THE SECOND HELVETIC CONFESSION
CHAPTER I
Of The Holy Scripture Being The True
Word of God
CANONICAL SCRIPTURE. We believe and confess
the canonical Scriptures of the holy prophets and apostles of
both Testaments to be the true Word of God, and to have sufficient
authority of themselves, not of men. For God himself spoke to
the fathers, prophets, apostles, and still speaks to us through
the Holy Scriptures.
And in this Holy Scripture, the universal
Church of Christ has the most complete exposition of all that
pertains to a saving faith, and also to the framing of a life
acceptable to God; and in this respect it is expressly commanded
by God that nothing be either added to or taken from the same.
SCRIPTURE TEACHES FULLY ALL GODLINESS. We
judge, therefore, that from these Scriptures are to be derived
true wisdom and godliness, the reformation and government of
churches; as also instruction in all duties of piety; and, to
be short, the confirmation of doctrines, and the rejection of
all errors, moreover, all exhortations according to that word
of the apostle, "All scripture is inspired by God and profitable
for teaching, for reproof," etc. (II Timothy 3:16-17). Again,
"I am writing these instructions to you," says the
apostle to Timothy, "So that you may know how one ought
to behave in the household of God," etc. (I Timothy 3:14-15).
SCRIPTURE IS THE WORD OF GOD. Again, the selfsame apostle to
the Thessalonians: "When," says he, "You received
the word of God which you heard from us, you accepted it, not
as the word of men but as what it really is, the Word of God,"
etc. (I Thess. 2:13) For the Lord himself has said in the gospel,
"It is not you who speak, but the Spirit of my Father speaking
through you"; therefore "He who hears you hears me,
and he who rejects me rejects him who sent me" (Matt. 10:20;
Luke 10:16; John 13:20)
THE PREACHING OF THE WORD OF GOD IS THE WORD
OF GOD. Wherefore when this Word of God is now preached in the
church by preachers lawfully called, we believe that the very
Word of God is proclaimed, and received by the faithful; and
that neither any other Word of God is to be invented nor is to
be expected from heaven: and that now the Word itself which is
preached is to be regarded, not the minister that preaches; for
even if he be evil and a sinner, nevertheless the Word of God
remains still true and good.
Neither do we think that therefore the outward
preaching is to be thought as fruitless because the instruction
in true religion depends on the inward illumination of the Spirit,
or because it is written "And no longer shall each man teach
his neighbor..., for they shall all know me" (Jer. 31:34),
And "Neither he who plants nor he that waters is anything,
but only God who gives the growth" (I Cor. 3:7). For although
"No one can come to Christ unless he be drawn by the Father"
(John 6:44), And unless the Holy Spirit inwardly illumines him,
yet we know that it is surely the will of God that his Word should
be preached outwardly also. God could indeed, by his Holy Spirit,
or by the ministry of an angel, without the ministry of St. Peter,
have taught Cornelius in the Acts; but, nevertheless, he refers
him to Peter, of whom the angel speaking says, "He shall
tell you what you ought to do."
INWARD ILLUMINATION DOES NOT ELIMINATE EXTERNAL
PREACHING. For he that illuminates inwardly by giving men the
Holy Spirit, the same one, by way of commandment, said unto his
disciples, "Go into all the world, and preach the gospel
to the whole creation" (Mark 16:15). And so in Phillippi,
Paul preached the word outwardly to Lydia, a seller of purple
goods; but the Lord inwardly opened the woman's heart (Acts 16:14).
And the same Paul, after a beautiful development of his thought,
in Romans 10:17 at length comes to the conclusion, "So faith
comes from hearing and hearing from the Word of God by the preaching
of Christ."
At the same time we recognize that God can
illuminate whom and when he will, Even without the external ministry,
for that is in his power; but we speak of the usual way of instructing
men, delivered unto us from God, both by commandment and examples.
HERESIES. We therefore detest all the heresies
of Artemon, the Manichaeans, the Valentinians, of Cerdon, and
the Marcionites, who deny that the Scriptures proceeded from
the Holy Spirit; or did not accept some parts of them, or interpolated
and corrupted them.
APOCRYPHA. And yet we do not conceal the fact
that certain books of the Old Testament were by the ancient authors
called apocryphal, and by the others ecclesiastical;
in as much as some would have them read in the churches, but
not advanced as an authority from which the faith is to be established.
As Augustine also, in his De Civitate Dei, book 18, ch.
38, remarks that "In the books of the Kings, the names and
books of certain prophets are cited"; but he adds that "They
are not in the canon"; and that "those books which
we have suffice unto godliness."
CHAPTER II
Of Interpreting The Holy Scripture;
and of Fathers, Councils, and Traditions
THE TRUE INTERPRETATION OF SCRIPTURE. The
apostle peter has said that the Holy Scriptures are not of private
interpretation (2 Pet. 1:20), and thus we do not allow all possible
interpretations. Nor consequently do we acknowledge as the true
or genuine interpretation of the Scriptures what is called the
conception of the Roman Church, that is, what the defenders of
the Roman Church plainly maintain should be thrust upon all for
acceptance. But we hold that the interpretation of the Scripture
to be orthodox and genuine which is gleaned from the Scriptures
themselves (from the nature of the language in which they were
written, likewise according to the circumstances in which they
were set down, and expounded in the light of and unlike passages
and of many and clearer passages) and which agree with the rule
of faith and love, and contributes much to the glory of God and
man's salvation.
INTERPRETATIONS OF THE HOLY FATHERS. Wherefore
we do not despise the interpretations of the holy Greek and Latin
fathers, nor reject their disputations and treatises concerning
sacred matters as far as they agree with the Scriptures; but
we modestly dissent from them when they are found to set down
things differing from, or altogether contrary to, the Scriptures.
Neither do we think that we do them any wrong in this matter;
seeing that they all, with one consent, will not have their writings
equated with the canonical Scriptures, but command us to prove
how far they agree or disagree with them, and to accept what
is in agreement and to reject what is in disagreement.
COUNCILS. And in the same order also we place
the decrees and canons of councils.
Wherefore we do not permit ourselves, in controversies
about religion or matters of faith, to urge our case with only
the opinions of the fathers or decrees of councils; much less
by received customs, or by the large number of those who share
the same opinion, or by the prescription of a long time. Who
Is The Judge? Therefore, we do not admit any other judge than
God himself, who proclaims by the Holy Scriptures what is true,
what is false, what is to be followed, or what to be avoided.
So we do assent to the judgments of spiritual men which are drawn
from the Word of God. Certainly Jeremiah and other prophets vehemently
condemned the assemblies of priests which were set up against
the law of God; and diligently admonished us that we should not
listen to the fathers, or tread in their path who, walking in
their own inventions, swerved from the law of God.
TRADITIONS OF MEN. Likewise we reject human
traditions, even if they be adorned with high-sounding titles,
as though they were divine and apostolical, delivered to the
Church by the living voice of the apostles, and, as it were,
through the hands of apostolical men to succeeding bishops which,
when compared with the Scriptures, disagree with them; and by
their disagreement show that they are not Apostolic at all. For
as the apostles did not contradict themselves in doctrine, so
the apostolic men did not set forth things contrary to the apostles.
On the contrary, it would be wicked to assert that the apostles
by a living voice delivered anything contrary to their writings.
Paul affirms expressly that he taught the same things in all
churches (I Cor. 4:17). And, again, "For we write you nothing
but what you can read and understand." (II Cor. 1:13). Also,
in another place, he testifies that he and his disciples - that
is, apostolic men - walked in the same way, and jointly by the
same Spirit did all things (II Cor. 12:18). Moreover, the Jews
in former times had the traditions of their elders; but these
traditions were severely rejected by the Lord, indicating that
the keeping of them hinders God's law, and that God is worshipped
in vain by such traditions (Matt. 15:1 ff.; Mark 7:1 ff).
CHAPTER III
Of God, His Unity and Trinity
GOD IS ONE. We believe and teach that God
is one in essence or nature, subsisting in himself, all sufficient
in himself, invisible, incorporeal, immense, eternal, Creator
of all things both visible and invisible, the greatest good,
living, quickening and preserving all things, omnipotent and
supremely wise, kind and merciful, just and true. Truly we detest
many gods because it is expressly written: "The Lord your
God is one Lord" (Deut.6:4). "I am the Lord your God.
You shall have no other gods before me" (Ex. 20:2-3). "I
am the Lord, and there is no other god besides me. Am I not the
Lord, and there is no other God beside me? A righteous God and
a Savior; there is none besides me" ((Isa. 45:5, 21). "The
Lord, the Lord, a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and
abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness" (Ex. 34:6).
GOD IS THREE. Notwithstanding we believe and
teach that the same immense, one and indivisible God is in person
inseparably and without confusion distinguished as Father, Son
and Holy Spirit so, as the Father has begotten the Son from eternity,
the Son is begotten by an ineffable generation, and the holy
Spirit truly proceeds from them both, and the same from eternity
and is to be worshipped with both.
Thus there are not three gods, but three persons,
cosubstantial, coeternal, and coequal; distinct with respect
to hypostases, and with respect to order, the one preceding the
other yet without any inequality. For according to the nature
or essence they are so joined together that they are one God,
and the divine nature is common to the Father, Son and Holy Spirit.
For Scripture has delivered to us a manifest
distinction of persons, the angel saying, among other things,
to the Blessed Virgin, "The Holy Spirit will come upon you,
and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; therefore
the child to be born will be called holy, the Son of God"
(Luke 1:35). And also in the baptism of Christ a voice is heard
from heaven concerning Christ, saying, "This is my beloved
Son" (Math. 3:17). The Holy Spirit also appeared in the
form of a dove (John 1:32). And when the Lord himself commanded
the apostles to baptize, he commanded them to baptize "in
the name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit"
(Matt. 28:19). Elsewhere in the Gospel he said: "The Father
will send the Holy Spirit in my name" (John 14:26), and
again he said: "When the Counselor comes, whom I shall send
to you from the Father, even the Spirit of truth, who proceeds
from the Father, he will bear witness to me," etc. (John
15:26). In short, we receive the Apostles' Creed because it delivers
to us the true faith.
HERESIES. Therefore we condemn the Jews and
Mohammedans, and all those who blaspheme that sacred and adorable
Trinity. We also condemn all heresies and heretics who teach
that the Son and Holy Spirit are God in name only, and also that
there is something created and subservient, or subordinate to
another in the Trinity, and that their is something unequal in
it, a greater or a less, something corporeal or corporeally conceived,
something different with respect to character or will, something
mixed or solitary, as if the Son and Holy Spirit were the affections
and properties of one God the Father, as the Monarchians, Novatians,
Praxeas, Patripassians, Sabellius, Paul of Samosata, Aetius,
Macedonius, Anthropomorphites, Arius, and such like, have thought.
CHAPTER IV
Of Idols or Images of God,
Christ and The Saints
IMAGES OF GOD. Since God as Spirit is in essence
invisible and immense, he cannot really be expressed by any art
or image. For this reason we have no fear pronouncing with Scripture
that images of God are mere lies. Therefore we reject not only
the idols of the Gentiles, but also the images of Christians.
IMAGES OF CHRIST. Although Christ assumed
human nature, yet he did not on that account assume it in order
to provide a model for carvers and painters. He denied that he
had come "to abolish the law and the prophets" (Matt.
5:17). But images are forbidden by the law and the prophets"
(Deut. 4:15; Isa. 44:9). He denied that his bodily presence would
be profitable for the Church, and promised that he would be near
us by his Spirit forever (John 16:7). Who, therefore, would believe
that a shadow or likeness of his body would contribute any benefit
to the pious? (II Cor. 5:5). Since he abides in us by his Spirit,
we are therefore the temple of God (I Cor. 3:16). But "what
agreement has the temple of God with idols?" (II Cor. 6:16).
IMAGES OF SAINTS. And since the blessed spirits
and saints in heaven, while they lived here on earth, rejected
all worship of themselves (Acts 3:12 f.; 14:11 ff.; Rev. 14:7;
22:9) and condemned images, shall anyone find it likely that
the heavenly saints and angels are pleased with their own images
before which men kneel. uncover their heads, and bestow other
honors?
But in fact in order to instruct men in religion
and to remind them of divine things and of their salvation, the
Lord commanded the preaching of the Gospel (Mark 16:15) - not
to paint and to teach the laity by means of pictures. Moreover,
he instituted sacraments, but nowhere did he set up images.
THE SCRIPTURES OF THE LAITY. Furthermore,
wherever we turn our eyes, we see the living and true creatures
of God which, if they be observed, as is proper, make a much
more vivid impression on the beholders than all images or vain,
motionless, feeble and dead pictures made by men, of which the
prophet truly said: "They have eyes, but do not see"
(Ps. 115:5).
LACTANTIUS. Therefore we approved the judgment
of Lactantius, and ancient writer, who says: "Undoubtedly
no religion exists where there is an image."
EPIPHANIUS AND JEROME. We also assert that
the blessed bishop Epiphanius did right when, finding on the
doors of a church a veil on which was painted a picture supposedly
of Christ or some saint, he ripped it down and took it away,
because to see a picture of a man hanging in the Church of Christ
was contrary to the authority of Scripture. Wherefore he charged
that from henceforth no such veils, which were contrary to our
religion, should be hung in the Church of Christ, and that rather
such questionable things, unworthy of the Church of Christ and
the faithful people, should be removed. Moreover, we approve
of this opinion of St. Augustine concerning true religion: "Let
not the worship of the works of men be a religion for us. For
the artists themselves who make such things are better; yet we
ought not to worship them" (De Vera Religione, cap.
55).
CHAPTER V
Of The Adoration, Worship and Invocation
of God Through The Only Mediator Jesus Christ
GOD ALONE IS TO BE ADORED AND WORSHIPPED.
We teach that the true God alone is to be adored and worshipped.
This honor we impart to none other, according to the commandment
of the Lord, "You shall worship the Lord your God and him
only shall you serve" (Math. 4:10). Indeed, all the prophets
severely inveighed against the people of Israel whenever they
adored and worshipped strange gods, and not the only true God.
But we teach that God is to be adored and worshipped as he himself
has taught us to worship, namely, "in spirit and in truth"
(John 4:23 f.), not with any superstition, but with sincerity,
according to his Word; lest at anytime he should say to us: "Who
has required these things from your hands?" (Isa. 1:12;
Jer. 6:20). For Paul also says: "God is not served by human
hands, as though he needed anything," etc. (Acts 17:25).
GOD ALONE IS TO BE INVOKED THROUGH THE MEDIATION
OF CHRIST ALONE. In all crises and trials of our life we call
upon him alone, and that by the mediation of our only mediator
and intercessor, Jesus Christ. For we have been explicitly commanded:
"Call upon me in the day of trouble; I will deliver you,
and you shall glorify me" (Ps. 1:15). Moreover, we have
a most generous promise from the Lord Who said: "If you
ask anything of the Father, he will give it to you" (John
16:23), and: "Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden
and I will give you rest: (Matt 11:28). And since it is written:
"How are men to call upon him in whom they have not believed?"
(Rom. 10:14), and since we do believe in God alone, we assuredly
call upon him alone, and we do so through Christ. For as the
apostle says, "There is one God and there is one mediator
between God and men, the man Christ Jesus? (I Tim. 2:5), and,
"If any one does sin, we have an advocate with the Father,
Jesus Christ the righteous," etc. (I John 2:1).
THE SAINTS ARE NOT TO BE ADORED, WORSHIPPED
OR INVOKED. For this reason we do not adore, worship, or pray
to the saints in heaven, or to other gods, and we do not acknowledge
them as our intercessors or mediators before the Father in heaven.
For God and Christ the Mediator are sufficient for us; neither
do we give to others the honor that is due to God alone and to
his Son, because he has expressly said: "My glory I give
to no other: (Isa. 42:8), and because Peter has said: "There
is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must
be saved," except the name of Christ (Acts 4:12). In him,
those who give their assent by faith do not seek anything outside
Christ.
THE DUE HONOR TO BE RENDERED TO THE SAINTS.
At the same time we do not despise the saints or think basely
of them. For we acknowledge them to be living members of Christ
and friends of God who have gloriously overcome the flesh and
the world. Hence we love them as brothers, and also honor them;
yet not with any kind of worship but by an honorable opinion
of them and just praises of them. We also imitate them. For with
ardent longings and supplications we earnestly desire to be imitators
of their faith and virtues, to share eternal salvation with them,
to dwell eternally with them in the presence of God, and to rejoice
with them in Christ. And in this respect we approve of the opinion
of St. Augustine in De Vera Religione: "Let not our
religion be the cult of men who have died. For if they have lived
holy lives, they are not to be thought of as seeking such honors;
on the contrary, they want us to worship him by whose illumination
they rejoice that we are fellow-servants of his merits. They
are therefore to be honored by the way of imitation, but not
to be adored in a religious manner," etc.
RELICS OF THE SAINTS. Much less do we believe
that the relics of the saints are to be adored and reverenced.
Those ancient saints seemed to have sufficiently honored their
dead when they decently committed their remains to the earth
after the spirit had ascended on high. And they thought that
the most noble relics of their ancestors were their virtues,
their doctrine, and their faith. Moreover, as they commend these
"relics" when praising the dead, so they strive to
copy them during their life on earth.
SWEARING BY GOD'S NAME ALONE. These ancient
men did not swear except by the name of the only God, Yahweh,
as prescribed by the divine law. Therefore, as it is forbidden
to swear by the names of strange gods (Ex. 23:;13; Deut. 10:20),
so we do not perform oaths to the saints that are demanded of
us. We therefore reject in all these matters a doctrine that
ascribes much too much to the saints in heaven.
CHAPTER VI
Of the Providence of God
ALL THINGS ARE GOVERNED BY THE PROVIDENCE
OF GOD. We believe that all things in heaven and on earth, and
in all creatures, are preserved and governed by the providence
of this wise, eternal and almighty God. For David testifies and
says: "The Lord is high above all nations, and his glory
above the heavens! Who is like the Lord our God, who is seated
on high, who looks far down upon the heavens and the earth?"
(Ps. 113:4 ff.). Again: "Thou searchest out...all my ways.
Even before a word is on my tongue, lo, O Lord, Thou knowest
it altogether" (Ps. 139:3 f.). Paul also testifies and declares:
"In him we live and move and have our being" (Acts
17:28), and "from him and through him and to him are all
things" (Rom. 11:36). Therefore Augustine most truly and
according to Scripture declared in his book De Agone Christi,
cap. 8, "The Lord said, 'Are not two sparrows sold for a
penny? And not one of them will fall to the ground without your
Father's will' " (Matt. 10:29). By speaking thus he wanted
to show that what men regard as of least value is governed by
God's omnipotence. For he who is the truth says that the birds
of the air are fed by him and lilies of the field are clothed
by him; he also says that the hairs of our head are numbered
(Matt. 6:26 ff.).
THE EPICUREANS. We therefore condemn the Epicureans
who deny the providence of God, and all those who blasphemously
say that God is busy with the heavens and neither sees nor cares
about us and our affairs. David, the royal prophet, also condemned
this when he said: "O Lord, how long shall the wicked exult?
They say, "The Lord does not see; the God of Jacob does
not perceive." Understand, O dullest of the people! Fools,
when will you be wise? He who planted the ear, does he not hear?
He who formed the eye, does he not see?" (Ps. 94:3, 7-9).
MEANS NOT TO BE DESPISED. Nevertheless, we
do not spurn as useless the means by which divine providence
works, but we teach that we are to adapt ourselves to them in
so far as they are recommended to us in the Word of God. Wherefore
we disapprove of the rash statements of those who say that if
all things are managed by the providence of God, then our efforts
and endeavors are in vain. It will be sufficient if we leave
everything to the governance of divine providence, and we will
not have to worry about anything or do anything. For although
Paul understood that he sailed under the providence of God who
had said to him: "You must bear witness also at Rome"
(Acts 23:11), and in addition had given him the promise, "There
will be no loss of life among you...and not a hair is to perish
from the head of any of you" (Acts 27:22,34), yet when the
sailors were nevertheless thinking about abandoning ship the
same Paul said to the centurion and the soldiers: "Unless
these men stay in the ship, you cannot be saved" (Acts 27:31).
