Thus was born the second great idea of the Reformation,—­the supreme authority of the Scriptures, to which Protestants of every denomination have since professed to cling.  They may differ in the interpretation of texts,—­and thus sects and parties gradually arose, who quarrelled about their meaning,—­but none of them deny their supreme authority.  All the issues of Protestants have been on the meaning of texts, on the interpretation of the Scriptures,—­to be settled by learning and reason.  It was not until rationalism arose, and rejected plain and obvious declarations of Scripture, as inconsistent with reason, as interpolations, as uninspired, that the authority of the Scriptures was weakened; and these rationalists—­and the land of Luther became full of them—­have gone infinitely beyond the Catholics in undermining the Bible.  The Catholics never have taken such bold ground as the rationalists respecting the Scriptures.  The Catholic Church still accepts the Bible, but explains away the meaning of many of its doctrines; the rationalists would sweep away its divine authority, extinguish faith, and leave the world in night.  Satan came into the theological school of the Protestants, disguised in the robes of learned doctors searching for truth, and took away the props of religious faith.  This was worse than baptizing repentance with the name of penance.  Better have irrational fears of hell than no fears at all, for this latter is Paganism.  Pagan culture and Pagan philosophy could not keep society together in the old Roman world; but Mediaeval appeals to the fears of men did keep them from crimes and force upon them virtues.

The triumph of Luther at Leipsic was, however, incomplete.  The Catholics rallied after their stunning blow.  They said, in substance:  “We, too, accept the Scriptures; we even put them above Augustine and Thomas Aquinas and the councils.  But who can interpret them?  Can peasants and women, or even merchants and nobles?  The Bible, though inspired, is full of difficulties; there are contradictory texts.  It is a sealed book, except to the learned; only the Church can reconcile its difficulties.  And what we mean by the Church is the clergy,—­the learned clergy, acknowledging allegiance to their spiritual head, who in matters of faith is also infallible.  We can accept nothing which is not indorsed by popes and councils.  No matter how plain the Scriptures seem to be, on certain disputed points only the authority of the Church can enlighten and instruct us.  We distrust reason,—­that is, what you call reason,—­for reason can twist anything, and pervert it; but what the Church says, is true,—­its collective intelligence is our supreme law [thus putting papal dogmas above reason, above the literal and plain declarations of Scripture].  Moreover, since the Scriptures are to be interpreted only by priests, it is not a safe book for the people.  We, the priests, will keep it out of their hands.  They will get notions from it fatal to our authority; they will become fanatics; they will, in their conceit, defy us.”