1. description of the allegories.
2. from St. Margaret's Legend.
3. what allegories are.
4. from the knight St. George.
5. boldness of the sophists to write and play with allegories.
6. from lies.
7. of allegories, and when Lutherus had abandoned them.
8. D. Luther's Best Art.
In the words of the Lord's Supper, the "Sacramen" want to make a trope, as in the place a figurist: I am the right vine.
1. description of the allegories.
(The first paragraph Cordatus No. 1046.)
Allegories, if everything is related to faith, are good and praiseworthy, but related to life, they are dangerous. I hate them, however, mainly for the sake of it, when they drive life more than faith, and when they are used excessively, they take away the power of the story.
Summa, allegories or spiritual interpretations are the whore's brat, its polished, and yet do not hold the sting: they prove nothing: they are not legitimate women: we shall not use them lightly unless the main matter is first sufficiently proved with strong arguments and reasons. As we see that St. Paul did to the Galatians, Cap. 4, 21. ff. The corpus, the body, is the dialectica; but allegoria is the rhetorica.
Now rhetoric, which decorates and emphasizes a thing in length with words, is of no use without dialectics, which summarizes a thing briefly. If one rhetoricizes and makes many words without foundation, since there is nothing behind, then it is only a decorated thing, and carved and painted idol.
2. from St. Margaret Legend.
(Cordatus No. 1049.)
The legend of Margaret has an ecclesiastical allegory [meaning]. But the church is a noble virgin and splendid gem. Olibrius, the tyrant, is the world, which enmitigates the church and throws it into prison, where it is plagued by the dragon, the devil, and it cannot free itself from the heavy challenge in any other way than by seizing the cross, which is Christ, who alone drives out and overcomes the devil. Similar is that of Christophorus etc.
3. what allegories are.
(Cordatus No. 980-982.)
Allegory is that one gives a thing for and understands it differently than the words read, and it is in a [whole] sentence, the metaphor in [individual] expressions and words. The holy scripture and the German language are full of allegories: He hangs his coat to the wind; Much clamor, little wool; Käthe von Bora is the morning star at Wittenberg. The words make metaphors, but the things make allegories, as Christ's command of foot washing, of baptism, of the Lord's Supper are allegories. 1)
The allegories must not be held as they read, as when Daniel [7, 7.] says of
1) In order to understand this sentence correctly, it must be noted that Luther is not dealing here with the essence, but with the meaning, allegory. The action of washing the feet means the serving love (Joh. 13, 14. 15.); the action of baptism means the drowning of the old Adam and the resurrection of the new man (Rom. 6, 4.); the action of Holy Communion, eating and drinking the body and blood of Christ, means the thanksgiving for the suffering and death of the Lord (1 Cor. 11, 26.). Therefore Luther used in this case in the Latin original the rare word LueUaristia i.e. "thanksgiving". - The last two sentences of this § are transferred to § 10 of the appendix, where they belong.
the beast that has ten horns, it is understood to mean the Roman Empire. Thus, circumcision is an allegory in the New Testament, not in the Old, in which they had to keep it very precise.
The New Testament makes allegories out of the Old, which speaks only of things that have happened, as of the two sons of Abraham, out of whom Paul makes two nations. But let us not make such allegories as the red spirits.
4. from the knight St. George.
(Cordatus No. 1048.)
The legend of St. George contains in itself a very beautiful allegory concerning the world government - the girl is the worldly government, which is attacked by a dragon, who is the devil. But he attacks her, sometimes with famine, sometimes with pestilence, even by war he devours and devastates her, until a pious and brave emperor comes, who restores and defends her.
5. boldness of the sophists to write and play with allegories.
(The first paragraph of this § in Cordatus No, 148.)
It is an ungodliness what in these verses the sophists and some of the fathers have passed off for godliness:
Littera gesta docet, quid credas, Allegoria, Moralis, quid agas, quo tendas, Anagogia. 1) [The letter teaches what has happened, allegory what is to be believed.
Moralis teaches what one should do, anagogy where it should go. Walch] and since they asserted and praised such, they were nevertheless unable to perform it, however often they wanted to. For it could have been spoken much more correctly, or more appropriately, by a man, from reason alone, who only understands something, that I am silent: from faith. As if I wanted to speak of medicin as they taught in this distich, I would say with respect to the first thought [littera gesta docet], me-
2) Anagogy, i.e. the deeper sense.
dicin, that the fever is cured by rhubarb; with regard to the second, that the fever is sin, and the rhubarb is Jesus Christ; with regard to the third, that the fever is vice, and the rhubarb is virtue; with regard to the fourth, that the fever is damnation, and the resurrection is rhubarb. Would this not be more fittingly said than what they have said?
