[W, XXVI, 56, 57] agery, nor do I like to pronounce it. •tucpco'&Eig.13 The poets invent Typhoeus, a huge giant who used to carry on warfare with heaven.14
Such are the neophyte theologians. They revolt against the Word and command of God. They think that they are standing firm, and they fight against God. When someone slips into adultery, blasphemy, or slander and when he realizes that he has fallen, he is not fighting against God; he has fallen away from God. But such people think just the opposite way. They are the real Typhoeus, for they become so dis¬ dainful and proud that they even fight against God. That is the sin against the Holy Spirit. This sin is not like any other. It is a horrible sin that can assail the neophyte. St. Antony heard about a certain young man, etc.15 Let him come here to this ass. Alas, I consider this man similar to a ship purchased at great expense which never can come to harbor. So it happened. Likewise the fathers sent out people who worshiped gods, but they sent out serpents, etc. The fathers kept on reproving them and gave them a good going-over, because the fathers worked very hard in the church against the pest called spiritual pride.
We have treated 10 this passage "not a novice" and have said that we must relate it not only to age but also to doctrine. You see, those who are newcomers to the doctrine of the Gospel have not yet been trained and mortified, as is necessary for one who should teach usefully.
Those men are crude, unmortified. They are delighted by a fervor for glory. They watch for miracles, with no consideration as to whether or not they are beneficial. "Lest he be puffed up" I said was an ambigu¬ ous text. First, we can take the statement as referring to the fall of Satan, that is, to falling irrevocably. But here we have kept the words in their general use. You see, Paul almost always uses this not for Satan but for "slanderer." The first meaning is in itself true, but it is uncertain in this passage. However, we may understand this to mean an accuser in a general sense, because when the novice seeks his own ends, he easily falls into the condemnation of his enemy and slanderer, and because we preach divine, holy, and sacred things and presume to 13 This is the word in the Greek text which the Vulgate translates in superbiam elatus ("puffed up with conceit"). The sound of this Greek word reminds
Luther of the giant Typhoeus, or Typhon, of Greek mythology, who came to grief when he presumed to launch an attack on heaven.
14 E. g., Ovid, Metamorphoses, V, 353, Vergil, Aeneid, IX, 716; Horace, 15 Cf. Luther's Works, 24, p. 65.
1(5 The lecture of Feb. 18 begins at this point.
[W, XXVI, 57, 58] lead people to heavenly life. Our adversaries hear that we boast of our holy doctrine. Being jealous, they immediately watch all our deeds and words with malicious eyes, and when they have taken hold of something, why not blow up cheeks 1T and say: "They teach divine matters, although they live very disgracefully. Look how their life matches their teaching!" Even if we live in very holy fashion, we are still exposed to the false charges of all men. Therefore we must be particularly careful to have first the sound Word and then a blameless life for the sake of our adversaries. But who can stop everyone's mouth, when his adversaries can tell lies about him? In this situation Paul responds that he is not discussing the fact that anyone can avoid the slander of his foes but that one should not provide an opportunity for his adversaries to charge him deservedly: "He teaches love but is him¬ self puffed up. He gives imperious orders to the brethren. Is this the way to teach humility and love?" The lie of the slanderer is unavoid¬ able, but his judgment is, etc. The second meaning is the one which we have followed. In German we have taken the devil generally as the slanderer. Because doctrine now has been placed on a mountain by force, as it were, they watch us with spiteful eyes not only in our words but in all our statements and deeds. Satan watches by day to slander us through heretics, the pope, and the sects. Where they weave a sin¬ gle thread, they corrupt the whole thing. We are in a very unfortunate situation. If we have defeated the pope in a hundred thousand lies and vices and if they have a single virtue, they become puffed up.
"Under the pope there was peace — the highest virtue, and with one little piece of paper, etc." 18 This virtue they cherish against all faults.
They can cover up, etc. If, on the other hand, we should gleam like the sun from the sole of our feet and they have found a single fault, they disgrace the whole body. We must be completely humble and holy; but if there is one blemish, they have it. Thus they are completely evil; and yet we are overcome. Since the situation is like this, we who are exposed to the tongues and ears and eyes of everyone must live a life that cannot be fairly faulted. "Watch every act and deed, On this vain talk will feed";19 and "Lies do not last long." If a bishop wants to be puffed up and yet teaches the modesty which he renounces, and if he is
17 This is probably an echo of Horace, Sermones, I, 1, 21, the "puffing-out of cheeks" being a stock burlesque representation of anger.
18 The reference is obviously to Luther's having disturbed the peace with his sheet of the 95 Theses.
19 Hut click fur der that, unnutzem gewesch wird wohl rat.
[W, XXVI, 58] a newcomer, he can never keep from becoming puffed up and proud.
You see, the knowledge of Christ is a great thing, and he knows what the whole world does not know. Cf. 1 Cor. 8:1. Therefore bishops ought to be well-trained old men, learned not only in terms of their age but also in terms of their training. Man's ability to understand wears gray hair, and wisdom belongs to venerable old age. This relates not simply to age but also to respect for doctrine. Where there is a spotless life, there is old age. I have always understood the wise men. The man who is trained in a good life and in good sense is not puffed up. He will humble himself easily and will close the mouth of his accuser with the good examples of his humility and love.
7. Moreover, he must be well thought of by outsiders. Here he takes up what he has been silent about. Some theologian of the church might answer: "What is it to us what the heathen think or what the papists think? We live in such a way that the church does not judge us, for it is founded on love and gladly endures the criticism: 'You bear it ... if a man puts on airs' (2 Cor. 11:20). The heathen, how¬ ever, do not do this." Paul says: "It is especially fitting for you,
O bishop, to care what the heathen think about you. You see, you have been exposed in your ministry to men and women. Therefore you ought to live in such a way that the heathen are forced to close their own mouths. This is the way you can gain and convert them.
If you live in such a way that you are faulted, you frighten them away and force them to blaspheme the name of God." Cf. Rom. 2:24. There¬ fore "well thought of." Paul also wrote to Titus (2:8): "Having noth¬ ing evil to say to us." Thus the heathen will say: "People wrong them."
