Commentary on Genesis, Vol. 1: Luther on the CreationLuther, Martin
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Commentary on Genesis, Vol. 1: Luther on the Creation
Luther, Martin
Bible. Genesis -- Commentaries
These divines affirm moreover that "the similitude," after which man
was formed, stands in gratuitous gifts. For as a similitude is a
certain perfectness of an image, so, they say, the created nature of
man is perfected by grace. According to their views therefore the
"similitude" of God in man consists in his memory being adorned with
hope, his intellect with faith and his will with love. It is in this
manner, they assert, that man is created in the image of God; that man
has a mind, a memory and a will. Again they state the sacred matter
thus: Man is created after the "similitude" of God; that is, his
intellect is illuminated by faith, his memory is confirmed by hope and
constancy, and his will is adorned with love.
Fourthly. Divines give other divisions and definitions of the
qualities of this "image" of God, in which man was originally created.
They hold that memory is the image of the power of God, mind the image
of his wisdom and will the image of his justice. It was after this
manner that Augustine, and after him others, bent their minds on the
discovery of certain trinities of natural qualities or endowments in
man. For they thought that by this mode of explanation, the image of
God in man would be the more clearly seen. These not unpleasing
speculations do indeed argue faithful employment and great acuteness
of mental ability, but they by no means aid the right explanation of
this "image" of God.
Wherefore though I do not altogether condemn and reprobate this
diligence and these deep thoughts, by which divines desire to reduce
all things to a kind of sacred trinity, yet I doubt whether such
attempts are very useful, especially seeing that others may push them
too far. For it is on these grounds that some rest their disputes in
favor of free-will; which, they say, naturally follows from this
"image of God." They argue thus: God is free. Since therefore man is
created in the image of God, man also has a free memory, a free mind
and a free will. Out of this kind of reasoning therefore many things
fall, which are either spoken untruly at first, or are afterwards
wrongly understood or wickedly perverted. It is from this source that
the dangerous doctrine has arisen, according to which men affirm, that
God so rules and governs men that he permits them to use their own
mind and movement. By this sentiment and teaching many most
objectionable opinions have been generated. From this same source has
originated that pernicious saying, "God who made thee without thyself
will not save thee without thyself." Such men conclude that free-will
concurs with the grace and work of God, as a preceding and efficient
cause of salvation. Not unlike this is the saying of Dionysius, which
is more pernicious still: "Although devils and man fell, yet all their
natural faculties remained whole and entire; their mind, their memory,
their will," etc. If this be true therefore it will follow, that man
by his own natural powers can save himself.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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