Theological Origins of Modernity

luther and the storm of faith 111
only when he is directed by God’s will, when his will is God’s will. Right
willing, however, is the source of true freedom. Th us, the subjection of the
human will to the divine will liberates the Christian from all other bonds.
“A Christian,” Luther thus concludes “is a perfectly free lord of all, subject
to none” when he is subject to God. 34
As a result of this confrontation, Luther was condemned by the young
Emperor Charles V and forced to go into hiding in Wartburg. His condemnation,
however, did little to limit the spread of his ideas; in fact it probably
accelerated their dispersion. In any case, the lines had been drawn and
Europe would never be the same again.
Th e extraordinary democratic potential of Luther’s teaching was immediately
apparent to many of his followers. If faith alone saved, then the
various rites and sacraments of the church were not needed for salvation.
Moreover, if faith came from an immediate encounter with Scripture,
then priestly intercessors were not only not necessary, they were actually
obstacles to an encounter with God. Th e priestly caste that ruled European
spiritual life and the tithes to support them were thus unnecessary.
In place of such a spiritual elite Luther held up the possibility of a priesthood
of all believers. Finally, if God spoke to each man privately through
Scripture, then there was no defi nitive dogma that characterized Christian
belief. Individuals might make their own decisions about their religious
responsibilities.
Such innovations in religious practice appealed to many diff erent
groups. Many of the knights and peasants saw Luther as a messiah, speaking
for their interests. 35 Zwingli in Switzerland and Th omas Müntzer were
among the fi rst to articulate the meaning of Luther’s religious teachings
for social and political relations. Zwingli made common cause with the
bourgeois revolution in a way that was later taken over by Calvin. 36 In contrast
to Luther, he was convinced that religion depended more on private
insight into the character of God’s will rather than reliance on a more strict
interpretation of the Gospel. Even he, however, did not go as far as many
of the Anabaptists who at times seemed willing to dispense with Scripture
altogether. At the extreme end of this spectrum were Th omas Müntzer and
his followers who raised the Peasants’ Rebellion. Müntzer was attracted
fi rst to Luther, but he soon moved beyond him to mysticism and then to a
radical Anabaptism. 37 Müntzer had come to the conclusion that all princes
had to heed the call of God or be exterminated, for the ungodly had no
right to live. 38 His movement gathered together a hodgepodge of peasants,
artisans, etc., many clearly motivated by his charismatic preaching. He saw