The Story of John Tauler - (Teen Version) - Santhosh Poonen

This is the story of a man named John Tauler, who lived over 700 years ago in a city called Strasbourg. He wasn’t a medical doctor but was called a “doctor” because he knew so much about theology, which is the study of God and religion. His story is about how he learned the true meaning of God’s grace and became a great preacher who helped many people. Let’s break it down into easy-to-read sections so everyone, even kids, can understand.

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John Tauler (Christian Biographies Retold for Children) - Santosh Poonen
This is an AI-generated summary based on the message: "John Tauler (Christian Biographies Retold for Children)" by Santosh Poonen, shared on August 24, 2022.
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The Story of John Tauler: The Doctor Who Was Enlightened by the Grace of God

Here's the story of John Tauler, and the subtitle is The Enlightened Doctor. It wasn't a doctor like a medical doctor, but a doctor of theology—or like a student. He was called a doctor because he had such knowledge. But it's the doctor who finally got light, and we'll hear about it.

The Pope’s Curse on Strasbourg

"Should I run or should I stay?"—this question was very important for Dr. Tauler. The pope, who was in charge of all the religious churches at that time, had placed the city of Strasbourg under the curse of the church, called an interdict.

The pope would put this rule that said:

·       Nobody can leave the town.

·       Nobody can come into the town.

·       You have to stay in your house and all this stuff—you can’t leave.

It was kind of like a curfew and kind of like a curse. The reason for that was typically because they probably didn’t listen to what the pope said they should do.

The pope’s fight was with Emperor Louis of Germany because that emperor had protected Marsilius of Padua, who was a teacher at the University of Paris. His teachings regarding the authority of the church and whether the atonement of Christ was enough were considered heresy by the Catholic Church.

Now, you’ll see throughout those years (1300s, 1400s, etc.), the Catholic church said, "We are the only authority, and you must do certain works to earn your salvation." But there were many godly men—we heard about Martin Luther on Sunday, if you were paying attention—but there were other godly men also who said, "No, Jesus Christ finished the work, and we believe in that."

That made the pope and the rest of the Catholic Church very upset because they were losing control.

John Tauler’s Early Life

Now, John Tauler was respectfully called "the Master" because he had studied so much—everybody called him "the Master." He was born in Strasbourg in a district called Alas in 1290. His father was Nicholas Staller, who was a rich senator (that means like a governor—in the government of that city).

John, however, became a Dominican monk (that means like a priest in the Catholic Church) around the age of 18 and soon afterward went to Paris to study theology at the Dominican College of St. Jacques. So, he was in a Catholic Bible school, you could say.

Most of the school teachers at that time specialized in lofty, philosophical subjects—a very intellectual study of the Bible. But John was not interested in any of those things. He was a humble man who respected and was loyal to the Catholic Church and its teachings because that’s how he was raised.

He was sincere, courageous, and had a great love for people. The people greatly admired his amazing ability to preach—he had a real gift with preaching. Somehow, even though the interdict was in place, he was not afraid like many of the other preachers.

Even though he still did not know the grace of God (he believed all that the Catholic Church taught him—that he had to do all those things the Catholic Church said), he wasn’t just doing his religious service for money. He really had a heart for God and for people.

So even though they put this rule saying, "You cannot—" (and the interdict was primarily that the priests cannot practice their priesthood—they cannot have church meetings, and they cannot act as priests), he said, "I don’t care what the pope said. Even though I’m loyal to the Catholic Church, these people are so needy—I want to help them."

So he still went and helped them, even though he was loyal to the Catholic Church.

Tauler’s Preaching and a Mysterious Visitor

To the relief of the town people, he remained in Strasbourg, and large crowds came to hear him preach. He still kept preaching, and their appreciation of him grew into a pride that their city of Strasbourg had such a great teacher. They were all proud: "Oh, Strasbourg is such a great city because we’ve got John Tauler as a preacher in our town!"

