1 Cor. 4, 1-5.
That is what everyone thinks of us, namely as Christ's servants and stewards of God's secrets. Now no more is sought of stewards than that they be found faithful. But it is of little consequence to me that I should be judged by you, or by any human day; neither do I judge myself. I am not conscious of anything, but in this I am not justified; but it is the Lord who judges me. Therefore judge not before the time, until the Lord come, who also shall bring to light that which is hid in darkness, and shall make manifest the counsel of the heart: and then shall praise be to every one from God.
This epistle gives an example of the gospel on the first Sunday of Advent, where we heard that the disciples did not ride on the horse themselves, but led it to Christ and put him on it; the apostle does the same here. For the Corinthians began to be divided and attached to the apostles; some boasted of St. Peter, some of St. Paul, some of St. Apollo; each threw on his apostle by whom he had been baptized or taught, or who he thought to be the most distinguished. Then Paul comes and rebukes, does not let anyone boast of some apostles, but only of Christ, and says: "It does not matter who they are, by whom they were baptized and taught, but it does matter that they hold Christ in one accord and are subject to him alone. Thus St. Paul here finely teaches what they should think of the apostles, and the whole epistle is a terrible blow against the papacy and spiritual government; as we shall see.
That is what everyone thinks of us, namely as Christ's servants and stewards of God's secret.
This is said of all the apostles and of the heirs of all the apostles, whether St. Peter or St. Paul. Therefore, it is necessary for us to observe how the apostles and bishops should be held, so that we do not hold them too high or too low. For St. Paul, indeed, the Holy Spirit, did not set this measure in vain, without doubt, that we are obliged to judge ourselves by it. The same is set for the bishops, what their office is to be and how far their authority extends; so that if we see a bishop who subdues himself more than this text gives, we should certainly consider him a wolf and the devil's apostle and avoid him; for this will certainly be the Antichrist, who reigns further in the spiritual regime than is determined here.
(3) First, he saith, We shall neither receive them nor hold them for any other thing, but ministers of Christ; neither shall they desire to be held for any other thing. But "servants of Christ" here does not mean the service now called Christ's service, with praying, fasting, going to church, and all,
what the spiritual law, monasteries, convents and the whole spiritual state calls worship. For these are vainly invented words and works, by which this saying of Paul and others have become so obscured that now no one knows what Paul calls Christ's ministry. He means the service, which is an office. All Christians serve God, but they are not all in office. So he also calls his ministry a ministry in Rom. 11, 13: "I will praise my ministry, because I am an apostle to the Gentiles"; and in the next epistle Rom. 15, 8: "I say that Christ was a minister of the circumcision"; and 2 Cor. 3, 6: "He made us to be sufficient for the ministry of the New Testament, of the Spirit and not of the letter.
4 And where do I find such strong language that I could tear out of all Christians' hearts the deep-rooted error through popery, that they do not interpret the service of Christ and the service of God differently, but to their own works, which they work without means against Christ? Listen, dear man, to serve Christ, and to serve God, especially in St. Paul, means to lead an office that Christ has commanded him, namely, preaching. It is a ministry that goes from Christ, not to Christ, and that does not come from us, but to us. You must remember this, and it is very necessary, otherwise you cannot know what Paul's words mean: minister, ministerium, ministratio, ministrare, etc. He always says: to serve, to serve, to serve. He always means: to serve, ministry, servant etc. Seldom, however, does he think of the service that goes above himself to God, but most generally of that which goes below himself to men; for even Christ in the Gospel commands the apostles to be the lowest and the servants of others, Luc. 22, 26. And so that he might be understood by such service, he added with diligence and explained himself, saying, "conductor or steward," which cannot be understood of the office of preacher.
(5) For this reason he is called Christ's minister and Christ's servant, because he received this ministry from Him and was commanded to preach. So all apostles and bishops are Christ's servants, that is, Christ's preachers, Christ's ministers.
The messengers, Christ's ministers, were sent to the people with his message, so that the meaning of this saying is this: Let every one of you see to it that he does not set up another head, raise up another lord, make another Christ, but all together abide in the one Christ; for we are not your lords, nor your rulers, nor your head; neither do we preach from ourselves, nor teach our own word, nor bring you under our obedience, that ye should be our subjects, and keep our doctrine. Not so, not so, but we are messengers and servants of Him who is your Sovereign, Head and Lord; we preach His word, advertise His command, and bring you under His obedience alone. For this you are to hold us also, you are not to wait for any other from us, so that you, although we are other men than Christ, yet not other doctrine, other words, other rule, other authority than Christ, may come over you through us. Whoever therefore receives us and keeps us, keeps us right; he receives not us, but Christ himself, whom alone we preach. But he who does not accept us does us wrong, forsakes Christ, the common head, and wants to raise up his own head and make us idols.
(6) So we read in Judges 8:22, 23. 8, 22. 23. that the children of Israel said to Gideon, "Be you our lord, and your children's children." But he answered, "I will not be your lord, neither shall my children be your lords, but God shall be your Lord." And 1 Sam. 8:7, when the children of Israel desired a king of Samuel, God said, "They have not rejected thee, but me, that I should not be a king over them." Here we see that God can suffer no authority, for His alone in His people.
007 But mayest thou here ask, How they sin in this, seeing Gideon was given them of God to be captain in the battle, and after that many holy kings were set over them of God? Answer: It was not sinful or contrary to God that they had kings or rulers, for there must be authority on earth: but this was the unrighteousness, that they went under human rule and were not content with God's rule.
