Dedicatory Letter
DEDICATORY LETTER1
TO THE MOST ILLUSTRIOUS AND NOBLE PRINCES AND LORDS, JOHANN CASIMIR AND JOHANN ERNST, GENUINE BRETHREN,2 DUKES OF SAXONY, JÜLICH, KLEVE, AND BERG, LANDGRAVES OF THURINGIA, MARGRAVES OF MEISSEN, COUNTS IN MARK AND RAVENSBURG, LORDS IN RAVENSTEIN, ETC.,
MY MOST MERCIFUL LORDS:
All expressions of the body of Christian doctrine [Christianae doctrinae σωματοποίησεις]—the Evangelist Luke calls these “catecheses” [κατηκήσεις] (Luke 1:4; Acts 18:25); St. Paul, “the pattern of sound words” [ὑποτύπωσιν ὑγιαινόντων λόγων] (2 Tim. 1:13); the Epistle to the Hebrews, “the teaching of the fundamental principles of the oracles of God” [διδαχὴν περὶ τῶν στοιχείων τῆς ἀρχῆς τῶν λογίων τοῦ θεοῦ] (Heb. 5:12) and “the word of the beginning of Christ” [λόγον τῆς ἀρχῆς τοῦ χριστοῦ] (Heb. 6:1); Clement of Alexandria, “patterns” [ὑποτυπώσεις]; Origen, “fundamentals” [ἀρχὰς]; Dionysius of Alexandria, “elementary theological teachings” [στοιχειώσεις θεολογικὰς]; Eusebius (bk. 1, ch. 3), “summary of elementary teachings” [ἐπιτομὴν στοιχειωτικὼν]; Nazianzen, “theology” [θεολογίαν]; Theophilus and Lactantius, “elements of instruction” [Institutiones]; and most people today call them “theological commonplaces” [Locos communes]—all such extant expressions of the body of Christian doctrine, which have been written down and published since the beginnings of the early church by various writers, have their first outlines, so to speak, and chief headings from the Apostles’ Creed. Now, though nothing certain can be established about the origin of this creed from the Book of the Acts of the Apostles, some claim that it is called “of the Apostles” because it was put together and composed by the apostles themselves right before they were to disperse throughout the whole world, so that “they would not preach a dissimilar or dissonant [Gospel] to those who were being invited to faith in Christ, disagreeing by locality and with one another” (says Cyprian or Rufinus, In expositione symb.; Ambrose, Sermon 38 and Letter 81 ad Siricium; Jerome, Letter ad Pammach.; Augustine, Sermon 81 de temp.; Cassian, De incarn., bk. 6; Leo, Serm. 11 de pass.; Isidore of Seville, De offic., bk. 2, ch. 23; and most recently Baronius, Annal., vol. 1, p. 317). Others offer another explanation for its name, saying that it was put together from the preaching and writings of the apostles in complete conformity with the apostles’ doctrine, and that it was approved by the apostles (Pacianus, Letter 1 ad Sempron.). In any case, it is certain that its authority has always been great in the church. Irenaeus (Adv. haeres., bk. 3, ch. 4, p. 172) recites it nearly word for word by the name “apostolic tradition.” He says:
Now what if the apostles had not in fact left us the Scriptures? Would it not have been necessary to follow the order of tradition which they handed down to those to whom they entrusted the churches? It is to this arrangement that many nations of barbarians who believe in Christ give their assent; having salvation written in their hearts through the Spirit without paper or ink, they earnestly keep the old tradition, believing in one God, Maker of heaven and earth and of all that is in them, through Christ Jesus, God’s Son; who, because of His all-surpassing love for His creation, endured being born of the Virgin, Himself uniting man to God through Himself; He suffered under Pontius Pilate, rose again, was received up in splendor, and will come in glory as the Savior of those who are being saved and the Judge of those who are being judged, sending into eternal fire those who transform the truth and despise His Father and His coming. Those who have believed this faith without letters are barbarians as regards our language, but as regards their thinking, manner, and way of life they are indeed very wise because of faith. They are pleasing to God, living in all righteousness, chastity, and wisdom. If someone, speaking to them in their own language, were to proclaim to them the things devised by heretics, they would immediately cover their ears and flee as far as possible, being unable to bear even the hearing of blasphemous speech. Thus through that old tradition of the apostles they do not allow even into the conception of their mind whatever belongs to [the heretics’] monstrous speech.
