In conclusion, the _landgrave_ exhorted them to part as brethren. "Then
Zwingli said," as Bullinger narrates, "there were no people on earth,
with whom he would rather be united than the Wittenbergers, and he
would cheerfully acknowledge Luther and his friends as brethren.
Œ]colampadius, Bucer and Hedio had also the same feeling; but Luther
was by no means willing to acknowledge them as brethren in return, and
said: It took him by surprise, that they would call him brother, whose
doctrine on the sacrament they esteemed false; they could not
themselves think much of their own." In regard to the same event, he
wrote to Jacob Probst of Bremen: "They promised with many words, they
would yield this much to us, that the person of Christ was really,
though spiritually, present in the Holy Supper, if we would only esteem
them worthy of the name of brother, and in this way feign a
reconciliation. Zwingli begged it with tears in his eyes before the
_landgrave_ and all present, whilst he added: 'There are no men with
whom I would rather be united than with the Wittenbergers.' With the
greatest zeal and as urgently as possible they endeavored to appear in
harmony with us and never could endure my saying: 'You have another
spirit than we.' As often as they heard it they were inflamed. Finally,
we granted so much, that it might stand at the conclusion of the
article, not indeed that we were brethren, but that we would not
withdraw from them our love, which is due even to an enemy. So now, the
shame rests on them, that they would not receive the name of brother
and must separate as heretics; meanwhile we agreed, in our
controversial writings, no more to make war on each other, in the hope
that the Lord would open their hearts. Thou canst tell this
confidentially. As a preacher of Christ, who is the Truth, I write the
truth. By it thou canst quietly oppose all liars and disturbers. They
behaved toward us with incredible humanity and compliance. But, as it
now appears, all was show, in order to bring about a hypocritical
concord and make us the partners of their errors. O how cunning Satan
is! But Christ is still wiser. He has preserved us. I am no longer
surprised, if they lie shamelessly. I see that they could not do
otherwise, and am glad of it; for they have reached this point under
the guidance of Satan, that they betray themselves not merely by their
secret intrigues, but openly before all the world."
Sad of heart, the _landgrave_ left Marburg before Luther and
Melanchton. Since concord was not to be restored among the theologians,
it became so much the more necessary to secure a closer connection of
the governments. He held various consultations on this subject with
Zwingli, Sturm and several of their associates. The political
consequences flowing from the Conference, will be detailed in the next
chapter; concerning those of a religious and scientific nature, this
much may be yet said:
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account