He knew the Bible very well and had a very sincere desire to teach in a practical way. As he became more famous, visitors would come from great distances to hear him. But his theories of self-improvement—this was all he was preaching—theories of self-improvement from the Bible—didn’t result in the listeners receiving any grace at all.

So they all heard a lot of good sermons, but none of them were really changed spiritually because he was just preaching ideas and intellectual concepts.

In 1340 (so he’s about 50 years old at this time), the crowds were greater than ever, and Tauler had a deep longing to teach them the way to heaven. So his church meetings were packed with people.

One day, he noticed a humble-looking stranger sitting in his audience with a very intense look on his face. This was a young man. Tauler thought, "Oh, he must have this intense look because my preaching is so good." So he thought the preaching must be so interesting that this man was sitting there with his eyes focused on him.

But actually, that man was from Switzerland and was thinking:

"This preacher is a very gentle, loving, good-hearted man by nature, and he has a good understanding of the Scriptures. But he is completely dark with regard to the light of grace because he has never known it."

So this young man sitting in the audience could watch this preacher and say, "It sounds right, and he’s got a gentle spirit, but I can tell he doesn’t really know the grace of God."

This visitor was Nicholas of Basel. He was a young man (maybe in his 30s or 40s, and much younger than John Tauler), and he was a true apostle at that time. He had already been working among some people, trying to plant some churches. He had a little group that was gathering in the mountains.

And God spoke to Nicholas of Basel three times in a dream to go to Strasbourg and hear Dr. Tauler preach. So he knew that his job was to lead Tauler into the light of the Gospel.

After arriving in Strasbourg, he spent any free time he had praying because he knew he was on a mission from God. And after listening to five sermons of Tauler’s, he came to Tauler, pretending that he wanted to make confession (which was the practice of the Catholic Church at that time—if you wanted to confess your sins, you would tell the priest, "I want to talk to you privately—I want to confess my sins.").

So this was his excuse to get a private conversation with this famous man, John Tauler. He said, "I want to have confession."

Tauler agreed, and Nicholas did those confessions for 12 weeks. For 12 weeks, he just came and did confessions—he was trying to still figure out John Tauler.

Nicholas Tests Tauler’s Heart

After 12 weeks, he asked Dr. Tauler to preach a sermon on how to show someone how they could reach the highest spiritual life possible in the world of sin.

So he said, "Dr. Tauler, can you preach a sermon on how people can reach the highest possible spiritual life in this world of sin?"

Dr. Tauler said, "Oh, of course I can preach on that!" And so he did.

He preached a sermon giving a practical, scriptural message with 24 main headings, presenting the highest point of Christian perfection from a human point of view. He spoke on:

·       Self-emptying

·       Humility

·       The crucified life

·       Inner victory

·       Perfect love

·       Having simple motives in all that we do

In fact, most other people would have thought that it was one of the clearest explanations of what God requires of all who desire to be holy—to belong to Him completely.

But it was all theory, which Tauler had gotten through diligently studying the Bible. (I don’t know if they had concordances, but he studied it, made notes, and had these 24 points covering all the topics of what it means to reach the highest point spiritually.)

But the sermon left out two very important facts:

1.     First, that man is hopelessly sinful and completely unable to attain to the standard that God expects.

o   So Tauler never talked about the fact that we are all sinful and can never attain to that standard, no matter how much we try.

2.     Second, we must have faith in the merits of Christ’s atonement as the only way to be accepted by God—faith in the finished work of Christ as the basis of how we are accepted.

Nicholas later wrote down the entire sermon from memory. Think about that—Nicholas of Basel was sitting there listening, and he paid such attention that later on, he wrote down the whole sermon from memory.

Then he came to Tauler and presented it in writing to Tauler and said, "Here’s your sermon."

Tauler was amazed at Nicholas’s intelligence and ability and said, "Why don’t you stay in Strasbourg and keep memorizing my sermons and write them down so we can distribute them to other people?"

He was so self-centered, Tauler was, because he thought, "This is a great person to have—he seems to love my sermon so much he wrote down the whole sermon from memory after listening to it!"

