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Luther’s “Appeal to his Imperial Majesty and the Christian Nobility of Germany, on the Reformation of Christianity”

In June 24th, 1520, Martin Luther published his famous “Appeal to his Imperial Majesty and the Christian Nobility of Germany, on the Reformation of Christianity”. It is a standing protest against the Papacy, and shows the true issues which started the Protestant Reformation.

“It is not from presumption that I, who am only one of the people, undertake to address your lordships. The misery and oppression endured at this moment by all the States of Christendom, and more especially by Germany, wring from me a cry of distress. I must call for aid; I must see whether God will not give His Spirit to some one of our countrymen, and stretch out a hand to our unhappy nation. God has given us a young and generous prince (the emperor Charles V), and thus filled our hearts with high hopes. But we too, must, on our own part, do all we can.

“Now the first thing necessary, is, not to confide in our own great strength, or our own high wisdom. When any work otherwise good is begun in self-confidence, God casts it down, and destroys it. Frederick I, Frederick II, and many other emperors besides, before whom the world trembled, have been trampled upon by the popes, because they trusted more to their own strength than to God. They could not but fall. In this war we have to combat the powers of hell; and our mode of conducting it must be to expect nothing from the strength of human weapons — to trust humbly in the Lord, and look still more to the distress of Christendom than to the crimes of the wicked. It may be that, by a different procedure, the work would begin under more favorable appearances; but suddenly, in the heat of the contest, confusion would arise, bad men would cause fearful disaster, and the world would be deluged with blood. The greater the power, the greater the danger, when things are not done in the fear of the Lord.

“The Romans, to guard against every species of reformation, have surrounded themselves with three walls. When attacked by the temporal power, they denied its jurisdiction over them, and maintained the superiority of the spiritual power. When tested by Scripture, they replied, that none could interpret it but the pope. When threatened with a council, they again replied that none but the pope should convene it. They have thus carried off from us the three rods destined to chastise them, and abandoned themselves to all sorts of wickedness. But now may God be our help, and give us one of the trumpets which threw down the wall of Jericho. Let us blow down the walls of paper and straw which the Romans have built around them; and lift up the rods which punished the wicked, by bringing the wiles of the devil to the light of day.

“It has been said that the pope, the bishops, the priests, and all those who people convents, form the spiritual or ecclesiastical estate; and that princes, nobles, citizens, and peasants, form the secular or lay estate. This is a specious tale. But let no man be alarmed. All Christians belong to the spiritual estate; and the only difference between them is in the functions which they fulfill. We have all but one baptism, but one faith; and these constitute the spiritual man. Unction, tonsure, ordination, consecration, given by the pope, or by a bishop, may make a hypocrite, but can never make a spiritual man. We are all consecrated priests by baptism, as St. Peter says: ‘You are a royal priesthood;’ although all do not actually perform the offices of kings and priests, because no one can assume what is common to all without the common consent. But if this consecration of God did not belong to us, the unction of the pope could not make a single priest.

“If ten brothers, the sons of one king, and possessing equal claims to his inheritance should choose one of their number to administer for them, they would all be kings, and yet only one of them would be the administrator of their common power. So it is in the Church. Were several pious laymen banished to a desert, and were they, from not having among them a priest consecrated by a bishop, to agree in selecting one of their number, whether married or not, he would be a truly a priest, as if all the bishops of the world had consecrated him. In this way were Augustine, Ambrose, and Cyprian elected. Hence it follows, that laymen and priests, princes and bishops or, as we have said, ecclesiastics and laics, have nothing to distinguish them but their functions. They have all the same condition, but they have not all the same work to perform.

“This being so, why should not the magistrate correct the clergy? The secular power was appointed by God for the punishment of the wicked and the protection of the good, and must be left free to act throughout Christendom, without respect of persons, be they pope, bishops, priests, monks, or nuns. St. Paul says to all Christians, Let every soul (and, consequently, the pope also) be subject to the higher powers; for they bear not the sword in vain (Rom. 13:1, 4).

“It is monstrous to see him who calls himself the vicar of Jesus Christ displaying a magnificence unequaled by that of any emperor. Is this the way in which he proves his resemblance to lowly Jesus, or humble Peter? He is, it is said, the lord of the world. But Christ, whose vicar he boasts to be, has said: My kingdom is not of this world. Can the power of a vicegerent exceed that of his prince?

