to the brethren in Bohemia and Moravia, called Waldenses.*)
Bor June 1523.
To my dear lords and friends, the brothers called Waldenses, in Bohemia and Moravia, grace and peace in Christ.
1. a booklet has gone out from you German and Bohemian to teach the young children Christianity, in which among other things also this is set: that Christ in the Sacrament is not independent, natural, also the same is not to be worshipped, which almost moves us Germans. For you are undoubtedly aware, as I have asked you through your sent ones to me, that you actually make this article clear through a special booklet. For I heard them confess orally how you are to hold in one accord that Christ is truly under the Sacrament with his flesh and blood, as he 1) was born of Mary and hung on the holy cross, as we Germans believe.
Now the same booklet has been sent to me by Mr. Lucä 2) in Latin, but not yet made so loud and clear in this article as I would have liked to see. That is why I have neither translated it nor had it printed, as I promised, worried that I would not hit the dark words right, and thus lack your opinion, since it takes luck to hit it right, even if it is most clear and certain, as I experience daily in my translating.
1) In the editions: "es". The Jena one gives "er" as a conjecture in the margin.
2) Lucas was the senior of the Brethren Church at that time.
So that the matter may nevertheless come to an end, and the annoyance of the German booklet, omitted by yours, be quenched, I will give you and everyone, in the clearest and clearest way I can, this article, as we Germans believe, and as is also to be believed according to the Gospel, in which you may notice whether I am right for your faith, or how far we are from each other; whether perhaps my German language would be clearer to you than your German and Latin is to me.
4 I have also asked your skilful ones whether there were more pieces in which you did not hold the same with us, so that yours did not sit down hostilely against us, nor we against you, but fraternally among each other one part reported the other, whether we would come to the same mind. Although I also called you heretics when I was still papal, now I am of a different mind. But what I like about you and what I lack, I will report hereafter. But what our faith is, you may know from the booklet of Philip Melanchthon, in which all the reasons 3) and main points of our faith are summarized, proven on the basis of Scripture, which you also did in your first apologia. But I fear that you will lack something in our Philippi's Apology, as we lack something in your Apology.
5) First of all, we have often said that the most important and main part of the sacrament is
3) Thus the Wittenbergers. Jenaer: Gründ.
*) From the year 1523 alone, 7 individual editions of this writing are known (cf. Panzer, Annalen, vol. II, p. 149). In the collections it is found: in the Wittenberg (1554), vol. VII, p. 364d; in the Jena (1585), vol. II, p. 200; in the Altenburg, vol. II, p. 299; in the Leipzig, vol. XVIII, p. 415 and in the Erlangen, vol. 28, p. 389. We give the text according to the Jena under comparison with the Wittenberg. The timing is according to Bnrkhardt, Luthers Briefwechsel, p. 67 f. In June, Lucas' rebuttal to this writing by Luther was completed.
1310 "rl. SS, SSO-SSL. IX. Luther's writings Against the Mass. W. XIX, I2SÜ-1SS7. 1311
Be the word of Christ, as he says, "Receive and eat, this is my body, which is given for you."
So also, taking the cup, he said, "Receive, all of you, and drink from it; this is the cup of a new testament in my blood, which is poured out for you for the remission of sins; as often as you do this, do it in remembrance of me."
(6) These are the words that every Christian should know and keep, and not let any other teaching take them away from him, even if it were an angel from heaven. They are words of life and blessedness, that whoever believes them, through such faith all sins are forgiven, and he is a child of life, having overcome hell and death. It is inexpressible how great and powerful these words are, for they are the sum of the whole Gospel.
(7) Therefore these words are far more important than the sacrament itself, and a Christian should be accustomed to pay much more attention to these words than to the sacrament. Although it has been reversed everywhere by the lying teachers, that the people have paid little attention to the words, and have also hidden them harshly, pointing only to the sacrament. Then faith fell, and the sacrament became a mere outward work without faith.
(8) And according to this distinction and dignity of words concerning the sacrament, the honor to be paid to the sacrament is also to be measured. If you give less honor to words than to the sacrament itself, it is a sure sign that you do not understand the sacrament correctly. If you bow down or kneel before the sacrament, and do not do much more before the words of the sacrament, especially in the heart, you pervert the honor. Therefore it would be highly necessary to lead the people from the sarcophagus to the words again, and to get them used to pay much more attention to the words than to the sacrament, so that it would be easy to preach from the sacrament to honor 1). But where this does not happen, then no other preaching will
1) Erlanger according to Walch's old edition: zu Ehren.
but will remain an outward hypocrisy against the Sacrament, with bowing, stooping, kneeling and worshipping, without all spirit and faith.
(9) But to do honor to the word is also twofold: an outward one, that one writes it with beautiful, red, large, golden, silver letters, puts it in beautiful silk cloths and keeps it expensive; item that one proclaims it gloriously and sings it, or keeps it secretly in honor, as one has done unchristianly until now. But God and His Word do not ask for such outward, childish honor. But this is his true honor, if you take it to heart; the heart is his true golden monstrance, so that much more precious honor may be done to him, than if you make a monstrance to the sacrament of pure gold, or of precious stones. For it is true that without the sacrament you can live, be pious, and be saved, but without the word you cannot live, be pious, or be saved, even though you receive the sacrament not only three times a day (as the priests do at Christmas), but also three times every hour.
(10) But I do not mean such a taking to heart, that thou knowest and rememberest it, for that is nothing; but that thou holdest and regardest it as it ought to be held and regarded, namely, that thou holdest it to be a living, eternal, almighty word, which is able to make thee alive, to free thee from all sin and death, and to keep thee forever, bringing with it all that it signifies, namely. Christ with his flesh and blood, and all that he is and has. For it is such a word that is able and does all these things, and therefore it is to be considered as such: this is its own proper glory; otherwise it has no other glory enough. And recently this honor is nothing else than a right faith from the heart, which considers such a word to be true, relies and dares on it forever.
