This historic book may have numerous typos and missing text. Purchasers can usually download a free scanned copy of the original book (without typos) from the publisher. Not indexed. Not illustrated. 1914 edition. Excerpt: ... chapter ii the wolf in the sheepfold Luther had become by the year 1517 the representative of a phase of thought that had long existed in the Church. Since the days of Augustine, there had been two differing conceptions of the religious life, one making prominent the inward and spiritual, the other the formal and external. Indeed, the two conceptions antedate Augustine; they go back to the days of Christ, and further. They belong to no time; they are not Protestant or Catholic or Jewish; they are human. To-day these conceptions separate Protestant from Protestant no less than Protestant from Catholic. Sometimes one has been stronger, sometimes the other. When there has been nothing to bring them into collision they have moved on quietly side by side, giving no intimation that they were two; but when anything has occurred to quicken or intensify them, the difference between them has been clearly marked. The emphasis of these differing conceptions has always produced sharply defined parties. In the days of Luther circumstances tended greatly to emphasize them, and the consequence was the rise of strong, bitter, persistent antagonisms. It is the purpose of this chapter to show how these conceptions came into conflict, what new difficulties were reached during its progress, and some of the effects produced on the course of history. It is a large subject, and if one should fail to treat it adequately, one may hope at least to give some hint as to the manner in which it may be profitably studied. The antagonism began in reference to a matter of chief importance: the way in which sins may be forgiven and the soul saved. This was a question that concerned the Church's central office on earth. For, however far it came short of its duty, the...