# Der Lutheraner_St. Louis Missouri_1849 05 01_S138
# AI translation — CHI Digital Archive (demonstration)

138

most excellent terms, and on the other side opposes its circulation in the bitterest manner. The ground of this is properly only one, namely, the pride planted in men by the devil and nicely cherished by the Papists. This pride, however, comes forth in the Roman Church especially in two shapes: a. in the failure to recognize the horrible and thorough corruption of human nature and the overestimation of the natural powers in man; b. in lust of dominion.

a.) It is well known that the Roman Church, against the most express and clearest passages of Holy Scripture (e.g., Gen. 8, 21; Rom. 3, 10-18; Eph. 2, 1-3, etc.), yea, even against the testimony of such Church Fathers and decrees of Councils as the Papists themselves do not dare to reject, nevertheless asserts that man in his present fallen state has still some good powers and the ability to prepare himself by his own effort for the grace of God and to lay hold of the grace offered. From this false ground there results for them the equally false, yea, godless conclusion that some men are more worthy of the grace of God, others less. As if before God all men were not equally unworthy, and all without exception deserving of hellish damnation; as if any man were worthy of the unspeakably precious gift of the Word of God! — If the Papists were right in their godless assertion that man has retained natural good powers after the Fall, with which he could prepare himself for the grace of God and turn to it, the conclusion might still be listened to in some measure: Whoever does not employ these remaining good powers is also not worthy to obtain the means of grace, the Word of God. But now the case is this, that not a trace of sound divine power is left in any man, that rather all are dead in trespasses and sins, that they are all gone out of the way and become unprofitable (Rom. 3), that of every man without exception Is. 1, 5 ff. holds good: "The whole head is sick, and the whole heart faint. From the sole of the foot even unto the head there is no soundness in it; but wounds, and bruises, and putrifying sores: they have not been closed, neither bound up, neither mollified with ointment." — If, accordingly, it were a dishonoring of the Word of God, a wanton squandering of it and a diminishing of its value to bring it near to men in every possible way, and indeed even to such men as ask nothing about it but despise it; then God Himself would first have been guilty of this wanton squandering and dishonoring of His Word, for He has indeed given it to the godless world, which assuredly did not ask Him for it, but moreover despises and opposes it; yea, which is so groundlessly corrupt that no man could or would accept God's Word, if the Word itself did not carry in itself the power to overcome the hostile resistance of the natural man and to change the enmity into holy delight and adoration. This power, however, the Word has (Rom. 1, 16; Heb. 4, 12; 1 Cor. 1, 18; John 6, 63, and others), and never loses it, because the power is of God, even though millions of men, out of an obstinacy and stubbornness coming in addition to the natural enmity against the Word, bar and shut themselves against it. Therefore it is ungodliness to say that by the spreading of Holy Scripture it is dishonored and lowered in value. That comes out somewhat as if a physician who has a costly medicine against a disease were not to administer it to all who are afflicted with that disease, but only to a few, perhaps especially rich ones, in order that the medicine might keep up its price, though ever so many others stood in need of it and perished without it, as might choose. Who would not hold that to be ungodliness? Yet so the Roman priests would have it done with Holy Scripture. To the richer men, that is, to those who imagine, to themselves and to others, that they are richer in piety and righteousness than the rest, to them the Bible is to be given, but to the gross, open sinners, who nevertheless need it most, to them it is not to be furnished. — Well, let us suppose for once that it were as the Roman Church teaches, that some men were not so wholly corrupted by sin as others; how, should one not in fairness come first to the help of the sickest, and so bring Holy Scripture, if possible, first of all to those who lie lowest? Here the Papists will perhaps say: Yes, but it would be bad if one handed costly medicine to a sick man who does not take it, but pours it away. — But of the Word of God nothing can be poured away, as of other medicine; it becomes neither less nor more whether millions of men accept it or cast it away, and nothing is withdrawn from any one because it is given to others. It is an ever rich, bubbling fountain of life, which can never be drained, never diminished, whether many or few draw from it. Therefore it is certain: when the Papists zealously oppose the circulation of the Bible, this happens because they are Pelagian heretics, that is, such people as assert that human nature has not been wholly corrupted by sin, but is able even yet to do something good out of its own powers.

b.) The other shape in which the pride of the Papists, especially of the priests, shows itself is lust of dominion, and this drives them, to be sure, likewise very naturally to enmity against the circulation of the Bible. For since Holy Scripture shows the saving truth unto salvation clearly and plainly to every one who will but let himself be shown, it is to be foreseen that the more the Bible gets among the people, the more it will come to light that the papistical priests teach all sorts of things which do not serve unto salvation at all, but only to strengthen the dominion of the priests and to hold the souls of Christians captive in false services. Therefore the papistical priests, indeed, praise Holy Scripture, for they have their advantage in it, and for the people's sake they dare not say right out that at bottom they care nothing about it, but love only their own devised statutes, which fatten their bellies, fill their pockets and bring them honor among men; therefore, I say, they praise Holy Scripture on the one side, but on the other side they quickly hang such a disgrace upon it that every one is to think: It is well if I am left unmolested by it; for if the Bible, as the priests say, "is an old book, written in long extinct languages, existing only in many differing copies and translations," I have little desire to plague myself with it, and should have small profit from it, for I am once for all none of the learned. Such thoughts are just right for the papistical priests; to that they want to bring it precisely, that every one is to think: the Bible is an excellent book, is God's Word and truth unto salvation, but for me it is too high, I cannot and do not know how to use it, therefore I will hold to what the priests, the learned people, say; they must surely know. So it comes about that the people look to the priests' mouths (that would be right enough), but do not at the same time look into the Bible and search whether it is indeed in truth as the priest says. Then the priests have won the game, for now they can tell as many lies as they please and as serves their purpose; the people always think it is God's Word and serves unto salvation; thus they are deceived, become the slaves of men, and, unless God does something special for them, the captives of Satan.

But let some one say for once whether this is not to blaspheme and dishonor God's Word, to vilify the Bible so shamefully and bring it into such repute as if no man could understand it unless he has devoured learning with spoons and is acquainted with the ancient languages as with his mother tongue? Does not that mean to revile the Holy Ghost in the most shameful manner, when one describes the Scripture, which was inspired by Him, in such terms as the Catholic Kirchen-Zeitung does? Why then did the Holy Ghost not have it written so that every one could understand it? Was He not able to do that? or not willing? Then He is not the Holy Ghost, but rather something wholly different. — But the matter stands thus, that no man, be he the most learned or the most unlearned, understands even a tittle of the Word of God by his own ability and his own cleverness; for the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him; neither can he know them, 1 Cor. 2, 14; on the other hand every man understands the Word of God then, when it is