For God, who has appointed to everything its end, has ordained
the beginning and the means by which it reaches its goal. The
heathen ascribe things to blind fortune and uncertain chance.
But St. James does not want us to say: "Today or tomorrow
we will go into such and such a town and trade," but adds:
"Instead you ought to say, `If the Lord wills, we shall
live and we shall do this or that' " (James 4:13, 15). And
Augustine says: "Everything which to vain men seems to happen
in nature by accident, occurs only by his Word, because it happens
only at his command" (Enarrationes in Psalmos 148).
Thus it seemed to happen by mere chance when Saul, while seeking
his father's asses, unexpectedly fell in with the prophet Samuel.
But previously the Lord had said to the prophet: "Tomorrow
I will send to you a man from the land of Benjamin" (I Sam
9:15).
CHAPTER VII
Of The Creation of All Things:
Of Angels, the Devil, and Man
GOD CREATED ALL THINGS. This good and almighty
God created all things, both visible and invisible, by his co-eternal
Word, and preserves them by his co-eternal Spirit, as David testified
when he said: "By the word of the Lord the heavens were
made, and all their host by the breath of his mouth" (Ps.
33:6). And, as Scripture says, everything that God had made was
very good, and was made for the profit and use of man. Now we
assert that all those things proceed from one beginning. MANICHAEANS
AND MARCIONITES. Therefore, we condemn the Manichaeans and Marcionites
who impiously imagined two substances and natures, one good and
the other evil; also two beginnings and two gods contrary to
each other, a good and an evil one.
OF ANGELS AND THE DEVIL. Among all creatures,
angels and men are most excellent. Concerning angels, Holy Scripture
declares: "who makest the winds thy messengers, fire and
flame thy ministers" (Ps 104:4). Also it says: "Are
they not all ministering spirits sent forth to serve, for the
sake of those who are to obtain salvation?" (Heb. 1:14).
Concerning the Devil, the Lord Jesus Himself testifies: "He
was a murderer from the beginning, and has nothing to do with
the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he lies, he
speaks according to his own nature, for he is a liar and the
father of lies" (John 8:44). Consequently we teach that
some angels persisted in obedience and were appointed for faithful
service to God and men, but others fell of their own free will
and were cast into destruction, becoming enemies of all good
and of the faithful, etc....
OF MAN. Now concerning, Scripture says that
in the beginning he was made good according to the image and
likeness of God; that God placed him in paradise and made all
thing subject to him (Gen. chp 2). This is what David magnificently
sets forth in Psalm 8. Moreover, God gave him a wife and blessed
them. We also affirm that man consists of two different substances
in one person: an immortal soul which, when separate from the
body, neither sleeps nor dies, and a mortal body which will nevertheless
be raised up from the dead at the last judgement, in order that
then the whole man, either in life or in death, abide forever.
THE SECTS. We condemn all who ridicule or
by subtle arguments cast doubt upon the immortality of the soul,
or who say that the soul sleeps or is a part of God. In short,
we condemn all opinions of all men, however many, that depart
from what has been delivered unto us by the Holy Scriptures in
the Apostolic Church of Christ concerning creation, angels, and
demons, and man.
CHAPTER VIII
Of Man's Fall, Sin and the Cause of Sin
THE FALL OF MAN. In the beginning, man was
made according to the image of God, in righteousness and true
holiness, good and upright. But when at the instigation of the
serpent and by his own fault he abandoned goodness and righteousness,
he became subject to sin, death and various calamities. And what
he became by the fall, that is, subject to sin, death and various
calamities, so are all those who have descended from him.
SIN. By sin we understand that innate corruption
of man which has been derived or propagated in us all from our
first parents, by which we, immersed in perverse desires and
averse to all good, are inclined to all evil. Full of all wickedness,
distrust, contempt and hatred of God, we are unable to do or
even to think anything good of ourselves. Moreover, even as we
grow older, so by wicked thoughts, words and deeds committed
against God's law, we bring forth corrupt fruit worthy of an
evil tree (Matt. 12:33 ff.). For this reason by our own deserts,
being subject to the wrath of God, we are liable to just punishment,
so that all of us would have been cast away by God if Christ,
the Deliverer, had not brought us back.
DEATH. By death we understand not only bodily
death, which all of us must once suffer on account of sins, but
also eternal punishment due to our sins and corruption. For the
apostle says: "We were dead through trespasses and sins...and
were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind. But
God, who is rich in mercy...even when we were dead through our
trespasses, made us alive together with Christ" (Eph. 2:1
ff.) Also: "As sin came into the world through one man and
death through sin, and so death spread to all men because all
men sinned" (Rom. 5:12).
ORIGINAL SIN. We therefore acknowledge that
there is original sin in all men.
ACTUAL SINS. We acknowledge that all other
sins which arise from it are called and truly are sins, no matter
by what name they may be called, whether mortal, venial or that
which is said to be the sin against the Holy Spirit which is
never forgiven (Mark 3:29; I John 5:16). We also confess that
sins are not equal; although they arise from the same fountain
of corruption and unbelief, some are more serious than others.
As the Lord said, it will be more tolerable for Sodom than for
the city that rejects the word of the Gospel (Matt. 10:14 f.;
11:20 ff.).
THE SECTS. We therefore condemn all who have
taught contrary to this, especially Pelagius and all Pelagians,
together with the Jovinians who, with the Stoics, regard all
sins as equal. In this whole matter we agree with St. Augustine
who derived and defended his view from Holy Scriptures. Moreover,
we condemn Florinus and Blastus, against whom Irenaeus wrote,
and all who make God the author of sin.
GOD IS NOT THE AUTHOR OF SIN, AND HOW FAR
HE IS SAID TO HARDEN. It is expressly written: "Thou art
not a God who delights in wickedness. Thou hatest all evildoers.
Thou destroyest those who speak lies" (Ps. 5:4 ff.). And
again: "When the devil lies, he speaks according to his
own nature, for he is a liar and the father of lies" (John
8:44). Moreover, there is enough sinfulness and corruption in
us that it is not necessary for God to infuse into us a new or
still greater perversity. When, therefore, it is said in Scripture
that God hardens, blinds and delivers up to a reprobate mind,
it is to be understood that God does it by a just judgment as
a just Judge and Avenger. Finally, as often as God in Scripture
is said or seems to do something evil, it is not thereby said
that man does not do evil, but that God permits it and does not
prevent it, according to his just judgment, who could prevent
it if he wished, or because he turns man's evil into good, as
he did in the case of the sin of Joseph's brethren, or because
he governs sins lest they break out and rage more than is appropriate.
St. Augustine writes in his Enchiridion: "What happens
contrary to his will occurs, in a wonderful and ineffable way,
not apart from his will. For it would not happen if he did not
allow it. And yet he does not allow it unwillingly but willingly.
But he who is good would not permit evil to be done, unless,
being omnipotent, he could bring good out of evil." Thus
wrote Augustine.
CURIOUS QUESTIONS. Other questions, such as
whether God willed Adam to fall, or incited him to fall, or why
he did not prevent the fall, and similar questions, we reckon
among curious questions (unless perchance the wickedness of heretics
or of other churlish men compels us also to explain them out
of the Word of God, as the godly teachers of the Church have
frequently done), knowing that the Lord forbade man to eat of
the forbidden fruit and punished his transgression. We also know
that what things are done are not evil with respect to the providence,
will, and the power of God, but in respect of Satan and our will
opposing the will of God.
CHAPTER IX
Of Free Will, and Thus of Human Powers
In this matter, which has always produced
many conflicts in the Church, we teach that a threefold condition
or state of man is to be considered.
WHAT MAN WAS BEFORE THE FALL. There is the
state in which man was in the beginning before the fall, namely,
upright and free, so that he could both continue in goodness
and decline to evil. However, he declined to evil, and has involved
himself and the whole human race in sin and death, as has been
said already.
WHAT MAN WAS AFTER THE FALL. Then we are to
consider what man was after the fall. To be sure, his reason
was not taken from him, nor was he deprived of will, and he was
not entirely changed into a stone or a tree. But they were so
altered and weakened that they no longer can do what they could
before the fall. For the understanding is darkened, and the will
which was free has become an enslaved will. Now it serves sin,
not unwillingly but willingly. And indeed, it is called a will,
not an unwill (ing). [Etenim voluntas, non noluntas dicitur.]
MAN DOES EVIL BY HIS OWN FREE WILL. Therefore,
in regard to evil or sin, man is not forced by God or by the
devil but does evil by his own free will, and in this respect
he has a most free will. But when we frequently see that the
worst crimes and designs of men are prevented by God from reaching
their purpose, this does not take away man's freedom in doing
evil, but God by his own power prevents what man freely planned
otherwise. Thus Joseph's brothers freely determined to get rid
of him, but they were unable to do it because something else
seemed good to the counsel of God.
MAN IS NOT CAPABLE OF GOOD Per Se.
In regard to goodness and virtue man's reason does not judge
rightly of itself concerning divine things. For the evangelical
and apostolic Scripture requires regeneration of whoever among
us wishes to be saved. Hence our first birth from Adam contributes
nothing to out salvation. Paul says: "The unspiritual man
does not receive the gifts of the Spirit of God," etc. (I
Cor. 2:14). And in another place he denies that we of ourselves
are capable of thinking anything good (II Cor. 3:5) Now it is
known that the mind or intellect is the guide of the will, and
when the guide is blind, it is obvious how far the will reaches.
Wherefore, man not yet regenerate has no free will for good,
no strength to perform what is good. The Lord says in the Gospel:
"Truly, truly, I say to you, everyone who commits sin is
a slave to sin" (John 8:34). And the apostle Paul says:
"The mind that is set on the flesh is hostile to God; it
does not submit to God's law, indeed it cannot" (Rom. 8:7).
Yet in regard to earthly things, fallen man is not entirely lacking
in understanding.
UNDERSTANDING OF THE ARTS. For God in his
mercy has permitted the powers of the intellect to remain, though
differing greatly from what was in man before the fall. God commands
us to cultivate our natural talents, and meanwhile adds both
gifts and success. And it is obvious that we make no progress
in all the arts without God's blessing. In any case, Scripture
refers all the arts to God; and, indeed, the heathen trace the
origin of the arts to the gods who invented them.
OF WHAT KIND ARE THE POWERS OF THE REGENERATE,
AND IN WHAT WAY THEIR WILLS ARE FREE. Finally, we must see whether
the regenerate have free wills, and to what extent. In regeneration
the understanding is illumined by the Holy Spirit in order that
it many understand both the mysteries and the will of God. And
the will itself is not only changed by the Spirit, but it is
also equipped with faculties so that it wills and is able to
do the good of its own accord (Rom. 8:1ff.). Unless we grant
this, we will deny Christian liberty and introduce a legal bondage.
But the prophet has God saying: "I will put my law within
them, and I will write it upon their hearts" (Jer. 31:33;
Ezek. 36:26f.). The Lord also says in the Gospel: "If the
Son makes you free, you will be free indeed" (John 8:36).
Paul also writes to the Philippians: "It has been granted
to you that for the sake of Christ you should not only believe
in him but also suffer for his sake" (Phil. 1:29). Again:
"I am sure that he who began a good work in you will bring
it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ" (v. 6). Also:
"God is at work in you, both to will and to work for his
good pleasure" (ch. 2:13).
THE REGENERATE WORK NOT ONLY PASSIVELY BUT
ACTIVELY. However, in this connection we teach that there are
two things to be observed: First, that the regenerate, in choosing
and doing good, work not only passively but actively. For they
are moved by God that they may do themselves what they do. For
Augustine rightly adduces the saying that "God is said to
be our helper. But no one can be helped unless he does something."
The Manichaeans robbed man of all activity and made him like
a stone or a block of wood.
THE FREE WILL IS WEAK IN THE REGENERATE. Secondly,
in the regenerate a weakness remains. For since sin dwells in
us, and in the regenerate the flesh struggles against the Spirit
till the end of our lives, they do not easily accomplish in all
things what they had planned. These things are confirmed by the
apostle in Rom., ch. 7, and Gal., ch. 5. Therefore that free
will is weak in us on account of the remnants of the old Adam
and of innate human corruption remaining in us until the end
of our lives. Meanwhile, since the powers of the flesh and the
remnants of the old man are not so efficacious that they wholly
extinguish the work of the Spirit, for that reason the faithful
are said to be free, yet so that they acknowledge their infirmity
and do not glory at all in their free will. For believers ought
always to keep in mind what St. Augustine so many times inculcated
according to the apostle: "What have you that you did not
receive? If then you received it, why do you boast as if it were
not a gift?" To this he adds that what we have planned does
not immediately come to pass. For the issue of things lies in
the hand of God. This is the reason Paul prayed to the Lord to
prosper his journey (Rom. 1:10). And this also is the reason
the free will is weak.
IN EXTERNAL THINGS THERE IS LIBERTY. Moreover,
no one denies that in external things both the regenerate and
the unregenerate enjoy free will. For man has in common with
other living creatures (to which he is not inferior) this nature
to will some things and not to will others. Thus he is able to
speak or to keep silent, to go out of his house or to remain
at home, etc. However, even here God's power is always to be
observed, for it was the cause that Balaam could not go as far
as he wanted (Num., ch. 24), and Zacharias upon returning from
the temple could not speak as he wanted (Luke, ch.1).
HERESIES. In this matter we condemn the Manichaeans
who deny that the beginning of evil was for man [created] good,
from his free will. We also condemn the Pelagians who assert
that an evil man has sufficient free will to do the good that
is commanded. Both are refuted by Holy Scripture which says to
the former, "God made man upright" and to the latter,
"If the Son makes you free, you will be free indeed"
(John 8:36).
CHAPTER X
Of the Predestination of God
and the Election of the Saints
GOD HAS ELECTED US OUT OF GRACE. From eternity
God has freely, and of his mere grace, without any respect to
men, predestinated or elected the saints whom he wills to save
in Christ, according to the saying of the apostle, "God
chose us in him before the foundation of the world" (Eph.
1:4). And again: "Who saved us and called an with a holy
calling, not in virtue of our works but in virtue of his own
purpose and the grace which he gave us in Christ Jesus ages ago,
and now has manifested through the appearing of our Savior Christ
Jesus" (II Tim. 1:9 f.).
WE ARE ELECTED OR PREDESTINATED IN CHRIST.
Therefore, although not on account of any merit of ours, God
has elected us, not directly, but in Christ, and on account of
Christ, in order that those who are now engrafted into Christ
by faith might also be elected. But those who were outside Christ
were rejected, according to the word of the apostle, "Examine
yourselves, to see whether you are holding to your faith. Test
yourselves. Do you not realize that Jesus Christ is in you? --
unless indeed you fail to meet the test!" (II Cor. 13:5).
WE ARE ELECTED FOR A DEFINITE PURPOSE. Finally,
the saints are chosen in Christ by God for a definite purpose,
which the apostle himself explains when he says, "He chose
us in him for adoption that we should be holy and blameless before
him in love. He destined us for adoption to be his sons through
Jesus Christ that they should be to the praise of the glory of
his grace" (Eph. 1:4 ff.).
WE ARE TO HAVE A GOOD HOPE FOR ALL. And although
God knows who are his, and here and there mention is made of
the small number of elect, yet we must hope well of all, and
not rashly judge any man to be a reprobate. For Paul says to
the Philippians, "I thank my God for you all" (now
he speaks of the whole Church in Phillippi), "because of
your fellowship in the Gospel, being persuaded that he who began
a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of
Jesus Christ. It is also right that I have this opinion of you
all" (Phil. 1:3 ff.).
WHETHER FEW ARE ELECT. And when the Lord was
asked whether there were few that should be saved, he does not
answer and tell them that few or many should be saved or damned,
but rather he exhorts every man to "strive to enter by the
narrow door" (Luke 13:24): as if he should say, It is not
for you curiously to inquire about these matters, but rather
to endeavor that you may enter into heaven by the straight way.
WHAT IN THIS MATTER IS TO BE CONDEMNED. Therefore
we do not approve of the impious speeches of some who say, "Few
are chosen, and since I do not know whether I am among the number
of the few, I will enjoy myself." Others say, "If I
am predestinated and elected by God, nothing can hinder me from
salvation, which is already certainly appointed for me, no matter
what I do. But if I am in the number of the reprobate, no faith
or repentance will help me, since the decree of God cannot be
changed. Therefore all doctrines and admonitions are useless."
Now the saying of the apostle contradicts these men: "The
Lord's servant must be ready to teach, instructing those who
oppose him, so that if God should grant that they repent to know
the truth, they may recover from the snare of the devil, after
being held captive by him to do his will" (II Tim. 2:23
ff.).
ADMONITIONS ARE NOT IN VAIN BECAUSE SALVATION
PROCEEDS FROM ELECTION. Augustine also shows that both the grace
of free election and the predestination, and also salutary admonitions
and doctrines, are to be preached (Lib. de Dono Perseverantiae,
cap. 14 ff.).
WHETHER WE ARE ELECTED. We therefore find
fault with those who outside of Christ ask whether they are elected.
[Ed. 1568 reads: "whether they are elected from eternity?"]
And what has God decreed concerning them before all eternity?
For the preaching of the Gospel is to be heard, and it is to
be believed; and it is to be held as beyond doubt that if you
believe and are in Christ, you are elected. For the Father has
revealed unto us in Christ the eternal purpose of his predestination,
as I have just now shown from the apostle in II Tim. 1:9-10.
This is therefore above all to be taught and considered, what
great love of the Father toward us is revealed to us in Christ.
We must hear what the Lord himself daily preaches to us in the
Gospel, how he calls and says: "Come to me all who labor
and are heavy-laden, and I will give you rest" (Matt. 11:28).
"God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that
whoever believes in him should not perish, but have eternal life"
(John 3:16). Also, "It is not the will of my Father that
one of these little ones should perish" (Matt. 18:14).
Let Christ, therefore be the looking glass, in whom we may contemplate
our predestination. We shall have a sufficiently clear and sure
testimony that we are inscribed in the Book of Life if we have
fellowship with Christ, and he is ours and we are his in true
faith.
TEMPTATION IN REGARD TO PREDESTINATION. In
the temptation in regard to predestination, than which there
is scarcely any other more dangerous, we are confronted by the
fact that God's promises apply to all the faithful, for he says:
"Ask, and everyone who seeks, shall receive" (Luke
11:9 f.) This finally we pray, with the whole Church of God,
"Our Father who art in heaven" (Matt. 6:9), both because
by baptism we are ingrafted into the body of Christ, and we are
often fed in his Church with his flesh and blood unto life eternal.
Thereby, being strengthened, we are commanded to work out our
salvation with fear trembling, according to the precept of Paul.
CHAPTER XI
Of Jesus Christ, True God and Man,
the Only Savior of the World
CHRIST IS TRUE GOD. We further believe and
teach that the Son of God, our Lord Jesus Christ, was predestinated
or foreordained from eternity by the Father to be the Savior
of the world. And we believe that he was born, not only when
he assumed flesh of the Virgin Mary, and not only before the
foundation of the world was laid, but by the Father before all
eternity in an inexpressible manner. For Isaiah said: "Who
can tell his generation?" (Ch. 53:8). And Micah says: "His
origin is from of old, from ancient days" (Micah 5:2). And
John said in the Gospel: "In the beginning was the Word,
and the Word was with God, and the Word was God," etc. (Ch.
1:1). Therefore, with respect to his divinity the Son is coequal
and consubstantial with the Father; true God (Phil. 2:11), not
only in name or by adoption or by any merit, but in substance
and nature, as the apostle John has often said: "This is
the true God and eternal life" (I John 5:20). Paul also
says: "He appointed the Son the heir of all things, through
whom also he created the world. He reflects the glory of God
and bears the very stamp of his nature, upholding all things
by his word of power" (Heb. 1:2 f.). For in the Gospel the
Lord himself said: "Father, glorify Thou me in Thy own presence
with the glory which I had with Thee before the world was made"
(John 17:5). And in another place in the Gospel it is written:
"The Jews sought all the more to kill him because he...called
God his Father, making himself equal with God" (John 5:18).
THE SECTS. We therefore abhor the impious
doctrine of Arius and the Arians against the Son of God, and
especially the blasphemies of the Spaniard, Michael Servetus,
and all his followers, which Satan through them has, as it were,
dragged up out of hell and has most audaciously and impiously
spread abroad in the world.