But to Tauler’s surprise, Nicholas replied:

"You’re a great scholar, and you’ve taught us a good lesson in this sermon. But you yourself, Mr. Tauler, are not living according to the standard you preach."

See, Nicholas, as a young man, was discerning. He had real discernment. He was not afraid or impressed by this great preacher. He was in touch with God, and he discerned that even though the words were all right, he said:

"You’re not living this life that you preached. You’re not living according to the standard you preached. And still, you’re asking me to stay here so that you can preach yet another sermon to me?"

"Sir, I want to tell you that man’s words have actually prevented me from experiencing this life more than they have helped me. That’s because after I listened to your sermon, I came away with so many false ideas, and it took me a long time to get rid of those false ideas."

"If the highest Teacher of all truth—the Holy Spirit—comes to a man, he must give up all the other voices and hear the Holy Spirit’s voice clearly and only."

"I want you to know that when the Holy Spirit comes to me, He teaches me more in one hour than you or all the other doctors of theology will ever be able to teach me."

Look at the boldness that Nicholas had!

Now, Dr. Tauler didn’t get offended, but he still asked Nicholas to remain in Strasbourg a while longer. Nicholas agreed to do this as long as Tauler would allow him to speak freely to him under the pretense of coming for confession.

So Nicholas said, "Can I keep coming to you for confession, and will you allow me to speak directly to you—and will you listen?"

Tauler said, "Yes, I will."

Nicholas Rebukes Tauler’s Pride

And so, slowly, Nicholas began to teach the one who thought he was a teacher. He told Tauler:

"The reason your sermons are not bringing life but are instead spiritually harming people, Dr. Tauler, is because your inner desire is not truly directed toward God—it is directed toward the people. Though your intentions may seem sincere, your heart's desire is for the people rather than for God."

"And more specifically," he said, "your desire is especially focused on one person—yourself. That’s what I’m trying to tell you, Tauler. You are still in love with your own self. That’s why your heart is not fully devoted to God alone."

“Therefore, your heart is like an unclean vessel. And when the pure, unmixed wine of godly truth passes through that vessel—which is dirty and covered with filth—the result is that the teaching doesn’t have a good taste, and it doesn’t bring grace to the hearts of those who hear you.”

“Even though what you’re reading in the Bible and hearing is good, because it passes through this vessel with corrupt desires—you love yourself, you love other people, you love the attention—it’s coming out without grace.”

“Also, as I told you, you are still in darkness, and you don’t have the true light. And the proof is this: so few receive the grace of the Holy Spirit through your teaching. You’re sitting here and preaching, and the people are coming—but the grace of the Holy Spirit is not coming into their lives.”

What a discerning man Nicholas was!

He goes on to tell him (I mean, he’s giving Tauler a spanking here):

“I told you that you are a Pharisee, and that is true—but not in the typical sense of being a hypocrite. You have this characteristic of a Pharisee: you love and seek yourself in all things, and not the glory of God.”

“Examine your heart, dear sir, and see if you are not a Pharisee in the eyes of God. Because a man is a Pharisee in God's sight based on what his heart is bent upon.”

“And truly, in the sight of God, there are many such Pharisees.”

Nicholas was telling him plainly:

“I see your heart is bent toward the people—and toward yourself. You’re a Pharisee.”

Tauler’s Repentance

As Tauler heard these words, he fell on Nicholas’s neck and hugged him, saying:

"My eyes have truly been opened! I feel like the woman who met Jesus at the well because, dear son (remember, Nicholas was like a son in age compared to John Tauler, this older man), you have laid bare all my faults before my eyes. You have told me what I have been hiding inside of me—and especially that there is one person whom I love most: myself."

"To tell you the truth, I didn’t even realize it myself. I also believe that no human being could really know this about me. So, dear son, I know that God Himself has shown it to you."

So John said, "If this man is able to discern what’s in my heart, it has to be from God because he doesn’t even know me."

