Purgatory
O n True and Fal s e R elig io n time you feign love , it i s evident that you are a great hypo crite.
For love sympathizes , runs to aid , lifts up ; but you do none of these things, but things of no avail .
If you wish to pray and sing psalms , pray and sing psalms , but without expecting pay ; for the expectation of pay i s inconsistent with Christian love .
We cannot serve God and Mammon , i . e. , riches " [cf. Mt . 6 :
I do not want to dwell at tedious length upon this matter, for I think that everybody can easily see from the meaning of religion that hired prayers and psalms are of as little us e as if you should agree for a reward to be righteous for somebody else .
And even those pray, I think , who when holding the pl oughT handle feel admiration and reverence for the power of Almighty God in the very soil , and in the seed , and who are grateful for His bounty , even though they never utter a word ; for it is the heart that prays .
And as to the Christians con
stantly praying, and praying together, in the early times, it can be done in church today also , only let it be praying and n ot the wanton tickling of the fancy with chanting .
Let us , then , pronounce the collects plainly in the language understood by the congregation , * that all may pray together following the words of him who is leading .
Yet, let every church have its own custom ; for the same thing is not adapted to all , but every thing , as far as its source is concerned , should proceed from the same piety, and what does n ot proceed therefrom should be quietly abolished .
See now what merit amounts to .
We owe blamelessness to the Lord , and even if we could offer it (which is impossible) , we should still be unprofitable servants [ cf. Lk .
1 7:
We are sons and heirs [ cf. Rom . 8 : n ot servants ; we do n ot, therefore, serve for reward .
PURGATORY
Holy Scripture knows nothing of the fire of purgatory in the sense used by the theologians, but the mind of man knows it well , for by means of this false notion of the fire of purga tory, such wealth has been heaped up that the riches of Croesus and the Hyperboreans and the gems of India are cheap in comparison .
For this is what the mind of man thought up , "That i s, th e local language instead of Lati n.
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as you may see somewhere in Origen :
Some men g o hence who are n ot utterly bad ; why, then , shoul d they be thrust into everlasting punishment ?
Others go hence who are n ot wholly good ; why, then , shoul d they be admitted at once into the company of the blessed ?
This argument h as some appear ance of soundness and , accordi ng to Paul 's words , Col . some show of wisdom , but in ézyexmypnfl ei a [will-worship] , i . e. , the religion which is the product of the human will . But if you confront it with the word of God , it will vanish like dust before the face of the wind [ cf. Wisdom of Solomon If we do not do this , we shall be abandoned by the Lord just as the people of Israel were once left to their own devices and perished in them , as in Psalm 81 : 1 2 -1 3 David indicates , speak ing in the character of God :
"But my pe0p1e heard not my voice , and Israel hearkened not to me .
So I let them g o according to the des ires of their heart : they shall walk in their
" But what greater presumption can there be than to declare that in the other world things are just as you have happened to picture them to yourself?
We shoul d listen to what the Lord God says within us , not to what presumptuous own inventions . reason invents within us , which , as soon as it has cunningly produced anything that it hopes will seem probable to every body, immediately sallies forth to win glory .
This state of mind we ought to leave to the Gentiles, as Paul h as finely taught, Eph . 4 : 1 7, in this fashion :
"This I say therefore , and testify in the Lord, that ye henceforth walk n ot as other Gen tiles walk in the vanity of their mind .
See how he calls our devices the vanity of the mind .
There follows :
"Being dark ened in their understanding, alienated from the life of God, because of the ignorance that is in them , because of the blind ness of their heart, " etc . We should not, therefore , walk in the way of our minds and devices .
Since, then , a purgatory ( for the custom has long pre vailed of so naming this illusory expiation in fire) can nowhere be afli rmed from the Word of God , h ow is it that we are so stupid as to believe in such vapid and suspicious nonsense , when we see, forsooth , that those who affirm a purgatory teach in what ways its fires can be quenched, and in the same breath offer their aid for hire ?
They bid you give gold , for by this
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( for in that way the soul was hurt rather than helped) , and that everyone should give as much as he could .
And did they n ot cheat both high and low with this transparent nonsense ?
Wh o, pray, is so senseless as not to see that such utter blindness could n ot have been so widespread unless the Lord had inflicted it upon us because of our unbelief ?
Since , therefore , we have n ow recovered our sight, so that we see plainly that those who trust in Christ are the sons of God and come n ot into judg ment [ cf. Jn . let us no longer suffer ourselves to be held captive by such foolish lies .
I will show, therefore , certain unequivocal passages by which it will be established that purgatory cannot even exist, much less does exist .
And this again from the "Reply to Emser .
[For this quotation from the "Reply to Emser see below pp . 394-396 ]
Thus I spoke on purgatory in answer to Emser, with words few but strong in the Lord .
But since several passages have so long been bent to serve their purposes that they think them too fixed for anyone to bend back I will deal with several of them .
Christ, wishing to guard against His followers wrangling with each other in daily quarrels , wished to keep them from quarreling by reasoning of this sort .
Because it often happens in courts that the man who had expected to wi n the case comes off beaten , it i s a risky thing to go to law ; therefore , if His fol lowers would not refrain from quarreling from other consid erati ons, let them at least allow their differences to be composed
"Agree with thine adversary as quickly as possible , while thou art still with him in the way ; lest in any wise it come to pass that the from fear of the risk .
He therefore says , Matt . 5 : 25-26 : adversary deliver thee to the judge, and the judge deliver thee to the officer, and thou be cast into prison .
V erily I say unto thee , Thou shalt by no means come out thence , till thou hast paid the last farthing . "
From this passage our sweet friends think they have proved that there is a purgatory, though by these words Christ intended absolutely nothing else than to dissuade from quarreling certain hard , unyielding persons who think that all men have the same feelings and selfish
O n Tru e a nd Fal s e R elig i o n expectations as themselves .
To these , then , that sometimes happens which they had prepared for others ; they were hop ing , namely , to win gain along with the disgrace of their adver sary, but the opposite resulted ; for they were often cast into prison themselves , and afterwards were compelled to stay there until with poverty, hunger, and all the many other pun i shm ents usually inflicted they had made satisfaction for all that was due .
That this is the real meaning is proved by Luke, who in thus expresses the same idea :
"And as thou are going with thine adversary before the ruler, * on the way give diligence to be quit of him ; lest haply he drag thee unto the judge , and the judge deliver thee to the exacter,
" etc .
See how he plainly calls " him to whom you go with your adversary . St . Ambroset understood this passage in this sense as far as the language is concerned , for he says,
"ruler "While thou goest with thine adversary to the magistrate , " although he afterwards tries to find a different, allegorical sense , as was the custom of his time .
But how can the Holy Scriptures help it , if turning a clear and unadulterated expression into a mystical on e you go looking for knots in a bulrush ? Chrysos tomI and Th eophylact§ assent to this idea . Hilary * * in his
Canons comes to the conclusion that the language is to be inter preted according to the drift of the teaching in the passage , and the teaching here is the desirability of pardoning and being reconciled , as is shown with perfect clearness in what imme di ately precedes .
Jerom eH quotes the views of many, and so obscures hi s own that you come away knowing less than before .
The second passage is Matt . 1 8 : 34-35 , where Christ wishes by the parable of the unmerciful servant to teach that unless we forgive we shall not be forgiven .
He says , finally, of the wicked servant :
"And his lord was wroth , and delivered him to the tormentors, till he should pay all that was due .
S 0 shall * Dri ncipem : so th e L ati n Vulg ate.
Gk . d p x o v r a .
?E a 'posi ti on of the Gospel a ccor di ng to L a ke, bk . VII , ch . 1 54 . i Commentary on M a tth ew, Homi ly 2 0, ch . 2
§E xp osi ti on of th e Gospel of M a tthew ( on M att . 5 : 25f. ) and Empoai ti on of the Gospel of L u ke ( on Luke 1 2 :
" Commentary on th e Gospel of M a tthew, chap . IV, 19 .
TTTra/ ns la ti on of the H omi li es of Orig i n on th e Gospel of Lu ke, Homi ly 35 .
Al so hi s Commen tar y on the Gospel of M a tthew, bk . I , chap . 5 .
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also my heavenly Father do unto you, if ye forgive not every on e his brother from your hearts .
Here our friends launch
"Christ says here that the heavenly Father will do to us as was done to the wicked servant .
He will not, therefore , let us out of the punishment of purgatory until we have paid all that is due .
To them I answer, or rather not I , but the Truth itself : This parable is preceded by a discussion about forgiveness , in which to Simon out in this fashion :
's question about pardon ing Christ replies [M t . 1 8 :
"I say n ot unto thee , until " (must we pardon our brother, to wit) "but, until seventy times seven . seven times "
Now follows [M t .