CHRIST IS TRUE MAN, HAVING REAL FLESH. We
also believe and teach that the eternal Son of the eternal God
was made the Son of man, from the seed of Abraham and David,
not from the coitus of a man, as the Ebionites said, but was
most chastely conceived by the Holy Spirit and born of the ever
virgin Mary, as the evangelical history carefully explains to
us (Matt., ch. 1). And Paul says: "he took not on him the
nature of angels, but of the seed of Abraham." Also the
apostle John says that woever does not believe that Jesus Christ
has come in the flesh, is not of God. Therefore, the flesh of
Christ was neither imaginary not brought from heaven, as Valentinus
and Marcion wrongly imagined.
A RATIONAL SOUL IN CHRIST. Moreover, our Lord
Jesus Christ did not have a soul bereft of sense and reason,
as Apollinaris thought, nor flesh without a soul, as Eunomius
taught, but a soul with its reason, and flesh with its senses,
by which in the time of his passion he sustained real bodily
pain, as himself testified when he said: "My soul is very
sorrowful, even to death" (Matt. 26:38). And, "Now
is my soul troubled" (John 12:27).
TWO NATURES IN CHRIST. We therefore acknowledge
two natures or substances, the divine and the human, in one and
the same Jesus Christ our Lord (Heb., ch. 2). And we say that
these are bound and united with one another in such a way that
they are not absorbed, or confused, or mixed, but are united
or joined together in one person the properties of the natures
being unimpaired and permanent.
NOT TWO BUT ONE CHRIST. Thus we worship not
two but one Christ the Lord. We repeat: one true God and man.
With respect to his divine nature he is consubstantial with the
Father, and with respect to the human nature he is consubstantial
with us men, and like us in all things, sin excepted (Heb. 4:15).
THE SECTS. And indeed we detest the dogma
of the Nestorians who make two of one Christ and dissolve the
unity of the Person. Likewise we thoroughly execrate the madness
of Eutyches and of the Monothelites or Monophysites who destroy
the property of the human nature.
THE DIVINE NATURE OF CHRIST IS NOT PASSIBLE,
AND THE HUMAN NATURE IS NOT EVERYWHERE. Therefore, we do not
in any way teach that the divine nature in Christ has suffered
or that Christ according to his human nature is still in this
world and thus is everywhere. For neither do we think or teach
that the body of Christ ceased to be a true body after his glorification,
or was deified, and deified in such a way that it laid aside
its properties as regards body and soul, and changed entirely
into a divine nature and began to be merely one substance.
THE SECTS. Hence we by no means approve of
or accept the strained, confused and obscure subtleties of Schwenkfeldt
and of similar sophists with their self-contradictory arguments;
neither are we Schwenkfeldians.
OUR LORD TRULY SUFFERED. We believe, moreover,
that our Lord Jesus Christ truly suffered and died for us in
the flesh, as Peter says (I Peter 4:1). We abhor the most impious
madness of the Jacobites and all the Turks who execrate the suffering
of the Lord. At the same time we do not deny that the Lord of
glory was crucified for us, according to Paul's words (I Cor.
2:8).
IMPARTATION OF PROPERTIES. We piously and
reverently accept and use the impartation of properties which
is derived from Scripture and which has been used by all antiquity
in explaining and reconciling apparently contradictory passages.
CHRIST IS TRULY RISEN FROM THE DEAD. We believe
and teach that the same Jesus Christ our Lord, in his true flesh
in which he was crucified and died, rose again from the dead,
and that not another flesh was raised other than the one buried,
or that a spirit was taken up instead of the flesh, but that
he retained his true body. Therefore, while his disciples thought
they saw the spirit of the Lord, he showed them his hands and
feet which were marked by the prints of the nails and wounds,
and added: "See my hands and my feet, that it is I myself;
handle me, and see, for a spirit has not flesh and bones as you
see that I have" (Luke 24:39).
CHRIST IS TRULY ASCENDED INTO HEAVEN. We believe
that our Lord Jesus Christ, in his same flesh, ascended above
all visible heavens into the highest heaven, that is, the dwelling-place
of God and the blessed ones, at the right hand of God the Father.
Although it signifies an equal participation in glory and majesty,
it is also taken to be a certain place about which the Lord,
speaking in the Gospel, says: "I go to prepare a place for
you" (John 14:2). The apostle Peter also says: "Heaven
must receive Christ until the time of restoring all things"
(Acts 3:21). And from heaven the same Christ will return in judgment,
when wickedness will then be at its greatest in the world and
when the Antichrist, having corrupted true religion, will fill
up all things with superstition and impiety and will cruelly
lay waste the Church with bloodshed and flames (Dan., ch. 11).
But Christ will come again to claim his own, and by his coming
to destroy the Antichrist, and to judge the living and the dead
(Acts 17:31). For the dead will rise again (I Thess. 4:14 ff.),
and those who on that day (which is unknown to all creatures
[Mark 13:32]) will be alive will be changed "in the twinkling
of an eye," and all the faithful will be caught up to meet
Christ in the air, so that then they may enter with him into
the blessed dwelling-places to live forever (I Cor. 15:51 f.).
But the unbelievers and ungodly will descend with the devils
into hell to burn forever and never to be redeemed from torments
(Matt. 25:46).
THE SECTS. We therefore condemn all who deny
a real resurrection of the flesh (II Tim. 2:18), or who with
John of Jerusalem, against whom Jerome wrote, do not have a correct
view of the glorification of bodies. We also condemn those who
thought that the devil and all the ungodly would at some time
be saved, and that there would be an end to punishments. For
the Lord has plainly declared: "Their fire is not quenched,
and their worm does not die" (Mark 9:44). We further condemn
Jewish dreams that there will be a golden age on earth before
the Day of Judgment, and that the pious, having subdued all their
godless enemies, will possess all the kingdoms of the earth.
For evangelical truth in Matt., chs. 24 and 25, and Luke, ch.
18, and apostolic teaching in II Thess., ch. 2, and II Tim.,
chs. 3 and 4, present something quite different.
THE FRUIT OF CHRIST'S DEATH AND RESURRECTION.
Further by his passion and death and everything which he did
and endured for our sake by his coming in the flesh, our Lord
reconciled all the faithful to the heavenly Father, made expiation
for sins, disarmed death, overcame damnation and hell, and by
his resurrection from the dead brought again and restored life
and immortality. For he is our righteousness, life and resurrection,
in a word, the fulness and perfection of all the faithful, salvation
and all sufficiency. For the apostle says: "In him all the
fulness of God was pleased to dwell," and, "You have
come to fulness of life in him" (Col., chs. 1 and 2).
JESUS CHRIST IS THE ONLY SAVIOR OF THE WORLD,
AND THE TRUE AWAITED MESSIAH. For we teach and believe that this
Jesus Christ our Lord is the unique and eternal Savior of the
human race, and thus of the whole world, in whom by faith are
saved all who before the law, under the law, and under the Gospel
were saved, and however many will be saved at the end of the
world. For the Lord himself says in the Gospel: "He who
does not enter the sheepfold by the door but climbs in by another
way, that man is a thief and a robber....I am the door of the
sheep" (John 10:1 and 7). And also in another place in the
same Gospel he says: "Abraham saw my day and was glad"
(ch. 7:56). The apostle Peter also says: "There is salvation
in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given
among men by which we must be saved." We therefore believe
that we will be saved through the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ,
as our fathers were (Acts 4:12; 10:43; 15:11). For Paul also
says: "All our fathers ate the same spiritual food, and
all drank the same spiritual drink. For they drank from the spiritual
Rock which followed them, and the Rock was Christ" (I Cor.
10:3 f.). And thus we read that John says: "Christ was the
Lamb which was slain from the foundation of the world" (Rev.
14:8), and John the Baptist testified that Christ is that "Lamb
of God, who takes away the sin of the world" (John 1:29).
Wherefore, we quite openly profess and preach that Jesus Christ
is the sole Redeemer and Savior of the world, the King and High
Priest, the true and awaited Messiah, that holy and blessed one
whom all the types of the law and predictions of the prophets
prefigured and promised; and that God appointed him beforehand
and sent him to us, so that we are not now to look for any other.
Now there only remains for all of us to give all glory to Christ,
believe in him, rest in him alone, despising and rejecting all
other aids in life. For however many seek salvation in any other
than in Christ alone, have fallen from the grace of God and have
rendered Christ null and void for themselves (Gal. 5:4).
THE CREEDS OF FOUR COUNCILS RECEIVED. And,
to say many things with a few words, with a sincere heart we
believe, and freely confess with open mouth, whatever things
are defined from the Holy Scriptures concerning the mystery of
the incarnation of our Lord Jesus Christ, and are summed up in
the Creeds and decrees of the first four most excellent synods
convened at Nicaea, Constantinople, Ephesus and Chalcedon --
together with the Creed of blessed Athanasius [The so-called
Athanasian Creed was not written by Athanasius but dates from
the ninth century. It is also called the "Quicunque"
from the opening word of the Latin text.], and all similar symbols;
and we condemn everything contrary to these.
THE SECTS. And in this way we retain the Christian,
orthodox and catholic faith whole and unimpaired; knowing that
nothing is contained in the aforesaid symbols which is not agreeable
to the Word of God, and does not altogether make for a sincere
exposition of the faith.
CHAPTER XII
Of the Law of God
THE WILL OF GOD IS EXPLAINED FOR US IN THE
LAW OF GOD. We teach that the will of God is explained for us
in the law of God, what he wills or does not will us to do, what
is good and just, or what is evil and unjust. Therefore, we confess
that the law is good and holy.
THE LAW OF NATURE. And this law was at one
time written in the hearts of men by the finger of God (Rom.
2:15), and is called the law of nature (the law of Moses is
in two Tables), and at another it was inscribed by his finger
on the two Tables of Moses, and eloquently expounded in the books
of Moses (Ex. 20:1 ff.; Deut. 5:6 ff.). For the sake of clarity
we distinguish the moral law which is contained in the Decalogue
or two Tables and expounded in the books of Moses, the ceremonial
law which determines the ceremonies and worship of God, and the
judicial law which is concerned with political and domestic matters.
THE LAW IS COMPLETE AND PERFECT. We believe
that the whole will of God and all necessary precepts for every
sphere of life are taught in this law. For otherwise the Lord
would not have forbidden us to add or to take away anything from
this law; neither would he have commanded us to walk in a straight
path before this law, and not to turn aside from it by turning
to the right or to the left (Deut. 4:2; 12:32).
WHY THE LAW WAS GIVEN. We teach that this
law was not given to men that they might be justified by keeping
it, but that rather from what it teaches we may know (our) weakness,
sin and condemnation, and, despairing of our strength, might
be converted to Christ in faith. For the apostle openly declares:
"The law brings wrath," and, "Through the law
comes knowledge of sin" (Rom. 4:15; 3:20), and, "If
a law had been given which could justify or make alive, then
righteousness would indeed be by the law. But the Scripture (that
is, the law) has concluded all under sin, that the promise which
was of the faith of Jesus might be given to those who believe....Therefore,
the law was our schoolmaster unto Christ, that we might be justified
by faith" (Gal.3:21 ff.).
THE FLESH DOES NOT FULFIL THE LAW. For no
flesh could or can satisfy the law of God and fulfil it, because
of the weakness in our flesh which adheres and remains in us
until our last breath. For the apostle says again: "God
has done what the law, weakened bythe flesh, could not do: sending
his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and for sin"
(Rom. 8:3). Therefore, Christ is the perfecting of the law and
our fulfilment of it (Rom. 10:4), who, in order to take away
the curse of the law, was make a curse for us (Gal. 3:13). Thus
he imparts to us through faith his fulfilment of the law, and
his righteousness and obedience are imputed to us.
HOW FAR THE LAW IS ABROGATED. The law of God
is therefore abrogated to the extent that it no longer condemns
us, nor works wrath in us. For we are under grace and not under
the law. Moreover, Christ has fulfilled all the figures of the
law. Hence, with the coming of the body, the shadows ceased,
so that in Christ we now have the truth and all fulness. But
yet we do not on that account contemptuously reject the law.
For we remember the words of the Lord when he said: "I have
not come to abolish the law and the prophets but to fulfil them"
(Matt. 5:17). We know that in the law is delivered to us the
patterns of virtues and vices. We know that the written law when
explained by the Gospel is useful to the Church, and that therefore
its reading is not to be banished from the Church. For although
Moses' face was covered with a veil, yet the apostle says that
the veil has been taken away and abolished by Christ.
THE SECTS. We condemn everything that heretics
old and new have taught against the law.
CHAPTER XIII
Of the Gospel of Jesus Christ, of the Promises,
and of the Spirit and Letter
THE ANCIENTS HAD EVANGELICAL PROMISES. The
Gospel is, indeed, opposed to the law. For the law works wrath
and announces a curse, whereas the Gospel preaches grace and
blessing. John says: "For the law was given through Moses;
grace and truth came through Jesus Christ" (John 1:17).
Yet notwithstanding it is most certain that those who were before
the law and under the law, were not altogether destitute of the
Gospel. For they had extraordinary evangelical promises such
as these are: "The seed of the woman shall bruise the serpent's
head" (Gen. 3:15). "In thy seed shall all the nations
of the earth be blessed" (Gen. 22:18). "The scepter
shall not depart from Judah...until he comes" (Gen. 49:10).
"The Lord will raise up a prophet from among his own brethren"
(Deut. 18:15; Acts 3:22), etc.
THE PROMISES TWOFOLD. And we acknowledge that
two kinds of promises were revealed to the fathers, as also to
us. For some were of present or earthly things, such as the promises
of the Land of Canaan and of victories, and as the promise today
still of daily bread. Others were then and are still now of heavenly
and eternal things, namely, divine grace, remission of sins,
and eternal life through faith in Jesus Christ.
THE FATHERS ALSO HAD NOT ONLY CARNAL BUT SPIRITUAL
PROMISES. Moreover, the ancients had not only external and earthly
but also spiritual and heavenly promises in Christ. Peter says:
"The prophets who prophesied of the grace that was to be
yours searched and inquired about this salvation" (I Peter
1:10). Wherefore the apostle Paul also said: "The Gospel
of God was promised beforehand through his prophets in the holy
scriptures" (Rom. 1:2). Thereby it is clear that the ancients
were not entirely destitute of the whole Gospel.
WHAT IS THE GOSPEL PROPERLY SPEAKING? And
although our fathers had the Gospel in this way in the writings
of the prophets by which they attained salvation in Christ through
faith, yet the Gospel is properly called glad and joyous news,
in which, first by John the Baptist, then by Christ the Lord
himself, and afterwards by the apostles and their successors,
is preached to us in the world that God has now performed what
he promised from the beginning of the world, and has sent, nay
more, has given us his only Son and in him reconciliation with
the Father, the remission of sins, all fulness and everlasting
life. Therefore, the history delineated by the four Evangelists
and explaining how these things were done or fulfilled by Christ,
what things Christ taught and did, and that those who believe
in him have all fulness, is rightly called the Gospel. The preaching
and writings of the apostles, in which the apostles explain for
us how the Son was given to us by the Father, and in him everything
that has to do with life and salvation, is also rightly called
evangelical doctrine, so that not even today, if sincerely preached,
does it lose its illustrious title.
OF THE SPIRIT AND THE LETTER. That same preaching
of the Gospel is also called by the apostle "the spirit"
and "the ministry of the spirit" because by faith it
becomes effectual and living in the ears, nay more, in the hearts
of believers through the illumination of the Holy Spirit (II
Cor. 3:6). For the letter, which is opposed to the Spirit, signifies
everything external, but especially the doctrine of the law which,
without the Spirit and faith, works wrath and provokes sin in
the minds of those who do not have a living faith. For this reason
the apostle calls it "the ministry of death." In this
connection the saying of the apostle is pertinent: "The
letter kills, but the Spirit gives life." And false apostles
preached a corrupted Gospel, having combined it with the law,
as if Christ could not save without the law.
THE SECTS. Such were the Ebionites said to
be, who were descended from Ebion the heretic, and the Nazarites
who were formerly called Mineans. All these we condemn, while
preaching the pure Gospel and teaching that believers are justified
by the Spirit [The original manuscript has "Christ"
instead of "Spirit".] alone, and not by the law. A
more detailed exposition of this matter will follow presently
under the heading of justification.
THE TEACHING OF THE GOSPEL IS NOT NEW, BUT
MOST ANCIENT DOCTRINE. And although the teaching of the Gospel,
compared with the teaching of the Pharisees concerning the law,
seemed to be a new doctrine when first preached by Christ (which
Jeremiah also prophesied concerning the New Teatament), yet actually
it not only was and still is an old doctrine (even if today it
is called new by the Papists when compared with the teaching
now received among them), but is the most ancient of all in the
world. For God predestinated from eternity to save the world
through Christ, and he has disclosed to the world through the
Gospel this his predestination and eternal counsel (II Tim. 2:9
f.). Hence it is evident that the religion and teaching of the
Gospel among all who ever were, are and will be, is the most
ancient of all. Wherefore we assert that all who say that the
religion and teaching of the Gospel is a faith which has recently
arisen, being scarcely thirty years old, err disgracefully and
speak shamefully of the eternal counsel of God. To them applies
the saying of Isaiah the prophet: "Woe to those who call
evil good and good evil, who put darkness for light and light
for darkness, who put bitter for sweet and sweet for bitter!"
(Isa. 5:20).
CHAPTER XIV
Of Repentance and the Conversion of Man
The doctrine of repentance is joined with
the Gospel. For so has the Lord said in the Gospel: "Repentance
and forgiveness of sins should be preached in my name to all
nations" (Luke 24:47).
WHAT IS REPENTANCE? By repentance we understand
(1) the recovery of a right mind in sinful man awakened by the
Word of the Gospel and the Holy Spirit, and received by true
faith, by which the sinner immediately acknowledges his innate
corruption and all his sins accused by the Word of God; and (2)
grieves for them from his heart, and not only bewails and frankly
confesses them before God with a feeling of shame, but also (3)
with indignation abominates them; and (4) now zealously considers
the amendment of his ways and constantly strives for innocence
and virtue in which conscientiously to exercise himself all the
rest of his life.
TRUE REPENTANCE IS CONVERSION TO GOD. And
this is true repentance, namely, a sincere turning to God and
all good, and earnest turning away from the devil and all evil.
1. REPENTANCE IS A GIFT OF GOD. Now we expressly
say that this repentance is a sheer gift of God and not a work
of our strength. For the apostle commands a faithful minister
diligently to instruct those who oppose the truth, if "God
may perhaps grant that they will repent and come to know the
truth" (II Tim. 2:25).
2. LAMENTS SINS COMMITTED. Now that sinful
woman who washed the feet of the Lord with her tears, and Peter
who wept bitterly and bewailed his denial of the Lord (Luke 7:38;
22:62) show clearly how the mind of a penitent man ought to be
seriously lamenting the sins he has committed.
3. CONFESSES SINS TO GOD. Moreover, the prodigal
son and the publican in the Gospel, when compared with the Pharisee,
present us with the most suitable pattern of how our sins are
to be confessed to God. The former said: "Father, I have
sinned against heaven and before you; I am no longer worthy to
be called your son; treat me as one of your hired servants"
(Luke 15:8 ff.). And the latter, not daring to raise his eyes
to heaven, beat his breast, saying, "God be merciful to
me a sinner" (ch. 18:13). And we do not doubt that they
were accepted by God into grace. For the apostle John says: "If
we confess our sins, he is faithful and just, and will forgive
our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness. If we say we
have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us"
(I John 1:9 f.).
SACERDOTAL CONFESSION AND ABSOLUTION. But
we believe that this sincere confession which is made to God
alone, either privately between God and the sinner, or publicly
in the Church where the general confession of sins is said, is
sufficient, and that in order to obtain forgiveness of sins it
is not necessary for anyone to confess his sins to a priest,
mumuring them in his ears, that in turn he might receive absolution
from the priest with his laying on of hands, because there is
neither a commandment nor an example of this in Holy Scriptures.
