Note 2279 — Chapter XXXV

There is no call to lay so much stress on the Preface as to be obliged to say with Holl, ib., 54: It “necessarily assumes the significance of a silent protest.... Luther is defending the Church’s independence of the State by painting the Visitation in its true light.” Holl also says, p. 59, that Luther, here, entered upon “a struggle for the integrity of his whole work.” “To him it was of vital importance whether the ruler of the land was obeyed as the highest member of the congregation, or as a Christian Prince.” P. 60: “All the efforts directed to-day towards greater independence of the Church and larger liberty within the Church have a good right to appeal to Luther on this question.”