Works of Martin Luther, with Introductions and Notes (Volume II)Luther, Martin
ReligionChristian
Works of Martin Luther, with Introductions and Notes (Volume II)
Luther, Martin
Lutheran Church -- Early works to 1800; Theology -- History -- 16th century -- Early works to 1800
Christ and the Church are, therefore, a mystery, that is, a great and
secret thing, which it was possible and proper[135] to represent by
marriage as by a certain outward allegory, but that was no reason for
their calling marriage a sacrament. The heavens are a type of the
apostles, as Psalm xix declares; the sun is a type of Christ; the
waters, of the peoples [Ps. 19:1 ff.]; but that does not make those
things sacraments, for in every case there are lacking both the divine
institution and the divine promise, which constitute a sacrament.
Hence Paul, in Ephesians v, following his own mind[136], applies to
Christ these words in Genesis ii about marriage, or else, following
the general view,[136] he teaches that the spiritual marriage of
Christ is also contained therein, saying: "As Christ cherisheth the
Church: because we are members of his body, of his flesh and of his
bones. For this cause shall a man leave his father and mother, and
shall cleave to his wife, and they shall be two in one flesh. This is
a great sacrament; I speak in Christ and in the Church." [Eph. 5:29
ff.] You see, he would have the whole passage apply to Christ, and is
at pains to admonish the reader to find the sacrament in Christ and
the Church, and not in marriage.[137]
Therefore we grant that marriage is a type of Christ and the Church,
and a sacrament, yet not divinely instituted, but invented by men in
the Church, carried away by their ignorance both of the word and of
the thing. Which ignorance, since it does not conflict with the faith,
is to be charitably borne with, just as many other practices of human
weakness and ignorance are borne with in the Church, so long as they
do not conflict with the faith and with the Word of God. But we are
now dealing with the certainty and purity of the faith and the
Scriptures; so that our faith be not exposed to ridicule, when after
affirming that a certain thing is contained in the Sacred Scriptures
and in the articles of our faith, we are refuted and shown that it is
not contained therein, and, being found ignorant of our own affairs,
become a stumbling-block to our opponents and to the weak; nay, that
we destroy not the authority of the Holy Scriptures. For those things
which have been delivered to us by God in the Sacred Scriptures must
be sharply distinguished from those that have been invented by men in
the Church, it matters not how eminent they be for saintliness and
scholarship.
[Sidenote: Hindrances to Marriage]
So far concerning marriage itself. But what shall we say of the wicked
laws of men by which this divinely ordained manner of life is ensnared
and tossed to and fro? Good God! it is dreadful to contemplate the
audacity of the Roman despots, who wantonly tear marriages asunder and
again force them together. Prithee, is mankind given over to the
wantonness of these men, for them to mock and in every way abuse and
make of them whatever they please, for filthy lucre's sake?
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