David testifies and says: "I acknowledged my sin to thee,
and did not hide my iniquity; I said, `I will confess my transgressions
to the Lord'; then thou didst forgive the guilt of my sin"
(Ps. 32:5). And the Lord who taught us to pray and at the same
time to confess our sins said: "Pray then like this: Our
Father, who art in heaven,...forgive us our debts, as we also
forgive our debtors" (Matt. 6:12). Therefore it is necessary
that we confess our sins to God our Father, and be reconciled
with our neighbor if we have offended him. Concerning this kind
of confession, the Apostle James says: "Confess your sins
to one another" (James 5:16). If, however, anyone is overwhelmed
by the burden of his sins and by perplexing temptations, and
will seek counsel, instruction and comfort privately, either
from a minister of the Church, or from any other brother who
is instructed in God's law, we do not disapprove; just as we
also fully approve of that general and public confession of sins
which is usually said in Church and in meetings for worship,
as we noted above, inasmuch as it is agreeable to Scripture.
OF THE KEYS OF THE KINGDOM OF HEAVEN. Concerning
the keys of the Kingdom of Heaven which the Lord gave to the
apostles, many babble many astonishing things, and out of them
forge swords, spears, scepters and crowns, and complete power
over the greatest kingdoms, indeed, over souls and bodies. Judging
simply according to the Word of the Lord, we say that all properly
called ministers possess and exercise the keys or the use of
them when they proclaim the Gospel; that is, when they teach,
exhort, comfort, rebuke, and keep in discipline the people committed
to their trust.
OPENING AND SHUTTING (THE KINGDOM). For in
this way they open the Kingdom of Heaven to the obedient and
shut it to the disobedient. The Lord promised these keys to the
apostles in Matt., ch. 16, and gave them in John, ch. 20, Mark,
ch. 16, and Luke, ch. 24, when he sent out his disciples and
commanded them to preach the Gospel in all the world, and to
remit sins.
THE MINISTRY OF RECONCILIATION. In the letter
to the Corinthians the apostle says that the Lord gave the ministry
of reconciliation to his ministers (II Cor. 5:18 ff.). And what
this is he then explains, saying that it is the preaching or
teaching of reconciliation. And explaining his words still more
clearly he adds that Christ's ministers discharge the office
of an ambassador in Christ's name, as if God himself through
ministers exhorted the people to be reconciled to God, doubtless
by faithful obedience. Therefore, they excercise the keys when
they persuade [men] to believe and repent. Thus they reconcile
men to God.
MINISTERS REMIT SINS. Thus they remit sins.
Thus they open the Kingdom of Heaven, and bring believers into
it: very different from those of whom the Lord said in the Gospel,
"Woe to you lawyers! For you have taken away the key of
knowledge; you did not enter yourselves, and you hindered those
who were entering."
HOW MINISTERS ABSOLVE. Ministers, therefore,
rightly and effectually absolve when they preach the Gospel of
Christ and thereby the remission of sins, which is promised to
each one who believes, just as each one is baptized, and when
they testify that it pertains to each one peculiarly. Neither
do we think that this absolution becomes more effectual by being
murmured in the ear of someone or by being murmured singly over
someone's head. We are nevertheless of the opinion that the remission
of sins in the blood of Christ is to be diligently proclaimed,
and that each one is to be admonished that the forgiveness of
sins pertains to him.
DILIGENCE IN THE RENEWAL OF LIFE. But the
examples in the Gospel teach us how vigilant and diligent the
penitent ought to be in striving for newness of life and in mortifying
the old man and quickening the new. For the Lord said to the
man he healed of palsy: "See, you are well! Sin no more,
that nothing worse befall you" (John 5:14). Likewise to
the adulteress whom he set free he said: "Go, and sin no
more" (ch. 8:11). To be sure, by these words he did not
mean that any man, as long as he lived in the flesh, could not
sin; he simply recommends diligence and a careful devotion, so
that we should strive by all means, and beseech God in prayers
lest we fall back into sins from which, as it were, we have been
resurrected, and lest we be overcome by the flesh, the world
and the devil. Zacchaeus the publican, whom the Lord had received
back into favor, exclaims in the Gospel: "Behold, Lord,
the half of my goods I give to the poor; and if I have defrauded
any one of anything, I restore it fourfold" (Luke 19:8).
Therefore, in the same way we preach that restitution and compassion,
and even almsgiving, are necessary for those who truly repent,
and we exhort all men everywhere in the words of the apostle:
"Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal bodies, to make
you obey their passions. Do not yield your members to sin as
instruments of wickedness, but yield yourselves to God as men
who have been brought from death to life, and your members to
God as instruments of righteousness" (Rom. 6:12 f.).
ERRORS. Wherefore we condemn all impious utterances
of some who wrongly use the preaching of the Gospel and say that
it is easy to return to God. Christ has atoned for all sins.
Forgiveness of sins is easy. Therefore, what harm is there in
sinning? Nor need we be greatly concerned about repentance, etc.
Notwithstanding we always teach that an access to God is open
to all sinners, and that he forgives all sinners of all sins
except the one sin against the Holy Spirit (Mark 3:29).
THE SECTS. Wherefore we condemn both old and
new Novatians and Catharists.
PAPAL INDULGENCES. We especially condemn the
lucrative doctrine of the Pope concerning penance, and against
his simony and his simoniacal indulgences we avail ourselves
of Peter's judgment concerning Simon: "Your silver perish
with you, because you thought you could obtain the gift of God
with money! You have neither part nor lot in this matter, for
your heart is not right before God" (Acts 8:20 f.).
SATISFACTIONS. We also disapprove of those
who think that by their own satisfactions they make amends for
sins committed. For we teach that Christ alone by his death or
passion is the satisfaction, propitiation or expiation of all
sins (Isa., ch.53; I Cor. 1:30). Yet as we have already said,
we do not cease to urge the mortification of the flesh. We add,
however, that this mortification is not to be proudly obtruded
upon God as a satisfaction for sins, but is to be performed humble,
in keeping with the nature of the children of God, as a new obedience
out of gratitude for the deliverance and full satisfaction obtained
by the death and satisfaction of the Son of God.
CHAPTER XV
Of the True Justification of the Faithful
WHAT IS JUSTIFICATION? According to the apostle
in his treatment of justification, to justify means to remit
sins, to absolve from guilt and punishment, to receive into favor,
and to pronounce a man just. For in his epistle to the Romans
the apostle says: "It is God who justifies; who is to condemn?"
(Rom. 8:33). To justify and to condemn are opposed. And in The
Acts of the Apostles the apostle states: "Through Christ
forgiveness of sins is proclaimed to you, and by him everyone
that believes is freed from everything from which you could not
be freed by the law of Moses" (Acts 13:38 f.). For in the
Law and also in the Prophets we read: "If there is a dispute
between men, and they come into court...the judges decide between
them, acquitting the innocent and condemning the guilty"
(Deut. 25:1). And in Isa., ch. 5: "Woe to those...who aqcuit
the guilty for a bribe."
WE ARE JUSTIFIED ON ACCOUNT OF CHRIST. Now
it is most certain that all of us are by nature sinners and godless,
and before God's judgment-seat are convicted of godlessness and
are guilty of death, but that, solely by the grace of Christ
and not from any merit of ours or consideration for us, we are
justified, that is, absolved from sin and death by God the Judge.
For what is clearer than what Paul said: "Since all have
sinned and fall short of the glory of God, they are justified
by his grace as a gift, through the redemption which is in Christ
Jesus" (Rom. 3:23 f.).
IMPUTED RIGHTEOUSNESS. For Christ took upon
himself and bore the sins of the world, and satisfied divine
justice. Therefore, solely on account of Christ's sufferings
and resurrection God is propitious with respect to our sins and
does not impute them to us, but imputes Christ's righteousness
to us as our own (II Cor. 5;19 ff.; Rom. 4;25), so that now we
are not only cleansed and purged from sins or are holy, but also,
granted the righteousness of Christ, and so absolved from sin,
death and condemnation, are at last righteous and heirs of eternal
life. Properly speaking, therefore, God alone justifies us, and
justifies only on account of Christ, not imputing sins to us
but imputing his righteousness to us.
WE ARE JUSFIFIED BY FAITH ALONE. But because
we receive this justification, not through any works, but through
faith in the mercy of God and in Christ, we therefore teach and
believe with the apostle that sinful man is justified by faith
alone in Christ, not by the law or any works. For the apostle
says: "We hold that a man is justified by faith apart from
works of law" (Rom. 3:28). Also: "If Abraham was justified
by works, he has something to boast about, but not before God.
For what does the scripture say? Abraham believed God, and it
was reckoned to him as righteousness....And to one who does not
work but believes in him who justifies the ungodly, his faith
is reckoned as righteousness" (Rom. 4:2 ff.; Gen. 15:6).
And again: "By grace you have been saved through faith;
and this is not your own doing, it is the gift of God--not because
of works, lest any man should boast," etc. (Eph. 2:8 f.).
Therefore, because faith receives Christ our righteousness and
attributes everything to the grace of God in Christ, on that
account justification is attributed to faith, chiefly because
of Christ and not therefore because it is our work. For it is
the gift of God.
WE RECEIVE CHRIST BY FAITH. Moreover, the
Lord abundantly shows that we receive Christ by faith, in John,
ch. 6, where he puts eating for believing, and believing for
eating. For as we receive food by eating, so we participate in
Christ by believing.
JUSTIFICATION IS NOT ATTRIBUTED PARTLY TO
CHRIST OR TO FAITH, PARTLY TO US. Therefore, we do not share
in the benefit of justification partly because of the grace of
God or Christ, and partly because of ourselves, our love, works
or merit, but we attribute it wholly to the grace of God in Christ
through faith. For our love and our works could not please God
in Christ through faith. For our love and our works could not
please God if performed by unrighteous men. Therefore, it is
necessary for us to be righteous before we may love and do good
works. We are made trulyrighteous, as we have said, by faith
in Christ purely by the grace of God, who does not impute to
us our sins, but the righteousness of Christ, or rather, he imputes
faith in Christ to us for righteousness. Moreover, the apostle
very clearly derives love from faith when he says: "The
aim of our command is love that issues from a pure heart, a good
conscience, and a sincere faith" (I Tim. 1:5)
JAMES COMPARED WITH PAUL. Wherefore, in this
matter we are not speaking of a fictitious, empty, lazy and dead
faith, but of a living, quickening faith. It is and is called
a living faith because it apprehends Christ who is life and makes
alive, and shows that it is alive by living works. And so James
does not contradict anything in this doctrine of ours. For he
speaks of an empty, dead faith of which some boasted but who
did not have Christ living in them by faith (James 2:14 ff.).
James said that works justify, yet without contradicting the
apostle (otherwise he would have to be rejected) but showing
that Abraham proved his living and justifying faith by works.
This all the pious do, but they trust in Christ alone and not
in their own works. For again the apostle said: "It is no
longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me; and the life I
now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, [The
Latin reads: "by the faith of the Son of God."] who
loved me and gave himself for me. I do not reject the grace of
God; for if justification were through the law, then Christ died
to no purpose," etc. (Gal. 2:20 f.).
CHAPTER XVI
Of Faith and Good Works, and of Their Reward,
and of Man's Merit
WHAT IS FAITH? Christian faith is not an opinion
or human conviction, but a most firm trust and a clear and steadfast
assent of the mind, and then a most certain apprehension of the
truth of God presented in the Scriptures and in the Apostles'
Creed, and thus also of God himself, the greatest good, and especially
of God's promise and of Christ who is the fulfilment of all promises.
FAITH IS THE GIFT OF GOD. But this faith is
a pure gift of God which God alone of his grace gives to his
elect according to this measure when, to whom and to the degree
he wills. And he does this by the holy Spirit by means of the
preaching of the Gospel and steadfast prayer.
THE INCREASE OF FAITH. This faith also has
its increase, and unless it were given by God, the apostles would
not have said: "Lord, increase our faith" (Luke 17:5).
And all these things which up to this point we have said concerning
faith, the apostles have taught before us. For Paul said: "For
faith is the sure subsistence, of things hoped for, and the clear
and certain apprehension" (Heb. 11:1). And again he says
that all the promises of God are Yes through Christ and through
Christ are Amen (II Cor. 1:20). And to the Philippians he said
that it has been given tothem to believe in Christ (Phil. 1:29).
Again, God assigned to each the measure of faith (Rom. 12:3).
Again: "Not all have faith" and, "Not all obey
the Gospel" (II Thess. 3:2; Rom. 10:16). But Luke also bears
witness, saying: "As many as were ordained to life believed"
(Acts 13:48). Wherefore Paul also calls faith "the faith
of God's elect" (Titus 1:1), and again: "Faith comes
from hearing, and hearing comes by the Word of God" (Rom.
10:17). Elsewhere he often commands men to pray for faith.
FAITH EFFICACIOUS AND ACTIVE. The same apostle
calls faith efficacious and active through love (Gal. 5:6). It
also quiets the conscience and opens a free access to God, so
that we may draw near to him with confidence and may obtain from
him what is useful and necessary. The same [faith] keeps us in
the service we owe to God and our neighbor, strengthens our patience
in adversity, fashions and makes a true confession, and in a
word brings forth good fruit of all kinds, and good works.
CONCERNING GOOD WORKS. For we teach that truly
good works grow out of a living faith by the Holy Spirit and
are done by the faithful according tothe will or rule of God's
Word. Now the apostle Peter says: "Make every effort to
supplement your faith with virtue, and virtue with knowledge,
and knowledge with self-control," etc.(II Peter 1:5 ff.).
But we have said above that the law of God, which is his will,
prescribes for us the pattern of good works. And the apostle
says: "This is the will of God, your sanctification, that
you abstain form immorality...that no man transgress, and wrong
his brother in business" (I Thess. 4:3 ff.).
WORKS OF HUMAN CHOICE. And indeed works and
worship which we choose arbitrarily are not pleasing to God.
These Paul calls "self-devised worship" Col. 2:23.
Of such the Lord says in the Gospel: "In vain do they worship
me, teaching as doctrines the precepts of men" (Matt. 15:9).
Therefore, we disapprove of such works, and approve and urge
those that are of God's will and commission.
THE END OF GOOD WORKS. These same works ought
not to be done in order that we may earn eternal life by them,
for, as the apostle says, eternal life is the gift of God. Nor
are they to be done for ostentation which the Lord rejects in
Matt., ch. 6, nor for gain which he also rejects in Matt., ch.
23, but for the glory of God, to adorn our calling, to show gratitude
to God, and for the profit of the neighbor. For our Lord says
again in the Gospel: "Let your light so shine before men,
that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father
who is in heaven" (Matt. 5:16). And the apostle Paul says:
"Lead a life worthy of the calling to which you have been
called" (Eph. 4:1). Also: "And whatever you do, in
word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving
thanks to God and to the Fatehr through him" (Col. 3:17),
and, "Let each of you look not to his own interests, but
to the interests of others" (Phil. 2:4), and, "Let
our people learn to apply themselves to good deeds, so as to
help cases of urgent need, and not to be unfruitful" (Titus
3;14).
GOOD WORKS NOT REJECTED. Therefore, although
we teach with the apostle that a man is justified by grace through
faith in Christ and not through any good works, yet we do not
think that good works are of little value and condemn them. We
know that man was not created or regenerated through faith in
order to be idle, but rather that without ceasing he should do
those things which are good and useful. For in the Gospel the
Lord says that a good tree brings forth good fruit (Matt. 12:33),
and that he who abides in me bears much fruit (John 15:5). The
apostle says: "For we are his workmanship, created in Christ
Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we
should walk in them" (Eph. 2:10), and again: "Who gave
himself for us to redeem us from all iniquity and to purify for
himself a people of his own who are zealous for good deeds"
(Titus 2:14). We therefore condemn all who despise good works
and who babble that they are useless and that we do not need
to pay attention to them.
WE ARE NOT SAVED BY GOOD WORKS. Nevertheless,
as was said above, we do not think that we are saved by good
works, and that they are so necessary for salvation that no one
was ever saved without them. For we are saved by grace and the
favor of Christ alone. Works necessarily proceed from faith.
And salvation is improperly attributed to them, but is most properly
ascribed to grace. The apostle's sentence is well known: "If
it is by grace, then it is no longer of works; otherwise grace
would no longer be grace. But if it is of works, then it is no
longer grace, because otherwise work is no longer work"
(Rom. 11:6).
GOOD WORKS PLEASE GOD. Now the works which
we do by faith are pleasing to God and are approved by him. Because
of faith in Christ, those who do good works which, moreover,
are done from God's grace through the Holy Spirit, are pleasing
to god. For St. Peter said: "In every nation anyone who
fears God and does what is right is acceptable to him" (Acts
10:35). And Paul said: "We have not ceased to pray for you...that
you may walk worthily of the Lord, fully pleasing to him, bearing
fruit in every good work" (Col. 1:9 f.).
WE TEACH TRUE, NOT FALSE AND PHILOSOPHICAL
VIRTUES. And so we diligently teach true, not false and philosophical
virtues, truly good works, and the genuine service of a Christian.
And as much as we can we diligently and zealously press them
upon all men, while censuring the sloth and Hypocrisy of all
those who praise and profess the Gospel with their lips and dishonor
it by their disgraceful lives. In this matter we place before
them God's terrible threats and then his rich promises and generous
rewards -- exhorting, consoling and rebuking.
GOD GIVES A REWARD FOR GOOD WORKS. For we
teach that God gives a rich reward to those who do good works,
according to that saying of the prophet: "keep your voice
from weeping,...for your work shall be rewarded" (Jer. 31:16;
Isa., ch. 4). The Lord also said in the Gospel: "Rejoice
and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven" (Matt.
5:12), and, "Whoever gives to one of these my little ones
a cup of cold water, truly, I say to you, he shall not lose his
reward" (ch. 10:42). However, we do not ascribe this reward,
which the Lord gives, to the merit of the man who receives it,
but to the goodness, generosity and truthfulness of God who promises
and gives it, and who, although he owes nothing to anyone, nevertheless
promises that he will give a reward to his faithful worshippers;
meanwhile he also gives them that they may honor him. Moreover,
in the works even of the saints there is much that is unworthy
of God and very much that is imperfect. But because God receives
into favor and embraces those who do works for Christ's sake,
he grants to them the promised reward. For in other respects
our righteousnesses are compared to a filthy wrap (Isa. 64:6).
And the Lord says in the Gospel: "When you have done all
that is commanded you, say, "We are unworthy servants; we
have only done what was our duty" (Like 17:10).
THERE ARE NO MERITS OF MEN. Therefore, although
we teach that God rewards our good deeds, yet at the same time
we teach, with Augustine, that God does not crown in us our merits
but his gifts. Accordingly we say that whatever reward we receive
is also grace, and is more grace than reward, because the good
we do, we do more through God than through ourselves, and because
Paul says: "What have you that you did not receive? If then
you received it, why do you boast as if you had not received
it?" (I Cor. 4:7). And this is what the blessed martyr Cyprian
concluded from this verse: We are not to glory in anything in
us, since nothing is our own. We therefore condemn those who
defend the merits of men in such a way that they invalidate the
grace of God.
CHAPTER XVII
Of The Catholic and Holy Church of God,
and of The One Only Head of The Church
THE CHURCH HAS ALWAYS EXISTED AND IT WILL
ALWAYS EXIST. But because God from the beginning would have men
to be saved, and to come to the knowledge of the truth (I Tim.
2:4), it is altogether necessary that there always should have
been, and should be now, and to the end of the world, a Church.
WHAT IS THE CHURCH? The Church is an assembly
of the faithful called or gathered out of the world; a communion,
I say, of all saints, namely, of those who truly know and rightly
worship and serve the true God in Christ the Savior, by the Word
and holy Spirit, and who by faith are partakers of all benefits
which are freely offered through Christ.
CITIZENS OF ONE COMMONWEALTH. They are all
citizens of the one city, living under the same Lord, under the
same laws and in the same fellowship of all good things. For
the apostle calls them "fellow citizens with the saints
and members of the household of God" (Eph. 2:19), calling
the faithful on earth saints (I Cor. 4:1), who are sanctified
by the blood of the Son of God. The article of the Creed, "I
believe in the holy catholic Church, the communion of saints,"
is to be understood wholly as concerning these saints.