"Therefore is the kingdom of heaven likened unto a certain king, wh o woul d make a reckoning with his servants ,
" etc .
In saying " He made it plain that the parable which He immediately subjoined was intended to encourag e forgiveness and to teach justice .
This He brought out in the prayer , in Matthew in which God requires that if we wish to be forgiven we ourselves also shall forgive, teaching us to pray , "Forgive us our debts , as we forgive our debtors .
"Therefore , "
By this parable , then , Christ simply wished to teach that, as we con ' we offend countless times every day, so we , too, ought always to forgive .
For He says , in the character of the king who was wroth against the unmerciful servant [M t . 1 8 : ti n ually wi sh to be forgiven by the heavenly King, whom
"Thou wicked servant, I forgave thee all that debt, because thou b esoughtest me ; shouldst not thou also have had mercy on thy fellow-servant, even as I had mercy on thee ?
Here they urge :
'He was delivered to the tormentors till he should pay ' and , having paid that according to the laws all that was due, of the country, he was of course let out .
Therefore when those who owe a debt to the justice of God have paid the debt in suffering, they will be let out.
" I answer : First, you seem to think of a parable just as if it were an actual event, although this is of little consequence , except that you must always let a parable be a parable .
In parables there are many details which do not altogether square with the things illustrated by them .
For instance [M t. 1 0:
"A disciple is n ot above his master "
; it does n ot follow, therefore, no one can ever surpass his master .
That is true only in the case of Christ, not of others .
And no
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They do away with Him who set up a purgatory ; nay, if we can go to heaven by means of purgatory also , they make Him a liar when He said that through Him alone is access to the Father possible [cf. Jn . 1 4 :
But g ig Kép a m ; [to perdition] with these torturers of souls and executioners of consciences, plot ters against pocket -books , wh o for the sake of their bellies have invented a way to torture the souls of the dead in our hearts rather than in reality, and thereby to squeeze out money in order that it may be well with themselves .
While they have inflicted upon the dead weeping , sadness, and torture , though falsely, in doing this they have themselves found most agree able and pleasant refreshment .
The third passage is Matt .
But whosoever shall speak against the Holy Spirit, it shall not be forgiven him , neither in this world , n or in the world to come .
From this passage they argue :
"Christ said that the si n against the Holy Ghost is n ot forgiven in th e world to come ; therefore certain sins are forgiven in the world to come , for only the si n against " I answer :
It is strange that they either have forgotten their own art or have n ot learned it properly .
For it i s no logical sequence this :
The si n against the Holy Ghost is not forgiven in this world , and is n ot forgiven in the Holy Ghost is not forgiven in the world to come .
' the world to come ; therefore certain sins are forgiven in the world to come .
For h ow can a correct conclusion be drawn from negatives ?
The proper argument is this : The si n against the Holy " Ghost is n ot forgiven in this world, nor is it forgiven in the world to come ; therefore it is never forgiven .
It is a case of disjunctive syllogism , as in the Apocalypse And the beasts rested n ot day and night .
" but, "Therefore they never rested .
The conclusion is not, Therefore they rested some time , "
And that by this distinction between this world and the world to come Christ meant to indicate eternity is brought out by Mark , 3 : 29 , when he says ,
" and by Luke , who says , shall not be forgiven .
"hath never* forgiveness, "
"Now if any man build upon this foundation gold , silver , precious stones , wood , hay, stubble ; every man -1 5 :
The fourth passage is I Cor . 3 : 1 2 's work shall be made manifest : for "i n a eternum non .
O n T ru e and Fal s e R elig i on the day shall declare it, because it i s revealed in fire ; and the fire shall prove every man 's work of what sort it is .
If any man s work abides which he hath built thereupon , he shall receive a reward .
If any man '
's work is burned , he shall suffer a loss : but he himself shall be saved ; yet so as through fire .
This most lucid passage of Paul they have so befouled in the soot of their purgatory , to the support of which they have twisted it , that men otherwise of keenest scent have been unable to smell out its native sense .
I shall , therefore , give the sense of this passage , not from my own idea but from that of Paul himself, and of Jerome * on Ezekiel , Ch . 3 : 1 8 -1 9 .
To build , then , in this passage is to preach .
The foundation is Christ .
The work which is built is those who have received the word .
The fire is the trial or persecution which is inflicted at God " etc . [ cf. I Cor .
The gold , silver, gems , are those who have so thor "Thou hast tried me with fire , 's decree : oughly received Christ that they would die rather than betray
Him .
The wood, hay , and stubble are those who believe for the moment , or perhaps only pretend to believe , and in the time of trial desert Christ [cf. Mt .
1 3 : 20
Let us now see the argument that Paul makes here , and having seen it let us then measure the whole idea by it , and new light will arise upon us .
When Paul learned that certain men at Corinth were setting a high value upon themselves, on the ground that they were more learned or more eloquent than himself, he most courteously warned them not to allow themselves to be drawn away from his simple teaching by any pretence of learning or of eloquence .
He was not, he admitted , an extraor dinarily clever speaker, though he lacked nothing necessary to the suitable setting forth of the heavenly teaching .
There were also other learned men , but how far they excelled him the Corinthians coul d n ot easily judge , being still i n experi enced when he was teaching in their midst .
He was , he said, i n the habit of employing every means in order to win as many for Christ as possible .
When , therefore, he had been with them before , he had not forthwith disclosed the most abstruse parts of his teaching, because that would have been a vai n attempt with persons who were then not capable of "Commen tary on Ezeki el , Bk . I , ch . 3 .
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receiving them .
Now he was very greatly displeased because some of them had heard him with such dul l ears that they coul d endure to be called followers of Apollos or of Peter or of Paul .
These were all , he said, ministers of the word and builders of the house , that is, the church , of God , upon the true foundation , Christ .
He was n ot so covetous of glory as to grieve that others should now be preferred to himself, or so envious as to be unable to endure that the fame of others should increase .
Yet, he had always anxiously striven to teach to the best of his ability, and he doubted n ot that the others also desired to have the same thing thought of them which he , Paul , proclaimed of himself .
Therefore he says [cf. I Cor .
3 : 9
"We are God 's fellow-workers , all of us who teach ; ye are God 's building or work .
But 's husbandry, that is, God as for me , I will render an account of my labor .
According to the grace of God which was given unto me , after the example of wise master-bui lders I have laid a solid foundation which cannot be shaken , namely, Christ .
Now I see others building thereon , and I send every man to himself in this matter .
Let every man take heed how he buildeth thereon .
For as far as the foundation that I have laid is concerned , I have no fear that any man can lay other foundation ( if only he be minister of Christ) than that which is laid, which is Jesus Christ .
And if any one has made some men so strong in Christ that when persecution comes it can have as little efl 'ect upon them as fire upon gold and silver and gems, it is certainly evi dent how faithful ly and skilfully he built who administered the word, since his hearers would sooner lose their lives than the word .
But if anyone h as handled the word so coldly that when persecution comes the hearers disappear as wood and hay and stubble are consumed by fire , the carelessness or faithlessness of the builder, of which until then no one was aware , wi ll become manifest .
'The day reveals all things , ' as also heathen writers have said .
So , too , this day of the Lord , in which he shall reveal what was hitherto hid , will uncover all things .
I am n ot speaking of the last day, but of the day in which it pleases God to uncover what was for some time concealed and what he has thus far been willing to wink at.
On that day , therefore, the teaching of all is proved as by fire . If any man 's
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unless he is a Christian .
How , pray , does the state differ from the church ?
I mean in regard to the external habits and asso ci ati on s of life ; for as far as the heart is concerned , I am well aware that the only church of Christ is that which trusts in Christ, while the state can be content if you show yourself a faithful citizen , even if you do not trust in Christ .
The state demands that you serve the commonweal , n ot your own ; that dangers be shared in common , and fortun es also , if necessity arises ; that no on e exercise a selfish prudence ; that no one exalt himself ; that no one stir up strife .
See now, alongside of thes e few things, what the church
of Christ requires . is not intent upon her own interest, but upon that of others .
Paul reminds us in many a passage that love "Wh o is caused to stumble , and I burn not?
Who is weak, and I am In the second place, he says [II Cor .
He bids us weep with them that weep , and rejoice with them that rejoice [Rom . 1 2 : not weak ?
In the third place , the believer demands not from a believer that he share his fortune with him , but the believer puts all his fortune in his girdle to be ready to help whenever occasion requires [cf. Acts 2 : 45 , I do not wish to treat here as it deserves that sw un g, [festering sore] from which those trouble -makers* are suffering, even though they deny it with as much shamelessness as persistence . Their eager ness shows what they have in mind, namely, community of all things, a condition which I with my slender resources could cheerfully endure, but God would n ot endure that any man should be robbed of his own .