This has been our opinion and still is in this sacrament. But so that we understand and grasp it all the better, let us continue to talk about it and tell how many careless spirits have been offended by it, so that we can see how impossible it is to stay on the right track where the word is not spoken.
is most highly respected and faith in it is exercised.
(12) At first there were some who thought that it was bad bread and wine in the sacrament, as people usually eat bread and drink wine, and they did not think any more of it, because the bread signifies the body and the wine signifies the blood of Christ; as if one took a figure from the Old Testament and said: The bread of heaven, which the Jews ate in the desert, signifies the body of Christ or the gospel, but the bread of heaven is not the gospel nor the body of Christ. So, speaking of baptism: baptism is a bath of the soul, that is, baptism does not bathe the soul, but means the bath of the soul, since it is bathed with the Word of God in faith. Now these have done such honor to the sacrament that they say it is not the body of Christ, but signifies it, like a sign.
13. beware therefore, let reason and wit depart, which in vain is anxious how flesh and blood may be there, and because it comprehendeth it not, will not believe it. Take hold of the word when Christ says, "Receive, this is my body, this is my blood." It is not necessary to be so sacrilegious to God's words that someone without clear Scripture would give another interpretation to a word 1) because his natural interpretation is as these do, who freely, without Scripture, force the little word "is" to mean as much as the little word "means," and make such a nose at this saying of Christ, "this is my body" should apply as much as "this means my body. "etc. But we want to and should remain simple in Christ's words, who will not deceive us, and will not strike back such error with any other sword than that Christ does not say, "This means my body," but "This is my body.
. 14 For if one were to allow such an outrage in one place, that one would say without Scripture that the little word "is" means as much as the little word "means," then one could not prevent it in any other place, and would nullify the whole of Scripture, since there is no original word "means.
1) Wittenberger: a different interpretation.
why such sacrilege would be valid in one place and not in all places. Thus, to say that "Mary is a virgin and the mother of God" is to say that Mary is a virgin and the mother of God. Item, Christ is God and man, that is, Christ means God and man. Item, Rom. 1, 16: "The gospel is God's power" etc., that is, the gospel means God's power. Behold, what an abominable being this would become! Therefore, if such an outrage is not to be suffered in any other place, it is not to be suffered here that Christ's body is signified by the bread, because the words are written brightly, scantily and clearly, "This is my body," unless certain bright sayings are brought forth that the little word "is" is to be signified here.
(15) But if they take the saying 1 Cor. 10:4, where Paul says, "They all drank the same spiritual drink, but they drank of the spiritual rock that came after them, and the rock was Christ," and say, "Here Paul says that Christ was the rock, and yet Moses smote the physical rock from which they drank, Ex. 17:6. 17:6, can it be said here that the rock is Christ? which can mean nothing else than: the rock means Christ (since Christ may not be a natural rock), so we may also say here: the bread means my body, since the text says: "This is my body".
(16) Then it should be answered that such their conclusion has two great errors. The first is that what they saw in St. Paul's saying is not true. For St. Paul does not say that the rock which Moses smote was Christ, but his words are clearly thus: "they have eaten of the same spiritual food as we eat of, and have drunk of the same spiritual drink as we drink of" etc. Now we do not eat the bodily bread of heaven, nor do we drink of the natural rock, as the Jews ate and drank of in the wilderness, but the spiritual bread of heaven and the spiritual rock are the same which we and they have, as he declares himself afterwards, saying, "But they drank of the spiritual rock which came after, which rock was Christ," as if to say, "I say not of the bodily rock, but of the spiritual rock, which was Christ.
was first of all future, and by this I mean Christ; this is the true rock, of whom they have sinned as well as we, for they have also believed in him as well as we.
(17) Then you see that they have falsely drawn St. Paul's words into their error. For it is true that St. Paul says that Christ was the rock; not that he signifies Christ, but that he himself is truly the spiritual rock, which is signified by the physical rock; wherefore St. Paul diligently added the word "spiritual" to the rock, lest any man should understand it of that physical rock. Item, he says, it was a rock that was to come afterward, of which they drank spiritually, but this cannot be understood of the rock in the wilderness. It has not yet helped that St. Paul speaks so clearly and actually of the spiritual rock. This is the rock where the Lord Matth. 16, 18. says: "On this rock I will build my church. Now the Christian community may not be built on a physical rock, but on Christ Himself through the gospel, where it stands against all the gates and power of hell.
18 The other fault in their conclusion is this, that even if they had contended that in this place of St. Paul's or elsewhere the little word "is" meant as much as it meant (which they might not do), still they would have concluded nothing. For it is not enough, if I find a word in one place to have such an interpretation, that I would then put the same interpretation on all other places out of my own will. For example, the fact that Matth. 16, 18. calls Christ a rock is not sufficient for me to make Christ out of it where I find a rock in Scripture. Again, since Moses strikes a rock in the wilderness, it is not suitable for me to make Matthew 16 a physical rock. How then shall one do? This is how one should do it:
(19) Every word shall be left in its natural meaning, and shall not be removed, except faith compel it. As for the word rock, Matth. 16, I should leave it in its natural meaning, that it means a physical rock; but faith does not suffer it and forces me away from such a natural meaning and makes me understand a spiritual rock. For
Faith does not suffer me to build Christianity on a physical rock. Therefore, when I say here that Christ is the rock, the little word "is" cannot mean as much as: Christ means the rock, but it is truly he himself. Again, if I speak of the rock of Moses in the wilderness and say: Christ is the bodily rock in the wilderness: here faith compels me that I must understand the little word "is" by mean. So Christ is signified by the physical rock of Moses, because faith does not suffer Christ, who is a man, to be a natural stone.
020 So also here, if they would say that bread is not Christ's body, but signifies it, let them bring up where it is contrary to faith, that bread is not Christ's body, and wine is not His blood, since we also find two similar natures in nature, that of fiery iron we rightly say: the iron is fire, and the fire is iron; and not: the fire signifies iron, or the iron signifies fire. Just as we also say of Christ: man is God, and God is man; and not: God means man, or man means God. Since faith therefore suffers and is in no place opposed to it, that the bread is Christ's body, the word "is" is to be left in its own, natural meaning, and not to be stepped on, but to hold fast to God's word that the bread is truly Christ's body.