Again (Adv. haeres., bk. 1, ch. 2, p. 34):
The church, disseminated by the apostles and their disciples throughout the whole world unto the ends of the earth, has received the faith that is in one God the Father Almighty, who made heaven and the earth, the sea and all that is in them; and in one Christ Jesus, the Son of God, who was incarnate for our salvation; and in the Holy Spirit, who spoke beforehand through the prophets of the plan [of salvation] and comings (τὰς οἰκονομίας καὶ τὰς ἐλεύσεις), birth from the Virgin, suffering, resurrection from the dead, and ascension into heaven in the flesh (καὶ τὴν ἔνσαρκον εἰς τὰς οὐρανὰς ἀνάλημψιν) of the beloved Christ Jesus our Lord, and His coming from heaven in the glory of the Father to recapitulate all things (ἀνακεϕαλαιώσασθαι τὰ πάντα) and raise all the flesh of humankind in order that, according to the good-pleasure of the invisible Father, to Christ Jesus our Lord, God, Savior, and King, every knee should bow of things in heaven and on earth and under the earth and every tongue confess Him [Phil. 2:9–11]; that He may execute just judgment among all; and that He may send into eternal fire the spirits of wickedness (τὰ πνευμακτικὰ τὰς πονηρίας), the angels who transgressed and became apostate, and the ungodly and unjust and iniquitous and blasphemous humans; but may give life (ζωὴν χαρισάμενος) to the righteous and holy and those who keep His mandates and persevere in His love—some from the beginning [of life] and others from the [time of their] repentance—and bestow on them immortality and grant life eternal (τὴν ἀϕθαρσίαν δωρήσηται καὶ δόξαν αἰωνίαν περιποιήσῃ).
Tertullian declares that this creed is the canon and rule of faith (De praescript. adv. haeres., p. 110):
The rule of faith is that by which one believes that God is wholly one and there is no other besides the Creator of the world, who brought forth the universe from nothing through His Word, which was sent forth first before all things; this Word is called His Son in the name of God, who appeared in various ways to the patriarchs, has always been heard in the prophets, and finally was brought down by the Spirit and power of God into the Virgin Mary, was made flesh in her womb, and was born from her and went forth as Jesus Christ; from then on He preached the new law and the new promise of the kingdom of heaven, performed miracles, was affixed to the cross, on the third day He rose again, was taken up into heaven and sits at the right hand of the Father; He sent the vicarious power of the Holy Spirit to lead believers; He will come again with glory to take His saints to the enjoyment of everlasting life and heavenly promises and to condemn the wicked to everlasting fire after resurrecting them both and restoring their flesh, etc.
Again (De veland. virginib., p. 566):
The rule of faith is indeed entirely one, solely immovable and unalterable: that is, the rule of believing that there is only one God Almighty, Maker of the world; and that His Son, Jesus Christ, was born of the Virgin Mary, crucified under Pontius Pilate, on the third day rose again from the dead, was received up into heaven and now sits at the right hand of the Father, and that He will come to judge the living and the dead also through the resurrection of the flesh.
When one compares this rule of faith, described as the “tradition of the apostles” by Irenaeus and Tertullian, with the words of the Apostles’ Creed, he readily sees the very great agreement of the two. Furthermore, this rule of faith, this Apostles’ Creed, is in agreement with the God-breathed Scriptures, as is clearly shown by Irenaeus and Tertullian in those same passages and as Augustine traces [its origin] back (De symbol. ad catechum., bk. 1, ch. 1): “The words of the creed which you have heard, scattered throughout the divine Scriptures, have been gathered and put in one place.” For this reason, therefore, sometimes the Apostles’ Creed is called “the rule of faith” by the fathers, and sometimes Holy Scripture is, no doubt due to the precise conformity that exists between Holy Scripture as the wellspring and the Apostles’ Creed, deduced from it, as a stream (which was discussed in our treatise De interp. Script., [1610 Loci theologici, locus 2] §§ 76–77). From all of this it is quite clear what weighty authority the Apostles’ Creed should have on account of both venerable antiquity and its precise conformity with Scripture. In addition, as was said at the beginning, all the first outlines and chief points of all patterns [ὐποτυπώσεων], catechetical writings, theological commonplaces, and publications of the church throughout the years are extant in it. This can be proved from the following examination.
