Excerpt from The Great Renunciation: Leaves From the Story of Luther's Life The narrative throughout has received its coloring from the condition of the Roman papacy, but it is not intended to be a mere description of the corrupt hier archy of the day. That is merely the stage setting for the scenes here depicted, the antithetical background for the positive truths which are forging their way to the center of the stage. It is in behalf of these truths. With their priceless value. Their perennial freshness. And their immortal vitality. That these sketches were attempted. Rome. With all its prestige and power, is, after all a mere incident in God's grand design of world order: his truth, and the constant battling to which it is calling loyal hearts all the time, are the one great matter of primary importance and abiding interest to all who take life seriously. To enable the reader to acquaint himself directly and with some degree of thoroughness with the real principles for which Luther fought, the important writings and letters of Luther during this period have been either reproduced entire or sketched in exhaustive summaries in the body of this tale and in appendices, particularly the three memorable writings which have made the year 1520 the great year in the life of the Reformer, the year when virtually the program of the entire Reformation was written. The author hopes to be forgiven for inserting here a personal reminiscence which has had some bearing on the resolution to write this review. At the time of his entering the theological seminary in 1883 the encyclical of Leo XIII, in which Luther is branded as an apostate and revolutionary, had just been published; The first evening lecture by the president of the institution to which the author listened, dwelt. In its introductory por tions, on the appalling effrontery of a pope lauded for his intelligence and liberality in hurling such an insult at millions of enlightened persons in our times. The impressions received during that evening lecture have never been effaced from the writer's mind, and he has bent his studies for many years to the effort of discover ing what truth there might be in the charge that Luther was a renegade to the faith of all the ages and a seditious person. The present review is part of the answer which he has been able to wrest from the pages of the history of Luther's own time. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.