1. the papists, error of the power of the church.
2. a question from two brothers.
3. one figure of the holy sacrament.
4. whether to receive one form of the holy sacrament.
5. to serve one and both forms of the Lord's Supper at the same time, whether it is right.
6. compassion between spouses.
7. the change of the sacrament.
8. common sacramental rites.
9. sign of an evil conscience.
10. whether a death-witcher who has not yet been reconciled with the church may be admitted to the sacrament, since he has otherwise made his peace with friendship and authority.
(11) Whether a householder, in case of need, may offer the sacrament of the holy supper to his household.
12) Whether those are excused who, under tyrants, take the sacrament under one form, since they cannot have both.
13. elevation and elevation of the sacrament.
14) Where the elevation of the sacrament comes from and why it should be omitted.
15. those who have not gone to the sacrament for a long time.
16. causes of the sacrament of the altar.
17. of the words in the Lord's Supper.
18. whether to pay reverence to the sacrament.
19 Pabst's Behavior with the Sacrament.
20 Of Pabst's Stand.
21. of the sacraments of the old testament.
22. auxiliary of the pope.
23. the sacramentarian argument.
Both worthy and unworthy receive the right sacrament.
(25) Whether an ungodly and unbelieving man may administer and receive the right sacrament.
26 Another answer to the same question.
27 Judgement of D. M. Luther and D. Pomer of one who considered the blessed and unblessed host to be one.
What a sacrament is.
29. Christ's true body 2c. in the sacrament is also in many places.
(30) Against those who do not believe that Christ's body and blood are in the Lord's Supper.
(31) That the act of the Lord's Supper is not to be used in vain or in jest.
32. from the little word: "Drink from it, all of you".
33. an argument against the papists.
34. of the same shape.
35: The Consecration of the Sacrament.
You fall however you want and wherever you want, that's how it fell.
37. the taking of the sacrament for oneself.
38. a question to D. Luthern, and his answer.
39. from faith to the sacrament.
40. Spiritual things also have their time.
41 The Devil's Advantage.
42: Luther's serious talk with Bucer and Lycosthenes about the evening meal.
43 Luther's certainty about the Lord's Supper and how one must protect and defend oneself against the devil.
44. an example of great sanctity of the pope and his jurors.
45. 46. Etliche Fragstücke vom heiligen Sacrament, von einem guten Freund D. Luthern, and his report thereon.
47 Of the Sacrament.
(48) Whether the sacrament should be given to one who lies.
The cries of the Sacramentarians that we Lutherans forget all love toward them.
50 On the abuse of the sacraments.
The priests are ordered to do this.
1. the papists' misconception of the power of the church.
(Cordatus No. 1279 and No. 1119.)
On this the pope, as the strongest foundation of all, has built all his teachings and works, that he is the head over all the churches of the world and over the Scriptures 2c. Therefore he has used and instituted this law, that the cup of the Lord may be ordered according to the judgment of the church; as it is ordered that the sacrament be given only to those who have fasted, although Christ has given it to those who have eaten, 'in that the boys will not distinguish between the essence, which is the cup, and the accidental, such as having fasted and being full. And that [the essence, the cup] has the commandment [of God] this [the accidental but stands in free will. And fasting, which is a middle thing, serves for reverence, but that violates the institution of Christ, and the Germans would have gone to the Sacrament more drunkenly than once the Corinthians [1 Cor. 11, 20. ff.].
Because of the reverence for the Sacrament, I also do not dislike it when someone
teaches that one should not spit on the earth soon after taking it, and although there is not much in it, it is good that the people be kept in reverence for the sacrament by this outward thing.
2. one question. 1)
D. M. Luther was asked this question: Three brothers are at odds with each other about an inheritance: the oldest brother wants to have too much of it, more than may be due to him; the other two do not want to confess it to him, and put it to the council's judgment. Nevertheless, because the matter is before the authorities, they both ask in writing and orally for reconciliation, so that they may be reconciled. Now the question is: Whether these two should be admitted to the sacrament? The doctor answered and said: "Because they have brought nothing to him, and have wanted to reconcile with him, and have not brought anything to him.
1) Cf. cap. 18, § 7.
2) The "not" should probably better be missing. The sense would then be: because they have brought the request of reconciliation to the eldest brother etc..
they may well be admitted, especially since the matter does not rest with them but with the judges.
3. of one shape.
(Cordatus No. 1231.)
Miraculously, it has happened that the Sacrament of Christ is instituted under one form. But I have never read where, by which person, or on which occasion this is so instituted; certainly in the Council of Constance the Canons are first published, but in these they raise nothing with higher praise" than the praiseworthy custom.
4. whether one may receive a shape.
(Cordatus No. 1350.) '
I have been questioned by various people about one figure. I asked them again about the knowledge of the institution of Christ, whether they knew and believed it, because it is not proper for such people to use one figure. But those who fear tyrants, or that they might deny them, it is better for them to abstain from both forms and from one form. Whoever does not want to face the danger, let it stand.
5. to serve one and both forms of the Lord's Supper at the same time, whether it is right.
(The first paragraph Cordatus No. 1351.)
Since the sacrament is a public confession, these are false priests who offer wine from a chalice to those who desire one form, and the blood to those who want to communicate according to the institution of Christ. 1)
Mr. Hans Ungnade, an Austrian gentleman, was once in legation to Duke Johann Friedrich, Elector of Saxony, at Torgau on behalf of King Ferdinandi, and asked the Elector to send for D. M. Luther from Wittenberg, so that he might see him and talk to him. This was now done,
1) Perhaps the following paragraph is formed from this number of the Cordatus. Another relation of it is found in Mathesius in the twelfth sermon, St. Louis edition, p. 226.
and when D. Luther had come, and had sat over the table with the Elector, Duke Philip of Brunswick, and Mr. Hans Ungnade, D. M. Luther had been unenthusiastic, and had not really stood around him. Then Mr. Hans Ungnade started, and said: Doctor, I would like to ask you something, if you would answer me right; then D. Luther had spoken: He should only speak freely; if he knew, he would tell him. Then he said: "In Hungary it is now the custom that the priests serve the Lord's Supper to the laity in one and both forms, and yet approve of both; what do Your Honor think of such priests? To this M. Luther had answered: He considered them perjurers, traitors, and evil-doers; for if they confessed that the Lord's Supper was right in both forms, they would not administer it in one form (which is contrary to the order of the Lord Christ).
