Yet in spite of all he saw and heard, he “loved the grand old Church” with all his heart. He did not return from Rome an enemy of the Church, nor even intending to reform it. But if ever a man left the “Holy City” thrust down from the heights of zeal and enthusiasm to the very depths of despair, wounded and crushed in spirit, it was the plain, honest Luther. This experience, however, was but another step in his preparation, for he says: I would not take a thousand florins for missing that visit to Rome. I would constantly fear that I had wronged the pope. But now I can speak of what I have seen myself. PROFESSOR OF THEOLOGY AT WITTENBURG When Luther returned from Rome to Wittenburg in the early summer of 1512, Staupitz sent him to Erfurt to complete his training for the doctorate in theology. His advancement was so rapid that by the time he reached his twenty-ninth year he found himself not only installed in a professorship of Theology at Wittenburg, but also with the main responsibility resting upon him for all instruction that was to be given. From that time the presence of Staupitz was not frequent. In this position he did not hesitate to break through all traditional modes of theological instruction. Luther was still a genuine monk, with no doubt of his vocation. He became the sub-prior of the Wittenburg Monastery in 1512, and was made district vicar over eleven monasteries in 1515. These administrative duties occasioned frequent interruptions of his professional and literary labors. It was his duty, by means of visitations and frequent correspondence, to learn the condition and decide concerning the necessities of each monastery and its inmates. The already thoroughly occupied professor was thus called to a truly pastoral care of an extensive and difficult field. To every one in doubts and perplexities, like those which agitated him, he sought to give the full benefit of his experience. So far as the record shows, Luther first heard of Tetzel in 1516, just as he was beginning his visitation of the churches. It was reported to him that Tetzel was making a great noise, and some of his extravagant sentiments, which I have already quoted, were related to him, and when he heard this he indignantly exclaimed, “If God permit, I will make a hole in his drum!” Shortly after this he gave warning, not against indulgences, but what he regarded their abuse. “What should be regarded with all reverence,” said he, “has become a horrid means of pampering avarice, since it is not the salvation of souls, but solely pecuniary profit that is in view.”