modern standpoint Luther appears in the Theses as half Protestant, or
evangelical, half Roman Catholic. In his own view he was altogether
Catholic. His Theses were merely a call: Let there be light! Let our
consciences be duly instructed!

We still have a letter which Luther wrote to Pope Leo X about six months
after he had published the Theses. This letter shows in what an orderly
and quiet way Luther proceeded in his attack upon the traffic in
indulgences, and how much he believed himself in accord with the Pope
and the Church. We shall quote a few statements from this letter: "In
these latter days a jubilee of papal indulgences began to be preached,
and the preachers, thinking everything allowed them under the protection
of your name, dared to teach impiety and heresy openly, to the grave
scandal and mockery of ecclesiastical powers, totally disregarding the
provisions of the Canon Law about the misconduct of officials. . . .
They met with great success, the people were sucked dry on false
pretenses, . . . but the oppressors lived on the fat and sweetness of
the land. They avoided scandals only by the terror of your name, the
threat of the stake, and the brand of heresy, . . . if, indeed, this can
be called avoiding scandals and not rather exciting schisms and revolt
by crass tyranny. . . .

"I privately warned some of the dignitaries of the Church. By some the
admonition was well received, by others ridiculed, by others treated in
various ways, for the terror of your name and the dread of censure are
strong. At length, when I could do nothing else, I determined to stop
their mad career if only for a moment; I resolved to call their
assertions in question. So I published some propositions for debate,
inviting only the more learned to discuss them with me, as ought to be
plain to my opponents from the preface to my Theses. [This was, by the