le very literally, at times revolted; but this was not due
to any want of loyalty to the old method of interpretation: whenever the
wildest and most absurd system of exegesis seemed necessary to support
any part of the reformed doctrine, Luther and Melanchthon unflinchingly
developed it. Both of them held firmly to the old dictum of Hugo of St.
Victor, which, as we have seen, was virtually that one must first accept
the doctrine, and then find scriptural warrant for it. Very striking
examples of this were afforded in the interpretation by Luther and
Melanchthon of certain alleged marvels of their time, and one out of
several of these may be taken as typical of their methods.

In 1523 Luther and Melanchthon jointly published a work under the title
Der Papstesel--interpreting the significance of a strange, ass-like
monster which, according to a popular story, had been found floating
in the Tiber some time before. This book was illustrated by startling
pictures, and both text and pictures were devoted to proving that this
monster was "a sign from God," indicating the doom of the papacy. This
treatise by the two great founders of German Protestantism pointed out
that the ass's head signified the Pope himself; "for," said they, "as
well as an ass's head is suited to a human body, so well is the Pope
suited to be head over the Church." This argument was clinched by a
reference to Exodus. The right hand of the monster, said to be like an
elephant's foot, they made to signify the spiritual rule of the Pope,
since "with it he tramples upon all the weak": this they proved from
the book of Daniel and the Second Epistle to Timothy. The monster's left
hand, which was like the hand of a man, they declared to mean the Pope's
secular rule, and they found passages to support this view in Daniel
and St. Luke. The right foot, which was like the foot of an ox, they
declared to typify the servants of the spiritual power; and proved this
by a citation from St. Matthew. The left foot, like a griffin's claw,
they made to typify the servants of the temporal power of the Pope,
and the highly developed breasts and various other members, cardinals,
bishops, priests, and monks, "whose life is eating, drinking, and
unchastity": to prove this they cited passages from Second Timothy and
Philippians. The alleged fish-scales on the arms, legs, and neck of the
monster they made to typify secular princes and lords; "since," as they
said, "in St. Matthew an