in
the Pope's. This priest-rule Luther overthrew by causing men to see the
liberty with which Christ has made them free. Catholic critics claim
that by so doing Luther rebelled against an ordinance of God. We have
shown in chapter 18 that Luther acknowledges in the Church of Christ a
ministry that exists by divine appointment. Hence the Catholic charge
that Luther revolted from God when he disputed the divine right of the
hierarchy is silly.

However, Luther is said to have "recklessly encouraged the destruction
of the episcopate, and openly commanded sacrilege and murder" to mobs.
The appeal of Luther that the _rule_ of bishops be exterminated is
interpreted to mean that the bishops be exterminated. This is one of the
most wanton charges that could be preferred against Luther. By the
Theses against Tetzel the attention of many prominent men in Germany was
attracted to Luther. Princes and noblemen of the Empire had for some
time been studying from a secular point of view the evils which Luther
had begun to attack on spiritual grounds. These men understood the
character of the Roman hierarchy much better than Luther. They saw at
once that Luther's action would lead to serious complication that might
ultimately have to be settled with the sword. When Luther was still
dreaming about convincing the Pope with arguments from Scripture, German
noblemen were preparing to defend him against physical violence. They
knew that the hierarchy would not without a fierce struggle submit to
any curtailment of their power. They offered Luther armed support.
Luther recoiled with horror from this suggestion. In a letter from the
Wartburg which he wrote to his friend Spalatin who was still tarrying at
Worms, Luther refers to one of these warlike knights as follows: "What
Hutten has in mind you can see [from the writings of the knight which he
enclosed]. I would not like to see men fight for the Gospel with force
and bloodshed. I have answered that parson (_dem Menschen_) accordingly.
By the Word the world has been overcome, the Church has been preserved;
by the Word it will also be restored. As to Antichrist, he began his
rule without physical force, and will also be destroyed without physical
force, by the Word." (15, 2506.) The letter from which these words are
quoted is dated January 16, 1522. Nine months before this date, on May
14, when he had been on the Wartburg about ten days, Luther writes to
the same party: "It is for good reasons