Later, Tauler told Nicholas that when he had called him a Pharisee, at first, he was hurt by that. But Nicholas faithfully showed Tauler how he, too, just like the Pharisees of old:

·       Placed burdens on others without lifting them himself.

·       Often said things but did not do them himself.

Tauler said, "You’re a Pharisee because you say a lot of things, but I don’t see that in your life."

And so Nicholas goes on to tell Dr. Tauler:

"You must examine your own heart, Dr. Tauler. Whether you are carrying these burdens in your own life or not is only known to God and yourself. But to be honest, as far as I can discern of your present condition, I can only follow your words—not your life."

See what Nicholas of Basel said:

"I may not really know what’s in your heart—God knows, and you know—but based on what I see, I can only follow what you’re preaching. I can’t follow your life. Look at yourself carefully and see if you are not a Pharisee in the eyes of God."

"I can do what you’re preaching—that, I believe—but I can’t follow your life. It’s not in your life. Even though you may not be one of those false, hypocritical types of Pharisees, look at yourself carefully and see if you are not therefore a Pharisee in the eyes of God."

Dr. Tauler replied:

"I don’t know what to say, but I can see clearly that I am a deep sinner. And I’m determined to better my life, even if I die for it. Dear son, I can’t waste any more time. I beg you—only for God’s sake—show me where to begin and teach me how I can attain the highest perfection that a man can reach on earth."

If you listen carefully, you’ll see it’s still in Dr. Tauler this attitude of: "Okay, I want to do it. Show me. You show me something higher—I’m going to get there. Tell me how I can do this."

Nicholas Teaches Tauler True Faith

And Nicholas told this great doctor that if he really wanted to know the ways of God, he would give him a simple ABC lesson.

Nicholas knew (and you know) that because Tauler was this intellectual, famous student and scholar and preacher, if he starts with ABC, it would humble him. Because Tauler was such a strong-willed teacher, Nicholas said:

"Anyone else, for this matter—nobody can attain this life simply by trying hard."

His desire was that this final burst of self-effort (in other words, he was saying, "Okay, I’m going to let John Tauler try to attain it, and he’s not going to be able to.") would cause Tauler to clearly see his own inability and nothingness—so that he could be given a divine revelation of the way of salvation by faith alone.

In other words, you have to trust God through the Holy Spirit.

Tauler’s Struggle and Breakthrough

After three weeks, Tauler was desperate. He was still miserable and still in despair and still failing. He confessed that his soul was in great agony because he still hadn’t even learned the first lesson.

But Nicholas waited. He said he waited, and then after another three weeks like this, Tauler was in agony. He’s just—he can’t figure it out, and he’s like—he knows he’s proud, he knows he’s full of self-confidence, and he’s still in agony.

Finally, after six weeks, he finally called Nicholas and said:

"Dear son, rejoice with me because I think that with God’s help, I can finally say the first line."

We’re not told in the story what that ABC was, but whatever it was—that simple trusting in God, recognizing our own inability—Nicholas rejoiced because as Tauler begged him to teach him more (in other words, now Tauler was no longer the teacher—he was coming to this young man, saying, "I need to learn from you.").

As Tauler begged Nicholas to teach him more, it was clear that this great teacher was finally coming to the end of all his self-effort.

The Final Test: Giving Up Everything

Nicholas then gave him some advice which he knew would finally spell death (now, Tauler hadn’t completely died yet, and Nicholas knew this). But he gave him some more advice which he knew would spell death to everything that the great preacher held dear.

In short, it was the call to take the way of the cross, which confronts everyone who wants to follow Christ. Anyone who wants to follow Christ will ultimately be confronted with the way of the cross, and they can choose not to go that way or to go that way.

And this is what Nicholas of Basel presented to John Tauler. Here’s what he said:

He suggested that Tauler stop preaching and doing any Christian work completely and focus on his search for God.

He says: "You must stop preaching. I know the crowds are still coming to hear you, but you must cancel all the meetings and stop preaching."

Nicholas told Tauler that this would mean:

·       His friends would turn against him.

