Page 59 - 08 Luther Before the Diet
P. 59
eternal interests are concerned, God wills not
that man should submit unto man. For such
submission in spiritual matters is a real
worship, and ought to be rendered solely to
the Creator.”—Ibid., b. 7, ch. 11.
On the journey from Worms, Luther's
reception was even more flattering than
during his progress thither. Princely
ecclesiastics welcomed the excommunicated
monk, and civil rulers honored the man
whom the emperor had denounced. He was
urged to preach, and, notwithstanding the
imperial prohibition, he again entered the
pulpit. “I never pledged myself to chain up
the word of God,” he said, “nor will I.”—
Martyn 1:420.
He had not been long absent from Worms,
when the papists prevailed upon the emperor
to issue an edict against him. In this decree
