28. [27.] Afterward there came to me from the northern zone toward the west some spirits of the craftier and more malicious kind, and among them one who was distinguishable from the others by his heavy tread, a tread sounding like that of a bear. He committed a number of malicious acts, but I did not know who he was. Later I discovered that it was Melanchthon. In order that I might know his identity, he kept asking where Luther* was, and when he was told, he went in to Luther and began to speak with him, and became recognizable. Luther said that he discussed with him many aspects of faith alone, or of faith separated from good works. Luther inquired of Melanchthon what his lot was like now, and discovered that he lived sometimes in a stony chamber with a vaulted ceiling, and sometimes in a hell under the supervision of a judge. When in the chamber he wore something resembling a bearskin, he said, by which he protected himself from the cold, and he writes at length about faith alone. When in the hell under the supervision of the judge he is held to be as worthless as the rest. And I heard the judge saying of him that there he is evil, and that he is sometimes punished for his malicious acts. * Martin Luther, 1483-1546, German leader of the Protestant Reformation and founder of Lutheranism. Born a Roman Catholic, he left the study of law in 1505 to become an Augustinian monk, and later became a priest and a professor of theology. He agonized over the problem of salvation, finally deciding that it was not won by good works but was a free gift of God's grace. Luther's beliefs led him to object to the sale of indulgences (which remitted penalties for sin) by the Roman Catholic Church, and in 1517 he posted his 95 Theses in Wittenberg. So began a quarrel between Luther and church leaders, including the pope. Luther had hoped to reform the church rather than start a new one, but his doctrines led him to a complete break with the Roman Catholic Church. He believed that the Bible was the sole authority in religion and rejected the supremacy of the pope and the powers of the hierarchy of bishops. He held that grace cannot be conferred by the church but is the free gift of God's love. He objected to the Catholic doctrine of transubstantiation - that, in the Eucharist, the bread and wine are actually transformed into the body and blood of Christ. Instead, Luther taught the real presence of Christ "in, with, and under" the bread and wine. Luther declared the Bible to be the true source of authority and renounced obedience to Rome. He maintained his stand in debates with Johann Eck and at the Diet of Worms (1521). For this he was excommunicated, but strong German princes supported him, and he gained followers among churchmen and the people. Thus began the Protestant Reformation in Germany. Luther wrote hymns, catechisms, and numerous theological treatises, and translated the Bible into German. He married a former nun, Katharina von Bora, in 1525 and had six children.