For Peter says to Ananias [Acts 5 : 4] "Was it n ot possible for thee not to sell what thou hast sold ( I paraphrase his words) , "and to keep it in thy power ?
And, on the other hand , after thou hadst sold it was it n ot again in thy power ?
"If thou wouldest be perfect, says Christ [M t. 1 9 '
"go and sell all that thou hast, and give to the poor .
If thou wouldest, He says ; He did not rob , nor bid the poor rob , the rich young man of his own .
In the fourth place, Peter enjoins, I Pet. 4 : 1 0, that every man should minister for the general good the grace he has
"The Anabapti sts .
O n Tru e a nd Fal s e R elig i on received ; for that is becoming to stewards of the manifold grace of God, etc .
Further , Paul bids us pursue humility [Rom .
And Christ Himself almost threateningly proclaims that they that exalt themselves shall be humbled
[cf. Mt . 23 :
Finally , factious strife is so generally depre cated that there is not a single one of the other Apostles wh o does not expressly condemn it .
How, then , as I had begun to say , does the life of the Christian church , as far as those things which we see are con cerned, differ from the life of the state ?
It does not differ at all , for each one demands what the other demands .
But as far as the inner man is concerned there is a vast difference .
The citizen is compelled by the laws to show himself such and such a man towards his fellow-citizens ; but we do in an insin cere and rather unfaithful way the things we are compelled to do .
The result is that, if you can look out for your own advantage contrary to the law but without being found out, you will not neglect to do it .
This is n ot the case with the Christian state , that is , the church .
For they that have the spirit of Christ are His [cf. Rom . and they that are Christ 's do all things in accordance with His character and will .
He so loved us that He gave Himself for us [cf. Eph .
5 :
We sh all , therefore , also do the same , if we have His spirit .
Accordingly, we shall love all men as ourselves , and if we love them we shall neglect nothing that concerns the safety of our neighbors .
If, therefore, you add love to the character of citizen , fraudul ent zeal for indivi dual advantage will disappear .
Since , therefore , the spirit of Christ h as that which the state particularly needs , nothing more auspicious can come to the state than love ; and since the gospel brings this with it, it is evident that the state becomes strong and holy
' only in case good hearts are united with good laws .
No state , therefore, will be happier than that in which also true religion dwells .
What I have said , then , of the state should be understood much more of civil office ; for the magistrates are the head of the state, as it were , and if the members should properly have this character, much more should the head itself .
Hence I declare , quite differently from what our friends hold , that a
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magistrate cannot even be just and righteous unless he be a Christian .
Take away from the magistrate, who is above the fear of man , the fear of God, and you make him a tyrant .
Infuse into the tyrant the fear of God, and of his own accord he will do more freely and faithfully what the law orders than any terror could have caused him to ; and out of a tyrant you will make a father on the pattern of Him whom as a result of faith he begins to fear and to serve , namely, God .
But here they meet us with this :
"The church of Christ ought to be so blameless as to have absolutely n o need of magistrates ; for Christians do n ot quarrel but yield .
They do n ot carry their wrongs to court [ cf. I Cor . but if smitten upon on e cheek turn the other also " [cf . Mt .
I answer : May we , indeed, have such a church !
At present, however, when these very persons who demand such blamelessness as is quite justly demanded of us by God but not by those wh o do nothing that is rights—when , I say, these men themselves are so hope lessly far from practicing what they demand so loudly ( for no on e i s so ready at backbiting) , what, pray, do they expect of those who do not trust in God ?
Or do they, perhaps, repudi ate the magistracy because they know their own very great propensity for backbiting, and fear that someone may not patiently endure their backbiting but enter complaint before a magistrate , so that they can n o longer with impunity indulge in it or without danger scheme to get others ' goods under pretence of devotion to Christ ?
For as this class of men finds great fault with the most blameless for every little thing, so, as soon as you place their malady before their own eyes , they cry out :
"Why judgest thou me ?
To my Lord I stand or fall "
[cf. Rom .
See h ow our friends have no need of tribunals !
Of course , if you bear all the wrongs they inflict and do not strike back, and if you suffer them with impunity to make all sorts of trouble over trifles, these persons have indeed no need of tribunals .
I say , on the contrary , that just on account of these persons who declare that a Christian cannot administer a magistracy we very greatly need the magistracy ; and why should we not have a Christian magis trate to decide . between Christians rather than one who is a stranger to Christ ?
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' man i s not truly pious wh o refuses to bear this burden which the state imposes upon him .
Second, they are wrong in not understanding that Chri st is speaking here of a tyranny rather than of a monarchy or an aristocracy conferred by con sent of the people or by the calling of God upon on e to whom the cfli ce of preaching the word has n ot been committed .
I call it tyranny when dominion is assumed on one the 's own author ity .
If one man does this, he is a tyrant, and his sway is called a tyranny ; if several , not all but some few , arrogate dominion to themselves, the Greeks called it an oligarchy .
Tyranny, then , Christ altogether forbids ; on the other hand , as even in a flock of sheep there must be some ram that leads the rest, so also there must be some headship in every state .
But here care must be taken not to apply to the tyranny of certain Popes what I am saying about civi l magistracy .
These persons, then , treating the word from the point of view of knowledge rather than of Christian love, fall into the mistake of eliminating all magisterial offices, even the just and lawful ones of which we especially have need for preserving peace and quiet .
To their objection that Christians should endure all things and do all things that the Law commands , and therefore have n o need of magistrates , I answer : Right indeed .
As long, therefore , as we do n ot all live after this fashion , although we all never th eless wish to be called Christians, there must be restraint and delay, nay, absolute silence , on the part of Christians in this matter of n ot administering civil office , lest we abolish a thing that is most necessary before we have secured that for the sake of which we want it abolished .
Why continue ?
These fellows have no other object than to create disorder .
Wh o has ever seen anywhere such universal blamelessness , or where in the world will one ever expect everybody to pursue blame lessness so eagerly, that n o one sins ?
Since , therefore , there have always been those wh o under the guise of piety indulge in the same reckless course as the impious, we must also always have magistrates , and above all Christian magistrates in a Christian people .
Then only must the magistracy be abolished when wrongdoing has been so thoroughly abolished that no man sins either with tongue or in deed .
But this will be in the other world ; for to this one the enjoyment of such perfect
O n Tru e a nd Fal s e R elig i on blamelessness h as been denied .
For God 's sake , then , let them , I beg , stop , being wise in these matters , in which it is clearer than day that they are after nothing but to make a disturb ance and to get renown in one way or another .
Moreover, the insubordination of these brawlers is such that they will obey neither a Christian nor an impious magistrate .
If the magis trate is a Christian , as soon as he interferes with them , they say , " albeit nothing is ordered that does not conduce to the glory of God and the peace of the community .
I will give an example .
Certain persons recently began to have themselves rebaptized in the Zurich territory . * The authorities , therefore , that is the Coun cil and the Two Hundred , investigated the matter and forbade further rebaptizing .
The fellows answered that we must obey God rather than man .
When they were told to bring out, then , the law of God by which they taught rebaptism was instituted , they produced what is written in Acts 1 9
5 about those who had been better taught by Paul .
Though they had n ot a right un derstanding of this passage , they yet said that they had been
"We must obey God rather than you , taught by the Holy Spirit, and that they must obey God rather than man .
See what a door they ar e trying to open to all vi ces under pretence of religion , persisting as they do in these devices of their own invention and daring to defend all their presump tion with the assertion , "We must obey God rather than you , " even when manifes tly they are acting agai nst all love .
If they carry their point , thi s defence of the Apostles wil l become a laughing -stock , for everybody wi ll fin d somewhere in Scrip ture words that he ca n distort into an excuse for his i rreg ul ari
"God is to be obeyed rather than you .
A man will take to polygamy and marry many wives , and say that Jacob di d so, and David and Solomon and numberless others , as Scripture tells us ; that, therefore , he is answerable to God rather than to the authorities .
See what a handle they furnish the Roman Pontiff for di nnin g into all men ties , and then say :
's ears, "Look at your teachi ng .
Do you not see h ow wisely your fathers acted in constituting me the on e and only judge of the Holy Scriptures ?
And they furnish the same sort of handl e "Thi s wa s i n Janua ry, 1 525, in th e vill ag e of Zolli con, si x mil es from Zur ich .
Th e Wo rks of Huldreich Zwing li to those that cry for Councils ; for when everyone walks accord ing to his own notion , all men again compel the calling of Councils .
But that n o man may think there is disagreement in that teaching which has to do with the inner man , they confine their raging to these points and similar ones :
Are infants to be baptized or n ot?
Are adults to be rebaptized ?
Also this present knotty problem , whether a Christian can administer a civil office .