(The following two paragraphs at Cordatus No. 149 and 150.)
1) The faith must be changed, not the word or work of God, which remains forever. Therefore, those who say that a child must be rebaptized because he did not have faith at baptism are very wrong. Likewise, those who have taught that those who are baptized by an ungodly preacher or a heretic must be rebaptized are also mistaken. Put away unbelief and your baptism will remain God's work, which it has always been, because it was given in the name of the Trinity. But in order that you may recognize the error by which they have been deceived, take this example: There is someone who does not believe that the holy Ten Commandments were given by God to the world through Moses, or that the gospel was not preached by Christ. Are therefore the commandments nothing, or the gospel nothing? Or do you think that for this reason another law must be given, or another gospel must be preached, so that you may believe that it is from God? Truly no, but you must depart from your unbelief etc.
Twice worse are the proselytes who are brought into a new order that is not instituted by God, because before they did not believe that they were righteous but sinners, but after they have entered into their new holiness [religio], they consider themselves righteous and not only do not reject their works as they did before, but also boast that they are righteous and also meritorious. Therefore this "twofold" must be understood: they become much worse.
Playing with allegories in Christian teaching is dangerous. The words are to-
1) Quite similar thoughts Cap. 1, § 48, the first three paragraphs.
They are generally 'finely charming', and go in smoothly, but there is nothing behind them. They serve well for preachers who have not studied much, who do not know how to interpret history and the text correctly, for whom the leather is too short and will not suffice: so they resort to allegories, in which nothing certain is taught, on which one could found and base oneself; therefore we should get used to sticking to the sound and clear text.
. (This paragraph in Lauterbach, April 5, 1538, p. 57.)
Philip asked about the spiritual interpretation [allegoria] of the eagle, which neither hunted nor robbed while brooding on the eggs, and kept only one young, but threw the others out. Similarly, a raven does not feed its young and expels them as soon as they are feathered. He answered: The eagle is an image of the monarchy, which does not tolerate any of its equals. The ravens are the [loveless], belly-serving papists.
6. lies. 2)
Lying is always twisted, and bends like the serpent, which is never straight, whether it walk or stand; but only when it is dead is it straight and true.
7. allegoriis, and when Lutherus had abandoned them.
Since I was a monk, I was a master of spiritual interpretation, allegorizing it all: but after that, when I came to know Christ a little through the epistle to the Romans, I saw that with allegories and spiritual interpretations there was nothing; not what Christ means, but who and what he is. Before, I allegorized and interpreted spiritually, also the Cloaca, and only everything; but after that, in the histories, I considered how hard it was that Gideon fought with the enemies in the way that the Scriptures indicate: if I had been there, I would have thrown my pants in fear. This was not allegory and spiritual interpretation, but the Holy Spirit and faith only beat with three hundred men such a great bunch of enemies. St. Jerome and Origen helped in this,
2) Cf. cap. 12, § 53.
that one has so allegorized that God forgives them. There is not one word of Christ in the whole origen.
8. lutheri best art.
D. M. Luther said on another occasion: "I can no longer work, nor can I speak. When I was young, I was learned, and especially before I came to theology, I dealt with allegoriis, tropologiis and anagogiis,
and made vain art. If someone had it now, he would carry it around for vain sanctity. But I know that it is nothing but dirt. Now I have let it go, and my best and first art is, tradere scripturam simplici sensu; for literalis sensus, that does it, there is life, there is power, teaching and art inside: in the other there is only fool's work, although it shines high.
9. in the words of the Last Supper, the Sacramentarians want to make a trope, as ir is a figure to the Loco: Ego sum
Vitis vera.
M. Luther said: "If one wants to make Tropos in this way, then we have lost Christ. It does not apply to trope, one must prove tropos. Muenzer the tropirte with the 3. cap. Johannis, V. 6, also thus: Nisi quis renatus fuerit ex aqua etc. and said:Aqua significat tribulationem, ut in illo loco: Intraverunt in animam meam aquae multae. Sententia ergo est, per tribulationes oportet nos ingredi in regnum coelorum. That Münzer. But St. Augustine gave a rule, quod Figura et Allegoria nihil probet, sed Historia, Verba et Grammatica, die thun's. Figura does nothing everywhere.