Historical Introductions to the Symbolical Books of the Evangelical Lutheran Church Part 30

233. Statements of Article XI on Consolation Offered by Predestination.

The purpose of the entire Scripture, says the _Formula of Concord_, is to comfort penitent sinners. If we therefore abide by, and cleave to, predestination as it is revealed to us in G.o.d's Word, "it is a very useful, salutary, consolatory doctrine." Every presentation of eternal election, however which produces carnal security or despair, is false.

We read: "If any one presents the doctrine concerning the gracious election of G.o.d in such a manner that troubled Christians cannot derive comfort from it, but are thereby incited to despair, or that the impenitent are confirmed in their wantonness, it is undoubtedly sure and true that such a doctrine is taught, not according to the Word and will of G.o.d, but according to [the blind judgment of human] reason and the instigation of the devil. For, as the apostle testifies, Rom. 15, 4: 'Whatsoever things were written aforetime were written for our learning, that we through patience and comfort of the Scriptures might have hope.'

But when this consolation and hope are weakened or entirely removed by Scripture, it is certain that it is understood and explained contrary to the will and meaning of the Holy Ghost." (1093, 91f., 837, 16; 1077, 43.)

Predestination is comforting when Christians are taught to seek their election in Christ. We read: "Moreover, this doctrine gives no one a cause either for despondency or for a shameless, dissolute life, namely, when men are taught that they must seek eternal election in Christ and His holy Gospel, as in the Book of Life, which excludes no penitent sinner, but beckons and calls all the poor, heavy-laden, and troubled sinners who are disturbed by the sense of G.o.d's wrath, to repentance and the knowledge of their sins and to faith in Christ, and promises the Holy Ghost for purification and renewal, and thus gives the most enduring consolation to all troubled, afflicted men, that they know that their salvation is not placed in their own hands (for otherwise they would lose it much more easily than was the case with Adam and Eve in Paradise, yea, every hour and moment), but in the gracious election of G.o.d which He has revealed to us in Christ, out of whose hand no man shall pluck us, John 10, 28; 2 Tim. 2, 19." (1093, 89.)

In order to manifest its consolatory power predestination must be presented in proper relation to the revealed order of salvation. We read: "With this revealed will of G.o.d [His universal, gracious promises in the Gospel] we should concern ourselves, follow and be diligently engaged upon it, because through the Word, whereby He calls us, the Holy Ghost bestows grace, power, and ability to this end [to begin and complete our salvation], and should not [attempt to] sound the abyss of G.o.d's hidden predestination, as it is written in Luke 13, 24, where one asks: 'Lord, are there few that be saved?' and Christ answers: 'Strive to enter in at the strait gate.' Accordingly, Luther says [in his Preface to the Epistle to the Romans]: 'Follow the Epistle to the Romans in its order, concern yourself first with Christ and His Gospel, that you may recognize your sins and His grace; next that you contend with sin, as Paul teaches from the first to the eighth chapter; then, when in the eighth chapter you will come into [will have been exercised by]

temptation under the cross and afflictions,--this will teach you in the ninth, tenth, and eleventh chapters how consolatory predestination is,'

etc." (1073, 33.)

Predestination, properly taught, affords the glorious comfort that no one shall pluck us out of the almighty hands of Christ. The _Formula_ says: "Thus this doctrine affords also the excellent glorious consolation that G.o.d was so greatly concerned about the conversion, righteousness, and salvation of every Christian, and so faithfully purposed it [provided therefor] that before the foundation of the world was laid, He deliberated concerning it, and in His [secret] purpose ordained how He would bring me thereto [call and lead me to salvation], and preserve me therein. Also, that He wished to secure my salvation so well and certainly that, since through the weakness and wickedness of our flesh it could easily be lost from our hands, or through craft and might of the devil and the world be s.n.a.t.c.hed and taken from us, He ordained it in His eternal purpose, which cannot fail or be overthrown, and placed it for preservation in the almighty hand of our Savior Jesus Christ, from which no one can pluck us, John 10, 28. Hence Paul also says, Rom. 8, 28. 39: 'Because we have been called according to the purpose of G.o.d, who will separate us from the love of G.o.d in Christ?'