This question has snuffed D. M. in the nose, but he has bitten it, and soon started: Mr. Hans Ungnade, I answered E. G. to your question before. I ask E. G. to hold it too well for me, I have to ask E. I have to ask E. G. one thing again. Then Mr. Hans Ungnade answered: Yes, dear Doctor, tell me, I would like to hear it. Then Doctor Martin said, "How is it that you and other advisors at the courts of the great kings and princes know that the teachings of the Gospel are right and the Word of God, and yet you pursue them? M. Luther had quickly fallen into the speech, had said to Duke Philip of Brunswick: "Gracious Lord, how much older are E. F. G. than I? F. G. older than I am? and had thus denied the question, so that the Lord Ungnad had not been allowed to answer it.
6. compassion between spouses.
A burgher's wife in Oschatz, a pious Christian matron, since she had used the sacrament in both forms and had freely confessed the same, she had to vacate the principality and move away, forced to do so by H[archduke] Georgen of Saxony; however, she left her landlord at home in the city, who was also a God-fearing man. After that, D. M.
Luther was asked what the man should do about this. He answered: "Because they are both one flesh, they should also bear the same cross with each other. However, he was advised to send his wife to her friends in our principality for half a year, waiting to see how this tyranny would end, and if the wife were to stay with the friends for this short time in the name of Christ, the length of time with Duke G[eorg] would not last.
7. the change of the sacrament.
(Lauterbach, May 21, 1538, p. 84.)
The papists raise their prestige in the Church above the Word by this argument: the apostles changed baptism, therefore the bishops may change the sacraments. The answer to them is: Granted that the apostles changed something, there is a great difference between an apostle and a bishop. The latter is a person directly ordained by God and called with gifts of the Holy Spirit, but a bishop is a person chosen by men to preach the word and to ordain ministers in a certain place. Granted, then, the apostles had the authority, the. Bishops do not have it. As Elijah killed the false prophets, so any pastor may not do. Therefore Paul clearly distinguishes: He appointed some as apostles, some as teachers, some as shepherds (Eph. 4, 11.). Among the apostles there was no primacy, but equality. But an apostle is a general person above the bishop. But the declaration of Peter's supreme power over the bishops is false, because the declaration extends further than what is declared; because thus it is concluded: The pope is the supreme power to decree ecclesiastics, to convoke the rest 1) and to transfer kingdoms [from one to another]. The definition we do not concede to him, because every good definition must be clear, actual, and clearly stated, that in the definition there is neither more nor less than in what is defined.
1) The opinion of this will be: to convene and assemble conciliums.
8. common sacramental rites.
(Lauterbach, Aug. 5 and Sept. 22, 1538, p. 109 u. p. 135.)
Some Hungarian students requested Holy Communion in both forms in our church, but because they did not understand German, they requested a separate and special celebration of Holy Communion in Latin. Luther refused them, because they knew Christ's institution, and they should stay with the common order of the church.
(Sept. 22) On this day some Hungarian students stopped with requests for the sacrament under both forms, but because they did not understand the German language, they wanted it to be given to them privately in Latin. Luther replied: "That would set a bad example in the church if one wanted to communicate privately. Even if they did not understand the words, but knew that it was the true order and institution of Christ, Christ's testament, and that it was given publicly and together in our church through the Word and in the Word, they should not separate themselves from the church in any way, since it would be much safer for their conscience and less annoying to the church if they took the sacrament in public communion. They did so obediently and gave thanks.
9. sign of an evil conscience.
Duke Georg is said to have said to one in Dresden: He did not want to force him to take the sacrament under one form; but since he did not want to take it the way it had been ordered and used in the church, he should leave the country. Finally it came to this, if the priest kept quiet about it, he should stay; the priest told him that he should be satisfied, and that nothing should happen to him. There spoke D. M. Luther: This is a sign of an evil conscience, which neither before itself nor behind itself may go, is everywhere challenged by itself. As Jeremiah says, Lamentations 1:2, "All her persecutors hold her evil, and affright her, and find no rest." These are real angustiae, fears; yet H[archduke] G[eorg] would not desist from his transgression, nor come to his heart again. 2)
2) So all German editions. Bindseil III, 31 offers: redire noluit ad cor suum, which would like to be translated: "still become sincere again".
(10) Whether a death-row inmate who has not yet been reconciled with the church may be admitted to the sacrament, since he has otherwise been reconciled with friendship and authority.
In 39, on the ninth of February, a citizen 1) went to the sacrament in Wittenberg, who had committed a death three years ago; however, he had otherwise reconciled and gotten along with everyone, except with the church and its servants and fathers. For this reason, M. Luther punished him publicly in the pulpit, 2) and did not want to admit him to the sacrament, he should also get along with the priest beforehand, and was angry with Magister Frösche, who had admitted him. But if someone, unknowing to the chaplains and church servants, conceals his sin and shame, and is thus absolved and admitted, let him take it on his conscience; then the church servants are excused.
11) Whether a householder, in case of need, may offer the sacrament of the Lord's Supper to his household.
M. Luther answered and said: "Not at all; for first of all, there is no vocation nor profession, as Joshua said, 4 Mos. 11, 28: "My Lord Moses forbid them that prophesy" 2c. Deut. 4:6 and Deut. 6:6: "Put therefore all my words into your hearts." Apost. 2, 16. 17. and Joel 3, 1.: "And it shall come to pass in the last days, saith GOD, that I will pour out of my Spirit upon all flesh, and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy" 2c.
From this it follows that those who are not called may not preach; so it is also reasonable that they may not administer the sacrament of the Lord's Supper, for the sake of avoiding trouble. For many would therefore despise the ministers of the church, and leave them unattended, if they could help them themselves.
(12) It was asked, "Were those excused who under the tyrants take the sacrament under one form, since they could not have both?
M. Luther answered and said: "This question is mean and often asked of me.
1) Schubart; cf. Cap. 21, § 5, para. 15.
2) Cf. cap. 21, § 5.