For Gideon and the holy kings ruled not a hair's breadth further than God's command and order stretched, and held themselves no differently than servants of God, that is, they ruled the people according to God's words, not according to their word. And so the rule was left to God alone, and they were servants in it, like the apostles in Christ's word. Therefore David also sings about his own government as if it were God's, and says Ps. 7:7, 8, 9: "Arise to me for the sake of the governing office which you have commanded, and let the assembly of the people surround you, and for the sake of it lift you up again. For thou, O Lord, art the judge of the people" etc.
8) But where there is more than God's commandment, and the authorities subjugate themselves, or the subjects seek to govern with the teachings of men, there an idolatry arises, and a new head: the authorities are then no longer a servant, but rule for themselves, without the command and commandment of God. Then God says, as He said to Samuel, "They have not rejected you, but Me, that I should not reign over them." And this is what I say about the regiment of souls, which is to exist before God; for worldly regiment does not concern souls, nor does it belong in this matter.
(9) Wherever more than the one head, God or Christ, is raised up, there must also be other teachings and words than Christ's teachings and words. Therefore, as soon as the ministry of Christ is over, Christ must be rejected and a new reign must be raised. Everyone can well understand that the two cannot suffer with each other: To be Christ's servant and to teach the Word of God. How can he be Christ's servant if he does not teach Christ's word? or how can he teach his own word if he is to teach Christ's word? If he teaches his own word, he is his own special master and does not serve Christ: if he teaches Christ's word, he is not a special master.
(10) From this, judge for yourself where the papacy and its spiritual right come from, with all the doctrines of the priests, monks and high schools. If they can prove that they teach nothing but Christ's word, then we shall consider them to be
But if we can prove that they do not teach Christ's words, we should not consider them Christ's servants. Now it is clear that their thing is not Christ's word but their own. So it is obvious that they are the kingdom of the end of Christ and the servants of the devil. For here Paul stands firm and concludes: For this a man shall hold us, that we are Christ's servants.
(11) It is of no avail that they say, Let the commandments of the church be taught beside the word of Christ: for what they teach shall be the doctrine of the church. But Paul still stands and teaches that the church hears neither Peter nor Paul, but Christ alone, and knows no one but Christ's servant. Therefore you see how great blasphemy this is, that the pope calls obedience to his teaching a way of salvation, and disobedience a way of damnation. But Paul here gives this obedience to the devil, as he also does 1 Tim. 4, 1. 2. 3.: "The Spirit says openly that in the last days some will depart from the faith, and will cling to false spirits and doctrines of devils, and will teach lies in a glorified way, who have a brand in their conscience, and forbid the marriage and food that God has created to be taken with thanksgiving to the faithful and those who know the truth." And Christ Joh. 10, 5. 14. says: "My sheep hear My voice, but they do not hear the voice of the stranger, but flee from them, because they do not know the voice of the stranger. I know My own, and My own know Me."
(12) There you see how it agrees with Paul here that everything that is not Christ's voice is a strange voice, the devil's teaching, and to flee. There you hear what Christ himself judges of the teachings, and what his church hears and teaches, which are the commandments of the churches or not. The church has no other doctrine than Christ's, nor any other obedience than Christ's. Therefore, all that the papists say about the commandments and obedience of the church is of the kind that Paul speaks about: They are false doctrines in gleaming, from false spirits and doctrines of the devil.
13) The following words are also meant in the same way, since he calls them "Stewards of the
secret goods of God". The steward is meant here, who governs the master's household, as now the stewards in the monasteries and provosts in the nunneries, and all such court masters, stewards, and overseers. For oeconomus is Greek, peritus rei familiaris, and is thus in German, a steward, who knows how to care for a house and can govern the servants; whom also Christ Matth. 24, 45. badly calls a servant, when he says: "Which is a faithful, prudent servant, whom his lord sets over his servants, that he may give them the measure of wheat in due season." Such a servant was Eliezer, Abraham's servant, Genesis 15.
Now God also has a house, which is ourselves, the Christian church, in which the pastors and bishops are experts and stewards, who are to maintain the house, provide food and govern the servants. But his goods are not corporeal. Therefore St. Paul separates the stewards of God from all other bodily stewards. Those who give visible bread and govern the bodies; but these give invisible food and govern the souls: therefore he calls them mysteria. This is also all from the way that we no longer know what the steward is or is called, and who the mysteria are. They think that when they baptize, celebrate mass, and administer other sacraments, they have acted as mysteries, and that no mysterium is more effective than the mass, although they do not know why it should be called mysterium.
(15) Today I cannot find any German for the word mysterion, and it would be just as well that we stay with the same Greek word, as we have stayed with many more. It means as much as secretum, [arcanum*], such a thing that is done out of sight and is hidden, that no one sees, and it is commonly used for words; as when something is said that one does not understand, one says: That is hidden, there is something behind, that has a mysterion, there is something hidden. This same hidden thing is actually called a mysterium; I call it a secret.
16. what then are the mysteria, GOt-
*) [f g]
tes? Nothing else but Christ Himself, that is, faith and the gospel of Christ; for all things preached in the gospel are set apart from sense and reason, and are hidden from all the world, and cannot be obtained except by faith alone; as He Himself says Matt. 11:25."I confess unto thee, O Lord, Father of heaven and earth, that thou hast hid these things from the wise and understanding, and hast revealed them unto babes"; and Paul 1 Cor. 2:8: "We preach the wisdom of God hid in secret, which none of the rulers of this world have known."
17 And that I may say it most plainly: My
sterium is when you hear the things you keep in your faith, that Christ, the Son of God, was born of a virgin, died, rose again; and all this for the forgiveness of our sin. For of these things the eye seeth not, neither doth understanding comprehend; yea, as St. Paul saith, 1 Cor. 1:23, "It is vain foolishness in the sight of the prudent, and vain vexation in the sight of the saints." For how is it possible for nature to know or reason to acknowledge that this man, Christ, is our life, salvation, peace, righteousness, redemption, power, wisdom, Lord of all creatures, and God, and all that the Scriptures say about Him? No one can know of this, except he who hears it from the Gospel and believes it, it is too far from sense and reason.