Pliny wrote to Trajan: "There is a certain sect, etc." He commends the Christians because they live good and holy lives.20 There those Chris¬ tians closed the mouths of Pliny and of Trajan himself: "Let men say what they want about those Christians; they are humble and have every good intention." So a person compares his own shameful life with that of the Christians and is converted. Why does Paul talk about what outsiders think? That he may not fall into reproach.
Here, too, this still seems to be taken generally for a slanderer. My Aristarchus 21 always wants it to refer to Satan. I envy no one for what
20 Pliny, Letters, X, 96.
21 Luther is probably referring to Melanchthon, whose work he repeatedly praised. Cf. Luther's Works, 54, p. 156. The present tribute compares Melanch¬ thon to the famed ancient Greek librarian, grammarian, and critic Aristarchus of Samothrace (c. 220—c. 150 B. C.). In a letter of 1516 addressed to Spalatin,
[W, XXVI, 58, 59] he has done better. Here Paul sets forth two matters: lest he fall into reproach and the snare. That word indicates clearly enough why he speaks about a slanderer. After all, Satan doesn't care about reproach.
But because one is accused of a certain thing, it has a way of happen¬ ing among men. That is, a slanderer should not have just reason to accuse. Look — let a man so live here, and let us be careful of reproach, lest we fall into it.
The snare. This sounds like something belonging to the devil. He usually traps us with snares. But "net" is still interpreted as referring to men. That he falls into reproach, and falls in such a way that he cannot escape, can convince and overcome with witnesses. There is no place for escape, no room for excuse. The snare is the certain knowledge and evidence of a crime, which can convince with com¬ pelling force. Earlier I mentioned that a bishop can live blamelessly before the world but not before God.22 Here, too, Paul intends a blamelessness before the world. It is true that whoever is not sincere in his faith and the purity of his heart does not escape falling into obvious wickedness. If he is greedy, he cannot cover up his greed to keep it from breaking out. If he is proud, he cannot hide and conceal it. It must show. If, then, he can live blamelessly, it is a sign that his soul is blameless before God, but not completely. He now follows with instructions for deacons.
8. Deacons likewise must be serious. Deacons were men who also preached occasionally. We read in Acts 6:1-6 that they chose seven men in the church to be in charge of providing for the poor and the widows. Those deacons also at times preached, as did Stephen, and they were admitted to other duties of the church, although their prin¬ cipal responsibility was to care for the poor and the widows. That custom has long ceased to exist. In the papist church the man who reads the Gospel is a subdeacon. The distribution of goods and the care of the poor have been relegated to the hospices. The truth of the matter is that there ought to be chaplains and common funds. I am more pleased that doorkeepers have the wherewithal to feed the poor than that we have it. I mentioned the reason a little earlier — that the eyes of all are upon us. There ought to be deacons for the church —
Luther apologizes for presuming to bring such famous men as Erasmus, Lyra, and Stapulensis "under the whip of Aristarchus" but defends this literary and theological criticism as being in the interest of the salvation of the brethren. Cf.
Luther's Works, 48, p. 26.
[W, XXVI, 59, 60] men who should be of service to the bishop and at his recommenda¬ tions have control in the church in external matters. "Serious" is hon¬ orable. That is, let them walk in seemly clothes and behavior. Let them use seemly language and act the same way. Let everything about them be honorable, because this befits the propriety of their persons. They should not be frivolous and behave like mercenary soldiers or a Junker with proper hat, proper home,23 proper household.
Not double-tongued. This is the voice of experience, not just that of the Holy Spirit. This fault is usually found in the deacons who are at hand for the bishop. Through those mediators Satan achieves it that they speak well of him to his face and then disparage him.
I learn from experience. The devil prompts them to draw the crowd to themselves, and he converts 24 it to his person; to make himself a source of wonder, to be praised more than the bishop himself, to make gains. Those are the fellows for you. They say one thing to the bishop's back, another to his face. They accomplish nothing good in the church. Those tongues are more harmful than all swords, you can depend on that. They are not tongues at all. They are pure angels in my ears, but behind my back they are the worst devils. Whatever the bishop does, it stinks. Be sure to tell the people. I am ill disposed toward them; they are full of poison. If I say, "There is something in you that displeases me," such a person is silent. Paul has had experi¬ ence with this, and so have we. What our experience has given us is an understanding of these passages. I never knew who was a neophyte and who was double-tongued. What happens when one is unable to get rid of this? They draw the common people to themselves; they make themselves wonderfully famous; they make pastors stink. I say,
"Just be the pastor." In our day, it is necessary for pastors to be poor men. Drinking is a fault of the Greeks and of our people. A drinker cannot take care of the church and of God's Word, as I mentioned earlier.23 Greedy for gain. To be greedy for gain means to concen¬ trate on those skills which disgrace a deacon's life and doctrine; to concentrate on pursuits other than his life and doctrine.
9. They must hold the mystery of faith with a clear conscience. Da soil die Frau ausfleissen. Here Paul is using figurative language. The apostle should preach so as to call the idea of Christ a mystery. "This is a great mystery, and I take it to mean Christ and the church" (Eph.
2:1 For dona we have read domo.
24 For convertant we have read convertit.
5:32). This is a beautiful figure of speech — "the mystery of faith."
That is, he should have this faith in a clear conscience, as we saw earlier in chapter 1:5: "love from a pure heart." It is as if I were to say about money: "Take this treasure, these delights, this money." In this way Paul makes frequent use of the word "mystery." The reason is this: he does not call this a holy mystery in vain, because it is exactly that. Just as money is properly a treasure, so faith itself is a mystery.
They must have a mystical faith, a faithful mystery or a mysterious faith, because faith is a sacred thing. A sacred mystery is a hidden thing, as faith is very mysterious. This is not because faith merely lies hidden in the heart, but it is the nature of faith that it works in secret and operates invisibly, because it is, as we read in Heb. 11:1, "the con¬ viction of things not seen." That is, they should be the sort of men who are not affected by visible and tangible things but who are studious and earnest, who live in hope, who place their faith in what is to come as if it were already present. This is to see a sacred thing that no sense of the flesh perceives. The world does not see it, but deacons ought to have this ability. Those who don't have it judge according to per¬ sons. Visible things affect them. That is, they ought to concentrate on that sacred, hidden mystery. They ought to fix their heart on heaven; they ought to think about heavenly matters; they ought to hold present and temporal things in contempt and set their hope on the future. In his figurative language Paul calls it the "mystery of faith," and he teaches that it is a hidden thing. In ] Cor. 2:9 he has the phrase
"what the heart of man has not conceived." That is, you have a life and faith that is sincere, unpretended, in short, pure.