3) But I have answered in the most simple way, namely: Those who are not yet well reported, and still doubt the institution of the sacrament, they may take one form: but those who are certain that both forms are instituted, and take only one form, they do wrong and sin against conscience. For many under Duke George are now thus afflicted and scourged; which tyrant also shall die in his impenitence, because he hath grieved many consciences miserably, would gladly return, and yet cannot.
Anno 1539, the twelfth of May, D. H[ieronymus] S[churf] 4) sent to D. M. Luthern, and asked that he be allowed to choose a person to administer the sacrament to him, since no deacon pleased him, because they were digami, had two wives, and were not smeared. Then spoke D. M. Luther said, "Let him go to Kemberg or Torgau and take it there. So much I have allowed him. I would give it to him myself, if it were the custom; but I cannot grant him any more, so that the ministry of the church and the ministry of preaching will not be endangered and despised; for it sets a bad example and annoys.
On Easter Monday, April 7 of the same year, M. Luther ordered D. Jonas, because he himself could not preach, that he wanted to confute and embarrass the pope's argument, who wanted to defend the One Form with the breaking of bread at Emmaus. And when he was asked what ceremonies should be held in Communion when the Sacrament was administered? He said: "One should indeed keep it as in our Electorate of Saxony 2c.
13. elevation and abolition of the sacrament.
What is it necessary, said D. M. Luther, to argue and quarrel much about the abominable idolatry of elevation? M. Luther, much disputing and quarreling about the abominable idolatry of elevation, that the sacrament should be lifted high and shown to the people? since it has no testimony of the fathers, and is
3) Cf. Walch, old edition, vol. XIX, 2274.
4) Cf. cap. 43, § 115.
without any benefit, except that the errors were confirmed, namely, worship and transubstantiation, as if bread and wine should lose their essence, and only the form, smell, and taste remain 2c. This is what the papists call transubstantiationem, and obscures the proper custom of the sacrament. Since in the diocese of Milan, from the time of St. Ambrose until this day, neither the Canon, nor the Elevation, nor the Dominus vobiscum is used or kept in the Mass.
(Here 6 lines are omitted because contained in Cap. 35, ß 6.)
14) Where the elevation of the sacrament comes from and why it should be omitted.
Doctor M. Luther was asked in 1542 by his table companions: Where does the elevation (that one lifts up the host and the chalice in the papist mass) come from? To this he answered and said, It is taken from the Old Testament: for they keep two words, one called Trumah, the other Tnuphah. 1) Now Trumah was when they took a sacrifice in a basket, or whatever it was in, and lifted it over themselves, as we lift up the host, and showed it to our Lord GOD to see it, after which they took it and burned it, or ate it. Tnuphah was the sacrifice when they did not lift it over themselves; but pointed and showed it to the four ends of the world, just as the papists in the mass made the crosses and other umbrellas to the four places of the world; for hence they took the same manner and ceremonies.
And when D. Luther began to make the same crosses, with a strange movement [gesticulatione] 1) of the fingers, and could not meet the old custom, then he said: Marge, God's Mother, how we were troubled with the mass, and especially with the crosses. Mr. Friedrich Mecum often told me that he had not been able to make them all his life. Ah, we were poor people, and yet it was nothing but idolatry, we were real idolaters. They made some people so anxious with the words of institution, especially those who were pious.
1) XXXXXX and XXXXXX (Förstemann).
They were so serious that they trembled completely when they said the words: Hoc est corpus meum: "This is my body," because they had to be spoken without offense. Whoever stammered or left a word out had committed a great sin. For this he had to read the words without all foreign thoughts, and so that he alone heard it and those around did not. I have also been such a devout monk for fifteen years; God forgive me.
Then one of the table companions said, "Doctor, are there any other reasons why elevation should be discontinued than adoration, that is, the worship of the Lord's Supper? M. Luther answered: "I do not know of any other. Then he said, "Doctor, in places where the gospel has not been preached for so long, may one be patient and not discard the elevation so soon, especially where the people have not yet been confirmed? Then the doctor said: "We do not care about that, let it be taken away or not, we do not ask anything about it, if only the abuse is not there, the worship. Some churches have seen that we have dropped the elevation, so they do it after us; we are well satisfied with that.
15. those who have not gone to the sacrament for a long time.
One spoke to D. M. Luthern: Doctor, what should I do, how should I behave, if I find people in my church who have not gone to the sacrament in twenty years and a long time? Then M. Luther said: Let them go to the devil, and when they die, put them on the shingle. 2)
He was further asked, "Should they be forced to take the sacrament? No, he said, because that is papist: tell them; if they want to do it, good; if not, let them go. But I am surprised that people abstain from the Sacrament and take it so rarely and unwillingly. Perhaps they are afraid of confession to the ears; but they really must not: he who feels his sin rightly, and who takes it seriously and loves the word of God with all his heart.
2) Cf. Cap. 1, § 93, and Cap. 21, § 18.
He will come and be glad that his conscience will be comforted and his weak faith strengthened.
16. of the sacrament of the altar cause.
(Cordatus No. 1718.)
The causa efficiens of the sacrament is the word of God or the institution of Christ, the materia is bread and wine, the form is the body and blood of Christ, the finis is that we receive our faith, so that we do not doubt that Christ has passed away for us and that our sins are forgiven. And from this we obtain this benefit, or rather he himself offers it to us, that he wants to be our Savior, not our judge; our Redeemer, not our accuser; our Deliverer, not our avenger, and that we, who are guilty of death and condemnation, are justified and saved by the blood of Christ.
17. of the words in the Lord's Supper.
It was asked about the word "given for you" in the Lord's supper 2c..: Whether it is to be understood of the present kingdom, when the sacrament is administered, or when it is given and offered up for us on the cross? Then said D. M. Luther said, "It pleases me best that it be understood from the present kingdom and distribution, although it can also be understood from that which took place on the cross. And do not prevent Christ from saying, "This is given for you," when he should have said, "This will be given for you," for Christ is called hodie et heri, today and yesterday. It is I who do it, he says. Therefore it pleases me that the little word datur, given, should be understood to indicate the custom of the work.
18) Whether to pay homage to the sacrament?
One of them asked: "Should we pay homage to the sacrament of the altar? Then said D. M. Luther: "When I take the sacrament at the altar, I bend my knees in reverence, but in bed I take it lying down.
