The center from which Luther's utterances on social and political issues must be understood is the idea of the two kingdoms or “regimes.” In this area of his thought, even more than in others, it will not do to draw conclusions from fragmentary quotations occasioned by historical situations in which he felt called upon to take sides. By the exclusive use of carefully selected passages, one can prove that Luther regarded secular rulers as instruments of the devil and the adversaries of his cause; and one can prove that he regarded them as instruments of God who could do no wrong. In his defence against the frequent charges that he encouraged sedition and rebellion, he frequently appears servile in his relation to the authorities of civil and political life. It was not his nature to balance alternative courses of action against one another and say everything that could be said for both sides in the same treatise. He did his thinking in the midst of controversy and his writings are almost always directed toward or in behalf of the participants. When he wrote against the peasants he gave them “both barrels.” When he attacked the rulers of church or state he did the same. This does not mean, however, that there is no coherence in his thought. If one observes carefully the content of his criticisms, he will soon discover that they proceed from a firm and unchanging conviction regarding the origin of government and its function in the world.

When Nicholas, the first of that name, was consecrated pope on the twenty-fourth of April, 858, no one—least of all the Emperor Louis II, by whose favor the former deacon succeeded in obtaining the election—could have foreseen the series of political and ecclesiastical upheavals, more like the thunderbolts of Jupiter than the benedictions of St. Peter, by which the new occupant of the Holy See won fame for himself, prestige for the papacy, and the dignity of being called “the Great.” Few popes hold a more dominating place in the history of the Catholic Church than Nicholas I. In the course of his nine-year pontificate he so fully succeeded in establishing his pre-eminence in the late Carolingian world over both prince and prelate that he found it possible to attain his ends by the mere rumbling of thunder, without using the ecclesiastical lightning-bolt in any but the most extreme cases. The mere threat of excommunication often proved sufficient to move mighty kings and not-so-mighty emperors into the path of righteousness.

A fresh study of early catechetical procedures, and an explanation of the instructions and techniques used in adult baptism in the early Church, are always welcome. Comparatively speaking, little has been done on the subject. This article makes no pretension of being a detailed study of the subject, but is only a partial treatment of it, with special emphasis upon the contributions of St. Augustine. Occasionally, references are drawn from Church canons and other early Church writings on the catechetical practice of the time.