# Lehre und Wehre_St. Louis Missouri_April 1864_S107
# AI translation — CHI Digital Archive (demonstration)

Foundational Theses on the Question of Church Order and Church Governance. 107

by an edict become absolutely necessary and good in themselves at no
authority's hands. For indifferent things are distinguished from necessary
ones by this mark: that the latter are good in themselves and cannot be
omitted by anyone without danger to salvation and grievous violation of
conscience, whereas the former are in themselves neither good nor evil and
can therefore be omitted, unless either propriety, or the danger of offense,
or the command of the authority advises otherwise. Therefore whoever
says that indifferent things become absolutely necessary through an edict
of the authority ascribes to human edicts such an efficacy that they can
change the very nature of things and nullify the constant laws of nature,
which God willed to stand unshaken — which is absurd. The second
argument is furnished us by Christian liberty, which does not permit
indifferent things to degenerate into necessary ones. We appeal to these
sayings of the divine Scriptures: 1 Cor. 7:27: Be not made servants of
men; Gal. 5:1: Be not entangled again in the yoke of bondage; Col. 2:20:
Ye are dead with Christ, why then do you let yourselves be entangled with
the ordinances of men?"*)

XI.

A Christian is, out of love, servant of all men, but
especially of his brethren.

On this Luther writes: "A Christian man is a free lord over all things; a
Christian man is a dutiful servant of all things and subject to everyone."
Sermon on the Freedom of a Christian. Walch XIX, 1207. The same:
"According to his outward being, each one has the power, for love's and
service's sake, when it would help and serve his neighbor, to observe all
manner of things. For love is nothing but

*) Hoc proprie venit et vocatur in controversiam: an ceremoniae seu consti-
tutiones ecclesiasticae tanquam necessariae observandae sint, non quidem sub
necessitate ordinis et decori, sed sub necessitate simplici et absoluta, ita ut cere-
moniae seu actus in se indifferentes, ubi praescribuntur ab ecclesia, evadant abso-
lute necessarii et in se boni? Bellarminus ajentem sententiam defendit, cui oppo-
nimus duo argumenta. Prius argumentum desumimus ex ipsa natura rerum indif-
ferentium, quippe quae tales sunt, ut nullius magistratus edicto evadant absolute
necessariae et in se bonae. Hoc namque discerniculo interstinguuntur res indiffe-
rentes a necessariis, quod hae in se bonae sint nec possint a quoquam intermitti
sine periculo salutis ac gravi laesione conscientiae, illae vero in se nec bonae nec
malae sint, ac eapropter omitti possint, nisi alias suadeat aut decorum, aut scan-
dali periculum, aut magistratus jussio. Quocirca qui dixerit, res indifferentes
evadere edicto magistratus absolute necessarias, is tantam tribuit efficaciam
edictis humanis, ut ipsam rerum naturam immutare possint ac constantes naturae
leges, quas Deus perstare voluit illabefactas, infringere; quod absurdum est.
Posterius argumentum subministrat nobis libertas christiana, quippe quae non
permittit, ut res indifferentes in necessarias degenerent. Urgemus haec divina-
rum scripturarum dicta: 1 Cor. 7, 27.: Nolite fieri servi hominum. Gal. 5, 1.:
Nolite jugo servitutis subjici. Col. 2, 20.: Mortui estis cum Christo, quid ergo
decretis hominum tenemini? Syst. univ. th. Tom. 2. fol. 524.