The Irish standard. [volume] (Minneapolis, Minn. ;) 1886-1920, 1917-11-03


Pride, Passion and Ambition.
Four hundred years have now
elapsed since Western Christendom
was shaken to it's very foundations by
the religious revolution which received
the final and immediate impetus when
Martin Luther issued his Ninety-five
Theses on Indulgences, as challenge
to the world, at Wittenburg, on the
night of Oct. 81, 1917. Now that the
fourth centenary celebration of the
Reformation-by which name this re-
ligious movement has been called-is
at hand, we may look back over the
period of it's existence and form our
opinion concerning it's claims to sue
cess in accomplishing that for which
it was instituted. The points about
which our investigation turns and
upon which our judgment shall be
based are these:
Is it in the least deserving of it's
me-Reformation? Has it, in the
past, spiritually bettered the condition
of those who were brought under it's
control? Is it capable Of benefting
those who are at present living under
it's influence? Or, has it failed entire
ly to achieve the purpose for which
it was inaugurated, namely, the re-
moval of certain abuses which had
crept into the discipline of the Church
through the weakness Of her leaders
and the influence which worldly
princes and institutions brought to
bear upon these leaders at various Pc
RODS throughout her long history?
There is two-fold element in the con-
stitution of the Church, the human and
the Divine, distinction which has too
often been lost sight of by those who
in their misguided zeal brand the doc
trnal and moral teachings Of the
Church as false because of the loose
bers. AS our guide in passing judg-
ment on this so-called Reformation, we
shall make use of the dictum proposed
by our Divine Saviour when warning
His disciples against the insidious at
tacks of false prophets: "By their
fruits you shall know them" (St. Mat
thew, vii, 16).
AS to the effects of this religious re-
bellion upon the people, after it had
been given a fair trial and it's results
were patent, we shall allow it's leader,
Martin Luther himself, to give testi-
mony. "Now," he tells us, "the peo-
pie are possessed by seven devils,
where before but one possessed
them"
"The devil so infests the people that
now, under the clear fight Of the Cos
pei, they are more avaricious, more de-
ceitful, more self-seeking, more unmer-
ciful, more obscene, more insOlent and
vexatious than they were before under
the Papacy" (Walch, "The Works Of
Martin Luther" Concordia Edition, St.
Louis, 1892; vol. 13b, column 1859.
Again, he tells his infatuated listeners,
that 1--WE learn, unfortunately, day by
day, that the people now, under the
Gospel, bear greater and more OBJ
stinate hate and envy, are more de-
ceitfnl, sarcastic, more miserly and IT.
ritable than they were before under
the Papacy" (Walch, op. cit. sup. col.
5000. And again, against these same
devotees he directs this TRADE: "And
where before you were possessed and
dominated by but one devil, now seven
worse devils have control over you.
Such, one now sees among the peas
ants, townfolE, mobiles and in all class
es, from the highest to the lowest
what a shameful, disordered life they
lead in avariciousness, drunkenness,
: gluttony, lewdness, and in all sorts
(Walch, op. cit. sup. col. 1850.
After perusal of such passages as
these, it would seem, after all, that
from the very outset the work so
earnestly pushed forward by Martin
Luther was not reformation of the
moral and religious life of his devoted
followers, but rather a retrogression.
Furthermore, as he himself so strik-
ingly sets forth, it rendered their con-
dition far worse than it had ever been
before under the guidance and re-
straining influence of the Popes, pro-
mitigating the teachings of Christ
From Luthers own words it would yet
1ulCuCl appeal CuoC LILO liz" OJ QUILL
of religion resulted in the people be-
ing possessed and dominated by the
devil-a condition which was leading
them to "all sorts and kinds of shame
and degradation" (Walch op. sit. sup.
col. 1850.
Are, these the results we should be
led to expect from the life labors of a
reformer, of one sent by God to re-
lease man from the shameful bondage
of sin and crime and to raise him to
a higher moral level? Does the con-
dition so graphically outlined above
bear any resemblance to the picture
which history has left us of the lives
of the early Christians, following close.
ly the example and teachings of their
Divine Master and Founder? Even the
prosecutors of the early Christians, as
well as non-Catholic and nom Christian
historians, are forced to speak most
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