We confess in this creed that we believe in God the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Therefore we acknowledge one God in three persons, who is to be adored with one undivided worship; this is the first and foremost article of the Christian religion. We confess that this one, true God has revealed Himself in the three chief works of creation, redemption, and sanctification. The first of these is attributed to the Father, the second to the Son, and the third to the Holy Spirit, not because one person was separated from another in acting, but in order to denote the order and distinctiveness of the persons in the outward works, which are in themselves undivided—for as there is one essence of the divinity of the three persons, so there is one power to act. To the article of creation belongs also the doctrine of providence. For God did not abandon His workmanship but, just as He blessed it in the beginning, so also does He govern and administer it well today. This same place includes the doctrine concerning the angels, seeing as the words “heaven and earth” include all parts of the entire universe and all creatures, of which the angels are chief. The same place includes a consideration of man as first created according to the image of God and bound through the Law to give God due obedience.
The second article, on redemption, preaches that the only-begotten Son of God is our Jesus and Savior, who “for us men and for our salvation” (as the Nicene Creed explains) came down and assumed true human nature from the Virgin Mary by the special intervening work of the Holy Spirit. In this nature He suffered and died for our sins, and returning in glory from hell and rising from the dead He ascended into heaven and was established the Lord of all through His sitting at the right hand of the Father. He is coming again someday to judge the living and the dead. Now, if Christ is our Mediator and Savior, then surely He must be the God-man in the unity of person—the Son of God and [the Son] of Man—for a mere man could not have made satisfaction, nor did God owe anything [under the Law]. Therefore this article also includes the doctrine of the two natures in Christ, their personal union, and the communication of properties, by which and because of which the Son of God is said to have been born of the Virgin and the Son of Man is called our Lord. Furthermore, if the Son of God had to be born a man because of us men—yes, even had to suffer and die—then surely the fall [ἔκπτωσις] from concreated blessedness and wholeness came before this. Therefore the doctrine of original sin belongs here, too, which is the source and origin of all actual sins and the reason why by nature we are all “sons of wrath” and of death [Eph. 2:3] unless there is forgiveness on account of Christ. In Him and through Him all who truly believe were elected by God to life “before the foundations of the world were laid” [Eph. 1:4]. His holy conception cleanses our impure conception; His holy nativity heals our impure birth; His precious Passion is the satisfaction for our sins; His death, our life; His burial, the cost of our rest; His descent into hell, our liberation; His resurrection, our victory; His ascension into heaven, the opening of paradise to us; His sitting at the right hand of God, our elevation; His return for judgment, our redemption and restoration [ἀπολύτρωσις atque ἀποκατάστασις].
In the Third Article we confess that we believe in the Holy Spirit, who distributes the benefits gained by the merit of the Son through the word of the Gospel while He gathers His church from the human race through the ministry of the Word and the Sacraments. He makes the church catholic by the communion of the saints, whose minds He enlightens with His gifts so that they, forgiven of their sins on account of Christ, may someday be raised from the dust of the earth to life eternal. Therefore the doctrine of the Gospel and the Sacraments pertains to this article, for the Word is the workplace of the Holy Spirit—indeed, His chariot and vehicle. He who desires to share in the benefits of Christ and to become a true member of the true church must hear the Word and make use of the Sacraments. Through these means the Holy Spirit kindles faith in our hearts, the forerunner of which is contrition and the handmaidens of which are all kinds of good works as the signs [τεκμήρια] of internal renewal and sanctification. The place concerning the church includes the doctrine of the ecclesiastical ministry, political magistracy, and the household estate, for these are the three divinely instituted hierarchies of the churchly assembly: The household is the seedbed of the church; the state [politia] is its protection and defense. Through death and resurrection the true members of the church are freed from the cross—to which they are subjected in this life because sin remains in the flesh—and are brought to the glory of eternal life. There they will see God face-to-face, in whom they believed and whom they served in this life with faithful hearts.
It is clear, I think, from this explication that the first outlines of all articles of the faith are comprehended in the Apostles’ Creed with a truly remarkable and divine brevity, so that it is rightly called “the concise Gospel” (according to the saying of St. Bartholomew, which is reported by Dionysius in De myst. theol., ch. 1). Its hefty brevity is worthy of being admired more than the ancients marveled at Homer’s Odyssey for being written with letters so tiny that it could be contained even in a nutshell.
But indeed, just as in earlier times, when after the times of the apostles new controversies suddenly arose which necessitated the publication of other longer and more detailed summaries of apostolic doctrine to explain more fully their brevity and vindicate it more clearly from all the corruptions of those times, so, too, it was our sole intention in our labor over the articles which this second volume of our Theological Commonplaces presents3 to explain that brevity of the Apostles’ Creed more richly from the plenteous storehouse of the Scriptures and to defend it more clearly against all the corruptions of those times, as well as in our age—wherein the minds of many have been led very far away from the simplicity of the apostles through thousands of sly deceptions—so that we may faithfully keep sound the deposit of sound doctrine and pass it on to posterity (if there will be any) repaired and protected [cf. Titus 1:9–10].