The mysteries of God are nothing else than the things or goods that are preached by Christ through the gospel, and which only faith grasps and keeps. Of these things Paul says in 1 Tim. 3:16, [speaking also of these things, and teaching how he should walk in the house of God *]: "There is a public great mystery of the divine walk, which is revealed in the flesh, justified in the Spirit, appeared to angels, preached to the Gentiles, believed on by the world, received up into glory." All this is said of Christ, who was manifested in the flesh. For he walked among men who had flesh and blood, and he himself also; but still he remained mystery. For that he was Christ, the Son of God, the
*) [f g]
Life, the way, the truth and everything good would be, was hidden.
19. but he is "justified in the spirit", that is, the believers through the spirit have accepted, recognized and kept him. For this justification is to be understood in the way of Luc. 7, 29: "All the people and also the tax collectors justify God"; item Ps. 51, 6: "That you may be justified in your word"; all this is said: He who believes in Christ justifies him, confesses that it is true that he alone is our life, righteousness, wisdom, and that we are sinners, dead and condemned; for that is what he is and wants to be. And he who believes him to be so justifies him in his spirit; but he who does not, standing on his works, not willing to be condemned for what he is, disputes with him and condemns him. [But to justify Christ in this way is done by no one, except he who has the Holy Spirit, whose work alone it is. Flesh and blood cannot do it, though it is manifestly presented and preached before eyes and ears. *]
20) Of justification is also said Rom. 1, 4: "He is proved the Son of God in power, according to the Spirit that sanctifieth. As if to say: In unbelievers he is nothing, and not only weak, but even condemned. But where there are saints who live in the Spirit who sanctifies them, in them it is strongly and greatly held that he is the Son of God, for it has been proved and established to them.
Now St. Paul could have said here: We are stewards of the wisdom of God, or of the righteousness of God, or the like; since Christ is all these things, as he says in 1 Cor. 1:30: "He is made unto us of God wisdom, and righteousness, and sanctification, and redemption. But this would have been piecemeal; therefore he wanted to comprehend in one heap with One Word all these goods that are to be preached of Christ, and calls them mysteries. As if he should say: We are spiritual stewards, whom we are to distribute God's grace, God's truth; and who can tell them in particular? I will understand it recently, and say: They are
*) [f g]
God's secrets. Therefore he calls them secrets and hidden things, that they can only be attained by faith. Thus he also does Rom. 1, 4: since he wanted to understand all things in one word, how Christ is revealed in the flesh, justified in the Spirit, preached to the Gentiles etc., as is said in 1 Tim. 3, he recently speaks in Greek oristheis, definitus. Summa Summarum: He is proven, decided, accepted and held to be the Son of God by angels, Gentiles, the world, heaven and everyone, because he is revealed, justified, appeared, preached, believed and received etc. That is why he is called a mystery here and a secret in 1 Timothy 3. But it is one thing, Christ is altogether, one mystery and many mysteries; for many secret things we have of him.
22 Also note that St. Paul adds to this, saying: "the secrets of God", that is, such hidden things that God gives and are in God. For the devil also has his secrets, as Revelation 17:5 says: "She has written on her forehead the secrets of Babylon" etc.; item, Revelation 17:7: "I will show you the secret of the whore of Babylon" etc. These are such secrets, about which the pope and the clergy are now stewards; for they pretend that their teachings and works lead to heaven, and that behind them is death and hell for all who believe in them. But these are God's secrets, since life and bliss are within.
(23) Now we have the apostle's opinion in these words, that a minister of Christ should be a steward of the mysteries of God, that is, he should consider himself and be considered as preaching and giving nothing to the household of God but those things which are Christ's and are in Christ; that is, he should preach the pure gospel, the pure faith, how that Christ alone is our life, way, wisdom, power, glory, and salvation, (2c), and that our things are death, error, foolishness, impotence, shame and condemnation. Whoever preaches otherwise, let no man take him for Christ's servant nor steward of divine goods, but avoid him as the devil's messenger. Therefore now follows:
Now no more is sought in the stewards, but that they may be faithfully invented.
(24) That is where all the power lies, that is where God inquires, that is what angels, man and all creatures seek and demand, not whether someone is called a steward or is considered to be one, or not. Here, no one asks whether someone has a small or large bishopric, nor even whether he is pious or not pious in his person, but rather whether he faithfully carries out his office and does so as a steward of God's goods. Paul gives us great authority to judge the teachings and lives of all our bishops, popes and cardinals. Christ also demands such faithfulness in Matth. 24, 45: "Who do you think is a faithful and wise servant, whom his lord has set over his household, to give them the measure of wheat in due season?
25 What may be this fidelity? how will it last? Say, who is improved, or whom does it help, whether a bishop would be so great that he would have all bishoprics in his possession, as the pope throws himself out? Who would benefit if he were so holy that he woke up the dead with his shadow? Who would benefit if he were as wise as all the prophets and apostles have been? None of these things are asked here. But that he is faithful, gives the word of God to the servants, preaches the gospel and shares the secrets of God: there, there, there one inquires, that helps everyone, that everyone is improved. Therefore, above all, faithfulness is sought and required in these stewards.
