The bull of excommunication is the papal counter-manifesto to Luther’s Theses, and
condemns in him the whole cause of the Protestant Reformation. Therein lies its historical
significance. It was the last bull addressed to Latin Christendom as an undivided whole, and the
first which was disobeyed by a large part of it. Instead of causing Luther and his friends to be burnt,
it was burnt by Luther. It is an elaborate document, prepared with great care in the usual heavy,
turgid, and tedious style of the curia. It breathes the genuine spirit of the papal hierarchy, and
mingles the tones of priestly arrogance, concern for truth, abomination of heresy and schism, fatherly
sorrow, and penal severity. The Pope speaks as if he were the personal embodiment of the truth,
the infallible judge of all matters of faith, and the dispenser of eternal rewards and punishments.
He begins with the words of Ps. 74:22: "Arise, O God, plead thine own cause: remember
how the foolish man reproacheth thee daily. Forget not the voice of thine enemies: the tumult of
those that rise up against thee increaseth continually." He calls St. Peter, St. Paul, and the whole
body of the saints, to aid against "the boar out of the wood" and "the wild beast of the field" that
had broken into the vineyard of the Lord, to waste and destroy it (Ps. 80:13). He expresses deep
sorrow at the revival of the Bohemian and other heresies in the noble German nation which had
received the empire from the Pope, and shed so much precious blood against heresy. Then he
condemns forty-one propositions selected from Luther’s books, as heretical, or at least scandalous
and offensive to pious ears, and sentences all his books to the flames. Among the errors named are
those relating to the sacramental and hierarchical system, especially the authority of the Pope and
the (Roman) Church. The denial of free will (liberum arbitrium) after the fall is also condemned,
though clearly taught by St. Augustin. But Luther’s fundamental doctrine of justification by faith
is not expressly mentioned. The sentences are torn from the connection, and presented in the most
objectionable form as mere negations of Catholic doctrines. The positive views of the Reformer
are not stated, or distorted.
For the person of Luther, the Pope professes fatherly love and forbearance, and entreats
him once more, by the mercies of God and the blood of Christ, to repent and recant within sixty
days after the publication of the bull in the Brandenburg, Meissen, and Merseburg dioceses, and
promises to receive him graciously like the prodigal son. But failing to repent, he and his adherents
will be cut off, as withered branches, from the vine of Christ, and be punished as obstinate heretics.
This means that they shall be burned; for the bull expressly condemns the proposition of Luther
which denounces the burning of heretics as "contrary to the will of the Holy Spirit." All princes,
magistrates, and citizens are exhorted, on threat of excommunication and promise of reward, to
seize Luther and his followers, and to hand him over to the apostolic chair. Places which harbor
him or his followers are threatened with the interdict. Christians are forbidden to read, print, or
publish any of his books, and are commanded to burn them.
We may infer from this document in what a state of intellectual slavery Christendom would
be at the present time if the papal power had succeeded in crushing the Reformation. It is difficult
to estimate the debt we owe to Martin Luther for freedom and progress.
The promulgation and execution of the bull were intrusted to two Italian prelates, Aleander
and Caraccioli, and to Dr. Eck. The personal enemy of Luther, who had been especially active in
procuring the bull, was now sent back in triumph with the dignity of a papal nuncio, and even with
the extraordinary power of including by name several followers of Luther, among whom he singled
out Carlstadt and Dolzig of Wittenberg, Adelmann of Augsburg, Egranus of Zwickau, and the
humanists Pirkheimer and Spengler of Nürnberg. The selection of Eck, the most unpopular man in
tuis.
(Tuis.)
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