Luther in Rome and His Early View of the Papacy

Recently, I found an interesting pre-Reformation quote from Luther while reading Hartmann Grisar's Luther 1. When Luther says that he was committed to the papacy in his early career, he really meant it:

"If Christ had not entrusted all power to one man, the Church would not have been perfect because there would have been no order and each one would have been able to say he was led by the Holy Spirit. This is what the heretics did, each one setting up his own principle. In this way as many Churches arose as there were heads. Christ therefore wills, in order that all may be assembled in one unity, that His Power be exercised by one man to whom also He commits it. He has, however, made this Power so strong that He looses all the powers of Hell (without injury) against it. He says: The gates of Hell shall not prevail against it, as though He said: They will fight against it but never overcome it, so that in this way it is made manifest that this power is in reality from God and not from man. Wherefore whoever breaks away from this unity and order of the Power, let him not boast of great enlightenment and wonderful works, as our Picards and other heretics do, for much better is obedience than the victims of fools who know not what evil they do (Eccles. iv. 17)." (Sermo in Vincula S. Petri, hence on August 1. " Werke " Weim. ed., 1 (1883), p. 69).

The Latin text for this quote can be found here. Note the brevity of the Latin text as well, so whoever transcribed the sermon, either only provided an overview or just this snippet. The sermon snippet dates from 1516 (the year before the penning of the 95 Theses). One can imagine how Luther must have felt when he pointed out blatant abuses and was simply ordered by the papacy to cease and desist.

Grisar uses the quote to prove that when Luther visited Rome in 1510, the corruption or the city did not cause Luther to lose faith in the Papacy. On the other hand, Roman Catholic Ken Hensley's lecture, Luther: The Rest of the Story says that Luther's experience caused him to doubt the power and authority of the Roman Catholic Church. Take a listen to this short mp3 clip from Hensley.

It's also interesting to contrast Hensley and Grisar and the moral state of Rome during this time period. Hensley comes right out and says Rome was more or less morally depraved from head to toe and that Luther questioned his faith in Rome should be no surprise. In fact, Hensley says if Papal leadership doesn't act morally, this is what one should expect of her faithful followers. I add, Hensley's comments should be applied to Rome's current scandal.

Grisar likewise says Rome was "deeply debased" but goes a completely different direction: Luther still should have encountered a "great deal of the Church which no shadow can ever darken" and Luther's "critically disposed mind" "proved all too receptive to the contrary impressions" of Rome and "allowed himself to be unduly influenced by the dark side of things, i.e. the corruption of morals" (Grisar, p.32).

Two Roman Catholics, two different historical conclusions!