[Paul builds the certainty of our blessedness upon the foundation of the divine purpose, when, from our being called according to the purpose of G.o.d, he infers that no one can separate us, etc.]" (1079, 45.) "This article also affords a glorious testimony that the Church of G.o.d will exist and abide in opposition to all the gates of h.e.l.l, and likewise teaches which is the true Church of G.o.d, lest we be offended by the great authority [and majestic appearance] of the false Church, Rom. 9, 24. 25." (1079, 50.)

Especially in temptations and tribulations the doctrine of eternal election reveals its comforting power. We read: "Moreover, this doctrine affords glorious consolation under the cross and amid temptations, namely, that G.o.d in His counsel, before the time of the world determined and decreed that He would a.s.sist us in all distresses [anxieties and perplexities], grant patience, give consolation, excite [nourish and encourage] hope, and produce such an outcome as would contribute to our salvation. Also, as Paul in a very consolatory way treats this, Rom. 8, 28. 29. 35. 38. 39, that G.o.d in His purpose has ordained before the time of the world by what crosses and sufferings He would conform every one of His elect to the image of His Son, and that to every one his cross shall and must work together for good, because they are called according to the purpose, whence Paul has concluded that it is certain and indubitable that neither tribulation nor distress, nor death, nor life, etc., shall be able to separate us from the love of G.o.d which is in Christ Jesus, our Lord." (1079, 48.)

XXI. Luther and Article XI of the Formula of Concord.

234. Luther Falsely Charged with Calvinism.

Calvinists and Synergists have always contended that Luther's original doctrine of predestination was essentially identical with that of John Calvin. Melanchthon was among the first who raised a charge to this effect. In his _Opinion_ to Elector August, dated March 9, 1559, we read: "During Luther's life and afterwards I rejected these Stoic and Manichean deliria, when Luther and others wrote: All works, good and bad, in all men, good and bad, must occur as they do. Now it is apparent that such speech contradicts the Word of G.o.d, is detrimental to all discipline and blasphemes G.o.d. Therefore I have sedulously made a distinction, showing to what extent man has a free will to observe outward discipline, also before regeneration," etc. (_C. R._ 9, 766.) Instead of referring to his own early statements, which were liable to misinterpretation more than anything that Luther had written, Melanchthon disingenuously mentions Luther, whose real meaning he misrepresents and probably had never fully grasped. The true reason why Melanchthon charged Luther and his loyal adherents with Stoicism was his own synergistic departure from the Lutheran doctrine of original sin and of salvation by grace alone. Following Melanchthon, rationalizing Synergists everywhere have always held that without abandoning Luther's doctrine of original sin and of the _gratia sola_ there is no escape from Calvinism.

In this point Reformed theologians agree with the Synergists, and have therefore always claimed Luther as their ally. I. Mueller declared in _Lutheri de Praedestionatione et Libero Arbitrio Doctrina_ of 1832: "As to the chief point (_quod ad caput rei attinet_), Zwingli's view of predestination is in harmony with Luther's _De Servo Arbitrio_." In his _Zentraldogmen_ of 1854 Alexander Schweizer endeavored to prove that the identical doctrine of predestination was originally the central dogma of the Lutheran as well as of the Zwinglian reformation. "It is not so much the dogma [of predestination] itself," said he (1, 445), "as its position which is in dispute" among Lutherans and Calvinists. Schweizer (1, 483) based his a.s.sertion on the false a.s.sumption "that the doctrines of the captive will and of absolute predestination [denial of universal grace] are two halves of the same ring." (Frank 1, 12. 118. 128; 4, 262.) Similar contentions were made in America by Schaff, Hodge, Shedd, and other Reformed theologians.