“Do you know of what use the cardinals are? I will tell you, Italy and Germany have many convents, foundations, and benefices, richly endowed. How could their revenues be brought to Rome? . . . Cardinals were created; then on them cloisters and prelacies were bestowed; and at this hour . . . Italy is almost a desert — the convents are destroyed — the bishoprics devoured — the towns in decay — the inhabitants corrupted — worship dying out, and preaching abolished. . . . Why? — Because all the revenue of the churches go to Rime. Never would the Turk himself have so ruined Italy.

“And now that they have thus sucked the blood of their won country they come into Germany. They being gently; but let us be on our guard. Germany will soon become like Italy. We have already some cardinals. Their thought is — before the rustic Germans comprehend our design, they will have neither bishopric, nor convent, nor benefice, nor penny, nor farthing. Antichrist must possess the treasures of the earth. Thirty or forty cardinals will be elected in a single day; to one will be given Bamberg, to another the duchy of Wurzburg, and rich benefices will be annexed, until the churches and cities are laid desolate. And then the pope will say: ‘I am the vicar of Christ, and the pastor of His flocks. Let the Germans be resigned.’ How do we Germans submit to such robbery and concussion on the part of the pope? If France has successfully resisted, why do we allow ourselves to be thus sported with and insulted? Ah! if they deprived us of nothing but our goods! But they ravage churches, plunder the sheep of Christ, abolish the worship, and suppress the Word of God.

“Let us endeavor to put a stop to this desolation and misery. If we would march against the Turks, let us begin with the worst species of them. If we hang pickpockets, and behead robbers, let us not allow Roman avarice to escape — avarice, which is the greatest of all thieves and robbers; and that, too, in the name of St. Peter and Jesus Christ. Who can endure it? Who can be silent? Is not all that the pope possesses stolen? He neither purchased it nor inherited it from St. Peter, nor acquired it by the sweat of his own brow. Where, then, did he get it?

“Is it not ridiculous, that the pope should pretend to be the lawful heir of the empire? Who gave it to him? Was it Jesus Christ, when He said: The kings of the earth exercise lordship over them; but it shall not be so with you? (Luke 22:25, 26.) How can he govern an empire and at the same time preach, pray, study, and take care of the poor? Jesus Christ forbade His disciples to carry with them gold or clothes, because the office of the ministry can not be performed without freedom from every other care; yet the pope would govern the empire, and at the same time remain pope.

“Let the pope renounce every species of title to the kingdom of Naples and Sicily. He has no more right to it than I have. His possession of Bologna, Imola, Ravenna, Romagna, Marche d’Ancona, etc., is unjust, and contrary to the commands of Jesus Christ. No man, says, St. Paul, who goeth a warfare entangleth himself with the affairs of this life (2 Tim. 2:2). And the pope, who pretends to take the lead in the war of the gospel, entangles himself more with the affairs of this life than any emperor or king. He must be disencumbered of all this toil. The emperor should put a Bible and a prayer book into the hands of the pope, that the pope may leave kings to govern, and devote himself to preaching and prayer.

“The first thing necessary is to banish from all the countries of Germany the legates of the pope and the pretended blessings which they sell us at the weight of gold, and which are sheer imposture. They take our money; and why? — For legalizing ill-gotten gain, for loosing oaths, and teaching us to break faith, to sin, and go direct to hell. . . Hearest thou, O pope! — not pope most holy, but pope most sinful. . . May God, from His place in heaven, cast down thy throne into the infernal abyss!

“And now I come to a lazy band, which promises much, but performs little. Be not angry, dear sirs, my intention is good; what I have to say is a truth at once sweet and bitter, — viz., that it is no longer necessary to build cloisters for mendicant monks. Good God! we have only too many of them; and would they were all suppressed. . . To wander vagabond over the country, never has done, and never will do good.