Where faith is unpretended, there the conscience is clear. The double-tongued have empty husks of faith. They have faith on their tongues and in their books. This, however, is only the language of faith; it is not the mystery of a faith which teaches sacred matters.
That is the faith they ought to have. Paul is a Hebrew, and his con¬ struction is a Hebraism. The measure or rule of faith is a Pauline phrase, as is the mystical, hidden faith.
10. Let them he tested first. Mark this passage well. He has made these statements from his experience. This is not just the Holy Spirit dictating. First the deacons should be tested. All the more should bishops and professors be tested. How should they be tested, and with what test? According to what they are, can do, and actually do.
Earlier we said that the bishops should be tested by those who, etc.26
The acid test is that a recommendation be required from those who know them. You see, the deacon takes care of the people and is the bishop's steward. He should be tested first. But how do I know that they are blameless? How do I know which are not of bad reputation or which only care for useless things? So one may be able to gather from the testimony of his neighboring brethren who is a good and faithful man. We must not call a deacon because of his appearance or because he is friendly. We do not test him in this way. If, however, we try to find out from testimony whether he is good, serious, diligent, and the kind of man who gladly pursues piety and is happy to listen to preaching, then we are testing him. One will be able to determine this from the testimony of his brothers and neighbors. We must not take people into the ministry unless they have this testimony. When the apostles were sending out the brethren, they did not send them out without letters of recommendation, as we do in the case of our monks and bishops. This is an apostolic ritual. Then let them serve as dea¬ cons. He imposes neither the office of teaching nor the qualifications of the bishop on deacons. Instead he gives them the responsibilities for supplies or financing. They should be serious, not double-tongued.
They should not sow disharmony within the church. They should have a talent for bringing harmony, for increasing concord, peace, and the reputation of the bishop. They should not be drinkers but be attentive to their business.
11. Their wives 27 likewise must be serious. The natural function of women, to have something flighty about them, they have by nature.
After all, they are the weaker sex. All their members have by nature been afflicted with weaknesses. Therefore there is a greater need for them to learn to be serious, to have the sort of clothing and behavior that befits the honor of the wife of an elder and that is proper for the wife of a deacon. They should be examples for other wives. Not slanderers. This is where women are strong. Wherever two women are together, this most natural fault is also present. They like to talk about other people and about bad people. Here we must watch for the singular discipline that they be settled women. If they are un¬ willing to speak good about those who are absent, they should keep quiet altogether. Here you see what diabolus means.28 When they
27 Luther here reads uxores for the Vulgate's mulieres. In his comments he uses the word mulier but obviously in the sense of uxor.
28 Namely, that diabolus is to be understood in the sense of "slanderer," as Luther points out above. Cf. p. 291. come to visit a woman in childbed, they gossip about a third person.
This Paul also has from experience and not only from the Holy Spirit.29
Not given to wine.'i0 They should not be lazy or sleepy, drunk with both sleep and drink. Rather, they should be temperate in their food and drink. They should rise early in the morning, not for the sake of dancing, merrymaking, eating, drinking, and dressing up, as if they were still young girls, but to cook and to serve their husbands. This is what we read in Titus (Titus 2:3-5). Faithful in all things. In German, treu. He tells us what this means. Whenever they have been established as the wives of deacons and have the duty of doling out something to the poor, they have the opportunity and situation for faithlessness and treachery to be able to use their mouths or hands for deceit. A man can do something for his own convenience, and his wife can help him in this. Also women are clever in swiftly be¬ stowing favors on those they like and in slandering others, that is, both in word and deed. Paul is speaking about outward loyalty, which ought to be trustworthy in an office. They should speak evil of no one. They should not take away alms but increase them. Thus such a person receives the same treatment as widows do. She settles the younger women. Thus Paul is referring to greedy, deceiving, wicked women, who have piled up things to their own profit and have neglected other people.
12. Deacons. He wanted to add this; he forgot it above. So he repeats it here that they should be husband of one wife. We have explained this earlier in the section on bishops. He seems to be speaking contrary to the law of Moses, where one was allowed to have several wives simultaneously. The Greek church limited this so that a bishop was allowed only one wife. Today they still preserve this idea. Chrysostom left the matter in doubt. We understand and know that Paul was of the Jews and was writing to Jews. (Also the Romans did not consider polygamy a dissolution of marital contracts).
Paul, then, is writing to Jews who had several wives, that is, not to have two at the same time. So the deacon should have control over his children, not in temporal matters — which is the smallest part of governing a household — but that they may be well settled in faith and in external discipline. Thus deacons should have a family which not only works well but is settled in good habits. He adds the promise:
30 Luther reproduces the text in a negative way. Instead of sohriae ("tem¬ perate") he says non vinolentae.
13. For those who serve well, etc. You have heard31 about the arrangement of the office of bishops and deacons, along with their wives. You have heard what sort of men Paul wants set up in the church. The rest is the promise which he connects to this: "For those who serve well, etc." This promise which the deacons have can be taken generally to refer to bishops as well as to deacons. Paul strength¬ ens them in this way that each is established in his own service. Yet he seems to be speaking especially about deacons, and he seems to be encouraging them. To be sure, the sense is: deacons belong to a lower order; inequality generally causes discord; and, since the lesser envy the greater, they become double-tongued. Paul now wants to interject this promise and make them content with their lot. He says in substance: "Even if you do not have duties as solemn as bishops, yet you should be content with your rank. Before God you will not be lower than bishops, as if bishops were better people." This en¬ couragement is particularly necessary for stopping envy, because everyone considers that the other's neighboring flock or grass is more fertile. What my neighbor has is better. No one is content with his lot.32 Everyone measures his evils, not his blessings. On the other hand, to someone else his evils are good and not bad. He does not see what great inconvenience may be attached. This is our nature.
The farmer thinks: "How wonderful it must be for the rich to have horses to ride; and they have such good food." But what a pile of worries, anxieties, and jealousies they have! The others consider this a very wretched life. Demosthenes would have preferred death to the life of public service.33 Augustus said, "Give your applause.