21. The other error is that the two words "my body" and "my blood" are also reversed, and the whole text is given a different meaning: when Christ says, "this is my body," it means many things: That therefore the sacrament is nothing else than fellowship in the body of Christ, or rather an incorporation into his spiritual body, for which incorporation he has instituted such bread and wine, as a sure sign that the spiritual incorporation is taking place and the spiritual body is going through its exercise. This is a weak grasp and is based on the fact that the Scriptures give Christ two kinds of bodies, a natural one, which was bodily incarnated by Mary, and a spiritual one, which was bodily incarnated by Christ.
The other, which is spiritual, is the whole Christian community, which is the head of Christ: as man and woman are one body, and the man is the head of the woman, according to Paul Rom. 12:5 and 1 Cor. 12:12, 27, and many other places.
(22) Let them then draw Christ's word to the fellowship of his body, saying, "This is my body," and let them have the understanding: This is the fellowship of my body, and take before them the saying of Paul, 1 Cor. 10:17: "We are all one bread, and one body: for we are all partakers of one bread." Item, v. 16: "The cup of blessing which we bless, is it not the communion of the blood of Christ? The bread which we break, is it not the communion of the body of Christ?" Here they think St. Paul interpreted the words, that since Christ says, "This is my body," so much is said: This is the fellowship of my body; that is, he who eats the bread does not eat my body, but eats the fellowship of my body, that he may partake of my body (which is not in the sacrament, but is otherwise given for you and is now in heaven) with the others, so that by such eating of this bread he partakes of all that my body has, does, and suffers; not by virtue of the bread or food, but by virtue of such divine promise, just as the water of baptism bathes the soul, not by the power of water, 1) but by the power of God's promise, that whoever is so baptized with water shall be blessed etc.
(23) Such thoughts have a pretty appearance before reason, if one wants to give in to them and interpret the words of Paul and Christ according to their will. But this is not called Christian teaching, if I carry a meaning into the Scriptures and then draw the Scriptures upon it, but again, if I first have the Scriptures clear and then draw my meaning upon them. For who can in good conscience suffer that Christ's word, when he says, "This is my body, which is given for you," should be thus interpreted? This is the fellowship of my body, which is given for you? Since this is said without Scripture, 2) and
1) Erlanger: Hydropower.
2) "will" is missing in the Erlangen edition.
There are many other things and sayings: my body, and my body's fellowship.
Because the words of Christ, "This is my body, which is given for you," are so bright and straightforward in the way and strongly resist such reasoning, such an opinion cannot be followed in any way. For even Paul himself, after he had spoken such words of the fellowship of the body in Cap. 10, v. 16, comes back to the words in Cap. 11, v. 23, and speaks like Christ, saying: "I have given you that which I have received; for the Lord Jesus, when he was betrayed in the night, took bread, and gave thanks, and brake it, and said, Receive, and eat; this is my body which is given for you. This do in remembrance of me." Here the words are dry and clear, that not the spiritual body of Christ is there, but his natural body. For the spiritual body was not given for us, but his natural body was given for his spiritual body, which we are. And it is not fitting for us to make a community of the body out of the word "body" and to act arbitrarily, without Scripture, against such clear words.
(25) But if they lean on St. Paul's saying, "The bread which we break is the fellowship of the body of Christ," they must answer, "That it is not enough to say that such a saying may give them understanding, but they must prove that it enforces and enforces such understanding. One must be certain in these things that concern the conscience, and not stand on it and say: It may thus be understood. May and must are not one; you must prove that it must be understood thus and not otherwise. As long as you do not prove such a must, your saying and understanding are of no avail. For it is easy to give this saying of St. Paul's another understanding, 3) which makes yours uncertain. So then you lie, and must let go of the saying, as of an uncertain mind. For someone might well say that St. Paul's opinion in the place is this:
3) i.e. one can easily make it that this saying gives St. Pauli another mind and so on. It is also possible that "give" stands for "given", which, by the way, does not change anything in the sense.
1318 Eri. ss, 3ss-4oi. IX. Luther's writings Against the Mass. W. xix, isor-iE 1319
26. That there he does not speak of the institution of the sacrament, but only of its use and benefit, on the opinion: Just as those who eat of the sacrifice to idols are comrades of the idols and become partakers of them; and just as the priests in the law who eat of the sacrifice are partakers of the altar, so also we who eat of the bread, which is the body of Christ, are also partakers and enjoy his body, so that here he does not express what the bread and the cup are (which he says afterward in the 11th chapter), but what the eating and drinking of such bread and cup is. Cap.), but what the eating and drinking of such bread and cup is, namely, a communion of his body and blood.
(27) Though they stand firm on this saying, yet they cannot prevent it from being said that St. Paul does not teach here what bread is, but what the breaking and drinking of such bread and wine is, since he thinks that the Corinthians beforehand wanted to know what kind of bread he was talking about, and that he himself afterwards interprets it in the 11th chapter. This is almost indicated by the words in v. 16, "The bread that we break," as if to say, "We also have bread, as you know, of which no other people have the like, and what kind of bread it is you also know; but when we eat it, is it not so that we become partakers of Christ's body? Why then will ye make yourselves partakers of idols? Just as he speaks hard after this, v. 17: "We are all one bread and one body, who are partakers of one bread"; there he also does not say what the bread is, but what it gives.
(28) Now I have given this understanding as the very least, which they may not overthrow, nor receive theirs against it, therefore the saying is not strong for them. For the right certain understanding in this saying of St. Paul is undoubtedly this: "The bread that I break is the fellowship of the body of Christ," that is, when we eat such bread, we all receive and enjoy, one as much as the other, not bad bread, but the body of Christ. And if they dispute such understanding, saying, "The fellowship of the body of Christ," here St. Paul means that we enjoy all the good things that Christ has acquired in his body; just as those who eat the bread of the body of Christ enjoy all the good things that Christ has acquired in his body.
