The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1914-03-08
4 Progressive Theologian's View Of
the Reformation IN Germany.

To study tho German Reformation
from any single point OF view eXclu-
sively. says the Rev. Or. HENRY c. WE'D
DER. professor Of church history in
Grocer Theological Seminary baptist,
AT Upland. Pa. in his Lutheran tome
The Reformation IN Germany Mac
millans). Is to accumulate misinforma-
tion. He believes the photography Of
that great upheaval has no. kept pace
with the acquisition OF new knowledge
tho result OF uncOllated investigations;
and he essays remedial adjustment, Civ
ing new quirk to his Ink drenched
subject by injection OF the economic
interpretation" ot history. The rewrit-
inR Of history in terms OF economies Is
not new art but u new emphasis. The
fact that society like an army travels
on its belly has not been unknown, even
It has not been glorified by the clas-
sic historians. In adopting this now
falleged) popular 'basis' for his his
tory the Grocer professor challenges
his own dictum. quoted above
The modern fashionable tendency r.
To regard great men not AZ heroes OF
Initiative force. designing moulders OF
tho common fortunes. but rather as
mere instruments Of fate. To many
generous minds hero worship seems an
extreme more tolerabie than It's oppo-
site, the denial Of greatness. why"
the author asks. did Luther succeed
in leading Reformation. while his
predecessors failedr" He says:
Som" uou'd answer. como have answered.
by maEn!fyinx I.uthers greatness. lie has
been pictured a. the colossus no b.stroae
Europe. By his towering personality dwarf.
to NJ II 4, IA.
most wonderful things 70 pass ny the sheer
force Of his character and ~iii. Tho ex.
pianaiicn Is simple 10 nsivste. too s.mpi.
90 he convincing. Something IL no doue.
TO be ascr.hed 10 the personality Of a man
~ out OF tho common. but more II to be
ssvrihed to Luthers greater opportunity
Tho difference between him and his prede-
resscrs Is no less a difference of men than
~ times. In Germany OF the sixteenth
century. ~ compared with England of IN.
fourteenth or Bohemia and Italy OF the NJ
'senth, we are 10 seek and End the solution
Of our historical conundrum.
Neither the opportunist nor the OBJ
porturit? ~ worth ANYTHING alone The
great men OF history have been formu-
.ators rather than or.sinators. In DR.
Nedder's View had the English REFORM
ers Of III" fourteenth century, the Bo-
hem!ans and Italians Of tho fifteenth
exchanged places with Martin Luther
in Germany Of the sixteenth he and
not they would have been "A ma jor-
general or futile rebellion AGAINST the
old constituted order; they and not he
would have been the marshals of the
incoming era Men can be great with
out being either gods or devils; the
leaders OF revolutions do not make their
cause a winning one by their manners
or their morals. There was cause
to be led in Luther's day. and long be-
fore he or any one else had given the
cause name. before !. had spr flea
tons, circumsta noes we're lifting him
for tho leadership and drawing him
into 1t. Who oAn say Just how much or
how little the labors OF Wiciif. IIuss
and SayonarolA contributed to tho ripen-
ing OF the harvest that Luther reaped?
And how much did Luther when he
nailed 10 the door Of the wittenberg
church his ninety-five theses for q dis
pu,ation on the efficacy of indulgences
anticipate OF the nature and ultimate
workings OF tho machinery his hand
had set In motion?
A. matter of course a history Of
tho Reformation in Germany has got
20 he in largo part theological; and
epualiy as matter or course IL is ter
rltory for credal controversy. In this
book tho historian holds the upper hand
Of tho theologian, in no much at any rate
that tho theolog!an is not permitted
to lean backward in his ecclesiastic al
legiance and prove virtue by hammer
ing hardest his own party. HIS story
Of Luther's career !s told best where
II follows the old model: from the
wholly uncaloulated effect Of his famous
theses, occasion Of the first Rrca, dem
ons'ratlon Of The power Of tho printing
press, through the long conflict aga .ns,
papal power, with chapter on the
peace Of Augsburg; a career that. the
author says bafIIcs analysis becsuse II
sums greater than the added parts. In
/ the summary Of Luther's characteristics
traits crops up again the phrase from
the Introduction: "Bestrode Europe
] Ike n eOlogans' hpt thIo TINA -,i,h he. /,