Impressions at Cologne

Finally Mrs. White's train brought her to Cologne, arriving at 8:00 P.M. Her hotel was only a short distance from the cathedral.EGWE 130.1

“We had a good view of it by moonlight. This is said to be^{*Mrs. White is reporting here what was stated to her in Cologne. Information about cathedrals, railroad tunnels, castles, et cetera, she derived from reading travel literature or listening to tour guides.} the most magnificent Gothic edifice in the world. It is built ... in the form of a cross, is 444 feet long, and has two towers each 512 feet high, the loftiest in Europe.“—Ibid.EGWE 130.2

But the city itself held far greater interest for the Lord's servant than the grand cathedral. She wrote:EGWE 130.3

“Hither came Tyndale from Hamburg, to complete the printing of the New Testament, hoping to find here better opportunities for sending the work, when finished, to England. He had not, however, proceeded far in his labors, when his secret was betrayed, and he escaped from the city only in time to save his printed sheets from falling into the hands of the papists. A little boat conveyed him and his precious wares up the Rhine—along the very route which we are to take—to Worms. There he completed his great work, and England for the first time received the Bible printed in the language of the people.”—Ibid., 222, 223. See also The Great Controversy, 245-248.EGWE 130.4

Tyndale had received the gospel from Erasmus’ Greek New Testament. He then began to preach his convictions.EGWE 130.5

To the papist claim that the church had given the Bible, and the church alone could explain it, Tyndale responded:EGWE 130.6

“Do you know who taught the eagles to find their prey? Well, that same God teaches His hungry children to find their Father in His word. Far from having given us the Scriptures, it is you who have hidden them from us; it is you who burn those who teach them, and if you could, you would burn the Scriptures themselves.”—D'Aubigne, History of the Reformation of the Sixteenth Century, b. 18, ch. 4.EGWE 130.7

The trip by train along the banks of the picturesque Rhine River took the party through the towns of Bingen and Meyence, as well as the cities of Cologne and Worms, and left the wide-eyed visitors all aglow with admiration.EGWE 131.1

“About noon we passed through Worms, the quaint old town which Luther has inseparably linked with the history of the Reformation,^{*Luther's bold defense of the gospel at Worms before the Emperor Charles V and the Diet was one of the most memorable victories of the Reformation. “The wisdom of popes, kings, and prelates had been brought to naught by the power of truth. The papacy had sustained a defeat which would be felt among all nations and in all ages.”—Ibid., 162.} and from which went forth Tyndale's Bible, the most powerful agent in the Reformation of England.”—Historical Sketches of the Foreign Missions of the Seventh-day Adventists, 225. See also The Great Controversy, 145-170.EGWE 131.2

Finally, on November 19, after four days along the return route, Mrs. White and her traveling companions reached Basel. She had been gone six weeks and traveled more than 2,500 miles.EGWE 131.3