I have finished." 34 That's how unusual it was to rule the state and not die a violent death. Were I to consider my good days and some¬ one else's evil days, my condition would please me more. The serf has it better than his master. The serf sits in the barn, while the prince stands on the wall, for the prince defends the farmer, not the other way around. But the serf doesn't see this. It happens the same way in the church, when the flesh and nature enter at the same time. The deacon wants to be the bishop: "I know as much as he does, and I can preach as well as he." That's the way they act today too. That 31 The lecture of Feb. 20 begins at this point.
32 Cf. Horace, Sermones, I, 1, 1-3.
33 Cf. Plutarch, Lives, "Demosthenes."
34 Suetonius, Augustus, 99. The quotation is in the form of the announce¬ ment of actors at the conclusion of a play.
[W, XXVI, 62, 63] rivalry Paul forbids everywhere. "Let us have no self-conceit," Gal.
5:26. Let us not rival each other except in good. In this way, then, he now comforts deacons and wants to make them content, etc. Let each serve faithfully in his own vocation. If someone else has a loftier situation, let him not be jealous or despise his own lot. "You should be careful that you serve well." They should be good men, not double-tongued. "If they serve well," a marvelous text! If dea¬ cons do not seem to have so important a position, they nonetheless have the highest position in reliance on and faith in Christ. It is enough that they remain in faith toward Christ. That deacon can be free if he knows that his work pleases Christ and that his diaconate is as pleasing to Christ as is a bishop in his bishopric. Therefore he should comfort them that they may minister willingly and well and not be jealous. If some who are jealous do this because they consider that they have a gift of eloquence and good appearance, they have no 35 confidence in pastors who do not have the same blessings. This is to ask for an official position from the world and the flesh. "Give thanks! You can be as rich in Christ as a bishop." What is it to me that I do not have the same function? It is enough that I have the same wealth as he — or even greater. What would the farmer ask who has $1,000 in the bank? He doesn't want to live in the city and beg. "So you, O deacon, minister well. Be a good servant. You are very rich. Paul gives a high recommendation to your position. Al¬ though on the surface these offices appear unimportant before the world, yet deacons have an excellent position in faith and in Christ."
And also great confidence. If they have served well, they are sure that they are reckoned among Christ's faithful people. They also have fulfillment, because they know that they please Christ. In this way
I please Christ as much as the king of France. Why do I need other pomp and garb? I have the same Christ. So everywhere Paul is con¬ cerned that no discord should arise among those who serve — discord that Satan stirs up to hinder peace and harmony. What causes di¬ visions now? Jealousy and envy. No one wants to be lower than any¬ one else. No one thinks that he is content with his position. Yet in trust and faith he would be content with his works. That's the way things are, it appears.
14. I am writing these things. Again he includes a commendation with a promise in order to offer encouragement. Thus he commends
35 We have added non, as the context seems to require.
[W, XXVI, 63, 64] the church. This is a great title. Note it well. This is an outstanding passage about the church. You see how greatly concerned he is. Al¬ though he hopes to come soon, yet he worries that Satan may come and stir up discord, and that something bad will come up amid the bishops, deacons, and their wives, as I mentioned earlier.
15. If I am delayed, "because I don't know, because to will is ours." 30 He calls them "the household of God." These are all bright and beautiful words. That is, this is where God lives through the Gos¬ pel and the Word. Where it is preached, there is His sanctuary. James writes about both types.37 Here Paul speaks of God's household be¬ cause he has heard the Word of God from heaven. Of the living God.
It has this title because it is His house. You see what a critical matter it is to hold the church in contempt or to neglect it. When one despises the church, he despises God. Also, whatever the church does God does. Here the pope keeps this text in mind: one must listen to and respect the church because it is "the column and bulwark, etc." That is, it is in the church that one finds the truth. Thus the church has been built and firmly established, like an immovable column. There¬ fore the church does not err, because the Third Article says: "I be¬ lieve in the holy Christian church." The pope abides in the church, therefore it is impossible that he be deceived by error, that he have a blemish. There lies the distinction: in what the church is. Before the pope and his bishops were there, the church was in existence.
Where the church is, there is no hypocrisy, no false doctrine. It does not allow it. It walks in the midst of truth. It has the genuine, legitimate, Christian sense and spirit of the Word of God. Not all who call themselves the church are the church. It is one thing to be the church; another, to be called the church. If the Word of God is pres¬ ent in its purity and is active, the church is there. If not, it is an evil seed, as we see in Luke 8. Such are in our midst. And yet, the true and holy church nevertheless remains. Under the pope there is the true church, yet he and his bishops are the evil 38 seed. God has pre¬ served Baptism, the Sacrament, and the church which He uses to declare His Word. The elect have remained firm in the faith, as Christ has promised (Cf. Matt. 24:24), and the others have been misled. The church is the foundation throughout the whole earth.
30 Luther is referring to Rom. 7:18: "I can will what is right, but I cannot do it."
37 James 2:1-9 recommends impartiality to rich and poor in the church.
38 The word malum is added from the context.
See to it that you walk in such a way as to establish firmly your bishops, deacons, and their wives. The pillar. Truth is always op¬ posed to falsehood. He is not only speaking about the truth of words but also of the matter and of life, where there is no hypocrisy. As doctrine is, so also is life. If the doctrine is filled with lying, life is hypocritical. In the church doctrine is pure, and therefore life, too, so that the truth of both doctrine and life are preserved. This will happen if you are firmly established.
16. The mystery. Almost all the Greek texts have "God is."39
Here the interpreters quarrel as to which it should be. I am no judge of texts. However, because our translation 40 has "manifested" in the neuter, it appears that the text did not read "God." I should prefer to have the ancient text "which" stand, namely, "the mystery," rather than the reading "God was manifested." It does not matter whether one reads one or the other, although the earlier text, etc.41 Some say that this was added because of the Arians. They themselves have rejected other stronger texts as commentaries of this text. Paul shares particular concern and anxiety for preserving pure doctrine against Satan, who brings into the church hypocrisies and spiritual scandals.
