written in 6 disputations.*)
The first disputation December 1537; the following January 12, 1538; the third and fourth (without date) 1538; the fifth September 13, 1538; the sixth September 10, 1540.
Translated from Latin.
Some "theses disseminated among brothers" (this was the title) have come into my hands, whose author is not known for sure (iincerto autore). So that I do not seem to approve them by my silence, I have wanted to publish them as such, which must be rejected, in order to give a testimony to all those to whom I could,
that we absolutely abhor such monstrosities, which we want to make clear immediately afterwards by counter-disputations (God willing). 2)
2) In the original, the date "In 1538" is missing, which is found in the editions. Luther had these theses printed and published on December 1, 1537. Cf. Förstemann's "Neues. Urkundenbuch," p. 313, No. 6.
*) The first five of these disputations are found in Latin in the Wittenberg Thesensammlungen of 1538 and 1558; the sixth alone in the 1558 edition, of which there is also an original print. (Cf. Förstemann's Neues Urkundenbuch, p. 344.) Then in the Wittenberg edition (1550), Dom. I, toi. 399k; in the Jena one (1579), Dorn. I, toi 516, and in the Erlanger, or>r>. var. urA, vol. IV, p. 420. German in the Wittenberg edition, vol. XII, p. 228; in the Jenaer (1568), vol. VII, p. 290; in the Altenburger, vol. VII, p. 314, and in the Leipziger, vol. XXI, p. 349. We have retranslated according to the Erlanger edition, comparing the Jenaer and the Wittenberger. The text, however, has been improved by us according to the variants given by Förstemann, Neues Urkundenbuch, p. 313, No. 6, from the original.
1) (Sentences of a certain antinomian [law striker].)
1) Repentance is to be taught not from the Ten Commandments or any law of Moses, but from the ungodly falling away from the Son (of God] 2) through the gospel.
2. for Christ speaks Luke 24:26, 46, 47:
1) This caption is missing in the original.
2) ex violatione ülii is not quite correctly rendered in the old translation as: "from the suffering and death of the Son of God". From the letter of Wendelin Faber, preacher at Seeburg, to O. Caspar Güttel, preacher at Eisleben, dated April 24 and 26, 1540 (Förstemann, Neues Urkundenbuch, p. 332 ff. with the wrong date "April 20". Cf. Kawerau, p. 166), we can see what Agricola meant by these words. Agricola had, to prove his false doctrine, formed a syllogism from these three sentences: 1. repentance, knowledge of sin and fear of God must not be taught from the law, but from the Gospel, through the name of Christ. 2. 2) In the New Testament, it is not a question of whether someone has behaved ungodly in relation to the law (äs violations legm), but only whether he has behaved ungodly against the Son of God (äs violations ülii Osi). From this follows 3. that the law must not be preached in the church of Christ, but only the gospel. - The way to bring this doctrine to the people should be this: 1. God's grace and mercy in Christ should be preached to the people in the sweetest way possible. This is the major (propositio). Then the people are to be asked to examine themselves whether they also fully believe this in poverty, sickness, disgrace, fear of death and other misfortunes. This is the minor, the main thing, which is not followed by the gospel, but by the fact that Christ is a true Moses. "The minor is followed by: conslusio in hunc moäurü": 3. "Whoever now knows himself guilty, let him call upon GOtt" etc. This is finally summarized thus: "This was the syllogism: I. The doctrine of Martm fLuthers is Eisleben's major. II. Martin's confession is Eisleben's rninor. III. the prayer is the sonslusio." Because Agricola was all about his minor, his followers called themselves: Minorss, Minor isch or Minorrsten. From the above it is clear that the words sx violations ülii do not allow any other translation than the one we have given. In Agricola's syllogism above violatio Is^is contrasted with violatio ülii, therefore violntio must be translated in the same way in both cases, and both lssis and ülii must be oenitivu8 osijsstivns. Köstlm, Martin Luther, vol. II, p. 465, correctly states, "from the consciousness of how much we have sinned toward her sthe message of salvation from Christ] true repentance must then arise." Agricola himself in the "Summaries on the Evangelia" explains: "violationsm ülii, who for the sake of the kingdom of heaven does not willingly leave what he should leave, and does not do what he should do, crucifies Christ anew." Förstemann, 1. s., p. 302. The same expression per violationsm ülii is also found in Luther's sermon, which he held soon after Agricola's theses became known on the fifth Sunday after Trinity (July 1) 1537. Walch, St. Louis Edition, vol. XI, 1328, § 42.
So Christ had to die and in this way enter into His glory, that repentance and forgiveness of sin might be preached in His name.
3 Christ also says in John (16:8) that the Spirit punishes the world for sin, not the law.
4) The same 3) teaches the last sermon of Christ: Go, preach the gospel to every creature [Marc. 16, 15].
5 Since St. Paul speaks Phil. 2, 5. 12.: "Let every man be of the same mind as Christ Jesus was, etc. that ye obtain your salvation with fear and trembling", he has clearly ordered that repentance (which he calls fear and trembling) is to be taught from the memory of Christ and not from the law.
From the sermons of Paul and Barnabas it is absolutely clear that the law is not necessary for any part of justification. (Rom. 3, 20. ff. Apost. 13, 38. ff.]
7. any thing without which the Holy Spirit is given, and without which men are justified, need not be taught, neither the beginning, nor the means, nor the end of justification.
