Luther and the Reformation:: The Life-Springs of Our LibertiesSeiss, Joseph Augustus
History
Luther and the Reformation:: The Life-Springs of Our Liberties
Seiss, Joseph Augustus
Luther, Martin, 1483-1546; Pennsylvania -- History -- Colonial period, ca. 1600-1775
Dr. Calvin E. Stowe says: "There was probably never created a more
powerful human being, a more gigantic, full-proportioned MAN, in the
highest sense of the term. All that belongs to human nature, all that
goes to constitute a MAN, had a strongly-marked development in him. He
was a _model man_, one that might be shown to other beings in other
parts of the universe as a specimen of collective manhood in its
maturest growth."
As the guide and master of one of the greatest revolutions of time we
look in vain for any one with whom to compare him, and as a
revolutionary orator and preacher he had no equal. Richter says, "His
words are half-battles." Melanchthon likens them to thunderbolts. He
was at once a Peter and a Paul, a Socrates and an AEsop, a Chrysostom
and a Savonarola, a Shakespeare and a Whitefield, all condensed in
one.
FOOTNOTES:
[22] Froude supplemented.
HIS ALLEGED COARSENESS.
Some blame him for not using kid gloves in handling the ferocious
bulls, bears, and he-goats with whom he had to do. But what,
otherwise, would have become of the Reformation? His age was savage,
and the men he had to meet were savage, and the matters at stake
touched the very life of the world. What would a Chesterfield or an
Addison have been in such a contest? Erasmus said he had horns, and
knew how to use them, but that Germany needed just such a master. He
understood the situation. "These gnarled logs," said he, "will not
split without iron wedges and heavy malls. The air will not clear
without lightning and thunder."[23]
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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