You see, the entire strife between the Catholics and heretics is over religion. What do they say with their doctrines, their religion, their worship, their religious scruples? If a man were to stay with that true and unique religion, that would be enough. But Satan wants to add, etc. We have enough religion. It is sufficient and obvious. What if Satan practices other cunning tricks? We ought to stay with the former assurance. Paul states that that religion is great enough and well-enough published, that it works against those fanatical doc¬ trines. He seems to be discussing the same thing as he does in Rom. 1:4, where he mentions "by the spirit of holiness." There he calls it "clear," definitely declared. It was declared powerfully to the righteous so that there might be no excuse, as if we were ignorant of that religion. That doctrine did not remain in a corner but was manifested before God, the angels, the flesh, the spirits, and every creature. What could become better known, inasmuch as the Spirit has already revealed what had to be revealed? What shall we add to this except what Paul says: "This is foolishness; the whole
39 The preferred reading seems to be 65 ("who") rather than ifeo? ("God").
41 That is, "ought to have preference."
[W, XXVI, 64, 651 thing has already been revealed. Whoever wants to have the mys¬ tery has enough." He sets this against the would-be-wise spirits, who desert the general mystery set forth for all men and seek a new one. We confess. Above I mentioned what a mystery is: that is, a hidden, or sacred, matter, the mystery of religion as well as religion.42 Earlier we talked about those who have that very faith which is a mystical thing. Here we have a religion sufficiently great, which has been revealed, etc. Mystery. This he added because of his zealous advice against the fanatical spirits. If they want to be mystical, they have enough. In this way he opposes our devils, who pretend to know many things, who go off on their own speculations and strange ways.
Yet they know nothing about the character of faith, love, and the cross because they have had no experience with them. I judge with confidence that the spirits have experienced no spark of what it means to believe in God or to be a correct influence on their brothers.
Such a person boasts of his many mysteries as he sets up false ones, and false wisdom has a way of setting itself in opposition voluntarily.
It is a matter full of contention. If they want to teach many great mysteries, let them teach those things which have not been hidden but which are yet very secret. There is room enough in every direc¬ tion for publishing and declaring. Therefore when it was declared by the apostles, it was through miracles, as we see in Rom. 1:19 f.
How was it declared? It teas seen. Surely it has been published throughout the world, so that we knew it for sure, and people had mysteries enough. It is religion, but not a hypocritical one; it is a mystical religion, not the kind of cackle the Jews and Enthusiasts emit, who go about like ghosts and apparitions. This is a commenda¬ tion in which he commends our religion. No one can deny that it is
"great," because it is plain as day. It is a sacred and substantial re¬ ligion, a true worship, which is not hypocritical. Now it is declared how it was manifested: In the flesh. I call Christ the very reality of Christ — Christ in the spirit. To have Christ in the person is to have nothing. Rather, we must make use of Him. The Enthusiasts say: "Christ is on the cross. Therefore He is not visible in the Sacra¬ ment, in Baptism, in the Word." That is an ignorance of Christ; it is to not know how to use Christ. To have merely the fact of Christ is to speak metaphysically of Christ, as I say about Him that He has flesh and hair. Rather, the function for which He died is remission of [W, XXVI, 65, 66] sins. The use for which He baptized is in the sacrament — for the for¬ giveness of your sins. The thief would not have had the remission of sins had he not come to the Word "today" (Luke 23:43). Just to look at Christ accomplishes nothing. The Word is added in the Sacrament, and through it His Passion becomes spiritual and is poured into our hearts, etc. But Christ once believed must still be believed, that is, with the reality His use in spirit. I don't want the Christ the Enthusiasts have. They have the sort of Christ that makes them hold the Gospel and the sacraments in contempt as symbols.
They keep this for themselves that Christ suffered on the cross, but this they must believe happened in spirit. Where do they get this foolish notion from? Through the Word? They want to oppose others.
Christ is among them not in His work and energy. This mystery has been revealed through the Word. Yet He is not palpable. We do not see him. None of our senses catch Him; and yet we must believe.
Therefore this is a mystery. There is nothing more hidden; there is nothing more apparent. If I must apprehend this, it is indeed obscure, and yet Christ is more apparent than the sun. Here we have some clear contradictions. It is "great" through its publication, through the Word, through signs and miracles. Nothing has been more hid¬ den through its comprehension. After all, human wisdom does not grasp it, the flesh flees from it, and reason abhors it. Let them wrestle with it; that will give them something to study so that they may forget the other uselessnesses. I call Christ a mystery in fact, work, or spirit. I do not do this as the Enthusiasts do. They call Christ a mystery in spirit, so that a person can perceive it. But to have Christ known and possessed, to make use of Him, as what He Himself has done — that function we have in us. But because no one knows Him except the man who feels Him in his heart, He is called a mystery.
It is a magnificent mystery because it is so well known, so clear.
I believe that "flesh" here can be taken for the personal flesh of Christ. I think, however, that Paul says this in general: that Christ indeed appeared in His own proper Person, yet it would have been of no avail, had He not appeared through the Word. As Simeon said
(Luke 2:30): "Mine eyes have seen." We also read (John 1:29): "Be¬ hold the Lamb of God," that is, this has been revealed everywhere through the Word. If you wish to interpret this as referring to Christ's flesh, that's fine, but it would have been useless [without the Word].
I interpret this as the combining of the personal flesh and the external Word, by which He is preached to our carnal ears. This, you see, is the flesh. "In the flesh" means, then, among carnal men, because it must remain in this way so that this mystery may be similarly very hidden and very well published.
Justified in the Spirit. Not in the flesh but in the Spirit. Here he distinguishes justification from, etc. That is, as Luke writes about the publicans (7:29): "They were justifying God and were being baptized." It means to approve His Word, to declare it right. Also, we shall confess that we are unrighteous. We read in Ps. 51: "Against Thee, Thee only, have I sinned." To be sure, Christ's work is pub¬ lished everywhere; however, it does not justify everywhere, it is not accepted everywhere, and not all people believe in it. The Holy
Spirit justifies everywhere, that is, He is considered a holy and salu¬ tary reality. This the world does not do. It condemns this mystery.
Neither do the heathen, the sects, wisdom, or justice. Only the Spirit justifies. That is, they believe that Christ is the power for justifying in spirit. Others believe otherwise. But this is a strained and com¬ plicated statement; the former is far more simple. Christ is revealed to the carnal eyes of all men, but He is not received except where the Holy Spirit is. All this points to this: He is declared through the Word and is not merely justified in the heart, but it follows that I con¬ fess, as Anna did in Luke 2:38. "I believed, and so I spoke" (Ps. 116:
10; 1 Cor. 4:13). They justify true religion with words and signs.
