Works of Martin Luther Part 28

[129] Luther quotes correctly, _confortatus_, but thinks _confirmatus_.

[130] Vulgate: _confirmet_.

[131] Above, pp. 203 f.

[132] Vulgate: _sacramenta_.

[133] Erasmus edited the first published Greek New Testament in March, 1516 (Basle: John Froben), the Complutensian Polyglot being the first printed edition (1514). Luther used Erasmus' work as soon as it came out, as may be seen in his lectures on Romans, 1515-16 (cf. Picker, _Luthers Vorlesung uber den Romerbrie_; also Preserved Smith, _Luther's Correspondence_, etc., I, nos. 21 and 65). In an interesting letter to Luther of Feb. 14, 1519, Froben announces the second edition of Erasmus' New Testament, which Luther used in making his translation. Cf. Smith, op. cit., 00.125.

[134] See above, p. 177.

[135] Namely, for Paul.

[136] The precise meaning is not clear. The Latin is: _vel proprio spiritu vel general! sententia_.

[137] Here follows a pa.s.sage that clearly breaks into the context and belongs elsewhere. See Introduction, p. 169.

"I admit that the sacrament of penance existed also in the Old Law, yea, from the beginning of the world. But the new promise of penance and the gift of the keys are peculiar to the New Law. For as we now have baptism instead of circ.u.mcision, so we have the keys instead of the sacrifices and other signs of penance. We said above that the same G.o.d at divers times gave divers promises and signs for the remission of sins and the salvation of men, but that all nevertheless received the same grace. Thus it is said in II Corinthians iv, 'Having the same spirit of faith, we also believe, or which cause we speak also'; and in i Corinthians x, 'Our fathers did all eat the same spiritual food, and all drank the same spiritual drink; and they drank of the spiritual rock that followed them, and the rock was Christ.' Thus also in Hebrews xi, 'These all died, not receiving the promise; G.o.d providing some better thing or us, that they should not be perfected without us.' For Christ Himself is, yesterday and to-day and forever, the Head of His Church, from the beginning even to the end of the world. Therefore there are divers signs, but the faith of all is the same. Indeed, without faith it is impossible to please G.o.d, by which faith even Abel pleased Him (Hebrews xi)."

[138] The _Summa angelica_ of Angelus de Clava.s.sio of Genoa (died about 1495), published 1486, one of the favorite handbooks of casuistry, in which all possible cases of conscience were treated in alphabetical order. Cf. _Zeitschrit fur Kirchengesch._, XXVII, 296 ff.

The _Summa angelica_ was among the papal books burned by Luther, together with the bull, December 10, 1520. Cf. Smith, _Luther's Correspondence_, I, no. 355.

[139] For a full discussion of the hindrances see article Eherecht, by Sehung, in _Prot. Realencyklopadie_, V.

[140] On this whole paragraph compare Vol. I, p. 294.

[141] It is to be borne in mind that all that follows is in the nature of advice to confessors in dealing with difficult cases of conscience, and is parallel to the closing paragraphs of the section on The Sacrament of the Bread.

[142] Namely, by officiating at the marriage ceremony.

[143] Namely, by betrothal (_sponsalia de praesenti_).

[144] Lemme pertinently reminds the reader that by "laws of men"

Luther here understands the man-made laws of the Church of Rome.

[145] See above, p. 103, note 2.

[146] Relations.h.i.+p arising from sponsors.h.i.+p and legal adoption. Cf.

above, p. 128.

[147] _Cognatio spiritualis_.

[148] _The res sacramenti_. See above, p. 182.

[149] _Cognatio legalis_.

[150] _Disparilitas religionis_.

[151] _Impedimentum criminis_.

[152] _Impedimentum ligamiais_.

[153] The _fides data et accepta_, which Luther finds in the _fides_ (faith) of Gal. 5:22

[154] Page 243.

[155] _Impedimentum erroris_. With fine sarcasm Luther here plays of one hindrance against another.

[156] _Impedimentum ordinis_.

[157] _Impedimentum publicae honestatis_.

[158] An untranslatable pun: _non iust.i.tia sed inscitia_.

[159] Page 244.

[160] See p. 263, note 2.

[161] Page 242.

[162] The following points need to be borne in mind in order to a fair evaluation of this much criticized section: (1) What is here given is in the nature of advice to confessors, and the one guiding principle is the relief of souls in peril. (2) It must not be forgotten that Luther wrote the treatise in Latin, and not for the general public.

There is without doubt a certain betrayal in turning into the vernacular a pa.s.sage written in the language of the learned. Yet we have done this, being unwilling to all under the charge of giving a garbled version. (3) The hindrance Luther is here discussing was one recognized and provided or by the Church of Rome, and the remedy suggested by him was prescribed by the German _Volksrecht_ in many localities. (4) Divorce was absolutely forbidden. (5) Luther's error grew out of an unhistorical interpretation of the Old Testament, and consisted in his undervaluing the importance of the public law. "To make the individual conscience the sole arbiter in matters belonging to public law, leads to dangerous consequences." (See Kawarau, _Berlin Ed._, II, 482 f., where references are given.)

[163] As he actually did in the case of Henry VIII and Philip of Hesse.

[164] See above, p. 269, note 1.

[165] Page 271.

[166] An allusion to the act that what he is writing is a "Prelude."

See Introduction, p. 168.

[167] _Contra epistolam Manichaei_, 5, 6 (Migne, XLII, 176). Cf.

below, p. 451.

[168] _De trinitate_, 9, 6, 10 (Migne, VIII, 966).

[169] See below, pp. 451 ff.

[170] The council that condemned and burned John Hus (1414-1418).

[171] Dionysius Areopagita, the pseudonym (cf. Acts 17:54) of the unknown author (about 500, in Syria?) of the neoplatonic writings, _Of the Celestial_, and _Of the Ecclesiastical Hierarchy_, etc.

[172] William Durandus the elder, died 1296.

[173] The Franciscan Bonaventura (1274) in his _De reductione artium ad theologiara_.

[174] Donatus (ab. 350 A.D.), a famous Latin grammarian, whose _Ars minor_ was a favorite mediaeval text-book. The chancellor of the University of Paris, John Gerson ( 1429), published a _Donatus moralisatus seu per allegoriam traductus_--a mystical grammar, in which the noun was compared to man, the p.r.o.noun to man's sinful state, the verb to the divine command to love, the _adverb_ to the fulfilment of the divine law, etc.