§ 87. THE LEIPZIG DISPUTATION. JUNE-JULY, 1519. 181
Peter, and the vicar of Christ by divine right; Luther, that this claim is contrary to the Scriptures, to the ancient church, to the Council of Nicza,—the most sacred of all councils, — and rests only on the frigid decrees of the Roman pontiffs.
But during the debate he changed his opinion on the authority of councils, and thereby injured his cause in the estimation of the audience. Being charged by Eck with holding the heresy of Hus, he at first repudiated him and all schismatic medion aick: ; but on mature reflection he declared that Hus held some scriptural truths, and was unjustly condemned and burnt by the Council of Constance; that a general council as well as a Pope may err, and had no right to impose any article of faith not founded in the Scriptures. | When Duke George, a sturdy upholder of the Catholic creed, heard Luther express sympathy with the Bohemian heresy, he shook his head, and, putting both arms in his sides, | exclaimed, so that it could be heard throughout the hall, “ A plague upon it!”?
From this time dates Luther’s connection with the Bohemian Brethren.
Luther concluded his argument with these words: “I am sorry that the learned doctor only dips into the Scripture as the water-spider into the water — nay, that he seems to flee from it as the Devil from the Cross. I prefer, with all deference to the Fathers, the authority of the Scripture, which I herewith recommend to the arbiters of our cause.”
Both parties, as usual, claimed the victory. Eck was rewarded with honors and favors by Duke George, and followed up his fancied triumph by efforts to ruin Luther, and to gain a cardinal’s hat; but he was also severely attacked and ridiculed, especially by Willibald Pirkheimer, the famous humanist and patrician of Niirnberg, in his stinging satire,
1 “ Das walt’ die Sucht!”
189 THE GERMAN REFORMATION. A.D. 1517 To 1580.
“ The Polished Corner.” 1 The theological faculties of Cologne, Louvain, and afterwards (1521) also that of Paris, condemned the Reformer.
Luther himself was greatly dissatisfied, and regarded the disputation as a mere waste of time. He made, however, a deep impression upon younger men, and many students left Leipzig for Wittenberg. After all, he was more benefited by the disputation and the controversies growing out of it, than his opponents.
The importance of this theological tournament lies in this: that it marks a progress in Luther’s emancipation from the papal system. Here for the first time he denied the divine right and origin of the papacy, and the infallibility of a general council. Henceforward he had nothing left but the divine Scriptures, his private judgment, and his faith in God who guides the course of history by his own Spirit, through , all obstructions by human errors, to a glorious end. ‘The ship of the Reformation was cut from its moorings, and had to ' fight with the winds and waves of the open sea.
From this time Luther entered upon a revolutionary crusade against the Roman Church until the anarchical dissensions in his own party drove him back into a conservative and even re-actionary position.
Before we proceed with the development of the Reformation, we must make the acquaintance of Melanchthon, who had accompanied Luther to the Leipzig disputation as a spectator, suggesting to him and Carlstadt occasional arguments,? and hereafter stood by him as his faithful colleague and friend.
1“ Der algehobelte Eck.’? The book appeared first anonymously in Latin, Eccius dedolatus, at Erfurt, March, 1520. Hagen, in his Der Geist der Reformation (Erlangen, 1843), I. p. 60 sqq., gives a good summary of this witty book. Luther sent it to Spalatin, March 2, 1520 (De Wette, I. 426), but expressed his dissatisfaction with this ‘‘ mode of raging against Eck,” and preferred an open attack to a ‘‘ bite from behind the fence.”’
2 This excited the anger of Eck, who broke out, ‘‘ Tace tu, Philippe, ac tua studia cura, ne me perturba.”’