But now is the time before, and the Holy Ghost is given continually, and men are justified without the law, through the gospel of Christ only [Rom. 3:28].
(9) Therefore it is not necessary that the law of Moses be taught, neither the beginning, nor the means, nor the end of justification.
10 The major clause is certainly from the experience that Paul and Barnabas cite.
(11) In the same way, the lower part (minore) will be judged, because the Holy Spirit has fallen on the Gentiles in a visible form.
(12) What then do some, without the word, even against Christ's word, against the apostles' example, make the law the first and necessary part of the doctrine of justification?
13) So that the Christian doctrine may be preserved pure, 4) they must be resisted.
3) We have followed the reading of the Wittenberg and Jena editions: iäsm, instead of item in the Erlanger.
4) To this, Luther wrote in the original [to Weimar's] own hand in the margin: "da ist die gisst heraus." With these words Luther wants to say: By the fact that Agricola pretends that he must, in order to keep the Christian doctrine pure, resist those etc., his poison comes to light, namely, that he blames me that my doctrine is false, impure and not suitable to teach, so that Agricola alone would be praised as the master of pure doctrine. Compare the writing No. 32 in this volume.
who teach that the gospel is to be preached only to those whose hearts have been previously frightened and crushed by the law.
(14) For those who speak the words of Christ in this clumsy manner, teaching that the law must be taught first and then the gospel, pervert the words of Christ, for they do not abide in the simple understanding of the words of Christ.
For as we must hold fast the simple understanding of these words, "This is my body," so we must also hold fast the simple mind of these words, "Go preach the gospel, and baptize them. "etc.
16 The law alone punishes sins, and that without the Holy Spirit; therefore it punishes to damnation.
(17) Now there is need of such a doctrine, which with great power not only condemns, but also at the same time saves; but such a doctrine is the gospel, which at the same time teaches repentance and forgiveness of sins.
18. for the gospel of Christ teaches the zom of God from heaven and at the same time also the righteousness that is valid before God, Rom. 1, 17. for it is a sermon of repentance of the promise anaehänat, which the. Reason by nature does not understand, but by divine revelation.
The interpretations (Commentaria) of the newer ones agree very little with each other, because in some places they teach the way of justification purely, in others not purely. 1)
The few who are pure out of many [not pure] are these:
Luther says in the preface to the epistle to the Romans: "God's wrath from heaven is revealed through the gospel against all men because of their ungodly nature and unrighteousness.
2 Likewise, in the preface to the epistle of Jacob: "Will do with lawfulness that which the apostles do with charms of love", therefore this epistle is also rejected as not being of the apostle Jacob.
In the epistle to the Romans, Philip [Melanchthon] constantly urges that the main emphasis in the New Testament be placed on ungodly behavior against the Son of God, not on ungodly behavior against the Law.
Luther, in the Summaries on the Psalter, says about the Psalm [19] "The heavens tell the glory of God": 2) "And with this he raises the
1) Luther's own marginal gloss in the original: "Ja, das verstehestu wol, du Narr."
2) The words "the glory of God" are missing in the original.
old law, which" etc., and in the notes to it he compares the honor of the law with that of the gospel and carefully considers why the heavens tell God's glory. And among other things he says: "Because the teaching of the Law works rather the honor of men and dishonor to God, and in that by the works of the Law either the hopeful are measured, or those who despair of giving glory to God, the heavens tell such glory."
5 And Isa. 40: The law is to be the disciplinarian of the body, but those who seek righteousness through it make the law the disciplinarian of the conscience. But as far as heaven is from earth, so far shall we separate the law from the conscience. Likewise, the law is to be directed to the body and the outward members, that it may govern the outward works; this is the true and proper use of the law; but those who need the law for justification abuse it to their condemnation.
These are impure [in doctrine]:
1. in the Saxon visitation: because Christ commands us to preach repentance and forgiveness of sins in his name, the ten commandments must be taught.
2. likewise, to take upon himself from the cross: Therefore the gospel teaches that the law is given to humble us, that we may seek Christ etc.
(3) In the explanation of the epistle to the Galatians, Luther says, "That the office of the law is to afflict and terrify the conscience, that it may the more easily know Christ. There are many such passages in the same interpretation, which we reject as erroneous, so that the doctrine may be kept pure.
Likewise, others [teach antinomials]: 3)
1. the law is not worthy to be called the word of God.
(2) If thou be a fornicator, a knave, an adulterer, or any other sinner, believing, thou art in the way of salvation.
3. if you are in the midst of sin to the utmost, and if you believe, you are "in the midst of blessedness. 4)
3) That the Latin of the original: Item alii must be understood in this way, shows the immediately following remark of Luther.
4) Regarding the second and third articles, Luther himself noted in the original: "These two he may deny, but I do not know. They are also
The ten commandments belong on the town hall, not on the sermon seat.
5. all who deal with Moses must go to the devil; to gallows with Moses.
(6) We are not to prepare men for the gospel by the preaching of the law; God must do it, His work be it.
7. in the gospel, one should not deal with the ungodly behavior (violatione) against the law, but with the ungodly behavior (violatione) against the Son [of God].
8. hearing the word and living by it is the consequence of the law.
Hearing the word and feeling it in the heart is the very essence (proprium) of the Gospel, of which in our 1) Methodus.
