1917_The_Finished_Mystery_Text

were invited to impugn them, either in person orby writing; and to the whole he subjoined solemnprotestations of his high respect for the apostolicsee, and of his implicit submission to hisauthority. No opponent appeared at the timeprefixed; the theses spread over Germany withastonishing rapidity, and were read with thegreatest eagerness." (Buck.)Luther was summoned in July, 1518, to appear atRome within sixty days. He wrote a submissiveletter to the pope, requesting a trial in Germany.Meantime the German Emperor died; and thepope, absorbed in the choice of a new emperor,paid little heed to the Luther controversy."From the reason just now given, a suspension ofproceeding against Luther took place foreighteen months, though perpetual negotiationswere carried on. The manner in which these wereconducted having given our reformer manyopportunities of observing the corruption ofFM42the courts of Rome, its obstinacy in adhering toestablished errors, and its indifference abouttruth, he began, in 1520 to utter some doublewith regard to the Divine origin of the papalauthority, which he publicly disputed withEccius, one of his most learned and formidableantagonists. The papal authority being oncesuspected, Luther proceeded to push on hisinquiries and attacks from one doctrine toanother, till at last he began to shake thefoundations on which the wealth and power ofthe church were established. Leo then began toperceive that there were no hopes of reclaimingsuch an incorrigible heretic, and thereforeprepared to pronounce the sentence ofexcommunication against him. The college ofcardinals was often assembled, in order toprepare the sentence with due deliberation; andthe ablest canonists were consulted how it mightbe expressed with unexceptionable formality. Atlast it was issued, on the 15th of June, 1520.Forty-one propositions, extracted out of Luther'sworks, were therein condemned as heretical,scandalous, and offensive to pious ears; all