19 The Pope's conduct with the Sacrament.
The pope does not deny the sacrament, but has robbed and stolen one form or part of it from the laity, and has not taught the proper use of the sacrament. The pope does not reject the Bible, but persecutes and kills righteous, pious, faithful teachers and people; just as the Jews persecuted and killed the prophets who interpreted the Scriptures correctly. As far as substance and essence are concerned, the pope lets the sacraments and the Bible remain; only he wants to force us to use them as he wants and prescribes.
We teach the right custom of baptism and the sacrament of the altar: "He who believes and is baptized will be saved" 2c., Marc. 16, 16. But the Pope adds: He who believes and does good works will be saved. The priest does nothing else, but that he converts everything that God has ordered and commanded. I," he says, "will put on a low garment and use it for a crown, and my pants for a bodice. Thus he denies not the work in himself, but the custom; therefore all my disputing, writing and doing is against the abuse of the pope.
20. the pabst's stand.
Against this a Bohemian fought, 1) who wanted to reject the pope. Then said D. M. Luther said: "It is written: "You shall not take the name of the Lord your God in vain. Since one does not misuse God's name, it would be unavoidable to forbid that one uses it uselessly. We can use the name of God well and badly, otherwise no one could find or do wrong. Therefore it follows that he who takes God's name in vain has the right name of God; he who takes a false name in vain does not sin, but he who takes the right name of God in vain complains about it. Because of the abuse the name does not become false, which the Waldensians in Bohemia do not believe, nor can they believe it.
1) Dr. Henning.
So a rebel who sits down against the authorities and makes a noise sins, but he does no harm to the authorities but to himself, for the authorities will and must remain. Thus Judas is a mischievous man, and yet he baptizes, preaches, and heals the sick: when he says to a lame man, "Arise and walk," it is so; for he does this in the name of Jesus Christ, even though he does not believe in Christ; indeed, he thinks nothing of him.
Therefore the ministry is not that of Judah the betrayer, nor of the pope, nor of the bishops, but the ministry of preaching is commanded and entrusted to them by Christ. Thus God pours wine, oil, through a stinking reed or vessel, and yet nothing is taken away from the wine as far as its substance and essence are concerned; although the taste is somewhat changed, so that it tastes and smells like the unclean vessel. Item: A magistrate and commander gives grain or a donation by order of the prince; although he is a mischievous man, I accept the gift he gives me out of the grace and benevolence of the prince: what is he to me who gives it and distributes it? I look to the prince.
If Thomas Aquinas, a preacher-monk, had called God's word Opus operatum, he would have come through. Then Heineck said: 1) Doctor, a sorceress has God's word and needs it, should one believe her, like the pope? To this D. Mart. Luther and said: She is not in the preaching office, nor does she have a command from God, as the pope and the bishops have; but is only a private and individual person. The offices are various and different, but it is God who sits there and condemns and works all in all.
Thomas Aquinas also says that there should be a secret power in the baptismal water. Therefore, the disputation arose that a character, that is, an indelible mark should be imprinted on the baptized person, as one burns a mark on the forehead or face. But Scotus denies this,
1) The same Boehme, Dr. Henning. Henning he is called Cap. 8, § 1 and Cap. 43, Z144; Heneck Cap. 13, § 35; Hennike Cap. 9, § 63: Hennick Cap. 13, § 67; Dominus Heinneck Bindseil II, 23, and Cap. 37, § 3.
He said, "Let it be because of God's covenant; when the priest baptizes, God is present with his covenant. And he was right in saying that he was a very fine man.
21. of the sacraments of the old testament.
The sacraments of the Old Testament and Law did not make righteous by their power and their own effect, but were only mere signs, meanings and indications before the people. But baptism is a water involved and connected with God's Word, in which grace is promised; for the sacraments of the New Testament are not mere signs, as those of the Old Testament were, but also work forgiveness of sin, righteousness and blessedness in those who need them with right faith. As the words read: "Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved" 2c, Marc. 16, 16. "This is my blood, shed for you for the forgiveness of sins", Matth. 26, 28.
Summa, it was only because the Bible was not read in high schools: and those who read it at the same time thought that it had to be understood according to the sense and opinion of the See of Rome, as the Pope interpreted it and wanted it to be understood. It has been nothing but child's play. But I hope that many people have been blessed who have remained simple-mindedly with the bad text and have adhered to it alone; for the text of the Holy Bible alone holds the sting. Ambrose, Augustine and other fathers do not.
22. auxiliary of the pope.
So also the pope says: I have the Bible and the right text, and I also say, as you do. How shall one do to him? God alone must be the judge of which part is right, in which the Scriptures are presented most clearly and plainly, according to the content of the words, what they are actually and plainly called, and what they are put on paper by the Holy Spirit. Not to interpret, understand and twist according to reason and philosophy, but as God Himself has spoken them through the mouth of His prophets and apostles and godly teachers, as we have it, praise God, pure and unadulterated.
23 The Sacramentarian Argument. 1)
The wicked do not receive the body of Christ, because they do not believe. So one would also say, said D. M. Luther, one would say: an ungodly person does not believe the ten commandments of God, therefore the ten commandments are nothing: an ungodly person does not believe the laws, therefore the laws are nothing. They should give half their lives so that this consequence and consequence would be right. For thus no man would be condemned, and all things could be excused and solved and dissolved. And I wanted this argument to be practiced with them, namely: the godless do not believe in God's creation, therefore they have no money; that one should reach into their pockets.
But it is a great foolishness to argue and conclude from the impiety of the ungodly, and from this conclude God's truth: the ungodly cannot receive Christ spiritually, therefore he cannot receive Him bodily. So it would also follow that the Jews could not have crucified Christ bodily, they are godless people, struck with blindness.
Both worthy and unworthy receive the right sacrament.
(Cordatus No. 373.)
Neither God in Himself nor the Holy Spirit is of any use except through the Word, for what does it help the devil that God is his Lord if he does not believe, nor wants to believe, that He wants to be his gracious God? This I have said, moved by the contradiction of the swarms, because they say: Flesh is of no use. When God speaks a word, one should believe it.