·       The audiences which used to listen to him excitedly would leave him in disgust.

And this is exactly what happened.

For two lonely years, Tauler didn’t preach or teach at all. This made the people angry, and they called him a madman. As a result, he didn’t have a way to earn any money because he was supported by the congregation.

The hunger from lack of food made him so desperate that he was forced to sell that which was closest to him—his books (things that he had used to study). He sold those books.

He became sick, and one of his friends scolded him to take better care of his body, which he had been given by God.

But Nicholas, on the other hand, was not trying to rush him through this process. He told Tauler to persevere and said:

"Keep fighting. Keep persevering. Keep seeking God. Don’t give up. And if you need to call me, you can call me, and I’ll encourage you. But keep persevering."

The story goes on to say: "Our Father was watching and waiting to be gracious to John Tauler." And He was going to give Tauler this revelation soon.

Tauler’s Divine Encounter

It’s interesting that the revelation finally came around the time when the church (the Catholic Church) was celebrating the Feast of St. Paul’s Conversion (you know, they have a feast that celebrates the Apostle Paul’s conversion). And around the same time, Tauler finally had this revelation.

The greatest event in Tauler’s life took place. Dr. Tauler was finally convicted of the sinfulness of his heart, and with this revelation, he became so sick that he could only lie on his bed. He couldn’t even get out of his bed.

And he just begged God:

"Oh, merciful God, have mercy upon me, a poor sinner, for the sake of Your endless mercy, for I’m not worthy to live on this earth."

Listen to the words of this great teacher begging God to just have mercy on him.

As he lay there, weak and full of sorrow, he heard a voice saying:

"Trust in God and be at peace. And know that when He (that is God) was on earth as a man, He was able not only to make the sick whole in body but also in soul. He can heal not only your body but also your soul."

And he had such a great reaction to this message that for a little while, it seemed like he went crazy. He lost his reason for a few minutes—his whole reason seemed to be reeling. It’s like the bed was swimming that he was lying on.

And when he finally came to himself, he had a strange new inner strength and seemed to see divine truth clear as day—which before had been dark to him.

Remember, he had been through this phase for about two years in darkness, coming to an end of himself.

A New Man with a New Message

He sent for Nicholas immediately, and when Nicholas saw Tauler, he exclaimed with joy. He could immediately tell by looking at Tauler that the change had happened.

He says:

"I tell you now, for the first time, your soul has been touched by the Most High God! The letter which killed you has made you alive again because it has reached your heart by the power of the Holy Spirit—where it used to only reach your mind."

"Your teaching, which used to come from the flesh, will now come from the Holy Spirit because you received the light of the Holy Spirit by the grace of God. The Scriptures, which you already know, will now be made clear to you because you will have insight that you never had before."

And so it was—Tauler was a new creature, alive and full of life, with a message from Heaven—not his own message from all his study.

Nicholas gave him some money to buy back the books that he had sold, and he said:

"I think it’s time for you to start preaching now. You’ve got the light."

Tauler’s First Sermon After Conversion

This former great teacher announced a church meeting, and the people came excited to hear Dr. Tauler preach again—finally, after two years.

But instead of preaching the Word when he got up to speak, he could only stand there and weep.

The crowd, which had come with great anticipation for a great sermon, waited—but there was no sermon that day. The one-time great speaker had no words to say. His whole body continued to shake with sobs as he was crying.

After some time, the people got fed up and left in anger, convinced that Dr. Tauler was even more mad than they ever thought.

But the great inner change had come, and there was no denying it.

Tauler’s Powerful New Preaching

Because of the great spiritual need all around him, it was impossible for Tauler to remain silent for long about what had happened.

If he told people that all that preaching he had done before was out of the flesh, his reputation was at stake. But he said:

"I care about the people. I have to tell them what has happened to me because it must happen to them as well."

His reputation or his own interest now meant nothing to him.

He remembered the monks and nuns with their sacrifices and self-inflicted punishments, as well as their professed holiness—thinking that they were earning their way to God.