Eating things sacrificed to idols, they have to pay for all the misfortunes that the devils have. This is true, and good sense, but it does not actually serve or help them. For this does not overthrow the fact that Christ's body is there.
29 But that the saying of the sacramental communion is to be understood, is proved by Paul's saying, "the bread which we break is the communion of the body of Christ." For the "breaking" is undoubtedly the sacrament act with giving and taking; therefore he must ever speak of the communion which the breakers of the sacrament have. Now the breakers do not all have spiritual communion in the body of Christ, although they do all have sacramental communion. Therefore, St. Paul's saying must have the meaning: "The breaking of bread is the communion of the body of Christ", hebraico more: fractio panis est participatum corpus Christi, pro, participatio Christi; in the most simple way according to the words, thus: The breaking of bread is the body of Christ distributed, thus that the saying confirms our faith in the very finest way and completely agrees with the words of Christ, that the bread is the body of Christ.
(30) If they want to keep their mind, and not accept our understanding, let them go; we have nevertheless made the saying uncertain to them, is it not otherwise taken away from them, that they do not keep more of it, because they would like to keep their mind and yet cannot. If they think that not enough has been done for them, we are sure that they do much less enough for us with an uncertain understanding of one saying, as we have three evangelists' sayings and one Pauline saying in the clearest way, and this saying of theirs also clearer than they have it. For they must not only say that their 1) understanding is in this saying, but also prove it; to this end they must overthrow our understanding, so that the words cannot suffer it. They will not do this, for the words give us our understanding in the very best way; therefore their understanding is defeated.
31 Therefore it is true that we Christians are the spiritual body of Christ, and all of us are One.
1) In the old editions: "jrer", i.e. the mind which yours have.
Bread, One Drink, One Spirit. All this is done by Christ, who through his one body makes us all one spiritual body, so that we all share in his body in the same way, and so are also equal and one among ourselves. Item, that we enjoy one bread and drink, that also makes us one bread and drink. And as one member serves another in this common body, so also one eats and drinks to another, that is, he enjoys his own in all things, and is one another's meat and drink: so that we are one meat and drink among ourselves, just as Christ is one meat and drink to us. With which words St. Paul has deleted the riches and nature of faith and love. Just as this is the meaning of the natural bread and wine, for out of many grains that are ground, one loaf is made, and each loses its form and becomes another's flour. So, many berries become one wine, and each berry also loses its own form and becomes the juice of another. So Christ became all things to us, and we also among ourselves, being all things to one another, if we are Christians; what one has is another's, what one lacks is another's, as if he lacked it himself; of which I have said much elsewhere.
The third error is that no bread remains in the sacrament, but only the form of the bread; but this error is not of great concern, if only Christ's body and blood, together with the word, are left there. Although the papists have seriously argued about this new article of theirs, and are still arguing, they call everyone heretic who does not agree with them that the monastic dream, affirmed by Thomas Aquinas and confirmed by the popes, is the necessary truth that no bread remains. But because they insist so hard on it out of their own sacrilege without Scripture, we only want to resist and defy them, that truly bread and wine remain there beside the body and blood of Christ, and want to be gladly called heretics by such dream Christians and naked sophists, because the gospel calls the sacrament bread, thus: the bread is the body of Christ. We stand by this; it is certain enough for us, against all sophists' dreams, that there is bread.
be what it calls bread. If it tempts us, let us dare to do so.
The fourth error, and the most harmful and heretical, is that which the end-Christ, the pope and his followers, have brought up, that they have made the sacrament a sacrifice and a good work to deceive all the world, and have built so many monasteries, convents, churches and the whole spiritual state on it. This was the papists' fair, where they sold the work and sacrifice to all the world and wanted to do enough for everyone with it, and arrange everything with masses. The devil did not let it remain with the papists for any good reason, that Christ's body and blood was in the sacrament, but he traded with the fair in Christ, as the Jews traded with him in the night in Caiaphas' house, when he was given into their hands. There would not have been so many and cruel sins if the sacrament had been denied; just as those who did not crucify Christ did not commit such a great sin as the Jews who had him and killed him.
(34) Although I have now often enough and strongly enough rejected such error, I must now again say a little about it. To ward off such an abominable error, thou shalt hold fast to the word, as it is said, "Receive, and eat, this is my body," which word is the whole gospel. And thou seest and graspest that it is not of sacrifice nor of work; but of a gift and offering, which Christ offers and gives to us, and we are to take it, and lay hold of it with faith, and keep it. He tells you to take it and keep it, and you want to give it and sacrifice it? How can you say to God: I give you your word? Neither can you ever say to another: I offer God his word for you. But you must say: Dear Lord, because you say that you give it to me, I accept it with thanksgiving. As little as you can make a sacrifice or work out of the gospel, so little can you make it out of this sacrament; for this sacrament is the gospel.
35 Therefore, no one can do anything for anyone else here; everyone must believe for himself, as I have said in all the Gospels.
must believe for myself; and for no other can I hear, believe, and keep some letter of the gospel, even as I can be baptized for no man. But what good works I can do for another, and for another; yea, I ought and must do them for another, or are not good works; there I can pray, serve, labor, suffer for thee etc. Faith and good works are as far apart as the fruit of the tree. Fruits pass away and come every year, but the tree always remains. Faith also remains forever, but works pass away. So shamefully have they deceived and deceived us that we seek good works and fruit when we should seek faith 1) and trees.
Therefore take care that you stay on the path and are not carried away by the word of any man, be it Augustine or Jerome, Bernard or an angel. The elect will err, says Christ, therefore on no holy elect is to be built mere word without scripture. We have been warned faithfully enough by Christ and are well informed by our own experience how holy men can and have erred. If they complain that we profane and desecrate the sacrament, that we do not let it be a sacrifice, you should answer that for this very reason we do not let it be a sacrifice, so that we do not profane and desecrate it as they do. It is a great shame if one does not give more to the sacrament than to a good work, since no good work can absolve us from sins, nor give grace, nor life, nor salvation; but this sacrament gives life, grace, and blessedness, since it is a fountain of life and blessedness. That is enough about the errors in this sacrament; now let us get down to business and deal with worship.