(25) Whether an ungodly and unbelieving man will pass and receive the right sacrament?
(This § is in the Great Catechism. Walch; St. Louis edition, vol. X, col. 137, § 846 and col. 130, §232.)
1) In the § Cap. 37, § 74, the heading to this piece is: Bucer's Argument from the Sacrament. Anno 1531. This information is correct, cf. chap. 37, § 3.
26. other answer to the same question.
(The first paragraph Cordatus No. 1208.)
Faith is not deceived, for example, if hidden enthusiasts give only bread and wine to a Christian who desires the Sacrament, his mouth is certainly deceived, but not his faith.
Wherefore the public confession of the word is, God grant, the wicked be as he will, yet nothing escapes the holy sacrament. And this is the reason: A wicked man also swears by the name of the Lord, and yet it is the true name of the Lord; and he would not sin if it were not the true name of God. For the name of God is not the devil's name, though I find it; but by this I sin, that I blaspheme the true name of God. Thus the pope also abuses the divine word; but the essence in itself must be put: and the abuse does not cancel the thing itself, or the essence. But the sacramentarii take away the substance altogether; therefore they have nothing in the Lord's Supper but bad bread and wine.
I use to solvate it thus: The scripture says: The Antichrist sits in the temple of God, and the temple of God is truly a nest and seat of the devil. These may be dangerous times for me, as the Lord Christ himself calls it. And who can put it together that the devil should sit on the throne of God, and yet the throne should remain God's temple? that nevertheless under the papacy God still had his church, but the pope sat and remained in the church, in the temple of God, and had the sacraments, the Bible, the power of the keys, and ruled the church of Christ, and yet he also used the sacraments against the church. Therefore, in sum, one must say: I did not establish the sacraments, but God did; for otherwise there is no solution. It should be: God; that is how it stands.
27. by one who considered the blessed and unblessed host to be one, Urtheil D. Martin
Luther and D. Pomer.
(This concern is Walch, old edition, vol. XXI, 1585, no. 154.)
28 Sacrament.
(Cordatus No. 1720.)
Sacrament is an act of a man with divine promises, or a visible sign with [divine] promises.
29. Christ's true body 2c. in the sacrament is also in many places.
Just as a thousand days are only one day before God, so also one place before God is all places, and all places are only one place. Therefore it is no wonder that in the sacrament Christ's body is in many and various places at the same time and at once.
In the sacrament is possible what is otherwise impossible in nature, as, dimensionum penetratio, that is, one body is in the other body, and yet each retains its size, and no one exceeds the other's size, similarly there is the length and width of the body.
(30) Against those who do not believe that Christ's body and blood are in the Lord's Supper.
Doctor Martin Luther once said: O Lord God, whoever cannot believe that Christ is in bread or in a grain of wheat, will believe much less in creation. This is a high article, that all creatures are created from nothing. And even less will he believe that God became man. Least of all that there are three persons and only one being. That leaves reason well satisfied.
It is easy for me to believe that Christ's body is under the bread; but it is difficult that so many glorious bodies in heaven and earth should come from nothing. This I cannot understand, it is not possible for me. Much less can I understand that the Son of God was born of Mary the Virgin, and that the other two Persons of the Godhead did not take on flesh. Do they want to take offense at the article? If they do not want to learn the ABC, how can they learn the Donat? The article of creation is such a high thing that no man can understand it: so the holy scripture remains hidden to the wise and prudent, says St. Paul, 1 Cor. 1:20, 21.
If they do not believe this, the consequence will soon follow. The word of God, even God Himself, sits at the right hand of the Father. And yet I live here in the word of God. "In Him we live, weave, and are", Apost. 17, 28. Where then will my life remain?
31. that the act of the Lord's Supper should not be used as a joke or a joke.
It was attributed to Doctor Martin Luther from Nuremberg that a priest, a Gauch, should have given communion to a woman in her area, and since he did not have a chalice, he would have taken a spoon and said: Take it and drink, it is the spoon of the New Testament. Doctor Martin Luther laughed a little at this; but he said, "This must be a knave. And if I were the lords of Nuremberg, I would give him the spoon; for it is a blasphemy; I would have him cast into the tower for a year, and say, This spoon belongs in such a spoon's food.
32. from the little word "All drink from it".
(Contained in Cap. 45, § 84.)
33. an argument against the papists.
All those who do not keep the Sacrament as Christ instituted it, have no Sacrament. Now all papists do, therefore they have no sacrament. For they do not receive their Sacrament, but offer it; after that they pass only one form, contrary to Christ's institution and command. The major, the first saying, is true, because the sacrament is God's work and order, not a man's.
34. of the same shape.
The church can therefore be excused in one form: just as if someone desires baptism in true faith and dies beforehand, he is baptized in his faith and death instead of water, whereas otherwise others are always baptized to death. So also: He who desires both forms, and yet cannot have them, is as one who is caught ignorant, and has died with faith.
all both received shape. In this way God was able to preserve His own, even in another way, unknown to us. Because the right knowledge and faith remained with them, that it is Christ's order that the true body and blood be in the sacrament, they received it with faith, and no sin could harm them to condemnation, because they were deceived, and did it unknowingly, not knowingly; so that they are not condemned even if perhaps the devil only gave them bread, because faith in Christ's institution devours it all. But that faith remained with them, this song proves: "With his flesh and with his blood" 2c., also indicates that both forms were in use among the laity. But I will let it be, otherwise they, the papists, should also forbid this little hymn, even though it came from their church and was not made by Luther.
35: The Consecration of the Sacrament.
D. M. Luther was asked in 1541 whether it was in the preacher's power to consecrate the Lord's Supper, and how the bread could become Christ's body? whether such a great thing was in the preacher's power, because preachers were often bad boys? To this he replied, "Just as God ordained in creation that the sun should rise and shine daily, giving light and warmth to the creatures; so also the Lord Christ ordained and commanded that in his church his essential body and blood should be in the Lord's Supper, not only spiritual but also bodily, and yet incomprehensible. For thus says the Lord Christ, "Receive, eat; this is my body; this do in remembrance of me." Therefore in the church of the Lord Christ's body is in the Lord's Supper, when it is received according to Christ's order. And one should not look to the priest who administers it, but only to the word of the Lord Christ, who has promised this to his Christianity. Just as the Holy Spirit is also in the Christian church, that is, with the saints or believers.