ONLY ONE CHURCH FOR ALL TIMES. And since there
is always but one God, and there is one mediator between God
and men, Jesus the Messiah, and one Shepherd of the whole flock,
one Head of this body, and, to conclude, one Spirit, one salvation,
one faith, one Testament or covenant, it necessarily follows
that there is only one Church.
THE CATHOLIC CHURCH. We, therefore, call this
Church catholic because it is universal, scattered through all
parts of the world, and extended unto all times, and is not limited
to any times or places. Therefore, we condemn the Donatists who
confined the Church to I know not what corners of Africa. Nor
do we approve of the Roman clergy who have recently passed off
only the Roman Church as catholic.
PARTS OR FORMS OF THE CHURCH. The Church is
divided into different parts or forms; not because it is divided
or rent asunder in itself, but rather because it is distinguished
by the diversity of the numbers that are in it.
MILITANT AND TRIUMPHANT. For the one is called
the Church Militant, the other the Church Triumphant. The former
still wages war on earth, and fights against the flesh, the world,
and the prince of this world, the devil; against sin and death.
But the latter, having been now discharged, triumphs in heaven
immediately after having overcome all those things and rejoices
before the Lord. Notwithstanding both have fellowship and union
one with another.
THE PARTICULAR CHURCH. Moreover, the Church
Militant upon the earth has always had many particular churches.
yet all these are to be referred to the unity of the catholic
Church. This [Militant] Church was set up differently before
the Law among the patriarchs; otherwise under Moses by the Law;
and differently by Christ through the Gospel.
THE TWO PEOPLES. Generally two peoples are
usually counted, namely, the Israelites and Gentiles, or those
who have been gathered from among Jews and Gentiles into the
Church. There are also two Testaments, the Old and the New.
THE SAME CHURCH FOR THE OLD AND THE NEW PEOPLE.
Yet from all these people there was and is one fellowship, one
salvation in the one Messiah; in whom, as members of one body
under one Head, all united together in the same faith, partaking
also of the same spiritual food and drink. Yet here we acknowledge
a diversity of times, and a diversity in the signs of the promised
and delivered Christ; and that now the ceremonies being abolished,
the light shines unto us more clearly, and blessings are given
to us more abundantly, and a fuller liberty.
THE CHURCH THE TEMPLE OF THE LIVING GOD. This
holy Church of God is called the temple of the living God, built
of living and spiritual stones and founded upon a firm rock,
upon a foundation which no other can lay, and therefore it is
called "the pillar and bulwark of the truth" (I Tim.
3:15).
THE CHURCH DOES NOT ERR. It does not err as
long as it rests upon the rock Christ, and upon the foundation
of the prophets and apostles. And it is no wonder if it errs,
as often as it deserts him who alone is the truth.
THE CHURCH AS BRIDE AND VIRGIN. This Church
is also called a virgin and the Bride of Christ, and even the
only Beloved. For the apostle says: "I betrothed you to
Christ to present you as a pure bride to Christ" (II Cor.
11:2).
THE CHURCH AS A FLOCK OF SHEEP. The Church
is called a flock of sheep under the one shepherd, Christ, according
to Ezek., ch. 34, and John, ch. 10.
THE CHURCH AS THE BODY. It is also called
the body of Christ because the faithful are living members of
Christ under Christ the Head.
CHRIST THE SOLE HEAD OF THE CHURCH. It is
the head which has the preeminence in the body, and from it the
whole body receives life; by its spirit the body is governed
in all things; from it, also, the body receives increase, that
it may grow up. Also, there is one head of the body, and it is
suited to the body. Therefore the Church cannot have any other
head besides Christ. For as the Church is a spiritual body, so
it must also have a spiritual head in harmony with itself. Neither
can it be governed by any other spirit than by the Spirit of
Christ. Wherefore Paul says: "He is the head of the body,
the church; he is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead,
that in everything he might be preeminent" (Col. 1:18).
And in another place: "Christ is the head of the church,
his body, and is himself its Savior" (Eph. 5:23). And again:
he is "the head over all things for the church, which is
his body, the fulness of him who fills all in all" (Eph.
1:22 f.). Also: "We are to grow up in every way into him
who is the head, into Christ, from whom the whole body, joined
and knit together, makes bodily growth" (Eph. 4:15 f.).
And therefore we do not approve of the doctrine of the Roman
clergy, who make their Pope at Rome the universal shepherd and
supreme head of the Church Militant here on earth, and so the
very vicar of Jesus Christ, who has (as they say) all fulness
of power and sovereign authority in the Church.
CHRIST THE ONLY PASTOR OF THE CHURCH. For
we teach that Christ the Lord is, and remains the only universal
pastor, and highest Pontiff before God the Father; and that in
the Church he himself performs all the duties of a bishop or
pastor, even to the world's end; [Vicar] and therefore
does not need a substitute for one who is absent. For Christ
is present with his Church, and is its life-giving Head.
NO PRIMACY IN THE CHURCH. He has strictly
forbidden his apostles and their successors to have any primacy
and dominion in the Church. Who does not see, therefore, that
whoever contradicts and opposes this plain truth is rather to
be counted among the number of those of whom Christ's apostles
prophesied: Peter in II Peter, ch. 2, and Paul in Acts 20:2;
II Cor. 11:2; II Thess., ch.2, and also in other places?
NO DISORDER IN THE CHURCH. However, by doing
away with a Roman head we do not bring any confusion or disorder
into the Church, since we teach that the government of the Church
which the apostles handed down is sufficient to keep the Church
in proper order, the Church was not disordered or in confusion.
The Roman head does indeed preserve his tyranny and the corruption
that has been brought into the Church, and meanwhile he hinders,
resists, and with all the strength he can muster cuts off the
proper reformation of the Church.
DISSENSIONS AND STRIFE IN THE CHURCH. We are
reproached because there have been manifold dissensions and strife
in our churches since they separated themselves from the Church
of Rome, and therefore cannot be true churches. As though there
were never in the Church of Rome any sects, nor contentions and
quarrels concerning religion, and indeed, carried on not so much
in the schools as from pulpits in the midst of the people. We
know, to be sure, that the apostle said: "God is not a God
of confusion but of peace" (I Cor. 14:33), and, "While
there is jealousy and strife among you, are you not of the flesh?"
Yet we cannot deny that God was in the apostolic Church and that
it was a true Church, even though there were wranglings and dissensions
in it. The apostle Paul reprehended Peter, an apostle (Gal. 2:11
ff.), and Barnabas dissented from Paul. Great contention arose
in the Church of Antioch between them that preached the one Christ,
as Luke records in The Acts of the Apostles, ch. 15. And there
have at all times been great contentions in the Church, and the
most excellent teachers of the Church have differed among themselves
about important matters without meanwhile the Church ceasing
to be the Church because of these contentions. For thus it pleases
God to use the dissensions that arise in the Church to the glory
of his name, to illustrate the truth, and in order that those
who are in the right might be manifest (I Cor. 11:19).
OF THE NOTES OR SIGNS OF THE TRUE CHURCH.
Moreover, as we acknowledge no other head of the Church than
Christ, so we do not acknowledge every church to be the true
Church which vaunts herself to be such; but we teach that the
true Church is that in which the signs or marks of the true Church
are to be found, especially the lawful and sincere preaching
of the Word of God as it was delivered to us in the books of
the prophets and the apostles, which all lead us unto Christ,
who said in the Gospel: "My sheep hear me voice, and I know
them, and they follow me; and I give unto them eternal life.
A stranger they do not follow, but they flee from him, for they
do not know the voice of strangers" (John 10:5, 27, 28).
And those who are such in the Church have
one faith and one spirit; and therefore they worship but one
God, and him alone they worship in spirit and in truth, loving
him alone with all their hearts and with all their strength,
praying unto him alone through Jesus Christ, the only Mediator
and Intercessor; and they do not seek righteousness and life
outside Christ and faith in him. Because they acknowledge Christ
the only head and foundation of the Church, and, resting on him,
daily renew themselves by repentance, and patiently bear the
cross laid upon them. Moreover, joined together with all the
members of Christ by an unfeigned love, they show that they are
Christ's disciples by persevering in the bond of peace and holy
unity. At the same time they participate in the sacraments instituted
by Christ, and delivered unto us by his apostles, using them
in no other way than as they received them from the Lord. That
saying of the apostle Paul is well known to all: "I received
from the Lord what I also delivered to you" (I Cor. 11:23
ff.). Accordingly, we condemn all such churches as strangers
from the true Church of Christ, which are not such as we have
heard they ought to be, no matter how much they brag of a succession
of bishops, of unity, and of antiquity. Moreover, we have a charge
from the apostles of Christ "ti shun the worship of idols"
(I Cor. 10:14; I John 5:21), and "to come out of Babylon,"
and to have no fellowship with her, unless we want to be partakers
with her of all God's plagues (Rev. 18:4; II Cor. 6:17).
OUTSIDE THE CHURCH OF GOD THERE IS NO SALVATION.
But we esteem fellowship with the true Church of Christ so highly
that we deny that those can live before God who do not stand
in fellowship with the true Church of God, but separate themselves
from it. For as there was no salvation outside Noah's ark when
the world perished in flood; so we believe that there is no certain
salvation outside Christ, who offers himself to be enjoyed by
the elect in the Church; and hence we teach that those who wish
to live ought not to be separated from the true Church of Christ.
THE CHURCH IS NOT BOUND TO ITS SIGNS. Nevertheless,
by the signs [of the true Church] mentioned above, we do not
so narrowly restrict the Church as to teach that all those are
outside the Church who either do not participate in the sacraments,
at least not willingly and through contempt, but rather, being
forced by necessity, unwillingly abstain from them or are deprived
of them; or in whom faith sometimes fails, though it is not entirely
extinguished and does not wholly cease; or in whom imperfections
and errors due to weakness are found. For we know that God had
some friends in the world outside the commonwealth of Israel.
We know what befell the people of God in the captivity of Babylon,
where they were deprived of their sacrifices for seventy years.
We know what happened to St. Peter, who denied his Master, and
what is wont to happen daily to God's elect and faithful people
who go astray and are weak. We know, moreover, what kind of churches
the churches in Galatia and Corinth were in the apostles' time,
in which the apostle found fault with many serious offenses;
yet he calls them holy churches of Christ (I Cor. 1:2; Gal. 1:2).
THE CHURCH APPEARS AT TIMES TO BE EXTINCT.
Yes, and it sometimes happens that God in his just judgment allows
the truth of his Word, and the catholic faith, and the proper
worship of God to be so obscured and overthrown that the Church
seems almost extinct, and no more to exist, as we see to have
happened in the days of Elijah (I Kings 19:10, 14), and at other
times. Meanwhile God has in this world and in this darkness his
true worshippers, and those not a few, but even seven thousand
and more (I Kings 19:18; Rev. 7:3 ff.). For the apostle exclaims:
"God's firm foundation stands, bearing this seal, `The Lord
knows those who are his,' " etc. (II Tim. 2:19). Whence
the Church of God may be termed invisible; not because the men
from whom the Church is gathered are invisible, but because,
being hidden from our eyes and known only to God, it often secretly
escapes human judgment.
NOT ALL WHO ARE IN THE CHURCH ARE OF THE CHURCH.
Again, not all that are reckoned in the number of the Church
are saints, and living and true members of the Church. For there
are many hypocrites, who outwardly hear the Word of God, and
publicly receive the sacraments, and seem to pray to God through
Christ alone, to confess Christ to be their only righteousness,
and to worship God, and to exercise the duties of charity, and
for a time to endure with patience in misfortune. And yet they
are inwardly destitute of true illumination of the Spirit, of
faith and sincerity of heart, and of perseverance to the end.
But eventually the character of these men, for the most part,
will be disclosed. For the apostle John says: "They went
out from us, but they were not of us; for if they had been of
us, they would indeed have continued with us" (I John 2:19).
And although while they simulate piety they are not of the Church,
yet they are considered to be in the Church, just as traitors
in a state are numbered among its citizens before they are discovered;
and as the tares or darnel and chaff are found among the wheat,
and as swellings and tumors are found in a sound body, And therefore
the Church of God is rightly compared to a net which catches
fish of all kinds, and to a field, in which both wheat and tares
are found (Matt. 13:24 ff., 47 ff.).
WE MUST NOT JUDGE RASHLY OR PREMATURELY. Hence
we must be very careful not to judge before the time, nor undertake
to exclude, reject or cut off those whom the Lord does not want
to have excluded or rejected, and those whom we cannot eliminate
without loss to the Church. On the other hand, we must be vigilant
lest while the pious snore the wicked gain ground and do harm
to the Church.
THE UNITY OF THE CHURCH IS NOT IN EXTERNAL
RITES. Furthermore, we diligently teach that care is to be taken
wherein the truth and unity of the Church chiefly lies, lest
we rashly provoke and foster schisms in the Church. Unity consists
not in outward rites and ceremonies, but rather in the truth
and unity of the catholic faith. The catholic faith is not given
to us by human laws, but by Holy Scriptures, of which the Apostles'
Creed is a compendium. And, therefore, we read in the ancient
writers that there was a manifold diversity of rites, but that
they were free, and no one ever thought that the unity of the
Church was thereby dissolved. So we teach that the true harmony
of the Church consists in doctrines and in the true and harmonious
preaching of the Gospel of Christ, and in rites that have been
expressly delivered by the Lord. And here we especially urge
that saying of the apostle: "Let those of us who are perfect
have this mind; and if in any thing you are otherwise minded,
God will reveal that also to you. Nevertheless let us walk by
the same rule according to what we have attained, and let us
be of the same mind" (Phil. 3:15 f.).
CHAPTER XVIII
Of The Ministers of The Church,
Their Institution and Duties
GOD USES MINISTERS IN THE BUILDING OF THE
CHURCH. God has always used ministers for the gathering or establishing
of a Church for himself, and for the governing and preservation
of the same; and still he does, and always will, use them so
long as the Church remains on earth. Therefore, the first beginning,
institution, and office of ministers is a most ancient arrangement
of God himself, and not a new one of men.
INSTITUTION AND ORIGIN OF MINISTERS. It is
true that God can, by his power, without any means join to himself
a Church from among men; but he preferred to deal with men by
the ministry of men. Therefore ministers are to be regarded,
not as ministers by themselves alone, but as the ministers of
God, inasmuch as God effects the salvation of men through them.
THE MINISTRY IS NOT TO BE DESPISED. Hence
we warn men to beware lest we attribute what has to do with our
conversion and instruction to the secret power of the Holy Spirit
in such a way that we make void the ecclesiastical ministry.
For it is fitting that we always have in mind the words of the
apostle: "How are they to believe in him of whom they have
not heard? And how are they to hear without a preacher? So faith
comes from hearing, and hearing comes by the word of God"
(Rom. 10: 14, 17). And also what the Lord said in the Gospel:
"Truly, truly, I say to you, he who receives any one whom
I send receives me; and he who receives me receives him who sent
me" (John 13:20). Likewise a man of Macedonia, who appeared
to Paul in a vision while he was in Asia, secretly admonished
him, saying: "Come over to Macedonia and help us" (Acts
16:9). And in another place the same apostle said: "We are
fellow workmen for God; you are God's tillage, God's building"
(I Cor. 3:9).
Yet, on the other hand, we must beware that
we do not attribute too much to ministers and the ministry; remembering
here also the words of the Lord in the Gospel: "No one can
come to me unless my Father draws him" (John 6:44), and
the words of the apostle: "What then is Paul? What is Apollos?
Servants through whom you believed, as the Lord assigned to each.
I planted, Apollos watered, but only God gives the growth"
(I Cor. 3:5 ff.).
GOD MOVES THE HEARTS OF MEN. Therefore, let
us believe that God teaches us by his word, outwardly through
his ministers, and inwardly moves the hearts of his elect to
faith by the Holy Spirit; and that therefore we ought to render
all glory unto God for this whole favor. But this matter has
been dealt with in the first chapter of this Exposition.
WHO THE MINISTERS ARE AND OF WHAT SORT GOD
HAS GIVEN TO THE WORLD. And even from the beginning of the world
God has used the most excellent men in the whole world (even
if many of them were simple in worldly wisdom or philosophy,
but were outstanding in true theology), namely, the patriarchs,
with whom he frequently spike by angels. For the patriarchs were
the prophets or teachers of their age whom God for this reason
wanted to live for several centuries, in order that they might
be, as it were, fathers and lights of the world. They were followed
by Moses and the prophets renowned throughout all the world.
CHRIST THE TEACHER. After these the heavenly
Father even sent his only-begotten Son, the most perfect teacher
of the world; in whom is hidden the wisdom of God, and which
has come to us through the most holy, simple, and most perfect
doctrine of all. For he chose disciples for himself whom he made
apostles. These went out into the whole world, and everywhere
gathered together churches by the preaching of the Gospel, and
then throughout all the churches in the world they appointed
pastors or teachers according to Christ's command; through their
successors he has taught and governed the Church unto this day.
Therefore, as God gave unto his ancient people the patriarchs,
together with Moses and the prophets, so also to his people of
the New Testament he sent his only-begotten Son, and, with him,
the apostles and teachers of the Church.
MINISTERS OF THE NEW TESTAMENT. Furthermore,
the ministers of the new people are called by various names.
For they are called apostles, prophets, evangelists, bishops,
elders, pastors, and teachers (I Cor. 12:28; Eph. 4:11).
THE APOSTLES. The apostles did not stay in
any particular place, but throughout the world gathered together
different churches. When they were once established, there ceased
to be apostles, and pastors took their place, each in his church.
PROPHETS. In former times the prophets were
seers, knowing the future; but they also interpreted the Scriptures.
Such men are also found still today.
EVANGELISTS. The writers of the history of
the Gospel were called Evangelists; but they also were heralds
of the Gospel of Christ; as Paul also commended Timothy: "Do
the work of an evangelist" (II Tim. 4:5).
BISHOPS. Bishops are the overseers and watchmen
of the Church, who administer the food and needs of the life
of the Church.
PRESBYTERS. The presbyters are the elders
and, as it were, senators and fathers of the Church, governing
it with wholesome counsel.
PASTORS The pastors both keep the Lord's sheepfold,
and also provide for its needs.
TEACHERS. The teachers instruct and teach
the true faith and godliness. Therefore, the ministers of the
churches may now be called bishops, elders, pastors, and teachers.
PAPAL ORDERS. Then in subsequent times many
more names of ministers in the Church were introduced into the
Church of God. For some were appointed patriarchs, others archbishops,
others suffragans; also, metropolitans, archdeacons, deacons,
subdeacons, acolytes, exorcists, cantors, porters, and I know
not what others, as cardinals, provosts, and priors; greater
and lesser fathers, greater and lesser orders. But we are not
troubled about all these about how they once were and are now.
For us the apostolic doctrine concerning ministers is sufficient.
CONCERNING MONKS. Since we assuredly know
that monks, and the orders or sects of monks, are instituted
neither by Christ nor by the apostles, we teach that they are
of no use to the Church of God, nay rather, are pernicious. For,
although in former times they were tolerable (when they were
hermits, earning their living with their own hands, and were
not a burden to anyone, but like the laity were everywhere obedient
to the pastors of the churches), yet now the whole world sees
and knows what they are like. They formulate I know not what
vows; but they lead a life quite contrary to their vows, so that
the best of them deserves to be numbered among those of whom
the apostle said: "We hear that some of you are living an
irregular life, mere busybodies, not doing any work" etc.
(II Thess. 3:11). Therefore, we neither have such in our churches,
nor do we teach that they should be in the churches of Christ.
MINISTERS ARE TO BE CALLED AND ELECTED. Furthermore,
no man ought to usurp the honor of the ecclesiastical ministry;
that is, to seize it for himself by bribery or any deceits, or
by his own free choice. But let the ministers of the Church be
called and chosen by lawful and ecclesiastical election; that
is to say, let them be carefully chosen by the Church or by those
delegated from the Church for that purpose in a proper order
without any uproar, dissension and rivalry. Not any one may be
elected, but capable men distinguished by sufficient consecrated
learning, pious eloquence, simple wisdom, lastly, by moderation
and an honorable reputation, according to that apostolic rule
which is compiled by the apostle in I Tim., ch. 3, and Titus,
ch. 1.