As a matter of fact, however, also in the doctrine of predestination Zwingli and Calvin were just as far and as fundamentally apart from Luther as their entire rationalistic theology differed from the simple and implicit Scripturalism of Luther. Frank truly says that the agreement between Luther's doctrine and that of Zwingli and Calvin is "only specious, _nur scheinbar_." (1, 118.) Tschackert remarks: "Whoever [among the theologians before the _Formula of Concord_] was acquainted with the facts could not but see that in this doctrine [of predestination] there was a far-reaching difference between the Lutheran and the Calvinistic theology." (559.) F. Pieper declares that Luther and Calvin agree only in certain expressions, but differ entirely as to substance. (_Dogm_. 3, 554.)

The _Visitation Articles_, adopted 1592 as a norm of doctrine for Electoral Saxony, enumerate the following propositions on "Predestination and the Eternal Providence of G.o.d" which must be upheld over against the Calvinists as "the pure and true doctrine of our [Lutheran] churches": "1. That Christ has died for all men, and as the Lamb of G.o.d has borne the sins of the whole world. 2. That G.o.d created no one for condemnation, but will have all men to be saved, and to come to the knowledge of the truth. He commands all to hear His Son Christ in the Gospel, and promises by it the power and working of the Holy Ghost for conversion and salvation. 3. That many men are condemned by their own guilt who are either unwilling to hear the Gospel of Christ, or again fall from grace, by error against the foundation or by sins against conscience. 4. That all sinners who repent are received into grace and no one is excluded, even though his sins were as scarlet, since G.o.d's mercy is much greater than the sins of all the world, and G.o.d has compa.s.sion on all His works." (CONC. TRIGL. 1153.) Not one of these propositions, which have always been regarded as a summary of the Lutheran teaching in contradistinction from Calvinism, was ever denied by Luther.

235. Summary of Luther's Views.

Luther distinguished between the hidden and the revealed or "proclaimed"

G.o.d, the secret and revealed will of G.o.d; the majestic G.o.d in whom we live and move and have our being, and G.o.d manifest in Christ; G.o.d's unsearchable judgments and ways past finding out, and His merciful promises in the Gospel. Being truly G.o.d and not an idol, G.o.d, according to Luther, is both actually omnipotent and omniscient. Nothing can exist or occur without His power, and everything surely will occur as He has foreseen it. This is true of the thoughts, volitions, and acts of all His creatures. He would not be G.o.d if there were any power not derived from, or supplied by Him, or if the actual course of events could annul His decrees and stultify His knowledge. Also the devils and the wicked are not beyond His control.

As for evil, though G.o.d does not will or cause it,--for, on the contrary, He prohibits sin and truly deplores the death of a sinner--yet sin and death could never have entered the world without His permission.

Also the will of fallen man receives its power to will from G.o.d, and its every resolve and consequent act proceeds just as G.o.d has foreseen, ordained, or permitted it. The evil quality of all such acts, however, does not emanate from G.o.d, but from the corrupt will of man. Hence free will, when defined as the power of man to nullify and subvert what G.o.d's majesty has foreseen and decreed, is a nonent, a mere empty t.i.tle. This, however, does not involve that the human will is coerced or compelled to do evil, nor does it exclude in fallen man the ability to choose in matters temporal and subject to reason.

But while holding that we must not deny the majesty and the mysteries of G.o.d, Luther did not regard these, but Christ crucified and justification by faith in the promises of the Gospel, as the true objects of our concern. Nor does he, as did Calvin, employ predestination as a corrective and regulative norm for interpreting, limiting, invalidating, annulling, or casting doubt upon, any of the blessed truths of the Gospel. Luther does not modify the revealed will of G.o.d in order to harmonize it with G.o.d's sovereignty. He does not place the hidden G.o.d in opposition to the revealed G.o.d, nor does he reject the one in order to maintain the other. He denies neither the revealed universality of G.o.d's grace, of Christ's redemption, and of the efficaciousness of the Holy Spirit in the means of grace, nor the unsearchable judgments and ways of G.o.d's majesty. Even the Reformed theologian A. Schweizer admits as much when he says in his _Zentraldogmen_ (1, 445): "In the Zwinglio-Calvinian type of doctrine, predestination is a dogma important as such and regulating the other doctrines, yea, as Martyr, Beza, and others say, the chief part of Christian doctrine; while in the Lutheran type of doctrine it is merely a dogma supporting other, more important central doctrines." (Frank 4, 264.)

