1. that ceremonies shall be free.
2. whether to eat meat on Friday and at other forbidden times.
3. to M. Nicolaum Hausmann report and concerns of ceremonies.
4. concerns to the church servants at Nordhausen.
5. the feast of St. John the Baptist.
Omnis spiritus laudat Dominum, ergo omni lingua et sermone est laudandus.
1. that ceremonies shall be free.
(Cordatus No. 44.)
As a householder says to his servants, "Eat, drink, and let me take care of you, but do my will," so God does not care what you eat or drink or how you dress, but only requires that you do his will.
2. whether meat may be eaten on Fridays and other forbidden times.
To this Doctor Martin Luther answered and said, "Yes, which is thus proved, for Christ saith Matt. 15:11, What cometh into the mouth defileth not a man. Item: "To the pure all things are pure," Titus 1:15. Against this one said, "The rulers of the church and the bishops have forbidden to eat meat on Friday, 2c. Meat to eat, therefore one should keep such prohibition. Answer: Human statutes and traditions may and should be kept in the church for the sake of outward discipline and respectability, for that is their end,
They are to be used for this purpose, but not in the opinion that they make one righteous, pious and blessed in the sight of God.
3. to M. Nicolaum Hausmann report and concerns of D. M. Luther about ceremonies.
(This § is Walch, old ed., vol. XVIII, 2501, § 2.)
4. Doctor Martin Luther's concerns to the church servants at Nordhausen.
(This § is Walch, old edition, Vol. XXI, 1346 f., No. 887.)
5. from the feast of St. John the Baptist.
The feast of St. John the Baptist, on which the New Testament began, should be left, for it says: "The law and the prophets have prophesied until John," Matth. 11, 13. This should also be done for the sake of the beautiful hymns, which we still have, read in the papacy, but not understood.
Then one said: The song of Zachariah is fine. Yes, said D. Martin Luther, it is fine; for
The preface and foreword of Lucas indicates this when he says: "And Zacharias was filled with the Holy Spirit" 2c., Luc. 1, 67.
We preachers and pastors are to watch and see to it that ceremonies are made and held in such a way that the people do not become so wild, nor too holy. Whoever wants to challenge a ceremony 1), let it be as small as it wants, must grasp the sword with both hands, not do as Erasmus, who only ridicules them, because they are foolish and ridiculous. But if one says against them, "God is also a fool, and gives foolish things, such as circumcision, sacrifices, the slaughter of Isaac 2c.
How then, if such a foolish thing, which you ridicule, pleases God? Erasmus will never solve the argument, nor will he be embarrassed, because otherwise reason, when it comes and gets into divine things, despises them. He does not know the principium, the firm reason, namely, that one must insist on God's word and follow it. Only the article of justification by Christ must do it, otherwise the thought will always remain in the mind: "Perhaps...".
1) Thus it is correctly stated in the Duplicate Cap. 37, § 125 instead of "anrichten".
why did you want to challenge it? Has not our Lord God commanded more foolish things?
No one can withstand these arguments who cannot do more than Erasmus. The argument: "The church says it and admits it", repels them all. It is impossible that a believer could write as many books as Erasmus and not intersperse and mix in a few verses and testimonies of Christ.
Omnis Spiritus laudat Dominum, ergo omni Lingua et Sermone est laudandus.
(Cordatus No. 507. 497.)
Let everything that has breath praise the Lord [Ps. 150:6], so let God be preached and praised in every language and speech.
The emperor has decided that he wants to order that in all countries only Latin is to be prayed, read and mass is to be celebrated. He wants to forbid the dear Christ to speak, and although he understands all languages, he shall speak only in Latin. And in the Psalms it is said [Ps. 19, 4.]: "There is no language nor speech, where one does not hear their voice." The emperor says: You shall speak in Latin. Christ: let me speak as I will. So they are against each other. Which of the two will keep the victory?