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History of the Catholic Church from the Renaissance to the French Revolution — Volume 1 by James MacCaffrey
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himself to the masses of the people he appeared in his true character
as a popular demagogue, hesitating at nothing that was likely to
arouse their indignation against the Roman Church and their enthusiasm
for the movement to which he had devoted his life. In words of fiery
eloquence he recalled to their minds the real and imaginary grievances
of their nation against Rome, the over-weening pride and tyranny of
the spiritual princes, the scandalous lives of many of the
ecclesiastics, and the failure of the Pope and councils to carry
through a scheme of wholesale reform. He called upon them to throw off
the yoke imposed by foreigners on their fathers and themselves, and to
support him in his struggle for the liberty of the people, the
independence of the German nation, and the original purity of the
Gospel, promising them that if only they would range themselves under
his banner, all their grievances, both spiritual and temporal, must
soon be redressed. Had Luther never appeared, or had he been less
gifted as an orator, a writer and a popular leader than he was, a
crisis must have arisen at the time; but his genius and enthusiasm
turned what might have been a trickling stream into a raging torrent,
threatening destruction to beliefs and institutions hitherto regarded
as inviolable. The time was ripe for a reformer, and Luther's only
claim to greatness was his capacity of utilising in a masterly way the
materials, political and religious, that lay ready at his hand.
Religious abuses, social unrest, politics, personal vanities, and the
excesses always attendant upon a great literary revival, were pressed
into his service, and were directed against the Roman Church. And yet
his success fell far short of his expectations. Beyond doubt he
contrived to detach individuals and kingdoms from their obedience to
the Pope and their submission to ecclesiastical authority only to
subject them to the spiritual yoke of secular princes, and to expose
them to doctrinal anarchy subversive of dogmatic religion; but the
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