In regard to these they fight so sharply and so bitterly that, the minute you differ from them , they call you by n o gentler names than impious fellow , (i d eas
[atheist] , traitor ; and they say that this shows an ardent spirit .
But who does n ot see that this is a very temptation of Satan , wh o always dares to sow tares among the good seed [cf. Mt .
1 3 : 25] I beg all , therefore, as does Paul , Rom . to be of the same mind always, and n ot to cause such great ofience to the gospel of Christ for a trifle ; not to "mind high things , but to condescend to things that are lowly, " not with the feigned humility that is reproved in Col . 2 : 1 8 ; and n ot to "be wise in their own conceits, etc .
But if the magistrate is not pious (to come back to the second alternative) , they think they have a Special right not to obey him .
Thus does the Evil One transform himself into an angel of light [cf. II Cor . that he may be able to drag the conscience back to its primal unhappy state .
I am forced by their contentiousness to say these things about these quarrelsome persons, that others may be able to take measures earlier against such a plague , if it ever appears among them .
For the kingdom of God is not meat and drink , and consequently cannot be attained through any of the ele ments of this world . It is righteousness , peace , and joy in the Holy Spirit [cf. Rom .
How base is it, therefore , for those who wish to be looked up to on account of their religion to do combat for the elements of this world as if for the sum and substance of all piety, even if they had a distinct law for their course !
For even the word must be dispensed with love as guide .
Now I come back to other testimony, with which to con firm the view that a magistrate among Christians ought by all means to be a Christian .
For it is already clear enough that
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by votes .
Bear, then , and endure any tyranny which does n ot interfere with faith ; for it happens n ot in vain that you live under an impious ruler .
God is either pun ishing your sins or testing your patience .
But if the ruler attempt to wrest your faith from you , you will snap out even in this unpleasant situation :
" [Acts 5 : 29] At the same time , remember that although the children of Israel were "One must obey God rather than man ' for a long time cruelly afflicted by the despot of Egypt, yet God had regard unto their affii cti on and brought them out with tremendous disaster to those who had hitherto oppressed them , and that God remains ever the same .
If, there fore, He then looked upon , pitied, and rescued His own , neither will He ignore or neglect you .
Paul writes to Timothy, I Tim . 2 : 1 -2 :
"I exhort there fore, first of all, that entreaties, prayers , intercessions , suppli cations, be made for all men ; for kings , and for all that are in high place ; that we may lead a quiet and tranquil life in all godliness and gravity , " etc .
Here first consider whether a more quiet and peaceful life can be led under an impious ruler or under a pious on e.
But if we may pray for a condition of peace, surely we may also pray that God will grant us a pious rul er, in order that peace and concord may better be secured .
Since, therefore , it is not unbecoming for God to give us such a ruler, why should it be unbecoming for a pious man to admin ister that which the Lord offers of Himself ?
I am speaking all along of the authorities we call lay authorities, not of the tyranny which the Roman Pontifl 's have arrogated to them selves .
Then , consider this also, that if we may pray that we may lead a life of all godliness and gravity , surely we may also pray that rulers may be inducted into office under whom godliness and honesty and gravity of life may attain the fullest measure possible .
And this we shall secure more successfully under pious than under impious rulers .
The Apostles everywhere enjoin upon slaves to obey their masters : I Pet .
Paul , I Cor . 7: 21
-22 ; Eph . 6 : 5
-8 ; Col .
3 : 22 ; I Tim . 6 : 1
-2 .
On the other hand , Paul at the same time enjoins upon masters to govern impartially and to treat their servants kindly .
Can that be twisted so as to apply to impious masters ?
As if, indeed , the impious woul d have deigned even
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to look at the writings of the Apostle , much less to listen to and to obey him !
He writes , therefore , for believing masters , as i s clearly evident from I Tim . 6 : 2 , where he says :
"And servants that have believing masters , let them not despise them , because they are brethren ; but let them serve them the rather because
But if he could be a Chris tian who had slaves , much more can a Christian administer a civil offi ce without detriment to piety and the word of God .
For it is harder to be a master than a magistrate ; and it is nearer cruelty to have slaves than for the sake of the public tran quillity to have citizens obedient to you . they are believing and beloved .
I will now come to examples .
We read in Gen . 1 4 : 1 4 how large a number Abraham had of slaves born on the estate .
Marvelous , too , was the extent and difficulty of the domin ion held by Moses at the bidding of the Lord Himself .
And he held it by the method of ordering the most serious cases brought before himself, which could scarcely have failed to arouse suspicion if he had not been so thoroughly faithful in the house of the Lord , Heb . 3 : 2 .
What shall I say of Joshua and the others , all of whom were put in authority at the word and bidding of God ?
We shall never be able to bring up anything to prove that a pious man may not lawfully administer a magisterial office as long as we continue to live in such a way that some men have to be restrained from wrongdoing . Therefore these people
"It is our own fault, then , that we are compelled to have magistrates , since we do n ot live according to Christ say ( for they will do any sort of squirming) s directions ; for if we di d so live , we shoul d have no need at all of magistrates .
I answer :
Wh o denies that ?
Hold the view , therefore , and teach it in all the corners where you conspire together, that Christians ought to lead such a blameless life that they can have no need of magistrates .
As it is, therefore , since you see that the life of all men is such that we have need of very stern magistrates , and at the same time you loudly protest again and again that Chris tians ought not to have magistrates , do you fancy that it is hard to see what you are aiming at ?
At confusion of all things , forsooth .
Y ou keep trying to mix up everything with the idea
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of climbing to renown in some way .
Wh y do we not all strive to lead a perfectly blameles s life , and then the magistrates will not trouble us .
If we all in this fashion put on a garment of blamelessness , the magistracy will become a dead letter of itself ; for whom shall it smite with the sword when all are perfectly harmless ?
But, mark you ! take heed les t you rather pretend that such blamelessness can be than really expect it, with the view of getting as much reputation for piety out of this clever idea of yours as Plato wished to get for wisdom when b e arranged his Republic .
Why should I mention David, Solo mon , Asa, Josiah , Hezekiah , and others , when our friends are ready with the statement :
"Magistrates were necessary under the old law , but these external things do n ot apply to us " ?
Right indeed .
But this does apply to us : As long as we suffer from the same disease from which they suffered under the law, do we not also need the same remedy ?
We do .
No impious ruler was imposed upon the stiff-necked Jews until they had reached the limit of impiety ; and as soon as they forsook their impiety they were delivered from him and installed a ruler of their own nation and religion .
Christians also , therefore, recog ni zi ng the mercy of God, ought to appoint for themselves a Christian ruler , under whom to live in tranquillity and quiet .
For there are among them no fewer who are ready to do wrong than there were once among the Jews , and these must be restrained by punishments .
And while they are compelled to endure an impious ruler they ought to recognize their si n and understand that he has been set over them only on account of their impiety .
The pious , therefore , may lawfully choose a pious ruler, and a pious man may lawfully administer among the pious the office offered him .
But, as h as been said , it is well to support our position with examples from the New Testament also , in order to satisfy these persons .
"Erastus the treasurer of the city saluteth you .
We read in Rom . 1 6 : 23 :
" If a man is treasurer, is he not a person in author ity Though you deny this flatly , I say that not even a treas ur er, be he a person in authority or n ot, can administer this office without there being a person in authority who h as made him treasurer, either by his own power or in accordance with
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those who have thus far been in such fear of their words of censure may cease to tremble so at them .
Christ, in order that the church , His bride , might be kept guiltless [cf. Eph . 5 : commanded, Matt .
-1 7:
"And if thy brother sin against thee, go and show him his fault between thee and him alone : if he hear thee, thou hast gained thy brother .
But if he hear thee not, take with thee on e or two more, that at the mouth of two or three witnesses every word may be established .
And if he shall refuse to hear them , tell it unto the church ; and if he refuse to hear the church , let him be unto thee as the Gentile man and a publican .
In the first place , here we see excom muni cati on inflicted for a si n , n ot for interest and other debts , which are to be collected by the power of the courts when you are unwilling to remit them .
Here fall to the ground the bulls, briefs , and diplomas with which the Roman Pontiff (and in naming him I mean the whole Papal hierarchy, i . e. , whatever has sworn to obey his laws) has worried the whole church of Christ ; for these have chiefly been used because of pecuniary disagreements and differences in regard to property, not because of the offence caused by sin .
Second , it is required that you meet the sinner alone and admonish him in a friendly way .
Here the Pontifical crowd sin again .
For as soon as it pleases them , they summon to their tribunal before the whole congre g ati on some unsuspecting person , very often an innocent one .
See what an atrocious exercise of power !
