Identifier: martinluthermanh00mcgi (find matches)
Title: Martin Luther, the man and his work
Year: 1911 (1910s)
Authors: McGiffert, Arthur Cushman, 1861-1933
Subjects: Luther, Martin, 1483-1546
Publisher: New York, The Century Co.
Contributing Library: Princeton Theological Seminary Library
Digitizing Sponsor: MSN

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d no concern.At the time h£ said his first mass he was so overcomewith dread lest he make a mistake in word or gesture,and thus commit a mortal sin, that he almost fled fromthe altar. The experience is a common one with thosewho have some public duty to perform for the firsttime, but mistakes in such a case are not usually inter-preted as sins. It was Luthers religious reading ofthe situation that made it particularly harrowing. And not simply was the sacred ceremony of themass beset with danger to his sensitive conscience, theminute monastic code of manners and morals offeredhim abundant opportunity for sin. Nothing could wellbe ethically more unwholesome than to interpret anyviolation of its thousand and one precepts as an offenseagainst God, and it is not surprising that the youngmonk who was thus interpreting them grew more andmore morbid. Above all, he was troubled because hecould not control his thoughts and feelings. Not exter-nal acts alone seemed evil, but wandering mind and
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JOHANN VoX STAUPITZ Portrait in possession of the Benedictine Convent of St. Peterat Salzburg LIFE AS A MONK 29 unruly emotions and especially the all too frequentlack of real joy and exultation in his devotions. His unhappiness, to be sure, was not constant.Speaking of his own experiences at a later time heonce said: I know a man who has often, though onlyfor brief periods, suffered the pains of hell such as notongue or pen could describe and no one could believe,if he had not himself felt them. If they had lasted fora half or even a tenth part of an hour, he would haveperished altogether and his bones would have crumbledto ashes. In the very nature of the case such agonycould not continue indefinitely. There were periodswhen he was well satisfied with himself and enjoyedpeace with God and his own conscience; seasons, too,when he was thinking of other things and sharing inthe every-day interests of convent life. We get manyhints in his writings that the Erfurt monastery was thescene,

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