# Der Lutheraner_St. Louis Missouri_1847 01 26_S63
# AI translation — CHI Digital Archive (demonstration)

this one, that the Holy Spirit was true God. What did it help him and his followers? It was to him just as if he believed none at all. And even though he might name and pronounce them with his mouth, he nevertheless has no God, because he holds the Holy Spirit to be no God; therefore he also has no Creator of heaven and earth; there his baptism is nothing anymore, no forgiveness of sins, no sacrament, no eternal life. And even if he lives strictly and leads an apparently Christian life, he is still no true Christian, but a great hypocrite; it would be far better for him not to be a Christian at all, than to so misuse and falsely bear the Christian name — that is, to bear and honor it so damnably.

So too Nestorius, bishop of Constantinople, was together with his followers a strict man in all the articles, but in this one he was a heretic: that God's Son, Christ, was not born of the Virgin Mary, and that Mary was not — nor could be — a mother of God. Thereby all the other articles were also rendered null and void for him, apart from whatever he might have named and misused them as with his mouth. 1)

Hence also, out of these three heretics, far more heresy at last broke forth and came to light (for it had lain hidden within them before), until at length the wretched Mahomet came forth; for all histories testify that Mahomet arose out of the Arians, Macedonians, and Nestorians, in whom, from the very beginning, he too had long since been latent.

And from where did the pope become so full of heresy, and has continually brought one heresy after another into the world, until now at Rome — especially at the pope's court — they are nothing but Epicureans and mockers of the Christian faith? Namely from this, that they fell away from faith in Christ to works, that is, to their own righteousness. What use, then, remained to him from all the other articles? What does it help him that with his mouth he highly praises the true God, the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, and puts on a splendid pretense of a Christian life? Nevertheless he is, and remains, the greatest enemy of Christ and the true Antichrist; he has made himself the head of Christendom, ... whereby so many abominations of masses, monkery, and fornication have been flung into the world — until at last even the monks, through their lousy cowls, were supposed to help dying Christians into heaven.

So too it will not help the fanatics that they make a great to-do about the sacrament, about the spiritual eating and drinking of the body and blood of Christ, and about the love and unity of Christians. For these are nothing but fig leaves, with which Adam and Eve wanted to cover and adorn themselves, so that God would not notice their shame and sin. Much less will their great labor help them — their teaching and writing, their earnest, disciplined conduct; that is still all heathen business. In addition, this too is lost: that they believe in God the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, and in Christ the Savior. All of it, I say, is lost — together with all the articles, however rightly and blamelessly they name or present them with their false, slandering mouth — because they deny this one single article and condemn as a lie what Christ says in the Sacrament: "Take (the bread) and eat; this is my body, which is given for you," etc. For what they prattle about spiritual eating and about love is all aimed at this: that they may cover up and adorn such harm and poison, so that it will not be noticed or seen, but that they instead be regarded as the especially good and best Christians. That means, in plain speech, to set a devil's phantom before people's eyes, and to adorn the dark devil (as St. Paul teaches, 2 Cor. 11:14) with the bright garment of the angels of light. Therefore all their great boasting and much labor is lost, because in this one single article they will not be Christians.

Of this the Lord speaks, Luke 11:35: "Take heed that the light in you be not darkness. If then your whole body is full of light, having no part dark, it shall be wholly full of light." There you see that the Lord wills that everything in us be light, and that no part of darkness be mixed in — as also Matt. 6:23: "If then the light that is in you is darkness, how great is that darkness!" And Paul, Gal. 5:3: "I testify to every man who lets himself be circumcised (which was one single point) that he has fallen from Christ and from grace, and is obliged to keep the whole law." From this comes the saying of James 2:10: "Whoever keeps the whole law and sins in one point is guilty of all; for he who commanded, You shall not commit adultery, also commanded, You shall not kill," etc. There is one God who has commanded everything; whoever angers him in one thing, against him all creatures and all commandments of God are likewise angered — even his own good works, which he supposes he has done according to the other commandments, for they are not done in true obedience to God, nor in faith in Christ, etc.

You might say: Ah, dear Luther, it is to be hoped, or at least not to be feared, that God should be so exceedingly harsh and cruelly severe as to want to condemn people for the sake of one article, if otherwise they faithfully keep and believe all the other articles! For thus not only heretics comfort themselves, but other sinners as well, as Sirach 7:9 writes — supposing that God will look upon their other good works and be gracious; just as also King Saul wanted to adorn his disobedience with his devotion and sacrifice, 1 Sam. 15:15. Thus they go along quite secure and confident, as though there were no danger for them at all; the many great works and labors which they otherwise perform will, they suppose, outweigh the one point. Against this it must be said that God can far less hope or expect that his poor, wretched, blind creature should be so mad and proud against its Creator and Lord as to deny his divine Word, condemn it as a lie, and blaspheme it; rather, it is to be hoped of him that his humble, submissive, obedient creature will not deny or blaspheme a single word, but will heartily accept each and every one in particular, and give thanks with all joy that it is worthy to hear a single word from its dear God; indeed, this is how it befits God to consider the matter. But now the heretics do nothing else with God's Word than as though it were the word of a man, or the word of a fool, which they may despise, mock, and blaspheme, and think they could improve upon according to their own fine conceit. They will not let themselves be instructed in this. There everything is lost. And here the many good works and much labor will not outweigh the one evil point. For there is neither much nor little, neither small nor great good works, but nothing except vain, evil, condemned works; for unbelief or blasphemy of God also brings to nothing, and condemns, the (so-called) good works. Indeed, such good works are worse than plain sins otherwise are, because they occur amid the blasphemy of God's name and Word and stubborn denial, so that it would be far better, and more to be wished, that they committed sin and evil works instead — for then at least they would recognize and know what they were doing. Now it goes with them according to the saying of Solomon, Eccl. 5:1: "Guard your foot when you go to the house of God, and draw near to hear; that is better than the sacrifice of fools, who do not know how evil their works are." Sacrifice is indeed a good work, yet it is called evil when the fools who will not hear (that is, the godless, or heretics) perform it. But far sharper will judge and cut them one day the saying of Psalm 50:16: "God says to the wicked: Why do you take my word in your mouth?" Enough of this; whoever will not hear, let him go his way. (L. W., Halle ed., XX, 2214ff.)

Regarding the "remarkable letter of Mrs. von Reibnitz" communicated in this and in the previous number, we have had it printed off in pamphlet form. It would be especially well suited as a gift for catechumens. It may be obtained from the publisher, stitched in a wrapper, at 5 cents the copy, half a dollar the dozen.

Exemplary conduct of a Christian woman toward her hostile husband.

A wife who lived as a true Christian, in faith in the Son of God, had a husband who was an enemy of Christianity and a servant of sin. Once, when he was in the company of his companions in sin at a drinking bout, where among other things the talk turned to wives, he praised his own wife as an exemplary woman — except that she prayed and read the Bible altogether too much. "But," he added, "for all that, she is entirely in control of herself, and if I came home with you at mid-

1) What would Luther say, one wonders, if he came again and saw how the so-called "General Synod," which calls itself after his name here, deals with the deposit of pure doctrine entrusted to it — how it not only casts away, indeed reviles, one article (that concerning the Holy Supper), but holds fast to not a single one?