No king or presiding officer but first calls the offender before himself ; but these fellows cover with shame before the whole congregation an innocent man , or on e wh o has suspected nothing of the sort , and thunder out :
"Judge So -So admonishes this person to satisfy this other within a fortnight, or he will be excommuni
-and "
There th e e yes of all were instantly turned upon the poor astounded fellow, and he was not allowed to utter a syllable cated ! or to plead his case, to protest against the wrong or to defend his innocence ; for if so much as even the feeblest sound had escaped him , it would have been all up with the poor wretch.
And I am inclined to think that the great king of the Persians dealt with his subjects less roughly and barbarously ; whose habit they tell us it was from early times to compel all who approached him first to brush and to kiss the dust with their
O n T ru e a nd Fal s e R elig i o n lips , and then to plead their case .
But this poor fellow of ours i s more than prostrated to the earth in the sight and hearing of all : with his case unheard , he is forced to depart convicted and condemned in the judgment of all .
Or if ever he is per mitted to plea d his cause , it happens in a corner , not in the public assembly, where he had received the blow .
Third , it is required that before you cast off vour brother you try speak
ing to him in the presence of witnesses ; so reluctantly does the church of Chri st resort to public punishment .
On the other hand , pettifoggers of the market place aim at making the great est possible haste without any regard for mercy , and at caus ing the greatest amount of loss in stea d of sparing ; for the num ber of fees increases with the number of summonses and judg ments .
Finally , the judgment of the whole church is requi red ; n ot of the Church Universal , for that can never assemble in this world , but of the church in which the accused is a mem ber and communicant .
Here the dominion , or rather despot! ism , of the Roman Pontiff shows itself in its true character .
Excommunication is effected only when the church h as rejected hi m who displeases her ; but the Pope casts out of the church the very man she herself most desires to be saved to her ; nor does he consult the church , but commands her to treat as excommunicated the man whom he himself hates or proposes to ruin .
But if we ought to interpret laws by the intention of the lawgiver , as we certainly ought , and not judge that a man h as infringed the law who h as not infringed it , it follows that those who are excommunicated by the Popes i n this fas h ion ar e not gui lty in the si ght of God .
For , as far as this form of fixing gui lt is concerned , excommunication belongs to the church and to no one else ; and un less she excommunicates , the man is not cast off or held guilty i n heaven whom the Pope holds guilty [cf. Mt . 1 6 :
Hence all the artifices of excom m un i cati ons and censures must fall to the groun d .
An d we must see to it that the true rod of discipline be res tored to the church of Christ , that it may smite the shameless sinner, and when he h as changed hi s heart , admit hi m into fellowshi p again .
This will keep i n the path , even in spite of themselves, some who walk not after the Spiri t .
But even if it does not profit them , yet those Wh o desire to li ve hones tly and peace
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ably in this world will profit from n ot being forced to see sin reaping a harvest unmolested .
Thi s power of excomm uni ca tion , I say, is n ot that of a magistrate, for it belongs to the whole church ; and it belongs to the church so completely that unless sh e cas ts out a man he is not cast out.
I say this the more willi ngly, in order that these impostors may no longer be able to shelter themselves by sayi ng :
"How, pray, can the dominion of the Roman Pontiff be denied ?
Did n ot Christ Himself institute excommunication ?
He did n ot institute it as the Pope uses it .
Nay, neither he nor any individual can us e it, but only the particular church concerned .
For the name itself shows clearly en ough what it is, even if we had not so plain an utterance on the subject .
For to excommunicate is to remove from the company of those who communicate together .
And if you say, "Cannot the Pope cast out of the church ?
" I say that he cannot, for that belongs to the church alone, and n ot to the Pope .
For Christ never said , "Tell it to the Pope .
Hence it came about that persons excommunicated by the Pope di d not in like manner seem to the church worthy
of such rejection ; and so it followed that few shunned those whom he ordered men to abhor .
Let them , therefore , ful minate , thunder, storm , and thrust us down to hell wi th their formulas, but let us not be moved one whit .
On the other hand, let us fear exceedingly to tempt the severity of the church by our wantonness .
This will be pleasing in the sight of the Most High .
Now we must come back to the real magistrate.
He is nowhere more emphatically approved than in Rom .
-7, where Paul discusses with such pains obedience to the a uth ori ties that on e h as a right to suspect that even then there were persons wh o, just like some in our own time , were trying to turn Christian liberty to the advantage of the fles h [ cf. Gal .
Not that I approve the unbridled license of power shown by some magistrates or princes , but I would n ot have those who give themselves out for Christians aim at casting off all authority in the expectation that they are going to live in freedom .
This I have always regarded as the height of folly or the height of viciousness .
Every company gathered together anywhere must obey some authority ; otherwise all combined
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heads too high when they hear that all power is of God , for they are not thereby justified .
For frequently He punishes the bad by means of the very bad .
But let them rather, hearing h ow they have been raised to their position by the providence of God, make it their aim to do nothing that is unbecoming in on e wh o sits in God 's place .
And let them keep ever before their eyes that from the founding of the world they that have ruled with -violence have ever had brief dominion ; but that, on the other hand, the posterity of all them that have exercised their power with moderation have retained their ancestral realms as long as might be .
A vast and slippery thing is power .
Now, nothing tends to fall out of one 's hands more quickly than a thing which is at once very large and slippery ,
especially if you try to hold on to it forcibly .
Power is a vast thing of this sort and exceeding slippery ; and if you try with all your might to hold on to it, that is, to do everything with violence, it will fall out of your hands .
There should be m od cration in preserving it, and if you disregard that, it is better not to have it at all .
" then , are ordained of God .
"The powers ,
"he that resisteth the power, resisteth the ordinance of God .
Hence it is evident that "
But who would not obey a pious power more willingly than an impious on e?
I do n ot mean that you should not obey an impious power ( for Paul goes on to say, they that resist shall receive to themselves but that you should n ot allow yourself to be hurried into the mistake of those who declare that a Christian
cannot be a magistrate .
For suppose a city so born again in Christ that every one of its citizens lives according to His pre cepts ; it will still require magistrates because of those who come there .
Let us , therefore , n ot talk about abolishing mag istrates in general , until blamelessness itself abolishes them .
For those that delay to obey the authorities "shall receive to themselves judgment, that is, lay up for themselves a great store of the wrath and vengeance of God .
"For rulers are n ot a terror to good works, but to the evil .
Would that rulers might be as careful to listen to this part of Paul
's words as they are to thunder forth those other words :
"There is no power but of God ; the powers are ordained " and , "He that resisteth the power, resisteth the ordi of God,
O n T rue and Fals e R elig i o n "
But we poor mortals are not so constituted that we listen as c arefully to what brings us to order as we do to what brings others .
It is a rare virtue among rulers , especially as they conduct themselves today , not to be a terror to good works , that is, not to obstruct the truth and n ot to be hatefully harsh to those who order their lives according to the rule of gospel truth .
On the other hand , it is common with some rulers to promote the worst men to places of rank , power, and honor for no other reason than that they may fight fiercely nance of God . for the Roman Pontiff and treat savagely those who venture to speak out what is true .
If anyone says, "I trust in the on e and only God and bring my troubles to Him without the inter
" he is suddenly hurried Off to punish ment , because , forsooth , he has refused to desert God for a creature .
And those who do this bear witness in official records that their aim is to defend the true and ancient religion of Christ .
If to avoid a scandal you , a priest, marry a wife , you are ordered to prison unheard , venti on of any advocate , * while meantime these persons are less horrified to see a whoremonger administering the mass before their eyes than if he were a dog .
For sometimes dogs coupling in churches are driven away with a stick, but no on e drives away the whoremonger, though he defiles everything we have hitherto considered most holy .
If, on the other hand, before the eyes of these rulers ( I am speaking of tyrants, well aware that many pious rulers strenuously exert themselves to give us a view in these latter days of pure and simple Chris ti anity) — if, I say , before their eyes you commit the most abominable crime , and yet at least just insult the freshly rising
Christ,i you obtain forgiveness . See how everything is turned upside down with them .
What pen can leave to posterity a worthy record of this madness ? What tongue express its shame lessness , recklessness , monstrousness ?
What tears bewail these lost ones , rushing with eyes Open , such is their madness , into utter destruction ?
And yet they offer themselves to the sim ple -minded crowd as champions Of righteousness and truth .
Ah , if we boast in the name of Christ, ought n ot His word to have more effect with us than that of any creature ?
But when 'Cf . V ol . 1 , pp . 1 77 -1 96 . ti . e. , th e R eformati on movement .
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"If it is n ot opposed to the view of the Popes , you are setting the word of man before the word of God .
Think
you add, not, then , excellent princes, that you can *'conceal even from the humble folk how far you are from Christ by making formal proclamation that you will defend true religion , while in reality you persecute it more cruelly than any Turks .