Seen by angels. This they explained in this way — that the angels sang when Christ was bom. But I take this to mean all the angels.
That is the angels always saw Christ carrying out the works of Christ!
Whatever He did, He did on behalf of someone. Angels, men, the flesh, and the spirit know this. Preached among the nations. Not only among the Jews was this mystery revealed but also among the Gen¬ tiles, to whom it was not promised. It came to them through the Word. Believed on in the ivorld. Behold! Also everywhere! "Preach the Gospel to every creature," we read in the last chapter of Mark.
The world has accepted it. He is speaking about faith, unless it is not believed. Not only to the Gentiles has it gone but through them into the entire world.
Taken up in glory. Not only did He live and accomplish a resur¬ rection, but He is still doing the works of Christ. Here is the final summary: false teachers and theologians are diligent in investigating new dogmas. Each boasts of his own mysteries. Were we to remain at this point, it would be enough. It is not that they pretend that it is a secret. Yet they themselves want to teach secrets. However, it is quite clear: He appeared alive after life. And so Paul thus warns us in order to preserve pure doctrine in the church of God.
In the last section,1 he gathered into a sort of summary the doctrine of religion in such a way that the world and all who err and perish are without excuse. After all, the mystery of religion which ought to be preached and taught has been sufficiently declared. Therefore
Paul urges this, that one should preserve sound doctrine in the church against various other theologians. Not yet satisfied with hav¬ ing stated the fact, he goes on with very clear words and depicts the doctrine that will develop and will be opposed to sound doctrine.
To believe in Christ and to be justified by faith is the principal point of the Gospel. This idea Satan hates most of all; therefore Christ and the apostles observe it most of all. Therefore they urge that they preserve this pure point. Thus the entire epistle is directed against the spirits that are about to deny Christ. Thus Paul here describes the people who will in the future teach against the faith and this principle of religion. This happens immediately if a contempt for it develops. Nothing stirs the man whom this passage does not move.
Had they read this text, they would have been careful, but, etc. He himself does not want to prophesy; he calls upon the Spirit to witness absolutely. "I am not the only one who says this, but all the apostles, the spirits, all Christians establish it. That is, it is the responsibility of the Holy Spirit, who is in the bodies of the entire church. This has been foretold not only through the apostles but also through the evangelists and theologians. That is, this has been said openly, pub¬ licly, everywhere. I am not the only one to say it." What is this?
1. In later times some will depart. The Greek reads: "They will apostasize." This is apostolic. The nature of this departure from the faith is that it is a stubborn departure. More than this, there is a resistance to sound doctrine, just as heretics do. Not only do they depart in such a way as to deny faith, but they also stir up opposing sects, and, as they battle against sound doctrine, they become sedi¬ tious, as Korah did (cf. Num. 16). Not only did he depart from Moses in such a way that he refused to be obedient, but he also strove to abuse Moses and to establish himself. They strive and they battle so that the church is abused and destroyed as they set themselves up.
1 The lecture of Feb. 25 begins at this point.
Our Enthusiasts are not content to let us alone. If they could, they would suppress our words and not leave a syllable. In this way
Muntzer left not a syllable. That is, they not only depart but sharpen their horns against heaven. That is, this point of redemption will suffer. Not only will the doctrine of redemption perish in the church, but they will do battle against it so that in its place they will establish works. This Deuteronomy could prophesy (cf. Deut. 18:22). So also we can establish this point afresh. When we have established a chap¬ ter, we have theologians who neglect the principal point and bring in new, death-dealing, iconoclastic doctrines, as those earlier theolo¬ gians and Muntzer also did, who taught that this had to happen. They are so immersed in works that redemption itself perishes. To sum it all up: Where neither faith nor the Holy Spirit is present, there works are again reestablished. We feel sure that because the majority is without faith, therefore works influence the majority. Peter, who fell because of excessive conformity, declined food. There he was con¬ firming the laws of Moses — the idea that works are necessary (cf. Gal.
2:11-21). A majority —in fact, the entire Council of Jerusalem, with the exception of Paul — had the same problem. This passage is used by St. Jerome. Gregory, too, uses it. The Pelagians forced Augustine to use it.2 Otherwise it is nowhere in all the doctors. They pretended that they do not know that redemption by Christ is our righteousness, and they set up the righteousness of works and confidence in the flesh. He then explains this more broadly and beautifully in his own words. He has depicted it well elsewhere (2 Tim. 4:3-4): "They will turn away from the truth." "Their ears will itch, etc." It is the nature and experience of the masses that they acquire an aversion to sound and solid doctrine. Their ears willingly itch for something else, for they now have been prepared for and driven to the "deceitful spirits."
If one is not afire and is not seriously moved by the righteousness of faith, he becomes disgusted and opens the door for the devil: "Faith is a cheap thing," because it is spoken of in terms of its itching. It is a precious thing! This is admonition enough.
Of error. This point has been treated sufficiently elsewhere.3 Of 2 In 1538 Luther is reported as saying: "Augustine writes nothing especially good concerning faith except when he fights against the Pelagians. They awak¬ ened him and made a man of him." Cf. Dr. Martin Luthers Sainmtliche Schriften,
XXII (St, Louis, 1887), 1392.
3 Luther may be thinking of his treatise of 1522 Avoiding the Doctrines of Men, in which 1 Tim. 4:1-7 is discussed as one of the "Reasons from Scripture for Avoiding the Doctrines of Men." Cf. Luther's Works, 35, pp. 136—140.
[W, XXVI, 68, 69] demons. Some people want to make this out of it, that "of demons" means that he calls false apostles superhuman beings who have been inspired by demons, I am not aware of this practice in sacred litera¬ ture. Everywhere Paul uses "demons" for Satan. In Corinthians
(1 Cor. 8:4) he speaks about demons to whom food was offered. So also here, demons has the same meaning. This is a choice hidden word. "They will depart ... to doctrines." These words no one un¬ derstands unless he is spiritual-minded, because now follows
2. Through the pretensions. This hypocrisy, nevertheless, presents an attractive appearance. Unless the spirit is certain and pure in the righteousness of faith, one cannot understand or judge Paul. What
Paul calls "of error" must appear as the Spirit of truth. "To depart from faith" must mean to defend faith. In this way the apostates of faith have the name that they are the true church, that they are de¬ fending the faith against heresy. Thus the pope has this title; he rules the church and battles against heresy. We who are true Christians are the apostates. Therefore we must look at these words carefully with the apostle himself bearing witness, because he says, "through pretensions." Where hypocrisy exists, there is so good an appearance that the whole world is deceived, except those who have the Spirit.