10 Peter 2) has not known Christian freedom;
11. his saying: Certam facientes vocationem vestram per bona opera [that is, do the more diligently to establish your calling and election by good works, is no good (non valet). [2 Pet. 1, 10.]
(12) As soon as you think that Christianity should be like this and like this, that it should be fine, honorable, chaste, holy people, you have already missed the Gospel. [Of it further in my comment about the 3) 6. chapter Lucä.
The first disputation of D. Martin Luther against certain antinomians.
Of repentance.
[Held in December 1537.] 4)
1. repentance is, according to all teachers' testimony, which is true, sorrow (dolor) over sin, combined with the intention to amend one's life.
This suffering is actually, and can be nothing else, than the feeling or sensation of the law in the heart or conscience.
not imposed on Eisleben, but on others, as his students, as the title indicates. All others are M. Grickels, as is proved from other [writings]." (In the original, this remark is in Latin.) Melanchthon reports in the opinion of the Wittenberg theologians to the Elector of April 5, 1540 (Förstemann, Neues Urkundenbuch, p. 326) that "one from the city of Lüneburg wrote such a thing to him in many names."
1) nostra is missing in the Erlanger.
2) In the above mentioned letter of Wendelin Faber to Güttel, Förstemanns Neues Urkundenbuch, p. 333 d, it should read: "Petrus had still learned the Minorem non-", instead of: " Paulus " etc.
3) The bracketed words are in the old translations, but are missing in the Latin editions.
4) Köstlin, Martin Luther, Vol. II, p. 467.
3 For many hear the law, but because they do not feel the effect (sensum) or power of the law in their hearts, they remain without suffering and repentance.
The first part of repentance, namely suffering, is from the law alone; the other part, namely the good intention [to improve one's life], cannot be from the law.
(5) For the man who is terrified in the face of sin cannot put anything good before himself by his own efforts, because he cannot do so [even when] he is satisfied and secure [without challenge]:
(6) But when he is disgraced and overcome by the power of sin, he falls into despair and hatred against God, or goes to hell, as the Scripture says.
(7) Therefore the promise [of Christ] or the gospel must be added to the law, which satisfies and straightens the troubled conscience, so that man may make a resolution for good.
8 The atonement which the law alone works is a half atonement, or a beginning of atonement, or an atonement by synecdoche, for it has no good intention.
9. and if it remains so, Cain's, Saul's, Judah's repentance will come out of it and of all who doubt and despair of God's mercy, that is, of those who perish. [Gen. 4, 13. 1 Sam. 26, 21. Cap. 31, 4. Matth. 27, 4. f.]
10 The school theologians (sophistae) have taken the definition of repentance, that it is sorrow [for sin] and a good resolution [to amend one's life] etc., from the ancient teachers and taught it after them,
11. but have not understood nor been able to teach the pieces of the definition, namely rene, sin, intent.
(12) Of repentance they have invented that it is an action produced by the power of free will, which hates sin as often as it wants or does not want.
13. while this repentance is a suffering or torture which the conscience is forced to suffer, willingly or unwillingly, when it is rightly struck or urged by the law.
(14) They have said that sin is a transgression that is contrary to the ordinances of men, but they have seldom said sin is a transgression.
1630 L. v.". iv, "W-4L7. I- Luther's writings against the antinomians. W. xx, 2036-2039. 1631
The term "moral law" is understood to mean that which is contrary to the moral law.
(15) But of original sin after baptism they had such thoughts that it was not even sin, especially not against the first table.
16) Against this doctrine of chaffing (paleas1 1) comes the law, which (as Jeremiah 23:29 says) is God's hammer that shatters rocks, and resolves all men under sin.
17 A good resolution, they thought, would be a self-chosen thought to avoid sin from now on by human strength,
18. whereas, according to the Gospel, it is a movement in the heart, awakened by the Holy Spirit, to hate sin from now on, out of [God's] love; although sin in the flesh still fights hard against it.
19 And it is no wonder that they understood so little of it, because they did not use the Bible and therefore could not know what either the Law or the Gospel is,
20. but have been so drowned in human commandments and statutes that they have judged holy divine things only in dreams.
(21) Against such useless teachers of despair, the gospel began to teach that repentance need not be despair alone,
22. but that the repentant should also have a hope, and thus hate sin out of love for God, which is a truly good resolution.
(23) There are some who do not consider the reason for speaking this way or the thing being done, that it is contrary to the law of God.
(24) And they teach that it is harmful to remove the law of God from the church altogether, which is blasphemous and usurping God.
25, For all Scripture teaches that repentance is to be begun from the law, as the order of this thing itself and experience prove.
For thus says the Scripture: "Alas! that the wicked should be turned to hell, all (Gentiles) who forget God" (Ps. 9:18.).
1) Ueber pstsa vergleiche Walch, St. Louiser Ausgabe, Bd, XVIII, 754, Anm.
Likewise [v. 21.], "Set over them, O Lord, a teacher, that they may know that they are men."
27. "Make their faces full of shame, that they, O Lord, may have to inquire after thy name" [Ps. 83:17.]; and [Ps. 9:17.], "The wicked is entangled in the work of his hands."
It is a matter of order that death and sin are in [human] nature rather than life and righteousness.
29. for we are not to be given over to sin or death, as righteous or living; but we, who are already sinners by nature and dead through Adam, must be justified and made alive through Christ.
