# Synodical Conference Convention Proceedings_St. Louis Missouri_1894_S25
# AI translation — CHI Digital Archive (demonstration)

of the Ev. Luth. Synodical Conference of North America. 1894. 25

been diligent to cite sayings from Scripture, even though they handled them wrongly. But Dr. Carlstadt has only τοῦτο (Tuto) and Tatto, point and letter and glosses of his own out of his head, not a single saying of Scripture. Thus the papists confess that in the Sacrament one is to follow not reason but God's Word. But Dr. Carlstadt rattles on and piles together everything that reason can show, teach and judge in this matter; are not these cheerful prophets and heavenly spirits to me?"

How justified this judgment is, the rule shows which Schwenkfeld sets up for the right understanding of the words of the Supper and which Luther (XXI, 442) reports thus: "The fourth (namely of the seven enthusiasts against the Supper), Stenkfeldt, fancied that his stink would be theses in all the world, and brought out of the fourth holy spirit this rule: One must put these words (this is my body) out of sight; for they hinder the spiritual understanding." What a devilish abomination, when one considers that according to Scripture itself it is precisely God's firm, written Word that alone can remove the obstacles that stand in the way of the enlightenment of the Holy Spirit. Therefore one must pay heed precisely to the Word, if one wants to act well and rightly before God. Luther expresses this too. First he pours out his annihilating scorn on Schwenkfeld: "You must note this rule well, if you want to become a theologian, namely: where the clear words of God hinder your understanding, you seek another that pleases you and then say it is the Holy Spirit; then you arrange and interpret the words as seems good to you. As, here you must first grasp the high, spiritual understanding that bread is bread, wine is wine, which no papist or Luther ever understood, nor any baker nor Kretzmeier" (grocer). But further on Luther then says: "Besides these" (namely seven spirits) "there roams about yet another, a surplus holy spirit, for the devil is holy and a great spirit, who says thus: There is here no article of faith, therefore one should not quarrel about it; everyone might believe here what he wanted. This holy spirit seems to me a young holy spirit, whom the old holy spirit Stenkfeldt hatched and brooded. For he keeps well the rule of Stenkfeldt and not only puts the text out of sight but throws it behind him, with faith and everything, like a hollow nut, and makes nothing else of it."

a. The abomination of enthusiasm is evident first of all from its insolent lording it over the wisdom of God, who gave us the Word in order to lead us thereby to perfection in the Spirit and in hope. Now the Word of God is something wonderful, is a work, a creature of the Holy Spirit. As the humanity of Christ, the God-man, is a creature of the Creator and yet this very humanity is the bearer of the Godhead — so Holy Scripture is a creature and bearer of the Holy Spirit. The Word of God is indeed before us in the sound of human words,