There is nothing which looks better than hypocrisy. It carries the title of God, Christ, righteousness, truth, church. It has the applause of the whole world. The papists have these titles. When they read them, they thought that they had to fight for the faith. Of liars. This deceives the world, the attractive appearance, the pomp of titles, works, and praises, because they tell their lies. Nevertheless, they have the power of error. This, we read in Thessalonians (2 Thess.
2:10), is hypocrisy. To them it is effectiveness, for hypocrisy is the effectiveness of error. If such a person were to say, "I am the devil, the father of lies," who would accept him? He would be without effectiveness. But he says, "I am truth, the Holy Spirit, God, Christ,
Scripture. Here is the Word of God, the Gospel." There it becomes an effectiveness. Also, good works must be added. Now he will have the power to be able to be very effective in telling his lies, as if he were speaking words of exceptional truth. This is what hypocrisy does. We are called hypocrites, liars. Whose consciences are seared.
This "seared conscience" has caused much debate. Almost all inter¬ preters pass it by. We shall explain, to the extent that the matter itself and the nature of other statements allow. It is not the natural con- [W, XXVI, 691 science. "They fear where there is nothing to fear" (Ps. 53:5).4 We have the same idea in Matt. 15. It is the nature of all hypocrites and false prophets to create a conscience where there is none, and to cause conscience to disappear where it does exist. There is no fear of God before them, etc. That is, they do not have a god who is God. "In vain do they worship Me (Matt. 15:9)." In the Hebrew, this is fear.
Consequently, the fear of God is located much more in the conscience than on the outside.5 From the conscience comes every doctrine, ac¬ cording to the way in which the conscience is influenced. It lives according to what it teaches. Thus it has a god who is not God.
Thus it errs both in doctrine and in worship. The erring conscience is seared. That is, it is seared by cauterization. Just as men or sheep are branded, so those consciences are branded by a false idea of doc¬ trine. With fear they create a conscience where there is no conscience.
Paul, then, is speaking about conscience according to the words he has proclaimed. These are the "doctrines of demons." Every doctrine creates a conscience; so this should be a false conscience and false idea about God. A monk imagines God sitting in heaven to look at his works and righteousness. In this situation he must live according to this rule and perform these works. If he does not, he commits a mortal sin. There he causes an erring conscience. That is, a con¬ science is brought in by force. This is not natural. The metaphor pleases me very much. It pleases me that he should call it a "seared" conscience, as if it had been branded by a hot iron. He does not say that the conscience has been cut off but that it has been branded to testify of the efficacy and power of that doctrine, as if he were saying:
"Fire is burning the flesh." Thus these men should have a righteous¬ ness of faith with greater enthusiasm, concern, diligence, and ardor, as if it were branded on them. He wants to say, then, that the mar¬ tyrs of the devil suffer more than those of God. That conscience en¬ dures because of great exertion. At the same time he indicates that the erring conscience is born of great exertion; much trouble and toil is involved, so that people must burn themselves over it, as it were.
They are drawn away from faith to works, which pull them in differ¬ ent directions day and night. This agrees with the sense of Scripture:
"They fear where there is nothing to fear." "They fear me (Matt.
15:8)." Also, "You will serve other gods." This is real searing. Every4 The text has "Ps. 13."
5 For fonte we have read froute.
[W, XXVI, 69, 70] where it is called trouble and toil. Here are two special evils: first, the false conscience and, second, the restless conscience. The false conscience comes from sin where there is no sin, and with great toil.
This is to work in vain.
3. Who forbid marriage. For the sake of example he has em¬ phasized two things that cannot escape us. The papists who have been restrained sin against the Holy Spirit. Their sins have come to that end. We must greatly praise the Holy Spirit because He has set down this rule. He has not set down rules about food and clothing. This surely has hit the pope, because under him these two are prohibited.
They make the excuse that this should be taken as reference to the Tatians,0 because they condemned marriage. Let us admit this: Al¬ though the Tatians did condemn and didn't want marriage because they said that no Christian should marry, they argue that the "he sows to his own flesh" of Galatians (6:8) means to take a wife. Therefore "he will reap corruption." I would like to respond to this. But they do not play the game fairly that Paul finds here. Look at the apostle and what he wants to say. He is speaking about those apostasies which militate against the righteousness of faith. Against that point they in¬ troduce as much hypocrisy as they can, as the pope does. Thus he teaches that virgins in the monastery and celibate priests have a holy state. You ought to give rewards to virgins and celibates. Thus the pope has established celibacy as the kind of life that would open heaven. There Christ is lost. Not only heaven does it earn but also eternal life. Chastity is looked upon as if one must earn grace thereby.
Take a look at the pope to see whether he does not teach everything this way. Whoever is obedient to the pope will be saved; whoever removes anything, etc. This is a curse against God and Peter and Paul. This constitutes searing a conscience, when men are forced to fulfill commands with great zeal and yet do not succeed. Hypocrisy develops from it, and they go against faith. He has seduced the entire world with chastity and the Mass. It is a very great thing in the papacy not to have a wife. Prostitution was condoned in the hope of future penitence, that he could provide indulgences for cases while others could not. He made it a part of the rule that a priest may not marry. However, he rescues himself as follows: "We force no one into the priesthood. We do not forbid it to the laity. If we did compel anyone, we allow free access to the priesthood." We say: "That state
