there the Church is, whatever the form of
external organization; that the popes could err and had erred, and
councils likewise; and that neither separately nor together could they
rightfully decree or ordain contrary to the Scriptures, the only
infallible Rule.

To all this Eck could make no answer except that it was Hussism over
again, which the Council of Constance had condemned, and that, from
the standpoint of the hierarchy, Luther was a heretic and ought to be
dealt with accordingly.

RESULTS FROM THE DEBATE.

Luther now realized that the true Gospel of God's salvation and the
pontifical system were vitally and irreconcilably antagonistic; that
the one could never be held in consistency with the other; and that
there must come a final break between him and Rome. This much
depressed him. He showed his spiritual anguish by his deep dejection.
But he soon rose above it. If he had the truth of God, as he verily
believed, what were the pope and all devils against Jehovah? And so he
went on lecturing, preaching, writing, and publishing with his
greatest power, brilliancy, and effectiveness.

Some of the best and most telling products of his pen now went forth
to multitudes of eager readers. The glowing energy of his faith acted
like a spreading fire, kindling the souls of men as they seldom have
been kindled in any cause in any age. His _Address to the Nobility_
electrified all Germany, and first fired the patriotic spirit of
Ulrich Zwingli, the Swiss Reformer. His book on _The Babylonian
Captivity of the Church_ sounded a bugle-note which thrilled through
all the German heart, gave Bugenhagen to the Reformation, and sent a
shudder through the hierarchy.[9] Already, at Maximilian's Diet at
Augsburg to take measures against the Turk, a Latin pamphlet was
openly circulated among the members which said that the Turk to be
resisted was living in Italy; and Miltitz, the pope's nuncio and
chamberlain, confessed that from Rome to Altenberg he had found those
greatly in the minority who did not side with Luther.

FOOTNOTES:

[9] Glapio, the confessor of Charles V., stated to Chancellor Brueck at
the Diet of Worms: "The alarm which I felt when I read the first pages
of the _Captivity_ cannot be expressed; they might be said to be
lashes which scourged me from head to foot."

LUTHER'S EXCOMMUNICATION.

But the tempest waxed fiercer and louder every day. Luther's growing
influence the more inflamed his enemies. Hochs