“Into what a state have the clergy fallen, and how many priests are burdened with women, and children, and remorse, while no one comes to their assistance! Let the pope and the bishops run their course, and let those who will, go to perdition; all very well! but I am resolved to unburden my conscience, and open my mouth freely, however pope, bishops, and others, may be offended! . . . I say, then, that according to the institution of Jesus Christ and the apostles, every town ought to have a pastor or bishop, and that this pastor may have a wife, as St. Paul writes to Timothy: Let the bishop be the husband of one wife (1 Tim. 3:2), and as is still practiced in the Greek Church. But the devil has persuaded the pope, as St. Paul tell Timothy (1 Tim. 4:3), to forbid the clergy to marry. And hence evils so numerous that it is impossible to give them in detail. What is to be done? How are we to save the many pastors who are blameworthy only in this, that they live with a female, to whom they wish with all their heart to be lawfully united? Ah! let them save their conscience! — let them take this woman in lawful wedlock, and live decently with her, not troubling themselves whether it pleases or displeases the pope. The salvation of your soul is of greater moment than arbitrary and tyrannical laws — laws not imposed by the Lord.

“It is time to take the case of the Bohemians into serious consideration, that hatred and envy may cease and union be again established. . . In this way must heretics be refuted by Scripture, as the ancient Fathers did, and not subdued by fire. On a contrary system, executioners would be the most learned of doctors. Oh! would to God that each party among us would shake hands with each other in fraternal humility, rather than harden ourselves in the idea of our power and right! Charity is more necessary than the Roman papacy. I have now done what was in my power. If the pope or his people oppose it, they will have to give an account. The pope should be ready to renounce the popedom, and all his wealth, and all his honors, if he could thereby save single soul. But he would see the universe go to destruction sooner than yield a hairbreadth of his usurped power. I am clear of these things.

“I much fear the universities will become wide gates to hell, if due care is not taken to explain the Holy Scriptures, and engrave it on the hearts of the students. My advices to every person is, not to place his child where the Scripture does not reign paramount. Every institution in which the studies carried on, lead to a relaxed consideration of the Word of God, must prove corrupting.

“I presume, however, that I have struck too high a note, proposed many things that will appear impossible, and been somewhat too severe on the many errors which I have attacked. But what can I do? Better that the world be offended with me than God! . . . The utmost which it can take from me is life. I have often offered to make peace with my opponents, but through their instrumentality, God has always obliged me to speak out against them. I have still a chant upon Rome in reserve; and if they have an itching ear, I will sing it to them at full pitch. Rome! do ye understand me?

“If my cause is just, it must be condemned on the earth, and justified only by Christ in heaven. Therefore let pope, bishops, priests, monks, doctors, come forward, display all their zeal, and give full vent to their fury. Assuredly they are just the people who ought to persecute the truth, as in all ages they have persecuted it.” (Jean Henri Merle D’Aubigne, History of the Reformation in the sixteenth century, William Collins, Sons and Company, 1870, pp. 158-161).

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Roman Standards in Sight

The apporaching army...

“Those who know what Rome has once been are best able to appreciate what she is.” Henry Hallam

The separation of Church and State, which is one of the pillars of the U.S. Constitution, is being threatened as never before. The American Republic is being charmed by the overtures from Rome, and will soon be entangled by it. In the past, Protestants were taught to “abhor popery” and held that “to seek harmony with Rome would be disloyalty to God”. But one would have to search diligently in order to find people that even understand the meaning of true Protestantism.

History does not fail to inform the present generation about the course taken by the Papacy in its war against freedom. Whenever it was in power and had undisputed sway over the minds of its subjects, it held that obedience to the Pope was above all other duties, even above one’s conscience. The unbelievable assertions of this haughty power can be seen in its correspondence with other sovereigns.

Pope Nicholas I (April 24, 858, to Nov. 13, 867), in a letter to the Byzantine Emperor Michael III over a controversy that arose between the Emperor and the See of Rome, wrote the following words:

Pope Nicholas I
Pope Nicholas I (858-867 A.D.)

“Know, prince, that the vicars of Christ are above the judgment of mortals; and that the most powerful sovereigns have no right to punish the crimes of popes, how enormous soever they may be. Your thoughts should be occupied by the efforts which they accomplish for the correction of the Church, without disquieting yourself about their actions; for no matter how scandalous or criminal may be the debaucheries of the pontiffs, you should obey them, for they are seated on the chair of St. Peter. …

“Cease, then, to oppose our rights, and obey our orders, or else we will, in our turn, raise our power against yours, and will say to the nations, People, cease to bow your heads before your proud masters. Overthrow these impious sovereigns, these sacrilegious kings, who have arrogated to themselves the right of commanding men, and of taking away the liberty of their brethren.