30 Therefore the teaching of Adam must precede (that is, of sin and death), who is an image of the Christ to come [1 Cor. 15:47], of whom [Christ] is to be taught hereafter.
(31) Now sin and death must necessarily be denounced by the law, not by the word of grace and comfort.
This is also testified by experience: for Adam is punished beforehand as a transgressor of the law, and afterwards he is raised up by the promised seed of the woman etc. [Gen. 3, 15.)
33. David also is first killed by the law, since Nathan said to him, "You are the man" etc. After that he is preserved by the gospel, since Nathan says, "You will not die" etc. [2 Sam. 12:7, 13.]
34. Paul is first struck down by the law, and hears, "Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou me?" afterward he is made alive by the gospel, "Arise." etc. [Acts 9:4, 6.]
35 And Christ Himself says, Marc. 1, 15: "Repent, and believe in the gospel: for the kingdom of God is at hand."
36 And again [Luc. 24, 46. f.]: "Chriftus had to suffer etc. and have repentance and forgiveness of sins preached in his name."
So also the Spirit first punishes the world for sin [John 16:8], so that he can teach faith in Christ, that is, forgiveness of sins.
38. Paul in the Epistle to the Romans
This is the way he teaches, first that all men are sinners, then that they alone must be justified through Christ. [Rom. 3, 23. 28.]
(39) St. Lucas also testifies in the Acts of the Apostles that Paul taught both Jews and Gentiles that no one can be justified except through Christ alone. [Acts 13:38.]
The second disputation of D. Martin Luther against the antinomians.
From the law.
[Held on January 12, 1538.] 1)
1. the law is not only unnecessary for justification, but completely useless and utterly impossible.
(2) But those who think that they will be justified by the law, to them the law is a poison and a pestilence to righteousness.
(3) In speaking of justification, it is not possible to speak sufficiently against the inability of the law and against the exceedingly harmful reliance on the law.
4 For the law was not given to make righteous or alive, or to help anything to righteousness [Gal. 3:21].
(5) But to show sin, and to work wrath [Rom. 3:20, 4:15], that is, to make the conscience guilty.
6. death was not laid upon us that we should live by it, nor sin inherent in us that we should be innocent by it.
7 So also the law is not given that we should be justified by it, because it is not able to give either righteousness or life.
8. summa, as high as heaven is above the earth, so far shall the law be separated from justification.
(9) And nothing is to be taught, said, or remembered in the article of justification, but only the word of the grace shown to us in Christ.
(10) But it does not follow that the law is to be abrogated and taken away from the preaching of the church.
1) Kawerau, Agricola, p. 194.
(11) Yes, for this very reason it is all the more necessary to teach it and insist on it, because it is not only not necessary, but also impossible for justification.
(12) So that the arrogant man who relies on his strength may be taught that he cannot be justified by the law.
(13) For sin and death are to be denounced to man primarily for this reason, not because they are necessary for life and innocence,
14. but that man may know his unrighteousness and condemnation, and so be humbled.
When sin remains unrecognized, man is presumptuous of his imagined innocence, as can be seen in the pagans and subsequently in the Pelagians.
16. When death remains unrecognized, one becomes presumptuous and thinks that this life is the [right] life, and that there is no other life in the future.
17 Since only the law teaches both, it is sufficiently evident that the law is very necessary and useful.
(18) Whatever indicates sin, wrath or death, that exercises the ministry of the law, whether in the Old or New Testament.
(19) For the manifestation of sin is nothing else, nor can it be anything else, than the law, or the proper work and effect of the law.
20. law and indication of sin, or revelation of wrath, are such words, one of which can be used for the other (termini convertibiles); like [these words] man, and creature, which can laugh (risibilis2) ), or reasonable creature.
(21) To abolish the law and yet retain the revelation of wrath is as much as if you were to deny that Peter was a man and yet claim that he was a creature that could laugh, or that he was a rational creature.
(22) It is just such wisdom to take away the law and yet teach that sin must be forgiven,
2) The ability to laugh is not inherent in any other creature than man.
While the Scripture of the Holy Spirit says that sin is dead without the law and that where there is no law, there is no transgression [Rom. 4:15].
(24) So that it is impossible for sin to be, or to be known without the law, either by that which is written, or by that which is given (insculpta) (into the heart). 1)
(25) It further follows that since there is no sin (after the law is abolished), there is no Christ to save from sin. For Christ himself says: "The healthy do not need a physician" [Matth. 9, 12].
Since Christ did not come to abolish the law, but to fulfill it (Matth. 5, 17.), He would have come in vain if there was no law to be fulfilled in us.
27. And because God's law requires our obedience to God, these lawbreakers also abrogate obedience to God.
28 From this it is evident that Satan teaches through these his instruments only with words of sin, repentance and Christ;
But in doing so, he takes away Christ, repentance, sin, and all Scripture, as well as the author of Scripture, God Himself.
30. and think of the most damaging security, contempt of God, unpunished willfulness, and eternal impenitence, more than Epicurus himself.
31 Their word testifies to this: the law punishes sin without the Holy Spirit, only to condemnation.
(32) Here it appears that they want to teach about such a sin that does not condemn, but perhaps even without Christ makes one blessed.
For if sin does not condemn, all that remains is that Christ did not redeem us from damnable sin, that is, from the wrath of God.
34 For sin that does not condemn is a better sin than righteousness and life itself.
35 For what is more blessed than to have sin that does not condemn, that is, which is not sin?
1) That this translation is correct can be seen from the last thesis of the third disputation.
