# Der Lutheraner_St. Louis Missouri_1848 12 26_S67
# AI translation — CHI Digital Archive (demonstration)

67

as they are churches, so they are also apostles, evangelists, and prophets, that is, they are the devil's apostles, evangelists, and prophets. For the true apostles, evangelists, and prophets preach God's Word, and not against God's Word.

Now if the apostles, evangelists, and prophets have ceased, then others must have come in their place, and must still come until the end of the world. For the Church shall not cease until the end of the world; therefore apostles, evangelists, prophets must remain, let them be called what they will or can, who carry on God's Word and work. For the pope with his own, who persecute God's Word and yet themselves confess that it is true, must be very poor apostles, evangelists, and prophets, like the devil with his angels. But how do I come to the shameful, filthy people of the pope; let them go again, and bid them not come back, or etc.

As was said above of the other four parts of the great divine holy thing, whereby the holy Church is sanctified, that you are not to heed who and what manner of men they are from whom one receives such things: so you shall also here ask nothing about who and what manner of man he is that gives it to you or has the office. For it is all given, not to him who has it, but to him who is to receive it through his office, except that he too may receive it with you, wherever he will. Let him be what he will and as he can, since he is in the office, and is tolerated by the multitude, so let it also pass with you; his person makes God's Word and Sacrament neither worse nor better for you. For it is not his, what he speaks or does, but Christ, your LORD, and the Holy Ghost speaks and does all, so far as he remains in the right way of teaching and doing; except that the Church ought not and cannot suffer public vices. But be you alone content and let it pass, since you as an individual cannot be the whole multitude or the Christian holy people.

But you must not turn aside to the pope. He forbids that any married man be called to such an office, but they are all to be chaste virgins, according to the Nestorian consequence, which is a great deal, all clergy are to be chaste, but they themselves may well be unchaste. See, still you come to me with the pope, and I would have no more of you. Well then, be you ill and unwelcome to me; I will receive you in the Lutheran way.

The pope condemns the married life of bishops or pastors, that is now manifest enough. With this he is not content, he condemns far more severely the Digamiam, and, that I may say it plainly, he makes four kinds of Digamos, if not five. I will now call Digamum two-wived, one who marries twice, or takes another's widow. The first two-wived is he who takes two virgins one after the other in marriage, the second, who takes a widow, the third, who takes a betrothed, left a virgin by the dead bridegroom, the fourth comes in shamefully, that he must also be called a two-wived man because he unknowingly, unwillingly takes a virgin and afterward finds her neither pure nor a virgin; but in short, he must be a two-wived man with the pope, much more than the third, who has taken the bride a virgin. These all stink and smell foul in the canon law, may not preach, baptize, administer the Sacrament, or exercise any office of the Church, even though they were holier than St. John, and their wives holier than the mother of God. So excellently holy is the pope in his decrees.

But if a man had seduced a hundred virgins, dishonored a hundred honorable widows, and had besides a hundred harlots behind his back, he may become not only preacher or pastor, but also bishop or pope, and if he still kept doing it, he would nevertheless now be tolerated in such offices. But where he gets a bride a virgin, or a false virgin, he cannot be God's servant. It avails nothing that he be a true Christian, learned, godly, useful, he is a two-wived man; he must be out of the office and never come to it. What think you? Is this not a new, higher holiness than Christ himself is, with the Holy Ghost and his Church? Christ does not despise either one-wived or two-wived*) men, nor once-married or twice-married women, if they believe on him, lets them remain members of his holy Christian people, and uses them also for whatever they are useful or can be. Although according to Holy Scripture he is called two-wived who has at one time two living wives, as Lamech. But the pope is more learned and calls him two-wived who has two wives one after the other; so also of women. For he is much more learned than God himself. . . . .

Where you now see such offices or officers, know that surely the holy Christian people must be there. For the Church cannot be without such bishops, pastors, preachers, priests; and conversely they also not without the Church; they must be together.

Sixthly, one recognizes the holy Christian people outwardly by prayer, by praising and thanking God publicly. For where you see and hear that the Lord's Prayer is prayed and learned to be prayed, and psalms or spiritual songs are sung, according to God's Word and right faith; likewise the Creed, the Ten Commandments, and the Catechism are taught publicly; there know for certain that there is a holy Christian people of God. For prayer also is one of the precious holy things, whereby everything is made holy, as St. Paul says, 1 Tim. 4:5. So the psalms also are nothing but prayer, wherein one praises, thanks, and honors God. And the Creed and Ten Commandments are also God's Word and nothing but holy things, whereby the Holy Ghost sanctifies the holy people of Christ. But we speak of prayer and song that is understandable, from which one can learn and be bettered. For the bleating†) of monks, nuns, priests is no prayer, also no praise of God. For they do not understand it and learn nothing from it, they just do it, like a donkey's work, for the belly's sake, and no betterment, nor sanctification, nor God's will is sought in it.

*) That is, as Luther explained above, men, [illegible] second wife after the death of the first married[illegible]

†) Geplerr.

Seventhly, one recognizes the holy, Christian people outwardly by the holy thing of the holy cross, that it must endure all misfortune and persecution, all manner of temptation and evil (as the Lord's Prayer prays) from the devil, world, and flesh, inwardly mourn, be timid, be afraid, outwardly be poor, despised, sick, weak, suffer, that it may become like its Head, Christ. And the cause must also be this alone, that it holds fast to Christ and God's Word, and so suffers for Christ's sake, Matt. 5:10: "Blessed are they which are persecuted for my sake." They must be godly, quiet, obedient, ready with body and goods to serve the magistrate and everyone, to do no one any harm. Yet no people on earth must suffer such bitter hatred. They must be called worse than Jews, heathen, Turks; in sum, they must be called heretics, knaves, devils, accursed, and the most shameful people on earth, so that even those who are doing God service, by whom they are hanged, drowned, murdered, tortured, driven out, plagued to death, and no one has pity on them, but they give them myrrh and gall besides to drink when they are thirsty, and yet not because they are adulterers, murderers, thieves, or rogues, but because they will have Christ alone and no other God. Where you now see or hear this, know that the holy Christian Church is there, as he says, Matt. 5:11, 12: "Blessed are ye, when men shall revile you, and cast out your name as evil, and that for my sake; rejoice, and be exceeding glad, for great is your reward in heaven." For with this holy thing the Holy Ghost makes this people not only holy, but also blessed.

And meanwhile do not turn aside to the holy things of the papists, of dead saints, of the wood of the holy cross. For there are as likely bones from the knacker's carcass*) as saints' bones, and as likely from the gallows-wood as from the holy cross. And there is mere deceit in it, whereby the pope befools the people for money and leads them away from Christ. And even if it were indeed a holy thing, yet it would make no one holy. But if [illegible] you are condemned for Christ's sake, cursed, [illegible] reviled, plagued, that makes you holy, [illegible] it mortifies the old Adam, that he m[illegible] believ- humility, meekness, praise and th[illegible]. Trib- to be glad in sufferings. Th[illegible]get experi- Holy Ghost sanctif[illegible]ing.) This life in Christ, [illegible]chief parts of the high [illegible] to believe, to trust, h[illegible]ly Ghost in us a tribulatio s[illegible] Vivification †) practices in -ence [illegible] [illegible]ng.