Now hold this text against the pope and all the clergy, say, what does the pope ask for? Is not all his striving and raging that he alone is supreme and rules by force? He only asks that he be great, powerful, high and rich, and that everyone be subject to him. Therefore the devil, by his blasphemous mouth, in all his laws, tells how great obedience is, and how dangerous to the salvation of souls, whoever is not subject to his obedience; but that he is faithful in this stewardship does not concern him. For tell me, in all the deluge of his innumerable laws and commands, yea, in all his government, when hast thou ever heard or read- that he stirreth up God's mysteria with a word, or preacheth the gospel? There is nothing but strife-
of prebends, or to the highest of plates and garments. Yes, he publicly condemns the Gospel and God's Historia. The bishops and clergy with the foundations, monasteries and high schools now follow this.
27 And they have interpreted this apostolic faithfulness to mean that a faithful bishop, abbot, or spiritual prelate is now called among them one who faithfully manages, protects, improves, and increases the temporal goods, St. Peter's inheritance, St. Moritz's castle, the land of the Holy Cross, our wives' interest, and so on other church goods, that is, their own wealth under God's and the saints' names, so that the world, even when it is most worldly, may not be like them. And these are the princes, bishops and prelates who have presided over the church, regardless of whether they have never read or heard the Gospel all their lives, let alone preached it. So now the blasphemers exist freely in all the world and call them good stewards of God's goods, which are good for nothing, except that they are stewards, stewards, bailiffs, builders, mayors, farmhands, waiters and kitchen masters of worldly lords; this they prove by their apostolic fidelity, and nothing more. But the souls die, everything that is divine is corrupted, the wolf rules and tears: there they see nothing, there no one interferes, there they sit quietly, and in the meantime overcharge their register, and wait for St. Lawrence's interest, and provide for the church goods in the most faithful way; for which faithfulness they are sure that Christ has not prepared for them a lowly seat in heaven. O, of the wretched, lost, blind multitude, how surely they go to hell?
I can't leave it here, I have to report the devil's deception, which I hear he has shown in Merseburg, in our country, with the golden chalice of Emperor Henry. Then the dear people lie with great violence and have indulgence from it, that they say: The roasted Lorenz overcame the devil, that he had to leave the emperor's soul, because he threw the golden chalice into the scales, therefore the devil was enraged and broke off a dhr from the chalice. Such crude, foolish, lazy lies
are meant to blind us Christians so that we do not recognize the devil's mischievousness. Why did the devil invent this? This whole story is driven by him, so that one would have a miraculous work to confirm the wealth, pleasure, and all the tender faithfulness of the prelates, of which it is now said that the fools should fall on it and believe that one can overcome the devil with gifts to the church, when Peter says that it is only the strength of faith that does it. These are the miraculous signs of which Christ and Paul proclaimed that they would also lead the elect by faith. Now let us go, there are now pious and faithful prelates.
(29) But a still more beautiful faithfulness is now also in use among the same spiritless lords and faithful stewards, which is busy in spiritual goods of souls; these are first of all the right faithful stewards. St. Peter in heaven may be careful to keep his chair from them, they are so holy. These are our spiritual fathers, priests, monks, nuns, who practice obedience to the pope, the holy church, and all kinds of human laws, orders and statutes. And among these is the intercession, the covenant, the core, the marrow, the ground, and how can I tell their honest titles all? who call themselves and hold themselves according to the observance. Yes, far enough from. the observance! The beautiful kitten has a smooth and pretty bellow.
(30) Here, first of all, one sees the right stewards and the unheard-of faithfulness, how stern, strict and serious they are about obedience and how they handle their essays. These are the right saints! Few bishops, who also strictly observe the holy spiritual law, may be counted with these; but if one searches all their monasteries and looks at all their doctrine and conduct, there is no people on earth who know less of God's mysteries and are further from Christ; Yes, they are the ones who do no more than to be nonsensical, and they storm with their nature against Christ; they are the Gog and Magog who fight with the Lamb of God in Apocalypsi (Revelation of John); for their work they throw up, and with it they destroy the faith,
yet they are called the faithful stewards of God. Just as the wolf is called a shepherd in the midst of the sheep!
He who has an ear, let him hear what St. Paul says here: "They ask among the stewards who is faithful"; but he is faithful who acts on God's mystery. Therefore let it be decided that popes, bishops, priests, monks, nuns, high schools, and all those who build on something else with them, act something else than Christ, the gospel, and true faith; they may have the name that they are Christ's servants and stewards, but in reality they are the devil's servants and stewards, and act the devil's, their lord's, mysteria or secret. Therefore Christ adds, "The servant should not only be faithful, but also prudent, so that he may distinguish between God's secret and the devil's secret, so that he may keep and preserve himself and those who are under his command; for, as St. Paul says in 2 Cor. 11:13, 14, the false servants of Christ present themselves as true apostles of Christ, just as the devil also disguises himself as an angel of light.
The greater the faithfulness, the more yearly it is, if there is not prudence to meet the mysteries of God, as we see in the above two false seductive faithfulness of the mindless saints. St. Paul knew well that the devil's secrets would thus get the upper hand: that is why he shunned all else and put on faithfulness. If our bishops had remained faithful stewards of God, the papacy and the special spiritual state would have been absent, and the common spiritual state of faith would have been preserved. And if they were still faithful or would become faithful, all the peculiar spiritual statuses would soon be forfeited and the common one would arise again.
But it is of little consequence to me that I should be judged by you, or by any human day.
But here we must learn the language beforehand and transfigure the words that we should have as our mother tongue. St. Paul here takes the judging or primal
The court shall be divided into two parts for good judgment, that is, to think and say much of him. Although the common custom is to take the judgment as a condemnation, in every judgment there are two parts: one is condemned, the other redeemed; one is punished, the other rewarded; one is disgraced, the other honored. This also happens in all secret judgments. For at the same time that the Pharisee praises himself in the Gospel, he reproves the publican and other men: at the same time he honors himself and disgraces the other. Thus each one does to his neighbor with praise and reproach; there must be a judgment in two parts. That is why St. Paul says here, "He is judged or condemned by them," that is, one part of the judgment goes over him, namely, the praiseworthy and honest part, that they praised him and exalted him above the others; thus they judged between him and other apostles, giving him the advantage and the others the disadvantage. But some judged, that is, they praised St. Peter, some Apollo. But that "to judge" here means as much as to praise, is proved by the end of the epistle, where he says: "Judge not before the time, until the Lord come; then shall praise of God be to every man. What is this but, praise not, let GOtt praise? It is for God to judge, praise and crown us; we are not to praise, judge or crown one another.
