CHAPTER XVI

. THE DIVINE MISSION AND ITS MANIFESTATIONS _pages_ 109-168

1. GROWTH OF LUTHER’S IDEA OF HIS DIVINE MISSION.

His conviction of his special call and enlightenment; his determination to brook no doubt; all his actions controlled from on high; finds a confirmation of his opinion in the extent of his success and in his deliverance from his enemies; his untiring labours and disregard for personal advancement; the problem presented by the union in him of the fanatic mystic with the homely, cheerful man enjoying to the full the good things that come his way; his superstitions; his “temptations” promote his progress in wisdom. His consciousness of his Mission intensified at critical junctures, for instance, during his stay at the Wartburg; his letter to Staupitz in 1522; his statement: It is God’s Word. Let what cannot stand fall _pages_ 109-128

2. HIS MISSION ALLEGED AGAINST THE PAPISTS.

How Luther describes the Pope and his Court; his call to reform Catholics generally; his caricature of Erasmus; how later Protestants have taken Luther’s claims. Luther’s apocalyptic dreams; his exegesis of Daniel viii.; the Papal Antichrist: A system rather than a man; Luther’s work on Chronology. The Monk-Calf as a Divine sign of the abomination of Popery and monasticism. Luther’s “Amen” to Melanchthon’s Pope-Ass _pages_ 128-153

3. PROOFS OF THE DIVINE MISSION. MIRACLES AND PROPHECIES.

Luther on the proofs required to establish an extraordinary mission. The distinction between ordinary and extraordinary calls. His appeal to the rapid diffusion of his doctrine; the real explanation of this spread not far to seek. His appeal to his doctorate, to his appointment by authority, and, finally, to the “Word of Truth” which was the burden of his preaching. Luther’s account of the “miracle” of Florentina’s escape from her convent. His unwillingness to ask for the grace of working miracles; his demand that the fanatics should work miracles to substantiate their claims; his allusions to the power of his own prayer in restoring the sick to health. The gift of prophecy; Luther loath to predict anything “lest it should come true.” His own so-called predictions. Earlier predictions of mystics and astrologers taken by him as referring to himself _pages_ 153-168

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