Moreover, Luther most earnestly warns against all speculations concerning the hidden G.o.d as futile, foolish, presumptuous, and wicked.

The secret counsels, judgments, and ways of G.o.d cannot and must not be investigated. G.o.d's majesty is unfathomable, His judgments are unsearchable, His ways past finding out. Hence, there is not, and there cannot be, any human knowledge, understanding, or faith whatever concerning G.o.d in so far as He has not revealed Himself. For while the fact that there are indeed such things as mysteries, unsearchable judgments, and incomprehensible ways in G.o.d is plainly taught in the Bible, their nature, their how, why, and wherefore, has not been revealed to us and no amount of human ingenuity is able to supply the deficiency. Hence, in as far as G.o.d is still hidden and veiled, He cannot serve as a norm by which we are able to regulate our faith and life. Particularly when considering the question how G.o.d is disposed toward us individually, we must not take refuge in the secret counsels of G.o.d, which reason cannot spy and pry into. According to Luther, all human speculations concerning the hidden G.o.d are mere diabolical inspirations, bound to lead away from the saving truth of the Gospel into despair and destruction.

What G.o.d, therefore, would have men believe about His att.i.tude toward them, must according to Luther, be learned from the Gospel alone. The Bible tells us how G.o.d is disposed toward poor sinners, and how He wants to deal with them. Not His hidden majesty, but His only-begotten Son, born in Bethlehem, is the divinely appointed object of human investigation. Christ crucified is G.o.d manifest and visible to men.

Whoever has seen Christ has seen G.o.d. The Gospel is G.o.d's only revelation to sinful human beings. The Bible, the ministry of the Word, Baptism, the Lord's Supper, and absolution are the only means of knowing how G.o.d is disposed toward us. To these alone G.o.d has directed us. With these alone men should occupy and concern themselves.

And the Gospel being the Word of G.o.d, the knowledge furnished therein is most reliable. Alarmed sinners may trust in its comforting promises with firm a.s.surance and unwavering confidence. In _De Servo Arbitrio_ Luther earnestly warns men not to investigate the hidden G.o.d, but to look to revelation for an answer to the question how G.o.d is minded toward them, and how He intends to deal with them. In his _Commentary on Genesis_ he refers to this admonition and repeats it, protesting that he is innocent if any one is misled to take a different course. "I have added" [to the statements in _De Servo Arbitrio_ concerning necessity and the hidden G.o.d] Luther here declares, "that we must look upon the revealed G.o.d.

_Addidi, quod aspiciendus sit Deus revelatus_." (CONC. TRIGL. 898.)

This Bible-revelation, however, by which alone Luther would have men guided in judging G.o.d, plainly teaches both, that grace is universal, and that salvation is by grace alone. Luther always taught the universality of G.o.d's love and mercy, as well as of Christ's redemption, and the operation of the Holy Spirit in the means of grace. Also according to _De Servo Arbitrio_, G.o.d wants all men to be saved, and does not wish the death of sinners, but deplores and endeavors to remove it. Luther fairly revels in such texts as Ezek. 18, 23 and 31, 11: "As I live, saith the Lord G.o.d, I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but that the wicked turn from his way and live. Turn ye from your evil ways; for why will ye die, O house of Israel?" He calls the above a "glorious pa.s.sage" and "that sweetest Gospel voice--_illam vocem dulcissimi Evangelii_." (E. v. a. 7, 218.)

Thus Luther rejoiced in universal grace, because it alone was able to convince him that the Gospel promises embraced and included also him. In like manner he considered the doctrine that salvation is by grace alone to be most necessary and most comforting. Without this truth divine a.s.surance of salvation is impossible, with it, all doubts about the final victory of faith are removed. Luther was convinced that, if he were required to contribute anything to his own conversion, preservation, and salvation, he could never attain these blessings.