34 "The human day" here also means the human judgment, sentence and praise, so that men raise, illuminate and make known those of whom they think highly; just as the natural day with its light illuminates, makes visible and confesses things that cannot be seen or known through night and darkness. Therefore, in Latin, famous people, of whom everyone says, are called praeclari, nobiles, illustres, in German, Durchlauchtige, that is, those who are highly famous and have a great appearance and name before others. Again, the others who are not famous are called obscuri, ignobiles, humiles, lowly and unknown etc. Also the holy scripture calls the kings and princes doxas, glorias, claritates, that is, clarity, glory, shouting etc.; as St. Peter, 2 Petr. 2, 10., from the pope and
On the third Sunday of Advent.
W. XU, 91-94.
He says to his own: "They will blaspheme and curse the glorias", that is, they will banish and curse the majesties, kings, princes, and all that is high and glorious on earth; although Christ commanded that we should love even our enemies, bless those who curse us, and do good to those who persecute us; as we see that the pope does on Holy Thursday in the Bulla Coenae domini, and if he so desires.
35 So now is the "human day," the cry of man, and glorying in the sight of men. Thus Jeremiah Cap. 17, 16. says: "I have never desired a man's day, you know that." As if he should say, "They blame me, I preach new things only so that I may have honor, name and fame in the sight of men, and be esteemed in the sight of men: but thou knowest that it is not so, that the same day of man is not desired of Me. And Christ Joh. 5, 41: "I do not take clarity or glory from men", that is, I do not desire that men should praise and exalt Me; and Joh. 8, 50: "I do not seek My clarity or glory"; item Joh. 5, 35. He says of John the Baptist: "You wanted to rejoice in his light for an hour," that is, you would have liked John to praise you with his testimony and make you famous, so that you would have an honor before men for this short time; this was your search etc.
36 So Paul thinks it is the least thing to him that he has such a cry, light, praise and name among men, and rightly calls it a "human day"; for it comes from men and not from God, and also goes with men. As if he should say: I do not respect to be praised by you and by all the world: let men seek this; let Christ's servants and God's stewards await from Christ and from the divine day the judgment.
37 But it is an ungrateful apostle that he does not send a sackful of bulls, and bless them, and distribute indulgences, as to those who have held the apostolic throne in cheap honor and dignity; the pope would have held himself much more apostolic, yea, he would have cursed them, where they had not been such.
If St. Paul had wanted to be pope, he would have become pope and supreme in one word, where he would have fallen to those who wanted to cling to him, and the others would have had to bend down. If St. Paul had wanted to be here, he would have been the pope and the supreme, in a word, where he would have fallen to those who wanted to cling to him, and the others would have had to bend down; but now he seeks more fidelity than height in his household, he must remain a bad carpet maker and walk on foot.
38 And it is clear from these words that the Corinthians judged according to the person, and therefore preferred their baptism and gospel to the others, that Paul, or Peter, or Apollo should be greater or better; this Paul cannot stand, but wants everything to be the same, the person be what it is, that he be a Christian who is baptized and taught by Paul, as well as by Petro or Apollo, or whoever he is. Against this the pope rages harshly and horribly, and will not let anyone be a Christian, because he was taught by him, and yet teaches nothing but unbelief and human folly.
(39) But because Paul rejects the respect of the person and only asks about the faithfulness in the stewards of God, he thereby very finely removes all cause purely that they cannot divide, but must remain united and leave all things equal and common. For how should they divide, if one is a servant of Christ like the other, and one is a steward of God as well as the other, so that no difference remains? for whether one is more faithful than the other does not make sects, but drives the common gospel all the more strongly.
40 Since these words of Paul concern not only one, but all the apostles, for he does not say, "Man holds me for this," but, "Man holds us for this; us, us," he says, "which us?" namely, me, Peter, Apollo, from whom this trade stands out, it is decided that St. Peter is to be held like St. Paul, and one like the other; that either St. Paul must be wrong here in making all the apostles equal servants of Christ and God. Peter is to be held the same as St. Paul, and one as the other; that either St. Paul must teach wrongly here, making all the apostles equal servants of Christ and stewards of God, or Pabst's exodus and reign must be a fictitious thing; and this text is even a powerful enemy of Pabstry.
Nor do I judge myself.
(41) Wilt thou ask how he esteemeth his own judgment greater than that of all men? We find several who praise themselves or think highly of themselves, for of course every man pleases himself. But few are those who get over the human day and are judged by others; so that he would have turned back and said: "It is of little consequence to me that I judge myself; neither do I respect the human day, your praise and the praise of all the world. But he speaks as a Christian according to conscience before God; for also the Corinthians highly praised Paul in that which is valid before God: they wanted him to be higher, greater, better before God than the others. Again, the others exalted St. Peter. Now there is no greater witness before God than the conscience; for God does not judge according to the face, as men do, but according to the heart, as 1 Sam. 16:7 says: "Man sees what is apparent on the outside, but God sees the heart"; therefore the testimony of our conscience is much more valid before God than the testimony of all the world. It will also apply alone, as he says to the Romans Cap. 2, 15: "Their consciences will testify against them, and their thoughts will accuse or excuse one another, until the day when God will judge the hidden things of the heart.