In sum, one should admonish the astute disputatores that they should therefore be very careful about their
Rationes and Argument" do not insist, build and trust; for God is wont to make fools of worldly men, as happened to Ahitophel, Absalon's councilor. And the holy scripture says that what is high and excellent in the eyes of the world is an abomination in the eyes of God. So this worldly wisdom of the Sacramentans can also be very deceived and displeasing to our Lord God. For what other proof and reason do these disputators have for themselves, but vain human thoughts and rational causes, spun and taken from reason, which are not comforting to a conscience, and do not strengthen or satisfy a conscience? Yea, let them be concerned about that which is most needful in the Scriptures, namely, faith, judgment, and mercy, as Christ commands, more than with these things and disputations. What do such fellows do more wrong than to leave the doctrine of justification (how to become pious, righteous and blessed before God, and of love), and to quarrel about sacraments, and to be mosquito swallowers and camel devourers?
They should be reminded of this, either by those who doubt the sacraments or by those who stubbornly defend the new doctrine. For it is of no use to dispute sharply with them about the matter, since seldom can one be sufficiently instructed and satisfied by disputing, since one comes together once or twice. It takes a good long time to tear such erroneous opinions and delusions out of the heart: this requires fine friendly conversations and decent modest people.
But I think it best to teach the Catechismum, the Ten Commandments, the faith and the Lord's Prayer in the pulpit. For it is certain that even those who think they are mightily learned in the Gospel and are masters of the craft do not yet understand.
You fall however you want, wherever you want, that's how you fall.
Some err and fall too much on the left side, that they give too much to the sacraments, namely, that they do justice ex opere operato, when the work is done and one uses them.
with the deed, even without faith; as in the papacy. The sacramentarians err and fall too far to the right hand, namely, in that they break off everything from the sacraments, considering them to be mere signs of life. Thus it goes: if one falls out of the ship in the back or in the front, one lies in the water.
37 The Taking of the Sacrament for Itself.
One of them asked M. Luther: "If someone should die and could not have the whole sacrament from the papists, would he like to give him the sacrament himself? No, he said, because there should always be at least two persons: one who gives it, the other who takes it. Just as a woman may baptize a child in distress, but the child does not baptize itself. If one cannot have it, it is enough in faith, according to the saying of Christ, "Thy faith hath saved thee" 2c. But if he can have it, let him not despise it.
St. Ambrose says the like in one place, that he had a catechumen, so he reported in the Christian faith, and the. Catechismum taught and converted. The latter, when he set out, wanted to go to Ambrosio and be baptized by him, so he died on the way, unbaptized. This made Ambrosio think hard that he said: Doleo ventrem meum: my belly is hurting me (misused of the words in the prophet); he wanted to show his heartache and sorrow for the unbaptized boy with such words. Finally, after having argued with him for a long time, he concludes that he was saved even without baptism, through his faith: because he considered baptism to be right and did not despise it, he would also have been baptized in faith if it could have happened to him. I have had many questions, especially from the land of Meissen, where Duke G[eorg] tyrannized. But it is wrong that someone wanted to give him the sacrament himself.
38 Another question, addressed to D. M. Luther Anno 1542.
Whether one may take the sacrament from a minister who publicly holds and teaches that the true body and blood of Christ are not
in the sacrament, but that Christ is there spiritually, as he is in all places with his grace? Some admit it and let it go, because one should not consider the person or the dignity, worthiness or unworthiness, which the sacrament bestows. But M. Luther said straightforwardly no to this; for there ceases not the worthiness of the person, but the thing itself, res ipsa, there is no sacrament. Item, if he does not keep the sacrament right, they must not do against Christ, who shed his blood for them.
(Here 12 lines are omitted because contained in Cap. 19, § 30.)
Faith in the Sacrament.
(Here 2 paragraphs are omitted because contained in Cap. 19, § 30.)
If the opponents, the sacramentarians, can only make sure that the little word est, is, in the Lord's Supper means as much as significat, I will believe them. They have not had the temptations and thoughts about the Sacrament that I have had. That is why I have often said before this racket that Carlstadt started: I do not know of any challenge to the faith on the part of the rotten, except the two, of Anabaptists and Sacramentarians.
40. Spiritual things also have their time.
One said he still doubted the baptism. Thereupon D. M. Luther said in a friendly and humble manner: "You have not been on the level when you first came here, now that you are up. Continue to wait, let our Lord God take his time; let the trees blossom before they bear fruit. Who have I been? I have worshipped the saints who have never been born. It is not yet time, or I would say it; but wait, and it shall be seen what the outward oral word is and can be.
Christ is true in our hearts; it will not enter into men's hearts that God is able to do more than heaven and earth and all things. This is what I am saying, so that when you hear that God has said this, you may say, "How could God do more? If he was able to make the world, he can also make
create more. Why then should I not believe His word: "This is my body"?
Here they say: Yes, now I do not believe it, because heaven and earth are created so that they must have space. Here I answer: Our Lord God has made one world for men, and the other world for spirits. How, if he had made the third also? For it is possible for him. Why then do they argue against this, and say that Christ is only after the Godhead everywhere? So the Zwingel wrote about this. When I think of God, I think as if God and humanity were present everywhere; for Christ, God and man, is one person; if I want to find God, I look for him in the humanity of Christ. Therefore, when we think of the Godhead, we must put time and place out of sight, for our Lord God and Creator must be something higher than place, time and creature.
41 The Devil's Advantage.
In 1533, on the 22nd day of February, Luther said: "The devil has no better way of overcoming us and defeating us than by leading us from the Word to the Spirit. That is why I consider it a miracle and a miraculous sign for the sacramentarians, that they do not "look at the word or consider it," but only at the things that are set and done in the word, as bread and wine. But one should stick strictly to the word, and not concede the spirit to the people. The sacramentarians see only bread and wine, the Anabaptists the water, but they do not see the word.
(Here 12 lines are omitted because contained in Cap. 37, § 3.)