Nothing can save but the grace which is grace alone. In _De Servo Arbitrio_ everything is pressed into service to disprove and explode the a.s.sertion of Erasmus that the human will is able to and does "work something in matters pertaining to salvation," and to establish the monergism or sole activity of grace in man's conversion. (St. L. 18, 1686, 1688.)

At the same time Luther maintained that man alone is at fault when he is lost. In _De Servo Arbitrio_ he argues: Since it is G.o.d's will that all men should be saved, it must be attributed to man's will if any one perishes. The cause of d.a.m.nation is unbelief, which thwarts the gracious will of G.o.d so clearly revealed in the Gospel. The question, however, why some are lost while others are saved, though their guilt is equal, or why G.o.d does not save all men, since it is grace alone that saves, and since grace is universal, Luther declines to answer. Moreover, he demands that we both acknowledge and adore the unsearchable judgments of G.o.d, and at the same time firmly adhere to the Gospel as revealed in the Bible. All efforts to solve this mystery or to harmonize the hidden and the revealed G.o.d, Luther denounces as folly and presumption.

Yet Luther maintains that the conflict is seeming rather than real.

Whatever may be true of the majestic G.o.d, it certainly cannot annul or invalidate what He has made known of Himself in the Gospel. There are and can be no contradictory wills in G.o.d. Despite appearances to the contrary, therefore, Christians are firmly to believe that, in His dealings with men, G.o.d, who saves so few and d.a.m.ns so many, is nevertheless both truly merciful and just. And what we now believe we shall see hereafter. When the veil will have been lifted and we shall know G.o.d even as we are known by Him, then we shall see with our eyes no other face of G.o.d than the most lovable one which our faith beheld in Jesus. The light of glory will not correct but confirm, the truths of the Bible, and reveal the fact that in all His ways G.o.d was always in perfect harmony with Himself.

Indeed, according to Luther, the truth concerning the majestic G.o.d, in whom we live and move and have our being, and without whom nothing can be or occur, in a way serves both repentance and faith. It serves repentance and the Law inasmuch as it humbles man, causing him to despair of himself and of the powers of his own unregenerate will. It serves faith inasmuch as it guarantees G.o.d's merciful promises in the Gospel. For if G.o.d is supreme, as He truly is, then there can be nothing more reliable than the covenant of grace to which He has pledged Himself by an oath. And if G.o.d, as He truly does, controls all contingencies, then there remains no room for any fear whether He will be able to fulfil His glorious promises, also the promise that nothing shall pluck us out of the hands of Christ.--Such, essentially was the teaching set forth by Luther in _De Servo Arbitrio_ and in his other publications.

236. Object of Luther's "De Servo Arbitrio."

The true scope of _De Servo Arbitrio_ is to prove that man is saved, not by any ability or efforts of his own, but solely by grace. Luther says: "We are not arguing the question what we can do when G.o.d works [moves us], but what we can do ourselves, _viz_., whether, after being created out of nothing, we can do or endeavor [to do] anything through that general movement of omnipotence toward preparing ourselves for being a new creation of His Spirit. This question should have been answered, instead of turning aside to another." Luther continues: "We go on to say: Man, before he is renewed to become a new creature of the kingdom of the Spirit, does nothing, endeavors nothing, toward preparing himself for renewal and the kingdom; and afterwards, when he has been created anew, he does nothing, endeavors nothing, toward preserving himself in that kingdom; but the Spirit alone does each of these things in us, both creating us anew without our cooperation and preserving us when recreated,--even as Jas. 1, 18 says: 'Of His own will begat He us by the Word of Truth that we should be a kind of firstfruits of His creatures,'

He is speaking here of the renewed creature." (E. v. a. 7, 317; St. L.

18, 1909; compare here and in the following quotations Vaughan's _Martin Luther on the Bondage of the Will_, London, 1823.)

Man lacks also the ability to do what is good before G.o.d. Luther: "I reply: The words of the Prophet [Ps. 14, 2: "The Lord looketh down from heaven upon the children of men to see if there were any that did understand and seek G.o.d. They are all gone aside," etc.] include both act and power; and it is the same thing to say, 'Man does not seek after G.o.d,' as it would be to say, 'Man cannot seek after G.o.d.'" (E. 330; St.

