[drstevej]

***Richard Marius, a recent Luther biographer, Harvard professor and no Catholic, said that as much as he liked and admired Martin, We have to consider the possibility that if he had suffered the fate of Hus that Europe might have been spared more than one hundred years of religious warfare. ***

Ludicrous. The operative word is "possibility." This is pure speculation. There were far more forces for reform than Luther. But you would relish the thought of Luther on a stake roasting like a bratwurst.

Luther did not initiate the Peasants Revolt under Thomas Munster for example (he encouraged the Princes to oppose it). Religious warfare didn't begin or end with the Lutheran Princes. Zwingliu donned armor and was killed in battle. No other reformer followed his lead.

Wars were a by-product of religious coercion and the fusion of state and church. HAdly inventions of Luther. Malachi Martin, no Protestant, traces the decisive shift to Constantine... not Luther.

[RobbyS]

You underestimate Luther's gifts as a propogandist, his ability to mobilize the Germans. If Charles V had been a German, history would have taken a very different turn. Zwingli was small potatoes beside him. He was like but greater than either Wyclif or Hus. Luther had charisma to a degree unmatched by the other Reformers. I am reminded of St. Bernard of Clairvaux when I read about the influence he had over other men.