Now here St. Paul wants: How do you want to be partial about us, whether one would be greater or better famous among men, if this is nothing at all, so that even our own conscience may not judge who is the best and highest before God; for Solomon says Proverbs 28:26: "A fool is he who trusts in his heart. Therefore the party has no reason, no one knows who is highest before God. It is also not Christ's thing to give the seat to the right or left hand, Matth. 20, 23. Because before God they are all equal, one is Christ's servant as well as the other, and it remains hidden which one is the highest before Him, so a man should not judge and discuss, much less exalt himself above the other for temporal power, goods, friends. Against this is now also the exaltation of the Pabst, because they say that his exaltation above others is from God; which Pau
lus here denies, let no one know nor judge until the last day.
43) But that the pointed tongues of the papists wanted to poke a hole here and say: Paul does not reject the height of St. Peter or the Pope, but forbids that one should not judge the person in himself, how good or bad he is before God: I answer this and confess that St. Paul forbids to judge the person as he is before God. Paul forbids to judge the person as he is before God: but this the Corinthians nevertheless did, because they also exalted the ministry, baptism and preaching for the sake of the person; otherwise they would not have said: I am good Pauline, I am good Petrine etc. For they knew well that preaching, baptism and ministry were one; but they wanted to exalt the ministry and its work from the height of the persons. Thus St. Paul also does the contradiction, making the ministry equal just so that the persons are equal before us, since no one can know which is the highest or best before God. If they had wanted to emphasize the person alone and not the office, they would not have made sects, nor would they have said: I am Pauline etc. Just as it is not sectarian that we exalt St. Peter higher than St. Augustine according to the person. But it makes sect when I speak: I am Petrine, and thou sayest, I am Augustinian, and wouldest therefore that my preaching should be better and higher than thine.
44. Also the liars, the papists themselves, because they well realize that their lie cannot stand, that they make the pope supreme, where the person would not be pious and the best; therefore they go on, help their lie with a greater lie, and so make the person good, that they say the pope may not err, the Holy Spirit does not leave him, and Christ is always with and in him: Until some open their blasphemous mouths so wide, and because they cannot deny that the pope sins openly, they say, It is not possible that he should remain a quarter of an hour in mortal sin; so certainly have they also measured the Holy Spirit in the pope with hourglasses and compasses. Now why do they tell such blasphemous lies? Undoubtedly, that they see how the height could not exist, where
they would not save the person, and would have to allow that the devil's thing would be the height without piety. Therefore, it cannot be said here that the Corinthians raised the person and not the office, since the person is raised for the sake of the office.
45 But do you ask further: How does Paul not judge himself, if he wants to be considered Christ's servant and God's steward? Answer: As it is said above, the service and ministry is not his, but God's, who commanded him. For as no man can make God's word, so also no man can send out or make apostles; God has already judged this Himself and made them apostles. Therefore, one should also boast, confess, and claim it as a good that God has given; just as I cannot make myself a man, yet I should boast and confess that God has made me a man. But as I cannot judge how I am and will be before God, so I cannot judge an apostle or steward who is the greatest before God.
(46) Then you say again, "Do you teach that a Christian man should not doubt that he is pleasing in the sight of God, and he who doubts is not a Christian; faith makes us certain that God is our Father, and as we believe, so be it done to us. Answer: Let it be firmly held that faith in God's grace is certain, for faith is nothing other than a constant, undoubted, unwavering confidence in divine grace. But this is what I said, that the Corinthians wanted to have the apostles and judge them according to their person and works, which one would be holier and greater and more worthy in person, so that the office, and those who were attached to them, would be something special above others; so Paul sets aside all works and dignity, puts them on God's judgment and keeps all the apostles in the same office and faith. They have the same office, the same faith, in which they are justified; but which of them does more, is better, higher and more worthy, that is God's command; nothing is to be done for us out of the church; therefore it follows:
I am probably not aware of anything, but that is not why I am justified.
47 The word actually indicates that they judged the apostles for the worthiness of the person and the works; for Paul admits to them that he is blameless in conscience, confessing that they judged rightly, as much as it is before men and in his conscience. But judgment is not sufficient before God: therefore all judgment based on it is wrong.
(48) Much could be said about this saying. For here we see that all works are rejected, that no work makes one pious and blessed. For if Paul may say that he is conscious of nothing, he must certainly have been full of good works; nor does he say that he is not justified in them. In what then? Only in faith. For if a man were justified in that he was not conscious of anything and had a good conscience, his confidence would be in himself, so he would judge and praise himself (as the trustworthy saints do); then there would be no need of faith, nor would we need God's grace, we would have it in ourselves, what would be useful and necessary for us, we would probably do without God from now on. But now it stands that we rely on God's grace and are justified by it. But how our work, person, status and dignity are to be judged thereafter, that is up to God; we are certain that none of them will justify us, but uncertain how they will praise and judge God.
49 It is also, I think, easy for everyone to understand that Paul is talking here about the life after his conversion, in which he is not aware of anything; but of the previous life he himself writes 1 Tim. 1, 13 that he was an unbeliever, a blasphemer and persecutor of Christianity.
(50) But here a question arises: How is he not justified in this, that he has no conscience, when he says in 2 Cor. 1:12: "Our glory is the testimony of our conscience, that we have walked in this world in simplicity of heart and godly integrity, and not in carnal wisdom, but in the grace of God, especially with you"? Here he answers himself, because he himself adds "in the grace of God".