Therefore, when the law is done, we are so redeemed from sin and blessed that we do not need Christ as our mediator. etc.
But this is also wrong, that the law without the Holy Spirit punishes sin: Holy Spirit punishes sin, because the law is written with the finger of God (Ex. 31, 18.).
38. and all truth, where it is, is of the Holy Spirit; and to forbid the law is to forbid the truth of God.
39. to abolish the law for the sake of this office, that it punishes sin to condemnation, is a manifest frenzied nonsense.
40 For the power of sin is this, as St. Paul (1 Cor. 15, 56.) says that sin is the sting of death, and the law the power of sin.
41. Therefore let us eat and drink and sing among these teachers: Away with him (pereat) who provides for the other morning!
(42) For since the law, which is the power of sin, is abolished, consequently, since the power of sin is gone, death and hell are also destroyed,
43. not by the blood of the Son of God, who keeps and fulfills the law, but by denying that there is any law of God that must be fulfilled.
44) All their doctrine of sin, repentance, Christ and forgiveness of sin is vain filth and lies worthy of the devil 2). -
45 For as the law was before Christ, it certainly accused us; but under Christ it is satisfied by the forgiveness of sins, and now to be fulfilled henceforth by the Spirit:
46 Therefore, after Christ, it will remain fulfilled in the life to come, because then the creature will have become new (as the law required in the meantime).
47 Therefore the law will never be abolished for eternity, but will remain, either to be fulfilled in the damned, or to have been fulfilled in the blessed.
48 But these, Satan's disciples, have these thoughts, as it seems that the law lasted only for a time, and under Christ it ceased, like circumcision.
2) Instead of Satanae in the editions, read Satana.
The third disputation of D. Martin Luther against the antinomians.
Of repentance.
[January (?) 1538.]
1. the repentance of the Papists, Turks, Jews and all unbelievers and hypocrites is absolutely the same in all things.
2. the same is that they have sorrow for one or some real sins, and are sufficient for them; after that they are safe because of the other sins or original sin.
3 But this repentance of theirs is piecemeal, and temporary, only because of some sins, and that during some [small] part of the life.
(4) Such must be the opinion of those who do not understand that the whole of human nature is horribly damaged and corrupted by original sin.
5) The repentance of believers in Christ is not only directed to actual sins, but is continuous throughout life, even unto death.
(6) For it behooves believers to abhor and hate the pestilence or sin of nature to its end.
7 For Christ says rightly to all His own, "Repent," [Matt. 4:17] for He wants the whole life of His own to be a repentance.
8. for sin in our flesh endures as long as we live, contending against the spirit that resists it [Rom. 7:23].
(9) Therefore all works after justification are nothing else than a constant repentance or a good resolution against sin.
(10) For there is nothing else to be done, but that the sin which was indicated by the law, "not forgiven in Christ, may be purged out.
(11) Just as it was the duty of the children of Israel, after they had conquered the land of Canaan, to drive out the Jebusites who dwelt within its borders [Deut. 7:1];
012 And how it cost no less labor to drive the rest of the Jebusites out of the borders than to fall into the land at first:
(13) Thus it is not much easier to expose the rest of sin by constant repentance than to become its enemy at first.
(14) Hence, the saints and the righteous (when God so ordains them through the Law) are often sorrowful in heart and lament over their sins;
15) Whereas they are in grace because their sins are forgiven (Rom. 5, 1. 8, 1.), and therefore should rejoice in the Lord.
(16) Yes, they admit no real sin, and yet they cry out piteously, asking for God's mercy, as seen in the Psalms.
The Lord's Prayer, prescribed by the Lord Himself to His saints and believers [Matt. 6:9], is a piece of repentance and a teaching that contains much of the Law.
(18) For he who prays the Lord's Prayer rightly confesses with his own mouth that he has sinned against the law, and that he is sorry for it.
19 For whoever asks that God's name be sanctified confesses that God's name is not yet fully sanctified.
20 And whoever asks that God's kingdom come, confesses that he is still partly in the devil's kingdom, which is opposed to God's kingdom.
(21) He who asks that God's will be done confesses that he is largely disobedient to God's will and that he is sorry for it.
22. But zero teaches God's law that the name of God should be sanctified; the one who asks for it confesses that he has not fulfilled this law.
(23) And he that abhorreth that which is left of the kingdom of Satan in him, the same germinateth that he hath not fulfilled the law, especially the law of the first table.
(24) And whoever asks that God's will be done in him confesses that he is not obedient to God's will.
25 Now this prayer must be prayed by the whole Church until the end of the world, and by every saint until death.
26 For the whole church is holy, recognizing that it has sin and must repent without ceasing.
For this reason, the Lord's Prayer itself teaches that the law is before, under, and after the gospel, and that repentance must begin with the law.
28 For he that asketh confesseth beforehand that he hath not what he asketh, and expecteth that it shall be given him.
29 Now it is the law that shows us beforehand what we do not have, and yet must necessarily have.
30 From this it follows that these enemies of the law must also renounce the Lord's Prayer where they renounce the law.
(31) Yes, they must also take away most of the preaching of our Lord Christ Himself from evangelical history.
32 For he himself, Matth. 5, 17. ff., not only states the law of Moses, but also fully interprets it and teaches that it should not be dissolved,
33 And instructing the Pharisee of the noblest and greatest commandment of the law, he confirmed the law, saying, "Do this, and thou shalt live." [Luc. 10:28.]