L. 1923.) Again: "Since, therefore, men are flesh, as G.o.d Himself testifies, they cannot but be carnally minded (_nihil sapere possunt nisi carnem_); hence free will has power only to sin. And since they grow worse even when the Spirit of G.o.d calls and teaches them, what would they do if left to themselves, without the Spirit of G.o.d?" (E.

290; St. L. 1876.) "In brief, you will observe in Scripture that wherever flesh is treated in opposition to the Spirit, you may understand by flesh about everything that is contrary to the Spirit, as in the pa.s.sage [John 6, 63]: 'The flesh profiteth nothing.'" (E. 291; St.

L. 1877.) "Thus also Holy Scripture, by way of emphasis (_per epitasin_), calls man 'flesh,' as though he were carnality itself, because his mind is occupied with nothing but carnal things. _Quod nimio ac nihil aliud sapit quam ea, quae carnis sunt_." (E. 302; St. L. 1890.)

According to Luther there is no such thing as a neutral willing in man.

He says: "It is a mere logical fiction to say that there is in man a neutral and pure volition (_medium et purum velle_); nor can those prove it who a.s.sert it. It was born of ignorance of things and servile regard to words, as if something must straightway be such in substance as we state it to be in words, which sort of figments are numberless among the Sophists [Scholastic theologians]. The truth of the matter is stated by Christ when He says [Luke 11, 23]: 'He that is not with Me is against Me,' He does not say, 'He that is neither with Me nor against Me, but in the middle,' For if G.o.d be in us, Satan is absent, and only the will for good is present with us. If G.o.d be absent, Satan is present, and there is no will in us but towards evil. Neither G.o.d nor Satan allows a mere and pure volition in us; but, as you have rightly said, having lost our liberty, we are compelled to serve sin; that is sin and wickedness we will, sin and wickedness we speak, sin and wickedness we act." (E. 199; St. L. 1768.)

In support of his denial of man's ability in spiritual matters Luther quotes numerous Bible-pa.s.sages, and thoroughly refutes as fallacies _a debito ad posse_, etc., the arguments drawn by Erasmus from mandatory and conditional pa.s.sages of Scripture. His own arguments he summarizes as follows: "For if we believe it to be true that G.o.d foreknows and preordains everything, also, that He can neither be deceived nor hindered in His foreknowledge and predestination furthermore that nothing occurs without His will (a truth which reason itself is compelled to concede), then, according to the testimony of the selfsame reason, there can be no free will in man or angel or any creature.

Likewise, if we believe Satan to be the prince of the world, who is perpetually plotting and fighting against the kingdom of Christ with all his might, so that he does not release captive men unless he be driven out by the divine power of the Spirit, it is again manifest that there can be no such thing as free will. Again, if we believe original sin to have so ruined us that, by striving against what is good, it makes most troublesome work even for those who are led by the Spirit, then it is clear that in man devoid of the Spirit nothing is left which can turn itself to good, but only [what turns itself] to evil. Again, if the Jews, following after righteousness with all their might rushed forth into unrighteousness, and the Gentiles, who were following after unrighteousness, have freely and unexpectingly attained to righteousness, it is likewise manifest, even by very deed and experience, that man without grace can will nothing but evil. In brief, if we believe Christ to have redeemed man by His blood, then we are compelled to confess that the whole man was lost; else we shall make Christ either superfluous, or the Redeemer only of the vilest part [of man] which is blasphemous and sacrilegious." (E. 366; St. L. 1969.)

237. Relation of Man's Will toward G.o.d's Majesty.

According to Luther man has power over things beneath himself, but not over G.o.d in His majesty. We read: "We know that man is const.i.tuted lord of the things beneath him, over which he has power and free will, that they may obey him and do what he wills and thinks. But the point of our inquiry is whether he has a free will toward G.o.d, so that G.o.d obeys and does what man wills; or, whether it is not rather G.o.d who has a free will over man, so that the latter wills and does what G.o.d wills, and can do nothing but what G.o.d has willed and does. Here the Baptist says that man can receive nothing except it be given him from heaven: wherefore free will is nothing." (E. 359, St. L. 1957.)

