Monk, Doctor, and Man of the Bible
The relevant authors who published in Strasbourg were all aware that Luther was an Augustinian friar, but the sign of Luther as monk was probably the least developed in the text of the Strasbourg pamphlet literature. It may, of course, underlie the frequent comments on Luther's piety. For example, the character Karsthans (a stereotypical hoe-carrying peasant) in the treatise of the same name remarked that he had heard much good said of Luther, that he was "a pious Christian man."[6] Similarly, in A Beautiful Dialogue and Conversation Between a Pastor and a Mayor Concerning the Evil Condition of the Clergy and the Evil Dealings of the Worldly , probably written by the Dominican and future reformer of Strasbourg Martin Bucer, one character spoke of "the pious Luther" and another characterized him as "pious and right."[7] Such comments may have been inspired by Luther's monastic vocation, but they may just as well be linked to other signs such as "man of the Bible" and "inspired saint."
Luther's learning attracted considerably more attention than his monastic status, which is hardly surprising when one considers that many of the authors of this early pamphlet literature in defense of Luther were themselves humanists who greatly prized learning, both Luther's and their own. In Karsthans , Karsthans' son reported that the Dominican "Master of Heretics," Jakob von Hoogstraten (1454–1527), thought it a bad idea to dispute with Luther and his adherents because they were "too learned."[8] This was, of course, a tie-in to the earlier Reuchlin controversy, when a group of prominent humanists took on Jakob von Hochstraten and the other Dominicans who were attacking Johannes Reuchlin (1455–1522) for his defense of Jewish literature. In A Beautiful Dialogue , the priest said that he had heard that all the learned were on Luther's side.[9] Finally, in Declaration of the Celebrated University of Erfurt In Defense and Protection of, and Administration of Justice Concerning, the Christian Servant of God and Teacher, Doctor Martin Luther ,[10] the translator Wolfgang Rüßen, in his letter of dedication described this formal document as showing that the University of Erfurt had concluded "that the writings of Martin
Luther are just and Christian,"[11] and he termed Luther "an incisive and precise theologian," an "Evangelical teacher," and an "innocent revealer of truth."[12]
The one theological issue that all Luther's defenders agreed on, and uniformly approved, was that Luther based his teachings on Scripture alone. Luther's image as a "man of the Bible" was ground on this insistence. In Concerning the Conformed-to-Christ and Properly Grounded Teaching of Doctor Martin Luther , the Augustinian Michael Stifel (1486/87–1567) announced in the title, for example, his conviction that Luther's teaching was conformed to Christ and properly based on Scripture alone. He concluded his verse pamphlet with the ringing challenge,
The truth is revealed
[And] in no way divided
If Luther is a heretic
Then who on earth writes properly?
If then the Scripture is false, incorrect,
Then that confirms the screams of its enemy.
But the Scripture is true, constant, firm
Made lustrous by Christ himself.
In comparison to which all human trifles are lies
Without Scripture, sent by the devil.
'Scripture, Scripture!' cries Luther publicly
And risks his head, neck, and skin on it.
Do you wish to silence Luther? Give him Scripture,
Otherwise your teaching is pure poison.[13]
In Karsthans , the character "Murnar" admitted that he had hoped by the use of sneering words not to be defeated by Luther in disputation, but Luther wanted to evaluate everything according to the gospel and the letters of Paul, which "Murnar" had not much studied.[14] A bit later "Karsthans" expressed the opinion that Luther was a "thousand times more skilled telling the common, natural meaning of Scripture than Murner."[15] The author of A Beautiful Dialogue grounded his whole argument on the insistence that Scripture was the sole judge of right belief. One of his characters stated at the outset that Luther "grounds all his writings in right faith and out of the holy gospel and out of Saint Paul's teaching and leads us out of many entanglements into which the clergy has for a long time gotten us on account of money and goods."[16] In A Pleasant Christian and Godly Reminder , the nobleman Hartmuth von Cronberg insisted that Luther's position was clearly based in Scripture while the pope had no Scripture with
which to refute Luther. Even he, a layman and one of those of little understanding, could prove this on the basis of Scripture.[17] In the anonymous A Pleasant Argument, Conversation, Question and Answer of Three Persons, Namely a Curialist, a Nobleman, and a Burgher ,[18] the curialist in the dialogue, of all characters, repeatedly insisted that Luther's teachings were grounded firmly in Scripture.[19] Luther always wished the argument to be based on Scripture and proved his positions with Scripture.[20] In his Against Murnar's Song , Michael Stifel wrote that Luther insisted vehemently that one abide by Christ's words and understand them the way they were spoken.[21] And he summed up the conviction of all these authors when he wrote, "Luther speaks well when he says that one should judge all books according to the Scripture, [to determine] whether they are right or not."[22]