XVI. Carolostadt, his colleague, such a credulous at- C EN T. tention to their seductions, as naturally flattered s 2 CT. III. them with the hopes of his patronage and favour. PART II. This divine, who was a native of Franconia, was neither destitute of learning nor merit; but imprudence and precipitation were the distinguished lines of his warm and violent character. Of these he gave the most evident marks, in the year 1522, when, during the absence of Luther, he excited no small tumult at Wittemberg, by ordering the images to be taken out of the churches, and other enterprises of a rash and dangerous nature [g]. This tumult was appeased by the sudden return of Luther, whose presence and exhortations calmed the troubled spirits of the people; and here must we look for the origin of the rupture between him and Carolostadt. For the latter immediately retired from Wittemberg to Orlamund, where he not only opposed the sentiments of Luther [g] The reader may perhaps imagine, from Dr Mosheim's account of this matter, that Carolostadt introduced these changes merely by his own authority; but this was far from being the case; the suppression of private masses, the removal of images out of the churches, the abolition of the law which imposed celibacy upon the clergy, which are the changes hinted at by our historian as rash and perilous, were effected by Carolostadt, in conjunction with Bugenhagius, Melancthon, Jonas Amsdorff, and others, and were confirmed by the authority of the elector of Saxony. So that there is some reason to apprehend that one of the principal causes of Luther's displeasure at these changes, was their being introduced in his absence; unless we suppose that he had not so far got rid of the fetters of superstition, as to be sensible of the absurdity and of the pernicious consequences of the use of images, &c. As to the abolition of the law that imposed celibacy on the clergy, it is well known that it was the object of his warmest approbation. This appears from the following expressions in his letter to Amsdorff: "Carolostadii nuptiæ mire placent: novi puellam: comfortet eum Dominus in bonum exemplum inhibendæ et minuendæ Papisticæ libidinis." He confirmed soon afterwards this approbation by his own example. XVI. CENT. Luther concerning the Eucharist [b], but also Szer. I discovered, in several instances, a fanatical turn of PART II mind [1]. He was therefore commanded to leave SECT. III. the elector of Saxony, which he did accordingly, and repaired to Switzerland, where he propagated his doctrines, and taught with success, first at Zurich, and afterwards at Basil, retaining still, however, as long as he lived, a favourable disposition towards the sect of the anabaptists, and, in general, [b] This difference of opinion between Carolostadt and Luther concerning the eucharist, was the true cause of the violent rupture between those two eminent men, and it was very little to the honour of the latter. For, however the explication, which the former gave of the words of the institution of the Lord's Supper, may appear forced, yet the sentiments he entertained of that ordinance as a commemoration of Ci.ist's death, and not as a celebration of his bodily presence, in consequence of a consubstantiation with the bread and wine, are infinitely more rational than the doctrine of Luther, which is loaded with some of the most palpable absurdities of transubstantiation. And if it be supposed that Carolostadt strained the rule of interpretation too far, when he alleged, that Christ pronounced the pronoun this (in the words, This is my body) pointing to his body, and not to the bread, what thall we think of Luther's explaining the nonsensical doctrine of consubstantiation by the similitude of a red hot iron, in which two elements are united, as the body of Christ is with the bread in the eucharist? But of this more in its proper place. [] This censure is with too much truth applicable to Carolostadt.-Though he did not adopt the impious and abominable doctrines of Munzer and his band (as Dr Mosheim" permits the uninstructed reader to imagine by mentioning, in general, as being a friend to these fanatics), yet he certainly was chargeable with some extravagancies that were observeable in the tenets of that wrong-headed tribe. He was for abolishing the civil law, with the municipal laws and constitutions of the German empire, and proposed substituting the law of Moses in their place. He distinguished himself by railing at the academies, declaiming against human learning, and other follies. "Great wits to madness nearly are allied." XVI. general to all enthusiastic teachers, who pretended CENT. to a divine inspiration [k]. Thus then did Lu-SECT. III. ther, in a short space of time, lay this new storm PART. II. that the precipitation of Carolostadt had raised in. the church. Schwenck XXIII. The reforming spirit of Carolostadt, feldt. with respect to the doctrine of Christ's presence in the eucharist, was not extinguished by his exile, in the Lutheran church. It was revived, on the contrary, by a man of much the same turn of mind, a Silesian knight, and counsellor to the duke of Lignitz, whose name was was Gaspar Schwenckfeldt. This nobleman, seconded by Valentine Crautwald, a man of eminent learning, [k] This affirmation of Dr Mosheim wants much to be modified. In the original it stands thus: "Dum vixit vero anabaptistarum, et hominum divina visa jactantium partibus amicum sese