For we should certainly boast, insist and defy God's grace, since the glory of our conscience is written on it. And even if he had not put this with it, it would still have to be understood from the glory in grace, or from the glory before the world. For before men every man may and ought to confess and boast his innocence, as that he hath done no man wrong; neither ought he to say that it is evil, which he knows to be good. But in the sight of God, glory is nothing; for God demands and judges according to the heart, man is satisfied with works: therefore, in the sight of God, there must be something higher than our good conscience; as Moses 2 Mos. 34, 7. says: "You take away unrighteousness, sin and wickedness, and no one is innocent before you"; Rom. 3, 23: "Before his face no man can boast", but, as 1 Cor. 1, 31: "Whoever wants to boast, let him boast in God", that is, in his grace.
But he who judges me is the Lord.
(51) It is just this: I will wait until God judges and praises me; as he also says in 2 Cor. 10:18, "Not he who praises himself is praised, but he whom God praises. He says this, however, not to discourage them, but to stimulate them to good living. For although no man can judge or praise another, yet it will not remain unjudged and unpraised; for God Himself will judge and praise what is well done. Therefore, we should do well all the more diligently, because God Himself wants to judge, and not become discontented or desist, if we are uncertain how it should be judged.
Therefore do not judge before the time, until the Lord comes, who will also enlighten the hidden darkness and the counsel of the heart. Then praise will come to everyone from God.
(52) Here the question arises whether we should not praise one another? For Paul says Rom. 12:10: "Let each of you precede the other with reverence, and let each consider the other as his ruler"; and Christ Matth. 5:16: "Let your light be the light of the world.
shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven." And 2 Cor. 6:8 he says, "We must walk by good rumors and evil rumors here on earth. Answer: All things are to be done, that not works be regarded, but faith alone: good works we ought to do, and to praise in others, but not to justify any man thereby, neither to judge, nor to prefer one to another. For it happens that before God a husbandman does better with his plowing than a nun with her chastity.
The five foolish virgins, Matth. 25, 2, are also virgins, nor are they condemned; Marc. 12, 42: The widow, who threw two mites into the treasury, did more than all the others who threw much into it; the work of the sinner, Luc. 7, 37. ff, is exalted above all the works of the Pharisees. Henceforth, it is not possible for us humans to know or make the judgment and distinction between persons and works, but we should praise and honor them all equally, prefer none to the other, humble ourselves among ourselves and always exalt our neighbor above us, then let God alone judge which is the highest. Although he has already passed the sentence that he who humbles himself shall be exalted, it is not yet clear which are the lowly and the exalted. The reason is that the hearts by which God judges are not yet revealed. It is possible for one to be low who is most secretly high in heart; again, for one to be exalted who is most low in heart.
54 Therefore he says, Let the Lord come, and make manifest this hiddenness of darkness, and the counsel of the heart; and there shall be seen a right distinction, who is more worthy, and higher, and better, and what works are best.
55Therefore it is the most un-Christian thing to judge and dignify according to outward character and works, than to say, A Carthusian's life is better in itself than a farmer's or husband's, and the like; so that the Carthusian, if he would do right, should keep his life inferior and below the husband's life; but if the husband's life is inferior, the Carthusian's life is inferior to the husband's life.
God does not judge according to the essence, but according to the hidden darkness and counsel of the heart. How can the Carthusian know whether his or the farmer's heart is humbler and better?
Here are two examples, which are, in my opinion, the best in the entire Vitis patrum: The first, of St. Anthony, who was told that a leather maker in Alexandria, a poor marital craftsman, and doing nothing in particular, was nevertheless far above St. Anthony because of such lowliness of heart. The other, of Paphnutio, who was like a piper and two wives with all his austere life. Which two examples God, out of special grace, made known at the time when monasticism was at its highest and works were going beautifully, so that He would keep our eyes from judging and judging works, and teach us to keep all works equal and to submit one to the other.
. (57) Sayest thou then, If all works and creatures be so equal, and none to be preferred above another; what then do we do, that we become monks, nuns, and clergymen, thinking to serve God, and to leave the world, and to take the best estate? Answer: Why did Christ and Paul proclaim that false Christians and false prophets would come and deceive many? If this teaching had remained on the plan, that worship is the same in all ranks and works, no monasteries or convents would ever have arisen, or would ever not have increased so much, and come under the delusion that their thing alone is worship. Who wanted to become a priest? Who would want to become a monk, yes, who would want to become a pope and bishop, if he knew that his position and work is no better than the poorest child maid, who weighs children and washes diapers? It would be a great, miserable disturbance to the pope, yes, a disgrace, that he should humble himself under a child's maid and put his works under her works; as now hardly the kings and all the saints of God are worthy that they kiss his feet, because of great worthiness of his state and work. Therefore, the holy people should do something better.
For here St. Paul teaches: to judge for themselves, to set up their position and work for the best, so that they may sell their merits, and earn heaven for the poor laymen, married people, and other positions than for those who do not live in the service of God.
58. Since you see that it is impossible for the present spiritual state to exist unless it eradicates this epistle of Paul and makes a distinction between itself and the other Christians, judging itself to be the best: You understand well enough that the papacy, monasteries and convents are based on vain lies and blasphemy; for they call themselves spiritual, the others all worldly; but before God no one is spiritual except the faithful, who are almost all laymen, and among the clergy almost none. What could be more false, then, if you judge the spiritual state and separate it from the others, in which the right true spiritual state is? It is for God alone to judge who is spiritual and who is best; and they go on and are called spiritual only because they wear shaven heads and long skirts. Is this not nonsense and madness?
(59) And thou sayest, If this be true, it were better that we should run again out of the monastery and convent? Answer: To both of these do one thing: Either keep this epistle, and judge not thyself, and let thy estate be nothing better, than if thou wert not spiritual, and didst also submit thy chastity to a married woman bearing children, and sleeping with her husband all night; if thou dost not do this, leave caps, plates, convents, and all, or know that thou art spiritual, not of a good spirit, but of an evil spirit; thou shalt not overthrow Paul here. It is better that you bear children in the common faith of Christ than that you remain a virgin to the devil. Here Paul stands firm: you shall not judge yourselves.