0 Luther's Works, 44, p. 283 and n. 39.
[W, XXVI, 70, 711 of the clergy has been left free for heaven. You have not left it free but have formed countless kinds of monks, associations of men, priests — all of them deprived of this freedom." He leads no one into it! "You have come of your own free will. You have taken your vow out of your own freedom. Now keep it." You have not yet closed the apostle's mouth. If I should want to remain chaste, I could not except through my vow, which restrains me. You see, it forbids my taking on this state along with the ignorant. Yet I should have this freedom, because neither God nor man forbids these things. Here the captive assembly and the pope declare that there was a true prophecy about this very point. But Christ has left it free. "Whoever can," we read in Matthew (cf. Matt. 19:11). They forbid marriage. And enjoin abstinence from foods. "This relates to the Manichaeans, who used to forbid the killing of animals and picking of fruit for food, with the exception of apples. If there were some fruit on a tree and they would pick it, they would make the tree cry. But those handpicked
Manichaeans had been sent to cleanse the world. Therefore this is not a reference to the pope." 7 Look at their decrees: they prohibit more kinds of clothing and foods than the Jews, who do not forbid all kinds of meats but only pork and cloven-hooved animals. "We totally forbid on some days, etc." They do this to deceive the erring conscience, because a man tended to think: "God wants this," and so people would build up a guilt complex for themselves regarding their eating. Wine they still have let remain. Which. With this word he destroys even the authority of Moses. "You have foods. You may eat them. So, eat them! God has made them." He does not say "all animals," but "food." After all, there are many beasts we don't use for food. Snakes, toads, certain birds, cats, and crows are not consid¬ ered foods. God neither forbids nor commands their consumption.
What is useful as food we ought not forbid. We use meat, butter, etc.
No god, then, ought to forbid them, for they, along with other created things, are counted as food. So with this word, he goes back to Moses:
"And God saw that it was very good" (Gen. 1:12). Therefore one can¬ not forbid them without doing injury to their Creator. He cannot say that meat, butter, milk are bad. In hypocrisy, however, one must reg¬ ister a certain awe with these things to make men look righteous.
7 Luther is apparently quoting the interpretation others gave to this passage, but he does not indicate any specific commentator. Cf. Luther's Works, 44, p. 283 and n. 40.
Yesterday 8 we heard a magnificent point and text on behalf of Christian liberty on the opposite side. All other things — all externals — are free. Only one thing is needful (Luke 10:42), and that is the gen¬ eral truths of faith: to believe in God and to love one's neighbor. Any¬ thing which is not faith and love is totally free. All general dogmas militate against this freedom. Granted that in the beginning they be¬ gan to teach something beyond faith and love, they had to in order to fight against these prohibitions. So it is impossible to add something to our doctrine. He sees this as the future development. This is why he so carefully impresses this freedom with his great proclamations. There is power in hypocrisy, because those false apostles present the appear¬ ance of apostles, the appearance of theologians. Paul concedes: there is a spirit, there is a doctrine, there is a departure. But what kind?
It is apostasy, not from wickedness but from faith. Although they are capable of many different things, they want to appear to be anything else rather than an apostasy. The sum of righteousness is faith; the sum of the Law is charity. There there is need for the Spirit, who knows those who remain in the fullness of the Law and who will make their judgments easily. They are of the Spirit! They boast of the Spirit.
They want to appear Spirit-filled. But they are "deceitful spirits." Thus they flaunt their doctrine, they want to be useful and teach it. There is nothing less in their mouth than to urge men to have confidence in their spirit. But this is devilish doctrine. So Paul says that such a one speaks pure lies, pure hypocrisy. And this is an effective lie; it spreads like cancer, because it has the look of the Spirit, of doctrine, of depar¬ ture from wickedness, though it goes exactly in the opposite direction.
Beyond these concerns, I see a grammatical stumbling block. Here the context says more. "Lies" seems to be construed with "demons," as if demons speak lies and have their consciences seared and forbid mar¬ riage. The text is construed as follows: "Giving heed to erring spirits and to demoniac doctrines of those who speak lies in hypocrisy."9
With this Hebraism he sets up a hazy grammatical construction to which we are not accustomed. In Latin we express this with possessives, so it is a stumbling block. Yet he manages to let it have its effect.
Paul clearly offends in another construction. He has "who forbid mar¬ riage and abstinence from foods" without connecting verb. Here Paul
8 The lecture of Feb. 26 begins at this point. The text is obviously incorrect in registering Feb. 25. See p. 308 above.
9 Luther arranges the Latin words so that the syntax of the Greek text dominates.
[W, XXVI, 72] seems to watch his grammar too little. They do not prohibit abstinence but command it. Paul intended to say: "They forbid marriage and abstain." The text evidently is in harmony, because it advises against censuring the spirits that forbid foods. In many places in his epistles
Paul has a way of being forgetful of the rules of grammar because of the fervency of the Spirit. He has his own dvcutoSota,10 for that one has to make allowances. It is impossible for those who are speaking in the fervor of the Spirit to observe the rules of grammar at the same time. Italians intent on expressing something offend in their language.
In this prophecy we have at the same time an exhortation that we avoid those things. I could not be warned away from monkery by a warning more serious than that. In the first place, faith is attacked, and the devil is operating here. Whatever you want to do in your monastic order, he teaches because you owe it to works that your people are saved, this is diametrically opposed to faith. Why, then, should I be in a monastery, which faith does not influence? In the second place, the spirit is erring doctrine. Not only does it take away the doctrine of faith, but it also misleads into error about an error. This is not simply a single error. If anyone once errs, there is no stopping, as in the pap¬ acy, where they began to make the Mass a sacrifice, a salable work.
The Mass was first used for the dead, for whoremongers, the greedy, and usurers. There was no limit to the abuse of Masses. Then food, obedience, and chastity came next. The Enthusiasts wandered away from faith, the Sacrament of the Altar, and Baptism. They fell at original sin. All of Christ became nothing. I tell you: If you have been snatched away from true doctrine once, there is no limit to your erring. In the third place, it is a doctrine, but Satan invented it. It came from hell. In those three words you have Paul's lament over the situation. The effective cause is its author, the devil. The fruit of this doctrine is to err without limit, to have the devil as your master and to err without limit. Then it produces great difficulty and bother. To err is always to have the devil as your master in your greatest crisis and difficulty, and then to lose faith and Christ, your Head. Should any¬ one digest this passage carefully, he would receive thorough instruc¬ tion against wicked theologians and Satan. Who would want to remain in the clergy? God created those things for food. This they cannot deny, even as the pope does not deny that they are all foods. If this
10 Rhetorical devices in which high emotion causes a speaker or writer to produce incomplete sentences, or sentences "without apodoses," that is, without concluding clauses.