From the worship of the Sacrament.
37 Jn 4:20 ff. The Samaritan woman asked the Lord where she should worship. Then Jesus answered her and said: "Woman, I
1) Thus the Jenaers correctly, because "good works" and "faith" are opposed to each other. Wittenbergers: gleuben; likewise the Erlangeners.
tell you, the time is coming when neither in this mountain nor in Jerusalem will you worship the Father. You do not know what you worship, but we know what we worship, for salvation comes from the Jews. But the time is coming, and is already now, that righteous worshippers will worship the Father spiritually and righteously, for the Father also seeks such worshippers. God is a spirit, and whoever wants to worship Him must worship Him spiritually and righteously."
(38) From these words we have that there are two kinds of worship: one external and bodily, the other internal and spiritual. Outward worship is when you choose an outward place and gesture for it, as when you fall down in church, or before the altar, or sacrament, bend your knees, bow down, bow your head, look up to heaven, speak with your mouth, and whatever else can be done outwardly, which are signs that you may outwardly confess your God or Lord. Christ rejects all such worship when it is done in the opinion that it should please God and be enough for Himself without inward spiritual worship, as the Jews thought. But where inward worship goes along, it is right and well done, as the patriarchs, prophets, apostles and all the saints have done.
39 For when Christ says here, "Let no man worship at Jerusalem, nor in this mountain," he certainly rejects all outward places, but so as to make all places free, that his mind is to make consciences free in this way: "I will that no outward place be henceforth needful for worshipping, as ye say, to be worshipped at Jerusalem, or in this mountain: but all places shall now be free for worshipping, which was not hitherto. If spiritual worship is there, you may now worship outwardly also, whether at Jerusalem or in this mountain, in the house or in the field, whether in Persia or in Greece; but hitherto you have had to worship only at Jerusalem, or ever against Jerusalem, wherever they were in the world.
(40) Now where outward worship alone is, there is a loud hypocrisy and actually mockery of God, and happens to our Lord the very-
the same honor that the Jews did to him when they knelt before him in his suffering and said: "God greets you, King of the Jews. For since there is no spiritual worship, it is not possible that they should mean it sincerely from the heart. But because they do not mean it from the heart, it is certainly mocking God. And now, unfortunately, all the world is full of this worship in every corner, and now the mockery goes on in full swing, which the Jews began in Christ's suffering, when they called him King of the Jews. For as many churches and worship services as there are everywhere, there is hardly one among a thousand who honors God with spiritual worship, but they all mock Him with outward hypocritical worship. And especially such mockery happens to Christ on Easter and on the day of the holy corpse, in all masses, and in the sacrament house; because there great honor happens to him outwardly, which is nevertheless a pure mockery, because it goes without faith.
Therefore, where there is no faith and spiritual worship, it is better to be far from it, and no mass should be said where there are no true Christians. Before that, the sacramental houses and the procession on the day of the holy corpse should be abolished, because this is neither necessary nor useful, and great hypocrisy and mockery befall the sacrament. Therefore, one should either send faithful priests and monks, or push all monasteries and convents into one heap. For vain outward worship there is the highest work, and they think that if they kneel, bend and stoop a lot outwardly, they have done it well. And the pope has given indulgences for such honor and procession of the sacrament, making the world full of Jews who mockingly worship Christ.
The other worship is righteous and spiritual, which is free in all outward things, so that one does not need to have special prayers or make special offerings, for anyone can worship wherever he is, walks and stands, whether he is in the field, sick in bed, or imprisoned in the dungeon, not only in the church, chapel, before the altar, or on his knees. But I am aware that there are many people who do not worship.
1) Wittenberg: the churches.
know what the word worship means and do not know the difference between praying and worshiping. Therefore, we must see this beforehand, so that we can teach them the right way to worship all the more easily.
Worship is not a work of the mouth, like prayer, petition and supplication. For "to pray" actually means to recite the words of prayer, such as the Psalms and Our Father. But "to ask" is when I present my need and cause in and with such prayer or words, naming and interpreting the same, as the Lord's Prayer has seven of them in it etc. "Supplication" is when I admonish God in prayer and through petition by something that is great before Him; as by His mercy, name, honor, truth, or by Christ etc. After that is intercession for others, and praise and thanksgiving. All this is mouthing.
44 "Worship" is not one, because it is not the work of the mouth, but of the whole body, namely, bowing with the head, stooping with the body, falling on the knees, falling to the ground etc., and doing this as a sign and confession of authority and power, just as one also silently bows to the secular princes and lords, and as the popes, bishops, abbots and the people allow themselves to be honored and honored with bending and kneeling etc. Such outward reverence is actually called worship in Scripture. And out of sheer incomprehension, the little word adorare has been translated into "to worship," which is too strong a word for praying with the mouth. And if it had not become so mean, it would still be good that one would not say worship, but rather reverence, or, as the Hebrew gives it, incline. Therefore, one reads in the Scriptures that worship or obeisance is outwardly shown without distinction to both God and kings, just as bowing and kneeling are outwardly shown to both God and men.
45 From this outward adoration you may now notice what Christ means by a true spiritual adoration, namely, a reverence or inclination of the heart, so that you show yourself from the bottom of your heart and confess yourself as his submissive creature; from which you see that such adoration may be nothing else than faith, or ever of faith.
highest work against God. For no one is able to do such heartfelt bowing, obeisance, confession, or whatever you want to call it, to God in his heart, because he considers God to be his Lord and Father without any wavering, from whom he has and will have all good things, through whom he will be redeemed and kept from all sins and evils without any merit.