As he thought about their gross secret sins and follies (which he was aware of because he was a priest like them), he longed to reveal to them also the secret of his deliverance.

But he knew his reputation was at stake—and he didn’t care.

So, knowing that he had a message from God, he preached in front of the convent to a gathering of nuns and a few other people based on this text:

"Behold, the bridegroom! Come out to meet Him!" (Matthew 25:6)

He spoke of Christ as the Bridegroom of the soul—which was interesting because that was the relationship that the nuns claimed regarding the Lord Jesus. They claimed they were married to the Lord Jesus (that’s why they never married), and yet he knew they were really full of sin.

And so he taught them what it really means to be married to Jesus in heart and spirit.

What a message it was! Based on what happened at the end of that sermon, it must have been devastatingly convincing.

The Holy Spirit pierced hearts left and right as the speaker described the condition of the professed "bride of Christ."

In other words, he’s saying:

"You call yourself the bride of Christ, but look at your condition—filthy with self-interest, loving the world, and loving the praise and greed of the world."

It was a loving but penetrating sermon about what is in the heart of every person—regardless of their calling, whether they’re a priest or a nun or somebody else.

He ended his message with a picture of the Bridegroom giving Himself for the cleansing and sanctification of the church (like it says in Ephesians 5).

He says:

"Jesus has given Himself for you—to be pure, for you to be cleansed and be sanctified."

When he had finished the sermon, about 40 people remained in their seats. They didn’t want to get up—they just sat there in silence in the churchyard where he was preaching.

Tauler’s Final Years and Legacy

After that, he started preaching regularly again, and that proved to be well-timed because soon after that, there was a pandemic and earthquakes in that area. And then shortly after that was the dreadful Black Death plague, which resulted in the deaths of:

·       16,000 people in Strasbourg

·       14,000 people in Basel

Clearly, this great preacher had been filled with the Holy Spirit just for such a time because there were so many people dying, and he was able to lead many to the Lord before they died.

For six years, Tauler preached the light of the Gospel to the living and to the dying.

There are many instances in the biographies of godly people in Europe over the next few hundred years where those who were seeking for the deeper spiritual life went far back into the dark pre-Reformation days and read John Tauler’s sermons with great eagerness and blessing.

A lot of them read his sermons (which were written down) and received light through them.

Two Excerpts from Tauler’s Sermons

Here are two excerpts from his sermons, which show to what extent this searcher after God had discovered some of the most profound spiritual secrets:

1. On God’s True Servants

"Those who go into God’s vineyard are truly noble and highly favored men who indeed and truth rise above all the earthly things in God’s vineyard because they seek and love nothing but simply God Himself."

"They don’t look to pleasure nor to any selfish end, but their whole inner man is plunged into God. They’re living with God, dwelling with God. They’re not just asking God for something to preach (like a lot of preachers were doing then—and probably still do)."

"They have no end—their only desire is the praise and glory of God, that His good pleasure may be fulfilled through them and in all people."

"Therefore, they’re able to bear all things and to resign all things. They receive all things as from God’s hand and offer up to Him again in simplicity of heart all that they received from Him. They don’t claim—they do not lay claim to anything."

"They are like a river that flows out with every tide and then again hastens back to its source. So do these men refer all their gifts back to the Source, which is God Himself—the Source from which it proceeded. And then they flow back again unto it themselves."

"They’re going back and forth—in to help people, but going back to the Source, which is God Himself. And as much as they carry all the gifts of God, they carry Him back to the Divine Fountain. And they don’t claim any ownership of those gifts that God has given them. They’re not proud of their gifts either for pleasure or for advantage—and they don’t purpose except God alone. That God must be is their only refuge—yes, God Himself is the only Refuge."

2. On the Pure in Heart (Matthew 5:8)

"A pure heart is more precious in the sight of God than anything else on earth. A pure heart is clean—it’s a clean, nicely prepared room that the Holy Spirit can come and dwell in. That’s why it’s such a precious thing."