42. serious speech of D. M. Luther with Bucer and Lycosthenes 1) from the night meal, Thursday
after Reminiscere 1537 at Gotha. 2)
Ego sum homo candidus, nihil minus possum quam simulare et dissimulare, sed quic-
1) German "Wolfhardt. Cf. De Wette IV, 344.
2) On this §, compare Mathesius, St. Louis edition, pp. 196 and 197, and Walch, old edition, vol. XVII, 2593 and 2486. An excerpt of this letter in Seckendorf Nir. Ill, § 22, p. 62.
quid dico in hac summa Eucharistiae causa, ex corde dico; that is: I am a sincere man; as I mean it in my heart, so I also speak it with my mouth, can do nothing less than simulate and dissimulate, hide and pretend; but as I hold it in this highly important matter of the holy supper, so I also speak it from the heart, it is no joke to me. And I beg you, dearest Bucer and Lycosthenes, to believe it to be so, and not to doubt me, even to indicate to your people outside, and especially to those who have written to me, that they believe that I am dealing with them in this matter without falsehood.
For my own part, I can be patient with you, and I believe that because the matter has been so deeply seduced by you, you will not be able to tear it out so suddenly, and you will not be able to make up for what has been spoiled so soon. So I have seen large groups here in the country, as you have seen here in Schmalkalden, and without that, I cannot lead them all in my fist and force them to provide the best for you all the way. For if such books go out, and you write and teach of the matter as is written and taught, there can be no patience among our people. Again, your people will of course not soon be satisfied if you quickly speak and teach differently than you did before. And we cannot by any means suffer or tolerate that you should say that you have not erred; neither will it do to pretend that we have not understood each other on both sides. For we have understood you very well, but if you do not want to understand us, we must tell you and let you pretend.
The best thing to do now would be that you either silently swear about the matter and teach right from now on, or freely and openly confess: Dear friends, God has let us fall, we have erred, let us now take care and teach rightly. For there are on our side, who cannot stand your mantling, as Amsdorf, Osiander, and others more. So do not do it enough without the conscience of the people. If you cannot do it quickly and at once, then do it in a quarter, half or whole year; for it must be done in a short time.
We must give an account to God and be judged on how we have conducted the high ministry (the preaching ministry).
I have written to the mayor of Basel 1) in the friendliest, most amicable and sweetest way, and have not at all offended him: he will show you my writing, and you can refer to it. We have to deal with such things properly, and must not forgive anything to our Lord God, because he does not confess it to us; and if the people thought that we had given them the right sacrament, then we had deceived them.
Blaurerus taught, as I am reported, that bread and wine are objecta sensuum (that is, that which the senses perceive); but the body and blood of Christ are objecta fidei (that which faith grasps); so make them first duo objecta. Well, what is that?
Carlstadt is also no good outside, neither a dialecticus nor rhetoricus, and can teach nothing if he already knew something. He has given me a doctorate, and I am not angry with him; but I cannot fall for his foolish presumption: you will not be able to do anything good with him. If you want to use him, let him read and argue at the University of Basel; there it will not harm the common man, and he will find those who will answer him.
It is not necessary to teach the common man with high, heavy and hidden words, because he cannot grasp it. Poor little children, maids, old women and men come to church, for whom high doctrine is of no use, nor do they grasp anything of it. And even if they say, "Well, he said a wonderful thing. When you ask them, "What was it then? I don't know, they say. One must say to the poor people: Scapha, Scapha, Ficus, Ficus, they still hardly grasp it. Oh, how our Lord Christ was diligent to speak plainly, using parables of agriculture, harvest, vines and sheep, all so that people could understand, grasp and remember. You have large, excellent, populous churches outside, and many people,
1) Jakob Meyer. Cf. Walch, old edition, vol. XXI,
in which you must take great care to carry out the high divine ministry of Verbi and Sacramentorum (the ministry of the Word and Sacraments), and must give God great response in return: ever strive to teach them singly, faithfully, and clearly.
If I die, please refer to the letter that I have written to the mayor of Basel, whom I have always loved and consider a pious and faithful man. But if I live, and our Lord God, to whom I have surrendered myself, strengthens me, then I will gladly serve the people who wrote to me so kindly, in the most faithful and kindest way again with my writing. So, praise God, the arts are now pure again and are taught purely in the schools, and the youth is being properly instituted, so that there is hope that God will nevertheless, where peace remains, give grace so that one can have people: you can also help and support them outside. In addition, Magdeburg is finely decorated and is the crown of all schools, where six hundred boys are best instituted. Georg Major, schoolmaster there, has done well with his institution.
43 Luther's certainty about the Lord's Supper and how to protect and defend oneself against the devil.
I truly know that the words of the institution of the Lord's Supper are true, therefore I will defend them against everyone: for I have never heard an argument that men have thought up and invented against the Lord's Supper, which would have moved me very much. My night wars have become much more sour to me, because the day wars, quia the2 ) adversarii have seldom made me displeased, but the devil can bring me arguments that put me in harness: he has often brought me such arguments that I did not know whether there was a God or not. Therefore, I will tell you, so that you will not believe the devil and his arguments. If the devil finds me without God's word, that I think of the Turk, the pope and the prince, he soon has fiery arrows, which he shoots into my head.
2) Aurifaber has äisl, which Förstemann changed to 6is8. The contrast against night wars, however, requires älv.
I have won, but if I take hold of the Scriptures against him, I have won.
Again, if he leads me out of the way, tunc me sic tentat, that I may not reproach it. The outward temptations only make me proud and hopeful, as you see in my books, how I despise the adversaries, I take them straight for fools. But when the devil comes, he is Dominus Mundi, a lord of the world, and he gives me then a good posuisti; for the Lord Christ has set us contra potestates Aeris, non contra Carnem et Sanguinem. Otherwise I want to defy all lawyers; but when the companions come, who are called spirituales nequitiae, then Ecclesia must fence with them. A Christian asks nothing about the misfortune hujus Mundi, because he knows that Christ will help there. But the devil does not want to have that life, which is eternal, so we have to lose the temporal life; that is a bad loss.
