we may pass to a brief notice of the principal works published by him about this period. A. D. 1539. One of these, very seasonable at a time when on counso much was said of the convocation of a council, and so much expected from it, was on the nature, powers, and uses of such ecclesiastical assemblies. The work was written in German only, but it is highly commended by Seckendorf as abounding with erudition and sound wisdom. From the abstract given of it, it certainly does not appear calculated to raise very high our opinion of what had been done, or was likely to be done by councils.-On the legitimate powers of a council he lays down, what will appear very obvious to us, though it would not be so to the people of that age, that it" could not make any article of faith, or enjoin any new duty, or render novel ceremonies binding on men's consciences : neither had it a right to intermeddle with civil government, or to make canons for the aggrandisement of its own members on the contrary, it ought to see that all innovations in doctrine, repugnant to the holy scriptures, with all superstitious or unprofitable ceremonies, were condemned and removed; and always to make scripture the rule for the determination of controversies." He then proceeds to define the church, and to point out marks by which the true church was to be known-very different from those which the Romish church had laid down.1 This work was highly offensive to the papists. Maimbourg says, "Luther now did all in his power to prevent a council, and wrote to deny and vacate the authority granted by Christ to his church."2-In the course of the work Luther 1 Sleid. 250. Seck. iii. 244-251. 2 In Seck. iii. 200. Luther, in a book which he afterwards VOL. I. Y CHAP. VI. On conciliation. remarks the extreme difficulty there was in collecting a clear, definite, and consistent sense from the Fathers. He had himself laboriously attempted it, but with little success, even before he commenced his attacks upon the papacy.1 Elsewhere he says of the pious Bernard, " You will find him a different man at different times. When he speaks of Christ and of grace, he breathes honey and roses: but, when he gets into discussions about the law, he loses sight of what he had taught concerning Christ. And the like is the case with most of them."2-This Luther says without any disparagement of the proper declaration and use of the law, as is evident from extracts formerly given, and from what he writes against the "antinomians" in the very work we are considering. What he observes, in speaking of the artifices and insincerity of the enemies of evangelical truth, is remarkable: "Popish writers pretend that they have always taught what we now teach concerning faith and good works, and that they are unjustly accused of the contrary.3 Thus the wolf puts on the sheep's skin till he gains admission into the fold." 4 In an exposition of the cxth Psalm he pronounces a strong sentence upon the schemes of those, who thought that the differences wrote against Henry of Brunswick, distinctly states the reasons why he and his friends called for a council: "We demand a council, that our church's plea may be openly heard; that your doctrine, contrary to Christ's doctrine, may be condemned; and that men, being reclaimed from it, may know and embrace the true worship of God." Sleid. 273. Certainly they never desired an assembly so constituted and so conducted as to preclude all fair discussion. 1 Seck. iii. 245. 2 On the Psalms of Degrees. See Seck. iii. 304. 4 Seck. iii. 246 (8). we between the Roman catholics and the protestants might be made up by compromise and mutual concession. "Let them go on: shall not envy the success of their labours : they will be the first who could ever convert the devil, and reconcile him to Christ. In things which are in our power, in ceremonies and externals, we may lawfully seek agreement in this way but not in things pertaining to the faith and kingdom of Christ. The sceptre of the Lord admits of no bending and joining, but must remain straight and unchanged, the rule of faith and of practice." 1 A. D. 1539. On the subject of defence, or resistance, which on rewas much discussed in a meeting of the allies sistance. at Francfort, he writes again in the same strain which we have before considered. Indeed his mind seems now to have been fully made up on that subject, and upon very solid grounds. "It is the duty," he says, "of every prince to promote the exercise of true religion in his dominions, and to protect it against external violence. This defence is authorized both by the divine law and by that of nature, against all persons of only equal authority; and, even if the name of the emperor, and the recesses of the diet be alleged, these are invalid from the defect of consent, and the protests and appeals lodged against them. The emperor is not an absolute monarch: power over religion can never belong to him, seeing he cannot exercise even political power, except with certain forms, and the consent of the princes." He still, however, limits resistance strictly to defence when attacked: he would have no anticipation of aggression.2 A letter is preserved among his German On ab solution. VI. CHAP. works, which he addressed, in conjunction with Bugenhagius, Jonas, Melancthon, and Cruciger, to the senate of Nuremberg, concerning a general form of absolution used after the sermon in the protestant churches. Osiander objected to it, on the ground that there were many in the congregation not prepared for absolution. Luther and his friends thought the form unobjectionable; but advised that, if Osiander felt scruples, he should be allowed to omit it, without either censuring those who used it, or being censured by them.'-Had this truly wise and charitable way of healing differences, in things not essential, been generally adopted, how would the peace, and even the uniformity, of the church have been promoted! many are the subjects of discord which would thus have dropped silently into oblivion, while injunction or prohibition has now given them perpetuity. On the exposition of scripture. In some very pious and edifying lectures on study and the "Psalms of Degrees," (cxx-cxxxiv,) he commends earnestly the study and exposition of the word of God, which he considers as the special service and offering that God now required of his ministers. He warns the people against fastidiousness, conceit, and a want of relish for the divine word-" a disease," he says, "which too naturally grows up in us, and is more dangerous in proportion as it is apt to 1 Seck. iii. 253. Yet Osiander was not a man whose spirit and conduct towards others were calculated to procure their indulgence towards him. See Melch. Adam, or the brief statement from him in Milner v. 578. (Appendix, 18.) Osiander's peculiar and unintelligible dogma, on which he raised a sharp controversy, was, that the righteousness by which believers are justified is not that wrought out by the incarnate Saviour, and imputed to them, but the essential righteousness of the divine nature, infused or communicated by the indwelling of the Deity in them! be unobserved. But Satan has assuredly gained a victory when we begin to slumber, to be secure, and to feel satiated." The following passage is beautifully expressive of that simplicity of taste for divine truth, which is a strong mark of advancement in wisdom and in grace. "I am a professed divine, who, amidst various dangers, have attained some moderate experience and skill in the sacred scriptures: but this does not prevent my having daily recourse to the catechism, to the creed, the decalogue, and the Lord's prayer. I rehearse them to myself with a close consideration of every word-what truth it really conveys. And, when a multiplicity of business, or any other cause prevents my doing this, I sensibly feel the want of it. The word of God is given us thus to exercise and quicken our minds, which without such a practice contract rust, as it were, and lose their tone. We see into what snares men continually fall and what else is the reason of it, but that they are secure, they do not pray, they do not hear and meditate on the divine word; they are content with having it in the book, where they may read it when they please. Hence Satan imperceptibly instils into their hearts a contempt for the word; and this leaves them exposed to despair or other, great dangers. For with what shall a man defend himself against the enemies of his soul, when he has lost the sword of the Spirit ?" A.D. 1540. the Re Another passage presents Luther's Own On the evils answer to those who exaggerated the mischiefs attending consequent upon the reformation, and repre- formation. sented them as so great that it would have been better had no change been attempted. "It is not easy to get over those scandals, when Satan, or when subtle and able men, set them forth in |