Johann von Staupitz

Oftentimes this seems to feed the cycle of anxiety.

This is what happens with Luther where he says, remember Staupitz, his father confessor, tells him, go commit a real sin.

And that's the idea there is that we can't be forgiven of fake sins.

So there's a couple of ways the conscience can be bad.

This was a man, Martin Luther, the reformer, who had wrestled with his view of God.

And really, at one point, he openly said to his father confessor, as he was confessing sins for like the fourth time that day, And his father confessor, Johann Staupitz said to him, you're making it too difficult.

All you need to do is love God.

And he said, love God, I hate him.

Later, he would say, if ever a monk could obtain heaven by his monkish works, then I should certainly have been entitled to it.

But Luther had a mentor during his training, a man named Johann von Staupitz.

Luther would later say, if it had not been for Dr. Staupitz, I should surely have sunk in hell.

Staupitz encouraged Luther by telling him this.

He spent long stretches in solitude.

He confessed his sins for hours upon hours to his mentor and confessor, a man named Johannes von Staupitz.

Now we know a lot about this time of confession.

At least once we know that Luther spent a full six hours straight confessing his sins to stop it.

What was almost as impressive as his endurance in investigating and recounting every minutiae of his failings was the patience of his confessor.

And this confessor, Johann von Staupitz, is one of the most sympathetic figures in this entire tale.

He was a nobleman, a childhood friend of the Elector of Saxony, Frederick the Wise, a doctor of theology and the vicar general of the observant Augustinians in the Holy Roman Empire, effectively Martin Luther's superior.

Staupitz had a soft spot for this earnest and industrious monk.

As an experienced ecclesiastical leader, he was used to the religious fervour and the doubts his younger colleague displayed.

He listened patiently to the endless litany of minor infringements that so perturbed Luther.

But even a man of Staupitz' character and stamina can hit the buffers.

After one of these gruelling sessions, he sighed at his charge, quote, If you expect Christ to forgive you, come in with something to forgive.

"Why? If I am doing everything right..." He would confess, at one point he confessed six hours straight.

His father confessor, Staupitz, who's in the book, literally says to him at some point, "Enough."

[laughs]

"Bring me adultery.

I'm not getting closer to God.

Do I love God? No, I hate God.

God is a judge who scares me, and I'm trying to jump through these hoops to please him." And his father confessor, Staupitz, says to him, y- you, "You don't think that God loves you.

You think that God hates you, but He loves you." I mean, it was this real conundrum.

oh my sin my sin my sin

replied you have no real sin you make a sin out of every trifle stepowitz urged him to trust in the mercy and love of god who freely forgives those who put their faith in christ he saw also what luther needed was an active life and to be occupied not in thinking about himself but in ministering to others then staupitz became a dean of theological faculty of the university of wittenberg and he called luther out of the monastery to be professor of logic and ethics presently he sent him on an errand to rome to see a bit of the great world on his return luther took his degree of doctor of divinity and began to preach in the city church he was appointed to teach theology to young monks in the wittenberg monastery and men came to be instructed by him till the place was overcrowded when he was but thirty-one he was made district vicar and put in charge of eleven monasteries his hands were full of business

then

stepwoods made him his successor in the chair of biblical theology there was already a new interest in the study of the bible and luther entered into his new duties with enthusiasm learning greek and hebrew and reading all the latest books he was at the same time the most popular preacher in the town and the most popular professor in the university and his fame began to go abroad he had a practical mind and was interested not only in doctrine but in conduct and he had a remarkably strong and free and original way of expressing himself thus he criticized the common way of thinking about the saints instead of trying to be like them people were praying to the saints to help them

I'm not kidding you about this either.

Luther's mentor and his confessor, Johann von Staupitz, actually has this direct quote that he said to Luther.

He said, look here, if you expect Christ to forgive you, come with something to forgive, maybe parasite or blasphemy or adultery instead of all these picadillos.

which are minor, unimportant things.

In 1502, Elector Frederick of Saxony had founded the University of Wittenberg.

He charged Staupitz with the selection of learned and able men for this school.

One of those recommended for his learning and piety was the well-known Augustinian monk Luther, who now became professor at Wittenberg.

As Staupitz urged him to remove at once to Wittenberg, Luther did not even find time to bid farewell to his friends at Erfurt.

Moving caused him little trouble, for a begging friar has few possessions.

And thus, on an autumn day of the year 1508, we see the pale and emaciated form of the twenty-five-year-old monk traveling the road from Erfurt and entering Wittenberg by the wooden bridge.

Thus, God had led Luther to the scriptures, and he made them his guiding star.

He felt that they alone could give him what he sought, truth and peace.

He learned to know the page and exact place of every verse of the scriptures, and he even committed to memory many passages from the prophets, although he did not understand them at that time.

The prior of the cloister, Dr. John Staupitz, came to love him released him from manual labors and encouraged him to continue in a diligent study of holy scriptures others thought different and said to luther why brother martin what is the bible you ought to read the old fathers they have extracted the substance of truth from the bible the bible causes all disturbances Thus, Luther soon learned that the piety of most monks was nothing but pretense.

In later years, he wrote, But if others sought carnal lust in the cloister, Luther led a most rigid and holy life.

In the simplicity of his heart, he sincerely worshipped the Pope.

he could afterward truthfully say it is true i was a pious monk and if ever a monk could have gained heaven by his monkery i would have gained it if it had lasted any longer i would have tortured myself to death with vigils prayers readings and other works the peace of his soul however which he had not found in the world he found just as little in the cloister with all his works Later on, he describes his condition at that time in the following words, Her man and the devil were in our hearts, and nothing but fear, trembling, horror, and disquiet tortured us day and night.

3.

LUTHER FINDS COMFORT Staupitz one day found Luther in great distress of spirit and said to him, Ah! You do not know how solitary and unnecessary such trials are for you.

Without them, nothing good would become of you, for God does not send them to you in vain.