46 In sum, where there is not the heartfelt trust and confidence of true living faith, of which I have spoken so often, such worship cannot take place. For God is not heartily known there with believing confidence, therefore it is also impossible that he should be known, honored and worshipped. For even if one calls him God and Father with his mouth and gains honor outwardly, his heart is false and becomes lies and hypocrisy. But where there is heartfelt worship, outward bowing, stooping, kneeling, and offering of homage with the body follow very nicely. Therefore it is not possible in the New Testament to distinguish between the worship of God and the worship of a man; for one bows, stoops and kneels to both in the same way, without looking up to God with the eyes and face. But inwardly in the heart the difference is greater than between heaven and earth, for the heart considers God to be God, but the prince to be a man.
(47) Now that we come back to the sacrament, he who does not believe that Christ's body and blood are there is right not to worship either spiritually or fleshly. But he who believes, as it is sufficiently proved to believe, certainly cannot deny his reverence to the body and blood of Christ without sin, for I must ever confess that Christ is there when his body and blood are there; his words do not lie to me, and he is not separated from his body and blood. And since he lay dead in the grave, he was still worthy of Christ and his glory, since there was no longer any blood in him. Item, we must honor and revere one another, as Paul teaches Romans 12:10, for the sake of Christ, who dwells in us spiritually through faith.
48 It is true that there is a difference between the
is that Christ is seated in heaven, and is in the sacrament and in the hearts of the faithful. For he has indeed ascended into heaven, that there they should and must worship him and confess that he is the Lord, mighty over all things, Phil. 2:9, 10, 11. But in the sacrament and in the hearts of the faithful he is not really there to be worshipped, but there to work with us and help us, just as on earth he came into the flesh, not to be worshipped but to serve us, as he himself says: "I did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give my life for many."
(49) But it does not follow that he should not be worshipped, for many worshipped him on earth, and he accepted it, as the three kings in the manger, the blind man, and many others. But the same state of his was not yet the state of his honor and glory, to whom nothing but worship and reverence was due, and who had to be free to worship and not worship, because there was no commandment given to worship him before his glory; therefore he also allowed himself to be worshipped, or not worshipped. So also here in the sacrament it should be free and in all believing hearts, so that we may be sure that he has given no commandment to worship him in the sacrament or in believing hearts. He 1) is also not there for that. However, one should not deny him such worship and reverence, but should use it freely when the time and opportunity arises, or slacken it.
50 Therefore we say that those who do not worship the sacrament should not be condemned nor called heretics, for it is not commanded, and Christ is not there for it. Just as we read that the apostles did not worship while they sat at table and ate. Again, neither condemn those who worship it, nor call them heretics. For though Christ did not command it, yet he did not forbid it, but often accepted it: free, free it shall be, after thou hast devotion and opportunity. Therefore both of them are guilty, who on this
1) Erlanger: It.
two sides give way and quarrel about it and condemn one another and both lack the middle road. The former want to force not to worship as if Christ were not even there; the latter want to force to worship as if Christ's glorious state were there, as in heaven.
(51) With such bickering they both get off the track, that they fall on the sacrament and let the words go; then a loud work comes out of it and the faith perishes. For while they deal with it, as if they were only to honor Christ almost and rightly, and to do him much service, they do not come to think what he is doing to them, and why he is there, and what they are to receive from him, just as if he were there only for the sake of their worship and service. So it is wrong for us to look for no other work in the sacrament than our own, which we do and show to him, and to pay no attention to the works that the sacrament should do and show to us.
52 Therefore, as I have said above, so I say again, that the two things in the sacrament be diligently observed: the first, the word; the other, the bread and the wine. The words teach you to consider and seek why Christ is there, and will make you forget your works and wait only for his. For sacrament is a transaction of faith, since all God's works are to go in and be done by His word. Therefore, those who perceive the sacrament in the Word forget both worship and reverence, as the apostles did at the supper, and yet were undoubtedly most acceptable and did the proper honor to Him. Just as when one hears the Gospel, the Word of God, which deserves the highest honor, because God is closer to it than Christ in the bread and wine: nor does anyone forget to bow down to it, but sits still, and in listening does not even think what honor he wants to do to the Word.
(53) Bread and wine, or the body and blood of Christ, without the words, shall teach thee to take heed, and to seek thy works, and shall drive thee about the work of God, and why he is there; that thou mayest take heed how thou doest much unto him, and let nothing be done unto thee;
and thus the sacrament becomes a mere work. But if you first exercise faith in the first part, that is, in the words, the worship of the sacrament will be fine; and if it did not follow, it would not be a sin. But where the first thing, faith, is not right, nor is it exercised in the word, no one will teach worship rightly, though he write the world full of books.
54 Let us now relate four things one after another. The first are those who have all their business in the words of the Sacrament, that they feed faith, and take bread and wine with Christ's body and blood as a certain sign of the same word and faith. These are the safest and best, perhaps rarely descending so low as to care for worship and reverence, for they take notice of God's work in themselves, and forget their works against the Sacrament. The others, practiced according to this faith, also come down to their works and spiritually worship Christ in the Sacrament, that is, they bow down inwardly with their hearts and confess Him for their Lord, who works all things in them, and bow down, bend, and kneel outwardly with their bodies to prove their inward worship. The third are those who worship him only inwardly. The fourth are those who worship him only outwardly. These last ones are nothing at all, of which enough has now been said. But nevertheless you see that it is not without a drive to worship this sacrament, where the word and faith are not practiced, that I almost think it would be better not to worship with the apostles than to worship with us. Not that it is wrong 1) to worship, but that there is not so much driving as here, since nature easily falls on its works, and leaves God's work aside, which then the sacrament cannot suffer. But what shall I say much? Christians belong to this sacrament, and to all God's work. Where they are not, they do not do it right, God grant, they worship or not.