ostendit,"-i. e. as long as he lived, he shewed himself a friend to the anabaptists, and other enthusiasts who pretended to divine inspiration. But how could our historian assert this without restriction, since it is well known that Carolostadt, after his banishment from Saxony, composed a treatise against enthusiasm in general, and against the extravagant tenets and the violent proceedings of the anabaptists in particular? Nay, more; this treatise was addressed to Luther, who was so affected by it, that, repenting of the unworthy treatment he had given to Carolostadt, he pleaded his cause, and obtained from the elector a permission for him to return into Saxony. See Gerdes, Vita Carolostadii, in Miscell. Groningens. After this reconciliation with Luther, he composed a treatise on the eucharist, which breathes the most amiable spirit of moderation and humility; and, having perused the writings of Zuingle, where he saw his own sentiments on that subject maintained with the greatest perspicuity and force of evidence, he repaired, a second time, to Zurich, and from thence to Basil, where he was admitted to the offices of pastor and professor of divinity, and where, after having lived in the exemplary and constant practice of every Christian virtue, he died, amidst the warmest effusions of piety and resig. nation, on the 25th of December, 1541. All this is testified solemnly in a letter of the learned and pious Grynæus of Basil, to Pitiscus, chaplain to the elector Palatine, and shews how little credit ought to be given to the assertions of the ignorant Moreri, or to the insinuations of the insidious Bossuet. XVI. CENT. learning, who lived at the court of the prince now SECT. III. mentioned, took notice of many things, which he PART II.looked upon as erroneous and defective, in the opinions and rites established by Luther; and, had not the latter been extremely vigilant, as well as vigorously supported by his friends and adherents, would have undoubtedly brought about a considerable schism in the church. Every circumstance in Schwenckfeldt's conduct and appearance was adapted to give him credit and influence: His morals were pure, and his life, in all respects, exemplary. His exhortations in favour of true and solid piety were warm and persuasive, and his principal zeal was employed in promoting it among the people. By this means he gained the esteem and friendship of many learned and pious men both in the Lutheran and Helvetic churches, who favoured his sentiments, and undertook to defend him against all his adversaries []. Notwithstanding all this he was banished by his sovereign both from the court and from his country, in the year 1528, only because Zuingle had approved of his opinions concerning the eucharist, and declared that they did not differ essentially from his own. From that time the persecuted knight wandered from place to place, under various turns of fortune, until death put an end to his trials in the year 1561 [m]. He had founded a small congregation in Silesia, which were perse cuted [/] See Jo, Conr. Fueslini Centuria I. Epistolar à Reforma toribus Helveticis Scriptar. 169, 175, 225. Museum Helvetic tom. iv. p. 445. [m] Jo. Wigandi Schwenckfeldianismus, Lips. 1586, in 4to. -Conr. Schlusselburgi, Catalogi Hæreticor. lib. x. published at Francfort in the year 1599, in 8vo.-The most accurate accounts of this nobleman have been given by Chr. Aug. Salig. in his Histor. August. Confessionis, tom. iii. lib. xi. p. 951. and by Godf. Arnold, in a German work, entitled, Kirchen und Ketzer Historie, p. 720, both which authors have pleaded the cause of Schwenckfeldt. XVI. cuted and ejected in our times by the popish pos- CENT. sessors of that country; but have been restored to SECT. III. their former habitations and privileges, civil and PART II. religious, since the year 1742, by the present king of Prussia [n]. trine of XXIV. The upright intentions of Schwenck- The docfeldt, and his zeal for the advancement of true Schwenckpiety, deserve, no doubt, the highest commenda- feldt. tion; but the same thing cannot be said of his prudence and judgment. The good man had a natural propensity towards fanaticism, and fondly imagined that he had received a divine commission to propagate his opinions. He differed from Luther, and the other friends of the Reformation, in three points, which it is proper to select from others of less consequence: The first of these points related to the doctrine concerning the eucharist. Schwenckfeldt inverted the following words of Christ: This is my body, and insisted on their being thus understood: My body is "this, i. e. such as this bread which is broken "and consumed: a true and real food, which "nourisheth, satisfieth, and delighteth the soul. 46 66 My blood is this, that is, such in its effects as "the wine, which strengthens and refresheth the "beart." The poor man imagined that this wonderful doctrine had been revealed to him from heaven; which circumstance alone is a sufficient demonstration of his folly. The second point in which he differed from Luther, was in his hypothesis relating to the efficacy of the divine word. He denied, for example, that the external word, which is committed to writing in the Holy Scriptures, was endowed with the power of healing, illuminating, and renewing the mind; and he ascribed this power to the [] See an account of Schwenckfeldt's Confession of Faith, in Jo. Chr. Kocheri Bibliotheca Theologia Symbolica, p. 457 |