Sword & Trowel 2017: Issue 1
– this is Pope Julius arguing with the apostle Peter at Heaven’s gate: ‘Julius: Cut out the nonsense and open the door. Unless, that is, you’d rather have it battered down? In a word, do you see what a body of fol- lowers I have? Peter: Well, I can see a lot of
hardened bandits. But in case you didn’t realise, these doors have to be stormed with different weapons. Julius: I’ve had enough of all this talk. Unless you obey me right this minute, I will hurl even against you the thunderbolt of excommunica- tion, with which I once terrifi ed the mightiest kings and entire kingdoms! Behold the Bull I’ve already drawn up for the purpose. Peter: What is this wretched thun-
derbolt, this thunder, these Bulls? What high-sounding drivel are you
prating to me about, for goodness’ sake? We never heard about any of these things from Christ! Julius: Well, you’ll feel them if you don’t obey. Peter: Perhaps you did once terrify some people with this hot air, but up here it doesn’t mean a thing. Here you have to operate with truth. This citadel is won by good deeds, not evil words.’ More positively, Erasmus set out
a programme of reform for society, involving the centrality of education, a knowledge of Greek, the study of the New Testament, and a spirituality that sat light to mere external ritual and focused on the faith of the heart. Many people learned from Erasmus a Christ-centred spirituality that could so easily become a conduit into Ref- ormation faith. Most infl uential in this regard was Erasmus’ Enchiridion, or Handbook of the Christian Soldier (it could also be translated Dagger of the Christian Soldier), fi rst published in 1503. Drenched in the faith of the early church fathers, the Enchiridion remained a Protestant favourite long after the dust of the Reformation had settled. Here is a typical passage: ‘To worship Christ with nothing
more than outward ceremonies, as if such worship were the height of spirituality, while all the time you are puffed up with self-importance, and condemn other people, and think yourself secure because you live and die in your outward worship: well,
John of Wesel was appointed a preacher in Worms Cathedral in 1463. The Diet of Worms was held in the Bishop’s Palace which was an annex to the cathedral.
page 26 Seeds of the Reformation
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