(55) Many have also been concerned here about how the soul and the spirit of Christ, according to which
1) Erlanger: Difference.
the Godhead, the Father and the Holy Spirit, is in the Sacrament. It is a miracle that the angels and the world have not penetrated into it at last. These are all thoughts of idle souls and empty hearts, which forget God's words and works in this Sacrament, and go on their thoughts and words. The more simple-minded you would remain on the words, the better it would be for you. Therefore, let their dreams go: concomitanter, per
concomitantiam, and what they say more of it, and you stay on it:
56. first, that you grasp the words, "this is my body, which is given for you" etc. Then eat and drink and nourish your faith. Then take the body and blood as a sign of such words of God, and say: "I am not commanded to inquire nor to know how God is Father, Son, Holy Spirit, or Christ's soul in the Sacrament; it is enough for me that I know how the word I hear and the body I take is true of my Lord and God. Let the pointed and faithless sophists seek after such unfathomable things, and the Godhead bewitched into the Sacrament. The 1) body which thou takest, the word which thou hearest, is he that comprehendeth all the world in his hand, and is in all ends; there let it suffice thee.
This is our opinion of worshiping the Sacrament. Whether it agrees with your opinion, you will know best. We know not to be taught otherwise, 1) for the words of the Gospel are bright and strong: "This is my body etc. This is my blood" etc. So we may not forbid the body of Christ its honor, although we want to be free to worship where it is not useful nor necessary; but the highest, the faith in the words in the sacrament, we keep most.
(58) But I said above that I would show what I like and lack in your apology and faith, so that your thing and ours might be the more fruitful by day, and we might come closer together daily.
59. first, I give you the testimony (though not necessary to you) that you are right about God, namely, that One is God.
1) In the old editions: "den" and "zu lehren lassen".
and three Persons, God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit, in One equal being, majesty, power, work and glory, who created heaven and earth.
60. Another is that neither the Father nor the Holy Spirit, but only the Son, our Lord Jesus Christ, became man, was conceived by the Holy Spirit, was born of the virgin Mary, and suffered for our sins under Pontius Pilate, died, was buried, went to hell, and on the third day rose again for our justification, ascended to heaven, sat at the right hand of God, and from then on judges the living and the dead; So that neither our work, nor merit, nor satisfaction, takes away our sin, and obtains for us grace unto life; but his merit and work alone is done for us.
61. In the third place, that the Holy Spirit may make such merit of Christ abound in us, and drive it, that it be not done and preached in vain; whereby then one holy Christian church, that is, the whole congregation of all men where they are, living or dead, shall be made partakers of such merit, suffering, and resurrection, by the operation of the Holy Spirit; In which church, and in every member of it, is the power or key to forgive sins, to preach the gospel, especially and publicly, if it be required of the others, of the same power; by which ministry of preaching and forgiveness of sins, souls here rise from sins and death, and surely also wait for bodily resurrection and eternal life, through the same Holy Spirit, who hath now begun such things in the soul.
(62) These are the chief things of the Christian faith, which are sufficient unto salvation, and without which no man can be saved. In this I know nothing to reprove you, and your apology is right.
63. fourthly, that you now do not give anything to pope and bishops, as they are with us now, nor to human statutes and tradition, is of course also right, because on Easter day unleavened bread is to be eaten, as Moses says, and Paul 1 Cor. 5, 7. 8. points to the gospel.
64. fifthly, that you do not think anything about purgatory and everything that is founded on it with masses, vigils, shrines, altars, monasteries, and what is of the boil, I do not dislike. For no one is ever guilty of believing that there is a purgatory, because God has said nothing about it. But if God made one for some, since no one but they know about it, it is in his dignity; therefore no purgatory is necessary to believe. For God's judgments are hidden from us, and we are commanded neither to know nor to believe.
In the sixth place, I do not know how to call you heretics, as our sophists do, because you do not call upon or honor the Mother of God, nor any saint, but only adhere to the one Mediator Jesus Christ and let yourselves be satisfied in heaven; although on earth each one is obliged to pray for the other. For there is nothing in Scripture about the intercession, honor and invocation of deceased saints; so no one can deny that up to now we have come so far through such 1) service of the saints that we have actually made vain idols out of the Mother of God and the saints, and have put our trust in them rather than in Christ Himself for our service and work, which we have done for them; so that the faith of Christ has perished.
But what I lack in you, I do not want to give you either, but I kindly ask you to give it to me. For you may well think that if I do not do such things for your service and will, I will certainly stop. And you shall also have the right, indeed you shall be obliged, to again freshly indicate where it seems to you that we are lacking, because we think that God has given us a bright and right light, even though we are weak enough to comply with it and to adorn ourselves with life and works. But if my papists had suffered their error in a friendly way, and had not resisted me again with sacrilege and violence, such a thing would not have come of it, and their power and honor would still have remained. But I think much better of you, as men of understanding, than of such heads; wherefore I also go forth confidently. 2)
1) Wittenberger: such.
2) Wittenberger: wants to drive out.
The first thing that I have missed about the Sacrament of the Body of Christ is indicated above. Although we are not yet able to bring it to fruition in ourselves, that we would so morally and Christianly administer the sacrament in both forms, and establish such a practice of doctrine and love and moral life among us, as we hear from you. It is still green with us, and goes slowly; but pray for us.
68 On the other hand, as I hear from your skillful ones, baptism is also right with you, without this giving me a great stirring, that you baptize the young children on future faith, which they are to learn when they come to reason, not on present; for you think the young children do not believe (as they report me), and yet baptize them. Then I said: It would be better to baptize no child at all everywhere, than to baptize without faith, because there the sacrament and God's holy name is used in vain, which is a great thing to me. For the sacraments should not and cannot be received without faith, or are received to greater harm.
(69) On the other hand, according to the words of Christ, "He that believeth and is baptized," etc., we hold that there must be faith before or at the same time when one baptizes, or it becomes a mere mockery of divine majesty, as being present and offering grace, and no one accepting it. Therefore we observe that the young children are cleansed from unbelief and the devil by the faith and prayer of the church and are endowed with faith, and thus baptized, because such a gift was also given to the children by circumcision of the Jews, otherwise Christ, Matth. 19, 14, would not have said: "Let the little children come to me, such is the kingdom of heaven. But without faith no one has the kingdom of heaven.
70) And where 3) one could overthrow such an opinion of ours, which I consider not to be overthrown, I would rather not teach a child to be baptized, than (as said) that it should be baptized without faith, for God's name is not to be used in vain, even though all the world's salvation would depend on it.
