Page:Thirty-five years of Luther research.djvu/82

48 Staupitz intended that his tried disciple should take the place in Wittenberg, which he himself as yet occupied, the "Lectura in Biblia auf das Augustinerkloster gestiftet."

Concerning the solemn ceremony when Luther was made a Divine Doctor,42 on the 18th and 19th of October, Steinlein published a valuable investigation, in which he describes the procedure of the promotion, the meaning of being a Doctor, in itself as well as in reference to Luther — whom it gave a strong impulse and secure footing, whereas it did not influence his relation to Holy Scriptures, as this had been a most intimate one before — and also the prominence which Luther in different periods of his activity accorded to his being a Divine Doctor.

6. Luther's Development from 1512-1517

Of what nature was Luther's theological development between 1512 and 1517, i. e., how did Luther's mind gradually become free from Rome and how did he become an evangelical Christian and an evangelical theologian? The Roman Catholic Denifle, above all others, as has already been briefly stated, placed this question in the foreground, and Grisar held fast to similar assertions that strongly incriminated Luther, and scattered them broadcast in the widest circles. One cannot answer this question without at the same time answering the other question, namely, in how far the later statements made by Luther himself about his theological development, and about his monastery life and the vulgarly Catholic beliefs, which obtained in Luther's time, are trustworthy. Denifle, Grisar and Paulus prefer simply to ignore these as being entirely devoid of historical interest, sometimes they even attempt to hold them up as proofs of