Practices of that sort last for a while , but they finally bring a disastrous end .
You should uphold general righteousness , n ot persecute the gui ltless for the sake of the Roman Pontiff.
The wicked man , the murderer, the robber, and all such like pests ought to fear your face , but the pious and blameless ought to rejoice because of it . What am I to say in censure of the boundless lust and luxury of certain princes, upon which they lavish all their substance senselessly, so that it would be better never to have acquired anything than to have squandered it so basely ?
They stake their money chests at play, for their purses cannot hold such an amount of gold as they stake .
They drink , so that it were better the wine had been poured upon the ground than destroy the human body by its use , as if, as Pliny h as it , there were no other path through which wine could be poured out and destroyed than the human body .
They g o awh ori ng to such an extent that they seem to have a deadly hatred for a pure marriage ; and they so defile all things with their lewd ness that the man is indeed unfortunate who happens to have a beautiful or clever wife or daughter .
And when they have spent everything thus , they n ot only despoil the wretched people with new exactions and taxes and tribute , but load them with burdens, torment and destroy them , so that they seem to have been born for the general ruin —
"Rulers are not a terror to good works, but to the evil .
Those , therefore , who, on the other hand , delight in evil and are a constant menace to the good are n ot rulers , but tyrants , torturers , butchers — Then
"And if thou desirest to have no fear of the power, do that which is good , and thou shalt have praise from the same . follows :
I beg those wh o disparage magistrates to consider these words carefully .
If they hate or fear the power, let them do that which is right .
At the same time let rulers reflect that they are not to be a terror to good deeds .
Having praise from the power when you have acted rightly is said in reference
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name, not in his own .
But you are bidden to smite no on e.
Yes, but God, who kills and makes alive, [cf. Deut . wh o sends to hell and brings back , has the right to smite ; and
therefore when He bids a man smite , that man , too, smites with out sin . Thus Moses slew, and Phineas, Samuel , Elijah , Jehu, and others ; and the slaying is accounted glory to them .
But let the mag istrate take care n ot to smite unless the Lord bids him .
When the Lord does bid , no man will see the fact better than the pious man , that is, he wh o knows how often on e must forgive , but also knows best when to strike down .
For though Peter was bidden to refrain seventy times seven times [ cf. Mt .
1 8 : he yet struck down Ananias and Sapphira at once , Acts 5 : 1 -1 1 , no doubt because the situation demanded it .
For not always does there appear on e with the aspect or voice of an angel to tell us to strike down , but sometimes the Lord stirs the heart within and instructs it in what cases to pardon and in what n ot.
"Wherefore we must needs be in subjection to authority not only because of the vengeance, but also for conscience sake
" [Rom .
He means that we should refrain from evil doing, not so much from fear of punishment as because the conscience is on guard, which we ought to keep so blame less that we in no matter resist the will
Of God .
Since , then , God wills that we should obey the magistrates , we cannot with out danger to the conscience neglect to listen to the magistrate .
What will those who would abolish the Christian magistracy find to say here ?
That it is an ofl 'ence against conscience not to obey an impious ruler, and , on the other hand , is an offence against conscience to Obey a pious ruler ?
What shall I say?
I praise knowledge of the things of faith , but contentiousness I do n ot praise .
For that cannot be without lust for glory which is the most indubitable champion Of glory .
And if lust for glory goads persons on to such violent dissensions, love is certainly very far away ; and when love is away, all things are empty and vain .
"For, for this cause pay ye tribute : for they are God 's ministers attending continually upon this very thing .
Some rulers open their eyes very wide indeed when they hear that the paying of tribute is made a duty by divine pronouncement ;
O n Tru e a nd Fal s e R elig i o n but they do n ot reflect that Paul says , for , for this cause .
What then , is the cause on account Of which the paying of tribute is commanded?
This , that the rulers may smite the evil and n ot the good , maintain the public peace , honor and stab lish th e good and not the evil . For Paul says they
"attend con " upon taki ng vengeance in God ti nually upon this very thing, 's stead , and punishing those who do that which is evil
[Rom . 1 3 :
SO much from Paul on magisterial Office .
It was said , even by the ancient phil OSOph ers :
"Woul d you know a man ?
Give him power .
So widely does the desire for wealth and glory corrupt the heart of man , though for a time it may conceal everything perfectly .
Wh en , however, the way is once opened , no one can restrain it so that its victims seem to have been . moderate in their longings .
Consequently there is no other thing that more surely i nflames hidden longings than power ; for then they think they have found the opportunity to run riot with impunity .
Hence it is a very dangerous thing to entrust power to anyone . Saul surpassed all in kindness and simplicity Of heart, as much as in stature and Splendor of body [I Sam . 9 : 2] Yet how he changed his ways !
Who was ever more ungrateful to a benefactor than he to David ?
Though he had Often given the latter occasion , never
th el ess he never experienced any ill -treatment at his hands .
They say that Pythagoras surpassed all tyrants in cruelty after he obtained the controlling power .
A man who had held aloof from so many things , and who had been so per si stently taciturn that you woul d call him a misanthrope rather than a lover Of dominion , so intoxicated himself with the unre strained use of power that, as drun k as a man overloaded with wine , he made onslaught upon the innocent .
Wh o now can safely entrust power to anyone when we see the most single hearted and the wisest so changed by power ? What, pray , are we to hope for from those who born in power yet abhor nothing so much as the knowledge Of how to . exercise power ?
When they ought to fulfil the duties , they simply display the outward aspect of a ruler , and leave everything else in the hands
Of the most greedy men , so that instead of one tyrant those who live un der such governments have a thousand .
All righteousness flags, greed flourishes , nay, rul es , and for no other reason than
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that nobody learns h ow to exercise power .
They think that if by some means or other the revenues are very large, govern ment i s well administered .
But why do I complain of these men , when those who wish to be called ecclesiastics— nay, spir ituals and monks— bishops, and abbots , are reckoned good and faithful ministers in proportion as they have increased the annual returns ?
Let us , therefore, not rashly trust supreme power to the indiscreet, to children , stupid and greedy persons, but to those whose probity, faithfulness, discretion , have been proved by long experience ( otherwise we shall in vain some day utter the familiar lament, ") and may the Father Almighty give us such rulers as look to n o other example than His by whose ordinance they are inducted into such offi ces, that they may conduct themselves after the man
"I did not think ner of our Creator , which would make it possible for us to boast of having many fathers instead Of being forced to utter the complaint Of the Prophet, Mic . 7: 1 -3 :
"Woe is me ! for I am as on e who gathereth in autumn the grape of the vintage : there
-ripe figs .
The holy man is perished out of the earth ; and there is none upright among men : they all lie in wait for blood ; every man hunteth is n o cluster to eat ; my soul desired the first his brother to death .
The evil of their hands they call good .
The prince asketh , and the judge is for giving ; and the great man hath uttered the desire of his soul and they have troubled it, " etc .
Let th e princes, rather, often reflect upon the words Of the same prophet in the third chapter, lest overcome with greed they savagely tear the sheep and lend themselves over much to false prophets, bishops , monks, and priests of Baal , who, if they cann ot turn away from Christ the souls of all , yet by their bribes and devices shake them , and draw them off, if they can . Let the princes look with suspicion upon every hat or mitre , for although their wearers sometimes pretend that they will have access to Christ, it often happens that they bring a heavier load of damage . For they are the very ones who exhaust kingdoms , enjoying so fully the fruits of others
' labors that they even trample under foot what would be capable Of feeding many thousands .
But the words of the prophet are as follows , Mic . 3 : 1 -6 :
"Hear , ye princes Of Jacob , and ye chiefs of the house of Israel : Is it n ot for you to know judgment? ye who
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war brings with it .
Hence it comes that night is unto us instead of vision , that is, that we embrace darkn ess instead of light . Are we not all blinded to the clear light of truth ? And do we not pretend not to see what we really do see ? But through whose wiles does this come about ?
Those Of the false prophets , who prophesy for money .
Hence it soon follows that the pri n ces also give judgment for bribes .
Since , therefore , magis trates ought to strain every nerve to rule rightly, conducting themselves as fathers rather than as masters, and since we yet see them so given over to pleasure and rioting that we can have no hope of our condition being bettered through them , we must supplicate the on e and only on e who has numbered the hairs of our heads [cf. Mt . to enlighten their minds , made insolent by worldly prosperity, so that they may know
God and themselves, and we thereby be able peacefully to aban don this anti -Christian condition due to the Pope .
For no other effort is necessary in this matter than abandoning .
If we all abandon him , or, even less, if w e simply hide our purses so that they cannot discover them , it will be all up with him . Let us pray, I say, that we may all abandon him and follow the banners Of God alone, the Lord of all , the Father and Salvation of all .
Amen .
