notion of the exc.iisive power of the Roman Church to secure salvation? oppose a council bj' wliich John Huss had been condemned to the flames, and perhaps draw down a like fate upon himself? Or should he deny that higher and more comprehensive idea of a Christian church wliich he had conceived, and in which his whole soul lived and moved ? Luther did not waver for a moment. He had the boldness to af- firm that, among the articles on which the Council of Constance grounded its condemnation of John Huss, some were fundamentally Christian and evangelical. The assertion was received with universal astonish- ment. Duke George, who was present, put his hands to his sides, and, shaking his head, uttered aloud his wonted curse, 'A plague upon it!' Eck now gathered fresh courage. It was hardly possible, he said, that Luther could censure a council, since his grace the elector had expressly forbidden anj' attack upon coun- cils. Luther reminded him that the Council of Con- stance had not condemned all the articles of Huss as heretical, and specified some which were likewise to be found in St. Augustine. Eck replied that all were re- jected ; the sense in -which these particular articles were understood was to be deemed heretical ; for a council could not err. Luther answered that no coun- cil could create a new article of faith ; how, then, could it be maintained that no council whatever was sub- ject to error ? ' Reverend father,' replied Eck, ' if you believe that a council regular!}' convoked can err, you are to me as a heathen and a publican' {Disputa- tio Ejcellentissimnruni Theolof/onan Johannis Eccii et D. Martini Liitheri Aiigustiniani qua Lipsice cnpta fuit iv die JuUi ad 1519. Opera Lutheri, Jena, i, 231). Such were the results of this disputation. It was continued for a time, and opinions more or less conflicting on purgatory, indulgences, and penance were uttered. Eck renewed the interrupted contest with Carlstadt; the reports were sent, after the solemn conclusion, to both universities ; but all these measures could lead to nothing further. The main result of the meeting Avas, that Luther no longer acknowledged the author- ity of the Roman Church in matters of faith. At first he had only attacked the instructions given to the l)reacliers of indulgences, and the rules of the later schoolmen, but had expressly retained the decretals of the popes ; then ho had rejected these, but with ap- peal to the decision of a council : he now emancipated himself from this last remaining human authority also ; he recognised none but that of the Scriptures" (Raiike, History of Reformation^ Austin's transi., bk. ii, ch. iii). After the disputation, in which Eck's pride of intel- lect had been grievously wounded, lie wrote (July 23) a letter to the elector of Saxony exhorting him to dis- courage the pernicious doctrines of his professor, and to cause his books to be burned. Frederick replied with some delay and great moderation, and C*i'lstadt with bitterness. A bitter controversj' followed, in which Melancthon took part, and Eck got the worst of it. In February, 1520, Eck also completed a trea- tise on the primacy, in which he promises triumphant- ly and clearlv to confute Luther's assertion that "it is not of divine right." "Observe, reader," says he, "and tliou shalt see that I keep ni}' word." Kor is his work by any means devoid of learning and tal- ent. After obtaining a condemnation of Luther from the universities of Louvain and Cologne, Eck Avcnt to Rome (1520) to present his book (I)c Primatu') to the jiopc, and to stir up feeling against Luther. His ex- liortations animated tlie enemies of Luther, and they at length prevailed upon the po])e to sunnnon a con- gregation on the subject, which p;issed sentence of condemnation upon Luther. Leo X indiscreetly ap- ]K)inted Eck as his nuncio for the promulgation of his bull in Germany. Elated by vanity, Eck set out with jiuerilc exultaticn- to inflict, as he thought, a fatal blow on his devoted adversary. In September Lo caused the bull to be fi.xed up in public places in Mels-
ECKART
49
ECLECTICS
sen, Merseburg, find Brandenburg. " Everywhere he contended with force and energy, and on more than one occasion with success. Germany was his usual arena, where the brunt of controversy was ahiiost in- variably sustained by him. But in Switzerland liis voice was likewise lieard ; and there, indeed, the papal interests were never upheld by any advocate of talent or distinction except himself and Faber. He was con- fronted in a long series of combats, during a space of twenty years, with all the chieftains of the Reforma- tion ; and, though he was defending wliat we are wont to consider the feebler cause, he never defended it fee- bly, or was overthrown with shame." He died Feb- ruary, 15-13. His works against Luther embrace five volumes {Opera contra Liitheriim,, Augsburg, 1530-35). Besides this, and the work Da Primatu already men- tioned, Eck published Enchiridion Cont rover si arum (last edit. Cologne, 1600); Apolor/ia contra Bucerum (Ingol- stadt, 1513), and others. — Hook, Eccles. Biog. iv, 532 ; Kanke, Hist, of Reformation ; D'Aubigne, Hist, of Ref- ormation, vol. i ; Mosheim, Ch. Hist. bk. iv, c. xvi, sec. i, ch. ii, § 9, and ch. iii, § 13 ; Herzog, Real-EncyMop. iii, 62U sq.