This is true not only because the teachers of the
Catholic Church in their struggle against him outgrew the old
scholasticism, and fought for their sacraments with new weapons gained
from his language, his culture, and his moral worth; nor because he,
in effect, destroyed the church of the Middle Ages and forced his
opponents at Trent to raise a firmer structure, though seemingly
within the old forms and proportions; but still more because he
expressed the common basis of all German denominations, of our
spiritual courage, piety, and honesty, with such force that a good
deal of his own nature, to the present benefit of every German, has
survived in our doctrines and language, in our civil laws and morals,
in the thoughtfulness of our people, and in our science and
literature. Some of the ideas for which Luther's stubborn and
contentious spirit fought, against both Catholics and Calvinists, are
abandoned by the free investigation of modern times. His intensely
passionate beliefs, gained in the heartrending struggles of a devout
soul, occasionally missed an important truth. Sometimes he was harsh,
unfair, even cruel toward his opponents; but such things should no
longer disturb any German, for all the limitations of his nature and
training are as nothing compared with the fulness of the blessings
which have flowed from his great heart into the life of our nation.
But he should not have seceded after all, some people say; for his
action has divided Germany into two hostile camps, and the ancient
strife, under varying battle-cries, has continued to our day.
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