The Edict of Worms pulled no punches in its description of Luther. He was “a demon in the appearance of a man, clothed in religious habit to be better able to deceive mankind”[1] and “possessed by some evil spirit.”[2] By his teaching, the edict contended, Luther “institutes a way of life by which people do whatever they please, like beasts,”[3] and “labors to trouble and demolish all religious peace and charity.”[4] He was “an obstinate, schismatic heretic,”[5] who “would not revoke one thing of what he had written until he was convinced otherwise by the Holy Scriptures or by divine authority.”[6] Faithful citizens of the empire were to apprehend Luther and bring him before the emperor to be punished. (The edict did not authorize individuals to kill Luther.) Those who assisted in his capture, the edict promised, would be “rewarded generously for their good work.”[7] Luther’s books were not to be printed, sold, read, or owned, but rather burned publicly, so that the Catholic faith might be preserved. Any who defied the emperor’s decree and supported Luther were also to be punished, with their goods confiscated.
In anticipation of such an edict, Elector Frederick arranged for Luther to be seized as he was returning to Wittenberg. In the Wartburg castle Luther could be protected from those eager to earn a generous reward from the emperor. While the edict did make Luther an outlaw, it was never published in Wittenberg or anywhere in Electoral Saxony and therefore never enforced there. It seems likely that Charles and Elector Frederick arrived at a secret agreement to ensure that the edict would not go into legal effect in Electoral Saxony.[8] In the end, Charles could show himself faithful to the Roman church in supporting the papal bull excommunicating Luther, thereby securing the approval of the papacy, and a friend to Elector Frederick, whose political support he needed. Behind the scenes the Lord of the Church was actively guiding it all, protecting the Reformer’s life and causing the gospel to sound forth.
While Luther did not have to live as a fugitive when he finally returned to Wittenberg the following March, the edict did have an impact on Luther. He could not travel as freely as he might have previously, even within Germany, because there were many areas in which the Edict of Worms had been published and would be enforced.[9] Lull and Nelson argue that the edict not only limited his travel, but also placed an extraordinary strain on him for the next twenty-five years of his life, physically and emotionally, as he regularly had to wonder about his survival.[10] While Luther expressed great confidence in the Lord’s protecting hand, which allowed him to rest secure, he also recognized that following Christ meant carrying a cross. He was not shocked by the suffering he faced, since no servant is above his master. If they persecuted Christ, then they would persecute him, too (John 15:20). Christ’s disciples, Luther recognized, must deny themselves, take up their cross, and follow him (Mark 8:34). As the Spirit enabled, Luther embraced the cross because he knew what the Lord does through the suffering of his children: he forms theologians. He trains them to focus on the promises of God no matter what they see or feel.
[1]. Jensen, 89.
[2]. Jensen, 99.
[3]. Jensen, 87. This remains the charge against the teaching of righteousness through faith in Christ alone, without the works of the law. While some people will indeed consider the message of full and free forgiveness a license to sin, that does not mean we must therefore attach conditions to the gospel to preserve upright living.
[4]. Jensen, 89.
[5]. Jensen, 101.
[6]. Jensen, 95.
[7]. Jensen, 103.
[8]. Schilling, 192. Brecht mentions that Frederick requested “that he be exempted from serving Luther with the mandate against him.” Brecht, 474. Hendrix offers this rationale for the emperor’s action: “Charles had calculated that it was better to let Luther live in exile than to make him a heroic martyr whose death might convulse the nation.” Hendrix, 108.
[9]. As a result of the Edict of Worms, for example, Luther could not be in Augsburg for the presentation of the Augsburg Confession to Charles V in 1530.
[10]. Lull and Nelson, 135–36.