[28] OFFENCE The Greek word for "offence [M ayaaM y, scandal] means
not only Offence but also insul ting treatment , if we are to believe Chrysostom on these words in M atth . 1 8 : 6 :
"If any one shall Offend [scandali z averit] one of these little ones, etc . * For he takes a xa paa
"treat with insult or contempt, doubt less because whoever is treated with contempt or insult is also offended ; and , again , whoever inconsiderately offends is treat ing with contempt .
In explaining o xa vdaklg ew for '
"to treat with contempt ew as '
" Chrysostom , in my " as well as "to offend , * Ch rysostom ' s comment on these words of Chri st i s :
For, a s those who honor th ese l ittle ones for my s ake wi ll g ai n heaven so those who di shonor them ( for that i s to offend th em ) will suffer the extreme pun
" do not ma rvel ; for many i shment .
And i f He call s the i ns ult a n "offence, spi ritless per sons have been very much offended ( scandalized ) from bei ng slighted a nd treated with contempt — Homi li es on the Gospel accordi ng to S t. M a tthew, Homily 58 : 4 .
O n T ru e a nd Fal s e R elig i o n Opinion , shows that he had carefully considered its meaning here .
For God wishes His own not to be treated with contempt as well as not to be offended , and He just as little wishes them to be offended as to be treated with contempt .
"Offence [scandalum] , therefore , is Offence combined with contempt .
I am compelled to speak about this in the last part Of this work for the reason that the subject of the book demands it , as well as because certain persons are wrong in regard to both aspects Of Offence ; some , for instance , always wanting special consideration , even when it is impossible for them to receive further offence , since nothing is done to throw contempt upon them ; whereas others , as soon as they have beheld the face of liberty, disregarding altogether the question of offence , instead of putting aside things which should be promptly put aside , rudely cast them Off with such violent indignation that the noise thereof offends the weak ears of conscientious brethren
The subject of my book , I say, demands that I speak about offence .
This is because there has been error hitherto not only in teaching (though there it has been most pernicious) , but also in ceremonies (and there also it has not been of trifling char acter, since We have embraced the external elements of this world as things spiritual , vain and empty things as things real and solid) .
I will speak first of all , therefore, about Offence arising from teaching— namely, to what extent we should for bear to teach .
We should not forbear to teach .
For as soon as you are sent forth , you ought to Spread teaching abroad, and not to " Gal . 1 : 1 6 .
Yet in teach ing there shoul d be special regard to timeliness , as I said above in introducing the discussion of the Eucharist .
For Christ praises that, and Paul , I Cor . 3 : 2, boasts that in the beginning "confer with flesh and blood, b e fed the Corinthians with milk .
Therefore , no on e can begin better or more securely than by following the example of John
"Ye are very evil , ye have turned aside from the way of God thus and so .
Therefore , unless ye change your lives , cruel vengeance hangs over you . and Christ and the Apostles, thus :
God is just, and He will not spare to strike when He h as once laid the axe to the root of the tree [cf . Mt .
Repent, therefore , Of your sins, and loathe them , and ye will straight
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way find Him a gentle father whom , unless ye mend your ways , ye will discover to be a stern avenger .
He is just , but He is also kind , and loveth His own work ; and to Show His kind ness to us He gave His only begotten Son , that through Him we may have life .
Thus life will be your portion .
I have warned you to cease to be evil and to become good .
Since this will throw you into fresh despair— for who was ever so blame less or righteous that he could venture to trust to his own righteousness ?— i n order that ye may n ot wholly perish in this despair, I wi ll Show wh o h as appeased the divine justice for us , that ye may not be forced to dread it as inexorable :
Christ by His own blamelessness h as cleansed away the sins of all .
If thou trust in Him , thou shalt be saved, but SO that thou put off the Old man and put on Christ [cf. Col . 3 : 9 as I have said often and at length already .
When you have well taught the knowledge of God , man , and Christ, and the Lord h as given the increase [cf. I Cor . 3 : 6 -7] (which you will
easily judge from its frui ts) , all the abominations and errors that had risen up against God and been received as the true worship Of God will fall away .
For when everyone h as once been taught that he is a Christian wh o lives blamelessly and trusts in the blameless on e, namely, Christ, whom taking up His cross he follows , he will disregard those fallacious hopes which certain persons have told us to place in sacraments, ceremonies, and created things, and will See that all his hopes are placed in God .
Therefore they do unwisely wh o begin by proclaiming very hard and quite paradoxical things, though these seem mild enough to people who have already made some progress .
I will give an illustration .
If you make Chris ti anity begin , as was mistakenly done for several centuries, with giving up hOpe in the saints , you will nullify rather than implant your teaching, even though your soul does strongly
"Ye err in worshipping as gods them that are not gods .
Cast all your hopes upon the Lord, not upon a creature .
They are impious who put the creature in place Of the Creator .
Those wh o invoke the creature put it in the place of God .
For to every one God is that through which he trusts that he will be delivered from that which urge you to such utterance as, "
Since , oppresses him or be given that of which he h as need .
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that I said, the giving back for money of what had been tyrannically taken from us , Shows well enough that no food has been absolutely forbidden by the commandment Of God .
For if it had been enacted by the word of God that certain foods must be abstained from , there would be no need of a special law to that effect .
Hence it is clear that when the Pope promulgates such a law he does it of himself .
And when he abrogates it for money received he Shows that that which he abrogates is not divine .
For who can abrogate a divine law ?
Paul predicts , I fim . 4 : 1 -4 , that it will come to pass that some will engage in this sort of traffic, saying :
"The Spirit saith expressly, that in later times some shall fall away from the faith , giving heed to seducing spirits , and doctrines of demons that will speak lies in hypocrisy and have their conscience seared with a h ot iron ; forbidding to marry, and command ing to abstain from meats which God hath created to be received with thanksgiving of them which believe and know the truth .
Certainly every creature of God is good , and nothing is worth less, if it be received with thanksgivi ng,
" etc .
These words of Paul are clear .
When , therefore, he says that it is plain to those who know the truth that "every creature of God i s good, and nothing is worthless, " there will n o doubt be persons wh o will instantly say :
"I believe thoroughly that to the pure all things are pure [ cf. Tit . 1 : 1 5] hence I shall have n o hesita tion in using with thanksgiving anything I please without regard to anybody .
For why should my liberty be judged by others ' consciences ?
Here then we must take offence into account .
Y ou must consider your neighbor, whether he be weak , or contumacious , or pious .
Y ou should take the weak on e to yourself, that is, extend a hand , that he likewise may be able to rise to the measure of your knowledge ; and this not by means Of marvelously intricate inventions that will tangle him up rather than straighten him out, but with clear sayings like
" Tit . 1 : 1 5 ; "To the pure all things are pure , "Every creature of God is good , and is created to the end that we may these :
" I Tim . 4 : 4 ; "There is nothing with use it with thanksgiving, " Mk . 7: 1 5 , Mt . 1 5 : 1 7; out a man entering into him that can defile him ,
"I know that nothing is in its own nature unclean but only to him that accounteth anything to be unclean is it
O n T ru e a nd Fals e R elig i o n unclean , Rom . 1 4 : 1 4 .
If he is made stronger by such words ,
you may then safely eat any kind Of food in his presence at any time ; if n ot, you must Spare his weakness as long as there is weakness .
For so Paul says , Rom .
"If because of meat thy brother is grieved , thou walkest no longer in love .
Destroy not with thy meat him for whom Christ died "
; and , "Overthrow n ot for meat "
[Rom .
's sake the work of God 1 4 :
These things Paul here , as always , speaks Of by divine inspiration .
Again , in I Cor . 8 : 1 3 , you have :
"If meat Offend my brother, I will cat no flesh for evermore , lest I Offend my brother .
Therefore , as long as your brother is weak and not contumacious , you must spare him .
And even if your brother
is contumacious , again you must spare him if your meat can cause any turmoil .
For you Should not "overthrow for meat 's sake the work of God ; that is , we Should not for the sake of liberty as to foods act so as to render the gospel hateful
But if after sufficient teaching you can eat without offence and tur " moil , you may do so .
Mortals are not so made that what is nearest right pleases everybody : there will never be lacking per sons to object .
But we must always look to this , that we pursue the works of peace .
Paul circumcised Ti mothy because the Jews were SO insistent about it and he could n ot withstand them without great turmoil and Offence as to the gospel , Acts 1 6 : 3 ; but he could n ot be forced to circumcise Titus , Gal .
2 : 3, because his teachings had then made such progress that the bet ter and larger number coul d carry the day without turmoil
'en ce.
SO, therefore , we must strive for peace and tran quillity in these things that have to do with food, and spare the weak as long as they are weak ; and , indeed , the contu maci ous as long as we cannot without turmoil freely enjoy that and ofl in which we are free .