ORDINATION. And those who are elected are
to be ordained by the elders with public prayer and laying on
of hands. Here we condemn all those who go off of their own accord,
being nether chosen, sent, nor ordained (Jer., ch. 23). We condemn
unfit ministers and those not furnished with the necessary gifts
of a pastor.
In the meantime we acknowledge that the harmless
simplicity of some pastors in the primitive Church sometimes
profited the Church more than the many-sided, refined and fastidious,
but a little too esoteric learning of others. For this reason
we do not reject even today the honest, yet by no means ignorant,
simplicity of some.
PRIESTHOOD OF ALL BELIEVERS. To be sure, Christ's
apostles call all who believe in Christ "priests,"
but not on account of an office, but because, all the faithful
having been made kings and priests, we are able to offer up a
spiritual sacrifices to God through Christ (Ex. 19:6; I Peter
2:9; Rev. 1:6). Therefore, the priesthood and the ministry are
very different from one another. For the priesthood, as we have
just said, is common to all Christians; not so is the ministry.
Nor have we abolished the ministry of the Church because we have
repudiated the papal priesthood from the Church of Christ.
PRIESTS AND PRIESTHOOD. Surely in the new
covenant of Christ there is no longer any such priesthood as
was under the ancient people; which had an external anointing,
holy garments, and very many ceremonies which were types of Christ,
who abolished them all by this coming and fulfilling them. But
he himself remains the only priest forever, and lest we derogate
anything form him, we do not impart the name of priest to any
minister. For the Lord himself did not appoint any priests in
the Church of the New Testament who, having received authority
from the suffragan, may daily offer up the sacrifice that is,
the very flesh and blood of the Lord, for the living and the
dead, but ministers who may teach and administer the sacraments.
THE NATURE OF THE MINISTERS OF THE NEW TESTAMENT.
Paul explains simply and briefly what we are to think of the
ministers of the New Testament or of the Christian Church, and
what we are to attribute to them. "This is how one should
regard us, as servants of Christ and stewards of the mysteries
of God" II Cor. 4:1). Therefore, the apostle wants us to
think of ministers as ministers. Now the apostle calls them rowers,
who have their eyes fixed on the coxswain, and so men who do
not live for themselves or according to their own will, but for
others--namely, their masters, upon whose command they altogether
depend. For in all his duties every minister of the Church is
commanded to carry out only what he has received in commandment
from his Lord, and not to indulge his own free choice. And in
this case it is expressly declared who is the Lord, namely, Christ;
to whom the ministers are subject in all the affairs of the ministry.
MINISTERS AS STEWARDS OF THE MYSTERIES OF
GOD. Moreover, to the end that he might expound the ministry
more fully, the apostle adds that ministers of the Church are
administrators and stewards of the mysteries of God. Now in may
passages, especially in Eph., ch. 3, Paul called the mysteries
of God the Gospel of Christ. And the sacraments of Christ are
also called mysteries by the ancient writers. Therefore for this
purpose are the ministers of the Church called--namely, to preach
the Gospel of Christ to the faithful, and to administer the sacraments.
We read, also, in another place in the Gospel, of "the faithful
and wise steward," whom "his master will set over his
household, to give them their portion of food at the proper time"
(Luke 12:42). Again, elsewhere in the Gospel a man takes a journey
in a foreign country and, leaving his house, gives his substance
and authority over it to his servants, and to each his work.
THE POWER OF MINISTERS OF THE CHURCH. Now,
therefore, it is fitting that we also say something about the
power and duty of the ministers of the Church. Concerning this
power some have argued industriously, and to it have subjected
everything on earth, even the greatest things, and they have
done so contrary to the commandment of the Lord who has prohibited
dominion for this disciples and has highly commended humility
(Luke 22:24 ff.; Matt. 18:3 f.; 20:25 ff.). There is, indeed,
another power that is pure and absolute, which is called the
power of right. According to this power all things in the whole
world are subject to Christ, who is Lord of all, as he himself
has testified when he said: "All authority in heaven and
on earth has been given to me" (Matt. 28:18), and again,
"I am the first and the last, and behold I am alive for
evermore, and I have the keys of Hades and Death" (Rev.
1:18); also, "He has the key of David, which opens and no
one shall shut, who shuts and no one opens" (Rev. 3:7).
THE LORD RESERVES TRUE POWER FOR HIMSELF.
This power the Lord reserves to himself, and does not transfer
it to any other, so that he might stand idly by as a spectator
while his ministers work. For Isaiah says, "I will place
on his shoulder the key of the house of David" (Isa. 22:22),
and again, "The government will be upon his shoulders, but
still keeps and uses his own power, governing all things.
THE POWER OF THE OFFICE AND OF THE MINISTER.
Then there is another power of an office or of ministry limited
by him who has full and absolute power. And this is more like
a service than a dominion.
THE KEYS. For a lord gives up his power to
the steward in his house, and for that cause gives him the keys,
that he may admit into or exclude from the house those whom his
lord will have admitted or excluded. In virtue of this power
the minister, because of his office, does that which the Lord
has commanded him to do; and the Lord confirms what he does,
and wills that what his servant has done will be so regarded
and acknowledges, as if he himself had done it. Undoubtedly,
it is to this that these evangelical sentences refer: "I
will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatever
you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatever you
loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven" (Matt. 16:19).
Again, "If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven;
if you retain the sins of any, they are retained" (John
20:23). But if the minister does not carry out everything as
the Lord has commanded him, but transgresses the bounds of faith,
then the Lord certainly makes void what he has done. Wherefore
the ecclesiastical power of the ministers of the Church is that
function whereby they indeed govern the Church of God, but yet
se do all things in the Church as the Lord has prescribed in
his Word. When those things are done, the faithful esteem them
as done by the Lord himself. But mention has already been made
of the keys above.
THE POWER OF MINISTERS IS ONE AND THE SAME,
AND EQUAL. Now the one and an equal power or function is given
to all ministers in the Church. Certainly, in the beginning,
the bishops or presbyters governed the Church in common; no man
lifted up himself above another, none usurped greater power or
authority over his fellow-bishops. For remembering the words
of the Lord: "Let the leader among you become as one who
serves" (Luke 22:26), they kept themselves in humility,
and by mutual services they helped one another in the governing
and preserving of the Church.
ORDER TO BE PRESERVED. Nevertheless, for the
sake of preserving order some one of the ministers called the
assembly together, proposed matters to be laid before it, gathered
the opinions of the others, in short, to the best of man's ability
took precaution lest any confusion should arise. Thus did St.
Peter, as we read in The Acts of the Apostles, who nevertheless
was not on that account preferred to the others, nor endowed
with greater authority than the rest. Rightly then does Cyprian
the Martyr say, in his De Simplicitate Clericorum: "The
other apostles were assuredly what Peter was, endowed with a
like fellowship of honor and power; but [his] primacy proceeds
from unity in order that the Church may be shown to be one."
WHEN AND HOW ONE WAS PLACED BEFORE THE OTHERS.
St. Jerome also in his commentary upon The Epistle of Paul to
Titus, says something not unlike this: "Before attachment
to persons in religion was begun at the instigation of the devil,
the churches were governed by the common consultation of the
elders; but after every one thought that those whom he had baptized
were his own, and not Christ's, it was decreed that one of the
elders should be chosen, and set over the rest, upon whom should
fall the care of the whole Church, and all schismatic seeds should
be removed." Yet St. Jerome does not recommend this decree
as divine; for he immediately adds: "As the elders knew
from the custom of the Church that they were subject to him who
was set over them, so the bishops knew that they were subject
to him who was set over them, so the bishops knew that they were
above the elders, more from custom than from the truth of an
arrangement by the Lord, and that they ought to rule the Church
in common with them." Thus far St. Jerome. Hence no one
can rightly forbid a return to the ancient constitution of the
Church of God, and to have recourse to it before human custom.
THE DUTIES OF MINISTERS. The duties of ministers
are various; yet for the most part they are restricted to two,
in which all the rest are comprehended: to the teaching of the
Gospel of Christ, and to the proper administration of the sacraments.
For it is the duty of the ministers to gather together an assembly
for worship in which to expound God's Word and to apply the whole
doctrine to the care and use of the Church, so that what is taught
may benefit the hearers and edify the faithful It falls to ministers,
I say, to teach the ignorant, and to exhort; and to urge the
idlers and lingerers to make progress in the way of the Lord.
Moreover, they are to comfort and to strengthen the fainthearted,
and to arm them against the manifold temptations of Satan; to
rebuke offenders; to recall the erring into the way; to raise
the fallen; to convince the gainsayers to drive the wolf away
from the sheepfold of the Lord; to rebuke wickedness and wicked
men wisely and severely; no to wink at nor to pass over great
wickedness. And, besides, they are to administer the sacraments,
and to commend the right use of them, and to prepare all men
by wholesome doctrine to receive them; to preserve the faithful
in a holy unity; and to check schisms; to catechize the unlearned,
to commend the needs of the poor to the Church, to visit, instruct,
and keep in the way of life the sick and those afflicted with
various temptations. In addition, they are to attend to public
prayers of supplications in times of need, together with common
fasting, that is, a holy abstinence; and as diligently as possible
to see to everything that pertains to the tranquility, peace
and welfare of the churches.
But in order that the minister may perform
all these things better and more easily, it is especially required
of him that he fear God, be constant in prayer, attend to spiritual
reading, and in all things and at all times be watchful, and
by a purity of life to let his light to shine before all men.
DISCIPLINE. And since discipline is an absolute
necessity in the Church and excommunication was once used in
the time of the early fathers, and there were ecclesiastical
judgments among the people of God, wherein this discipline was
exercised by wise and godly men, it also falls to ministers to
regulate this discipline for edification, according to the circumstances
of the time, public state, and necessity. At all times and in
all places the tule is to be observed that everything is to be
done for edification, decently and honorably, without oppression
and strife. For the apostle testifies that authority in the Church
was given to him by the Lord for building up and not for destroying
(II Cor. 10:8). And the Lord himself forbade the weeds to be
plucked up in the Lord's field, because there would be danger
lest the wheat also be plucked up with it (Matt. 13:29 f.).
EVEN EVIL MINISTERS ARE TO BE HEARD. Moreover,
we strongly detest the error of the Donatists who esteem the
doctrine and administration of the sacraments to be either effectual
or not effectual, according to the good or evil life of the ministers.
For we know that the voice of Christ is to be heard, though it
be out of the mouths of evil ministers; because the Lord himself
said: "Practice and observe whatever they tell you, but
not what they do" (Matt. 23:3). We know that the sacraments
are sanctified by the institution and the word of Christ, and
that they are effectual to the godly, although they be administered
by unworthy ministers. Concerning this matter, Augustine, the
blessed servant of God, many times argued from the Scriptures
against the Donatists.
SYNODS. Nevertheless, there ought to be proper
discipline among ministers. In synods the doctrine and life of
ministers is to be carefully examined. Offenders who can be cured
are to be rebuked by the elders and restored to the right way,
and if they are incurable, they are to be deposed, and like wolves
driven away from he flock of the Lord by the true shepherds.
For, if they be false teachers, they are not to be tolerated
at all. Neither do we disapprove of ecumenical councils, if they
are convened according to the example of the apostles, for the
welfare of the Church and not for its destruction.
THE WORKER IS WORTHY OF HIS REWARD. All faithful
ministers, as good workmen, are also worthy of their reward,
and do not sin when they receive a stipend, and all things that
be necessary for themselves and their family. For the apostle
shows in I Cor., ch. 9, and in I Tim., ch. 5, and elsewhere that
these things may rightly be given by the Church and received
by ministers. The Anabaptists, who condemn and defame ministers
who live from their ministry are also refuted by the apostolic
teaching.
CHAPTER XIX
Of the Sacraments of the Church of Christ
THE SACRAMENTS [ARE] ADDED TO THE WORD AND
WHAT THEY ARE. From the beginning, God added to the preaching
of his Word in his Church sacraments or sacramental signs. For
thus does all Holy Scripture clearly testify. Sacraments are
mystical symbols, or holy rites, or sacred actions, instituted
by God himself, consisting of his Word, of signs and of things
signified, whereby in the Church he keeps in mind and from time
to time recalls the great benefits he has shown to men; whereby
also he seals his promises, and outwardly represents, and, as
it were, offers unto our sight those things which inwardly he
performs for us, and so strengthens and increases our faith through
the working of God's Spirit in our hearts. Lastly, he thereby
distinguishes us from all other people and religions, and consecrates
and binds us wholly to himself, and signifies what he requires
of us.
SOME ARE SACRAMENTS OF THE OLD, OTHERS OF
THE NEW, TESTAMENTS. Some sacraments are of the old, others of
the new, people. The sacraments of the ancient people were circumcision,
and the Paschal Lamb, which was offered up; for that reason it
is referred to the sacrifices which were practiced from the beginning
of the world.
THE NUMBER OF SACRAMENTS OF THE NEW PEOPLE.
The sacraments of the new people are Baptism and the Lord's Supper.
There are some who count seven sacraments of the new people.
Of these we acknowledge that repentance. the ordination of ministers
(not indeed the papal but apostolic ordination), and matrimony
are profitable ordinances of God, but not sacraments. Confirmation
and extreme unction are human inventions which the Church can
dispense with without any loss, and indeed, we do not have them
in our churches. For they contain some things of which we can
by no means approve. Above all we detest all the trafficking
in which the Papists engage in dispensing the sacraments.
THE AUTHOR OF THE SACRAMENTS. The author of
all sacraments is not any man, but God alone. Men cannot institute
sacraments. For they pertain to the worship of God, and it is
not for man to appoint and prescribe a worship of God, but to
accept and preserve the one he has received from God. Besides,
the symbols have God's promises annexed to them, which require
faith. Now faith rests only upon the Word of God; and the Word
of God is like papers or letters, and the sacraments are like
seals which only God appends to the letters.
CHRIST STILL WORKS IN SACRAMENTS. And as God
is the author of the sacraments, so he continually works in the
Church in which they are rightly carried out; so that the faithful,
when they receive them from the ministers, know that God works
in his own ordinance, and therefore they receive them as from
the hand of God; and the minister's faults (even if they be very
great) cannot affect them, since they acknowledge the integrity
of the sacraments to depend upon the institution of the Lord.
THE SUBSTANCE OR CHIEF THING IN THE SACRAMENTS.
But the principal thing which God promises in all sacraments
and to which all the godly in all ages direct their attention
(some call it the substance and matter of sacraments) is Christ
the Savior -- that only sacrifice, and that Lamb of God slain
from the foundation of the world; that rock, also, from which
all our fathers drank, by whom all the elect are circumcised
without hands through the Holy Spirit, and are washed from all
their sins, and are nourished with the very body and blood of
Christ unto eternal life.
THE SIMILARITY AND DIFFERENCE IN THE SACRAMENTS
OF OLD AND NEW PEOPLES. Now, in respect of that which is the
principal thing and the matter itself in the sacraments, the
sacraments of both peoples are equal. For Christ, the only Mediator
and Savior of the faithful, is the chief thing and very substance
of the sacraments in both; for the one God is the author of them
both. They were given to both peoples as signs and seals of the
grace and promises of God, which should call to mind and renew
the memory of God's great benefits, and should distinguish the
faithful from all the religions in the world; lastly, which should
be received spiritually by faith, and should bind the receivers
to the Church, and admonish them of their duty. In these and
similar respects, I say, the sacraments of both peoples are not
dissimilar, although in the outward signs they are different.
And, indeed, with respect to the signs we make a great difference.
For ours are more firm and lasting, inasmuch as they will never
be changed to the end of the world. Moreover, ours testify that
both the substance and the promise have been fulfilled or perfected
in Christ; the former signified what was to be fulfilled. Ours
are also more simple and less laborious, less sumptuous and involved
with ceremonies. Moreover, they belong to a more numerous people.
one that is dispersed throughout the whole earth. And since they
are more excellent, and by the Holy Spirit kindle greater faith,
a greater abundance of the Spirit also ensues.
OUR SACRAMENTS SUCCEED THE OLD WHICH ARE ABROGATED.
But now since Christ the true Messiah is exhibited unto us, and
the abundance of grace is poured forth upon the people of The
New Testament, the sacraments of the old people are surely abrogated
and have ceased; and in their stead the symbols of the New Testament
are placed -- Baptism in the place of circumcision, the Lord's
Supper in place of the Paschal Lamb and sacrifices.
IN WHAT THE SACRAMENTS CONSIST. And as formerly
the sacraments consisted of the word, the sign, and the thing
signified; so even now they are composed, as it were, of the
same parts. For the Word of God makes them sacraments, which
before they were not.
THE CONSECRATION OF THE SACRAMENTS. For they
are consecrated by the Word, and shown to be sanctified by him
who instituted them. To sanctify or consecrate anything to God
is to dedicate it to holy uses; that is, to take it from the
common and ordinary use, and to appoint it to a holy use. For
the signs in the sacraments are drawn from common use, things
external and visible. For in baptism the sign is the element
of water, and that visible washing which is done by the minister;
but the thing signified is regeneration and the cleansing from
sins. Likewise, in the Lord's Supper, the outward sign is bread
and wine, taken from things commonly used for meat and drink;
but the thing signified is the body of Christ which was given,
and his blood which was shed for us, or the communion of the
body and blood of the Lord. Wherefore, the water, bread, and
wine, according to their nature and apart from the divine institution
and sacred use, are only that which they are called and we experience.
But when the Word of God is added to them, together with invocation
of the divine name, and the renewing of their first institution
and sanctification, then these signs are consecrated, and shown
to be sanctified by Christ. For Christ's first institution and
consecration of the sacraments remains always effectual in the
Church of God, so that these who do not celebrate the sacraments
in any other way than the Lord himself instituted from the beginning
still today enjoy that first and all-surpassing consecration.
And hence in the celebration of the sacraments the very words
of Christ are repeated.
SIGNS TAKE NAME OF THINGS SIGNIFIED. And as
we learn out of the Word of God that these signs were instituted
for another purpose than the usual use, therefore we teach that
they now, in their holy use, take upon them the names of things
signified, and are no longer called mere water, bread or wine,
but also regeneration or the washing of water, and the body and
blood of the Lord or symbols and sacraments of the Lord's body
and blood. Not that the symbols are changed into the things signified,
or cease to be what they are in their own nature. For otherwise
they world not be sacraments. If they were only the thing signified,
they would not be signs.
THE SACRAMENTAL UNION. Therefore the signs
acquire the names of things because they are mystical signs of
sacred things, and because the signs and the things signified
are sacramentally joined together; joined together, I say, or
united by a mystical signification, and by the purpose or will
of him who instituted the sacraments. For the water, bread, and
wine are not common, but holy signs. And he that instituted water
in baptism did not institute it with the will and intention that
the faithful should only be sprinkled by the water of baptism;
and he who commanded the bread to be eaten and the wine to be
drunk in the supper did not want the faithful to receive only
bread and wine without any mystery as they eat bread in their
homes; but that they should spiritually partake of the things
signified, and by faith be truly cleansed from their sins, and
partake of Christ.
THE SECTS. And, therefore, we do not at all
approve of those who attribute the sanctification of the sacraments
to I know not what properties and formula or to the power of
words pronounced by one who is consecrated and who has the intention
of consecrating, and to other accidental things which neither
Christ or the apostles delivered to us by word or example. Neither
do we approve of the doctrine of those who speak of the sacraments
just as common signs, not sanctified and effectual. Nor do we
approve of those who despise the visible aspect of the sacraments
because of the invisible, and so believe the signs to be superfluous
because they think they already enjoy the things themselves,
as the Messalians are said to have held.
THE THING SIGNIFIED IS NEITHER INCLUDED IN
OR BOUND TO THE SACRAMENTS. We do not approve of the doctrine
of those who teach that grace and the things signified are so
bound to and included in the signs that whoever participate outwardly
in the signs, no matter what sort of persons they be, also inwardly
participate in the grace and things signified.
