Quote of the Day

On Luther's posting of the 95 theses:

…It was not the effect of man’s policy, but of God’s power. If Luther had been urged forward solely by human passions, he would have sunk under his fears; his errors, his scruples, would have smothered the fire kindled in his soul; and he would have shed upon the church a mere passing ray, as many zealous and pious men have done whose names have been handed down to us. But now God’s time was come; the work could not be stopped; the emancipation of the Church must be accomplished…he(Luther)felt himself alone in the Church, alone against Rome, alone at the foot of that ancient and formidable building whose foundations penetrated to the centre of the earth, whose walls soared to the clouds, and against whom he had aimed so daring a blow…he trembled at the thought that he had the whole authority of the Church against him; to withdraw from that authority, to be deaf to that voice which people had obeyed for centuries, to set himself in opposition to that Church which he had been accustomed from his infancy to venerate as the mother of the faithful,……he, and insignificant monk……was an effort too great for human power! No step cost him dearer than this. And it was this, accordingly, which decided the Reformation.

…Shall we not recognize the hand of God in those grand manifestations, those great men, those mighty nations, which arise and start as it were from the dust of the earth, and communicate a fresh impulse, a new form and destiny to the human race? Shall we not acknowledge him in those heroes who spring from society at appointed epochs – who display a strength and activity beyond the ordinary limits of humanity…?…. In history, God should be acknowledged and proclaimed. The history of the world should be set forth as the annals of the government of the Sovereign King.

J. H.  Merle D'aubigne