1) Pugnemus igitur contra Satanam; sicut dixit Cardinalis quidam. It would not be good for us to know pugnam Angelorum pro nobis, for we would have to despair; for the devil's thoughts are no different than that he intends to destroy us completely, for he is hostile to the Lord Christ and his members. Therefore it is best, ut conjungamus nostra vota et manus, et oremus Christum, that he keep us from the devil. For my own part, I do not fear any devotee, for I know of none who could raise such arguments against me as would deceive me. 2) Quia ipsorum Argumenta per otium audivi a Diabolo, et graviora quidem, sed per verbum Dei vici. Luther then said that he did not believe that Cochleus, as long as he spoke a word, could suffer his devil, who often plagued him with all kinds of arguments, because he and his crowd knew nothing of these spiritual temptations.
44. examples of great sanctity of the pope and his jurors.
(Contained in Cap. 27, § 105.)
1) Cf. cap. 23, ?4.
2) Cf. cap. 37, § 141, last paragraph.
45: Some Questions about the Holy Sacrament, presented by a good friend of D. M. Luther, and the doctor's report from it.
The first: Whether one may take the reverend sacrament of the body and blood of our Lord Christ in Bohemia from the Hussites or Picards 3) with a clear conscience? because the Hussites, according to Christ's command, do not speak the words about the bread and wine: "This is my body, this is my blood" 2c. publicly, as here in Wittenberg, but secretly, but do so in church before the people. The Picures, however, whether they do it according to Christ's command, I do not know, but they do not do it publicly in church, like the Hussites, but secretly in the houses where they come together. Therefore, since the sacraments should and must be performed and used publicly, according to Christ's command, please report to me favorably, from which (Hussites or Picards) would it be safer to receive such?
Answer by D. Martin Luther.
Because one does not know what these or those do, it is better to abstain from the sacrament: especially because the Hussites hold to the pope and no longer follow the priest, their communion in the sacrament is to be avoided, lest one become partaker of their nature as the pope. And because they celebrate private masses and speak the words secretly, no one can be sure that they are spoken; for all men are liars, and it is also contrary to the institution of Christ to celebrate private masses and speak the words secretly. Since this is done knowingly, we should not approve what we have done before, since we did not know if it was sinful; it belongs to the forgiveness of sins.
4, 6. The other question.
Whether the Bohemians also do right in handing the reverend Sacrament to the little children; for they say that the promise
3) Förstemann: Begharden, but the reading "Picarden" will probably be more correct. Cf. Guericke, Kirchengeschichte, 7th Aüfl, vol. 2, 442, note 1, and on "Begharden" idiä. S. 241.
and grace of God belong to all men: therefore, if the children are to be blessed, they must receive the reverend Sacrament as well as the aged?
Answer by D. Martin Luther.
It is wrong that they consider it necessary for salvation to give the sacrament to children, even if it is not a sin; for St. Cyprian also did this; since the saying John 6:53, which they add: "He who does not eat" 2c., does not belong to the sacrament, but to faith. Therefore, it is unnecessary to give to the little children, but they are not condemned because of it.
47. of the sacrament.
If one did not truly know and be certain that the sacrament is a great and mighty thing in the Christian church, one could or should recognize it by the fact that the devil challenges the sacrament so much and has challenged it through the sacrament abusers, the fanatics, the Münsterians and many other cults and sects. For the devil challenges the great pieces of Christian doctrine the most, and follows the common saying: Where our Lord God builds a church, the devil builds a chapel next to it.
(48) Whether the sacrament should be given to one who lies.
When the time is right, and I admonish a rich man in confession to give something to the poor for God's sake, and he says he does not have it, shall I also give the sacrament to such a liar? one asked. Then said D. M. Luther said, "If he denies it, what more can be done? If he persists in his denial, do as Christ did, who also gave the sacrament to Judah the traitor.
One of them said about the example of Ananiä, Apost. 5, whom St. Peter, because he lied, killed with one word. Answered D. M. Luther: That was something special; and I believe that Peter did it not out of his spirit for himself, but out of revelation. For God wanted to confirm the first church with miracles and miraculous signs.
The cries of the Sacramentarians that we Lutherans forget all love toward them.
Doct. Luther said Anno 1542 about tables: The Sacramentirer have well plagued us with the Charitate in their books and writings, and spoken: You of Wittenberg have no Charitatem. When one asks them, what is charitas, they say, ut consentiamus in Doctrina, et omittamus rixas illas de Religione. Then one must answer them and say: Yes, listen, there are two tables in the Ten Commandments, Prima et Secunda; now Charitas belongs in secundam Tabulam, there it goes over all works: but in prima Tabula it says: Time Deum, audi Verbum ejus; there they ask nothing. Now Christ says: Qui Matrem et Patrem plus diligit quam me, non est me dignus. You shall have Charitatem erga Parentes, erga Liberos, Conjugem et Vicinum. In the other tablet it says: Ama, ama, sis pius in Patrem, Matrem et proximum; but in the first it says: Si quis diligit plus Patrem et Matrem quam me. Where the ME comes, Charitas ceases, and there I will gladly be called pertinax, superbus, capitosus and sine Charitate, and whatever else they want to call us; only that I am not particeps to their false teaching, because my dear God protects me from that.
50. abuse of the sacraments.
(Contained in Cap. 37, § 75.)
The priests are ordered to do this.
The ministers of the church are not ordained to make or bring the sacrament, but to administer and give it in the church. Just as they are not to bring or administer baptism or the word, but to administer or preach it.
The water and word together is baptism. From where? Does the servant do it? No, but that it is Christ's order. So, under the bread and wine is the body of Christ, for Christ has so ordered it.
3) They, the papist priests, like fools, presume to have power and authority to consecrate and to make the Sacrament, which neither the angels in heaven, nor Mary, nor the whole Church of the Holy Spirit have.
Lay people never have had, as they boast at the first fairs.
4. dear, where God's word is, which is the greatest, there is also God's kingdom, therefore also there must be everything, the church, Christ, the sacraments, ordination 2c., as he himself says: "Teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you". Matth. 28, 19. 20. There he says and commands that the teachers should teach the
Nations shall teach keep his command. But now he has commanded: Take and eat. Thus St. Paul gives it to the Corinthians, and says in another place, that competent and skillful men shall teach and minister these things; and it is well to be remembered, that where it is conceded and indulged, that a church and the word may be pure and righteous, there is admitted not a part, or Christ only in a piece, but the whole complete Christ.