20. In all these admissions, however, it will be observed that the Reformer placed the supremacy of the pontiffs on human, not divine right. It was based upon tradition, upon human arrangement. To the contention of Eckius that the expressions--"Thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church," "And I will give unto thee the keys of the kingdom"--evinced the supremacy of Peter and his successors; that this was the explanation given by the holy fathers, etc., Luther replied: That even if all the fathers, without exception, had understood the passages in that sense, he would confute them by the authority of St. Paul, and by St. Peter himself, who said that Jesus Christ is the only foundation and corner-stone of the church. And further, if the words "Thou art Peter," etc., be construed strictly then they must be confined to the person of Peter and therefore the authority conveyed by them ceased when that apostle died.[13]
21. The dispute amounted to nothing except that it widened the breach between the See of Rome and the Reformer. The latter, while preparing for his discussion with Eckius, had his { 215} suspicions aroused that the pope was the very anti-Christ of the New Testament. At the conclusion of the debate, George, Duke of Saxony, said to the disputants, privately, "Whether the pope exists by divine or by human right, he is, however, the pope;" and that remark doubtless expressed the sentiments of the papist party.
22. Luther Condemned and Excommunicated.--Eckius hastened to Rome after the discussion at Leipsic [Lip-sik], where, with the assistance of other enemies of Luther, among them Cardinal Cajetan, he urged Leo X to condemn him and his works. This Leo did by issuing a bull, in which forty-one of his tenets were pronounced heretical; his writings condemned to the flames, and he himself commanded to confess his faults within sixty days, beg the forgiveness of the pope or be excommunicated from the church.
23. This bull of condemnation Luther burned; together with a copy of the pontifical canon law, in the presence of a vast multitude. (See note 6, end of section.) By this act he meant to withdraw from the church of Rome, that the excommunication which was expected to follow might be robbed of its force. About a month later--4th of January, 1521--the second bull of Leo was issued in which the Reformer was expelled from the Catholic church for his heresies and for violating the majesty of the pontiff. (See note 7, end of section.)