G.o.d as revealed in the Word may, according to Luther, be opposed and resisted by man, but not G.o.d in His majesty. We read: "Lest any one should suppose this to be my own distinction, [let him know that] I follow Paul, who writes to the Thessalonians concerning Antichrist (2 Thess. 2, 4) that he will exalt himself above every G.o.d that is proclaimed and wors.h.i.+ped, plainly indicating that one may be exalted above G.o.d, so far as He is proclaimed and wors.h.i.+ped, that is, above the Word and wors.h.i.+p by which G.o.d is known to us, and maintains intercourse with us. Nothing, however, can be exalted above G.o.d as He is in His nature and majesty (as not wors.h.i.+ped and proclaimed); rather, everything is under His powerful hand." (E. 221; St. L. 1794.)

G.o.d in His majesty is supreme and man cannot resist His omnipotence, nor thwart His decrees, nor foil His plans, nor render His omniscience fallible. Luther: "For all men find this opinion written in their hearts, and, when hearing this matter discussed, they, though against their will, acknowledge and a.s.sent to it, first, that G.o.d is omnipotent, not only as regards His power, but also, as stated His action; else He would be a ridiculous G.o.d; secondly, that He knows and foreknows all things, and can neither err nor be deceived. These two things, however, being conceded by the hearts and senses of all men they are presently, by an inevitable consequence, compelled to admit that, even as we are not made by our own will, but by necessity, so likewise we do nothing according to the right of free will, but just as G.o.d has foreknown and acts by a counsel and an energy which is infallible and immutable. So, then, we find it written in all hearts alike that free will [defined as a power independent of G.o.d's power] is nothing, although this writing [in the hearts of men] be obscured through so many contrary disputations and the great authority of so many persons who during so many ages have been teaching differently." (E. 268; St. L. 1851.)

The very idea of G.o.d and omnipotence involves that free will is not, and cannot be, a power independent of G.o.d. Luther: "However, even natural reason is obliged to confess that the living and true G.o.d must be such a one who by His freedom imposes necessity upon us, for, evidently, He would be a ridiculous G.o.d or, more properly, an idol, who would either foresee future events in an uncertain way, or be deceived by the events, as the Gentiles have a.s.serted an inescapable fate also for their G.o.ds.

G.o.d would be equally ridiculous if He could not do or did not do all things, or if anything occurred without Him. Now, if foreknowledge and omnipotence are conceded, it naturally follows as an irrefutable consequence that we have not been made by ourselves, nor that we live or do anything by ourselves, but through His omnipotence. Since, therefore, He foreknew that we should be such [as we actually are], and even now makes, moves, and governs us as such, pray, what can be imagined that is free in us so as to occur differently than He has foreknown or now works? G.o.d's foreknowledge and omnipotence, therefore, conflict directly with our free will [when defined as a power independent of G.o.d]. For either G.o.d will be mistaken in foreknowing, err also in acting (which is impossible), or we shall act, and be acted upon, according to His foreknowledge and action. By the omnipotence of G.o.d, however, I do not mean that power by which He can do many things which He does not do but that active omnipotence by means of which He powerfully works all things in all, in which manner Scripture calls Him omnipotent. This omnipotence and prescience of G.o.d, I say, entirely abolish the dogma of free will.

Nor can the obscurity of Scripture or the difficulty of the matter be made a pretext here. The words are most clear, known even to children; the subject-matter is plain and easy, judged to be so even by the natural reason common to all, so that ever so long a series of ages, times, and persons writing and teaching otherwise will avail nothing."

(E. 267; St. L. 1849.)