“Fear, then, our wrath, and the thunders of our vengeance; for Jesus Christ has appointed us with his own mouth absolute judges of all men; and kings themselves are submitted to our authority. The power of the Church has been consecrated before your reign, and it will subsist after it” (Louis Marrie de Cormenin, A Complete History of the Popes of Rome, Vol. 1, 1851 ed., p. 243).

In replying to the bishops of Lorraine, Pope Nicholas used the following extraordinary language, which depicts Rome’s understanding of the loyalty of all its subjects, regardless of their citizenship:

“You affirm that you are submissive to your sovereign, in order to obey the words of the apostle Peter, who said, ‘Be subject to the prince, because he is above all mortals in this world.’ But you appear to forget that we, as the vicar of Christ, have the right to judge all men; thus, before obeying kings, you owe obedience to us; and if we declare a monarch guilty, you should reject him from your communion until we pardon him.

“We alone have the power to bind and to loose, to absolve Nero, and to condemn him; and Christians can not, under penalty of excommunication, execute other judgment than ours, which alone is infallible. People are not the judges of their princes; they should obey, without murmuring, the most iniquitous orders; they should bow their foreheads under the chastisements which it pleases kings to inflict on them; for a sovereign can violate the fundamental laws of the State, and seize upon the wealth of citizens, by imposts or by confiscations; he can even dispose of their lives, without any of his subjects having the right to address to him simple remonstrances. But if we declare a king heretical and sacrilegious, — if we drive him from the Church, — clergy and laity, whatever their rank, are freed from their oaths of fidelity, and may revolt against his power…” (Ibid., p. 242).

In inciting Charles the Bald against the King of Lorraine, Nicholas said:

“… and we order you, in the name of religion, to invade his States, burn his cities, and massacre his people, whom we render responsible for the resistance of their bad prince.” (Ibid., p. 243).

When Bagoris, King of Bulgaria, who had recently become a Catholic, inquired of the Pope if he had sinned in compelling his subjects to become catholics, even putting to death those who refused, Nicholas replied:

“You advise us that you have caused your subjects to be baptized without their consent, and that you have exposed yourself to so violent a revolt as to have incurred the risk of your life. I glorify you for having maintained your authority by putting to death those wandering sheep who refused to enter the fold; and you not only have not sinned, by showing a holy rigor, but I even congratulate you on having opened the kingdom of heaven to the people submitted to your rule. A king need not fear to command massacres, when these will retain his subjects in obedience, or cause them to submit to the faith of Christ, and God will reward him in this world, and in eternal life, for these murders.” (Ibid., p. 244).

This haughty despot is now called “Saint Nicholas the Great”. The principles which he expounded are far from being recanted by the Church. Every American, who truly understands what American citizenship really is, should be alarmed to see the approach of this power to the “land of the free”. When will people awake to their danger?

“The pacific tone of Rome in the United States does not imply a change of heart. She is tolerant where she is helpless. Says Bishop O’Connor: ‘Religious liberty is merely endured until the opposite can be carried into effect without peril to the Catholic world.’ The Catholic Review says: ‘Protestantism, of every form, has not, and never can have, any right where Catholicity is triumphant.’ (A strange kind of catholicity!) The archbishop of St. Louis once said: ‘Heresy and unbelief are crimes; and in Christian countries, as in Italy and Spain, for instance, where all the people are Catholics, and where the Catholic religion is an essential part of the law of the land, they are punished as other crimes.’” (Josiah Strong, Our Country, p. 47).

Pope Francis in America 2015
U.S. President Barak Obama and Pope Francis together at the White House, September 23, 2015.

These are the last days of American Republic. Soon the Roman standards will be flying over this Nation. The Constitution will be replaced by an Imperial Religious Despotism, and Protestantism, which escaped its death penalty in the Old World, will be opposed by its unabated foe. But we cannot wait in silence, as if we willingly accepted the situation. Against the Papal encroachments, we put forth a most decided PROTEST! Where are the defenders of freedom? How are they unable to see what’s coming? Have they failed to learn from history?