60) But you rebel: "St. Jerome and many others have praised virginity, and St. Paul says: "It is better to be a virgin than a wife," 1 Cor. 7, 38. Answer: Jerome here, Jerome there; Ambrose there, Augustine here; you hear what God says here through St. Paul.
lum, that no one should judge himself or another for the best: this is more valid than St. Jerome, even if there were as many of him as there are sands of the sea and leaves of the forest. St. Paul says it is better to be chaste than married, but not before God: he would speak against himself in all this place. For it is true that he who lives chastely is freer and can wait for the Gospel more than the married man. And so for the sake of the Gospel, St. Paul vowed chastity, as he himself confesses in 1 Cor. 7, 32: "A virgin and a widow thinks of the things that concern God." So Christ also, Matth. 19, 12, praises those who are cut, not for the sake of being cut, but for the sake of the Kingdom of Heaven, that is, for the sake of the Gospel. But now they go on, and although no one deals less with the gospel than the clergy, yet they want to be of a better state than the others; and they accept chastity for the sake of their own worthiness and elevation, not for their benefit. Just as if I said, "It is better for you to learn a trade than to become a servant. Why? Not that the status is better before God, but that it has less hindrance. St. Paul also praises virginity and chastity, but not in those who desire it by God's grace.
But now no one looks at whether it is a hindrance or a benefit, but everyone plunges in, only looking at how high, worthy and great chastity is, and with such effort, driving, unwillingness, unwillingness and uncleanness, that no lamentation can be enough: nor do they want to be better than other people, and have thereby made the marital state contemptible, so that it is immediately regarded as an impure, shameful life. For this God gives them the reward that their chastity pollutes shirt, bed and skirt with incessant flowing or burning, that of course there is no greater nor more impure chastity than in this disorderly, captive, unwilling and impossible chastity.
[Hidden from darkness, and counsel of hearts.*]
*) [f g]
(62) The reason for all this is given by Paul, who says: "The secret of darkness and the counsel of the heart is not yet enlightened. Therefore, since God judges according to the same and we may not recognize them, we should leave the statuses and works unjudged and undivided, but a virgin should not put her virginity before her wife, the pope should also submit his status to the peasant, and no one should presume that his or another's status is better before God than another's status and nature.
63 And let every man keep himself free, and choose what estate he pleaseth, that all may be equal until the Lord come. But where should this be done, where would the holy fathers and ecclesiastical lords take Estonians? who are not accustomed to work, and have their nourishment from this, that the common man errs, and separates out their estate and judges it to be the best, confident that he will enjoy his, because his own estate is nothing. Hence such endowments and donations to monasteries, chapels, churches, and especially to the idle dear bellies and gluttons. All of this would disappear and fall into disrepair if this teaching of St. Paul were to come into being.
(64) Paul calls the two things that are commonly, though obscurely, called will and reason, "the hidden things of darkness and the counsel of the heart. For man has the two things in his innermost being: that he loves, wills, desires, and has a desire for; the other, that he understands, recognizes, judges, and condemns. I will now call them opinion and thought.
Now man's opinion and request is so deep and deceitful that no one can see, and no saint has sufficiently recognized, that Jeremiah Cap. 17, 9. 10. says: "Man's heart is evil and unsearchable; who can search it? I, the Lord, who search the kidneys and hearts"; and David Ps. 32:2: "Blessed is the man who has no deceit in his spirit. Hence it comes that many are pious and do great works; but there is a desire or opinion in it, that they may seek their own self-interest, that they may never realize, serve God not purely for God's sake, but for the sake of honor, good, heaven or hell's torment. And this false opinion
No one can know this unless God afflicts man with many and severe trials. That is why St. Paul calls this opinion "hidden in darkness" and gives it a proper name, so that it cannot be called evil. It is not only hidden, but also in darkness, that is, in the innermost part, where man himself does not see, but only God.
(66) Behold, this careful dark opinion and reason of our heart makes us submit one to another, and may not lift up or weigh one work or estate against another. For this opinion is the whole weight and judgment of all works, status, being and life, as Solomon says Prov. 16, 2: "God is a taskmaster over spirits." Because a wife can have good hidden in her darkness, and a virgin can have evil, it is quite pernicious and unchristian that I should judge a virgin over a wife for the sake of chastity, which is an outward thing. It is as if I were to weigh eggs in a scale and weigh them by the shells alone, leaving the yolks and whites outside.
(67) Now where such an opinion is wrong or good, there are also thoughts according to it. For what and how a man thinks or seeks, so
When he considers, advises, he also thinks about it. Here Paul means the "counsel of the heart", that is, the thoughts, so that he may follow his opinion and request.
68 Mary meets these two in her hymn Luc. 1, 51: "He has scattered the hopeful in the opinion or mind of their heart. There she calls the opinion, her concealment in darkness, that is, her request; and the heart, her counsel and striving. Item, Moses calls it 1 Mos. 6, 5. thus: "All opinion and thoughts of the human heart are vain and evil at all times." And Christ Matth. 6, 22, 23. diligently warns us against the same false opinion and says: "The eye is a lamp of the body. Wherefore if thine eye be single, thy whole body is light: but if thine eye be not good, the whole body also is dark. But see to it that the light in you is not darkness. For if the light be darkness, how great will the darkness be in itself?" This is all said about the hidden business in darkness, which cannot be advised badly, but by despairing of unseemly works and by strong faith in God's pure grace; for which there is nothing useful, but much and severe suffering with all kinds of misfortune; there man learns to recognize himself to some extent, otherwise it is lost.