However, as we do not estimate the value of
the sacraments by the worthiness or unworthiness of the ministers,
so we do not estimate it by the condition of those who receive
them. For we know that the value of the sacraments depends upon
faith and upon the truthfulness and pure goodness of God. For
as the Word of God remains the true Word of God, in which, when
it is preached, not only bare words are repeated, but at the
same time the things signified or announced in words are offered
by God, even if the ungodly and unbelievers hear and understand
the words yet do not enjoy the things signified, because they
do not receive them by true faith; so the sacraments, which by
the Word consist of signs and the things signified, remain true
and inviolate sacraments, signifying not only sacred things,
but, by God offering, the things signified, even if unbelievers
do not receive the things offered. This is not the fault of God
who gives and offers them, but the fault of men who receive them
without faith and illegitimately; but whose unbelief does not
invalidate the faithfulness of God (Rom. 3:3 f.).
THE PURPOSE FOR WHICH SACRAMENTS WERE INSTITUTED.
Since the purpose for which sacraments were instituted was also
explained in passing when right at the beginning of our exposition
it was shown what sacraments are, there is no need to be tedious
by repeating what once has been said. Logically, therefore, we
now speak severally of the sacraments of the new people.
CHAPTER XX
Of Holy Baptism
THE INSTITUTION OF BAPTISM. Baptism was instituted
and consecrated by God. First John baptized, who dipped Christ
in the water in Jordan. From him it came to the apostles, who
also baptized with water. The Lord expressly commanded them to
preach the Gospel and to baptize "in the name of the Father
and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit" (Matt. 28:19). And
in The Acts, Peter said to the Jews who inquired what they ought
to do: "Be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus
Christ for the forgiveness of your sins; and you shall receive
the gift of the Holy Spirit" (Acts 2:37 f.). Hence by some
baptism is called a sign of initiation for God's people, since
by it the elect of God are consecrated to God.
ONE BAPTISM. There is but one baptism in the
Church of God; and it is sufficient to be once baptized or consecrated
unto God. For baptism once received continues for all of life,
and is a perpetual sealing of our adoption.
WHAT IT MEANS TO BE BAPTIZED. Now to be baptized
in the name of Christ is to be enrolled, entered, and received
into the covenant and family, and so into the inheritance of
the sons of God; yes, and in this life to be called after the
name of God; that is to say, to be called a son of God; to be
cleansed also from the filthiness of sins, and to be granted
the manifold grace of God, in order to lead a new and innocent
life. Baptism, therefore, calls to mind and renews the great
favor God has shown to the race of mortal men. For we are all
born in the pollution of sin and are the children of wrath. But
God, who is rich in mercy, freely cleanses us from our sins by
the blood of his Son, and in him adopts us to be his sons, and
by a holy covenant joins us to himself, and enriches us with
various gifts, that we might live a new life. All these things
are assured by baptism. For inwardly we are regenerated, purified,
and renewed by God through the Holy Spirit and outwardly we receive
the assurance of the greatest gifts in the water, by which also
those great benefits are represented, and, as it were, set before
our eyes to be beheld.
WE ARE BAPTIZED WITH WATER. And therefore
we are baptized, that is, washed or sprinkled with visible water.
For the water washes dirt away, and cools and refreshes hot and
tired bodies. And the grace of God performs these things for
souls, and does so invisibly or spiritually.
THE OBLIGATION OF BAPTISM. Moreover, God also
separates us from all strange religions and peoples by the symbol
of baptism, and consecrates us to himself as his property. We,
therefore, confess our faith when we are baptized, and obligate
ourselves to God for obedience, mortification of the flesh, and
newness of life. Hence, we are enlisted in the holy military
service of Christ that all our life long we should fight against
the world, Satan, and our own flesh. Moreover, we are baptized
into one body of the Church, that with all members of the Church
we might beautifully concur in the one religion and in mutual
services.
THE FORM OF BAPTISM. We believe that the most
perfect form of baptism is that by which Christ was baptized,
and by which the apostles baptized. Those things, therefore,
which by man's device were added afterwards and used in the Church
we do not consider necessary to the perfection of baptism. Of
this kind is exorcism, the use of burning lights, oil, salt,
spittle, and such other things as that baptism is to be celebrated
twice every year with a multitude of ceremonies. For we believe
that one baptism of the Church has been sanctified in God's first
institution, and that it is consecrated by the Word and is also
effectual today in virtue of God's first blessing.
THE MINISTER OF BAPTISM. We teach that baptism
should not be administered in the Church by women or midwives.
For Paul deprived women of ecclesiastical duties, and baptism
has to do with these.
ANABAPTISTS. We condemn the Anabaptists, who
deny that newborn infants of the faithful are to be baptized.
For according to evangelical teaching, of such is the Kingdom
of God, and they are in the covenant of God. Why, then, should
the sign of God's covenant not be given to them? Whey should
those who belong to God and are in his Church not be initiated
by holy baptism? We condemn also the Anabaptists in the rest
of their peculiar doctrines which they hold contrary to the Word
of God. We therefore are not Anabaptists and have nothing in
common with them.
CHAPTER XXI
Of the Holy Supper of the Lord
THE SUPPER OF THE LORD. The Supper of the
Lord (which is called the Lord's Table, and the Eucharist, that
is, a Thanksgiving), is, therefore, usually called a supper,
because it was instituted by Christ at this last supper, and
still represents it, and because in it the faithful are spiritually
fed and given drink.
THE AUTHOR AND CONSECRATOR OF THE SUPPER.
For the author of the Supper of the Lord is not an angel or any
man, but the Son of God himself, our Lord Jesus Christ, who first
consecrated it to his Church. And the same consecration or blessing
still remains among all those who celebrate no other but that
very Supper which the Lord instituted, and at which they repeat
the words of the Lord's Supper, and in all things look to the
one Christ by a true faith, from whose hands they receive, as
it were, what they receive through the ministry of the ministers
of the Church.
A MEMORIAL OF GOD'S BENEFITS. By this sacred
rite the Lord wishes to keep in fresh remembrance that greatest
benefit which he showed to mortal men, namely, that by having
given his body and shed his blood he has pardoned all our sins,
and redeemed us from eternal death and the power of the devil,
and now feeds us with his flesh, and gives us his blood to drink,
which, being received spiritually by true faith, nourish us to
eternal life. And this so great a benefit is renewed as often
as the Lord's Supper is celebrated. For the Lord said: "Do
this in remembrance of me." This holy Supper also seals
to us that the very body of Christ was truly given for us, and
his blood shed for the remission of our sins, lest our faith
should in any way waver.
THE SIGN AND THING SIGNIFIED. And this is
visibly represented by this sacrament outwardly through the ministers,
and, as it were, presented to out eyes to be seen, which is invisibly
wrought by the Holy Spirit inwardly in the soul. Bread is outwardly
offered by the minister, and the words of the Lord are heard:
"Take, eat; this is my body"; and, "Take and divide
among you. Drink of it, all of you; this is my blood." Therefore
the faithful receive what is given by the ministers of the Lord,
and they eat the bread of the Lord and drink of the Lord's cup.
At the same time by the work of Christ through the Holy Spirit
they also inwardly receive the flesh and blood of the Lord, and
are thereby nourished unto life eternal. For the flesh and blood
of Christ is the true food and drink unto life eternal; and Christ
himself, since he was given for us and is our Savior, is the
principal thing in the Supper, and we do not permit anything
else to be substituted in his place.
But in order to understand better and more
clearly how the flesh and blood of Christ are the food and drink
of the faithful, and are received by the faithful unto eternal
life, we would add these few things. There is more than one kind
of eating. There is corporeal eating whereby food is taken into
the mouth, is chewed with the teeth, and swallowed into the stomach.
In times past the Capernaites thought that the flesh of the Lord
should be eaten in this way, but they are refuted by him in John,
ch. 6. For as the flesh of Christ cannot be eaten corporeally
without infamy and savagery, so it is not food for the stomach.
All men are forced to admit this. We therefore disapprove of
that canon in the Pope's decrees, Ego Berengarius (De Consecrat.,
Dist. 2). For neither did godly antiquity believe, nor do
we believe, that the body of Christ is to be eaten corporeally
and essentially with a bodily mouth.
SPIRITUAL EATING OF THE LORD. There is also
a spiritual eating of Christ's body; not such that we think that
thereby the food itself is to be changed into spirit, but whereby
the body and blood of the Lord, while remaining in their own
essence and property, are spiritually communicated to us, certainly
not in a corporeal but in a spiritual way, by the Holy Spirit,
who applies and bestows upon us these things which have been
prepared for us by the sacrifice of the Lord's body and blood
for us, namely, the remission of sins, deliverance, and eternal
life; so that Christ lives in us and we live in him, and he causes
us to receive him by true faith to this end that he may become
for us such spiritual food and drink, that is, our life.
CHRIST AS OUR FOOD SUSTAINS US IN LIFE. For
even as bodily food and drink not only refresh and strengthen
our bodies, but also keeps them alive, so the flesh of Christ
delivered for us, and his blood shed for us, not only refresh
and strengthen our souls, but also preserve them alive, not in
so far as they are corporeally eaten and drunken, but in so far
as they are communicated unto us spiritually by the Spirit of
God, as the Lord said: "The bread which I shall give for
the life of the world is my flesh (John 6:51), and "the
flesh" (namely what is eaten bodily) "is of no avail;
it is the spirit that gives life" (v. 63). And: "The
words that I have spoken to you are spirit and life."
CHRIST RECEIVED BY FAITH. And as we must by
eating receive food into our bodies in order that it may work
in us, and prove its efficacy in us -- since it profits us nothing
when it remains outside us -- so it is necessary that we receive
Christ by faith, that he may become ours, and he may live in
us and we in him. For he says: "I am the bread of life;
he who comes to me shall not hunger, and he who believes in me
shall never thirst" (John 6:35); and also, "He who
eats me will live because of me...he abides in me, I in him"
(vs. 57, 56).
SPIRITUAL FOOD. From all this it is clear
that by spiritual food we do not mean some imaginary food I know
not what but the very body of the Lord given to us, which nevertheless
is received by the faithful not corporeally, but spiritually
by faith. In this matter we follow the teaching of the Savior
himself, Christ the Lord, according to John, ch. 6.
EATING NECESSARY FOR SALVATION. And this eating
of the flesh and drinking of the blood of the Lord is so necessary
for salvation that without it no man can be saved. But this spiritual
eating and drinking also occurs apart from the Supper of the
Lord, and as often and wherever a man believes in Christ. To
which that sentence of St. Augustine's perhaps applies: "Why
do you provide for your teeth and your stomach? Believe, and
you have eaten."
SACRAMENTAL EATING OF THE LORD. Besides the
higher spiritual eating there is also a sacramental eating of
the body of the Lord by which not only spiritually and internally
the believer truly participates in the true body and blood of
the Lord, but also, by coming to the Table of the Lord, outwardly
receives the visible sacrament of the body and blood of the Lord.
To be sure, when the believer believed, he first received the
life-giving food, and still enjoys it. But therefore, when he
now received the sacrament, he does not received nothing. For
he progresses in continuing to communicate in the body and blood
of the Lord, and so his faith is kindle and grows more and more,
and is refreshed by spiritual food. For while we live, faith
is continually increased. And he who outwardly receives the sacrament
by true faith, not only receives the sign, but also, as we said,
enjoys the thing itself. Moreover, he obeys the Lord's institution
and commandment, and with a joyful mind gives thanks for his
redemption and that of all mankind, and makes a faithful memorial
to the Lord's death, and gives a witness before the Church, of
whose body he is a member. Assurance is also given to those who
receive the sacrament that the body of the Lord was given and
his blood shed, not only for men in general, but particularly
for every faithful communicant, to whom it is food and drink
unto eternal life.
UNBELIEVERS TAKE THE SACRAMENT TO THEIR JUDGMENT.
But he who comes to this sacred Table of the Lord without faith,
communicates only in the sacrament and does not receive the substance
of the sacrament whence comes life and salvation; and such men
unworthily eat of the Lord's Table. Whoever eats the bread or
drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty
of the body and blood of the Lord, and eats and drinks judgment
upon himself (I Cor. 11:26-29). For when they do not approach
with true faith, they dishonor the death of Christ, and therefore
eat and drink condemnation to themselves.
THE PRESENCE OF CHRIST IN THE SUPPER. We do
not, therefore, so join the body of the Lord and his blood with
the bread and wine as to say that the bread itself is the body
of Christ except in a sacramental way; or that the body of Christ
is hidden corporeally under the bread, so that it ought to be
worshipped under the form of bread; or yet that whoever receives
the sign, receives also the thing itself. The body of Christ
is in heaven at the right hand of the Father; and therefore our
hearts are to be lifted up on high, and not to be fixed on the
bread, neither is the Lord to be worshipped in the bread. Yet
the Lord is not absent from his Church when she celebrates the
Supper. The sun, which is absent from us in the heavens, is notwithstanding
effectually present among us. How much more is the Sun of Righteousness,
Christ, although in his body he is absent from us in heaven,
present with us, not corporeally, but spiritually, by his vivfying
operation, and as he himself explained at his Last Supper that
he world be present with us (John, chs. 14; 15; and 16). Whence
it follows that we do not have the Supper without Christ, and
yet at the same time have an unbloody and mystical Supper, as
it was universally called by antiquity.
OTHER PURPOSES OF THE LORD'S SUPPERS. Moreover,
we are admonished in the celebration of the Supper of the Lord
to be mindful of whose body we have become members, and that,
therefore, we may be of one mind with all the brethren, live
a holy life, and not pollute ourselves with wickedness and strange
religions; but, perservering in the true faith to the end of
our life, strive to excel in holiness of life.
PREPARATION FOR THE SUPPER. It is therefore
fitting that when we would come to the Supper, we first examine
ourselves according to the commandment of the apostle, especially
as to the kind of faith we have, whether we believe that Christ
has come to save sinners and to call them to repentance, and
whether each man believes that he is in the number of those who
have been delivered by Christ and saved; and whether he is determined
to change his wicked life, to lead a holy life, and with the
Lord's help to persevere in the true religion and in harmony
with the brethren, and to give due thanks to God for his deliverance.
THE OBSERVANCE OF THE SUPPER WITH BOTH BREAD
AND WINE. We think that rite, manner, or form of the Supper to
be the most simple and excellent which comes nearest to the first
institution of the Lord and to the apostles' doctrine. It consists
in proclaiming the Word of God, in godly prayers, in the action
of the Lord himself, and its repetition, in the eating of the
Lord's body and drinking of this blood; in a fitting remembrance
of the Lord's death, and a faithful thanksgiving; and in a holy
fellowship in the union of the body of the Church.
We therefore disapprove of those who have
taken from the faithful one species of the sacrament, namely,
the Lord's cup. For these seriously offend against the institution
of the Lord who says: "Drink ye all of this"; which
he did not so expressly say of the bread.
We are not now discussing we what kind of
mass once existed among the fathers, whether it is to be tolerated
or not. But this we say freely that the mass which is now used
throughout the Roman Church has been abolished in our churches
for many and very good reasons which, for brevity's sake, we
do not now enumerate in detail. We certainly could not approve
of making a wholesome action into a vain spectacle and a means
of giving merit, and of celebrating it for a price. Nor could
we approve of saying that in it the priest is said to effect
the very body of the Lord, and really to offer it for the remission
of the sins of the living and the dead, and in addition, for
the honor, veneration and remembrance of the saints in heaven,
etc.
CHAPTER XXII
Of Religious and Ecclesiastical Meetings
WHAT OUGHT TO BE DONE IN MEETINGS FOR WORSHIP. Although it
is permitted all men to read the Holy Scriptures privately at
home, and by instruction to edify one another in the true religion,
yet in order that the Word of God may be properly preached to
the people, and prayers and supplication publicly made, also
that the sacraments may be rightly administered, and that collections
may be made for the poor and to pay the cost of all the Church's
expenses, and in order to maintain social intercourse, it is
most necessary that religious or Church gatherings be held. For
it is certain that in the apostolic and primitive Church, there
were such assemblies frequented by all the godly.
MEETINGS FOR WORSHIP NOT TO BE NEGLECTED.
As many as spun such meetings and stay away from them, despise
true religion, and are to be urged by the pastors and godly magistrates
to abstain from stubbornly absenting themselves from sacred assemblies.
MEETINGS ARE PUBLIC. But Church meetings are
not to be secret and hidden, but public and well attended, unless
persecution by the enemies of Christ and the Church does not
permit them to be public. For we know how under the tyranny of
the Roman emperors the meetings of the primitive Church were
held in secret places.
DECENT MEETING PLACES. Moreover, the places
where the faithful meet are to be decent, and in all respects
fit for God's Church. Therefore, spacious buildings or temples
are to be chosen, but they are to be purged of everything that
is not fitting for a church. And everything is to be arranged
for decorum, necessity, and godly decency, lest anything be lacking
that is required for worship and the necessary works of the Church.
MODESTY AND HUMILITY TO BE OBSERVED IN MEETINGS.
And as we believe that God does not dwell in temples made with
hands, so we know that on account of God's Word and sacred use
places dedicated to God and his worship are not profane, but
holy, and that those who are present in them are to conduct themselves
reverently and modestly, seeing that they are in a sacred place,
in the presence of God and his holy angels.
THE TRUE ORNAMENTATION OF SANCTUARIES. Therefore,
all luxurious attire, all pride, and everything unbecoming to
Christian humility, discipline and modesty, are to be banished
from the sanctuaries and places of prayer of Christians. For
the true ornamentation of churches does not consist in ivory,
gold, and precious stones, but in the frugality, piety, and virtues
of those who are in the Church. Let all things be done decently
and in order in the church, and finally, let all things be done
for edification.
WORSHIP IN THE COMMON LANGUAGE. Therefore,
let all strange tongues keep silence in gatherings for worship,
and let all things be set forth in a common language which is
understood by the people gathered in that place.
CHAPTER XXIII
Of the Prayers of the Church, of Singing, and of
Canonical Hours
COMMON LANGUAGE. It is true that a man is
permitted to pray privately in any language that he understands,
but public prayers in meetings for worship are to be made in
the common language known to all.
PRAYER. Let all the prayers of the faithful
be poured forth to God alone, through the mediation of Christ
only, out of faith and love. The priesthood of Christ the Lord
and true religion forbid the invocation of saints in heaven or
to use them as intercessors. Prayer is to be made for magistracy,
for kings, and all that are placed in authority, for ministers
of the Church, and for all needs of churches. In calamities,
especially of the Church, unceasing prayer is to be made both
privately and publicly.
FREE PRAYER. Moreover, prayer is to be made
voluntarily, without constraint or for any reward. Nor is it
proper for prayer to be superstitiously restricted to one place,
as if it were not permitted to pray anywhere except in a sanctuary.
Neither is it necessary for public prayers to be the same in
all churches with respect to form and time. Each Church is to
exercise its own freedom. Socrates, in his history, says, "In
all regions of the world you will not find two churches which
wholly agree in prayer" (Hist. ecclesiast. V.22,
57). The authors of this difference, I think, were those who
were in charge of the Churches at particular times. Yet if they
agree, it is to be highly commended and imitated by others.
THE METHOD TO BE EMPLOYED IN PUBLIC PRAYERS.
As in everything, so also in public prayers there is to be a
standard lest they be excessively long and irksome. The greater
part of meetings for worship is therefore to be given to evangelical
teaching, and care is to be taken lest the congregation is wearied
by too lengthy prayers and when they are to hear the preaching
of the Gospel they either leave the meeting or, having been exhausted,
want to do away with it altogether. To such people the sermon
seems to be overlong, which otherwise is brief enough. And therefore
it is appropriate for preachers to keep to a standard.
SINGING. Likewise moderation is to be exercised
where singing is used in a meeting for worship. That song which
they call the Gregorian Chant has many foolish things in it;
hence it is rightly rejected by many of our churches. If there
are churches which have a true and proper sermon but no singing,
they ought not to be condemned. For all churches do not have
the advantage of singing. And it is well known form testimonies
of antiquity that the custom of singing is very old in the Eastern
Churches whereas it was late when it was at length accepted in
the West.
CANONICAL HOURS. Antiquity knew nothing of
canonical hours, that is, prayers arranged for certain hours
of the day, and sung or recited by the Papists, as can be proved
from their breviaries and by many arguments. But they also have
not a few absurdities, of which I say nothing else; accordingly
they are rightly omitted by churches which substitute in their
place things that are beneficial for the whole Church of God.