For if we Shoul d be obliged forever to spare every contumacious person , we should never be allowed to enjoy anything freely .
There are always wanton persons wh o have the audacity lightly to misinterpret any act or motive whatsoever .
If your brethren are pious , there is no Offence, no matter what you eat, so long as you observe moderation .
In the things which have to do with the regulation of life we ought all to walk most blamelessly, that by our good con versation unbelievers may be kindled to follow Him whose dis
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ciples live so uprightly .
We ought, therefore, to cast off at once the license of the Gentiles, for it is enough and more than enough to have lived so long according to the way of the flesh .
So Peter teaches, I Pet . 4 : 2 ; and Paul , Rom . 1 3 : 1 2 -1 4, saying
"Let us therefore cast Off the works of darkness, and let us put on the armor of light .
Let us walk as in the day ; not in revel ling and drunkenness, n ot in chambering and wantonness, n ot in strife and jealousy .
But put ye on the Lord Jesus Christ .
"But now I write unto you not to keep company, if any man that is named a brother be a fornicator, or covetous , or an idolator, or a reviler,
In the same manner he says , I Cor . or a drunkard , or an extortioner ; with such a one no n ot to eat .
It i s lawful , therefore , to cast Off all these things at the first opportunity, for they ought to be as far distant as possible from a Christian , aye, they ought to be so far away that they must be immediately removed from the church .
If, therefore, you have hitherto been a fornicator, abandon your mistress ; or if continence is denied you , seek a wife , or turn your mis tress herself into a wife . * Here, however , very great offence is apt to arise .
For if ecclesiastics , as they are called, begin to marry, immediately there rise up persons who pretend to be offended, though they are not in the least offended ; but for the sake of their revenues, which they fear wi ll decrease , they make pretence of being offended, as h as been said before . Every on e Should , therefore , keep as far away from fornication as possible .
And every on e knows also that fornication is a great "Every one ought, then , without any regard to Offence to take a wife just as soon as he discovers his want of continence , since nothing forbids or discourages this .
For no on e can be offended , since there is n o one who denies that fornication must be done away with . si n .
Y ou will say, therefore :
These are the reasons why for some time I thought that in this matter no attention should be paid to offence .
But though I see that these two things, Fornication ought to be absent from the Christian flock ,
" and, "Everybody knows that fornication is a Sin , " are strong enough fairly to allow any one to pay no atten tion to Offence in the matter, yet at the same time I see that s plea that priests be g iven permi ssion to marry
"Cf . Zwi ngl i .
S ea ' vol . 1 , pp . 150-1 65 , and 177 -196 .
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permitted that all who are incontinent contract marriage . And if some tyrants threaten and strike , flee to another country ; for it i s better with Zeno 'r to carry away everything, i . e. , a heart disburdened of fornication , than to be tortured within amidst the cares of riches, even if no persecutor troubles you without .
In the external things that seem to have to do wi th salva tion , we must have regard to offence in this way .
We shoul d set forth h ow these things that seem to be of some avail for salvation cann ot be of any value, and this Simply by teaching ; but we must do it in such manner as , above all else , to win the approval of Him in whom alone the conscience finds peace .
We shall Show that these external things are signs with which we do something for our neighbor rather than for ourselves .
Such are an oi nti ng s, sprinklings , benedictions, and such like ceremonies .
When everything i s already set forth in the word, these signs are to be calmly done away with , having been brought in by device of man , in the same way as forbidden foods .
For this is the way we see Paul did with circumcision .
Though he knew well that neither circumcision nor uncircum cisi on i s anything , as he taught in I Cor . 7: 1 9 and Gal . 6 : 1 5 , he yet suffered Timothy to be circumcised [Acts
But we must strenuously insist that no hope is to be placed in these external things, for they have no power ; and then we must make concession to the weakness of some persons .
For the feelings are n ot lightly persuaded to abandon immediately things that the mind has long since given up .
But let no one understand by this that the things I am speaking of are to be tolerated forever, but only for a time .
For his armor must be taken away from the enemy, that he may n ot sometime again equip himself with it for battle .
This was what Christ meant in the parable Of the strong man armed , Lk . 1 1 : 22 :
"But when a stronger than he shall come upon him , and overcome him , he taketh from him his whole armor wherein he trusted ,
" etc .
See how he approves taking away the armor also , lest, forsooth , if we allow the things that ought to be abolished to remain , they may bring us back sometime to our earlier error .
For some are so frail that, like a vine, they cling to the nearest sup port, and when they have once done SO find it hard to let go .
"Omni a mea mecum porto, i s usually attributed to Bi a s .
TThe sayi ng ,
O n T ru e and Fal s e R elig i o n Therefore those things in which there is such great occasion for seduction must be removed ; but with due regard to offence .
"Who , then , will be able to see when those things which must be endured for a time are to be abolished ?
For who will kn ow when turmoil is likely to follow, and when If you now say :
He whose eye is clear, and Single, for his whole body is full of light and h as no part in darkn ess [cf. Mt . 6 : 22-23] n ot? that is, he who is faithful to his Lord , does all things for His sake and nothing for his own .
For when the glory of God alone is regarded , all things go on well .
And if ever the fire , that is , persecution , rages , it will do no more harm than fir e does to gold .
But when we begin to regard our own interest, we Shall be consumed by the fire Of persecution , just like wood and hay and stubble [cf. I Cor . 3 : 1 2
But h ow Shall we purge the eye so that we can see plainly when the work should be begun ?
I answer : We Shall purge it with that fire which the Lord wills should burn fiercely [cf. Lk . which is love : this knows all things , sees all things , is ever intent upon building up , not upon tearing down .
Knowledge is sometimes so puffed up as even to burst, but knowledge edi fieth not ; for this is the province Of love .
I Cor . 8 : 1 :
"Knowledge puffeth up , but love edifieth "
; for it desires to extend as widely as pos sible the domain Of hi m whom it loves .
It suffers all things , therefore , for Christ "beareth all things, believeth all things , hopeth all things , endureth all things, never faileth , that is , is never deceived , never makes a mistake , I Cor . 1 3 : 7-8.
For where love is, there is God Himself, as I have said at suffi 's sake,
cient length before .
But is it at all in our power to love ?
By no means .
But neither is it in our power to have the will or ability to bui ld, though it is in the mouth of all men to boast that they are going to build for the Lord .
So bold is hypocrisy .
It is to be Observed , therefore , that, si nce "it is God who work " Phil . 2 : 1 3, surely those who will to build to the glory of God have been taug ht of th e
Lord to have this will .
Therefore , when you feel that all your plans have as their object the maki ng Of the whole world sub ject to God, when you can both bear and do all things for the eth in us both to will and to work , sake of God, be sure that the Lord h as wrought this i n you .
Consider yourself, therefore, and be your own judge .
N0 man
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knows but yourself whetheryou have any guile hidden in your heart .
And when you feel sincerely and trul y that you are seeking the glory of Christ, then your will has been led to Him
"every one that hath heard from the Father, and hath learned, cometh unto me by divine power .
For " [Jn . 6 :
You are not for Christ unless the Father has led you to Him [J11 .
Consider now the individual points .
If you see that you are so on fire with love for God as to refer all things to His glory, you will wish to raise His buildi ng ; if your will aims at that, God h as wrought this in you .
What you build , there fore, will never collapse ; for it rests upon a rock that no man can overturn .
You will know , too, h ow you ought to build , for the Lord will give you understanding in all things .
You will say :
"But who will tell the church whether he who begins to build is minded to build unto God or n ot?
Yet is it most necessary for us to know this ; for otherwise the times are such that we Shall fall into the greatest dissensions if we know n ot the mind of the builder .
For all men wish to Seem to build to the glory of God .
I answer : There are many ways in which the indi vidual can judge concerning the builder, and in regard
to them I leave each man to be fully assured in his own mind [ cf. Rom .
For every man says that from this or that he detects the deceit of a builder .
Only let n othing be done in the heat of passion .
But there are two ways in particular by which you can infallibly detect the mind of the teacher .
One i s the way that Christ taught, according to which the teacher is known by his fruits , whether those which he oflers or those which he seeks ; for it is in this latter sense that Christ says ,
M atth .
By their fruits , " that i s , by that which they seek ,
"ye shall know them .
If, therefore, the teacher looks only to being splendidly fed and looked after, no one can fail to see whether he is bui lding for God or for himself .
And if he is nothing but a Sink Of iniquity, even if he is a very brilliant teacher, he is the least in the kingdom of God, that is , he is nothing in the church Of God .
This judgment, therefore , is derived from the man himself whom you are judging, though in such a way that you alone are n ot to condemn him before others, but only when the church condemns him .
When the church condemns, every one who is a member of the church