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And now he resigns…

John Boehner resigns...
John Boehner resigns after accomplishing his stated goal.

September 25, 2015, just one day after fulfilling his stated 20-year goal of bringing the Pope to speak before a joint session of the U.S. Congress, catholic Speaker for the House John Boehner resigns! He seems to have accomplished his [catholic] goal and felt no need of remaining in Congress for the sake of the Nation. It surely makes us wonder if that was his purpose for being there. And if so, what other agendas are actually being carried on to bring this Protestant Government back to Rome by men in high responsible positions.

Here’s his statement expressing his role in inviting “three different Popes to come and address a joint session of Congress” in the last 20 years.

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Revelation 13 is coming true!

Pope Francis in the U.S. Congress
Pope Francis speaking to the U.S. Congress, September 24, 2015.

“And I beheld another beast coming up out of the earth; and he had two horns like a lamb, and he spake as a dragon. And he exerciseth all the power of the first beast before him, and causeth the earth and them which dwell therein to worship the first beast, whose deadly wound was healed. And he doeth great wonders, so that he maketh fire come down from heaven on the earth in the sight of men, and deceiveth them that dwell on the earth by the means of those miracles which he had power to do in the sight of the beast; saying to them that dwell on the earth, that they should make an image to the beast, which had the wound by a sword, and did live. And he had power to give life unto the image of the beast, that the image of the beast should both speak, and cause that as many as would not worship the image of the beast should be killed. And he causeth all, both small and great, rich and poor, free and bond, to receive a mark in their right hand, or in their foreheads: And that no man might buy or sell, save he that had the mark, or the name of the beast, or the number of his name. Here is wisdom. Let him that hath understanding count the number of the beast: for it is the number of a man; and his number is Six hundred threescore and six.” Revelation 13:11-18.

“By the decree enforcing the institution of the papacy in violation of the law of God, our nation [the United States] will disconnect herself fully from righteousness. When Protestantism shall stretch her hand across the gulf to grasp the hand of the Roman power, when she shall reach over the abyss to clasp hands with spiritualism, when, under the influence of this threefold union, our country shall repudiate every principle of its Constitution as a Protestant and republican government, and shall make provision for the propagation of papal falsehoods and delusions, then we may know that the time has come for the marvelous working of Satan and that the end is near.

“Through the two great errors, the immortality of the soul and Sunday sacredness, Satan will bring the people under his deceptions. While the former lays the foundation of spiritualism, the latter creates a bond of sympathy with Rome. The Protestants of the United States will be foremost in stretching their hands across the gulf to grasp the hand of spiritualism; they will reach over the abyss to clasp hands with the Roman power; and under the influence of this threefold union, this country will follow in the steps of Rome in trampling on the rights of conscience. . . .

“Papists, Protestants, and worldling will alike accept the form of godliness without the power, and they will see in this union a grand movement for the conversion of the world and the ushering in of the long-expected millennium.

“When our nation [the United States] shall so abjure the principles of its government as to enact a Sunday law, Protestantism will in this act join hands with popery; it will be nothing else than giving life to the tyranny which has long been eagerly watching its opportunity to spring again into active despotism.”

Ellen G. White, Testimonies for the Church, Vol. 5, p. 451.

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They are joining hands!

US and Vatican flags in the White House!

“And I beheld another beast coming up out of the earth; and he had two horns like a lamb, and he spake as a dragon. And he exerciseth all the power of the first beast before him, and causeth the earth and them which dwell therein to worship the first beast, whose deadly wound was healed.” Revelation 13:11-12.

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Liberty countdown…

September 24, 2015, will be one of the most regretful days of American history. This day will be eternally remembered as the day in which this free country, who prized civil and religious freedoms as more important than life itself, has, through its legislative branch, opened its arms to receive the representative of the Catholic Church — a system which historically has been the enemy of religious freedom and liberty of conscience.

“The Constitution of the United States guarantees liberty of conscience. Nothing is dearer or more fundamental. Pope Pius IX., in his Encyclical Letter of August 15, 1854, said: ‘The absurd and erroneous doctrines or ravings in defense of liberty of conscience, are a most pestilential error—a pest, of all others, most to be dreaded in a State.’ The same pope, in his Encyclical Letter of December 8, 1864, anathematized ‘those who assert the liberty of conscience and of religious worship,’ also ‘all such as maintain that the church may not employ force.’” (Josiah Strong, Our Country, 1885, p. 47).