CHAPTER XXIV
Of Holy Days,
Fasts and the Choice of Foods
THE TIME NECESSARY FOR WORSHIP. Although religion
is not bound to time, yet it cannot be cultivated and exercised
without a proper distribution and arrangement of time. Every
Church, therefore, chooses for itself a certain time for public
prayers, and for the preaching of the Gospel, and for the celebration
of the sacraments; and no one is permitted to overthrow this
appointment of the Church at his own pleasure. For unless some
due time and leisure is given for the outward exercise of religion,
without doubt men would be drawn away from it by their own affairs.
THE LORD'S DAY. Hence we see that in the ancient
churches there were not only certain set hours in the week appointed
for meetings, but that also the Lord's Day itself, ever since
the apostles' time, was set aside for them and for a holy rest,
a practice now rightly preserved by our Churches for the sake
of worship and love.
SUPERSTITION. In this connection we do not
yield to the Jewish observance and to superstitions. For we do
not believe that one day is any holier than another, or think
that rest in itself is acceptable to God. Moreover, we celebrate
the Lord's Day and not the Sabbath as a free observance.
THE FESTIVALS OF CHRIST AND THE SAINTS. Moreover,
if in Christian liberty the churches religiously celebrate the
memory of the Lord's nativity, circumcision, passion, resurrection,
and of his ascension into heaven, and the sending of the Holy
Spirit upon his disciples, we approve of it highly. but we do
not approve of feasts instituted for men and for saints. Holy
days have to do with the first Table of the Law and belong to
God alone. Finally, holy days which have been instituted for
the saints and which we have abolished, have much that is absurd
and useless, and are not to be tolerated. In the meantime, we
confess that the remembrance of saints, at a suitable time and
place, is to be profitably commended to the people in sermons,
and the holy examples of the saints set forth to be imitated
by all.
FASTING. Now, the more seriously the Church
of Christ condemns surfeiting, drunkenness, and all kinds of
lust and intemperance, so much the more strongly does it commend
to us Christian fasting. For fasting is nothing else than the
abstinence and moderation of the godly, and a discipline, care
and chastisement of our flesh undertaken as a necessity for the
time being, whereby we are humbled before God, and we deprive
the flesh of its fuel so that it may the more willingly and easily
obey the Spirit. Therefore, those who pay no attention to such
things do not fast, but imagine that they fast if they stuff
their stomachs once day, and at a certain or prescribed time
abstain from certain foods, thinking that by having done this
work they please God and do something good. Fasting is an aid
to the prayers of the saints and for all virtues. But as is seen
in the books of the prophets, the fast of the Jews who fasted
from food but not from wickedness did not please God.
PUBLIC AND PRIVATE FASTING. Now there is a public and a private
fasting. In olden times they celebrated public fasts in calamitous
limes and in the affliction of the Church. They abstained altogether
from food till the evening, and spent all that time in holy prayers,
the worship Of God, and repentance These differed little from
mourning, and there is frequent mention of them in the Prophets
and especially by Joel in Ch. 2· Such a fast should be
kept at this day, when the Church is in distress. private fasts
are undertaken by each one of us, as he feels himself withdrawn
from the Spirit. For in this manner he withdraws the flesh from
its fuel.
CHARACTERISTICS OF FASTING. All fasts ought to proceed from a
free and willing spirit, and from genuine humility, and not feigned
to gain the applause or favor of men, much less that a man should
wish to merit righteousness by them. But let every one fast to
this end, that he may deprive the flesh of its fuel in order
that he may the more zealously serve God.
LENT. The fast of Lent is attested by antiquity
but not at all in the writings of the apostles. Therefore it
ought not, and cannot, be imposed on the faithful. It is certain
that formerly there were various forms and customs of fasting.
hence, Irenaeus, a most ancient writer, says: "Some think
that a fast should be observed one day only, others two days,
but others more, and some forty days. This diversity in keeping
this fast did not first begin in our times, but long before us
by those, as I suppose, who did not simply keep to what had been
delivered to them from the beginning, but afterwards fell into
another custom either through negligence or ignorance" (Fragm.
3, ed. Stieren, I. 824 f.). Moreover, Socrates, the historian,
says: "Because no ancient text is found concerning this
matter, I think the apostles left this to every man's own judgment,
that every one might do what is good without fear or constraint"
(Hist. ecclesiast. V.22, 40).
CHOICE OF FOOD. Now concerning the choice
of foods, we think that in fasting all things should be denied
to the flesh whereby the flesh is made more insolent, and by
which it is greatly pleased, and by which it is inflamed with
desire whether by fish or meat or spices or delicacies and excellent
wines. Moreover, we know that all the creatures of God were made
for the use and service of men. All things which God made are
good, and without distinction are to be used in the fear of God
and with proper moderation (Gen. 2:15 f.). For the apostle says:
"To the pure all things are pure" (Titus 1:15), and
also: "Eat whatever is sold in the meat market without raising
any question on the ground of conscience" (I Cor. 10:25).
The same apostle calls the doctrine of those who teach to abstain
form meats "the doctrine of demons"; for "God
created foods to be received with thanksgiving by those who believe
and know this truth that everything created by God is good, and
nothing is to be rejected if it is received with thanksgiving"
(I Tim. 4:1 ff.) The same apostle, in the epistle to the Colossians,
reproves those who want to acquire a reputation for holiness
by excessive abstinence (Col. 2:18 ff.).
SECTS. Therefore we entirely disapprove of
the Tatians and the Encratites, and all the disciples of Eustathius,
against whom the Gangrain Synod was called.
CHAPTER XXV
Of Catechizing and of Comforting
and Visiting the Sick
YOUTH TO BE INSTRUCTED IN GODLINESS. The Lord
enjoined his ancient people to exercise the greatest care that
young people, even from infancy, be properly instructed. Moreover,
he expressly commanded in his law that they should teach them,
and that the mysteries of the sacraments should be explained.
Now since it is well known from the writings of the Evangelists
and apostles that God has no less concern for the youth of his
new people, when he openly testifies and says: "Let the
children come to me; for to such belongs the kingdom of heaven"
(Mark 10:14), the pastors of the churches act most wisely when
they early and carefully caetchize the youth, laying the first
grounds of faith, and faithfully teaching the rudiments of our
religion by expounding the Ten Commandments, the Apostles' Creed,
the Lord's Prayer, and the doctrine of the sacraments, with other
such principles and chief heads of our religion. Here let the
Church show her faith and diligence in bringing the children
to be catechized, desirous and glad to have her children well
instructed.
THE VISITATION OF THE SICK. Since men are
never exposed to more grievous temptations than when they are
harassed by infirmities, are sick and are weakened by diseases
of both soul and body, surely it is never more fitting for pastors
of churches to watch more carefully for the welfare of their
flocks than in such diseases and infirmities. Therefore let them
visit the sick soon, and let them be called in good time by the
sick, if the circumstance itself would have required it. Let
them comfort and confirm them in the true faith, and then arm
them against the dangerous suggestions of Satan. They should
also hold prayer for the sick in the home and, if need be, prayers
should also be made for the sick in the public meeting; and they
should see that they happily depart this life. We said above
that we do not approve of the popish visitation of the sick with
extreme unction because it is absurd and is not approved by canonical
Scriptures.
CHAPTER XXVI
Of the Burial of the Faithful,
and of the Care to Be Shown for the Dead;
of Purgatory, and the Appearing of Spirits
THE BURIAL OF BODIES. As the bodies of the
faithful are the temples of the Holy Spirit which we truly believe
will rise again at the Last Day, Scriptures command that they
be honorably and without superstition committed to the earth,
and also that honorable mention be made of those saints who have
fallen asleep in the Lord, and that all duties of familial piety
be shown to those left behind, their widows and orphans. We do
not teach that any other care be taken for the dead. Therefore,
we greatly disapprove of the Cynics, who neglected the bodies
of the dead or most carelessly and disdainfully cast them into
the earth, never saying a good word about the deceased, or caring
a bit about those whom they left behind them.
THE CARE FOR THE DEAD. On the other hand,
we do not approve of those who are overly and absurdly attentive
to the deceased; who, like the heathen, bewail their dead (although
we do not blame that moderate mourning which the apostle permits
in I Thess. 4:13, judging it to be inhuman not to grieve at all);
and who sacrifice for the dead, and mumble certain prayers for
pay, in order by such ceremonies to deliver their loved ones
from the torments in which they are immersed by death, and then
think they are able to liberate them by such incantations.
THE STATE OF THE SOUL DEPARTED FROM THE BODY.
For we believe that the faithful, after bodily death, go directly
to Christ, and, therefore, do not need the eulogies and prayers
of the living for the dead and their services. Likewise we believe
that unbelievers are immediately cast into hell from which no
exit is opened for the wicked by any services of the living.
PURGATORY. But what some teach concerning
the fire of purgatory is opposed to the Christian faith, namely,
"I believe in the forgiveness of sins, and the life everlasting,"
and to the perfect purgation through Christ, and to these words
of Christ our Lord: "Truly, truly, I say to you, he who
hears my word and believes him who sent me, has eternal life;
he shall not come into judgment, but has passed from death to
life" (John 5:24). Again: "He who has bathed does not
need to wash, except for his feet, but he is clean all over,
and you are clean" (John 13:10).
APPARITION OF SPIRITS. Now what is related
of the spirits or souls of the dead sometimes appearing to those
who are alive, and begging certain duties of them whereby they
may be set free, we count those apparitions among the laughingstocks,
crafts, and deceptions of the devil, who, as he can transform
himself into an angel of light, so he strives either to overthrow
the true faith or to call it into doubt. In the Old Testament
the Lord forbade the seeking of the truth from the dead, and
any sort of commerce with spirits Deut. 18:11). Indeed, as evangelical
truth declares, the glutton, being in torment, is denied a return
to his brethren, as the divine oracle declared in the words:
"They have Moses and the prophets; let them hear them. If
they hear not Moses and the prophets, neither will they be convinced
if some one should rise from the dead" (Luke 16:29 ff.).
CHAPTER XXVII
Of Rites, Ceremonies and Things Indifferent
CEREMONIES AND RITES. Unto the ancient people
were given at one time certain ceremonies, as a kind of instruction
for those who were kept under the law, as under a schoolmaster
or tutor. But when Christ, the Deliverer, came and the law was
abolished, we who believe are no more under the law (Rom. 6:14),
and the ceremonies have disappeared; hence the apostles did not
want to retain or to restore them in Christ's Church to such
a degree that they openly testified that they did not wish to
impose any burden upon the Church. Therefore, we would seem to
be bringing in and restoring Judaism if we were to increase ceremonies
and rites in Christ's Church according to the custom in the ancient
Church. Hence, we by no means approve of the opinion of those
who think that the Church of Christ must be held in check by
many different rites, as if by some kind of training. For if
the apostles did not want to impose upon Christian people ceremonies
or rites which were appointed by God, who, I pray, in his right
mind would obtrude upon them the inventions devised by man? The
more the mass of rites is increased in the Church, the more is
detracted not only from Christian liberty, but also from Christ,
and from faith in him, as long as the people seek those things
in ceremonies which they should seek in the only Son of God,
Jesus Christ, through faith. Wherefore a few moderate and simple
rites, that are not contrary to the Word of God, are sufficient
for the godly.
DIVERSITY OF RITES. If different rites are
found in churches, no one should think that for this reason the
churches disagree. Socrates says: "It would be impossible
to put together in writing all the rites of churches throughout
cities and countries. No religion observes the same rites, even
though it embraces the same doctrine concerning them. For those
who are of the same faith disagree among themselves about rites"
(Hist. ecclesiast. V.22, 30, 62). This much says Socrates.
And we, today, having in our churches different rites in the
celebration of the Lord's Supper and in some other things, nevertheless
do not disagree in doctrine and faith; nor is the unity and fellowship
of our churches thereby rent asunder. For the churches have always
used their liberty in such rites, as being things indifferent.
We also do the same thing today.
THINGS INDIFFERENT. But at the same time we
admonish me to be on guard lest they reckon among things indifferent
what are in fact not indifferent, as some are wont to regard
the mass and the use of images in places of worship as things
indifferent. "Indifferent," wrote Jerome to Augustine,
"is that which is neither good nor bad, so that, whether
you do it or not, you are neither just nor unjust." Therefore,
when things indifferent are wrested to the confession of faith,
they cease to be free; as Paul shows that it is lawful for a
man to eat flesh if someone does not remind him that it was offered
to idols; for then it is unlawful, because he who eats it seems
to approve idolatry by eating it (I Cor. 8:9 ff.; 10:25 ff.).
CHAPTER XXVIII
Of the possessions of the Church
THE POSSESSIONS OF THE CHURCH AND THEIR PROPER
USE. The Church of Christ possesses riches through the munificence
of princes and the liberality of the faithful who have given
their means to the Church. For the Church has need of such resources
and from ancient time has had resources for the maintenance of
things necessary for the Church. Now the true use of the Church's
wealth was, and is now, to maintain teaching in schools and in
religious meetings, along with all the worship, rites, and buildings
of the Church; finally, to maintain teachers, scholars, and ministers,
with other necessary things, and especially for the succor and
relief of the poor.
MANAGEMENT. Moreover, God-fearing and wise
men, noted for the management of domestic affairs, should be
chosen to administer properly the Church's possessions.
THE MISUSE OF THE CHURCH'S POSSESSIONS. But
if through misfortune or through the audacity, ignorance or avarice
of some persons the Church's wealth is abused, it is to be restored
to a sacred use by godly and wise men. For neither is an abuse,
which is the greatest sacrilege, to be winked at. Therefore,
we teach that schools and institutions which have been corrupted
in doctrine, worship and morals must be reformed, and that the
relief of the poor must be arranged dutifully, wisely, and in
good faith.
CHAPTER XXIX
Of Celibacy, Marriage and the Management of
Domestic Affairs
SINGLE PEOPLE. Those who have the gift of
celibacy from heaven, so that from the heart or with their whole
soul are pure and continent and are not aflame with passion,
let them serve the Lord in that calling, as long as they feel
endued with that divine gift; and let them not lift up themselves
above others, but let them serve the Lord continuously in simplicity
and humility (I Cor. 7:7 ff.). For such are more apt to attend
to divine things than those who are distracted with the private
affairs of a family. But if, again, the gift be taken away, and
they feel a continual burning, let them call to mind the words
of the apostle: "It is better to marry than to be aflame"
(I Cor. 7:9).
MARRIAGE. For marriage (which is the medicine
of incontinency, and continency itself) was instituted by the
Lord God himself, who blessed it most bountifully, and willed
man and woman to cleave one to the other inseparable, and to
live together in complete love and concord (Matt. 19:4 ff.).
Whereupon we know that the apostle said: "Let marriage be
held in honor among all, and let the marriage bed be undefiled"
(Heb. 13:4). And again: "If a girl marries, she does not
sin" (I Cor. 7:28).
THE SECTS. We therefore condemn polygamy,
and those who condemn second marriages.
HOW MARRIAGES ARE TO BE CONTRACTED. We teach
that marriages are to be lawfully contracted in the fear of the
Lord, and not against the laws which forbid certain degrees of
consanguinity, lest the marriages should be incestuous. Let marriages
be made with consent of the parents, or of those who take the
place of parents, and above all for that purpose for which the
Lord instituted marriages. Moreover, let them be kept holy with
the utmost faithfulness, piety, love and purity of those joined
together. Therefore let them guard against quarrels, dissensions,
lust and adultery.
MATRIMONIAL FORUM. Let lawful courts be established
in the Church, and holy judges who may care for marriages, and
may repress all unchastity and shamefulness, and before whom
matrimonial disputes may be settled.
THE REARING OF CHILDREN. Children are to be
brought up by the parents in the fear of the Lord; and parents
are to provide for their children, remembering the saying of
the apostle: "If anyone does not provide for his relatives,
he has disowned the faith and is worse than an unbeliever"
(I Tim. 5:8). But especially they should teach their children
honest trades or professions by which they may support themselves.
They should ;keep them from idleness and in all these things
instill in them true faith in God, lest through a lack of confidence
or too much security or filthy greed they become dissolute and
achieve no success.
And it is most certain that those works which
are done by parents in true faith by way of domestic duties and
the management of their households are in God's sight holy and
truly good works. They are no less pleasing to God than prayers,
fasting and almsgiving. For thus the apostle has taught in his
epistles, especially in those to Timothy and Titus. And with
the same apostle we account the doctrine of those who forbid
marriage or openly castigate or indirectly discredit it, as if
it were not holy and pure, among the doctrine of demons.
We also detest an impure single life, the
secret and open lusts and fornications of hypocrites pretending
to be continent when they are the most incontinent of all. All
these God will judge. We do not disapprove of riches or rich
men, if they be godly and use their riches well. But we reject
the sect of the Apostolicals (The Apostolicals were followers
of a religious fanatic, Gherardo Segarelli, of Parma, who in
the thirteenth century wanted to restore the poverty of the apostolic
life.)
CHAPTER XXX
Of the Magistracy
THE MAGISTRACY IS FROM GOD. Magistracy of
every kind is instituted by God himself for the peace and tranquillity
of the human race, and thus it should have the chief place in
the world. If the magistrate is opposed to the Church, he can
hinder and disturb it very much; but if he is a friend and even
a member of the Church, he is a most useful and excellent member
of it, who is able to benefit it greatly, and to assist it best
of all.
THE DUTY OF THE MAGISTRATE. The chief duty
of the magistrate is to secured and preserve peace and public
tranquillity. Doubtless he will never do this more successfully
than when he is truly God-fearing and religious; that is to say,
when, according to the example of the most holy kings and princes
of the people of the Lord, he promotes the preaching of the truth
and sincere faith, roots out lies and all superstition, together
with all impiety and idolatry, and defends the Church of God.
We certainly teach that the care of religion belongs especially
to the holy magistrate.
Let him, therefore, hold the Word of God in
his hands, and take care lest anything contrary to it is taught.
Likewise let him govern the people entrusted to him by God with
good laws made according to the Word of God, and let him keep
them in discipline, duty and obedience. Let him exercise judgment
by judging uprightly. Let him not respect any man's person or
accept bribes. Let him protect widows, orphans and the afflicted.
Let him punish and even banish criminals, impostors and barbarians.
For he does not bear the sword in vain (Rom. 13:4).
Therefore, let him draw this sword of God
against all malefactors, seditious persons, thieves, murderers,
oppressors, blasphemers, perjured persons, and all those whom
God has commanded him to punish and even to execute. Let him
suppress stubborn heretics (who are truly heretics), who do not
cease to blaspheme the majesty of God and to trouble, and even
to destroy the Church of God.
WAR. And if it is necessary to preserve the
safety of the people by war, let him wage war in the name of
God; provided he has first sought peace by all means possible,
and cannot save his people in any other way except by war. And
when the magistrate does these things in faith, he serves God
by those very works which are truly good, and receives a blessing
from the Lord.
We condemn the Anabaptists, who when they
deny that a Christian may hold the office of a magistrate, deny
also that a man may be justly put to death by the magistrate,
or that the magistrate may wage war, or that oaths are to be
rendered to a magistrate, and such like things.
THE DUTY OF SUBJECTS. For as God wants to
effect the safety of his people by the magistrate, whom he has
given to the world to be, as it were, a father, so all subjects
are commanded to acknowledge this favor of God in the magistrate.
Therefore let them honor and reverence the magistrate as the
minister of God; let them love him, favor him, and pray for him
as their father; and let them obey all his just and fair commands.
Finally, let them pay all customs and taxes, and all other such
dues faithfully and willingly. And if the public safety of the
country and justice require it, and the magistrate of necessity
wages war, let them even lay down their life and pour out their
blood for the public safety and that of the magistrate. And let
them do this in the name of God willingly, bravely and cheerfully.
For he who opposes the magistrate provokes the severe wrath of
God against himself.
SECTS AND SEDITIONS. We, therefore, condemn
all who are contemptuous of the magistrate - rebels, enemies
of the state, seditious villains, finally, all who openly or
craftily refuse to perform whatever duties they owe.
We beseech God, our most merciful Father in
heaven, that he will bless the rulers of the people, and us,
and his whole people, through Jesus Christ, our only Lord and
Savior; to whom be praise and glory and thanksgiving,for all
ages. Amen. |