Early in 1522 Luther returned to Wittenberg. A large crowd gathered to hear him on the Lord's Day. He spoke for eight successive days against any kind of violence, stressing the need of love and forbearance in all things. He recognized that change was necessary, but he cautioned the people with these words:

The Word created heaven and earth and all things; the same Word will also create now, and not we poor sinners....I will not use force or compulsion with anyone; for faith must be of free will and unconstrained, and must be accepted without compulsion....If I employ force, what do I gain? Changes in demeanour, outward shows, grimaces, shams, hypocrisies. But what becomes of the sincerity of the heart, of faith, of Christian love? All is wanting where these are lacking; and for the rest I would not give the stalk of a pear. What we want is the heart, and to win that we must preach the gospel....God effects more than you and I and the whole world combined could attempt. He secures the heart; and when that is won all is won. [41]

The pope began to demand that the decision made at Worms be carried out against Luther. But when the German Diet met in Nuremberg at the end of 1522, they had no intention to comply. How could they condemn the man who best expressed their own grievances against Rome? Furthermore, they feared civil war if any harm came to Luther.

As Luther continued to preach the Word, the barriers between priests and laymen were gradually being broken down. He promoted the right of every Christian to stand before God. Not content with simply preaching against sin to produce repentance and pardon, Luther went on to attack the merciless practices of the churchmen and occasionally the oppressions of the princes. He pitied the hard life of the peasants but had no sympathy for those who wanted to stir up rebellion. He was convinced that such revolutionaries were only leading the people to destruction. Luther preferred to see change brought about by the Word of God alone, not by violence. When fighting eventually broke out, he visited many districts at the risk of his life in order to warn the people of the danger of their stand.

Ironically, the Peasants' War of 1525 may have resulted in part from Luther's own speeches. Although he detested the use of force, he did not realize the effects of his own words on his listeners. Luther often lacked self-control in his speaking, and his messages fell like sledgehammers on the minds of the oppressed people.
He always opposed violence, however. As the fighting continued, he eventually felt compelled to write a very strong tract, Against the Murderous Thieving Hordes of Peasants. In this terrible pamphlet Luther encouraged the princes to stab, smite, and slay the rebels. After the peasants were defeated, he lost much of his support among the common people. [42] This dark episode may be the greatest blot on Luther and his noble career.

The effect of the Peasants' War on Luther and on the Reformation was disastrous. Luther no longer trusted the people. He began to bind his work of reform to the chains of government control.