# Lehre und Wehre_St. Louis Missouri_Januar 1859_S13
# AI translation — CHI Digital Archive (demonstration)

The History of the Doctrine of the Ministry, etc. 13

-ship of Faith in the Office of Christ. 6) The Relationship of the
Congregation to the Public Ministers of the Office of Christ. IV.
Cyprian's View of Justification. V. Cyprian's Doctrine of Church Polity.
VI. The Doctrine of Justification from Augustine to Gregory the Great.
VII. The History of the Ministry from Augustine to Gregory the Great.
VIII. The Period of the Unfolding of Power from the One Center down to
the Reformation. IX. The Elements of Resistance. 1) Resistance on the
Part of the Ministry. 2) Resistance on the Part of Christian Life. 3)
Resistance on the Part of Christian Scholarship. 4) Resistance on the
Part of the Civil Office. X. The Reformation. XI. Statutory Views of the
Ministry within the Lutheran Church. 1) Löhe. 2) Kliefoth. XII.
Conclusion.

One main section is that which sets out to reproduce Luther's doctrine
of the ministry. We let it follow here verbatim.

"We now turn to Luther's doctrine of the ministry: we shall find it
consistently developed out of his doctrine of justification. That a
difference in the doctrine of the ministry exists between Luther's
earlier and later writings has indeed been asserted, but not proved.
Had Luther later come to a different view, he would surely not have
neglected his duty of recanting his earlier view in so important a
matter. Instead, one finds, in the main, a complete harmony between his
earlier and later statements. We therefore do not hesitate, as need
requires, to cite also from Luther's earlier writings.

From the principle of justification by faith the whole Lutheran
doctrinal system unfolded and took hold of Christendom; from this
point, then, we must also understand Luther's views of the ministry.

We shall attempt to present it in outline and in its basic features.

1. Faith in the Word Unites with Christ.—
"Faith gives not only so much that the soul becomes like the divine
Word, full of all grace, free and blessed; but it also unites the soul
with Christ, as a bride with her bridegroom. From which marriage it
follows that Christ and the soul become one body."1)
"We take on his form, rely upon his righteousness, life, and
blessedness; and are thus, through the fellowship of his goods and our
misfortune, one loaf, one bread, one body, one drink, and everything is
held in common. Oh, that is a great sacrament, that Christ and the
church are one flesh and one bone."2)
2. Christ Effects This Union Only through the Word.
"All working that Christ works is comprehended in the Word, and in the

1) Sermon on the Freedom of a Christian. Walch edition, vol. 19, 1215,
§19; cf. 1213, §14. 2) Vol. 19, 533, §23. Sermon on the Venerable
Sacrament of the Holy True Body of Christ.