34 The Lord also punishes, reproves, threatens, terrifies everywhere in the Gospel and exercises the same office of the law,
(35) So that there have never been, nor will there ever be, more insolent men than these who teach that the law must be abolished.
36 Namely, the wretched people are ashamed to teach and do what the Lord Himself has done and taught.
(37) Suppose sin could be recognized by something other than the law, which is impossible:
(38) Should we therefore reject the law if it has the same effect that we could have elsewhere, namely, the knowledge of sin?
39 And although the law could be done away with according to grammar or the dead letter (materialiter) (for this must necessarily be their opinion),
40. But who will eradicate the living law, which is written in the hearts, and the handwriting, which was made by statutes, and is contrary to us, which is the same as the law of Moses? [Col. 2, 14.]
The fourth disputation of D. Martin Luther against the antinomians.
[January (?) 1538.]
Every Christian should beware of the papist doctrine of repentance; but much more of the doctrine of the antinomians, who allow no repentance at all in the church.
1) There has not been a more pernicious doctrine against penance in the Church (except the Sadducian and Epicurean) than that of the Papists.
(2) For it has taken away the whole and true repentance, not allowing the forgiveness of sins to be sure.
For they have taught that man (even he who repents) must be uncertain whether he is in God's grace and whether his sins are forgiven.
4. but have directed the poor man to the merit of his renege, confession, pardon, and finally to purgatory.
(5) And yet they have determined neither the measure nor the end of repentance, confession, atonement, nor even of purgatory.
(6) But why do you want to repent for a long time, if you are not sure whether your sins are kept or forgiven?
(7) In this way, the impenitent and secure are not taught that they must begin to repent.
(8) But those who are frightened and have begun to repent must fall into final impenitence.
(9) Christ is of no use to those who repent in this way, because they must doubt whether Christ died for their sin.
(10) Even the finite impenitence of those who despair is more dangerous than the impenitence of those who are sure.
The impenitence of the secure is a contempt of God; the final impenitence is a blasphemy against the Holy Spirit.
(12) Therefore, one must beware of the papist doctrine of repentance, as of hell and the devil himself.
(13) But much more must one beware of those who allow no repentance at all to remain in the church.
014 For they that say that the law ought not to be taught, intend that there should be no repentance at all and in fact.
15 This proof: "What is not necessary for justification, neither in the beginning, nor the means, nor the end, is not to be taught" etc. is of no use at all.
First of all, if you were to ask what these lofty words: beginning, middle, end, mean? you will find that they themselves do not understand.
(17) As if you were to conclude thus: That a man is dead in sins is not necessary to justification, neither in the beginning, nor in the means, nor in the end; therefore this is not to be taught.
18. to honor parents, to live chastely, to abstain from murder, adultery, theft is not necessary for justification, therefore such things should not be taught.
(19) The fact that man is obliged to serve in the municipal and domestic regimes is not necessary for justification; therefore such a law must be abolished.
20 Such conclusions have been ridiculed and mockingly called by the Sophists in former times: A' baculo ad angulum. 1)
If this is the opinion of the syllogism, that this should not be taught as necessary for justification, then what is new?
(22) It does not follow that the law should be abolished or not taught, although it is of no use for justification.
23. in the subordinate clause (minore) the experience of Paul and Barnabas is falsely attracted, by whose ministry the Gentiles were justified without law. [Acts 13.]
(24) For Paul proves that all men are sinners (which is the office of the law) by the very fact that he teaches that they must be justified by Christ alone. (Apost. 13, 38.]
(25) Now he that is yet to be justified is a sinner without qualification, and not yet justified, and is convicted by the law alone that he is a sinner.
1) This expression: Imeulo aä anAulum is used by an unrhymed conclusion: That fits like a glove. Cf. Walch, old edition, vol. VIII, 1662, § 152.
26. "Without law" is to become dust everywhere with Paul, as Augustine rightly interprets it: without the help of the law; which we have always followed.
(27) For the law does not help it [the law] to be fulfilled, but requires us to fulfill it.
28 And it demands even with such severity that, as Christ himself testifies, he will not let even a useless word go unpunished.
29. and, as the Lord again testifies, "not the smallest letter, nor one tittle, of the law can pass away until all is done." [Matth. 5, 18.]
In short, the debt must be paid to the last penny [Matth. 5, 26], if Christ is not set against this strict admonisher, the law.
The grace and forgiveness of sins do not make people safe from sin, death and the law, as if they were nothing anymore,
(32) But rather make us diligent and careful to overcome them daily through Christ our Savior.
For the law is not with us by any necessity on our part (nulla nostra necessitate), but is with us in fact, even without our will, before we are justified, and in the beginning, means, and end of justification, and after it.
34. for from the beginning of the sin which Adam committed, it wants to be taught, to be known and to reign, until it is fulfilled through Christ as the victor.
But faith in Christ alone justifies [Rom. 3:28], it alone fulfills the law, it alone does good works without the law,
For he alone receives forgiveness of sins and voluntarily does good works through love.
(37) It is true that after justification good works follow voluntarily without law, that is, without the help nor constraint of the law.