According to Luther, therefore, nothing can or does occur independently of G.o.d, or differently from what His omniscience has foreseen. Luther: "Hence it follows irrefutably that all things which we do, and all things which happen, although to us they seem to happen changeably and contingently, do in reality happen necessarily and immutably, if one views the will of G.o.d. For the will of G.o.d is efficacious and cannot be thwarted since it is G.o.d's natural power itself. It is also wise, so that it cannot be deceived. And since His will is not thwarted, the work itself cannot be prevented, but must occur in the very place, time, manner, and degree which He Himself both foresees and wills." (E. 134; St. L. 1692.)

238. G.o.d Not the Cause of Sin.

Regarding G.o.d's relation to the sinful actions of men, Luther held that G.o.d is not the cause of sin. True, His omnipotence impels also the unG.o.dly; but the resulting acts are evil because of man's evil nature.

He writes: "Since, therefore, G.o.d moves and works all in all, He necessarily moves and acts also in Satan and in the wicked. But He acts in them precisely according to what they are and what He finds them to be (_agit in illis taliter, quales illi sunt, et quales invenit_). That is to say, since they are turned away [from Him] and wicked, and [as such] are impelled to action by divine omnipotence, they do only such things as are averse [to G.o.d] and wicked, just as a horseman driving a horse which has only three or two [sound] feet (_equum tripedem vel bipedem_) will drive him in a manner corresponding to the condition of the horse (_agit quidem taliter, qualis equus est_), _i.e._, the horse goes at a sorry gait. But what can the horseman do? He drives such a horse together with sound horses, so that it sadly limps along, while the others take a good gait. He cannot do otherwise unless the horse is cured. Here you see that when G.o.d works in the wicked and through the wicked, the result indeed is evil (_mala quidem fieri_), but that nevertheless G.o.d cannot act wickedly, although He works that which is evil through the wicked; for He being good, cannot Himself act wickedly, although He uses evil instruments, which cannot escape the impulse and motion of His power. The fault, therefore, is in the instruments, which G.o.d does not suffer to remain idle, so that evil occurs, G.o.d Himself impelling them, but in no other manner than a carpenter who, using an ax that is notched and toothed, would do poor work with it. Hence it is that a wicked man cannot but err and sin continually, because, being impelled by divine power, he is not allowed to remain idle, but wills, desires, and acts according to what he is (_velit, cupiat, faciat taliter, qualis ipse est_)." (E. 255; St. L. 1834.) "For although G.o.d does not make sin, still He ceases not to form and to multiply a nature which, the Spirit having been withdrawn is corrupted by sin, just as when a carpenter makes statues of rotten wood. Thus men become what their nature is, G.o.d creating and forming them of such nature." (E. 254; St. L. 1833.)

Though G.o.d works all things in all things the wickedness of an action flows from the sinful nature of the creature. Luther: "Whoever would have any understanding of such matters, let him consider that G.o.d works evil in us, _i.e._, through us, not by any fault of His, but through our own fault. For since we are by nature evil, while G.o.d is good, and since He impels us to action according to the nature of His omnipotence, He, who Himself is good, cannot do otherwise than do evil with an evil instrument, although, according to His wisdom, He causes this evil to turn out unto His own glory and to our salvation." (E. 257; St. L.

1837.) "For this is what we a.s.sert and contend, that, when G.o.d works without the grace of His Spirit [in His majesty, outside of Word and Sacrament], He works all in all, even in the wicked; for He alone moves all things, which He alone has created, and drives and impels all things by virtue of His omnipotence, which they [the created things] cannot escape or change, but necessarily follow and obey, according to the power which G.o.d has given to each of them--such is the manner in which all, even wicked, things cooperate with Him. Furthermore, when He acts by the Spirit of Grace in those whom He has made righteous, _i.e._, in His own kingdom, He in like manner impels and moves them; and, being new creatures, they follow and cooperate with Him; or rather, as Paul says, they are led by Him." (E. 317; St. L. 1908.) "For we say that, without the grace of G.o.d, man still remains under the general omnipotence of G.o.d, who does, moves, impels all things, so that they take their course necessarily and without fail, but that what man, so impelled, does, is nothing, _i.e._, avails nothing before G.o.d, and is accounted nothing but sin." (E. 315; St. L. 1906.)