and the practice of so-called good works, the feeling of
real atonement and inward peace had not come to the young man. Finally
a saying of his spiritual adviser pierced his heart like an arrow:
"That alone is true penance which begins with love for God. Love for
God and inward exaltation is not the result of the means of grace
which the Church teaches; it must go before them." This doctrine from
Tauler's school became for the young man the basis of a new spiritual
and moral relation to God; it was for him a sacred discovery. The
transformation of his spiritual life was the principal thing. For that
he had to work. From the depths of every human heart must come
repentance, expiation, and atonement. He and every man could lift
himself up to God, alone. Not until now did he realize what free
prayer was. In place of a far-off divine power which he had formerly
sought in vain through a hundred forms and childish confessions, there
came before him at last the image of an all-loving protector to whom
he could speak at any time joyfully and in tears; to whom he could
bring all sorrow, every doubt; who took unceasing interest in him,
cared for him, granted or denied his heartfelt petitions tenderly,
like a good father. So he learned to pray; and how ardent his prayers
became! From this time he lived in peace with the beloved God whom he
had finally found, every day, every hour. His intercourse with the
Most High became more intimate than with the dearest companions of
this earth. When he poured out his whole self before Him, then calm
came over him and a holy peace, a feeling of unspeakable love. He felt
himself a part of God, and remained in this relation to Him from that
time throughout his whole life. He heeded no longer the roundabout
ways of the ancient Church; he could, with God in his heart, defy the
whole world. Even thus early he ventured to believe that those held
false doctrine who put so much stress on works of penance, that there
was nothing beyond these works but a cold satisfaction and a
ceremonious confession; and when, later, he learned from Melanchthon
that the Greek word for penitence, _metanoia_ meant literally "change
of mind," it seemed to him a wonderful revelation. On this ground
rested the confident assurance with which he opposed the words of
Scripture to the ordinances of the Church. By this means Luther in the
monastery gradually worked his way to spiritual liberty. All his later
doctrines, his battle