38 In sum, the law is not useful nor necessary for justification, nor for any good works, much less for salvation;
39 But vice versa: the justification,
Good works and blessedness are necessary for the fulfillment of the law. 1)
For "Christ came to seek and to save that which was lost" [Luc. 19, 10.), and "to bring all things again", as St. Peter [Apost. 3, 21.) speaks.
(41) Therefore the law is not abolished by Christ, but restored, that Adam may be as he was, and even better.
The fifth disputation of D. M. Luther against the antinomians.
In the month of September [Sept. 13] 2) 1538.
1. "The law rules over man as long as he lives" [Rom. 7, 1.).
(2) But he shall be loosed from the law when he dieth.
Therefore, it is necessary for man to die if he wants to get rid of the law.
4 If the law rules over a man as long as he lives, sin also rules over him as long as he lives.
Therefore, if man wants to be free from sin, he must die.
For "the power of sin is the law, but the sting of death is sin" [1 Cor. 15:56].
These three, law, sin and death, are inseparable.
8 Therefore, as far as death is still in man, so far is sin and the law also in man.
(9) Apart from Christ, we receive the law, that is, the letter, which has not yet been fulfilled, and yet must necessarily be fulfilled by us.
(10) In Christ the law is fulfilled, sin is destroyed, death is destroyed,
(11) That is, if we have been crucified and have died in Christ through faith, these things [those mentioned in Thesis 10] are also truly with us.
1) Marginal gloss of the German Jena edition: Here the Christian reader sees publicly what M. Luther thinks of the Majoristic proposition, as if good works should be necessary for salvation, which testimony the Adiaphorists always boast of.
2) This date is derived from the Tischreden, Cap. 37, § 86, Walch, St. Louis Edition, Vol. XXII, 1062.
(12) But if we live, we are not yet in Christ, but live apart from Christ under the law, sin and death.
(13) Now the matter itself and experience testify that even the righteous are still daily delivered to death,
14 Therefore, if they are under death, they must also still be under the law and sin.
15. they are definitely inexperienced people and deceivers of souls who want to take away the law from the church.
16 For this is not only foolish and ungodly, but also utterly impossible.
17 For if you want to take away the law, you must also take away sin and death at the same time.
For death and sin are present through the law, as Paul says: "The law kills" [2 Cor. 3, 6.) and: "The law is the power of sin" [1 Cor. 15, 56.).
19 But because you see before your eyes that the righteous are dying daily, it is very great foolishness to think that they are without law.
20 For if there were no law, there would be neither sin nor death.
(21) Therefore they should first prove that the righteous are without all sin and death,
(22) Or that they were no longer in the flesh, but had been taken out of the world altogether.
(23) Then it would be rightly taught that even the law should be abolished for them, and should not be taught in any way.
24 Because they cannot prove this, but experience shows them the opposite,
(25) So these teachers are exceedingly insolent, that they would put away the law from the church.
(26) But this is much more impertinent, or rather nonsense, that they pretend that even the ungodly are to be delivered from the law, and that the same is not to be preached to them.
27 For if the saints and the righteous must be reproached for their sin and death, that is, for the law, to whom it was not given;
28. how much more should and must the law
be presented to the wicked and evil, as to whom it is actually and primarily given?
(29) But where they say that their church or audience are all godly and Christians without law:
(30) So it is in the daytime that they are completely frantic, not knowing what to say or what to put.
31 For this is nothing else than to think that all their listeners have been taken away from this life.
(32) But to have such thoughts is as if one were to dream that games were taking place in an empty arena, and he were watching,
For in this world, both the righteous, who live in the flesh, and the wicked, who are always greater in number, are continually mixed together.
34 As therefore the law is given, without doubt, not that it should be rejected, but that it should be taught, that by it men might know sin and death, or the wrath of God:
(35) So it is also given to the godly, provided they have not yet died and are still alive in the flesh.
(36) In Christ, who was raised from death, there is certainly no sin, no death, no law, to which he was subject in life.
37 But the same Christ is not yet fully raised in His believers, even beginning to rise from death in them as the firstfruits.
38. but in the ungodly, who are mixed in with the church, and whose number is greater [than that of the pious], he is still quite dead; indeed, he is nothing at all in them.
39. they are under the law par excellence, and must be frightened by the law, even, where possible, with bodily thunderbolts.
(40) Therefore, as far as Christ is raised in us, so far are we without law, sin and death.
41. But as far as he is not yet raised up in us, so far are we under the law, sin and death.
Therefore, the law (as well as the gospel) must be preached without distinction to both the righteous and the wicked.
(43) To the wicked, so that they, frightened by it, may recognize their sin, the death and inevitable wrath of God, by which they shall be humbled.
44. to the godly, so that they may be reminded to crucify their flesh together with their lusts and desires, so that they do not become secure [Gal. 5:24].
45. because security takes away faith and the fear of God, and makes the last worse than the first was [2 Petr 2:20].
46 It is quite clear that the lawyers think that sin is essential (for- maliter) and as reason understands it (phi-, losophice) or as the jurists judge it (juridice) is taken away by Christ,
47. and that they do not even understand that sin alone is taken away in such a way that God does not impute it [Ps. 32, 2.) and forgives it out of mercy.
(48) For only respectively (relative) saus graces, not essentially (formaliter) or according to its substance (substantialiter), is sin abolished, the law done away with, death destroyed.
49. And all this for Christ's sake, in this life, "until we come to be a perfect man, to the measure of the perfect age of Christ" [Eph. 4:3.).
