Latin. Luther complied with
the Emperor’s wish. He was then told to
answer simply the question whether or not
he would retract his doctrines. Luther now
said: ‘Since your most serene Majesty and
your Excellencies require from me a clear,
simple, and precise answer, I will give you
one with neither horns nor teeth, and it is
this: If I am not convinced by proof from
Holy Scriptures, or by cogent reasons—for
I do not trust in the pope, nor in the councils,
since it is as plain as day that they have often
erred and contradicted themselyes—if I am
not conyinced by the Holy Scriptures, I can
not and will not revoke anything, for it is
neither safe nor right to do anything against
<onscience.’” And then, with great force,

and looking up toward heaven, he spoke those
memorable words: ‘‘HereI sranp; I can NOT
DO OTHERWISE; GOD HELP ME! AMEN.’’

And God did help him. Throughout Luther's
life God protected him against his enemies
and enabled him to proclaim and defend the
truths of the Bible.

—_—— oe

The Romish Church and the Bible.

Before the time of the Reformation the
Bible was not only hidden from the people,
but the Bible was said to be a dangerous
book, a book which could do the people no
good, a dark book which the people could
not understand. Luther, speaking of the
Romish church and the Bible, says: ‘‘Ob-

Luther at the Diet of Worms.

serve what the devil has done through the |

papists. It was not enough for them to
throw this book under the table, and to make

1 owe it all to the Gospel.

A pastor was one day called to one of his
members in order to comfort him in his dying
hour. The sick man thus addressed the pastor:
‘My dear sir, if it shall please God to restore
me to health again, I will certainly lead a
different life. Although I have, through God’s
grace, learned to know the Gospel, I am very
sorry that I have not done more to the honor
of Jesus’ name. Oh, if I recover, it shall be
my highest aim to support the cause of mis-
sions. I have given something yearly and
have gladly visited the mission services, but
my heart was not in the work! I have not
done nearly enough!’’ The pastor then asked
him the cause of these reflections. He an-
swered: ‘‘In the past
night I awoke about
midnight from a short
slumber ; whenI pulled
back the bed-curtains
to see if any one was
watching, my sons both
hastened to my bed-
side, with anxious care,
to see whether any-
thing was wanted. At
that moment, I remem-
bered what was said in
the missionary’ service
about the Hindoos, that
they allow their old
parents to starve, or
throw them into the
river. The thought oc-
curred to me, Why do
my sons not take me
out and throw me into
the water? Why do
they watch with me all
night long? Do I not
owe all this their love
and care for me to the
influences of the Gos-
pel? What have I done
that this blessed Gospel might be brought to
my poor heathen brethren? Had the first
Christians been like unto me my sons would

it so rare that few doctors of the Holy Scrip-| not be watching with me, no one would be
ture possess it, much less read it; but, lest/ about me; I would leave this world in the

some one should bring it to notice, they have
branded it with infamy, blaspheming God,
and saying that it is dark and that we must
follow the glosses of men, and not the pure
Scripture. The calamity is so great that it
can not be reached by words or thoughts.
The evil spirit has done his will and sup-
pressed this book and has brought in its
stead so many books of human doctrine, that
it may well be said that there is a deluge of
books; and yet they contain nothing but
errors, falsehoods, darkness, poison, death,
destruction, hell and the deyil.”?

Dear reader, thank God, that we have an
open Bible, and make good use of that pre-

fear of death without hope, without God.
Should it please the Lord to prolong my life,
I will be more earnestly concerned about the
salyation of the poor heathen, and will zeal-
ously support the cause of missions with
prayers and gifts.’’

Oo oe -

Pore Aprran VI. had two cities painted
upon a tablet— Utrecht, the place of his
birth, and Lyons, the place where he had
attended the high school—above which he
had had written: ‘‘Utrecht planted me, and
Lyons watered me.’? Beneath these stood
the likeness of the Emperor Charles V-, and
the words, ‘‘And the emperor hath given the
increase.” Below this some one wrote with
chalk, “With all this God has had nothing

cious Book. Read the Bible! Study the Bible! | to do.”