"It’s like a golden temple for the Godhead—a sanctuary of the only begotten Son, in which He worships the heavenly Father. And the worship that the Holy Spirit kind of turns that worship back to the Father when He finds a pure heart."

"An altar of the grand Divine sacrifice of the Son. A pure heart is the throne of the Supreme Judge (that means Jesus Christ can come and rule when the heart is pure)."

"It’s the seat and the secret room of the Holy Trinity. It’s a lamp bearing the eternal light. It’s a secret council room of the Divine Persons (in other words, the Trinity can come in and take counsel there in your heart because it’s pure—the Holy Spirit can speak to you)."

"A treasury of divine riches—God can pour all His riches into this pure heart. It’s a storehouse of divine sweetness. A perfect collection of eternal wisdom. A cell of divine solitude (a place—a cell—like a little cell, a small cell where you can be alone with God)."

"And it’s the reward of all the life and suffering of Christ. This is why Jesus suffered and why He lived on this earth—so that we would have pure hearts."

"Now, what is a pure heart? It is, as we have said before, a heart which finds its complete satisfaction in God—which is excited and desires nothing but God. It’s excited about the Word—here is relishes—excited about and desires nothing but God."

"And a heart whose thoughts and interests are always occupied with God—so that anything that’s not of God is strange and jarring. Anything that’s not of God shakes this heart because it’s so pure. And it keeps itself as far as possible apart from all that’s unworthy—any joys and griefs and all outward cares and anxieties—and makes all these work together for good. For to the pure, all things are pure, and to the gentle, nothing is bitter."

Amen.

Tauler’s Influence and Death

The godly life of John Tauler and his uncompromising teachings influenced two other godly men who were with him:

·       Thomas of Strasbourg

·       Ludolph of Saxony

Both of whom were also priests initially. And these three were called "Friends of God" (that was the nickname they were given, as were they and others like them often called).

They were fearless in their teachings and writings, which was greatly different from the teachings held by the Catholic Church, which had power at that time.

They counseled the people:

·       Not to pay attention to the Catholic Church or to the interdict of the pope.

·       To visit the sick and the dying, comforting them by pointing them to the death and sufferings of our Lord, who had offered up Himself as the perfect sacrifice for them and for the sin of the whole world.

Of course, his enemies took advantage of this, and all three of them were eventually removed from their positions of influence in the church.

Six years after his conversion, Tauler was forced to leave Strasbourg and go to Cologne (a place in France). This saddened the many in Strasbourg who had experienced a change in their lives through his ministry.

But in Cologne, he was free to preach, and he did so for about 10 more years.

At the age of 70, he became very sick and, suffering with great sickness, he returned to Strasbourg, where he was nursed by his elderly sister in one of the houses belonging to the convent where she was a nun.

There, Nicholas visited Tauler, and together they agreed that Nicholas should write a biography of Tauler’s life—without mentioning Tauler’s name at all, but only referring to him as "the Master" (which was his nickname) and Nicholas as "the man."

So that this way, God would have all the glory of anything that was accomplished through Tauler’s life. They would just know about this man who was a master and this other man who visited and helped him.

Soon after this, the dear man of God went to be forever with the Lord, and Nicholas and the people of Strasbourg mourned him deeply.

Martin Luther’s Praise for Tauler

Years later, Martin Luther valued the writings of John Tauler very highly and declared that he had found more to instruct him in Tauler’s sermons than in those of all his seminary teachers put together.

To his friend Spalatin, Luther wrote:

"If you want to know some sound teaching of the good old sort in the German tongue, get John Tauler’s sermons. For not in Latin nor in our own language (see, they used to think if you want the good sermons, it must be preached in Latin)—but Luther said, ‘No—not in Latin, not even in our own language—have I ever seen any teaching more solid or more in harmony with the Gospel than the teachings of John Tauler.’"

For many years, Tauler was remembered in Strasbourg as:

"The Doctor Who Was Enlightened by the Grace of God."