50 We know it, and they have learned it of us, that Christ is made unto us a mystery (sacramentum) and an example.
This very beautiful written) thought is not ours, much less theirs, but of Augustine,
52) Since he says: Christ with his one agrees with our twofold, and makes a perfect number. 1)
(53) But neither Augustine, from whom this saying originated, nor we, his disciples, invented this conclusion that the law should therefore be abolished.
(54) They have added this inference from their head, that they might also invent something new and be held up before others, from the input of their master, the devil.
1) How this saying of Augustin is to be understood, compare Table Talks, Cap. 7, § 44. Walch, St. Louis Edition, Vol. XXII, 299.
The Holy Scripture shows us four ways of preaching and teaching people to salvation, which are taken from four works of God.
For God scares with threats, comforts with promises, admonishes with tribulations, entices with benefits.
57 But these four pieces do not abolish the law when they are taught, but reinforce the law.
58. "God's goodness leads you to repentance" [Rom. 2:4], that is, that you may realize that the law is the power of sin [1 Cor. 15:56].
(59) The reason why the law frightens and kills is that it directs man to himself or drives him to self-knowledge.
(60) But these enthusiasts go about taking away Christ Himself through the mystery (sacramentum) and example of Christ.
For when the law is taken away, no one knows what Christ is or what he did when he fulfilled the law for us.
For if I want to know the fulfillment of the law, that is, Christ, I must necessarily know what the law and its fulfillment are.
(63) This cannot be taught, unless it is taught that the law is not fulfilled in us, and that therefore we are guilty of sin and death.
64 When this is taught, we learn that we are all debtors to the law and children of wrath,
(65) The ungodly, either in the flesh and spirit, or wholly; but the godly, if they be yet in the flesh, and alive.
(66) Therefore, the doctrine of the law is necessary in the church and must be kept in it, because Christ cannot be kept without it.
67 For what keepest thou of Christ, if the law which he fulfilled be abolished, and thou knowest not what he fulfilled?
68 Finally, the law is so fulfilled in Christ that you cannot teach it in such a way unless you also teach that the law is not fulfilled in us.
69) To abolish the law and let sin and death remain is nothing else than to hide the plague of sin and death from men to their destruction.
When death and sin are abolished (as Christ did [2 Tim. 1, 10. Rom. 8, 3.]), the law can be blessedly abolished, even established (stabiliretur), Rom. 3, [v. 31.].
The Sixth Disputation of D. M. Luther against the Antinomians
[10 Sept.] Anno 1540. 1)
Under the chairmanship of Mr. Martin Luther, Doctor of Theology, Magister Joachim Mörlin from Wittenberg will defend these theses next Friday in order to be admitted to the doctorate.
This conclusion of St. Paul - "where there is no law, there is no transgression" [Rom. 4, 15] - is not only spiritually (theologice), but also worldly (politice) and naturally (naturaliter) good.
2 Similarly, where there is no sin, there is no punishment, nor forgiveness of sin.
3 Likewise also these, where there is neither punishment nor forgiveness, there is neither wrath nor mercy.
4 Likewise, where there is neither wrath nor mercy, there is neither divine nor human government.
(5) Likewise, where there is neither divine nor human government, there is neither God nor man.
(6) Likewise, where there is neither God nor man, there is nothing but perhaps the devil.
7 Therefore the antinomians, the enemies of the law, are certainly either devils themselves or the devil's brothers.
8 And it does not help the antinomians at all that they boast that they teach very much about God, about Christ, about grace, about law etc.
1) This caption in the old Allsgaben is missing in the original print, which offers the caption we have placed immediately below. Mörlin was creirt to Doctor of Theology on September 16, 1540. The disputation therefore probably took place shortly before, on Friday, September 10. (Förstemann's New Book of Documents, p. 344.)
It is not new nor strange that the name of God is uselessly used, even by the devils themselves.
10 The Antinomian confession is like the one where the devils cry out: "You are the son of the living God", Luc. 4, 34. 8, 28.
(11) And the oath of those false prophets, "As the Lord lives," when they took a false oath, as Isaiah and Jeremiah testify.
(12) He who says that the law, which condemns, should not be taught, is in fact denying the law.
13. and when he teaches something of the law, he teaches the cover of Moses, not his clear and true face, 2 Cor. 3, 13. that is, he teaches the law, carnally understood.
The law which does not condemn is a fictitious and painted law, like the chimera 1) or Tragelaphus.
1) About Chimaera compare Walch, St. Louis Edition, vol. XVIII, 21, note - Tragelaphus --Bockhirsch, klinius 8, 50; with the Greeks only m fantastic images known.
Even the worldly or natural law is nothing if it does not frighten and condemn the transgressors, Rom. 13, 1. 5. 1 Petr. 2, 13. ff.
16 Therefore it is rightly spoken: From evil customs come good laws.
17. what the lawbreakers speak of god, of Christ, of faith, law, grace etc. they speak without understanding, as a parrot speaks its xxxxx [good day].
18 Therefore, it is impossible to learn from the antinomians right godliness (theologiam) or right worldly life (politiam).
(19) Therefore, they should be shunned as the most harmful teachers of licentiousness, who give permission for all deeds of shame.
20 For "they serve not Christ, but their belly," [Rom. 16:18] seeking, as senseless men, to please men, that they in turn may obtain honor from them, as from a human day.