The laws and principles of the Church of Rome are absolutely antagonistic to the laws and principles of the United States of America. History has been stained with the crimes committed by Rome. It was to prevent the despotic rule of the Church that the framers of the Constitution established a clear separation between church and State. The Protestant Reformation made it possible for people to follow their conscience in matters of religious duty, but the Romish Church, seeking to bring back those countries which had broken its yoke, launched the counter-reformation, and set itself to accomplish by craftiness what it could not do by force. Unfortunately, Protestants seem to be blindfolded to what the Papal Church is endeavoring. They imagine that the Church has changed, but it has not. It will never relinquish its claim to infallibility.

“The pacific tone of Rome in the United States does not imply a change of heart. She is tolerant where she is helpless. Says Bishop O’Connor: ‘Religious liberty is merely endured until the opposite can be carried into effect without peril to the Catholic world.’” (Idem).

By invitation of John Boehner, the Speaker for the House, Pope Francis will “make history as the first Pope to ever address a joint meeting of Congress”! Can you imagine if the founding fathers could see this happening? What could be worse than that? Religious freedom was as dear to themselves as their civil freedom. Protestantism and Republicanism were the pillars that made this country achieve its greatness. But, as someone has said, “ignorance is the enemy of Freedom”. If you don’t know what Romanism really is, you will most likely be charmed by it. But, fortunately enough, history has preserved the evil deeds this system has perpetrated. Books such as “History of Protestantism”, by James A. Wylie, “Ecclesiastical Empire”, by A. T. Jones, “Fifty Years in the Church of Rome”, by Father Chiniquy, and a host of other books, will serve to enlighten anyone who whishes to know the character of this despotic system.

It does not take long to find that wherever the Romish Church has had its power in unrestricted sway, the fires of persecution burned hot against those who would not yield their God-given right, the right of conscience and of religious liberty. The Papal system has murdered more than 60 million people in the Middle Ages, and, should it receive the same power again, that number might seem a small fraction of the slain. For more than fifteen hundred years, it has proved again and again that it is fundamentally contrary to liberty. By torturing those who disagreed with them, and burning at the stake those who would not recant, this tyrant has silenced the protest of the “dissenters”.

Then what reason can be given for the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States to receive the leader of a system so contrary to civil and religious freedom? And by what misfortune is he speaking to the LEGISLATIVE branch of this country? Do they suppose that they can now befriend this despotic system? Do they even fathom that by this act they will, in future developments, throw this country into a religious despotism? Should we be silent when we see the danger approaching? Should we allow it without any protest? Absolutely not!

We, the free people of this country, do most decidedly PROTEST against this attempt against liberty! We protest against the Senate and the House of Representatives inviting the Bishop of Rome to speak to them. We protest against the breaking the safeguards of this free Republic. We protest against this union with the papacy and we warn all the people of the world that this will be one of the last steps before Earth’s final destruction. Free America will join hands with the enemies of freedom, and will form an image to the beast (Revelation 13:14). Then, this country will become the persecutor, and Protestants will too late regret this unwise step in inviting the enemies of Christ to be their friends.

What can you do:

  1. Call your representative and let him know that you are against this attack on freedom: http://www.house.gov.
  2. Share this PROTEST with as many people as you can. We have to act now!
  3. Pray that God will protect His people from this unholy and disastrous alliance.
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The Danger

It is dangerous to forget. It is a safeguard to remember. History is a lesson book that displays an abundance of trial experiments of frightful human attempts to exalt themselves and control the minds of others.

Religious Liberty is a divine gift to humanity. It is essential to the full development of human beings. This liberty has come to us today at a very high price. It cost the lives of tens of millions of people that would not yield their conscience to another person.

This history is to be kept in mind if we are to avoid repeating it and plunging the world into another phase of the Dark Ages, only that this time it will be worse, for humanity has developed improved methods of coercion and investigation.

Watch out, sentinels! When you see the doom approaching, fear not to lift up your voices. If we be quiet now, we may not have a chance to say anything else.

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