My most illustrious and noble princes, merciful lords and benefactors, I freely and rightly acknowledge that this work of mine, such as it is, is indebted to Your Highnesses, and were I not to acknowledge this, I would be committing the crime of ingratitude. It is now six years since I first began to serve the churches and schools of these provinces to the best of my ability; I shall continue to serve them for as long as it pleases Him who calls laborers to His vineyard, calls them back, and calls them out. In that time I have been afflicted with various calamities, especially domestic ones,4 but by the presence and the help of God, by whom I knew that I was called to the ministry of His church apart from my expectation and, still less, instigation, I have always had every refuge provided. Nor did I lack Your Highnesses’ favorable will and princely grace, which the hatred of some could have destroyed had not that extraordinary kindness toward me put forth deep roots in the minds of Your Highnesses. Clearly in the noble hearts of Your Highnesses a pious zeal for God’s Word has been instilled and implanted, along with special favor toward ministers of the church, candor befitting a prince, love of piety and justice, and a heroic splendor of virtues; for this reason you do not allow one whom you have once begun to embrace with your favor to fall easily out of your heart. You show hospitality to the church of Christ in your dominions, and in them the uncorrupted doctrine of the Gospel sounds forth and has been faithfully passed down to us by [your] praiseworthy ancestors, who judged the loss of territory a thing lesser than the loss of religion.5 You have built temples, schools [Gymnasia], and houses of piety and literature, and therefore this little work of mine, such as it is, is justly indebted to Your Highnesses inasmuch as it is wholly concerned with holding forth the truth of heavenly doctrine. I have not intended to divide those who are united by the close bonds of nature, religion, blood, and fraternal affection. May the Lord of hosts, who is King of kings and Lord of lords, grant Your Highnesses tranquility in your reigns, longevity of life, prosperity of every kind, and at the last that blessed immortality in heaven which God has promised to all truly pious princes. For those who rule well in this age reign without end forever and pass from the glory of this life into eternal glory.
Given at Heldburg. August 1, 1611.
Your Highnesses’ most humble subject,
Johann Gerhard.
1 This dedicatory letter, absent in Preuss’s edition, was translated by the Rev. Joshua J. Hayes from Johann Gerhard, Locorum Theologicorum Cum Pro Adstruenda Veritate, Tum Pro Destruenda quorumvis contradicentium falsitate, per theses nervosè, solidé & copiosè explicatorum Tomus Secundus (Jena: Tobias Steinmann, 1622), fol. ):( 2 r – [ ):( 4] v.
2 Johann Casimir (1564–1633), duke of Saxony-Coburg, and Johann Ernst (d. 1638), duke of Saxony-Eisenach, were brothers. In 1606, Johann Casimir called Gerhard to the position of superintendent of Heldburg.
3 The first volume of the 1610 Jena edition included loci 1–7, which were omitted from Edward Preuss’s edition in the nineteenth century, namely: On Holy Scripture, On the Interpretation of Scripture, On the Nature of God, On the Three Elohim, On God the Father and His Eternal Son, On the Holy Spirit, and On the Person and Office of Christ. The second volume of the Jena edition, printed in 1611, contained Commonplaces VIII–XIV, namely: On Creation and Angels, On Providence, On Election and Reprobation, On the Image of God in Man before the Fall, On Original Sin, On Actual Sins, and On Free Choice. On the various editions of Gerhard’s Theological Commonplaces, see above, pp. xix–xxi.
4 Gerhard’s infant son had died on January 10, 1611, and his wife, Barbara Neumeyer Gerhard, had died later the same year, on May 30. They had been married for less than three years. See Johann Anselm Steiger, Bibliographia Gerhardina (Stuttgart-Bad Cannstatt: Frommann-Holzboog, 2003), nos. 87, 124; Erdmann Rudolph Fischer, Life of John Gerhard, trans. Richard J. Dinda and Elmer Hohle (Malone, TX: Repristination Press, 2000), 215.
5 Johann Casimir’s father, Duke Johann Friedrich II (the Middler) of Saxony (1529–95), and his grandfather, Elector Johann Friedrich I of Saxony (1503–54), saw the boundaries of their territories reduced after being defeated in the Smalcald War (1547). Johann Friedrich I also lost his electoral office and suffered imprisonment. See Thomas Klein, “Johann Friedrich (II.) der Mittlere,” in Neue Deutsche Biographie 10 (Berlin: Duncker & Humblot, 1974), 530.