3) Erlanger: so.
In the third place, I am almost pleased that you speak of faith in such a different way, that it is something else: believing in God or believing God, and believing in God; namely, that even the devils believe in God, that he created all things, became man, died, and did everything for us. Item, God believes that what he has said is true. But to believe in God is to follow God with love and good works etc.
Whether you have a right mind of faith here, I cannot feel. Your words still sound as if they give much weight to works. It is certainly true that believing in God is the right, single, living faith that not our strength but God's Spirit creates in us. It is also true that the same faith is active with works of love, and is drawn into God and becomes like Him, but the right kind of faith is not yet indicated by this; works still remain in the eyes.
73. So we hold: If the Holy Spirit makes known to us and gives to us Christ's work and merit, outwardly through the gospel, inwardly through his gift, and makes us believe in the same, then let this same faith be nothing else but a comforting, living reliance on Christ-given merit, so that a man, without all his works, relies on it from the bottom of his heart, that not his own work and merit, but Christ's, will destroy his sin, overcome death and swallow up hell, so that he may not need any works to believe in God or to have a living, right faith, but such living faith in God is he who does good works for his neighbor, just as Christ did for him.
(74) And that this is the way of true faith may well be learned from false disbelief. For we see that those who believe in the mass, that they are sure of the day when they have heard mass, do nothing more about it, but are satisfied that they have heard mass; then they stand up and do what they will afterward. And even if they do something to secure themselves, they give it only to the mass where they are saved. In the same way, all the others who use blessings, sorcery, and false
faith. Therefore, much more must happen here in the right faith, so that nothing we do helps us, but only what we believe, namely, God and His Word; so that works can do nothing for faith and for His power.
(75) But this is not to be done at length now; perhaps we shall still get further by instructing one another with the holy Scriptures. For we do not want to burn one another with fire, as the papists do; when they can no longer answer, nor show the reason for their faith, they defend themselves with fire, like the Chaldeans, and can say nothing more, for: You are a heretic, fire here! But let us hear the Scriptures one against another.
The fourth, that you still have seven sacraments from the papist church, when the Scriptures have no more than two, baptism and the table of the Lord. Although in such things the weak are to be tolerated, yet it is not always to be taught. For you know well that a sacrament must certainly have the two parts, God's word and an appointed outward sign, which we do not find but in the two above-mentioned". Now it is ever too much for us human beings to make the institution of God equal to the institution of God. To this end, you should not, with a good conscience, reject any of the laws of men, especially those of the pope, where you accept some of his institutions as necessary to believe for salvation. For you know that faith must and will rely on nothing but the certain word of God.
Fifthly, that you choose your own ministers or caretakers, who are called priests and ministers among us, to teach the word of God and to perform sacraments, after you see that they are learned, honest and pious, pleases me well. But it is still too close to the Gospel that you consider them to live without marriage. Which seems as if the married state should be too despised to serve God in all kinds of worship, and yet willing chastity is not a common gift, as is preaching and teaching. Although I was glad to hear that no one would prevent her from becoming married, but
1336 Erl. 28, 4IS-4LI. 153 On the Adoration of the Sacred Body of Christ. Christ. W. XIX, IK28-I63V. 1337
he must leave the preaching ministry. This is still a place for the danger of sinning, but it would be more Christian to leave the profession free. For even if we are Christians, we are no better than Abraham and all the patriarchs, who were both Christians and preachers. And if the marriage state did not hinder them, it should much less hinder us.
(78) These are the things which I know to be somewhat wanting in you concerning the true doctrine of the gospel, among which I esteem the greatest, which I have spoken of faith and works. For although I do not know whether you hold right or wrong, I can see that you do not make it clear, so that people may understand how you ascribe life, righteousness and salvation to faith alone and without works. For you are hindered 1) by the saying of St. Paul, that love is greater than faith, and St. Jacob on works etc.
79 But it may well be, as your people say, that your things sound much more bass in your Bohemian language than you can give them in Latin, which is why some pieces are perhaps understood differently by us than you think. I do not want to speak against that. But we can give enough Latin and German, and our thing thus, that you and everyone may hear what we mean, so that, though we may not hear how far or near you are to us, yet you may hear how far or near we are to you, that we may come to the point and become one.
80 If I could obtain it from you, I would ask that you do not despise the languages, but because you could, let your preachers and skilled boys learn Latin, Greek and Hebrew well. I also know for certain that he who is to preach and interpret the Scriptures, and has not help from Latin, Greek, Hebrew, and other languages, must learn them well.
1) Erlanger: also.
He is the only one who should do it in his native language. He will make many a beautiful mistake. For I experience how the languages help beyond measure to the clear understanding of divine scripture. St. Augustine also felt this and thought that in the church there should be those who also know Greek and Hebrew, who should first speak the Word, because the Holy Spirit wrote the Old and New Testaments in these two languages.
I hereby entrust you to God's grace and humbly ask that your love not take this letter of mine in contempt, as if I had wanted to rebuke your error, but because you know that you are considered the worst heretics, I bear witness to how much closer you are to the Gospel than all others known to me. I know well that I will incur hatred. But I am now accustomed to it by the grace of God, and seek nothing herewith; for because I hear that by the grace of God there is such a fine, chaste outward conduct among you, that one does not indulge, eat and drink, curse and swear, flaunt and publicly do evil, as among us, but each one must nourish himself with his work where he can; and not have such idle gluttons and belly-boys as we do, nor let anyone go hungry: I have not been able to abstain from telling you, out of Christian duty, what seems to me to be lacking in your inward walk of faith and doctrine, which I would like to see and hear in the most genuine way. For we, who dwell in the midst of Sodoma and Gomorrah and Babylonia, do not see how we could make such a fine, chaste change by heart, God help us then; yet we have the right, pure doctrine of the Gospel, as a bright star of light in the midst of this perverse and unrighteous generation of darkness, which we would like to share with everyone, and in turn also be improved by everyone, which we also expect from you. The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you, amen.